The howls of the occasional wind blow and the soft grumbling of thunder can be distinctively heard inside the small farm house standing in the middle of nowhere.

Inside through the house's attic, were two brothers sitting over the study table and writing about the events that have happened recently, specifically, the times when Courage — the younger brother — had to face dozens of monsters who were out for their parents' blood, soul, brain, and whatnot.

The attic's almost busted light bulb manages to brighten up the attic bedroom enough, if you don't count the dark corners that is. The air was a little colder than usual due to the expecting rain tonight, making Courage shiver on his seat. Though Simon, Courage's older brother, doesn't feel it as he wore long sleeves and semi formal attire like he does everyday — clearly Courage's usual matching pink T-shirt and shorts isn't best suited for the chilly climate.

As Courage scribbles upon the borrowed papers, Simon grabs one of the papers he'd written and chuckles mockingly after reading two sentences.

"You call getting chased by a lunatic snowman scary? You twit." Simon sneers at him, the British accent in his tone is very audible (despite their parents being Scottish and American). The little boy doesn't react and dismisses his remark.

The older grabs another paper and adjusts his square glasses.

Simon skims through the slightly distorted handwriting with ease — if you grew up with the cowardly little boy who'd always be on the run to save the family while you provide the essential information for him, you'd get used to the constant grammar errors and spellings and would be able to decipher Courage's incomprehensible panicking blabbers easily.

He snorts and eyes back to his younger brother with a glint of mockery in his blue eyes. "Getting shaved head to toe by our mad cousin frightened you? You insect." he wits again.

Now Courage is getting irritated as he tightens his grip on his pencil and scratches his messy brown hair with frustration. Not long ago, after saving their parents from the hypnotists of Dr Le Quack, the little boy had asked his brother if he could borrow a few stationary equipment and a spot on his desk to write on. Simon said he wouldn't care if he did nor would he care what he'd do on his study desk...so why is he leaning over Courage's shoulder and reading his notes?

"Getting chased by a she-demon underwater got you rattled? Snowflake." Simon teases once more. Courage furrows his brows together and growls in annoyance. He presses the pencil tip further against the paper, making the letters bolder and thicker than the previous ones.

Simon grabs another and scoffs at the essay Courage wrote about his first time meeting Katz. "What are these? Your memoirs?"

Courage pauses his writing to calm down a little, then look up to him and nod curtly.

"They're about as exciting as a sack of toenail clippings." the older snarks.

Courage rolls his eyes and returns back to his memoirs with a huff. "You wouldn't say that if you were in my shoes..." the younger once barks out, his wordings are much slurred and jumbled compared to Simon's clear cut on sentences, but it was still rather easy to understand.

"People such as yourself are such pathetic mice; scared of your own tails. What a shame your cowardice nature dominated most the population." Simon spits out, his eyes then glares down to the wheelchair he's sitting on, then to his dead legs. "If I would get around, I'd show all of you what can be done without fear."

"Yeah, sure you would." Courage replies sarcastically. "I bet you'd cower to the nearest corner the second you've come across the monsters I've told you about."

"Oh yeah? Everything you say bounces off me, and sticks to you." Simon taunts him once more, but this time his long finger pokes Courage's nose with a cruel and egoistical smirk across his face, knowing fully well this would make his little brother rile up.

And that was true, Courage has had enough of his brother's attitude. Simon just doesn't understand all the things he had done for the family; he had literally dealt with dozens of supernaturals and criminals who were out to get Muriel and/or Eustace, and all of those took guts to do. Sure he may have fled in fear countless of times and even almost died a few times, but everyone made it out alive in the end thanks to him!

Growling, Courage abruptly stands up, grabs his things then stomps towards the door. Simon still had that same sneer until his eyes widens when his younger brother stands outside the room with the attic door opened widely.

"Now hold it — don't slam the door-"

Courage slams the door as hard as he can.

The little boy sprints off into the second floor's hallway all the while cackling to himself. Simon back in the room, leans back to his wheelchair and rubs his temples; now the recently fixed door will surely be creaking again.

Muriel, their mother, finds Courage cackling in the hallway with a look of concern.

"Courage, what happened up there? I heard the door slammed." she walks up to him and asked.

Courage panic for a moment before stammering out, "Uhh...the door slammed..?" with a sheepish grin.

"...Oh." fortunately Muriel seems to believe him after an awkward pause and smiles warmly. "Well, off to bed! I'll tuck you in after I check on Simon." After a rather comfortable exchange, the lady then went to the attic while Courage watches her disappear away with a smile and walks away to prepare himself for sleep.

The light pitter patters raindrops of the upcoming storm has already taken place minutes later. Simon carefully lays down on his bed with three pillows stacked for his head. Muriel plugs on the oxygen concentrator and places the heart monitor's pads onto Simon's chest. She works onto this while humming a merry tune as Simon puts on the oxygen mask.

They've done this every night, and every night Muriel would sing him a lullaby or tell him a story. And sometimes as she does, his mind would wonder how on earth she manages to stay upbeat and friendly despite just being abducted by the secret government over an invisibility stone or over some other events. And does she acknowledges the sacrifices Courage made? She probably does, which is why she tries to fend for herself from time to time but the villains always get the better of her.

"Comfy now, deary?" Muriel asks sweetly, Simon just nods silently as he drifts into a haze of thoughts. He subconsciously stare at her eyes behind her glasses that are full of warmth. Sometimes, through those warmth, he can't but remind himself of the way his life is; while his younger brother gets to help around and save their lives on a daily basis, he is instructed to spend most his time in the house doing his studies and not bother much with housework or the life-threatening problems.

Simon can't run or walk like Courage because of his permanent disability, and he can't stress or get too excited as he would run out of air and he'd have to use the breathing machine all day.

When Simon reminds himself of this...he can't help but feel...worthless. A burden.

"Simon? Are you alright?" Muriel softly questions when she notices he's staring too long at her with a subtly pained expression; one couldn't see it, but being his mother, she can see through that cold wall he'd put around him. When she gently puts her hand on his shoulder, Simon snaps out of his trance and shrugs off her hand by looking away. Though the motherly smile on Muriel's face remains, she could tell something was bothering him but still she doesn't pry.

Now all comfortably tucked in and set, Muriel strokes his neatly brushed platinum blonde hair and kisses his forehead affectionately. "Sleep well, darling. I'll see yer in the mornin'!" she hums out before turning off the lights and softly closes the now creaking door — thanks to Courage's hard slam.

Simon grumbles at this mere inconvenience but it's not like he could do anything now. He takes a deep breath and let the vibration of the oxygen machine, faint beeps of the monitor, and the rough pattering of the rain lull him to sleep.