I don't own Young Avengers

The Trouble With Siblings

Teddy had mixed feelings regarding winter. On one hand it rained, and it was cold, and not much could be done outside, and staying holed up for too long gave him cabin fever. On the other hand he could properly enjoy all the hot drinks and foods he liked, dress up in warm fluffy clothes, and oh, was the cold ever the ideal excuse for long periods of skinship with his boyfriend. Of course, it was a weak excuse, given how Billy was the one more susceptible to the cold, not Teddy, but it meant he was only too happy to press close to his boyfriend, so the offer was rarely rejected. In light of this Teddy was almost willing to say he liked winter, but unfortunately they didn't live in a vacuum, they didn't even live alone, and so it was inevitable they would be interrupted, and more often than not it was by Billy's younger brothers, Aaron and Daniel.
They would come to them with complaints of boredom, and cold, and boredom, and colds, and coughs and sniffles, and demand their older brother paid them attention, something Teddy wasn't too used to see actually happening. He expected Billy would turn them down but to his horror Billy relented far too easily and frequently, leaving Teddy on his lonesome in favor of answering his paternal big-brother instincts. Bless him, the big, frustrating fool.
Now, normally, Teddy wouldn't have said anything on the matter, but the younger siblings kept coming at the darndest times. It didn't even have to be right before sex, it could be mid-make-out, even when they were being cuddly (and in Teddy's case at least - clingy) under the blankets... their timing was, to put it simply - too perfect for it to have been a coincidence.

"...what?" Billy stuttered and blinked twice when Teddy shared his suspicions with him. The blond growled softly but had expected as much - it did sound a bit farfetched, even for Aaron and Daniel. In the past they managed to annoy them with ridiculous precision, but it was more of an art rather than science. This, though? Teddy refused to believe they were that unlucky with their alone-time.

"I know it sounds crazy, but c'mon, Bee!" He insisted. "We haven't managed any alone time lately, and not because we didn't try. You'd think we'd manage a couple of times but nooo, now tell me that doesn't sound odd to you!"

Billy moved about uneasily and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not saying it's not weird, or that I'm ok with it, but seriously, Ted, it's my brothers you're talking about. My unpowered brothers. No conspiracy theory we come up with can explain this."

Teddy was about to agree until a light went on above his head and his eyes widened in realization in a way that confused Billy.
"Your unpowered brothers, yes."

Billy frowned at the eerie declaration before he caught on, and a profane hiss left his lips. Everything they said applied to two of Billy's brothers - but he had three.

–

"Tommy, Tommy!" Aaron exclaimed and barged into Tommy's room. The teen passed the phases of shock and anger at the interruption quickly enough, leaving him to greet the younger boy with a smile.

"Oh, a report? Are they on the move? Hit me, what's up?"

"They're in Billy's room!" Aaron added quickly, making the speedster smirk.

"And I didn't even need to spy on them myself. You're learning! Ho ho, mom and dad are late so they're getting busy, huh? Well, we can't have any of that, now can we? Question is, how will we do it this time?"

The boy stared at him for a long while, and if Tommy didn't know better he could've sworn the kid looked angry.
"Hey, don't look at me like that, it's Daniel's turn to bug them, fair and square, you-"

It was when Aaron started openly glaring that Tommy finally figured it out and jumped to his feet. "...were supposed to be at a friend's place." He remembered, and true enough Aaron began changing, growing in height and width until the one standing before Tommy was his brother's boyfriend and gosh was he pissed.

"See ya!" Tommy blurted sped out of the room, only to run into Billy down the hall. The witch seemed annoyed, but it was hard to tell just how much with his eyes closed.

"...'run, Tommy'?" Tommy tried, and was answered when bright blue sparked out of Billy's eyes and fingertips.

"Run."

He was out the door in the blink of an eye, leaving the young couple behind. Billy sighed, one hand on his hip with the other running through his hair.
"Well, that's that."

Teddy nodded and pulled Billy into a hug, hands on the small of his back.
"Looks like we won that boss battle." Teddy grinned and pecked Billy on the lips, a gesture the witch was only too happy to return.

"I'm telling mom." Daniel declared at the sight before scurrying off out of harm's way.

"...too bad we didn't get his underlings." Billy muttered and buried his face in Teddy's shoulder.

"At least we can cuddle now, uninterrupted?"

"Yes. Yes, we can."

So they did, and were happy.

–

After exposing Tommy's conspiracy, Teddy was certain the younger siblings would leave them alone, but he was proven wrong that very night. On his way back to his room after getting a drink, Teddy came to a stop as he realized a figure was standing in the hallway. Judging by the height it was Daniel, who was knocking quite urgently on the door to Billy's room. It was a cold night and Teddy couldn't fathom why the boy was up and about, even if he did get a clue when thunder struck, making Daniel squeek and hug... was that a stuffed animal?
The door opened the next moment to reveal a tousled Billy who at first glared at his brother before taking in the terrified state he was in.

"I- I didn't really tell mom and dad." Teddy could faintly hear what was no doubt an attempt to earn the older brother's favor. Billy in return snorted and ruffled Daniel's hair before pulling him into his room.

"C'mere already." He muttered and was about to walk back in as well when he noticed Teddy, whose smitten expression could be made out in the dim light of the hallway's nightlight.

Sho kyut Teddy mouthed. Billy in return growled something, and with an expression that was both annoyed and flustered retreated to his room where he had a brother to try and calm down.