When Saturday comes round, I find myself sitting up in my bed at 8 in the morning. I don't usually wake up so early but I'm excited. It's the first time I've ever asked anyone over and I'm mentally forming a planner for the day. Perhaps we could do some homework, then we can troop off somewhere and hopefully I'd run into a present for Den.
After I'm done with my morning rituals and dressed for the day, I clamber down the stairs and turn into the living room. I know Sve's always an early bird, and I'm guessing that he's probably in the living room with tea. And I'm right.
Sve's in a black bottleneck sweater and dull blue jeans. He always makes an effort to look smart. I guess it's something that comes naturally to you as you progress in life. As I enter the room, Sve looks up and watches me with intent, blue eyes. His eyes are a deep shade of blue, just like Nor's, and he's equally as unreadable as Nor will ever be.
"G'morning," I say as I settle on the sofa edge, slightly away from Sve. He's watching the television, so I make a reach for the neat bundle of newspaper on the table.
"M'rnin'" he says. I automatically understand him; it's a skill I have developed from living with Sve for many years. The television is buzzing in the background, and it sounds like noisy static to me. I flip carelessly through the paper when Sve interrupts my pointless attempt at reading the mundane papers.
"D'you f'nd Fin a l'ttl' odd lately?" Sve says, his words are quieter than usual, it's as if he's scared that Fin might jump out of nowhere and tackle him on the spot.
I'm confused. Well, sure, Fin is a bit jumpy and maybe he's a bit secretive lately, but he's not exactly odd. Ok, he is odd. But all this just adds on to why Fin is odd to begin with. I don't even know if I'm making sense to myself, so I halt that train of thoughts and answer Sve as carefully as I can.
"Well, maybe a bit," I say. " I think he's got a concussion or something."
The second bit was unintended but it slips out of my mouth carelessly. It was supposed to be humorous but Sve's staring at me with huge, placid eyes, and they are, again, staring into my soul. His mouth is set in a firm, thin line and I know he has no places for jokes.
I hold both hands up in a gesture of defeat. "I'm kidding!"
"Hmm." He says, and I'm not sure if he actually believed the concussion part of our conversation or if he's actually trying to laugh. You know, since he can't even master the art of smiling, laughing is an obstacle in life for him.
"H'w many fr'nds comin' ov'r t'day?" Sve asks after a moment of silence.
"Two," I reply, shrugging. I try to act as if it's no big deal, but it is. I feel like a can of carbonated drink that someone just shook like crazy; I'm dying to burst with zeal and excitement.
Sve nods in approval, I think he's processing the thought that it's about time I've made some friends. Or something along those lines. Who knows?
ooOoo
By the time it's 11am, everyone is up and about the household. Fin and Sve are busy clattering away in the kitchen and Nor's setting up the table for breakfast. Den's out on a grocery errand. I'm feeding Puffin little weird pellets and he squawks at me and starts rattling around in his cage. I think it's just Puffin trying to say thank you.
I spend 10 good minutes doing absolutely nothing and finding strange things in even stranger places. There's a piece of mould-ridden bread under the sofa, and little wax crayons behind the television set against the wall. There's also a chipped emerald ring in the knives compartment in the kitchen. I'm not sure how no one has ever spotted these things. Sve took the ring away from me though. The rest was cleaned up by Den when he comes back.
I decide to help out with house chores for this part of the day. There's nothing much I can do anyway, I'm not usually up at this time on the weekends. I like to sleep in, okay? I don't see why people want to extend torture and continue to inflict the pain of waking up early on themselves, even on the weekends. The world's full of masochists. I'm glad I'm not one of them.
I grab the broom and dustpan and waft around the house sweeping stray dirt, hair (they accumulated like a heap of gold in the dustpan) and clumped up bits of dust. It's a good way to keep myself busy.
ooOoo
They're ringing on my doorstep at 12pm sharp. I swing the front door open and a grinning Hong and a smiley Seys greet me. My friends are just as weird as my family, that's all I can say. Fin and Nor are busy baking something in the kitchen while Sve and Den are lounging around in the living room.
I introduce Hong and Seys to Den and Sve first. Den greets them with a radiating smile and he thumps Hong roughly on the back. Sve, on the other hand, shoots daggers at them as he scrutinizes them thoroughly. They're both dressed smartly, leaving nothing to critic. So Sve nods and he extends a cold hand towards them and says, "Hi." That was pretty much it.
When we leave the living room Hong laughs at me, radiating one of those taunting auras that he carries with himself wherever he goes.
"You sure they're your brothers?" Hong jokes.
"Of course they are!" I'm horrified by the prospect that Hong might think otherwise.
"Dude, relax. Just joking. But they're really buff and all. You're stick thin. Hard to believe you guys are related!"
Hong has a point, but I could work out when I want to. Which I don't And when I think about it, neither Sve nor Den did any form of 'working out'. Whatever. It just means I never inherited those genes.
When they meet my other two brothers, Hong nods in ascent. And after we've just left the kitchen, Hong delivers his self-worthy comment.
"These look more related to you than those," Hong says with scrutiny. He passes a watchful eye on Fin then says, " I think my brother, Japan, the one with the totally odd fetishes, knows him."
I stare at him. Hong's trying to imply something, I can tell. I stare at him blankly, testing to see whether he'd relent and spill the secret message that he hid between his words with tact and skill. He says nothing whatsoever. It takes me a while to realize he's not even aware of his slight implications. So I shrug.
"They're not objects, Hong," I sniff, slightly miffed about it. " People don't refer to other people with words like 'these' and 'those'."
Seys laughs at me, and I scowl. She says I have a strange case of brother complexities. I'm not insulted but I can vaguely guess the origins of the weird complex I hold. I think it's more from the fact that I have no one else to call family. I often restrain myself from falling into a pit of sappy talk and sad reminiscence so I change the subject immediately to schoolwork and the first set of projects we're given. Not to mention the tests the teachers have begun to issue. Diagnostic they would say. But we all know better than that.
ooOoo
When we've just about completed the majority of the homework we've been subjected to – yes, subjected because what worse punishment could a student ever face? – we begin to lose our focus and end up dawdling around my room. Its about a while before I suggest we'd actually go out and do something instead of cooping up in my room. I'm trying to find a possible rescue attempt because I dislike having my friends rummage around my shelves looking at photo albums and sad story books that have gone to tatters and yet haven't been finished even once. I lack the motive to read, unlike Nor, I can't stand sitting and reading for more than 5 minutes. I have no patience, that's one thing I'm similar to Den in. We both can't sit still to save our lives.
When we're outdoors, the wind is chilling. The winter effects are still in the act of thawing; I guess spring's a bit late this year. The trees are leaden with melting snow, and the slightest breeze cause a shower of slush to rain down upon us from the downcast trees. The air smells fresh and the few budding flowers that have managed to peak out of the snow gives off an aroma that wafts with the breeze. For some reason, the sight gives me a heavyhearted feeling; it seems a bit tragic and lonely out there.
My mind instantly whirs back to the present when a huge blob of slush falls onto me from above. I let out a string of minor curse words, because you know, Sve disapproves of cussing. And I know he gives Den and Nor an earful when he catches them at it. There's no running from his receptive ears; they can hear you swear from a mile away.
Initially, we have no idea as to what we're going to do. We're caught in a mild whirlwind of people when we reach the busy districts. People cloister all over the place and it gnaws at my nerves; I can't stand people sometimes. Then somehow, we end up at the theatres where they're screening a horror movie and Seys jumps onto the opportunity. We spend a good ten minutes queuing at the ticketing counter before we spend the next one and a half hours watching a horror movie that grates on my nerves, mentally scars me with haunting images of spirits and ghosts and threatens to make me shit in my pants and scurry for shelter.
Of course I don't do the embarrassing latter. I'm man enough.
When that's over, I remember my task to scour for Den's birthday present. I walk all over the place, looking for a gift, testing out odd machines at exorbitant prices until the manager kicks us out. Then we swoop into the next shop where we deftly handle all the little antiquities and display trinkets until they too, kick us out of the store. It's not like I wanted anything from those stores though.
When it's 7pm, we return back to my house, and I'm defeated. Hours of searching had amounted to nothing, and I return home empty handed and gift-less. On the way back, I empty out the mailbox and there's a black envelope with the rest of the mail. It looks like a funeral invitation, so I peak at the recipient's name. It's for Den. And in big, bold white letters, the envelope sports the word 'CONFIDENTIAL' on it.
When we enter the house, I drop the letters on the dresser outside the living room before we return to the hideout that is my room. We're tidying up the mess we've left lying around before we left when Fin comes in. He looks at us all smiling, with that extremely suspicious air. He glances at Hong for a while, as if he's suspecting Hong to turn around with a butcher's knife in his hands and start waving it around, before returning his gaze on me. He looks slightly wretched but I brush it off to his sudden inability to regain normality in his composure.
"Dinner's downstairs!" Fin chirps suddenly, " You're welcomed to join us if you like!"
With that, Fin disappears round the corridor and lops down the stairs.
"Great!" Hong says, grinning like a Cheshire cat, " I can't stand Chinese food for another day. That's all my brother ever gets around to cooking. I'll accept the invitation if you don't mind!"
Whether I would have approved or not would have made no difference. That's Hong for you. Seys too. But it's not like I mind.
ooOoo
At dinner, the whole room is filled with chatter and noise. Fin and Seys are having friendly conversation at food and cooking and all things that females are supposedly good at. Home Economics and all that jazz. Hong's disturbing Nor. He's asking Nor a whole torrent of questions starting from the book he's holding at the dining table to the clip in his hair. Nor is obviously peeved, but for my sake and his image, he's tolerating it.
Den is suspiciously quiet. Then I realize he too has a reading material in hand. I notice the opened black envelope on the table under the plate and he's sunk back against his chair, his lips set in a tight frown. His eyes are scanning the thick sheets of paper in his hands and it seems as if he's having trouble comprehending the message. Sve is watching him too. It's as if Den refuses to let Sve have a look at the letter. Well if it is a funeral, I don't think it will concern Sve very much.
The tantalizing smell of grilled steak catches my attention immediately though, and I realize how hungry I am as I take a slab of steak into my mouth. All worrisome notions have slipped out of my mind as I delve into the luxurious food set on the table.
A/N: Hi there (: It's been a while since I actually wrote up the last chapter. I think I've lost my momentum and I might actually discontinue this if my imagination doesn't perk up. ): Sorry about that ): I might still be able to save it though, I just need to dig out my Freytag's Pyramid on this one… Reviews are appreciated though! :D
Well to my readers:
CookieBirdGirl: Thank you (: I love the Nordics too! ^^ I'm actually building the climax in this chapter though it's pretty short. (: I hope this chapter does not disappoint you ^^
OMG CATS: Thank you for the faithful reading and for the second review! :3
Nekolandia: Well here's the next chapter for you (: