Chapter Text
He woke up with a violent jolt. His body felt like it had been suddenly pulled back to the surface from the bottom of the sea. His chest was heaving, trying to catch his breath like he had just ran a marathon without any hydration. His lips were dried out and cold sweat prickled down his forehead, pupils blown wide, and his face full of fear.
Oscar glanced around once, then twice. And then did it again, a third glance, just to make sure he was safe.
He was in the very same spot he fell asleep in. A cozy spot under his favorite, hundred-year-old tree, in the middle of a field just on the outside skirts of the town he called home. A soft breeze swept through the green grass, gently swaying the white flowers growing all over the field.
It was a stark contrast to whatever place Oscar was in just a few moments ago. He sucked in a sharp breath, trying to calm himself down. His heart pumped so hard it felt like it was gonna jump right out of his ribcage.
Once he finally registered that it was alright, just a bad dream, the relief that washed over him felt like the greatest pleasure one could ever have. His breathing slowed, and his heartbeat returned to its normal, steady thump.
Until…
“You look like you've seen a ghost.”
Oscar tensed up like a rabbit, about to jump. He looked up to find the source of the voice, only to be met by a pair of shiny green eyes that looked so lively but also deep and secretive, like the ocean. They were examining Oscar's face from up close, sparkling mischievously.
He opened his mouth, just about to answer, when the curly-haired boy above him - instead of pulling away - dropped to his knees beside Oscar's sitting form and raised his hand to his forehead, carefully checking for temperature.
The other boy furrowed his brows, the earlier cheekiness now replaced by something that felt like…concern?
“Are you okay, Osc? You're sweating.”
Oscar's shoulders fell forward, accompanied by a sigh of relief. The tension seeped out of his body. He looked to his side where Lando was sitting, and nodded.
“Yeah, ‘m fine. Just had a dream. A bad one.”
His curly-haired friend frowned. “It must have been really bad if you woke up looking like…like that.”
“I shouldn't have wandered around when I saw that you fell asleep…”
His voice seeped with guilt.
Oscar couldn't help but chuckle lightly. “It's fine, you needn't worry.”
He shrugged nonchalantly, not breaking eye contact with his friend.
Lando's lips twitched, which soon turned into the softest smile he had ever seen.
“But yeah, it was kinda bad.” Oscar sighed, “And you popping up from nowhere didn't really help either.” He added, teasing the other boy.
“Well, c'mon.” Lando rolled his eyes, pretending to be annoyed. “You fell asleep, and I was bored, so I hunted for crickets!”
Crickets. Yeah, the field was full of crickets. Their soft chirping blended perfectly into the background, so much so that Oscar had completely forgotten about their existence - and Lando's indescribable passion to try and catch them all the time.
He hardly ever succeeded. It was usually Oscar who had had enough of watching Lando try and fail each time and got up to actually capture some insects for his friend.
“And? Did you catch any?” Oscar raised an eyebrow skeptically.
His eyes flicked down to Lando's hand that was curled into a tight fist.
Lando grinned, ear-to-ear.
“Nope.” He said, popping the ‘p’.
“But I got something a thousand times better! Look!”
Oscar leaned over to Lando's fisted hand curiously. “Show me!”
“You gotta promise you won't tell your mom,” Lando said, wiggling the pointer finger of his free hand. “Or my mom.”
Oscar chuckled.
“Yeah, sure, I won't tell my mom. Or your mom.”
“Okay.” Lando nodded, his face suddenly so secretive, like whatever was in his hand held the key to the greatest treasure of the entire world.
“You ready?” Lando whispered. His gaze was so deep, Oscar couldn't tear his eyes away for a second too long.
“...Yeah. Ready.” He nodded.
Oscar caught himself staring, and his eyes fixated on Lando's fisted hand instead, feeling a bit worried but all too curious to find out what his friend was so excited about.
“Alright,” Lando said quietly, as if bracing himself to do something so grandiose that the entire kingdom would feel the consequences. “Watch.”
He raised his fisted hand into Oscar's lap. The younger boy's lips pressed together, forming a thin line. Oscar's eyes were now strictly fixated on his hand, eager to find out what kind of treasure Lando had gotten while he was asleep.
Oscar leaned closer.
Then, Lando suddenly opened his palm, revealing a pristine white butterfly. A small gasp escaped Oscar. The butterfly flapped its wings immediately and rose into the air. Oscar's eyes widened in surprise, but his lips curved upwards into a genuine, sweet smile as he followed the small butterfly with his gaze.
The butterfly circled them in silly curves before deciding to leave the two boys by themselves.
Oscar kept following the butterfly’s little wiggly flight until it disappeared from their view. He turned his head back to Lando, who had also been looking at the butterfly. Oscar's face was practically glowing, the energy radiating off of him being the complete opposite of when he woke up.
“How did you even manage to catch a butterfly?” Oscar laughed in disbelief.
His chestnut brown eyes locked with Lando's.
Lando just shrugged and grinned.
“It's a secret. You wouldn't know.”
“Uh huh. You can't catch a cricket, but you can catch a butterfly?”
“You see, I'm just really talented!” Lando protested.
Oscar just laughed.
“Okay, stop, that's mean!”
But despite Lando's words, Oscar just kept laughing. He almost doubled over under the cool shades of the tree they sat under.
Lando cracked a smile, too. His head whipped to the other side, just so Oscar couldn't see that he was smiling as well.
“So why shouldn't I tell my mom about this?”
Lando turned back to his friend, who had now calmed down and sat comfortably, his back against the thick trunk of their tree.
“You know, Mom always says that butterflies are…” Lando trailed off, motioning with his hands absentmindedly as he searched for the right word.
“She always tells me they are some kind of pure beings, and that we should never touch them, because that would put a stain on their purity or something.”
Oscar just nodded.
“Oh yeah. My mom always tells me about it too.”
His gaze was fixated on the grass in front of him, looking for any kind of insects he could catch and tease (more likely torture) Lando with.
God, Lando didn’t mind butterflies and crickets, but he hated every other insect. They were so ugly and distasteful and tiny and weak.
Okay, maybe he accepted ladybugs as well.
A cold shiver ran down his spine at the very thought of them. Pathetic little beings, crawling on the ground where anybody could step on them and crush them to death. Without even noticing.
He didn't know why; it just ticked him off.
But for some weird reason, Oscar made a hobby out of catching them and then chasing after Lando. And it was Oscar, after all. So Lando tried not to mind it that much.
“She says that touching a butterfly means bad things. Bad luck or something.” Oscar spoke, plucking out some blades of grass.
“Bad things?”
Oscar nodded.
“I don't believe in it, though.” He said, shrugging.
His eyes finally met Lando's.
“Do you?”
Lando shook his head, maybe a bit too quickly.
“No.”
The people of Draconis loved chattering. Whether it was the market or simply on the side of the cobblestone street, they always talked. Everyone knew each other. The streets were always filled with the usual gossip and rumors about King Jos and the Verstappen House, legends and myths such as the butterfly’s ‘curse’ spread like wildfire. Obviously, over all the years, everyone has already forgotten where these originated from, and no one could tell if they were true or not.
Most of them were simply believed to be fairy tales.
Both Lando and Oscar heard about it from their mothers. It was one of the stories every kid heard from their parents at least once. The kinda bedtime tale that you find thrilling, but don't take seriously because - well, because it's just a tale.
The butterfly’s myth - the warning not to touch one - was something their parents had also been told, something that everyone knew about, something that has been passed down between generations. A classic, mythical tale about a fox, a rabbit, and a butterfly.
People believed that butterflies were heavenly beings, those from the Paradise itself - meaning they were too pure for mere humans to lay their fingers upon. Once they did, it meant that something tragic was going to descend upon the culprit, sooner or later.
When one touched a butterfly, they also put a stain on their heavenly purity along with it, and the butterfly was no longer able to fly. That was what people of Leeuwenland believed in.
“The butterfly flew away, though. It's just a stupid tale made up by some bored peasants.” - Lando told himself.
But his palm felt dizzy at the thought. An eerie chill ran down his spine, with some odd, uneasy feeling starting to curl inside his stomach. He shook the feeling off instantly before it could have settled deep inside of him.
Lando pulled up his knees and rested his elbows on them. He nodded towards Oscar.
“What did you dream of anyway?” He asked suddenly, just to change the topic.
The words snapped Oscar out of the peaceful state he found himself in due to Lando's distracting charade with the butterfly, where he completely forgot about what he had experienced just a couple of minutes ago.
Now, the dreadful memories of the nightmare flooded back all at once, washing over him like a tidal wave.
“It's…” Oscar swallowed.
The scenes of his dream flashed in front of his eyes one by one, each one as clear as the day.
He shivered and tore his gaze away from Lando's, who eyed him with piqued curiosity, flicking in his green eyes.
“It's nothing that big, really.”
Lando cocked his eyebrow. Of course, he wasn't gonna buy into that now. Especially not after seeing how terrified Oscar had seemed after literally jolting awake.
Oscar sighed heavily. Backing out has never been an option, not really. Especially since he and Lando shared everything, quite literally.
They were best friends, attached at the hip, some may have said. So, despite how disturbing it was, Oscar had to tell him.
Lando would reassure him and tell Oscar it was just a bad dream, which didn't mean anything.
Oscar's eyes met Lando's again, his voice hesitant.
“I…it was both of us,” he started finally, “We were older. Knights, I think. Fighting side by side.”
Lando listened intently, nodding his head to encourage his friend to continue. He was acting oddly serious compared to himself, he always did that whenever he was concerned for Oscar. He didn't even comment on them being knights in his dream.
“And uhm…not sure if I can say this.” Oscar scratched the back of his neck nervously.
Lando, elbows still propped up on his knees, shrugged lazily. “Go on. Nobody else is around.”
Then, as if to prove it to Oscar, he glanced around the field, checking for any signs of possible passersby. It was as empty and peaceful as ever.
The field had this ever-changing stillness that made both Oscar and Lando feel strangely safe here. That nothing and no one mattered. Like time didn't exist at all. Like it was just them, the blue flowers and the soft grass, all the small insects and animals that lived there, providing a comforting buzz of life in the background.
A warm, soft breeze of wind grazed the blue petals, making the flowers sway in a gentle, slow motion.
The field was also untouched by people; barely anyone wandered to Lando's and Oscar's little safe place despite it being close to town. One of the main reasons why they chose to run away there almost every chance they got.
It was quiet. Remote. Peaceful.
“We were…I dunno.” Oscar's eyes drifted up to the bright sky, all clear without any stray white puffs of clouds breaking the endless blueness.
Scenes of his dream flashed in front of his mind's eye, some of them way too blurry to register, while others were as clear as day. He tried to piece the fragments together, with hardly any success.
A flash of brightly polished armor. The clunking sound of swords. Some odd place that looked like an old, dusty shed of a villager. And then the blood, the screams of pain and agony, the blurry face of a blonde-haired royal, all flashing through Oscar's mind.
He flinched.
“We were in a tough fight, I think.”
The people around him were all blurry, except for one. The unmistakable tangle of wild curls that could belong to only one person he knew.
“Against who? Can you remember that?” Lando asked. His eyes sparkled with curiosity, not tearing his gaze away from Oscar even though the other wasn't looking back at him.
Oscar bit his lower lip. “That's the thing. Every face is blurry…except for you.” He finally turned to Lando. “It was…a crowded space. All fancy and stuff, like that of the palace.”
Another flash of memory appeared. The blonde royal, seemingly on his knees, blood sputtering out of his chest. Oscar could see his eyes for a brief second, the determination and rage evident, even as the guy was drawing his last breaths.
A shiver ran down Oscar's spine.
“There was…a blonde royal. Maybe someone related to the king. And we…I think…I think we killed him, Lando.”
His friend's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“We killed a royal?” He was genuinely taken aback, maybe even a bit scared as well, and Oscar wasn't gonna blame him for that.
The royal family, - might as well just say, the Verstappen House - were strict, but strong rulers. They have been reigning over Leeuwenland for decades now, ever since the last heir of the Hamiltons had gone missing.
Everyone heard about it. The young throne heir, whose parents died in an early stage of his life, how he'd disappeared mysteriously during the great battle. Some people said he got kidnapped, while others thought he went rogue. Either way, nobody has seen or heard from him ever since. By now, everyone assumed he was long dead.
So, when the Verstappens emerged victorious from the battle for the throne and took over the country, they weren't loved by the folk. Their methods were sometimes ruthless, but they were sharp and methodical. King Jos was an especially strict ruler, but unlike other Verstappens before, he was cruel in a way that the people of Leeuwenland had never seen before.
He was feared even by his own family, some people whispered.
Nevertheless, everyone respected him and his family. No one dared to speak against him, knowing exactly what the consequences would be if they tried. Still, despite everything, the country has been blooming under their control.
“Yeah. I don't know who, or why. But…but we did.” Oscar could see his own conflicted feelings mirrored by Lando himself.
“And…you saw all the stuff? Blood, dead bodies, and everything?”
Oscar hummed quietly.
The screams still echoed faintly in the back of his mind.
Lando tore his gaze away and stared out into the distance, the endless horizon. They sat like that for a few long moments, both of them lost in their own thoughts. The silence hanging between them wasn't uncomfortable; it never was.
Just…the odd feeling of something, something they couldn't quite name yet.
Finally, Lando gently nudged Oscar with his elbow, and the younger one got startled by the sudden movement.
“It was just a dream, wasn't it? No need to be such a scaredy-cat, Osc!” He teased with a sly grin.
If that weird knob in his stomach twisted and turned, squeezing his organs, he did not show it. It would have just upset Oscar even more.
“It was scary, okay? Just- ugh."
Oscar rolled his eyes with fake annoyance, but a small smile crept on his face. Lando was now grinning at him playfully, the small gap between his front teeth showing.
“Scaredy-cat, Oscar is a scaredy-cat!”
“Stop it, Lando!”
Lando stuck out his tongue mockingly.
Thank the Heavens, it seemed to successfully distract Oscar as already launched himself at Lando.
Lando fell back with a thud, sprawled out over the soft grass with Oscar on top of him. His chestnut eyes sparkled with challenge.
And oh, Lando was always up for a friendly wrestle.
As Oscar was holding himself up above him, standing on all fours, Lando suddenly pinched Oscar's waist. Oscar yelped in surprise and immediately lost his balance, and would have fallen right onto Lando if he hadn't turned them over, now Oscar being the one below.
Laughter filled the air, the soft thuds of their wrestling filled the atmosphere with joy, and the purity that could only emerge from young children like them. Their limbs tangled together as they kept rolling in the grass beneath their tree, switching positions so often you could barely tell who was who.
At one point, their movements slowed down, and they were starting to feel the energy seep out of their bodies, but neither was willing to back down. Both of them were extremely competitive after all, especially with each other. So, when Oscar finally gave up and fell onto the ground next to Lando, he didn't even care that Lando was going to brag about it later on.
He would just make sure to beat him next time.
For now, he was breathless. He closed his eyes and waited for the oxygen to fill up his lungs, for his body to relax and stop heaving so heavily.
And then, another image flickered behind his eyelids, another fragment of his dream. This one was clearer than any other, unmistakably sharp as if it had been right in front of him. He didn't even need to think what it meant, because the message was clear - unmistakable.
And the reality of it made Oscar's eyes shoot up. He turned to Lando, who was already looking at him. Not a smug grin, not even a smirk, just looking at him. When he realized Oscar was blinking right back at him, he quickly poked Oscar's hand.
“Osc? You alright?” It was just a casual question, but it felt like he was worried.
“Yeah, ‘m good.” Oscar nodded, quickly. “Just remembered another part of my dream.”
“Really? And what was it?” Lando propped himself up on his elbows, his green eyes now full of curiosity again.
Oscar pressed his lips together.
But the image was still clear: him, standing in front of the red velvet throne, the royal crown sitting neatly on the top of his head like it was made just for him.
“I was the king.”
Lando's eyes grew as wide as saucers.
“The king? Wow, Oscar, that's so cool!”
And then he jumped to his feet and straightened his back. Hands on hips, he raised his chin like he was some hero, demanding respect.
“Then I'll be your knight!” He stated confidently, then continued in a softer tone. “And I'll protect you.”
Oscar blinked at him. He didn't know whether he should laugh at Lando's silly stance or play along with him. He chose the latter.
“I don't think I'll make it far as a king in that case.”
“Hey now! Watch it, King Piastri the first!”
And that was all it took. Now that they were a bit rested, Oscar jumped to his feet as well and charged at Lando, who was already running from him, yelling incoherently.
And they ran, playing mindlessly in their safe little space, their very own field, the territory of two small kids - Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
But there was still something heavy hanging in the air, something neither of them noticed - like a beast in the shadows, still asleep but there, now alive and breathing, not acknowledged.
Yet.
“Oh dear, what happened to you, Osc?”
His mother sat on a stool as she was busy sewing one of his shirts that had been torn a few days ago, when he was adventuring out in the streets with Lando.
Oscar didn't even flinch when he got exposed just after he had stepped into the house. He knew this would come; it always did. The same old question: what did you two do this time?
And of course, he wasn't gonna deny anything; it was pointless. It was obvious anyway, the way his initially white shirt was now stained with the green of the grass in several spots. Not to mention the dirt on his face and feet, all evident enough.
“Lando again? Where were you this time?” She asked now, putting down the iron needle and the silk thread on a nearby desk.
“Just out in the fields. The usual.” He shrugged.
“We wrestled a bit, that's all.”
Mrs. Piastri let out a troubled sigh.
“Oh, you two…” She massaged her forehead tiredly. The dark circles under her eyes were proof that she barely rested, again.
“Mother…” Oscar hesitantly reached out for her arm. “I…”
He swallowed thickly.
He knew that his parents had never really supported the idea of him befriending the youngest son of the Norris family. Not that they were particularly on bad terms, but for some reason, his mother and father were always desperate to avoid them. They never told Oscar why.
But they also acknowledged that Lando was practically Oscar's only friend. His shyness and endlessly kind nature attracted nothing more than bullies, even though he did nothing wrong against his peers.
Oscar always thought everyone was his mate, his friend. But he was so much smaller than others his age, the other boys either stared through him as if he wasn't there, or picked fights with him. No matter how much he struggled, he could never win against them.
Just like all the other young boys in town, he too had only one big dream. To become a knight. To fight in the king's army, the Lion Guard. But when he proudly shared his ambitions with them, they made fun of him. Saying he was too small, too weak for something so grandiose. They didn’t want an ‘outlander’ in their circle.
Because yes, Oscar and his family were still fairly new in town. They moved to Draconis from the countryside, in hopes of a better life.
So he always got overlooked; he got laughed at whenever he wanted to join a game, simply because he was the smallest among them.
They mockingly called him ‘rabbit’, because of his teeth.
But Oscar never backed down. Didn't matter how many times he got thrown to the ground and kicked, almost unconscious. He was determined to show the other boys that he, too, was worthy to be one of them. To prove that he wasn’t weak.
His mother was all the more worried about him. Oscar came home almost every day with new bruises scattered all over his face and body, his clothes dirty and all messed up. She was worried sick about her son not coming home one day. For a long time, the only person Oscar could call a friend was the girl living next door, Lily. They hung out together a few times, but both of them had different ideas about ‘fun’. Oscar always wanted to play with wooden swords, while Lily preferred her dolls. But despite that, they still got along very well.
Lily was like another sister to Oscar. Sometimes she was just like his mom. When he knocked on their door with his pants so ripped that they did no help hiding his bruised legs, she immediately pulled him into the house and treated his injuries with a soft gentleness that reminded Oscar of an angel.
But still, Lily was a girl. And the other boys seeing him with a girl, would only serve as fuel to the fire.
And then one day, everything changed.
Oscar was on the dirty ground, curled up into a small ball to protect himself from the kicks one of the boys kept landing at him. He wasn’t crying. He was waiting, patiently. Waiting for a miracle, maybe; something that would suddenly get him accepted by his peers. It was almost habitual by now - protect your head, your stomach, and wait for it to be over. No one ever came to stop it, no one ever came to help.
But Oscar didn’t care. He didn’t need help. He would keep enduring the pain until they finally realized that he too, is strong. He didn’t care that his parents or sisters or Lily would freak out over his injuries again.
He was sure he could do it all alone. The more his family worried about him, the more he wanted to prove them wrong.
Those thoughts ran through his head while he lay there helplessly. He shut his eyes tightly, held his mouth shut, and prayed. But then, the blows suddenly stopped coming. Someone was shouting at the boys rounding his curled-up figure. Oscar listened intently. It wasn’t some grown-up, no.
This was someone his age.
Oscar dared to open his eyes just enough to take a peek. No faces were leaning over and laughing at him this time. It was one single boy, with brown curly hair and emerald green eyes. His lips were pressed together into a thin line, his brows furrowed in concern as he checked over Oscar.
His eyes suddenly met Oscar’s.
“Hey, you good there?” His tone was worried.
Oscar could only blink for a moment. It left him frozen; the realization that someone actually did come to save him. He slowly sat back up, but his posture was stiff. He wasn’t sure if this was just a joke and it was now this guy who was gonna kick him in the face, or if he genuinely wanted to help Oscar.
The curly-haired boy leaned down and extended his hand towards Oscar.
“Come on, I put them in their place. They won’t even dare to look at you now.” He tilted his head slightly, his lips tugging upwards.
Oscar did not hesitate. He accepted the hand of his savior and let himself be pulled up from the dirt. When he was finally standing on his feet, he looked around, only to find themselves alone. Everyone ran away.
He turned to the boy, who was almost the same height as him, most likely the same age or maybe older by a year or two. He didn’t look scary, not at all. Yet, there was something about him as a whole, something in his confident stance and expression that made the bigger boys halt and run off without any fight.
He should thank him. The least he can do. But Oscar was left speechless.
The boy’s eyes softened. “Do they always do this to you?”
Oscar nodded quietly. He looked genuinely taken aback by Oscar’s admission.
“And you let them? Really? Why?”
Oscar let out a shaky breath. “I…”
“I want to prove that…that I’m not small. Not weak.” He confessed, staring at his feet. He suddenly felt very stupid. “But they always just laugh at me.”
He didn’t dare to look up. He knew what the boy was gonna think.
Or so he thought, cause when his savior finally spoke up, Oscar got taken aback by his kind words.
“Don’t try to please people who clearly don’t appreciate you.” He said with a small, gentle smile. "You're worth more than that."
Oscar couldn't find the right words to answer. Lando didn't seem to mind though. He stepped forwards.
“I’m Lando, by the way!” He extended his hand toward Oscar, who was still a bit hesitant, but accepted it.
“Oscar.” He replied quietly.
Lando flashed a delighted, toothy grin at Oscar and squeezed his hand. “I’m gonna call you Osc.”
“...Osc?” Oscar repeated, sounding slightly dumbfounded. He had never gotten a nickname before.
Lando didn’t reply. Instead, he tugged on their still-joint hands and started dragging them off to somewhere.
“Thank you…” Oscar muttered quietly under his breath. It was so quiet, he himself barely heard it. If Lando heard it, he masked his reaction perfectly, but the small spark in his green eyes was like a silent promise.
And so, that was how they met.
The following day, Lando was already knocking at Oscar’s door. And then the day after that. And again, and again.
Slowly, but surely, he became the one person Oscar could truly call his friend. Lando was probably the only person who didn’t laugh at Oscar’s dream of becoming a knight, the only one who didn’t think he was stupid. It turned out that he too, had the same dream as Oscar.
They hung out every day, Lando introduced him to his favorite places, took him on some little adventures, duelled with Oscar with their wooden swords, pretending to be knights fighting for the king and the country.
And every day, he came home with crumpled clothes and dirty cheekbones, but there were no more bruises. After Lando fended off his bullies, they never tried to pick on Oscar again. Oscar didn’t know how he did it, but he was all the more grateful.
His parents were relieved, but they were still unsure about Lando. Whenever the other boy came over, Oscar’s mother and father acted in such a weird manner around him, and Oscar couldn’t put a finger on why. Sure, he knew his father - who worked as a carpenter - used to have business with the Norrises, which didn’t end well, but he simply couldn’t understand why they were being so judgmental towards his friend.
Lando didn’t seem to mind, though. Or better say, if he did mind it, he didn’t speak about it. So Oscar didn’t push. And they were perfectly fine that way. Although, he would catch himself thinking about it more often than he intended to.
He was barely two years older than Oscar, but sometimes people thought it was the other way around. Lando loved being reckless and getting into trouble, but with the careful and level-headed Oscar on his side, he didn't get caught anymore. Or not as many times as before, but still, Oscar always found a way to get them out of the chaos they may have caused.
They were almost like brothers.
And Lando was really important to him. He was his first, and bestest friend.
So when he saw his mom so tired that she was about to pass out, the dreadful feeling of guilt curled warm in his chest.
“Mother, I'll take care of my clothes. I know how to wash them already. Go up and rest.” He said, quietly.
His mom's tired eyes met his own, and she stayed like that for maybe just a moment too long, looking deep into Oscar's browns. Then, her skin crinkled in the corners of her eyes as she smiled at her son.
“Thank you, my love.” She sighed, and pulled Oscar in her embrace.
She wanted to protest, but she knew it was pointless. Oscar was only 8 years old, but he was already as mature as if he were 20.
“Tell your sisters to tidy their rooms, alright?” She whispered into his ear, her voice weak and crackled. She clearly overworked herself, yet again.
Oscar nodded firmly. His mom laughed weakly and pressed a soft kiss on his forehead, before standing up from the stool and dusting off her dress.
He was already turning on his heels to get the soap, but his mom's question stopped him.
“Did you two have fun?”
Oscar's eyes widened. He turned back around slowly, wondering if he had been imagining things now.
But she was looking at him expectantly, awaiting his answer.
“...yeah.” He nodded. “It was fun.”
“Good.” She smiled, and started for the stairs to head to her bedroom. “Good…”
Oscar watched as she walked upstairs, making sure she was going to get rest. His dad was most likely still in the shed in the back of their garden, working on some new furnishings. He would soon follow his wife to the bedroom and put an end to another long day.
Some time later, he was finally laying in his own bed, staring at the ceiling. He hadn't realized how tired he was up until the moment his back finally hit the softness of his mattress.
He closed his eyes and replayed all the happenings of the day in his head. He couldn't help but smile as he remembered his brotherly wrestling with Lando, their bickering as they laid under the tree, the silly idea of Lando being his personal guard…
The butterfly.
And oh.
His dream.