Things had been tense around the bunker.
John Dory had a sharp stare and even sharper wit. He seemed peeved, pissed off and angry. The other brothers couldn't figure why John was acting so out of sorts.
They could hear him in his room, smashing and breaking things.
Bruce finally had enough, marching up to John's room and knocking on the door.
“What do you want?" John Dory said through the door, venom in his words.
“I want to know what bit you in the ass to cause you to be such an asshole. This isn't like you John, I've never seen you this pissed off, like ever.” Bruce said, starting off angry then softening his voice.
“I don't want to talk about it. Just go away!” John Dory shouted through the door.
Bruce took a deep breath, deciding to just give John space and be there when he was ready to talk.
Bruce went back downstairs, plopped down on the couch while the others looked at him expectantly.
"Well? Did you figure out why he's so pissed?” Clay asked as he leaned over the back of his chair.
"No, he said he doesn't want to talk about it and I can't force him. So I let him be, he'll come and talk when he's ready.” Bruce answered.
"Well you don't wanna force him but I will. What's he going to do, beat me up? As if John's a softie, he wouldn't hurt a fly.” Floyd said, getting up and going upstairs to talk to JD about his behavior.
The others watched, a little shocked at Floyd's boldness.
Floyd knocked on John's door while shouting. “JOHNATHAN DORIAN! YOU OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW AND TALK TO ME OR I'LL KICK IT DOWN!"
John Dory angrily opened the door, a scowl on his face. Floyd mirrored his scowl, cocking his hip and crossing his arms over his chest. They had a stare off, Floyd used to far worse than what his brother was giving.
“Well? You gonna talk to me or we just gonna stare at each other?” Floyd said sternly, not backing down from his brother's hard stare.
JD walked off, leaving the door to his bedroom open. Floyd took that as an invitation to come in. Floyd walked into the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
John Dory refused to meet his eyes, boring a hole in the floor with his eyes.
“So we're not going to stare at each other, which means we're going to talk about whatever has got you so pissed. If it's one of us, you have to tell us so we know how to help. We don't like seeing you upset John, we want to help however we can.” Floyd said, once again cocking his hip and crossing his arms.
Silence fell over the room and seconds ticked by like hours.
Finally, in a meek voice, John Dory spoke up. "I lost Rhonda and I can't find her.”
Floyd blinked a couple of times, thinking he didn't hear his brother right. "You what?” Floyd said, confused.
"I lost Rhonda and I can't find her. She's been missing for a week. Just poof, gone. No trace of her.” JD replied, his voice distraught.
“How do you lose a three foot bus? Nevermind, I don't wanna know. Why didn't you come ask us for help? We could have been helping you this whole time, maybe even found her by now.” Floyd said gently, walking over and placing his hand on John's shoulder.
“I didn't want to bother you guys with it. I've been mad at myself for not being able to find her and I guess I've been taking it out on you guys. I'm sorry, I'm not used to having people back in my life yet.” John mumbled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head.
Floyd chuckled and pulled JD into a hug, John hesitating a moment before hugging back.
“It's ok, I forgive you. I understand it's hard for you to accept help when you've been living on your own for so long. But remember, we're here for you if you need anything. And if we can't help, we'll find a way.” Floyd whispered, squeezing JD before pulling away.
Floyd grabbed John's face, standing on his tiptoes to give him a kiss on the forehead, a gesture John Dory had used on him many times as a source of comfort. John Dory chuckled and ruffled Floyd's hair before they walked out of John's room.
Once downstairs, JD apologized to the other brothers, explaining why he was lashing out. John Dory felt so bad for lashing out at his brothers and almost pushing them away again (he won’t get rid of them that easily now), he avoided looking them in the eyes to prevent himself from crying.
But he made the mistake of locking eyes with Floyd, his soft gentle stare causing the dam to break.
John stuttered over his words as he failed terribly at holding back the tears.
Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder, Clay being the first to come over to comfort him. JD eagerly accepted Clay, knowing that the two of them were still on slightly rocky terms.
Clay used his height to pull a move John Dory had done to him many times when they were younger, he placed JD’s head on his shoulder while he cried.
The others came over and rubbed John’s back while he cried. After a little while, John Dory pulled away and wiped his face, happy his brothers forgave him for being a jerk.
After hearing the news, Branch started packing stuff to help them track down Rhonda.
The bros headed to the surface, following John Dory's lead to where he last saw Rhonda. They found the shady spot where Rhonda had been parked and began looking around, trying to find clues to where the armadillo bus had gone.
JD stood, watching his brothers do what he had already done while biting the skin on the inside of his cheek subconsciously.
Branch came and stood next to John, looking around the area. “Was she acting funny the last time you were around her?" Branch asked, concerned.
“No, everything was normal. She whined and tried to follow me like she always does. I told her to stay and that I would be back tomorrow. She stayed and I left. Nothing out of the ordinary.” John Dory replied, worry evident in his eyes.
“Do you think she might have eaten something she probably wasn't supposed to?" Clay asked as he reached under a thick layer of bush.
“What? Maybe, what makes you think that?" John questioned.
“Well this makes me think that." Clay said as he pulled a large mushroom out from under the bush that had a Rhonda sized bit taken out of it.
Branch and JD shared a look, recognizing the type of mushroom it was. “Oh no." John Dory said, slight fear in his voice.
“Oh no what? Is that mushroom poisonous?" Floyd asked, suddenly more worried.
“It's not poisonous, but it could be worse. It's a Psilocybin, that mushroom can cause hallucinations. Which means Rhonda could be off somewhere high as heck and we have no way of knowing which way she went.” Branch answered, lips pursed together.
"You mean to tell me that we're searching for an armadillo bus that's tripping balls?” Clay said, trying not to laugh. Bruce smacked him upside the head, scolding him for joking. " Essentially, yes. There's no telling how long the effects will last on her. Could be days, could be weeks. Either way we need to find her before she gets hurt.” Branch said, him and Floyd joining in on scolding Clay.
John swallowed hard, fighting back the tears, incredibly worried for his pet.
Floyd patted John Dory's shoulder while Branch took to guiding them to the flyer bugs nearby so they could get an aerial view of the forest to hopefully see where Rhonda might have gone.
Floyd was going to let John Dory drive the flyer bug when saw how John's hands shook.
“Want me to drive?" Floyd offered gently, JD nodded his head. Floyd sat in the front of the flyer bug with John behind him.
JD wrapped his arms around his little brother, hearing the others take off.
Once the others took off, Floyd turned around and faced John Dory. “It's going to be ok. We're going to find her." Floyd said while holding JD's face before turning back around and taking off.
John couldn't help the tears that fell from his eyes, his nerves getting the better of him. John Dory pulled his goggles down over his eyes to cover the tears while looking down through the forest in search of his beloved armadillo bus.
Clay spotted something, pointing down at a thinner part of the forest. They landed and rushed over to where Clay had pointed.
There was something hiding in the bushes, it growled at them, its eyes could be seen through the leaves. John took slow steps towards what was in the bushes, gently calling out to what he thought was Rhonda.
It was not Rhonda, it was a cuddlepup. She pounced on JD, pinning his arms down and snarling at him.
The others taking a few steps forward to go help John. JD told them to stay, he'd handle this.
They watched in fear as John Dory used his hair to scratch under the cuddlepup’s chin, her leg twitching happily. She let John up as he continued to scratch her chin, rolling around happily.
“Atta girl, you just wanted some lovings. You're a sweetheart, aren't you? Yes you are! The sweetest pup ever.” John Dory said in a baby voice as he stood up and walked over to the cuddlepup's belly and started rubbing it.
"Well, I'm convinced. He can tame anything.” Clay said bluntly.
"Of course he can tame anything. He tamed you after all. You're housebroken and everything.” Bruce teased, scratching Clay under his chin. Clay scowled in return, Bruce and the other two laughing at his joke.
After the cuddlepup got her fill of scratches, they continued on in the forest, Clay swearing he saw what looked like Rhonda.
They came to a clearing with tall grass, hearing what sounded like Rhonda in the grass.
Whatever it was, it was circling them.
John sweetly called out to Rhonda, seeing her through the grass. Rhonda’s eyes were a weird purple color and her pupils were slits.
John Dory raised his hands in defense as he continued to call out to Rhonda, talking to her in a soft voice. “Hey Rhonda. How you doing, girl? Heard you got into something you shouldn't have. You're not in trouble, I just wanna help you. Will you let me help you, girl?” Rhonda growled, her back end raising as she readied to pounce.
She pounced on JD, pinning him. John Dory didn't move for a moment, then moved his head to make his neck visible.
Rhonda got really close to John's face, her teeth bared. Rhonda sniffed JD, getting extremely close to his neck before her pupils dilated and she excitedly licked his face.
“Yeah, yeah it's me Rhonda. You're okay. It's ok, I'm here. I found you." John said, laughing as Rhonda licked him all over. Rhonda excitedly jumped around, happy to have found John Dory. Then Rhonda started arching her whole body, John panicking a little bit it was too late.
Rhonda had thrown up on him, her eyes going back to normal. The other gagged as John stood there with a disgusted look on his face. “Would someone help me get cleaned up?" JD asked, flinging the vomit off his arms and hands.
“Not it!" Clay and Bruce said at the same time.
Floyd rolled his eyes as he and Branch walked over to help John Dory. John directed them to the hose on the side of Rhonda, telling them to hose him off.
After hosing John off, he started stripping off the vomit cover clothes.
“Geez John, I don't wanna see this much of you!" Clay joked, covering his eyes dramatically.
“Oh shut up, I'm not getting naked.” John Dory said as he waved Clay off. Branch had gone into Rhonda and gotten John a towel, jokingly rubbing it across JD's head and body, drying him off as if he was a child.
John went in Rhonda to take a quick shower and change clothes.
When he got out, he noticed that the bus was moving. John Dory quickly ran to the driver's seat with a towel wrapped around him to find Bruce driving them back to the village. “What are you doing?" JD asked Bruce.
“Driving us back to the village. What does it look like?" Bruce replied, barely looking at his brother as he drove.
“What about the others and my clothes?" John asked, confused.
"The other bros are riding the flyer bugs back to the village and we bagged up your dirty clothes in a trash bag. They're on the floor somewhere.” Bruce said, keeping his eyes on the road while John Dory got dressed.
A few minutes of silence passed.
“Is it just me or is hearing them swear, like super weird?" John asked out of the blue as he pulled on his pants.
“It's not just you, it's super weird. Because like we swore when we were younger but they didn't. Like hearing Floyd's innocence ass say fuck is so jarring.” Bruce replied, glancing in the rearview mirror at John Dory.
"I know right! Don't even get me started on Branch. Who taught him how to swear? I would blame Clay but I don't think he had any part in that.” JD said jokingly as he buckled his pants.
Bruce laughed, John pulling on a shirt as he walked back up to the driver’s seat.
“Y’know, I’ve missed talking about this kind of stuff with you. You don’t always push me away because I’m being ‘bossy’ or whatever. I’ve just missed talking with you in general. We should hang out more one on one, if that's cool with you of course.” JD said, resting his arm across the back of the seat.
“I’ve missed this too. Us talking about how annoying the younger bros are. I know you don’t try to be bossy, it’s just how it comes out. You were always forced to be the responsible one, the mature one. Hell, you practically raised us. Children shouldn’t raise children. We should hang out more one on one, I’ve missed hanging out with my cool older brother.” Bruce said, giving John a soft look. Bruce knew that JD wasn’t always the bossy person his younger brother made him out to be, he remembered when John was younger and didn’t have to bossy them around and wasn’t in charge of them.
“Wait, did you just call me cool? You still think I’m cool?” John Dory asked, his face breaking out into a wide smile.
“Yes I did, but if you tell anyone I’ll deny it. How can I not think you’re cool? You’ve literally explored so many cool places, have so many cool things, you’re a free spirit. And you have a tattoo, yes I saw that. It’s kinda hard to see but I saw it. Like the majority of cool people have tattoos.” Bruce said, gently punching John in the arm.
“Eh, I didn't think you guys would notice that.” John said as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
“Did it hurt?” Bruce asked, looking up at JD with a look he hadn’t seen in a long time. A look that younger siblings often used, John couldn’t help but chuckle before answering.
“Yeah but it wasn’t that bad. Kinda like getting stung by a bee over and over again.” John Dory said, smiling fondly.
They arrived back at the village, the other brothers already there. The younger brothers were working on building some kind of shelter.
“What are you guys doing?” Bruce asked, a little confused.
John leaned his arm on Bruce’s shoulder, also confused at what they were doing by cocking an eyebrow.
“We’re building a house for Rhonda so she has somewhere to stay when you’re here. That way she’s safe and she can’t wander away or get into anything that could hurt her.” Branch said, his tone serious but to JD and Bruce it just sounded like a little brother trying to help with something that didn’t need his help.
“That- that’s so sweet of you guys. Thank you.” John said, the tears could be heard in his voice.
“Are you gonna cry?” Clay said, a teasing look in his eyes.
“Oh my fucking god Clay, so what if he’s going to cry? Can’t you not ruin a sweet moment for once!” Floyd said, about to start chasing Clay. JD quickly stepped, picking Floyd up from behind before he could actually start the chase.
Floyd kicked his legs, demanding to be put down. John denied him until he saw Clay making faces at Floyd.
John Dory let Floyd go, Floyd going to chase Clay around. JD chuckled as he watched Clay and Floyd roll around in the grass, playfully wrestling like children.
John missed this so much, his brothers just teasing and poking fun at each other.
“Alright, that’s enough Flo. Let him up.” JD said, gently pulling Floyd off Clay.
Floyd and Clay panted, Clay sticking his tongue out at Floyd. Floyd made a motion like he was going to go back to play fighting Clay but was held back by John.
“Thanks JD for coming to my rescue, you know how vicious younger brothers can be.” Clay said teasingly, Floyd biting at the air to ‘prove’ his point.
“Gee, I wonder how I would know that.” John Dory said sarcastically, finally letting Floyd go.
Floyd flopped onto the ground, Clay gently nudging him with his foot.
The brothers worked together to finish the shelter for Rhonda, getting her parked into it once it was done.
After they got Rhonda parked and settled, John invited them in for dinner and to hangout.
Bruce on a movie, easily distracting the younger three while him and JD cooked.
“Hmm? I’m surprised that it worked. I figured that old trick wouldn’t work now that they’re all grown up.” John whispered, chuckling slightly.
“Me too. Some things never change, huh?” Bruce said teasingly as he chopped vegetables.
After dinner, they all piled on the couch to watch another movie. They turned on Shrek, the movie having a little something for everything.
By the end of the movie, John Dory was stuck in the middle of a pile of sleeping brothers. Clay had wrapped his arms around JD’s arm and was cuddling into it. Floyd was asleep on Clay’s shoulder but had fallen off into Clay’s lap. Branch was leaning onto Bruce’s chest, his mouth open as he loudly snored. Bruce was slumped forward, almost leaning on Branch.
John chuckled quietly, moving his brothers so they were a little more comfortable.
And although John Dory was pinned down, he was happy and content, just glad to be close with his brothers again. Who cares if your back is going to be killing you tomorrow? JD leaned his head against Clay’s, Clay subconsciously nuzzling into him.
John gently ran his fingers through Floyd’s hair, Floyd sighing contentedly and making himself more comfortable in Clay’s lap.
John Dory reached over and closed Branch’s mouth, his snoring seeming to stop.
Bruce moved so his head was laying on JD’s shoulder.
John leaned over slightly to give him a kiss on the forehead, a gesture he hadn’t done in a long time.
JD sighed, more relaxed then he had been in a long time, falling asleep easily.This was kind of a request from a guest on AO3. If you have a story idea feel free to comment it 😁
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Brozone Brain Rot
Fanfictioncover doesn't belong to me. belongs to b0ner-mobile. these are brozone stories I've written. some are aus, it's mostly just fluff. like the sweetest tooth rotting fluff