WHAT. Tiny Lynches make mother's day cards and ramble at each other WHERE. The Barns WHEN. Backdated to around the 11th WARNINGS. none, straight fluff STATUS. complete
Ronan was having a very good time. The Barns was full of people that he was surprised to find he liked very much. Strangers in his home should have been terrifying, and it had been at the start, but Adam and Gansey had fit with him like puzzle pieces. And it helped that Matthew was here, small and precious and warm with everyone as always. No Declan was worrying. Was he hurt? Was he mad? Did he blame Ronan for this?
Was Ronan guilty of this? He didn't feel guilty. He felt confused but like everything would be okay.
What excited him was that their farm was covered in dream creatures and objects. He could feel them. He'd gone into his father's old dream barn and there'd been stacks of things that felt more like Ronan's own energy than Niall's. The animals on the farm came to him like they knew him and he was delighted by every minute.
Now he'd discovered that the farm had an event planned for Mother's Day and although it made him miss his mother fiercely, he was thrilled to help do something at the Barns that wouldn't ever have been allowed at home. He had card stock laid out on a table now with paints and glitters and a variety of crafty materials. His hands were filthy already.
"We have to make sure there's a lot green," he told Matthew, reaching for a green glitter pen. "Mom loves green. Oh and those purple flowers. Fox…Fox something. Foxhand?" He chewed on his lip and worked on the card. "Whatever it is, I think I remember what it looks like."
“Foxglove!” Matthew responded, quickly, and loudly, because he just had so much enthusiasm in his body that it bubbled out of him at every possible chance. “I remember ‘cause I think of foxes wearing gloves and–” Matthew’s hands went to his mouth with the sheer excitement of it all. “That would be VERY funny!! And you know what? It kind of looks like foxes already wear gloves ‘cause they got the black on their paws! And foxglove has the flowers that I want to stick my fingers in ‘cause they look like little holes!”
This whole thing was a little scary since his mom and dad weren’t around (but Dad wasn’t around all the time anyway, he was off on adventures and would maybe even bring Matthew a very cool toy when he came back!). It was also scary that Declan wasn’t around either, because even though Declan was Too Old To Play, Matthew, sometimes he could be persuaded! And even if he couldn’t, Declan would still watch out for Ronan and Matthew, which was always good because Declan was very smart and careful. So it was a little scary.
But it was also VERY fun and a giant adventure!! The kind that Mom would tell Matthew and sometimes he would have to dive under the blankets because he was just so excited to hear what would happen next! Except HE was IN the adventure! With new people who smiled at him and ruffled his hair, but Blue had told him that sometimes there were scary things but Nothing Will Hurt You, Matthew, but he still needed to Stay Close By, Matthew. And Matthew would definitely Do His Best!
He scrambled up into a chair, elbows propped on the table, his chin resting on his hands. “Can you draw some roses too? Mom likes those too. Can we go find a fox? Only when this is done though. Did you see the boar? Do you think if we put a sled on him he could pull us around, that would be VERY fun, Ronan!!!”
Matthew's energy was good for Ronan's heart, as always. It was hard to worry too much when your baby brother was made of sunlight. He pulled together a stack of materials and scooted them over on the table next to him.
"Why don't you draw some roses, Matty. We gotta get these done so nobody gets upset when they come to the farm." Such an illicit thing - people coming to the farm, openly, to shop! It made him scared in a good way. People could enjoy the dreams here the way he did. "Then we can do some more exploring." The subject made him think of Gansey and Adam, and he smiled lopsidedly as he drew. A foxglove and a fox started taking shape on the card, in charmingly sloppy style. "I haven't seen a sled around but maybe we can build one. Or, hm…" He tapped his glitter pen against his mouth. "We could use garbage can lids!"
Matthew wouldn’t claim to be much of an artist, but he went along with it because Ronan asked–he was very easily persuaded into doing just about anything if someone asked nicely enough, so of course for his brother he’d basically do anything. His roses were more a spiral that had been colored pink and had disproportionate triangles as the thorns and the tip of his tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth in concentration.
That concentration was quickly abandoned at the prospect of fun. “Yes! We need rope! Or bikes maybe instead?” Although it had been explained to Matthew that This Was A Little Different Than Your Barns, Matthew, so maybe their bikes weren’t there either? Either way, the idea of being pulled along by a giant boar had him giggling all over again. “He is VERY stinky but VERY nice and I like him so much! I like all of the animals here, Ro, they’re really good. You think all the people will like them too? And say nice things?” Having strangers come to the Barns–having anyone come to the Barns, was an entirely new thing. The Barns was full of secrets that needed to be protected. And there were always adventures to be had, always something new to explore, Matthew loved his brothers and his parents so so much and of course wanted everyone to be safe!
But sometimes, it was a little lonely.
Ronan watched Matthew work for a moment, a helpless smile on his face. He was a few years and a tragedy away from being enough of a shit to tease his kid brother about ugly triangles, and they weren’t even that bad anyway. Eventually he reached over and ruffled Matthew’s curls affectionately. “Just a regular Picasso over here.”
He was proud of knowing that name. Where was Declan to pat him on the back? Stupidly, he glanced around the kitchen like their brother would magically appear just because he thought hard enough about him. Sometimes that worked with things in Ronan’s head. When said brother didn't materialize, he sagged into his chair and got back to work. “The market seemed to go okay? People were nice to the animals and bought stuff.” He chewed on the end of his pen for a moment and then moved onto another card. “And nobody got mad about the…things here. I don’t think anybody is even scared of Gasoline.” Which was really a miracle because even Ronan was a little nervous about the minivan sized boar that happily sniffed him and then farted away.
Matthew, predictably, beamed from the display of affection, turning his head to nudge it further on his head like a golden retriever puppy. He soaked up love and then turned it back around ten-fold. It didn’t matter to who but this was especially true when it came to his brothers, Matthew’s friends and protectors. He finished off a card with a sun at the top, adding an oversized smiley face inside the bright yellow. “Why would anyone be scared of him? He’s my friend! Oh,” Matthew paused, blinking as realization very visibly dawned on his face. “Because he’s big.”
That never mattered much to Matthew, who had to be reminded often of the dangers out in the world. He knew why the Barns had to be a secret, and that It Was Important, but he didn’t understand the deeper implications of being a part of a living dream. And he certainly had no clue about his own magical origins, and wouldn’t for years to come. All he knew was this, the happiness that came from working on a project with his brother. Giggling yet again for no reason, just because he was so delighted by everything, he threw his arms around Ronan. “I really like the alpacas too, they are SO funny. And Ronan, there’s a–” Matthew’s face twisted in confusion for a moment. “An…alligator! Sort of! He has big teeth.” To demonstrate, Matthew snapped his own teeth at Ronan. “Please can we please do more exploring soon?”
"Uh yeah. Because he's big," Ronan mumbled. It was not just because he was big. But Matthew was still too young to talk to about dream stuff. Ronan barely knew anything about what he could do. He certainly didn't know what he'd already done. Not consciously anyway. There was always an extra level of protectiveness in him though, when he hugged his little brother against his side.
"Alligator?" He must have missed whatever creature Matthew had seen on that front. It made him excited to think there was even more to discover at the Barns. "You'll have to show me. Was it friendly? You have to be careful okay? But yeah we can explore more." His smile grew, easier now than it would a few years down the road. "With Adam and Gansey too. You like them right?"
I like them very much went unspoken but it was in the lift of Ronan's eyebrows as he waited for a response.
Matthew had moved on to the next card, this one getting a flower that had large overlapping circles. So…an approximation of a flower, at least, maybe one he had seen once, maybe one he was creating in his giant imagination. “Yeah, it’s SO nice, Ro. Everything is my friend!” he chirped. This may have been true or…could have been a little untrue. To Matthew’s too big, too open heart, everything and everyone really was his friend. He was scared to have strangers at the Barns, because of all of the warnings they had been given, but not so secretly, Matthew was also thrilled.
Matthew’s little legs kicked back and forth in the chair, his head tilting from side to side in rhythm with the kicks. “I like them! I like Blue and Syd too. If Mom and Dad and Declan can’t be here, it makes me happy we have other people to help us. There is a LOT to do on this farm! Which is so fun! But also, the cows are so big! What else do we have to do now? We have to make cards, please we can please explore, then please can we please have a snack?” He dug around in his pockets for a moment before coming back with a package of peach rings. “Another snack after this one?”
Ronan huffed a laugh. Matthew as a hoarder of snacks and the most energetic chatterbox Ronan had ever known. Not that he knew a lot of people, but still. He reached out to take the bag of peach rings and opened it up for Matthew.
"I like them too. And all the stuff here. We just won't tell Mom and Dad okay? They'd just worry." He claimed a peach ring for himself and ruffled Matthew's chaotic hair with his other hand.. "Let me finish a few more of these and we'll go explore. We can even stop by the kitchen and stuff a bunch of food in a backpack." Stuffing the candy in his mouth, he turned back to the cards and got back to work. It didn't really even feel like work though. It felt like putting something nice out into the world. For moms and for the Barns. And those were two of his favorite things.