𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐀 𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐓 || lockwood & co.

TWO ; SLEEP ALUDES ME

Matilda found herself holding her breath as she opened the door to her brother's bedroom - partly because she hoped she wouldn't find him naked, and partly because she didn't do well at being nice.

"Tony?" She called, stepping inside.

This room had been their parent's bedroom, many years ago. Matilda still wasn't used to the fact that her brother now slept in there. For the most part, it still contained the same furniture it did when they were young children - which was even weirder when Matilda considered that Lockwood slept in the same bed their parents used to have sex in.

"What 'you doing?"

Matilda turned to the right. Lockwood was standing next to the closet, hanging his coat up inside. He looked at her with furrowed eyebrows.

Matilda stared at him and closed the door. She swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

Lockwood turned. He certainly hadn't been expecting her to walk into his room, concerned about his wellbeing.

He jerked his head slightly, surprised. "Oh. Yes."

Matilda pursed her lips. "Good."

Her brother stared at her a second longer before he closed the closet and moved past her to reach the nightstand.

Matilda watched Lockwood undo his tie with shaking hands. His expression was pained as he lifted his arms over his head to remove the accessory and throw it onto his bed.

"Hey, stop."

Lockwood turned his head again when Matilda spoke, and he saw her walking up to him. His eyes followed her as she picked his tie up and started wrapping in neatly around her fist.

"Sore?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"Hm." Matilda set the rolled up tie on the nightstand. "I'll get you some painkillers in a minute."

Lockwood sighed as she started unbuttoning his shirt. "I don't need you to play the big sister, Mattie-"

"Too bad." Matilda interrupted. "I am the big sister, whether you like it or not." She refused to make eye contact with him.

Lockwood stared down at his sister as She worked the buttons on his sooty shirt. "I don't think you've undressed me since I was seven years old." He said, attempting a lighthearted joke.

"I'm not undressing you, I'm simply saving you a bit of pain, brother." Matilda replied.

She left Lockwood's shirt on - now completely unbuttoned - and sighed as she stepped away. "Go on to the bathroom, you need a shower." She told him, heading for the door. "I'll get you those painkillers."

Matilda didn't wait for Lockwood to attempt to refuse, and left his room.

When she entered the kitchen, she found that Lucy was now gone, and that George was standing at the stove, apron around his waist.

The boy glanced at Matilda as she came up to the sink and reach into the cabinets, pulling out a bottle of painkiller pills. She grabbed a glass from the drying rack and filled it with water from the tap before turning around and leave once again with a quick "Already smells good, George."

Matilda walked into the bathroom, leaving the door cracked. Lockwood was already in there. He stood at the sink, staring at himself in the mirror, tussling his messy hair with a small unsatisfied frown. He had removed his shirt now.

Matilda set the water and the painkillers on the sink for her brother, and then slid past him to reach the closet. She pulled out a towel, and set it on top of the toilet. By now, Lockwood had popped two of the pills in his mouth and was currently swallowing them with the help of a mouthful of water, the glass held limply in his hand.