Brozone Brain Rot

Please Rest, For God's Sake

Normality had fallen over the band of Brozone. Hanging out and catching up. Ever since coming back to Pop Village, Clay, Floyd and John Dory were all staying in Rhonda until they finished moving all of Branch's survival supplies and such out of the rooms that he had made for them. That's what they were currently doing, moving the boxes of stuff. John Dory went to lift a box of stone spear heads, he got part way up when his back gave out. John let out a yell and fell to his knees, dropping the box. The other bros came rushing in to see what was wrong. They saw John Dory knelt down on the floor, shaking slightly. "John, you ok buddy?" Bruce asked, slowly reaching his hand towards his brother to check on him. "Please don't touch me right now." John said quietly while gritting his teeth. They could hear the pain in John's voice. Bruce sat next to John Dory, placing his hand next to JD's in case he wanted the comfort. "JD, what happened? Are you ok?" Clay asked as he sat down near John as well. Branch and Floyd looked on, concerned and wanting to help. "I finally blew out my back." John mumbled grumpily. At first none of them caught what he had said, so they asked him to repeat it. "I blew out my back, ok?!" John said, frustrated. "Oh John." Bruce said softly, gently placing his hand on JD's back. John let out a little yelp, his hair flaring out like he had been electrocuted, Bruce removed his hand immediately. "John Dory, I understand that you don't wanna be touched right now but it can't be good for your back to stay in the position you're in. Let us help you get to bed or at least the couch." Floyd suggested, gently taking John's hand, ready to help him when he needed it. "Nah, I'm good. I should be fine in a little while." John Dory responded, shifting so he was fully laying on his stomach. "I'll go get Dr. Moonbloom." Branch said, exasperated as he walked out the door and to the elevator. Branch took the elevator to the surface in search of the doctor.
Branch returned with Dr. Moonbloom, explaining the situation the best he could. Dr. Moonbloom examined John, giving him a routine check up before getting to the root of his problem. The doctor pulled out a portable x-ray machine (cartoon logic) and further examined John Dory's back. "Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is I finally get to try out my new sedative. The bad news is he's going to have to be on bed rest for at least a month, maybe more. He pulled the muscles in his lower back pretty badly." Dr. Moonbloom said, excited to use the new sedative. "But wouldn't moving his cause him more pain and hurt his back even more." Clay asked as the doctor readied her syringe with the sedative. "That's what the sedative is for. It's going to take away all his pain for a few hours and make him feel pretty good. As for moving him, I brought my portable gurney. That way moving him won't hurt his back even more." The doctor said, pulling a portable cloth gurney out of her bag (again cartoon logic). Dr. Moonbloom stuck John with the needle, injecting him with the sedative. After a few minutes, she instructed them to move him on to the gurney. A little apprehensive at first, Clay and Bruce started to move John Dory. They moved John Dory to the nearest bed, by that point he had started to doze off. Dr. Moonbloom handed Branch a prescription for pain killers and instructions on how often he can take them and side effects and such before heading off. The brothers looked at John Dory, he was barely awake and singing some intelligible tune. "Are we sure he's gonna be ok?" Floyd asked, just as worried as the rest of them. "I'm sure he'll be fine. Dr. Moonbloom is a very good doctor. But I think her sedative might be a little strong." Branch said as he set the pain killers on the nightstand.
The brothers decided to take turns watching over John Dory, making sure he doesn't need anything when the sedative wears off. Bruce goes first watching John, looking at him in a similar way to when they were little. The way he'd look at JD before bouncing on him to wake him up on Christmas morning or on one of their birthdays. Bruce got up from the chair he sat in next to the bed and reached over to remove John's goggles. They slipped off with ease. As Bruce removed John Dory's jacket, he was reminded of when they were younger and John would help Clay and Floyd take off their jackets after playing in the snow or rain. John Dory would always take theirs off first then his own, Bruce was simply returning the favor all these years later. He unbuckled John's fingerless glove and tucked it into one of the pockets on his jacket, taking note of the tan lines on his hand. His brother almost looked naked without all that on him, Bruce couldn't remember ever seeing John Dory without those silly goggles. Bruce chuckled to himself as he made himself comfortable in the chair and pulled a book out of his hair. The book was an old trollings book that he managed to find, he had read to his kids last night, remembering when their grandma had read it to them when they were little ones. "Guess I forgot to put it back in the kids' bookcase." Bruce said quietly to himself before deciding to read the story aloud to his sleeping brother. About an hour and a half later, Clay gently knocked on the door to the bedroom before pushing it open and stepping inside. Clay bit back a laugh when seeing his brothers. John hadn't moved much since they put him to bed, his arm draped over his head and his mouth slightly open. Bruce sat in the chair, book laying across his chest as he slumped forward, snoring loudly. Clay quietly walked across the room to the bed and moved John Dory's arm down by his side, knowing it sucks to wake up with pins and needles. clay then set the books he brought with him on the nightstand before turning towards Bruce, he was always a light sleeper so it wasn't hard to wake him up. Clay gently shook Bruce, him shooting up for a moment. "Oh hey Clay, that time already?" Bruce asked as he stretched his arms above his head. "Yeah it is, time sure does fly when you're snoozing." Clay teased. Bruce gave him a slightly angry look, Clay just shot him a cheeky grin. Bruce dropped the look, knowing his brother was playing before turning to ruffle Clay's hair. Clay batted Bruce's hand away, starting a play fight. After a few moments, Bruce turned to leave "Ok, ok, I'll leave you to look after the blockhead." said Bruce teasingly as he walked out the door. Clay snickered, enjoying the teasing and light heartedness, he missed that and so much from his brothers. After a moment of reminiscing, Clay picked up one of the books and began reading, it was one he had read before. About halfway through the book, JD started to stir. John yawned and rubbed his eyes before turning to look at Clay. "Well good morning sleeping blockhead." Clay teased, placing a bookmark in his book. JD groaned as he stretched, feeling the ache in his back. "How you feeling JD?" Clay asked, crossing his legs and leaning on his knee. "Ugh, sore. My back hurts. When did i get here?" JD replied as he rubbed the sore spot on his back. "Yeah that checks out, considering you pulled the muscles in your lower back. Branch was right, that sedative was strong if you don't remember us moving you in here." Clay answered. "Yeah I guess. Anyway, I'm gonna go check on Rhonda." JD said as he went to sit up. "Ah, ah, no you don't. the doctor said bed rest, that means bed rest. she'll be fine, we'll make sure of it." Clay said, quickly standing to prevent John from getting up. "Clay, I'm fine. I can handle going to check on Rhonda." John Dory scoffed as he went to sit up again when a sharp pain shot through his back. John bit back the yell and laid back down. Clay stood over him with his arms crossed, knowing exactly what was going to happen. "Oh ClaY dOn't WorRy. I'm fiNe, I cAn HanDle It." clay said mockingly before sitting back down to continue reading, ignoring the angry look John shot him. Clay offered the other book to John, who read the cover and scoffed. "what is this, a chick book?" John teased while flipping through the book. Clay had to hold back the hostile response he'd usually use when trolls judged his taste in literature. "It's not a 'chick' book, it's just a book. I haven't actually read that one yet so don't spoil it for me, Hold on, I'll be right back." Clay responded, putting a bookmark in his book, setting it on the chair and leaving the room. Once Clay was out of the room, JD decided to try and get up again. He had enough rest and didn't need his baby brothers doting on him. John Dory tried pushing himself while grumbling about how he didn't need to be taken care of. that same pain shot through John again, this time leaving the sore ache a dull throb. John laid back down, hating how his brothers had to take care of him. He's the oldest, he should be able to take care of himself. He doesn't need them taking care of him. Tears welled up in his eyes from the pain and the emotional turmoil. John Dory didn't fight the tears, in too much pain and too tired. God he felt so useless, he shouldn't be resting, he shouldn't need to rest. He had pulled the muscles in his back before and just walked it off just fine, why now did he need bed rest? A sob escaped JD's mouth as he felt more emotions surface, the feeling of missing out on so many things with his brothers, all of it being his fault, and so many other things. “John, you ok?" Floyd's soft voice came through the door. John Dory quickly wiped his face and reached up to pull his goggles down over his eyes, but they weren't there. John looked around to see them on the nearby dresser, too far for him to reach. It was too late anyway, Floyd had already walked in. John Dory avoided his eyes as Floyd sat down next to him on the bed. “I heard what sounded like crying, so I came to check on you. I'm here if you want to talk about it, it'll probably make you feel better. It must be pretty big if it made you cry." Floyd said softly as he took John Dory's hand, rubbing his knuckles. ‘Curse Floyd with his soft gentle voice that makes it hard to hold back the tears.’ John thought as he felt his lip quiver. “You know I'm not gonna leave you alone until you talk about it." Floyd said as he traced shapes into the palm of JD's hand. He was right, Floyd had a way of knowing when something was bothering one of them and wouldn't leave them alone until they talked about it (even if it was him that was bothering them). “I just…” John Dory started “I just feel like I shouldn't need you guys taking care of me. I'm the oldest, I should be able to take care of myself. I feel like a burden. I feel guilty for making you guys take care of me after all I've done. I've missed you guys so much but I didn't want to spend time with you guys like this. I'm sorry.” The tears flowed from John again, coming harder as he spoke. Floyd pulled John Dory into a hug the best he could without hurting JD more, letting him cry it out while whispering comforting words in his ear. Once John had calmed down some, Floyd had pulled away and looked John Dory in the eyes as he spoke, gently holding John's face. “John Dory, don't think that just because you're the oldest means you're too old to be taken care of. Just because you can take care of yourself doesn't mean you always have to. You are allowed to be taken care of, especially when you're sick or hurt. We're your brothers, we care for and love you, that's why we want to take care of you when you're hurt or sick. I repeat, we WANT to take care of you because we love you. Anything you did in the past has no effect on the future, you're making up for it now, we all are. That does not make you a bad person, you have nothing to be sorry for.” Floyd spoke firmly to make sure he got his point across, causing John Dory to start crying again. Floyd laid down with John to make them both more comfortable as he let John cry into his chest. Floyd had never seen John Dory cry this hard, it was like years of pent up emotions came crashing down on him, Floyd couldn't help but let a few tears out of his own. John Dory was gripping Floyd's shirt tightly, letting himself be held and cry. Clay came quietly into the room to see Floyd laying in bed with John Dory, JD crying into his chest while Floyd whispered comforting words in his ear. Floyd and Clay’s eyes met and they shared a look, Clay not needing to know what happened while he went to get some books that might be more John's taste. Clay quietly walked into the room and set the tall stack of books on the floor next to the bed before climbing over the other two in the bed to lay down behind JD. John Dory was startled to feel someone behind him but Clay just shushed him. It was a tight squeeze having the three of them on the bed but it was warm and comforting to John Dory. He couldn't remember the last time he had shared a bed with one of his brothers, let alone two of them. After a few more minutes of crying, John started to doze off, the pressure Clay was providing felt good on his back and all that crying made him tired. While John slept, Clay tried to figure out what happened that would cause JD to cry like that. He didn't even think he had ever saw John Dory cry before this. In hushed voices, the younger two spoke amongst themselves. “What happened? I don't think I've ever seen John cry like that or even cry at all." Clay whispered, using his hair to pull the blanket over them. “I honestly don't know. I was walking by and I heard what sounded like crying so I came to check on him. He was crying but stopped when I walked in. He tried to play it off like he wasn't but I could tell he was. After a minute I got him to talk about it and he just started crying again. Poor JD feels like he shouldn't have to be taken care of since he's the oldest. I told him that's not true, it doesn't matter how old he is, he can be taken care of. I think the reason we never saw him cry is because he never let himself cry around us. He felt he had to be the strong big brother, so any tears he had, he'd hold them in. That's not healthy, I think once he started, it all came crashing down on him.” Floyd whispered while rubbing John Dory's back. Clay looked down at JD sadly, was that true? Clay hugged John from behind. Silence fell over them and soon they were asleep as well.
Bruce and Branch went to check on John Dory after not seeing Clay or Floyd for a while. They opened the door to see the three of them squished on to the bed. Branch let out a quiet giggle and went to get the camera to document the moment. Bruce stood there for a minute, listening and watching how his brothers were such themselves. Clay had reached over, grabbed a book and fell asleep with it on his face. John Dory was drooling onto Floyd's shirt and snoring softly. Floyd was always the quiet sleeper, sometimes they thought he had died but the steady rise and fall of his chest told him otherwise. They all looked so content, almost made Bruce wish he could squeeze in there with them. Branch came back with the camera and was about to take a picture when Bruce stopped him. “Just wait a moment. You can't tell me they don't look comfortable." Bruce said, holding Branch’s arm. Branch looked at his brothers, they did comfortable. They looked like nothing had changed, like they hadn't missed twenty years of each other's lives. Branch smiles softly before snapping the picture. Shaking it while talking to Bruce cheekily “Poppy is gonna love this one." Bruce chuckled and ruffled Branch's hair, enjoying how he fell so easily into the little brother role. The role of taking embarrassing pictures and sharing private information. Bruce decided to let his brothers sleep, turning to offer Branch a lesson in cooking one of the dinners their grandma used to make. Branch wouldn't turn that down, he had missed her cooking and she sadly never wrote down any of her recipes. The two of them got cooking, chatting about this and that as they cooked. The smell of the food flooded the bunker, hitting Floyd's nose first. He sleepily sniffed the air, the smell giving him a warm fuzzy feeling inside. Floyd untangled himself from JD, making sure to cover them back up after he got up. Floyd made his way down into the bunker to the kitchen. Once in the kitchen, Floyd watched his brothers cook and talk, jokes being made as food was tasted. It was comforting, the warm fuzzy feeling spread through his body. A few minutes had passed before either of them noticed Floyd had walked in and sat at the table. “When did you get here?" Branch asked after doing a double take. Bruce let out a ‘hmm?’ and looked over his shoulder. Floyd smiled softly, still a little sleepy. “A few minutes ago, whatever you guys are cooking smells good.” Floyd said before walking over to the kitchen to get a better look at the food. Bruce was showing Branch how to make their grandma's zucchini boats recipe, as kids they didn't care for it but now they'd enjoy it. They conversated as the food cooked, Floyd hopped up on the counter to get out of the way. “Counters are for glasses, not asses. Get your butt down." Bruce joked, pointing the end of a spatula at him. “Geez, ok, ok." Floyd said before getting down, hold his hands up in defense. Branch chuckled “Did you get that from Grandma too?" “Ha ha, very funny. Kind of, she used to say ‘counters are for cups not butts’. She never swore around us and tried to make sure we didn't swear either. God, the amount of times she yelled at John and Clay for swearing was a little ridiculous." Bruce responded as he stirred the vegetables in the pot. " And if it got really bad, she'd wash their mouths out with soap. Clay swallowed some once and was convinced he was gonna burp bubbles. Watching him try and make that happen was very entertaining.” Floyd said, laughing at the memory while leaning against the counter. The light hearted conversation continued and soon the food was done. Clay had woken up and came down as the table was set. “Well look who decided to join us? What, did John's snoring wake you up?" Bruce teased as Clay joined them at the table. “ No, the smell of good food did. Is this what I think it is?” Clay asked, seeing what had been cooking. Bruce let out a ‘mhm’ as he set up a plate to take up to John Dory. They began eating, eyes tearing up because Bruce had made it just like their grandma had. Bruce came back down to see his little brothers eating with tears in their eyes. “What's wrong?" He asked, panicking a little, thinking he had messed it up somehow. " It tastes just how grandma used to make it.” Floyd said sadly, food still in his mouth. It tugged at Bruce's heart strings to see his brothers look so sad but so happy. He made himself a plate and dug in, they were right. It really did taste how grandma used to make it. They ate, really enjoying the food before sitting down to watch a movie, every so often one of them going to check on John Dory. The day ended with each of them content and happy, old memories and new ones ready to be made.