Up to something (Zach/JJ)

[Rain Tseung]

Rain walked to the door to the Bishop house. It was movie night, Fridays were movie night, yes they have a designated movie night… Was that so horrible? Was it weird? She kind of thought that all couples had movie nights… Or was she thinking about date nights? They had those too, but Rain liked movie nights better. Mostly because she was able to sit really close to the twins, and potentially fall asleep with them. Was that weird? Didn’t most girls want to cuddle with their boyfriends? Well… Did Rain and the twins really cuddle? She would have to look up the definition of cuddle…

She wondered how much of an idiot she looked like for just standing there at the door.. She really hoped the twins weren’t watching her through the window or something waiting for her to knock on the door… She shook her head, and sighed, knocking on the door a few times. How long had she been just standing there? It couldn’t have been longer than a few seconds… So, maybe no one noticed…

Rain started to hum as she waited for someone to answer the door. Would one of the twins siblings answer? Had she met all of their siblings? They seemed to have a lot… And a few of them weren’t around, well at least not living in the house. How many of them had she met? She had seen quite a few at the Christmas party that she went to.

[Deleted]

Zach looked up from his book from where he sat on the couch when the knock came at the door. Now who could that possibly be? he wondered sardonically. Of course he already knew who it was, or at least he suspected, especially since he’d been the designated babysitter(supervisor) of this little date that JJ had with their girlfriend. Everyone else had come up with one excuse or another to get out of it, or they actually had a legitimate excuse to stay locked away in their rooms for the evening, or haul themselves out of the house. As such, Zach was forced to tell Kai “sorry” so he could stay home and sit in the other room while JJ and Rain had their little movie night in the living room. Kai had insisted on coming over too…but Zach wasn’t about to let his little brothers be corrupted by any further by that no-good adult, much less their girlfriend.

He waited to hear for two sets of rampaging footsteps to come barreling down the stairs at the sound of the knock….but nothing came. With a sigh, Zach pushed himself to his feet and treked to the door to answer it. Just as he suspected, there was the young girl waiting quietly when he opened the door. Zach smiled politely. “Hi, uh…Rain, right?” Zach was terrible at names, but he should at least know the names of his siblings’ significant others, right? One would hope. He turned back and called to the twins over his shoulder. “JJ!” he said loudly. “Your date’s here!”

Zach turned back to Rain, keeping up with the polite (though sort of flat) smile. “They’ll be down…soon…I think.” Probably. What were they doing up there that was taking so long anyway? “Um….” he started awkwardly, then his eyes perked up as he realized. “Right! Um…come in, you don’t have to…shouldn’t be standing…um…just come in…” Zach sighed at yet another of his failed attempts at communication. “Just…make yourself comfortable, I guess,” he said, gesturing in towards the main room. He’d close the door once she was inside. “Can I get you…uh, anything? Like a…soda or…something…?”

[Rain Tseung]

Rain wouldn’t have really understood why the twins and her needed a ‘babysitter’. Well, maybe should would, probably more so than the twins. Her cute little innocent twins. However, she thought that the Bishop family would have trusted them a little more, considering they were seventeen now; all three of them. It wasn’t like they were still fifteen or something. If they had wanted to do anything well, ‘weird’ then they were old enough to, right? At least Rain thought so, maybe… Not that they would do anything weird anyways, the twins were always still kind of awkward around her. At least that is what she always picked up from them. And Rain couldn’t corrupt anyone even if she wanted to!

She was beginning to think she was early… But even if she was that usually wasn’t a bad thing, was it? Rain grinned when she saw the door start to open, then frowned when she saw it wasn’t Jake and John, Or just John, or just Jake… It was their older brother, Zach, or batman as she liked to think of him… (mostly because he always seemed dark and broody to her; like now…) She smiled at him, “yeah it’s Rain” Oh.. it’s not like they haven’t been going out for almost a year or anything… How could someone not end up remembering what her name was or not? Did Jake and John’s family really not care about the significant others of the relatives? Then again, she was sure River didn’t know Jake’s and John’s names either.. But River was never around… At least that was something the twins had going for them, they always had at least one sibling around. The sound of her being called the twins date made her smile a little. It was nice to hear… Probably pretty lame to think too…


The girl rocked back and forth from the balls of her feet to her heels. What was the point of opening up the door and saying hi, if you weren’t going to let that person in the house? But Rain just smiled back at him, Waiting… For something to happen. There it is! “Thank you.” Her smile grew wider as she walked into the house. Was everyone in the bishop family awkward? Or was it just the twins, and Zach? Either way, she now knew where the twins got it from… She walked over to the sofa, but hadn’t sat down yet when Zach asked if she wanted a soda, “sure, I mean… I can get it myself though… I don’t want to trouble you.” She started walked toward the kitchen, maybe she could ask Zach for an opinion on her ever growing insecurity/question. “Hmmm Zach?” She looked at him, “Do you think… the twins should be dating a gestalt pair?” She looked inside the fridge, not really looking to be honest… Just waiting for Zach’s answer… She figured that Zach would know more about the twins than she did, or well anyone in their family would, but he was the only sibling around... If she asked the twins, she was afraid they would be hurt, and would probably tell her that they just wanted her...

[Deleted]

Zach didn’t quite understand it himself, but it might’ve had something to do with the fact that JJ(and Savvy) were the babies of the family and their parents wanted to treat them as such for as long as possible. Maybe. Either way, they were still children and apparently that warranted there being an adult in the house while they were were having their little house date. Zach wasn’t worried about anything happening…at least not in certain senses, he was worried that JJ might get into some sort of trouble just because they were troublesome kids. Zach had to make sure they didn’t go…kill somebody’s cactus or something(he was still resentful about that, by the way).

As for not remembering her name…well, Zach was just overall bad at names to begin with. That wasn’t anything new. And it didn’t help that his siblings often went through SOs and crushes like candy(especially Savvy). To date, probably Zach and JJ were the only ones who were with the same person they were a year ago. Doesn’t mean Zach was any better at remembering her name. He knew it had something to do with the weather, but Storm sounded far too much like some superhero somewhere.

Anyway, they got to the living room and Zach offered the soda, but then Rain said she’d get it herself and Zach made another curious look. Huh….had she really been around long enough to feel comfortable going through their fridge for drinks? What in the world had Zach been paying attention to all this time? (The answer: Kai) “R-right….that’s al….that’s fine.” Zach massaged his fingers in his hair, wondering how long until the twins got down so he didn’t have to be awkward and alone with her anymore. Talking and socializing still wasn’t his strong suit. Either way, Zach headed to the table in the dining area adjacent to the kitchen, where he had his schoolwork prepared for a night of hard studying….if he could manage to concentrate. Before he could sit, Rain posed her question and Zach snapped his head up, confused. “Huh? W-why…..what do you mean?” he stammered out. “…why would you think that…that that would be….why?” Great communication skills there, buddy…

[Jonathan & Jacob Bishop]

John and Jake loved move night. John enjoyed trying to pick out the perfect movie. And he loved sitting so close to Rain on the couch (though there always seemed to be an older sibling around to make it a little awkward). Jake enjoyed movie night because there wasn't as much pressure to come up with a conversation topic. And he loved watching Rain watch the movie. It was nice to see her reactions to the movie and to memorize her face as she smiled. He even liked watching his brother snuggle up beside her. It was weird, explaining the feeling. Even to each other.

Which was why the brothers had started to realize they were going to have to get some advice about it. Maybe from an older sibling? They had relationship. Surely they knew how to talk in them, right?

The twins heard Zach calling for them and hurried to the top of the stairs. There they gave each other a once over to make sure they looked alright before bounding down the stairs.

"Rain!" "Rain!" they yelled as they tumbled into the kitchen. But their grins faltered a little bit when they saw her talking to Zach. Not that they minded their girlfriend talking to their brother. But Rain looked so...concerned. And Zach looked so uncomfortable.

"What are you two-" "-talking about?" they asked, giving Zach a hard look. He had better not be upsetting their girlfriend.

[Rain Tseung]

Rain looked at Zach as he stammered his reply, what did that really mean? Did Zach think the twins really should be with gestalts? She did guess that it was an awkward question to answer cause she was their current girlfriend. She should probably still explain her feelings, though she really wasn’t sure how to do that. She never talked to anyone about this; River was never around to talk to very much anymore, and that alone made her feel empty inside a little bit. She sighed, and opened her mouth to just tell him to forget she ever asked the question. But the twins came bounding down; she couldn’t help but smile as she saw them.


“Hi Jake, and John.” There really wasn’t any amount of words that she could use to describe her feelings for the twins, and how much she loved these nights, semi alone with them. (she still didn’t get the babysitter thing). Rain liked how much the twins actually knew her and were able to pick out movies that she liked, and she liked doing the same for them too and being able to pick out the perfect movie that they love. Sitting close to both of them was a plus; and a bonus if she kissed them too. But that rarely happened at the Bishop house…


She looked between Zach and the twins, about twice. “Oh.. It’s nothing, really! Just.. small talk.” She smiled at them, and hoped Zach wouldn’t tell them what she had just asked. Because obviously she hadn’t talked about her concerns with them…

[Deleted]

Zach had every intention of being as out of the way from those three as much as possible tonight. Maybe he’d actually catch up on his schoolwork, like he’d been trying to do? Or….maybe he’d just end up procrastinating again and end up texting Kai all night anyway? Either way, it was very unlikely that he’d be paying much attention to anything the twins and Rain did in the other room…not that he thought he didn’t have anything to worry about, just that it wasn’t his business and he had no interest. If they needed him for something, the boys knew how to get his attention, in the most effective(and annoying) ways.

So with that in mind, he was more or less expecting to be ignored for the evening. Hence why it startled him that Rain asked such a….serious question. That required an assessment and opinion. Which was fine, he could do that, but communicating it was another story. But first, he wanted to know why she’d even consider that the twins would be much better off with another pair of gestalts. That was something that…well, it hadn’t ever really occurred to him before, and now that it was brought up….it just made him uncomfortable. Because weren’t they happy as they were?

Rain was about to answer and…of course the twins would choose that moment to come romping down the stairs, in all their tromping glory. Zach wouldn’t have known how to answer the twins, so he was glad when Rain seemingly dismissed the conversation, breathing a silent sigh of relief for it. “Yeah, it’s nothing, I was just….asking…if she wanted a soda, or something…and look, she got a soda, how about that, ha ha…!” Awkward.

Zach stepped across the dining area towards the kitchen to grab himself a drink of his own. Yeah, he was going to need a Sam Adams(his dad’s choice) if he was going to get over these sudden jitters. He popped the cap off the bottle once it was in hand, and turned to the trio. “Well, uh…you guys should…I’ll just be…here….” He nodded and headed back to the table feeling like he just lost a few thousand words of vocabulary. The ones he needed for the most basic of sentences, no less.

[Jonathan & Jacob Bishop]

John and Jake were still a little concerned with what their girlfriend and brother had been talking about. Zach was acting weird. But then again he tended to get a little weird sometimes, especially when people outside of the family were over.

"Okay well...Ready for a movie?" John asked, holding up Lilo and Stich. And with another odd look at their brother the boys turned to lead Rain away.

Jake held back for a moment, giving his twin a meaningful look before he did so.

"We need to talk to you later...you'll be around?" Jake asked Zach. Though the brothers didn't really care one way or the other about being babysat whenever they had Rain over, they did actually want to talk to Zach tonight. They needed some advice. Relationship advice. And Zach had relationship experience, right?

Without really waiting long for an answer, Jake hurried after his brother and girlfriend to watch the movie.

"You look...beautiful." he said once he caught up.

"As always," John added, popping in the movie and taking a seat on the couch with his brother. They two left a space between them for Rain.

[Rain Tseung]

The reason why Rain was asking, and why she was so worried about it because she kept thinking she wasn’t enough. That the twins would have an easier time with a gestalt pair than her.. Maybe even happier.. Was that depressing?

Rain smiled at the twins, and nodded. “Yes I’m ready!” She squeed a little and clapped her hands together. Lilo and stitch was one of her favorite Disney movies! Granted she had a lot of favorites. Rain followed the twins out into the living room. Not really paying attention to them talking to Zach.


She looked fondly at Jake, and hugged him. “thanks. You guys look handsome, like always.” She winked at John. She sat in the middle of the twins like always. “I’m glad you picked this movie for tonight.” Ah, she was very happy right now. Though she kind of really wanted to talk to Zach again, she was curious about his answer…

[Deleted]

Ah…thank god the twins were there. No, no, Zach shouldn’t think like that. Rain was asking him an earnest question and it was disrespectful for him to feel relieved that he’d gotten out of it. He did wonder about it, though. He hoped it wasn’t anything too serious. After all….love was….dating was….there were no rules, really, in who you were supposed to or not supposed to date. If there were…well, Zach wouldn’t be with Kai.

Thinking of the big-headed younger man made Zach want to punch him. Affectionately, of course.

He waved them off and was about to get to his writing when Jake caught his attention. Zach stared at him and his….request? “Uh….yeah….” he uttered dumbly, looking to the table then back to his little brother. “I don’t really, uh…have any plans to—” Before he could finish his answer, Jake left the room to join John and their girlfriend, leaving Zach standing there, blinking and confused. “O-kaaaay…” he said to himself slowly as he lowered himself into the wooden dining chair in front of his laptop. With a sigh, Zach started tapping away at the keyboard…

[Jonathan & Jacob Bishop]

John and Jake smiled at Rain's obvious happiness at their movie choice. They figure you could never go wrong with a Disney movie. Although there were some times they had to look away for a moment so Rain wouldn't see them tear up. You couldn't let your girl catch you weeping during a cartoon, right?

All settled in and the movie starting, John raised one arm to lay it around Rain while Jake just sorta leaned over towards her. It had been easier lately for Jake to get up the nerve to actually initiate something with Rain (a conversation, a touch, ect) but it was still hard for him. Where John had always found it easier, he now sometimes found him double checking Rain's face or body language. It was weird, and they hoped that A) Rain hadn't really noticed and B) that it would level out or something soon.

"We're glad you like it," Jake said.

"How can you not like Stich? He's a cute lil ball of awesome!" John added and both brothers laughed. And while the brothers were excited about spending time with Rain, they were also trying to figure out a way to excuse themselves so they could talk to Zach.