Heather dashed around the side of the palace, beating Picket easily. The fresh snow coating everything was beautiful, but Heather resisted the temptation to stop and play in it, there were other things she needed to do. At the age of thirteen Heather was a reasonably serious and smart young doe (That was the impression she made on most people; Heather could be mischievous when she wanted to be) And knew that before they could go outside they had to suffer through morning studies. The guard on the back door chuckled and let them in; they had been going to the palace for studies since Heather was little more than five years old. This was because she and her brother, Picket, were close in age to the king's youngest children, Smalls and Emma. The door to the study room opened to reveal Smalls-who clearly had been up far too late the night before. He smiled briefly at Heather and then retreated back into the study room. Heather glanced back at her brother, who reluctantly slid into a chair around the table. The tutor they were stuck with didn't appear to have any interest in letting them goof off, which made Heather wonder exactly how long he thought that was going to last. Not long. Picket quickly lost patience with the material he was being taught, despite the fact that Smalls had explained it to him three different ways. The tutor finally looked up, annoyed.
"Do you understand now?" Smalls asked, beginning to sound exasperated. Picket buried his face in his hands.
"I'm sorry," He moaned, "I don't understand no matter which way you describe it." Smalls set off for the fourth time, describing the battle in such a complex way that the lost look on Picket's face was almost comical. By the time he was finished he was out of breath and Picket didn't understand it any better than before. Smalls shook his head.
"That's it. I give up. Maybe Heather or the tutor can explain it better than I can, but I've explained it all and more." He collapsed back into his chair. The tutor, which had been silent for some time, asked,
"Is this something that occurs frequently?" They all nodded.
"Picket's good at math and not much else." Emma told the tutor, not cruelly, just simply stating the facts. "And Smalls is good at everything except math."
"So," Heather added, smirking, "They cancel each other out." The tutor's eyes flicked to the two bucks, one utterly done with the world, and the other still struggling with all of his might to comprehend the difficulties of rabbit history. Apparently deciding that he didn't want to deal with that particular disaster, the tutor sighed and said,
"Class dismissed." Picket, whose mood seemed to lift suddenly at those words, jumped up.
"Finally!" He shouted. Emma was the next to spring from her seat after shoving her textbooks-in nearly as deplorable a condition as Picket's-into the center of the table, still wide open with dogear marks on nearly every page. Heather sighed and reached for the center to close the books and put them away. This was often her job; Picket and Emma seemed to take a particular joy in destroying their school books. Smalls helped her, both found it deeply irritating that Picket and Emma destroyed books in such a manner. And Picket and Emma found that deeply amusing. Heather sighed.
"Didn't sleep well?" Smalls asked.
"No, I slept fine. Unlike you, I see."
"I've already been lectured by my mother. You don't have to re-enforce it."
"Yes, but reinforcing the fact that you need more sleep is one of my favorite parts of the day!" She said, fakely enthusiastic. Smalls very obviously rolled his eyes. "But in all seriousness," Heather told him, "Sleep isn't an option, Smalls." He sighed,
"I know, I know."
"You could try acting like you know." Heather suggested. She took his hand, "It's just because I care, you know that, right?"
"Of course."
"Hey, you two!" Emma shouted, popping her head back in the room, "Done yet?" She caught sight of them holding hands and instantly switched into annoying little sister mode. Heather pulled her hand away, but it was too late. "Taken it to a whole new level, have you?" She teased. Smalls turned redder than Heather had ever seen him. It seemed as much from fury as embarrassment. "At this rate-" Smalls, turning redder by the minute, interrupted.
"Emma, you're going to wish you didn't-"
"We can expect the wedding any day!"
"Augh! Emma you are dead!" Smalls roared, Emma fled the room, laughing hysterically with Smalls hot on her tail. Well, Heather mused, Emma had dug her own grave. Smalls, though difficult to anger, was not someone to mess with when in a temper. Heather, and Smalls' mother, Glen, were the only ones who had successfully talked him out of his anger on the rare occasions that he was genuinely so. This time, however, Heather thought it might do Emma some good to find out exactly what might happen to her if she persisted in teasing Heather and Smalls. Not that anything was going on! Emma just always made it out as if something was. Well, either way, Emma, who already had her snow gear on, dashed outside, and Smalls, still furious with her, was forced to stop his pursuit to put his jacket on. Picket looked slightly confused, and asked,
"Wait, what happened?"
"What usually happens to make Smalls angry at Emma." Heather replied. "Emma's teasing."
"About…?" Heather flushed and muttered,
"That is not something you need to know."
"Were you two holding hands again?" Heather didn't reply. "That explains it!" He chortled.
"If you're looking for the same thing as Emma, Picket Longtreader," Heather snapped, "By all means, continue teasing!" Picket, still laughing, spun and hurried outside. This left Heather and Smalls alone together once again, but they both avoided the other's gaze as much as possible.
Outside they found Emma perched up on top of a tree, with a highly disgruntled looking Picket below. Emma's eyes lit up once she saw them again, but before she could say anything Smalls full-on chucked a snowball at her. It nailed her right in the forehead and left her sputtering with anger while Smalls laughed. She had, frankly, deserved it.
Why are they all about teasing? To be honest it is all I had in my docs. I'll try to expand my revenue. Also, I'll take suggestions if put in the comments :)
