Oh Brother, My Brother (In-Law) [MPC 57A/57X]

I would like bits at the end of this please.

---

Colin was delighted at the prospect of a second christmas. No, not back home in Nebraska, although his family had insisted that they return there once every three years for 5 weeks for Thanksgiving and Christmas. That meant that next year would be the big one in the states. Colin for a moment had worried about what that would mean for Luke and Bellamy, but, he supposed that would be a problem for next year. Besides, he chuckled when Gaz joked that maybe for once, Bellamy could actually go back to where his accent came from. The thought was swept from his mind at that.

Instead, they would have a second christmas in the Digital World, in Snowflake no less. While Colin did like it in Japan, he did kind of miss the winter wonderland that Omaha was around this time. Of course, not that Japan's mild winters were something he disliked, but, seeing a snowy landscape in December was something he appreciated. It brought back memories of snowball fights with Sophie as they were children. Yeah, she usually won, but she never hit too hard. And the few times he had won was when their old family dog joined in, more often than not protecting Colin from the onslaught.

Seeing Snowflake Village again at this time, well, it reminded him of those old days. Then all at once, he remembered their old family dog had died of old age just before they made the decision to move to Japan 5 years ago, and for a moment, he was sad. Luke caught onto this at once and looked up at his partner. "Everything alright, Colin?" he asked.

"Yeah, just... remembering things..." Colin admitted. Luke nodded with acknowledgement, and silently offered him a hug. Colin accepted, kneeling down in the snow and embracing his partner, appreciating his soft, warm fur. Luke understood that Colin was sad sometimes about family occasions. He knew that Colin once had a dog that he loved, which explained why he had come to accept him and Bellamy as his partners so quickly. And he also knew that he had a grandfather also called "Luke", who had died recently too. The Elecmon fully understood the raw memories, and always made sure that Colin had someone to be with in these moments. Sometimes it was him, sometimes he hinted to Bellamy to cheer him up.

Thankfully Colin's smile returned quickly. Luke knew it would, the boy seemed to like moments of affection like this. Bellamy meanwhile grumbled a little.

"Hey c'mon guys, I'm freezin' my tail off here!" he whined.

"I keep telling you, Bellamy, you should wear pants in Snowflake when it's winter" Colin said, dressed thickly in three layers of upper and lower body clothes, boots, gloves and also a warm ushanka style hat. Luke, Gaz and Bellamy were also mostly wearing extra layers of clothes, sans pants. The excuse was understandable, it was just too hard for the digimon with their clawed feet and tails to wear the garments, so they compensated with jackets and coats. Still, there was an extra bite to the weather today.

They entered the rented lodge. Colin, Luke, Bellamy and Gaz grinned as they looked around, seeing how snug it was.

"Oh man! I've always wanted to stay in a place like this!" Bellamy exclaimed, excitedly. After unpacking, it seemed that they were going to go back to the village proper to get provisions for the night.

"Oh yeah, we'd best do that" Colin said. realizing that. "Coming, Bellamy?"

"Aw, why do I gotta go?" Bellamy asked, pouting at the prospect of missing out on alone time with Coronamon.

"Because your kids are going out in the snow and they'd need you to look after them" Colin answered.

"Wait, what, I'm goin' too?" Gaz asked, almost outraged.

"Eh, don't worry about it, Gaz, we'll get your favorite snack while we're in the village" Bellamy promised, relenting. Besides, he missed Finn. Having both him and Gaz around was just as good as being with Coronamon in his view.

"Alright, you guys look after the place~" Colin said to Luke and Coronamon as they departed, leaving them alone. With that, Luke turned to the fire lion.

"Huh, wow, just realized we've never really been like this, huh?" Luke asked, grinning sheepishly. Still, Bellamy loved this digimon with all his heart and Luke had accepted it long ago, so, maybe this would be his chance to get to know his future brother-in-law a little better? But first, they would have some jobs to do. "Ah, how 'bout we get a fire started?" he suggested. "I'd do it myself, but, you'd probably be better at it" he chuckled.

That Coronamon seemed a bit distant when left alone with Luke wasn't unnoticed with the Elecmon. That he was doing that concerned him a little. After all, Coronamon and Bellamy were going to be married soon and when they were, Luke would be his brother-in-law. And so far the fire lion had done nothing wrong in his eyes.

After a moment, Luke realized that it was probably shyness. After all, for all the time they had known each other, it was Bellamy that always talked to him, while Luke didn't really know him at all, other than what his brother told him about him. Well, always the optimist, maybe tonight could change that? As the fire was lit, Luke was grateful, moving toward the fire. It heated him up fairly quickly, so that he decided to change out of his heavy winter jacket and into a warm blue flannel shirt, taking a seat near the fireplace. As he did so, the blizzard outside kept going...

---

As they were holed up in the Snowflake inn for the night, as it seemed, Bellamy for one was extremely restless. Two of the people that he loved the most in his life were out there in the cabin still, isolated by this blizzard. Thankfully he was with others that he loved, his son, daughter and partner. And Bellamy liked Marshal a lot too, thinking of him as one would think of an uncle or cousin. But still... he didn't like being cut off like this.

When Finn asked if they'd be okay, Bellamy reached up and patted his son's back after Marshal said his piece. "They'll be fine. Your uncle Luke's a really smart guy, and your dad's all about fire, so they'll be able to do that stuff".

"Aw, I was really lookin' forward for dad's cooking tonight too" Gaz pouted.

"There'll be tomorrow night, Gaz, don't worry" Colin assured the Gazimon. "This is just... an unavoidable setback, don't worry".

---

As the blizzard howled on, Luke watched another window with worry, seeing the snow pile higher and higher. While of course he knew it would be suicide to go outside in it right now, he just hoped that they wouldn't end up entombed here.

'Don't worry, it's only snow, it'll melt away eventually' he reasoned with himself. Besides, the fire was keeping the whole cabin warm, well, at least the living space. Luke had closed the bedroom and bathroom doors to preserve heat to the main room.

Eventually, after deciding that sitting here silently worrying about the snow wasn't constructive, Luke decided to speak to the other digimon in here. "Heya. Are you holding up okay?" he asked Coronamon gently. He too was a little nervous about how he'd come across, given that this was one of the first times he'd talk to Coronamon when his brother wasn't around. "Our partners should be fine, hopefully they're holed up in the inn for the time being".

Following that, Luke supposed he should probably say a little more than that, so, he gave a smile. "Hey, why don't we have a bit of a chat for a while? We haven't really got to know each other yet" he said, smiling. "I mean, we're really gonna be family soon. Brothers-in-law, I think the term is. So why don't we sit by the fire and... just... talk for a bit?"

Luke noted immediately that Coronamon seemed to be more nervous than usual. The Elecmon was a little concerned about this, given what he had heard about Coronamon from his brother. That yes, he could be a little shy and bashful, especially when left alone without his partner, but, Luke thought that this reaction was just a little excessive. As though this was a reaction to him personally.

"Well, my brother can be kind of a dork sometimes, but, believe me, we know not to mess around with a blizzard" Luke answered, trying to sound gentle.

As Coronamon accepted his offer to talk a little more, Luke in turn would offer something that might help him relax a little, since he thought that there probably needed to be some ice broken here.

"Do you want to have a cup of wine?" Luke offered. "I don't drink that often myself, but, just a cup or two kinda helps". And also, if Luke was in Coronamon's shoes, not that he wore any, he'd be a little anxious to be left alone in a room with the brother of the digimon he wanted to marry, especially in that Bellamy had mostly kept that part of his life to himself. Yeah, he'd gush about how cute Coronamon was and how much he loved him, but, he was eager to know him as a person himself. Not that he suspected anything was wrong, just, he wanted to make sure his brother would truly be happy. And he was roughly 90% certain that was the case. But still, he'd like to get to know this digimon.

If Coronamon accepted, Luke would go to the kitchen, pour some red wine into small goblets, then return to the fireplace and give him one of them.

"Well... what I want to know..." Luke initially answered Coronamon's question. "Eh that's fine, don't worry. I guess... what do you like most about Bellamy?" he thought that might be a way they could initially bond. Coronamon knew the Impmon as a lover, while Luke knew him as a brother. Maybe there was some nice talk they could make about him, given that Bellamy was their common relative in this situation.

As Luke returned with the cups of wine, he waited to listen to what Coronamon had to say. He hoped this would be an easy question to answer, after all, they had agreed to marry soon. If there was any lingering doubts, well, he hoped there would be none. And frankly he felt a little ashamed of himself that he had asked this first up.

But thankfully Coronamon had a good answer. Luke smiled in understanding, sipping his own wine. Sometimes, love just didn't work out in a meaningful way. After all, when Luke fell for Veemon, he couldn't come up with a reason for that, other than he found him attractive in looks and personality, and it was honestly the Elecmon's best night ever when they had went on that date in Whitewater.

Of course, that was only a one night thing, and Luke was far from going to the step that his brother and Coronamon were taking. However, he didn't want to worry about that too much. After all, he could sense no problems that Bellamy had with him, so hopefully that was a good sign.

What Coronamon had to say next intrigued him. "No, I don't think you have" he said, curiously. "What did happen?"

Luke had kind of a bad feeling about this. He remembered his previous life as Leky, and remembered that at one point he had become so angry at Impy, the digimon that Bellamy had previously been that he had walked away at one point. Even though they had reunited, it felt that something about their partnership had changed from then on out, and he never knew the reason why. While he thought that this information was probably something he shouldn't know, he was still curious enough to ask about it.

If truth be told, even if Luke had known Bellamy back in those days, he spoke little about the time they had been apart. And Luke was fine with that, because it had been a testing moment for their relationship back then, as far as he knew it, mainly because he thought that Bellamy (or "Impy" as he was) was starting to care more about their bounties than their friendship.

Luke had deeply regretted his actions as Leky back then, going as far as abandoning Impy when he thought he had lost sight of their friendship. And hearing what Impy had did back then made his blue eyes widen.

"Oh my god..." was all Luke could say as he heard the introduction to that story. Coronamon said he had a major falling out with a partner, and guilt then filled him. He knew who that was, and he had never comprehended just how hurt Impy was that day. He had received a taste of it when they biomerged and their minds became one, but, there was so much else going on in that moment that it had slipped from his mind soon after he experienced it.

But here... when it was nobody but him and Coronamon, these memories... they hurt.

Coronamon continued to talk, Luke poured himself a second goblet of wine as he listened and finally understood. Of course. In their previous lives they had a complicated relationship. After all, how couldn't it be? Impy had met Leky with the intent of mugging him, but somehow they had ended up as friends instead.

Luke turned his head to Coronamon as he mentioned that he convinced Impy to return to his partner. He paused for a moment before speaking. "I... remember that" he said. "Bell- I mean, Impy apologizing. You convinced him to do that? Well... all I can say is thanks".

Luke meant that. By now he was fully hooked in to the fact that even in their previous lives, Coronamon had been an influence. It made perfect sense, why else had such a soft and shy digimon fallen for his outgoing and brash brother?

He listened to the rest of Coronamon's words, that he had fed Impy and sent him on his way. And, Luke remembered, in the aftermath of their quarrel, it had ended with Impy apologizing profusely for hurting him and promising to treat him as an equal from there on out. And, in the end, Leky had believed him. And thus, the duo had returned to their former strength.

Coronamon then spoke further. Luke raised his eyes with curiosity. It seemed he wanted to be with his brother from even way back then. And yet, in their previous lives, Impy had been loyal to Leky to the last. It was then that he realized that they had actually died, and it was only then that Bellamy had been able to show his feelings for the fire lion, now that Luke was little more than his twin brother.

Luke didn't say anything for a while there, sipping some wine, but, it all made sense to him now. Why Coronamon was nervous to say this, why Bellamy never shared this with him. What did he feel? Well, certainly not betrayal. Both Bellamy and Coronamon had acted perfectly reasonable in his eyes. Jealousy? No. A week earlier that would have been true, but, Luke had recently found another digimon he liked as much as he perceived Bellamy and Coronamon liked each other.

Eventually, he spoke. "...That's a lot to take in, Coronamon, I'll give you that" he began. "But... I'll tell you this, I hold no ill feelings toward you whatsoever about your relationship with my brother. You love him, he loves you, how could I hold bad feelings to that?"

The Elecmon smiled a little here. "I understand... things got a bit strange, what with previous lives, but, I've come to appreciate the principle of life with digimon. The only life that matters is the one you live now. Sure, things may have been different in the past, but, the only life I care about is the one I have now. With Veemon as my boyfriend, Colin as my partner, Bellamy as my brother, you as my brother-in-law, Finn as my nephew, Gaz as my niece. That's the family I know and that's the family I'll care for".

Luke hoped this could mend whatever rift existed between him and the fire lion in this snowed-in cabin.

Luke smiled back at Coronamon, suddenly coming to a realization about something. "I guess that makes sense now why you fell in love with Bellamy. He might be brash and out there, even can be kinda rude sometimes, but, give that Impmon some credit, he wears his heart on his sleeve". The Elecmon blinked for a moment before chuckling at the realization. "Literally in fact, you've seen his crest, the red heart over a starburst. I guess that kinda shows when you compare it to mine, a blue heart guarded by a crescent moon. I... tend to keep my feelings to myself. So, guess that's symbolism there".

Luke looked into the fire for a moment as he gathered more thoughts, his mind a bit hazy from the wine, but still, he wanted to talk a little more about it now that they were being open with each other. "That's always something I've admired about Bellamy, how it doesn't matter how close you are with him, he'll be honest with you about what he thinks. Yeah, if he likes you, he'll try to be nice about it, but, he'd never lie to you, well, unless it meant to save your life, but yeah, he might be an Impmon, but he's an honest one".

Two glasses of wine was probably enough for Luke at the moment, so he simply had a glass of water while Coronamon coyly asked if he had any digimon he liked. "Heh, better slow down with the drinks, Coronamon, I said that I had a Veemon boyfriend didn't I?" Luke asked playfully. "But yeah. I started dating one. We sure were as shy as hell about it at first, but, Bellamy pep talked me and Veemon's brother pep talked him, so, we tried making it work, and heh, oh boy, sure did it work". Again, it was good that most of Luke's face was already covered with red fur, otherwise he'd have the most obvious blush by now.

"Of course, I don't wanna rush things, but, I think I'd be happy being with Veemon like you are with Bellamy" he admitted.