By: Loopstagirl (author)
Gordon let his eyes flicker open, a smile immediately leaping onto his face as he breathed in sharply through his nose, allowing the oxygen to flood his senses and bring him round further. He loved today. Possibly one of his favourite days of the year. It was the one day he could truly be himself, and no one would expect anything less. In fact, they were going to be on edge all day, just waiting to see what he was up too. If the rest of his family only knew what his grand scheme was this year…
Swinging his legs out of bed, Gordon couldn’t stop the grin from widening on his face as he stretched his arms up above his head with a noise that could resemble a groan to those who did not know him. Rolling his shoulders slightly, the redhead’s eyes fell on the computer resting on the desk in the corner of his room. Grinning again, Gordon bounded – for he could never do anything in half measures – across the room, flicking a switch and was soon swinging his legs impatiently as he waited for the machine to boot itself up. Despite having been in control of some of the most advanced machinery the world had ever seen, Gordon had to admit that he liked the old computer residing in his room. John may mock him constantly, Alan may moan that his older brother needed to sort out his priorities and Scott may roll his eyes, but their sibling didn’t care. He liked it. Only Virgil didn’t seem bothered, but unless a machine was his own Thunderbird and the various pieces of equipment that may accompany her, the artist didn’t care much for things like computers any more. He had pulled apart and reassembled so many in his youth that he had just lost interest these days. He had his sights set on much bigger things than mere computers now.
As the picture flared into life on his background, Gordon rocked back on his chair with a grin. Despite what his brothers may think, he had an extremely modest background. In fact, regardless of the general consensus that he was lying, Gordon had his family as his background. A shot of all five brothers just after they had moved to the island. To the prankster, it was a sign of what they had once been like, and how much they had all moved on from then. Not to mention that Alan really was pulling the strangest face, and Scott hadn’t realised that John was mocking him from behind.
Gazing at the image with a fond smile, Gordon jumped with a curse as a password reset box suddenly appeared on his screen. Without touching anything, the aquanaut merely stared as the small dots illustrating the word he used to guard his secrets was entered. After the briefest spell of hesitation, a new password began to enter itself. Raising his eyebrows, Gordon leant forward. He knew that the machine would take time to switch itself off and whoever was attempting to hack in would have completed their task by that point. Instead, he chose the course of action that he had carried out too many times to admit. He simply pulled the plug on the machine. With an indignant whir, the screen went blank.
“Nice try, Johnny.” Gordon muttered to himself, finally getting dressed and heading out for breakfast. His normal morning swim was simply going to have to be delayed for a few hours. With a late rescue the night before, Gordon found that he had then been up half the night on the left- over adrenaline. It always threw his routine when something like that happened, but as his stomach sounded its protest regarding the lack of food it had yet to receive, Gordon knew what had to come first this once. Crossing his bedroom in just a few strides, Gordon pulled open his door, only to pause when a slight creak sounded.
His grin firmly back in place, he carefully stuck one hand out of the door, twisting it around and reaching up. With the bucket somewhat precariously balanced, Gordon slipped through the smallest gap he could manage before shutting his door again with a sharp click. Pushing the bucket back into a more secure position, the aquanaut was quite impressed that even he hadn’t spilt a single drop of the water residing within, it was extremely full.
“Alan.” He stated softly, shaking his head with a fond smile. Heading towards the stairs, he casually stepped over the trip wire that had been placed across the small archway that sheltered the top of the stair case and jogged down. His brothers were certainly all trying their hardest to catch him out this morning. The trip wire had the combined efforts of Scott and Virgil written all over it.
Creeping down the stairs with far more stealth than his family were used to hearing from him, Gordon hovered outside of the partly opened kitchen door, listening to the murmurs of the voices within. The rest of the family were clearly present, and judging by the fact that he could hear his older blond brother’s voice, they had activated the video link to Thunderbird Five as well. It wasn’t uncommon to have a full debrief over breakfast if the rescue had taken them until ungodly times of the night. However, it certainly wasn’t debriefing that Gordon was listening in on.
“…he’ll probably be down in a minute, he has already turned on his computer.”
“Oh we’ll know when he is coming.” Scott’s voice responded, sounding far too smug for Gordon’s liking. No doubt some pay back was going to be needed for the traps set for him around the house.
“You will?”
“We’ll hear him.” Virgil chipped in, causing his copper haired sibling to roll his eyes. They really thought that they could catch him out that easily?
“I don’t know,” John answered, the hesitation in his voice causing Gordon to grin. It was nice that someone realised that he was far greater than their trivial pranks. “He stopped me pretty quick.”
“Thought you said his machine wouldn’t be able to shut down quick enough?”
“Yeah, well,” John muttered, and Gordon found that he had to bite his lip in order to stop himself bursting out laughing and so giving away the fact that he was listening in. He knew without looking that John would be pouting. The blond genius of the brothers hated being caught out and proven to be wrong. Especially as it wasn’t something that happened very often.
“That’s enough, boys.” Hearing his father’s voice break into the conversation, Gordon thought it was about time to make his presence known; he couldn’t just stand outside the door, much as he might like too.
Striding confidently in, Gordon thought he had to give Scott and Virgil some credit; they merely blinked at his clean appearance before trading looks, without saying a word. Alan was not so subtle, his jaw practically dropping when he caught sight of his unscathed brother, the words seeming to escape him. Grinning secretly, Gordon decided to see how much he could make his little brother squirm.
“Morning all!” He called cheerfully, winking at John as the astronomer practically glared at him from his portrait. There could be no doubt about it, John was not happy that Gordon had managed to catch him out so easily. He should have known that not everyone was a stickler for the rules in the same way as him and Virgil when it came to the proper procedure of shutting down a machine.
“Good morning, son,” Jeff said quietly, running his eyes over his son and frowning quizzically. He had picked up enough of the conversation to know that his other sons were trying to get Gordon before he could get to them today, but there certainly didn’t seem to be anything amiss. One glance at Alan’s face, however, and he knew that was not supposed to be the case.
“You’re late down this morning.”
“Well, I tried to have a shower,” Gordon responded, glancing at Alan out of the corner of his eye, wondering if he was going to get a visible reaction. “But for some reason the water wouldn’t turn on, it was almost as if it was stuck.”
Catching Alan’s gaze pointedly, Gordon knew immediately that his brother had realised what he really meant. The shower the youngest member of the family had set up for him. Blushing, the younger man glanced away, a red stain spreading its way up his neck as his ears burnt. Glancing at each other in amusement, Scott and Virgil shared a knowing look, making Gordon more than aware they had known what Alan had been up too. Following the pointed looks around the table, Jeff sighed, not even bothering to ask what was going on. He should have known by the date that things would be even more chaotic than normal on the island. Hence his plan to barricade himself in his office with the coffee pot and the paper work that was desperately in need of some attention.
Standing up with an added eye roll regarding the expression of his eldest boys, Jeff turned away so his sons didn’t see his smirk. John was sulking; there was no other word for it, reminding Jeff forcibly of the rebellious streak that he had briefly entered in his early teens. Scott and Virgil seemed to be trying to communicate without words, which wasn’t too much of a surprise to their father. Those two had always had a way of getting through to each other, but Jeff had a feeling that he probably didn’t want to know what they were trying to hide from their brothers.
He hadn’t even made it a few steps when he heard a telltale sign of John sharply sucking in his breath. Glancing over his shoulder, Jeff immediately caught sight of his second born turning his back on the screen. His father could tell just by the way his shoulders straightened – not to mention the way his own coffee cup was suddenly put down –John had just turned professional. Within only a few seconds, he turned back towards his family.
“Hey, guys?” Waiting until Scott and Virgil had stopped pulling strange faces at each other and finally turned to face him, John raised his eyebrows. Deliberately making a show of raising his hand, John hesitated for the merest flicker of time before bringing it slamming down upon one of the many buttons littering the control panel in front of him. Immediately, the Klaxon set off its emergency wail throughout the Tracy household, and with the thundering of feet, the kitchen was emptied as the family went racing through to the lounge.
Flicking a switch as he threw himself into his chair, Jeff quickly brought John back into the conversation. As Scott strode over to the lamps, clearly preparing to whisk himself through to his ‘bird the second John had reported on the situation, Virgil also navigated himself into position. Gordon and Alan glanced at each other, both clearly prepared to go if need be, but not knowing the situation, were fully aware that they may not be needed.
“We’ve got a deep flood over in Bangladesh, monsoon season. One of the dams has apparently burst. They aren’t sure if they really need us, Father, they just want us to know.”
Nodding thoughtfully, Jeff turned to face Scott, his mind racing. He could send the boys out and so help stop the flooding and therefore save peoples’ lives. Or he could wait until they claimed to need the services of International Rescue and thus potential put the people – as well as his sons – in more danger whilst the situation spiralled out of control. There were times he hated being the one to make the decisions.
“Dad, Brains still needs to test run his newest substance.” Virgil cut through Jeff’s thoughts quietly, his expression clearly showing that he knew what his father was thinking. Nodding at him, Jeff came to a decision. His son was right. Brains did need to test the substance out, and if it didn’t help patch up the dam, the boys had other ways of solving the problem.
“Right, off you go, Scott.” No sooner had he finished speaking when his oldest boy twisted the lamps and disappeared from sight. Turning to his more artistic son, Jeff smiled gently. “Take Gordon and Four, just in case, Virgil.”
“F.A.B.” And so saying, Virgil also disappeared from sight as he let the slide take him to his own ‘bird. Clearing Scott for takeoff, Jeff turned back to his remaining sons. Only Alan was left sitting on the couch, Gordon too having vanished as soon as he heard that his own ‘bird was needed. Despite looking slightly put out that he was the one this time that had to stay behind, Alan came up around his father, perching on the edge of a chair so that he could monitor the progress of his siblings as well as keeping John company. He knew firsthand how annoying it could be stuck on Five whilst knowing their brothers were flying into a potentially deadly situation.
“Thunderbird Two requesting permission for takeoff.” As Virgil’s voice came floating over the comms, Jeff sighed. As always, he could only hope that he had made the decision.
“Granted, Thunderbird Two. Safe flight, boys.” “F.A.B.” And with that, Jeff was subjected to watching the great bulk of their green Thunderbird come roaring into view as the cliff gave way. As she rose gracefully into the sky before shooting off into the distance, following the same flight path her sister ship had just disappeared down, the remaining family members quickly turned to their respective jobs. Alan immediately vanished, but before Jeff could question where his son was disappearing too, the youngest member materialised back in the doorway again, two fresh cups of coffee in his hand. Taking his, Jeff smiled gratefully as he took a tentative sip. The boys really did know him too well at times.
“Just landed, Scott. How’s it looking?” Patching himself through to Mobile Control, Virgil’s hands were dancing across the control panel in front of him as he secured his ‘bird. Gordon was working just as frantically over on the other side, clearly trying to match up the information John had sent through to them on the way with the situation now in front of him.
“Honestly?” Scott’s slightly tinny voice came floating back through, more than audible in the rather large cockpit. “I think they are coping. As we’re here, we can give them a hand clearing some of the larger pieces of debris, but don’t think we are really needed on this one, Virg.”
“Do I need to prep Four in case?” Despite the incidents of that morning, Gordon’s voice was strictly professional this time. He knew where to draw the line between pranks and a rescue, even considering the day. Glancing over at him thoughtfully, Virgil clearly wasn’t sure.
“What do you think, Scott?”
“Prep it, Gords. The river is still out of control, if Brains’ stuff doesn’t work, you might need to go in.” “F.A.B.” And so saying, Gordon made to stride from the flight deck and make his way down to the pod containing his own Thunderbird. Virgil shouldered his pack, clearly intending to join Scott outside at the danger zone, but instead of leaving, he paused, half turning back towards Gordon as he did so.
“Don’t do anything to my lady.” He practically growled, a possessive note infiltrating his voice. Raising his eyebrows, Gordon smirked.
“Do you really think I would?”
“Normally? No. Today? Maybe.”
And so saying, the more artistic of the Tracy brothers disappeared from sight, leaving Gordon shaking his head in bemusement at his retreating back. He may know when to draw the line between official business and Tracy business, but it was more than apparent his siblings did not share that view. He could sort of see where Virgil was getting at though; he had just been left on his own in Thunderbird Two. With a wicked grin, Gordon pushed the thoughts that were beginning to take over his head firmly out of the way. Virgil’s temper was not to be tested when it came to his ‘bird, and Gordon didn’t think his father would try and support his troublesome son if he knew he had been messing with the machinery.
Striding from the flight deck, Gordon made his way down to the pod in no time, and before long, had his own ‘bird ready to go. Knowing it was just a matter of waiting to see if he was needed now; the prankster found himself clucking his tongue against the roof of his mouth impatiently as he gazed with unseeing eyes at the controls in front of him. He only hoped that this was going to be the only call out they had for the day. He wanted to see his brothers squirm with what he had planned. He was going simple this year, especially considering the flamboyance of last year’s set up. Admittedly, it had been spectacular, but Gordon found he wanted to catch them off guard this time.
Drumming his fingers against his thigh as time passed and he still received no call for help, Gordon couldn’t deny that he was beginning to get bored. It wouldn’t have been so bad if he was outside helping his brothers, but he knew he had to be ready to go the second they needed him. If he was a distance away from Thunderbird Two when Four was needed, it would take him too long to get back and then start the systems. No, he knew he just had to wait until his field commander told him otherwise, but he still couldn’t help feeling bored. Absentmindedly wondering if there were any alligators in this river and whether he could still make Alan practically bolt from the room at a mere comment about them, Gordon glanced down at his tapping hand.
Only to roll his eyes with a sigh at seeing the flesh. He had left his gloves back up on the flight deck. Knowing that he could make the journey in seconds if need be, the redhead climbed to his feet, exiting the yellow submarine and climbing up again. If he was honest, it gave him a nice chance to stretch his legs. If Four was needed, there could be no telling when that opportunity would next arrive.
As the door swished open at Gordon’s handprint and gave him access to the controls beyond, the prankster couldn’t help but smirk. It would be so easy to wind Virgil up, even just by flicking a few switches. No harm done to anything but to his brother’s temper.
Trying to resist the temptation, Gordon instead simply snatched up his gloves from where they had been lying innocently over to one side and made to make his way back down to Four. At least down there he wouldn’t give in to the teasing thoughts that were gently caressing his mind, tantalising him into wanting to do something to make his brother pay for the attempted prank that morning. As he turned away, a flashing light on the control panel made him race back to the switches, all traces of humour disappearing in an instant. Thunderbird Two had an unwelcome visitor.
Hands flying over the controls, Gordon once more threw his gloves to one side as he brought up the camera feeds from the whole of the ship. The guy looked tall, at least 6ft, and well built. There was no way Gordon was even going to attempt to confront him on his own, despite his training. He only had a visual on the man’s back, leading him to have no idea whether the intruder was armed or not. And with only a few of the doors on the Thunderbird being controlled by handprint recognition, the man could do a lot of exploring. Not to mention easily not get off again and slip unnoticed onto the island. Wondering how on earth he managed to get on board in the first place, Gordon watched intently as the man set about on what looked like a thorough explore of the ship.
As the man pulled open one door, Gordon suddenly grinned, a look coming onto his face that normally had his brothers glancing at each other in worry and running from the room. Hitting a combination of switches, Gordon quickly took control of the doors, making sure they could only be controlled from where he was now sitting. As the man tried to force the resisting door open, Gordon waited until he was really straining against it before suddenly releasing that particular door, causing it to go flying open and for the man to stumble slightly.
Sitting back comfortably in Virgil’s normal chair, Gordon quickly activated the next set of cameras, watching the man’s progress. He had a number of doors to choose from this time. Whilst the Thunderbird looked like a giant from the outside, no one was quiet aware of the complexity of the inside. It not only had room for the pods, but also accommodated the sick bay, a room with a few bunk beds inside in case of an extremely long rescue, a kitchen area, plus a number of side rooms filled with various pieces of equipment and first aid kits that were essentials on any rescue. This guy could certainly tell a lot about their organisation from some of these rooms, something Gordon was not going to let happen. He was the only one allowed to mess with his brother’s ‘bird.
“You don’t want that one, mate,” Gordon muttered to himself, watching the man stubbornly trying to open a door whilst the redhead sat with his thumb on the switch that prevented him from doing that very action. “How about you go…this way?”
With his suggestion made, Gordon casually allowed the door at the end of the corridor to swish open. The man jumped violently, looking around him as if expecting someone to be lurking. Little did he know that every move he made was being monitored. With the next set of cameras activated and ready, all Gordon had to do was wait. Despite once more trying to open the original door, the man quickly gave up, striding down the corridor with a confidence that made Gordon grind his teeth in anger and went through the door.
This time, the intruder couldn’t disguise his jump as the door immediately closed behind him, just about giving him enough time to clear it. Glancing around him suspiciously, the man slid a hand into his jacket pocket, immediately causing Gordon to sit forward in concern, eyes narrowing. He was now more than sure that this intruder was armed.
“Right, you want to play it that way?” Muttering darkly, the prankster quickly sent the man on a new route, thankful that he was simply walking where he was directed, despite looking around him frantically as he did so.
“That’s right, you’re being watched.” Gordon commented rather lightly, despite the fact that he was pretty much talking to himself. Sitting back in the chair again, he didn’t tear his eyes away from the screens in the slightest as he propped his feet up on the panel in front of him, making sure that his legs cleared the buttons. Guiding the man a little further on, Gordon suddenly smirked, an idea coming into his head. He would teach this intruder that dealing with International Rescue was a serious issue. Not to mention that he was also messing with a certain Tracy family at the same time, and despite loving to wind his brothers up as much as he could, Gordon was certainly not going to let anyone else even contemplate hurting them.
“Annnnd….turn left.” Activating the door to the man’s immediate right instead, Gordon couldn’t help it. As he switched the doors over and opened the one to the man’s left, he burst out laughing. Despite Brains’ advanced and complex security systems, the prankster was more than aware that if he was not here, this man could have easily snuck on board, and none of them would know about it until too late. Shuddering slightly, Gordon immediately felt the laughter die away as he contemplated what could have happened. He certainly hadn’t locked the door of the pod behind him when he was in there; he had needed to be able to react quickly should the situation call for it. This well-built – not to mention armed – man could have easily come up behind him without him realising he was there.
“You’re going down now, mate.” Pushing his worrying thoughts from his mind, Gordon waited until the man was inside before slamming the door shut. Pausing for a moment, he left the intruder in the dark before activating the flood lights, his laughter returning at the man’s reaction. The room appeared empty, small drainage plugs littering the floor. Twisting a few switches, Gordon sat back with a satisfied grin. After all, even International Rescue needed somewhere to wash down their equipment.
After a few moments, Gordon finally opened the door again. A completely soaked and somewhat dejected man stumbled from the room, causing the fourth Tracy son to grin in delight. But he wasn’t done yet. Forcing the man through another door, he decided it was about time to find out whether he was really armed or not. Waiting until he was anxiously looking around him, Gordon then reached out and with his little finger, triggering the giant magnets surrounding the room. It was another method used for cleaning equipment, especially if the Mole had been used, it allowed the drill to turn slowly whilst the engine being off. But considering the power of the magnets, the man didn’t stand a chance.
Gordon felt his mouth drop open in shock as not just one gun, but two flew from his pockets, sticking to the wall, thankfully just out of his reach. But that wasn’t all, as at least three knives also made their presence known. Staring darkly at the screen, Gordon couldn’t deny that he was feeling unsettled by just how deadly this man’s intentions had clearly been. The aquanaut knew that he was going to have to talk to Brains about improving the security systems, that was for certain.
Having had enough, Gordon frowned in concentration as he contemplated how he was going to force the intruder out of the Thunderbird. Leaving him battling against the magnets for a few moments, the prankster instead found himself wracking his brains as he attempted to hack into Thunderbird Two’s onboard computers. He may have been able to catch John out that morning, but that didn’t mean Gordon had any idea what he was truly doing. Knowing him, changing some vital setting, no doubt. Whilst all five brothers knew how to handle the machinery they relied on to save people, Gordon had no doubt in his mind that he was the weakest when it came to technology. He couldn’t help it, despite knowing the advantages; he still much preferred to do things by hand. It was just one of the many reasons that he didn’t see eye to eye with Brains. Another one being Gordon’s love for all things practical- jokes including- compared to Brains’ nervous nature meant the scientist could often be seen backing away when seeing the redhead coming, especially if there was the usual trademark grin firmly in place.
Finally managing to hack his way into the numerous screens that were littered around the ship as an alternative way of sending messages in case something happened to their watches, Gordon once more found himself pressing a various combination of buttons. The door to the magnet room opened again, allowing the intruder to stumble somewhat shakily into the corridor beyond. Slamming it shut again, Gordon then opened all the doors that lead to a direct route to the outside world. To his delight, the man didn’t need telling twice, but instead shot off as fast as he could, barely giving Gordon enough time to keep the cameras going before he shot past.
Within what felt like an age to the redhead as he watched the intruder flee -but could only be a few moments in reality – the trespasser skidding to a halt next to the ramp. Even now, Gordon still couldn’t work out how he had got in, the door was firmly sealed. Making sure the man had nowhere to go; he hesitated for a moment before activating the ramp and kicking him off the ship once and for all. His fingers flying over the keypad in front of him, Gordon quickly brought up the screen directly in front of his unwelcome visitor. Reading the message in front of him, the man visibly paled, stepping backwards a few times, shaking his head in fright as he did so.
Grinning in satisfaction, the prankster finally released the door, causing the man to go flying out into the world beyond. In a way, Gordon wanted him to run into his brothers, letting them know that something was wrong on board the Thunderbird with the security systems. But at the same time, the younger man wanted that to be the end of it. No harm was done, Virgil need never know that someone else had been on his beloved ‘bird.
“Mobile Control to Gordon. Sorry, bro, you aren’t needed after all. We’re heading back.”
“F.A.B, Scott,” Gordon responded professionally, wondering if his older brother could hear the laughter in his voice or whether it was just his imagination. Immediately setting all the buttons he had been pressing back to their original settings, Gordon did a quick sweep with the cameras to make sure there was nothing out of place. Satisfied things were as secure as they could be, he stood back up again. Snatching his gloves, the aquanaut made his way back down to the Pod to secure his own ‘bird for the flight home.
Hearing the main door open again, Gordon couldn’t resist checking in with his brother, just to make sure that it was only Virgil who had entered. At his sibling’s confirmation, Gordon made to cut the connection again, but before he could do so, he heard Virgil’s voice.
“You can’t escape the Prankster?” He read slowly, disbelief laced within his tone and causing Gordon to scrunch up his eyes. He knew there had been something he had forgotten to do, and his parting gift to their intruder was still blazing out of the screens.
“Gordon, have you been playing around with the boards again?” Choosing to ignore the warning tone in Virgil’s voice, Gordon instead made some feeble excuse about needing to stay in the pod for the flight home because a few of the straps were loose and hastily disconnected, letting his brother fly home on his own.
“…So all in all, another successful mission,” Jeff concluded, sitting back and locking his fingers together. Resting his chin on top of his hands, he couldn’t help but smile fondly at the sight in front of him. Scott and Virgil were soaked, the rain refusing to let up for the whole time they were trying to patch up the dam. Luckily, Brains’ newest invention had worked to perfection, and the cracks had quickly been securely filled, reinforcing the dam and so slowing down the flood water substantially. Judging by how dry – not to mention cheerful – Gordon was looking, he had spent the whole of the rescue on standby in the warm and dry. Knowing his son, probably planning something big.
“Are we done?” As if knowing that his father’s thoughts had been on him, Gordon suddenly jumped to his feet, his endless energy not letting him down. “I need to talk to Brains about something.”
Not being sure why he wasn’t telling the rest of the family about the intruder, Gordon got as far as the door before stopping, hopping impatiently from foot to foot as he waited for his father to confirm that the debriefing was indeed finished.
“Before you go, Gords,” Scott broke in before Jeff had the chance to say anything. Sharing a meaningful look with both of his earthbound brothers, Scott turned almost nervously back to the younger man.
“What were you going to do this year?” Pretending to look innocent, Gordon was hard pushed not to grin. Admittedly, the rescue had taken until early evening when they had finally made it back to the island, thus causing his grand scheme to lose the impact he had been aiming for, but it was still nice to know that he had managed to make his brothers nervous.
“What do you mean?” He responded, the glint in his eye meaning he knew precisely what his oldest brother was talking about.
“Oh come on, Gordon. It’s the 1st April, you always try something. What’s this years?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?” Scott repeated sounding incredulous as he exchanged another worried glance with Virgil. Now letting his grin emerge, Gordon surveyed the look on their faces with satisfaction. He still had managed to receive the reaction he was after.
“Yep. Look at yourselves. I don’t need to do anything.” And with that, he bounded from the room, heading straight towards the stairs. Whilst he wanted to talk to Brains as soon as he possibly could, the prankster also wanted to hit the shower and get out of his uniform. For someone that often had to be battled to put a shirt on, the restrictions of the uniform was something he shed as soon as possible.
“Wait, do you think he has forgotten…” Alan said quickly, his eyes dancing with amusement as he turned towards his remaining brothers. Virgil opened his mouth to say something, but before he could do so, a sudden thud sounded from upstairs, a clear sign of someone tripping over something. Judging by the colourful curse that came floating down the stairs, Scott winced slightly, knowing that his brother was now no doubt going to be covered in flour. “At least he hasn’t….”
BANG.
“Alan!” As a soaked, slightly white figure appeared at the top of the stairs, the three brothers all glanced at each other. Simultaneously, they leapt to their feet and bolted from the room, leaving their father watching them go with raised eyebrows. Shaking his head with a fond smile, Jeff was just glad that April Fool’s Day was over for another year.