Friday Barnes Oneshots!!

Bonding (or trying to)

hehe silly oneshot i love nerdy loser quantum.

SPOILER WARNING FOR NEW BOOK!!!

set in my au!! obviously so you should prob be familiar with the stuff!!!! but a reminder, my characters are a bit aged up, so this is set in book 12 and Friday is 18!

___

Dinner was... awkward to say the least.

It was the first time everyone was really present at the shared table in Dr Barnes's (Friday's mother's) apartment. Well, except for Dr Barnes herself, she was too busy with electrons and quasars clouding her mind to even think about eating.

So, Bernie, a still quite hazy Ian, Friday, Melanie, and Quantum all sat around the table. Ian, being the one there with the most culinary ability, had cooked dinner. It was quite hard when Friday'mother's help would bring the ingredients she needed for the day so he had sent Friday and Melanie off to buy the groceries. It was also quite hard when the dishes he remembered how to make the most were the basic ones he had learnt when he was really young so that in case his father and mother both forgot he was even alive and were out, he could make himself something. So, he had set down a large pot of ragù alla bolognese and sat down looking quite disappointed.

"I would've made something better, but..." he trailed off, frowning.

Friday patted his shoulder and smiled. "It's fine, you did your best."

Quantum, who was sitting next to Melanie (he had been sitting next to Bernie, but that got way too awkward) and was opposite to the two, leant back.

Melanie coughed. "Normally, older brothers act quite protective over their younger siblings and their relationships."

Quantum frowned. "Really? What's the point of that."

Ian looked up and gritted his teeth. "Oh, you know, to make sure their family is safe?"

Quantum looked over the table at Friday and shrugged. "She looks safe."

Friday frowned but didn't comment as this was quite normal behaviour from him.

Ian, obviously, didn't think this was normal and instead stood up, slamming his fork back down on the table.

"How far up is that stick up your ass to make you so stupid when it comes to basic human decency?!" the boy exclaimed.

"Ian!" Bernie chided, coughing on his food.

"He's right," Melanie agreed quietly.

Ian continued, very much getting egged on by Melanie's support. "Are you defending him?" Ian asked Bernie incredulously. "You, out of anyone, should not be defending him!"

"Ian, it's complicated. You wouldn't know," Bernie began hesitantly. He had been meaning to talk properly with Quantum about his behaviour and his entire family, but he hardly has that bond with him. Bernie was the cool uncle that wasn't really their uncle which meant they could get away with anything around him. Especially being an entirely different background, the Barne's children felt entirely free to do whatever they wished and act however they wanted. For Quantum, this meant when Bernie was babysitting him, he just did what he always did. Stay in his room and read. Sometimes, he'd come outside and awkwardly sit with Bernie on the couch while he watched his drama shows, and as he got older, he'd join Bernie in his snippy remarks about the people in said drama shows. Yet, Bernie had always been the closest to Friday as the other siblings never needed him. Quasar would prefer to have her friends over when he was around, maybe give him the odd makeover or tell him about the things that went down at her school. Orion would make Bernie a test subject sometimes in his experiments or play video games with him. Halley never even interacted with the man, staying shut in her room while he tried to coax her out to eat dinner. And then there was Friday, who Bernie had always known would be different. So when she didn't outgrow him, it was a new experience for him as well. He had seen them all grown up. Been around their parents more than even they had, so he knew what it was like. He didn't resent any of them for how they turned out.