12 days of xmas [BrightWin]

🎁Day 4: lead and I will follow

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

A helpful hand
(it was as warm as his heart)

"What's the deal with Bright anyway?" Win asked his brother the next day. Both of them had been early to rise and were now nurturing each a big cup of steaming coffee in the grayish light of the quiet morning. "I don't get it. Why is he even spending Christmas with us?" Win's forehead creased. "Isn't his mother friends with our mom, then why isn't she here too?"

Toptap choked on a bitter gulp of coffee that he had been about to swallow. He cleared his throat and then looked bewildered at Win from across the kitchen counter that was littered with misshapen gingerbread houses. Toptap's features looked eerily feline and far too alert for such an early hour.

"You're the one sharing a room with the guy and you haven't even bothered to talk to him yet? And you're... a lawyer? Where's your sense of curiosity?" It was just typical of Win to act so skittish around new people and overreact over the simplest of things (at least privately, when it came to work Win always kept a cool head on his shoulders).

Win pouted, brows drawn into a V-shape. "I'm a legal advisor," he corrected. "But that's not the point. The point is that Bright's a complete stranger. It's not like I can ask him why he's here, that would be rude. So you need to help me out. What am I missing here?"

Toptap gave him a look (surely Win had already done ruder things to Bright, making good natured small talk would hardly hurt either of them at this point).

"Oh, Winnie," He parroted their grandma's nickname for Win, who instantly fidgeted in his seat at the kitchen counter, his bare feet suddenly getting a little chilly on the metallic footrest of his bar chair. "Haven't you listened to anything that mom has been saying? I know you have a tendency to zoon out but seriously... when will you grow up?" Win squeaked indignantly, shoulders flying up to his ears while Toptap only sighed dramatically. "I know. I know." He held up one hand, hanging his head limply. "It's my fault, I've been babying you too much."

Win could only blink stupidly at his brother for a couple of heartbeats. He was still sporting a fluffy bedhead, making him look all the more bewildered. He could just not understand. When had his stuck up brother ever babied him? Toptap was most likely to tease Win more than anything else (in Toptap's defense; Win had been a slightly awkward child while growing up, too shy to interact with new people so Toptap had only seen it as his brotherly duty to push him out into uncharted waters to experience new things). Win scratched at his cheek then, dejectedly looking down at the steaming, dark liquid in his mug.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on or will you continue shaming me?" He muttered petulantly. Toptap only rolled his eyes, not buying Win's sad little act (he could be so infuriatingly dense sometimes that it was basically inexcusable to be that kind of stupid).

"Bright moved here last year to be with his mom," Toptap relented with a sigh, his long fingers tracing around the rim of his cup, a little furrow between his sharp brows. "Do you remember the nurse that worked together with mom years ago?" Win scrunched up his face, thinking. He had a hazy memory of a friendly looking lady so he proceeded to nod in the affirmative. "Well, she was transferred back to work at mom's hospital and it turns out that Bright's her son. We didn't even know that auntie had a grown up kid until he showed up one day. So long story short, he's been spending time at our house, tagging along with auntie whenever she came over during this past year. I guess that mom's just adopted him by now. You know how our mother is, she picks up strays left and right."

Win's brows flew up to his hairline. Well that certainly explained why Bright seemed to know so much about him. Win frowned in quick succession, another question on the tip of his tongue but his words were drowned out by sleepy voices and the stampede of footsteps coming down the stairs. Toptap smiled tightlipped at his little brother and they chose to end their gossipy conversation for now.