AAOOOSC!: Gulls' Adventures!

Next morning, the spring sun is high up in the cloudless, pure blue skies. Yet not everyone is feeling the sun’s radiant rays.

In the kitchen, Brandon is on his feet, sipping on his coffee while typing away on his laptop. He then hears someone entering the room with angry footsteps.

He peers over his screen, spotting Michael furiously striding to the kitchen.

He puts on an anxious smile. "Good morning, Mikey—" He immediately halts his greeting when he sees Michael’s cold glare at him. Instantly, he remembers the body swap of the two brothers.

"I-I mean Crammer," Brandon blurts out, attempting to redeem himself.

Joseph, with the appearance of his younger brother, slams his fist on the countertop’s gray surface. "WE. HAVE. TO. FIX. THIS."

"Are you kidding me?" Joseph’s voice is heard saying from the living room. The two roommates turn to the right, spotting the actual Michael, with the appearance of his older brother, swaggering up to them.

He halts on the other side of the countertop, in front of the two Gulls. "I love being in the AHL!"

"I don’t like being mistaken as you!" his actual older brother snaps back.

Brandon frowns at the man who looks like his teammate. "Sorry, Mikey, but we’ve gotta fix this."

Michael snaps his brother’s fingers with a frown. "Darn it."

"I know, I know," Joseph starts with a sigh, "you want to be like your big brother because you look up to him and all, but I don’t want to be you. I want myself back."

"Fine," his younger brother huffs out.

Brandon turns to the younger-appearing brother. "So the first thing is to find the cursed object."

"Cursed object?!" Michael shouts incredulously in Joseph’s voice.

Joseph turns to his genuine physical self. "What was the first thing you touched when you came here yesterday?"

"How am I supposed to know?" The Joseph look-alike shrugs with his hands extended outward. "I don’t keep track of what I touch!"

"Retrace your steps from before we got swapped," his younger-appearing brother orders him.

With a begrudged sign, Michael as Joseph turns back to face the dining room and kitchen. He then turns back to his brother and his roommate. "I just walked from the front door to the kitchen. I didn’t go anywhere else and I don’t think I touched anything."

Brandon turns to his juvenile-appearing roommate. "Joey?"

Joseph as Michael pushes himself away from the countertop and ambles into the dining room. "Let’s see…," he mutters with his brother’s eyes on the floor. "I brought Mikey in, talked to Monty, and then Joe wanted paper towels—wait, no, before that I…" His voice fades out in realization.

"Wait." He then flounces across the massive room and out of sight.

Brandon and his teammate-appearing person exchange confused expressions.

The actual teammate with Michael’s appearance then comes back into view. He then puts a hand on his actual shoulder, which is possessed by his brother.

Instantly, the exact yellow surge of energy as yesterday zips between the two brothers in a flash. Once the energy disperses, the two brothers stay still for a moment.

The younger brother peers at his brother. Then the older brother peers at him.

The youngest brother’s eyes widen. "I’m back!" With a massive smile, he pats his shirt, then his face. "I’m back!"

The eldest brother gazes at his hands. "Yes…!"

"WOOO!!!" Michael throws his hands into the air. "I am back, peoples!" Then he freezes as a sudden realization strikes him. "Aw man, I’m no longer in the AHL!" He drops his head with a frown.

Meanwhile, Brandon is gawking at them both. "How? How?"

"I just touched the safe," Joseph says with chill and a shrug. "Saw it before, but never touched it until yesterday."

Bewilderment crosses Brandon’s face. "Safe? What safe?"

Joseph holds his breath, immediately making the connection if he shows the safe, he would have to show the gift box.

With a slow nod, he turns around and marches out of the kitchen. The other two follow him down the living room, through the foyer, and into the hallway.

Joseph halts at the end of the hallway and opens the closet open.

"Of course," Brandon states as he watches Joseph go down to his knees and reach below the first shelf, "it’s from the closet."

Joseph straightens himself up with the safe now pulled in front of him. He points to it. "This safe."

"I didn’t even know we had a safe, though…" Brandon points out with a slight frown at the object.

"We don’t even know HALF of the stuff that’s in here!" his roommate points out, extending a hand at the cluttered closet.

Michael raises his thick eyebrows at the messy sight. "Whoa…"

"What do you need a safe for anyway?" Brandon asks with narrowed eyes of suspicion and a hand on his chin.

"Well, um…" With a hint of nervousness, Joseph faces the safe and begins to press the numbers on the number pad. "Actually, I was storing Mikey’s birthday present in it, but since it’s close to his birthday…" He opens the door with the green light’s signal and reaches inside.

He then stands up with the gift box in his hands and faces his younger brother. "Happy Birthday, Mikey." He holds it out for him.

Michael gasps in glee at the sight. "Ah-ha, I didn’t-I’d never…" He peers up at him with gratefulness in his eyes. "Thank you, Big Joe!" He then throws himself at him, pulling him into a big, brotherly love hug.

Joseph hugs him back tightly in response.

Michael then pulls away with a big grin on the present. "Since this is an early birthday present, I’ll open it up on my birthday day, which is seventeen days away."

His older brother frowns at him. "Why do you count down to being older?"

"Because it’s a countdown to MY day," he states proudly while placing his free hand on his chest.

Joseph rolls his eyes in response.

"The irony of birthdays," Brandon points out.

"But Big Joe," Michael starts with meaning, "thanks for being the best oldest brother anyone could ever ask for." With a wide, closed smile, he pulls him into a warm hug.

Joseph wraps his arms around his upper back with a smile forming on his face. "Thanks for being the best youngest brother I could ever ask for," he mutters. His eyes begin to grow glassy with rising tears.

Brandon gazes at the two embracing brothers with a warm mien. "If only my brothers could do that with me," he murmurs.

Brandon then spots tears spilling from Joseph’s eyes. He knits his eyebrows at the sight. "Joey, are you…?"

Joseph immediately pulls away from Michael. "No." He wipes the back of his hands against his cheeks. "I-I just got something in my eye."

Michael spots his brother’s tear-stained cheeks and eyes. "Awww, you’re crying!" he exclaims tauntingly.

"Shut it before I take back what I told you!" his older brother states brusquely.

"Do you want me to get you some tissue boxes and a teddy bear to hug?" his younger brother continues to tease with big, playful eyes, mimicking him.

Joseph’s eyes flash with fury with tense hands by his head. "MIKEY, I’M GONNA—!"

Michael immediately gets the message that he poked the bear too much. "Oh shoot!" He then speeds down the hallway as his brother chases after him in rage.

Brandon watches them make the sharp turn into the living room, one after the other. "Brotherly love!" he exclaims.

Then crashes are heard from the kitchen along with shouting and yelling.

Brotherly love, indeed.


The End

Notes

E.16 "I Am You And You Are Me"
Part 5/5
Episode 16/20