I'm including three different things in this chapter because I wanted there to be a slightly longer chapter this time around.

Ferris sat up in bed, stretching his arms above his head and yawning. He lowered his arms again, opening his eyes.

And he glanced over at Halt's bed. His brother was still sleeping peacefully, the blanket rising and falling with an even pattern. Something new that had been added to the morning scene was Caitlyn, sitting at the head of Halt's bed, his head in her lap. She was playing absently with his hair, eyes fixed on his face.

Ferris nodded silently to himself. He understood why she was there. It was two weeks ago that Halt had been giving her a piggyback ride and almost run into a castle servant. He had fallen over and sprained his wrist, keeping him from doing a multitude of things.

He claimed that it didn't hurt him, but Caitlyn had almost been in tears, refusing to leave his side the entire first day. She thought it was her fault that Halt now had a cast on his hand.

She must have crept into their room sometime last night without waking them up, a feat she had never accomplished before. By the looks of it, she hadn't gotten much sleep, which was a bad thing for such a young girl.

"Morning, Cait," Ferris called softly across the room. She jumped slightly and turned to him, her hand still absently stroking Halt's hair. She nodded a greeting back to him and turned back to Halt. Ferris sighed sadly and got up, making his way over to her.

Now that he was standing closer, he could see his brother's face. His eyes were clenched a little tightly, indicating that he was in pain. Every time Caitlyn's hand passed through his hair, though, his face seemed to relax. Ferris sighed and put a hand on Caitlyn's shoulder.

"I'll keep him steady," he said. "Why don't you lie down and get some sleep, alright? I'm sure he'd appreciate some cuddles."

Caitlyn looked like she was about to protest, but something made her pause and think. Nodding slowly to herself, she agreed with Ferris. He held his brother's head up slightly so that Caitlyn could move. She crawled out from under him and made her way around the bed, climbing in beside Halt and, carefully avoiding his sprained wrist, wrapped herself around him.

Ferris noticed Halt's arms move around slightly so that he was hugging her, and he settled again, his breathing even. Ferris set his head down gently. He watched as the last few however-long-Caitlyn-had-been-sitting-there-hours took its toll on her tiny body, and she fell asleep instantly, her breathing matching Halt's.

Ferris turned around to walk away, maybe let their parents know that Halt and Caitlyn would be late to breakfast, when Halt shifted slightly and mumbled something. Ferris leaned closer to his mouth to find out what it was.

"Frrs…"

His name. Of course, Halt had mumbled his name. Ferris fought down a smile and sat on the bed, carefully moving Halt's head to his lap and taking up Caitlyn's job of stroking his hair. Halt's face relaxed again, and he snuggled closer to Caitlyn, pulling her closer.

Breakfast wasn't that important, was it?

This second story takes place later that same day.

Caitlyn sniffled once and wiped away a tear. She turned suddenly to Ferris.

"Say something," she said. Ferris started slightly, not expecting the command.

"Oh, um…" he said, then he turned desperately to Halt, who shook his head vigorously. "I-um… I'm not very good with words… Halt is better."

Caitlyn nodded agreeably and turned her attention instead to Halt.

"Haltie?" she asked. Halt glared at his younger brother, who shrugged apologetically. He stepped forward and cleared his throat, wondering what he could possibly say about a caterpillar that lived in the garden.

"Um… I didn't know you very well," he started, feeling foolish. He turned back to Caitlyn, who wiped her eye sadly. He inwardly groaned and turned back to the stick in the ground, swallowing awkwardly. "But you were a good… caterpillar."

"Alexander Rutabaga Russelstein the fifth," Caitlyn said sorrowfully. Halt resisted the urge to facepalm.

"Alexander Rutabaga Russelstein… the fifth," Halt managed to force out. He was able to force his voice to sound sad and not quite so uncaring, if only for Caitlyn's sake. "You will be sorely missed."

Caitlyn burst into tears at this, turning around and hugging Ferris, who wrapped his arms around her instinctively. He glanced up and smiled at Halt, who glared at him again.

'Traitor,' he mouthed. Caitlyn turned back to the tiny grave and sobbed.

"HE WAS SO YOUNG!" she wailed. Halt leaned down and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Come on," he said, trying to sound sympathetic. "You'll feel better after something to eat."

She nodded and they left the garden.

And finally, here's the third story, aka the cast has finally been removed.

Ferris nodded, a serious expression on his face, trying his hardest not to laugh. He could see the corners of Halt's mouth twitching, indicating that, unusual for him, he was trying his hardest not to smile as well.

Neither could quite focus on the conversation at hand, but they tried. They'd be damned and hard-pressed to admit to anything otherwise.

Standing just beside Halt was Caitlyn, her facial expression an exact match of Halt's. Every time he nodded, she nodded, and every time he said something, she repeated it. Her eyes would shift upwards occasionally to make sure that Halt's facial expression hadn't changed. If it did, she changed her own facial expression accordingly.

Both boys were perfectly aware of this, thus the reason for their absent-minded and ticklish nature.

An idea struck Halt and, deciding to capitalize on it, said, "You're a very expressive person, Ferris."

Ferris, knowing what Halt was doing, had to press his lips together and bite his tongue so he wouldn't burst into hysterical laughter. He just nodded instead of answering. He saw Caitlyn put the pieces together, not knowing she was being set up. Her eyes lit up when she came to a conclusion, but she was quick to resume Halt's grim-faced expression. Ferris noticed that even Halt's shoulders were shaking.

Halt nodded a farewell, satisfied that Caitlyn would copy their brother next. In his peripheral vision, he saw Caitlyn nod a farewell to Ferris as well and, as soon as she turned around, Ferris bent over, shaking so bad that he could be freezing cold and trying to get warm.

Halt knew he was just laughing. He walked on, not turning back around.

The next day, Caitlyn was following Ferris around. Every smile, giggle, sudden shout or startle was mimicked perfectly. The day after that, she copied Halt again, and after that, she went back to Ferris.

While Caitlyn was sleeping, Ferris smiled at Halt.

"I have an idea," he said excitedly. Halt smiled softly down at Caitlyn, who hummed contentedly in her sleep. He started stroking her hair and looked back up at Ferris.

"Does it involve Caitlyn?" he asked. Ferris nodded enthusiastically.

"Absolutely, it does," he said. Halt pursed his lips in thought for a second, looking back down at Caitlyn again. In her sleep, she could feel Halt's fingers running through her hair, and it made her smile. A rare grin spread across Halt's face and he turned back to Ferris, nodding.

"Let's hear it, brother mine."

Caitlyn walked into the dining room sullenly. Copying her brothers was fun, but, even though Halt's wrist had long healed, she still felt guilty about it, and the copying thing had not fully worked.

She smiled to herself. The game was made even more fun by the fact that neither brother had said anything about it.

When she sat down at the dining table, Halt and Ferris entered the room and took their seats. Caitlyn looked between the two of them, trying to remember which brother she was supposed to copy today.

After a while, she realized that Halt and Ferris's heads were moving, too. She tilted her head to the side, asking them a silent question.

They tilted their heads, too, and nobody said anything.

Caitlyn straightened up, and so did her brothers. She could feel excitement rising inside of her. She stuck out her left arm experimentally, beaming when her brothers did likewise. Halt and Ferris were smiling, too, and she lifted her other arm. They did so as well.

Caitlyn started laughing hard, so hard that she had to wipe her eyes dry. While she was focused on this task, she failed to realize that Halt and Ferris were laughing, too, but not because she was laughing.

Their laughter was laughter of genuine joy.