Disclaimer: I don't own Thunderbirds.
Snap.
The sound jolted Scott out of his concentration, and he sent a glower at his brother. A sunny, innocent face blinked back at him – the patented butter wouldn't melt in my mouth look that he didn't believe for a second – and he huffed before returning to the pile of paperwork.
He was behind, again. The past week had been hectic, and now that he finally had a so-far-free day to work on the digital mountain of the stuff he was determined to deal with as much of it as possible before getting called away on another rescue.
Snap.
Unfortunately, it seemed as though his brother had other ideas.
"Gordon," he ground out, not looking up from the holoprojector. "If you must do that, do it elsewhere."
There was no response, which did not bode well as he definitely had not heard the troublemaker leave the den. Hoping against hope that meant he really had stopped (he should be so lucky), Scott returned to the paperwork.
Snap.
"Gordon!"
"Lighten up, Scott," his brother drawled. He didn't need to look to know that he was lounged across one of the sofas, shrugging nonchalantly as he chewed whatever it was in his mouth. Scott could hear the sticky noises just fine. "You're too stiff."
"I'm busy," he corrected, reaching the end of a line and realising he'd already read it. "I need to get this done before we get another callout. You know that."
"Nah." The sticky chewing got louder and more obnoxious, which was almost enough to cover up the sound of fabric-on-fabric as Gordon changed position. Footsteps on their polished wooden floor told him that he'd stood up. "You need to relax."
Snap.
Scott jumped, and against his will snapped his head to the side, to where Gordon was grinning right by his face.
"Gordon," he growled. "Don't do that."
"Do what?" his brother asked innocently. A translucent film of pink emerged from his mouth, the bubble growing larger and larger.
Snap.
It vanished back into the Cheshire Cat grin Gordon was sporting.
"Do that," Scott glared.
"Want some?" his brother asked, entirely ignoring his complaints. Scott wasn't sure what he'd even expected.
"I want you to stop being a nuisance so I can finish this work," he retorted, shrugging off the arm that snaked around his shoulders. Undeterred, Gordon simply did it again, putting enough pressure on Scott that he knew moving would make him overbalance.
"Just chew some gum, Scott," he insisted, clearly realising that Scott wasn't going to risk him falling and draping himself over him even further until his chin was resting on his shoulder. The bubble gum went snap again.
"If I do, will you leave me alone?" With Gordon he could never be sure if giving him what he wanted would end the interruption or invite something else to take its place.
"Hmm…" Gordon make a show of thinking. That was answer in and of itself – no, Gordon was not going to leave him alone any time soon.
"Gordon." He really needed to get that work done.
"Scott," Gordon mimicked. A square of gum got waved in his face. "C'mon. Chew some gum and relax." Scott opened his mouth to remind his brother about the paperwork, but the aquanaut steamrollered on. "You've been on back to back rescues all week, and if you got more than an hour's sleep last night I'll clean Two with a toothbrush."
He wasn't wrong, but still.
Deft fingers unwrapped the gum and shoved it in his mouth before he could stop them.
"Chew. Chill. They know you've been busy all week. We've got quite the high-profile day job, remember?" Gordon paused to blow another bubble. The snap didn't sound quite as sharp that time. "It can wait another few hours."
"But-" A tanned hand clamped over his mouth, muffling his perfectly reasonable response about having no guarantee there would be another few hours free.
"Chew," Gordon ordered.
Scott yanked his hand away and sent him another glare. Gordon, who at this point was entirely draped over his back, ignored it and blew another bubble.
Resigned to doing his work with a squid wrapped around him, Scott sighed and returned his attention to the paperwork, trying to remember where he'd got up to.
"I will get Grandma."
The threat caught him off guard. It was quite the step up from simply being an irritating little brother to bringing out the big guns, and he shot a look at Gordon. The grin was gone, and in its place was a more serious face.
"I have to-"
"Rest. Relax. Sleep, ideally, but we both know that's a step too far," Gordon interrupted. "Chew some gum, watch a one of those terrible movies you like so much, and let the world wait for once, Scott. Getting-" he peered at the report "-approval for an additional five percent of their budget when they haven't even used up what they have already can wait a few more hours."
"It's been waiting two weeks already," Scott sighed. Gordon huffed.
"Then another two hours won't make any difference," he pointed out. "Chew. Movie. Now."
Quick as lightning, a hand flashed out and turned off the projector. Scott stared at the empty space for a split second, before turning to his brother.
"Den." Gordon pointed at the sofa he'd been lounging on earlier. "C'mon, Scott. One movie, then you can get back to your stuffy paperwork."
Scott hadn't raised four younger brothers without learning to recognise when he was beaten.
"One movie," he repeated. "One."
The grin that spread across Gordon's face was worth giving in.
"I'll even let you choose," his brother offered generously, slowly easing himself into standing back upright, and despite himself Scott grinned.
"No complaints from you."
Gordon offered him a hand and he took it, pulling himself out of the desk chair before making his way into the den and slumping onto the nearest sofa. His younger brother lounged out next to him, putting his feet in his lap and ignoring nudges to the contrary.
"So, what are we watching?" the aquanaut asked, blowing another bubble of gum, only to groan as Scott flicked through his saved movies. "Oh, not that one."
Scott raised an eyebrow at him. "I'll go back to the paperwork."
He got a theatrical groan in response. "Fine, terrible movie with even more terrible effects it is." Gordon blew another bubble, the snap loud in the pre-movie silence.
"You love it really," Scott challenged, and Gordon shrugged noncommittedly.
"Just set it playing, big bro."
Scott smirked and with a wave of his hand, the opening scene of Sharknado started. Gordon made another, clearly faked, groan, before settling down to watch. For his part, Scott finally let himself chew the gum in his mouth – blueberry flavour, apparently – and as the title screen came up, blew a bubble of his own.
Snap.
I'm very surprised I'm still going with this, but we're over halfway now! Fluffember day 16 with 'bubbles', and more Scott&Gordon because this duo have nowhere near enough content.
Thanks for reading!
Tsari