Reap the Earth at Which you Stand [boyxboy]

Chapter I

~Saturday 28th October 2017~

"Something distracting you, De?" Raylen teased as he countered another poorly thrown punch from Dakota, he just really wasn't on his game that morning. Usually, Dakota could take down the majority of his brothers, some more easily than others. Loral was weak, and a pacifist before all else, so he wasn't even worth training with. Easton was good with his hands, but he got too carried away and, only sometimes, didn't yield to his partner tapping out. Torin was the only sibling that Dakota had yet to flip onto the mat. He was just too good.

"Maybe the guy you snuck in here last night?" Raylen chuckled when Dakota stumbled, his discoordination almost costing him the fight. However, Raylen was an arrogant little bastard, and that always led to his downfall.

"Do you really think-" Dakota began once Raylen was placed comfortably back in his place, on his back, on the mat, with his little brother's foot resting on his chest, "that I would ever admit something like that within this house? Where dad could have installed any cameras or microphones to catch us out like that?" Dakota pressed his foot down harder when Raylen tried to force himself up, arching an eyebrow, waiting for the boy to tap out. Raylen was as stubborn as he was arrogant, but he yielded as he was supposed to, hitting the mat three times unenthusiastically. Dakota leant down, offering a hand to his scowling brother, only for it to be batted away as Raylen pushed himself off the floor by himself. A sore loser too, Dakota would have added had he been listing all of his big brother's character flaws.

Raylen dragged a hand through his curls, pushing the ones that had matted to his forehead out of his face whilst he took a long drink from the bottle of water he brought downstairs with him. With a small motion of hand, Dakota asked silently for the bottle, not caring that it was his brother's. He hadn't brought down his own, and it was warm in the basement despite his lack of a shirt. Sparring with any of his siblings brought him to a sweat.

"Seriously, though, did you sneak someone in here last night? I swear I heard another guy in your room," Raylen spoke in a lower tone, clearly having been spooked by Dakota's comment about the microphones. They were all aware of their father's extensive security camera collection, with at least two installed in every room, but Dakota happened to know first-hand that there were no microphones attached. Nevertheless, he wouldn't put it past his parents to have installed them at a later date, after all, he hadn't checked them in a while. Not since he was younger. He had perfected the art of sneaking out of that house by this point.

"Not my room," Dakota nodded toward the stairs leading up from the basement, where another of his brothers was having a much more heated moment. Dakota was happy for Loral, really, even if the constant making out did nauseate him a little. The boy deserved happiness, all of his brothers did, but Loral benefited from it most. He was fragile, even more so than he allowed others to see, and Pete was perfect for him. Willing to sneak around, and risk his own hide climbing in the window on the third story of the house in the middle of the night, and just deal with a difficult situation. He was patient, and caring, and just a fucking nice guy. Dakota was happy with Loral's choice, he had found one of the good ones.

"Joined at the fucking hip," Raylen muttered, although there was little venom in his tone. All the brothers held the same views for Pete, none mentioned anything to Waverly, nor to their parents. Loral needed Pete, he was a crutch in a way that his siblings couldn't provide, a harmless relationship that the brothers made a silent pact to protect.

"You're just jealous," Dakota joked, chuckling as he nudged Raylen with his elbow, only receiving another glower in response. Whilst Raylen stepped away to change the music that they kept playing in the background, Dakota wandered closer to the base of the staircase, aware that neither Pete nor Loral had noticed him watching just yet. They were speaking in hushed tones, sat side by side with their hands clasped together. Loral was grinning, that blissful expression on his face as usual that just screamed love. Even if they had yet to say those three words to one another, which Dakota was unsure had ever left any of his brothers' lips in the first place, the feelings were definitely mutual between the two.