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“Ditos!” Fish took the last few steps down the stairs at a run, leaping off the landing with open arms at his second eldest brother who was standing with some of their other siblings in the large, open marble entryway. He laughed as his brother cursed and reached back for him, catching Fish right out of the air like he weighed nothing at all.

“Damnit, Bubbles!” Aphroditos grumbled and readjusted his grip so as to not drop his youngest sibling. “You’re not five anymore, you can’t just jump people like that!”

“Aww, don’t say that!” Their oldest sister laughed. “He’s barely grown since he was five anyways!”

“Murder!” Fish laughed, flopping dramatically and giggling as Aphroditos scrambled to keep him from falling from his arms and onto the cold marble floor.

“You’re both terrible.” Aphroditos sighed, long-suffering but not actually mad with them as a few of their other siblings laughed at their antics. “Enough, enough already! Off with the lot of you while I go dump this guppy back into the ocean where he crawled out of.”

“Hey, that’s not true!” Fish cackled, grunting as Aphroditos man-handled him up over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes even as Fish waved goodbye to the rest of their siblings from behind his brother’s enormous back. “We all know papa brought me home in a bucket and dada and mama couldn’t say no!”

“Strength to mama and dada, you take much too much after papa.” As if that was a bad thing at all, Fish rolled his eyes and shoved his knee into his brother’s ribs. Papa was the best and Fish would defend his honour! His attitude was short-lived as, in retaliation, Aphroditos shrugged him up into the air to come down again hard on his gut before spinning around in quick, tight circles.

“Mercy! Mercy you big oaf!” Fish shrieked as he clawed at whatever parts of his brother he could get his hands on to brace himself from flying clean off the bigger man. 

“Not until you stop being a little shit!” Aphroditos cackled, holding tighter onto Fish’s knees and spinning him again and again.

“Stop! We’re going to end up in the sand!”

“Then say you’ll stop being annoying!”

“Ditos!” Fish wailed, his wheezing laughter going a little strangled as his head started to feel like it was spinning in a completely different direction from his body. “Stop, I’m going to hurl!”

“Fine.” The world violently came to a complete stop and then seemed to weave in front of his eyes, though if that was his head or Aphroditos being just as dizzy, Fish had no idea. He tried to hold himself up with his hands but his arms gave out from under him almost immediately as the world continued to roll like a ship on the waves.

“You’re such an ass.” He wheezed, slapping his hand against his brother’s back in a way that was just slightly too hard to be completely comforting.

“And you’re a gremlin.” His older brother replied, his voice taking on a warmer tone as they slowly began to move down the path to the beach again. “Missed you though.”

“Me too.” Fish agreed, giving his brother a clumsy, slightly upside down hug. “You were gone for a while this time.”

“Yeah.” Aphroditos took a big breath of ocean air and let it out in a slow sigh. Even with all the excitement they’d just had, he felt relaxed in a way he hadn’t since he’d left the Bluffs almost a year ago. “Got things mostly sorted, still a few bits and bobs to take care of, but I got time to settle in until I need to head out again.”

Fish nodded, a burning feeling building up at the back of his throat as he shoved his face into his brother’s thick jacket, taking in lungfuls of that familiar, comforting smell. “Okay.” He swallowed wetly as he clung to his brother. “Missed you, Ditos.”

His knees got a gentle squeeze in return and nothing more needed to be said between them. Ahproditos was back, at least for now. Fish would get time to spend reconnecting with his favourite brother, his best friend. They’d get to hang out, to go hiking and swimming, eat dinner on the beach. They’d get to-

Fish squawked as everything suddenly flipped and he was dropped into the ocean.

“Ditos!” He laughed, spitting out seawater and splashing as his brother’s quickly retreating form, his laughter loud and booming against the windy waves. “You absolute, asshole! I take it back! Janus is my favourite brother now!”