One-shots [Reqs: 5]

Treehouse - Horror

we need more screentime for horror, guys.

some of it's Horror's perspective, btw, headcanon that he has a speech impediment and has trouble speaking, so he has a hard time with saying cross's name. so he calls him bubba because it's easier. No Rs or S's to get stuck on.

also, another headcanon, Horror doesn't know a lot of words. he barely five, and he's got a lot of memory problems. it'll take a long time for him to remember the words, and what they mean. he's learning though, and cross is sorta helping.

btw, this is like three days after the last part.

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"You're gonna love my treehouse, it's so cool!" Horror stared up at his new big brother owlishly. Ever since he got here, he'd learned so many new things. He was still learning new things. Like the word treehouse. What's a treehouse? Cross threw his arms out, ranting about something again. His words were too fast and big for Horror. But the air wasn't angry and Cross was smiling, so everything was okay.

"-and I have a really cool fishing pole!" His brother smiled brightly, "I can't wait to show you!!" Horror tilted his head at the new word. Fishing pole? "But we gotta wait until Father's busy, okay?" Cross held up a finger to his teeth, and Horror nodded. He knew what that meant.

Cross beamed, turning away to grab some stuff. He scratched at his cheek around the sticky paper, humming. Horror scratched his own cheek, curious. Why did bubba have a sticky? Cross turned around, holding something long and brown. Horror blinked at it, taking it when offered. He turned it around in his hands, tapping at it. There was a smaller thing at one end. Quietly, he asked his brother, "s..straw?"

Cross shook his head, "It's a sword! You can stab stuff with i-" Horror threw the thing down, backing up. "s.s...s.!" He whined in frustration, stomping his feet. "no! n-no s..stab!" Stabbing hurts, he wanted to say. But he couldn't make the words come out. It was too big. So he just kicked at the long thing, repeating himself. "n..no!" Cross took it back, putting it away. "Okay! We can play something else!" Horror huffed softly, calming down. Cross didn't look sad or mad, so it was okay. Horror sniffed, rubbing his cheek again. It was okay.

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Horror didn't like the woods. They were scary and mean-looking. He whined inaudibly, reaching up to grab his head and rub at the broken part. Cross pulled him along, excitedly talking about something,, pointing around at things Horror didn't understand. Horror stumbled over something long and stringy, shrieking when it started following him. He tried to run away, bursting into tears as the string kept chasing him. "b..bubba!" Horror grabbed him tightly, whimpering as he kicked at the string.

"Oh!" Cross laughed, reaching out to grab the string. He pulled it off easily, tossing it in the woods, giving Horror a big smile. "You're safe now!" He took Horror's hand in his, wiping his tears with the other. "C'mon, I'll show you where to go."

Horror stared at him, his watery eyelight bright with awe. No more strings tried to grab Horror, Cross kicking them all away before they could. Cross was so cool. He wasn't even scared! Maybe it was because the trees were scared of Cross. Horror sped up a little, a small smile on his face. Maybe they knew how cool and strong his brother was.

Cross kicked at another string, picking it up this time and showing it to Horror. "These are vines. They like to stick to your clothes, and sometimes, they have thorns that cut you if you're not careful." Horror pointed at the little pointy parts, ".wha.?" Cross turned the vines around, pushing his thumb against one point. "That's the thorn part. Try not to run into any of these, okay? They hurt sometimes." Horror stared hard at the vine, doing his best to remember it. Green string and red thorns. Red means danger.