There wasn't much in the pot the first hour of their performance.

Yakko knew it could take a while before people started tossing some more cash their way. At the moment, the can they'd set out only had a couple of bills, mostly ones, and a scattering of change. Not nearly enough to make sure they'd eat tonight.

Wakko clearly had similar thoughts, as he sagged against the base of the statue they'd set up in front of.

"This is hopeless. We've been out here for an hour, Yakko."

He sighed. Wakko was right, but they had to hold out a bit longer.

"I know, but we can't quit now. We'll keep it up for a while and if things don't work out we can head back."

Wakko nodded warily, giving a sigh before pushing himself back up. The movement was tired, too old for a kid who'd only recently turned ten.

Dot had been quiet for the most part. Yakko hoped it was just fatigue from the performance and not her coming down with something. The last thing he needed was for either of his siblings to get sick. They couldn't afford to be.

"Dot? You hanging in there?"

His sister gave a yawn and blinked owlishly.

"Yeah. Didn't get much sleep last night," she said, offering him a tired smile which he returned.

The hostel they'd taken up residence in as of late was cursed with thin walls, and their many neighbors seemed to take no issue with shuffling around all hours of the night with little thought as to the noise they were making. They couldn't leave, where else would they go? It was the most stable living situation they'd had in the last year, even if most of their meager funds went to paying for their continued stay. Plus, nobody had asked questions when Yakko claimed himself to be four years older than he actually was so as to not arouse suspicion. The benefit of being a toon, it seemed, was that most people couldn't get a good read on how old you were.

For now, they'd have to put up with the occasional sleepless night.

"Maybe we should split up? Cover some more ground. I can use my hat to collect, and I think I saw a can we can use for Dot," Wakko mused, glancing around the park.

"That's not a bad idea. What do you think, Yakko?" Dot asked. The two stared up at him waiting for a response.

Logically, he knew it made sense. Split up, cover different areas to busk, increase their cash intake. But the idea of his siblings not being where he could see them and knowing anything could happen while he wasn't around-

It wasn't a thought he wanted to entertain. They'd already been split up once before and he wasn't planning on it happening again.

"Guys, I don't know if-" He started, but Dot quickly cut him off.

"We won't go far! I can go over by the fountain and Wakko can go by one of the benches so you can still see us. Right, Wakko?"

"Yeah!" His brother piped up. "We'll be right by you. And I'll mallet anyone who gets too close!"

It was meant to be comforting, but all Yakko could think about was how much trouble they'd be in if his brother really did mallet somebody, even if it were another fellow toon. This part of town was a decent mix of humans and toons alike and their usual antics could wind up with someone in the hospital if they weren't careful.

Still, they had a point. It'd be nice to eat sometime soon, and as long as he could see the two of them…

"Alright, fine." His siblings cheered and he hurried on before they ran off. "But stick to the basics, nothing crazy. And if anyone starts to ask what you're doing out here, what do you say?"

"My parents are by the playground watching me," the two chorused, the line drilled into their heads by the many times Yakko had repeated it to them.

He might be able to get away with fudging his age, but his siblings were clearly younger. Nobody would believe they were even close to eighteen.

Satisfied, Yakko gave a nod. "Good. And if they ask more than that, yell and I'll come get you. Anybody need props?"

"Can I get a guitar, Yakko?" Dot asked sweetly. Idly, he hoped she intended to play the thing instead of smash it around wildly.

"Sure thing, sib. Wakko? What you workin' with?" He asked as he concentrated, reached behind his back, and pulled out a small guitar for his sister. His prop abilities weren't amazing, but he could make items appear and last for at least a few hours. It wasn't much, but with no training besides the toon theory books he'd read at the library, he was proud of it.

"I can do it Yakko! I've been practicing!" Wakko proclaimed, a look of eager hope in his eyes that Yakko was hesitant to squash. His brother was good at gags, pulling faces and stretching into odd shapes, but his prop abilities were still shaky. Still, the kid looked so pumped at the chance to try-

"Alright, bud. Show me what you got," Yakko gave in, smiling as his brother let out a gleeful yelp. He watched as he fiddled with his white gloves, pulling at the garments until they were apparently just right, before reaching decidedly behind his back. When he pulled his hands out, they were still empty.

Wakko's face fell.

"It's okay, kiddo, try again. Focus on what you want to pull out, it doesn't need to be perfect," Yakko soothed quickly. The last thing he wanted to do was to discourage his brother from trying.

Wakko snapped back to attention, shaking the look from his face. He sucked in a breath of air, features scrunched, as he jabbed his hands behind his back once more. It was kind of cute, really, how hard he was trying. Yakko stifled a laugh at his expression.

Finally, Wakko managed to pull out a little silver harmonica. He let out a laugh of delight as he turned the object over in his hands, amazed he'd created something out of nothing. He looked up at his brother for approval, ears perked and gaze wide.

Yakko felt himself swell with pride. "See, I knew you could do it! It looks great, Wakko." He ruffled the top of his brother's head, which was really more just him squishing the kid's red cap down since he rarely ever took it off. It'd been Yakko's gift to him for his birthday last month and it was clear he treasured the thing. Wakko laughed, batting at his brother's hands playfully.

"Yakko," he whined. "You're messing up my do!" The last word was delivered with rounded syllables, long and drawn out.

He still had no idea where his brother had picked up the accent, but it was just as strange as it was endearing.

"Alright, alright. You're free, go play. And don't talk to strangers," he called out as his brother ran off, "or bite them!"

He looked down at Dot, who was busy tuning the guitar to her liking. Her tongue stuck out in concentration, one ear dangling in front of her face. He chuckled. The two of them were a handful, but he loved them for it.

A small part of him wished that they didn't have to be his handful, that he could just be their brother and not have to worry about- well, everything. But it was a part of him he buried quickly and silently. There was no changing the past. Worrying about things that had already happened wouldn't change the fact that he was responsible for his siblings now, and that they depended on him.

He forced himself to smile as he knelt down in front of his sister.

"Need any help?" he asked idly, though it appeared she was almost done.

"Nope! All finished," she informed him proudly. And she was, already strumming a simple tune that he was sure most kids her age couldn't handle. Where gags and props were the brothers' areas of expertise, music was hers.

"Alright, then. Try not to play too loud, we don't want one of the security guards sticking their heads around here," he said as he reached out to tighten her scarf and zip her jacket up further. It was chilly out, and he didn't want her catching a cold. Hopefully, Wakko would keep his own on too instead of loosening it like he always did.

"I won't!" With that, Dot scooped up her guitar and jumped up to give Yakko a kiss on the cheek before running off. "Back soon! I won't bite anyone either!"

They got a few wary looks from some passerby at the last comment, but Yakko simply laughed. At least they'd promised not to bite.

Once he double-checked to make sure he could still get a decent view of the two, he started pulling out some props. Deck of cards, dice, all the usual trappings of an ameature magic show. It wasn't his favorite bit to do, especially since it required a lot of effort on his end to pull into his hammerspace for the more impressive parts, but it always pulled a crowd. As he set up, materializing a box crate for a makeshift stage, he could hear the beginning strums of his sister's act as well as the faint noise of his brother's harmonic playing. The two sounded good.

He smiled hopefully to himself. Maybe they would get to eat tonight.

"And as promised, the king of spades!"

He pulled the card out with a flourish, grinning cheekily as the eyes of the hippo toon before him widened comically. The small crowd that had gathered around him clapped and cheered appreciatively, a few going for their wallets. Jackpot. He continued to display the card while making his way over to another woman, reaching behind her ear, and pulling an identical card while the first disappeared before the eyes of the crowd.

Really, all he'd done was time the disappearance of the card correctly and pulled a new one from his hammerspace while nobody was looking, but it got more people digging into their pockets for some spare change.

"And that's the end of my act, folks. Goodnight everybody!"

The crowd gave a final round of applause before beginning to disperse, some tossing their change as they went. He smiled appreciatively at each of them as they did, cleaning up his act with little haste. Most of the props would poof within the next few minutes, but he didn't want to leave a mess in the meantime.

The last few stragglers had made their way back into the rest of the park when Yakko realized it'd been a few minutes since he'd checked on his siblings. He'd made sure to keep an eye out while he performed, never letting himself get too distracted, but now he realized he couldn't see either Dot or Wakko.

He fought to suppress the wave of panic that was threatening to pull him under. Freaking out wouldn't help anything. It'd only been a few minutes, and they couldn't have gone far. And if someone really had tried to take them away, he was sure he wouldn't have been able to miss the scene that would've caused. Instead of running over to where they'd been, he forced himself to clean up the last few items before turning around resolutely to find them.

He needn't have panicked long, however, as the two were standing right behind him. He felt his heart stop, then start again.

"Yakko! A lady called me precious and gave me a five, isn't that great?" Dot enthused, twirling excitedly with a decently filled cup of cash. Wakko's cap was similarly full. Neither of them had their instruments, though that concerned him less since they'd most likely already vanished.

"Yeah, and I-" Wakko stopped suddenly, as if only just noticing the tight expression on his brother's face. "Yakko?"

He shook himself. They were fine, they'd just wandered over early to meet him instead of waiting in their respective spots. He'd talk to them about it later. For now, he let his shoulders sag in relief and dropped to a knee to gather them both in a hug.

"Next time, wait for me to come to get you guys. Okay?" He fought to keep the tremor out of his voice.

He felt them shift as they worked to get their little arms around him, quiet.

"I'm sorry, Yakko," Dot said, pressing herself closer.

"Me too. We didn't mean to scare you, honest." Wakko added nervously.

Yakko let himself hold them for just a second longer than necessary. He gave one last squeeze before pulling away. Aw, hell. He hadn't meant to upset his siblings, but he'd been scared. He was only fourteen after all. Now they were looking at him with watery eyes, suddenly aware that they'd caused their older brother to panic.

"It's alright, sibs."

He scrubbed a gloved hand over his face. They were together and safe, with a decent amount of cash. If anything, they should be celebrating.

"Tell you what. We pulled in a good haul tonight, I say we deserve a reward." He cast his eyes around the park before settling on a nearby outdoor cafe. It was nearing the holiday season, and the place was decked in lights with little chairs and benches to sit on. Even better, they had one of those fancy outdoor heating things set up. Perfect.

"What do you say we count this cash over at the cafe with some hot chocolate, hm? Since the two of you were so good today."

The offer was enough to wipe the worried expressions off their faces for a few moments. Wakko wiped his face with the edge of his sleeve.

"Really?" Wakko asked, hopefully.

Yakko brushed the kid's hands away and pulled a cloth from behind his back. He wiped at his brother's misty eyes, as well as Dot's when he realized she too had become more than a little upset, and smiled.

"Yeah, bud. I'll even get you guys a cookie if you help me count. Sound good?"

His siblings nodded, albeit hesitantly, still worried he was upset. He stood up then, gathering all of their collective cash and placing it into the tin they used on the regular. He fluffed up Wakko's cap and placed it back on his head with a playful ruffle, which garnered a small giggle. He gave the cash tin to Dot, who held onto it as he hefted her onto his side and grabbed Wakko's hand with his other free arm as they began to make their way over.

It wasn't long before Wakko piped up with some comment about what they'd have for dinner. Suddenly, the three of them were chattering away like nothing had happened. Yakko appreciated the normalcy more than they realized.

He set the two up at a table where he could see them, conveniently close to the heater. He ordered, getting a coffee for himself, and brought the snacks and drinks back. Wakko started devouring his cookie while Dot sipped her hot chocolate, giggling when the whipped cream left some foam on the tip of her nose and Yakko wiped it off with a wink.

They stayed for about an hour, enjoying the contrast of the warmth of their drinks and the chill in the air. Thankfully, their coats and scarves and other winter apparel were fairly protective, the product of some deep digging and a lucky find at the thrift store. They chattered away, cracking jokes and making only a little bit of a nuisance of themselves. When they started to tally up their cash, Yakko sat patiently as they practiced adding. On top of everything else, he tried to make sure the two got at least some form of education.

"So that equals… ten?" Wakko was squinting at the cash like it would tell him the answer if he stared long and hard enough. Yakko laughed, sweeping the pile of change into his hand.

"Yes, that equals ten. Good job you two." His siblings beamed at his praise. God, he was lucky to have them.

"Alright, so altogether that should be about…" He trailed off as he wrote down some numbers on the back of the cafe receipt with a pencil he'd pulled out.

"About a hundred and fifteen. Not bad for a couple of hours!"

It wasn't the best haul they'd ever had, but it was still a good one. Yakko hoped with the holidays coming up people would be more inclined to give than usual. Maybe they could start practicing carols or something, really play off the whole "Christmas Orphan" thing.

Altogether, they'd have about ninety to spend after paying the hostel for board and shower privileges. He'd use about fifty to get them some food and save the rest for a rainy day. Part of that would be going to Dot and Wakko's Christmas presents, but neither of them needed to know about that.

They collected their things, Yakko fussing over their coats and tying the laces of their boots up, before heading back towards the general direction of the hostel. On the way, they stopped at one of the discount markets to pick up their food. They checked out after a little while, Yakko offering a smile and wave to the friendly human toon owner who let him sweep floors and stock shelves sometimes for cash. He'd have to come back soon and see if he could get some more work in.

They returned to the hostel, storing their groceries in the meager room that they'd been calling home for the last year. Yakko chided his siblings for throwing their coats to the floor in their hurry to go play, rolling his eyes fondly as they made a big show of trudging back to hang them up properly. He let them scamper off to the corner, already engaged in some sort of imaginary battle with rules he couldn't quite make sense of, as he put away the food and grabbed two cans of soup to heat up and some bread for toast.

He hummed idly to himself as he started up the portable burner Wakko had once found outside of a tech store dump, pulling out the only bowls they had and placing them on their little table in the corner. Today had been a good day, despite the scare towards the end. Hopefully, they could get a goodnight's sleep and Yakko could swing by the library to get some more toon theory books in the morning.

He wasn't sure what was next for the three of them. So far, they'd managed to get by well enough and stay under the radar of social services. The last thing he wanted was for them to wind up back in the system, the threat of being separated looming over them every day. He was fairly certain nobody was still looking for them anymore. It had been almost two years, and toon kids had a tendency to run off into the city instead of sticking around for a potential family. Staying in a broken system was worse than fighting to make ends meet on the street.

At least they could be together.

But how long could they keep this up for, he wondered as he watched the soup heat up. Another year? Two, maybe? And what would happen when Wakko and Dot started to get older? They were talented, sure, but talent didn't guarantee they could continue to make a living like this. Eventually, they'd need to go to a real school and he'd need to get a real job. Something stable that could support them for longer than a month or two.

But it was hard, the constant fear that giving out too much information or leaving his siblings alone for too long would end up with him returning home to an empty room and a social worker.

They'd have to figure out something eventually. For now, he'd keep borrowing books on toon theory and gag techniques and learn as much as he could to pass onto his siblings. It was the only thing they had at the moment, a vague promise that maybe someday they'd be talented enough to get recognized.

The rest of the night continued, Yakko serving dinner while reminding Wakko to try not to eat the spoon by accident this time. He made sure to check over the "homework" he'd given them, which was really just worksheets copied for free from the library that the nice lady at the front desk had helped him with. Soon enough, they were washing up and getting ready to settle into bed.

Thankfully, their neighbors were quiet and Dot fell asleep not long after he'd tucked her in and kissed her forehead goodnight. He'd join them in the bed they all shared soon enough, but first, he wanted to go over the last chapter in the theory book about anvil gags. There was an essay from Bugs Bunny himself in there, and he'd been itching to read it.

In the meantime, he walked over to Wakko's side of the bed and gently took the cap he was still wearing. It was nice to see how much the gift had meant to him, but even Yakko drew the line at letting the kid sleep with it.

He'd thought his brother had been asleep before realizing two droopy eyes were looking up at him.

"Sorry, Wakko. Didn't mean to wake you," he whispered, tucking the sheets around him as he did.

"That's okay," Wakko mumbled, clearly close to drifting off but still stubbornly hanging on. Probably didn't want to go to sleep without knowing that Yakko wouldn't stay up all night reading.

"I'll come to bed soon, promise. You go to sleep, okay?" He pressed a kiss to Wakko's forehead before smoothing down the sheets one last time. He was about to turn away when he heard it.

"I miss…"

Wakko trailed off. Yakko didn't need him to finish the sentence to know what he was talking about.

He swallowed and spoke around the sudden lump in his throat.

"I miss mom and dad too."

Wakko didn't say anything for a moment. He almost thought the kid had finally fallen asleep, but then he spoke up once more.

"I'm glad we have you."

Yakko scrubbed a hand over his eyes, the second time that day. God, he had to stop getting so teary-eyed all the time. He let out a shaky breath before giving his brother a watery smile.

"And I'm glad I have you two. Now, get some sleep. We've got another day ahead of us, and I want to try and work on your hammerspace technique tomorrow. Sound good?"

Wakko gave a sleepy hum of affirmation before cuddling further into bed.

"Love you, kiddo."

"Love you," Wakko murmured, before finally drifting off.

Yakko let himself sit on the edge of the bed for just a minute, watching his brother and sister sleep. Outside, he could hear the sounds of traffic and the beginnings of an argument from the couple across the way who always left their window open. Otherwise, the night was quiet. He glanced up at the sky through their own rickety old window. It was a clear night, but he had a feeling there'd be snow in the city soon. Hopefully, they'd figure something out when it started to get even colder.

As he watched the sky, he noticed a small streak of light in the distance. Seeing stars in the city wasn't the easiest considering the light pollution, but seeing a shooting star seemed even rarer.

He didn't wish for anything. He'd learned the hard way over the last two years that wishing for something usually meant you'd just wasted precious time that could've been used to get something done. But for some reason, it filled him with a little hope. Just a spark, enough to propel him off the bed and grab his book with a newfound sense of determination.

He leaned down one more time to softly brush the fur out of his sibling's eyes, smiling when they leaned into the touch. He snagged the only other blanket they had, wrapped himself in it, and sat himself down near the window to read under the bit of light coming from outside.

He'd find a way for them to make it if it was the last thing he did.