"HIO!"

The poster slapped Hio in the face as he startled, lost his grip, and pushed a now useless tack into his cork board. Ouch. So much for the ten minutes he spent perfectly lining it up.

"It has come to my attention that your hugging needs work!" Oliver shouted at him from behind. "No one in any arrangement can be satisfied with such weak hugs and I refuse to tolerate it anymore."

"Sorry?" Hio said, half-listening. He stooped to grab the fallen band poster from his bedroom floor and pin it crooked to the board just to get it out of the way. Whatever. He could straighten it later.

"Being the kind and generous brother that I am," Oliver made a flourish with his hand and proudly slapped it to his chest, "I have decided to take it upon myself to teach you how to engage in a proper embrace."

Hio had no idea what made Oliver suddenly consider this to be so important, but he guessed he'd play along. There were worse things to do, and indulging Oliver's random requests every now and then wasn't one of them.

"Alright," he said and folded his arms. "You have my full attention Mr. Teacher. What now?"

"First I need to gauge your current technique." Oliver thrust out his hands. "Hug please."

"How's this?" Hio gave Oliver a hug.

Or he thought he did.

"This isn't a hug at all," Oliver complained directly into Hio's ear. "Your arms are like noodles. Put some power into them! Like THIS!"

"Ohjesus—"

If Oliver squeezed any harder, he was sure to break Hio's back. Or at least fracture a bone. Hio often called Oliver a little monster in a playful way, but some days the moniker rang truer than intended. Apparently this was to be one of those days. Great. Hio appreciated the hug on an intentions level, but his lungs heavily disagreed.

Just as Hio began to think this ruthlessly loving hug would be the end of him, Oliver released him. Air at last. He sucked in a huge breath and thanked the stars he got to take it. Oliver let out a breath himself, as if holding it gave him the ability to hug tighter.

"Now let's see what you've learned." Oliver held out his arms and grinned. Hio couldn't help but laugh. He hugged Oliver as tightly as he dared. Oliver returned the gesture and solidly pressed his palms against Hio's back and his cheek to Hio's shoulder.

Hio had never put so much thought into a hug before. Usually he didn't think at all when he put an arm around either of his parents when saying goodnight or greeted his friends with a squeeze after an absence. Being present in the moment and aware of just how calm and content the warmth and pressure made him feel... It was nice. Yeah. Nice. Oliver smelled like home.

Maybe this wasn't as random as Hio thought. Maybe Oliver really did know something Hio didn't. That wouldn't be a first, though every time it felt like it was. Oliver suffered from an affliction that Ruby playfully dubbed "baby-waby face," which always made his sudden and unexpected sharings of wisdom more surprising than they had any right to be.

Then Oliver nuzzled against him violently, like a giant, over-affectionate cat. Okay. Hio was definitely overthinking this.

"Better." Oliver stepped back to happily flap his hands, and opened his arms a third time. "Now either retrieve phonebooks for me to stand on or lean down to get a better angle. Again!"

Hio laughed and bent to hug Oliver with hopefully better technique. What an odd way to spend an afternoon. Odd, but nice.

•••

The one night a year Dedicant gets to rise from the dead!