Henry was getting dressed. It was his first time, apart from etiquette class, getting dressed. A girl was assisting him with combing his hair.
"Uhm... excuse me..."
"Mary, my name is Mary." The assistant said.
"Yes, I'm sorry Mary. Could you please tell me what you know about my siblings, the ones visiting?" Henry asked.
"The Darkling's twins? I can't say I know much about them. That is not rumours." Mary replied.
"Rumor is fine, so you can tell me." Henry insisted.
"I'm not to be rude or anything, but just a piece of advice. Be careful with them." Mary warned. Henry nodded and then paid apt attention to the story she was about to tell him.
.....
"Wow, this place is huge; I want to take a look around," Riley said excitedly; Raphael heaved a sigh and waved her off.
"Sure, make sure to get back time; it's a long journey back, you know." Raphael reminded her.
"Who do you think you are? You aren't babysitting me, so don't act like you're the responsible one!" She stomped out annoyed. As usual, she was wearing an eye patch covering her left eye.
'Tsk, tsk, sisters; I can never understand them; I'll get in trouble if we both get home late; I'd be late for the game and automatically lose the bet; the worst part is that I can't leave without her.' Feeling annoyed, he asked one of the lab attendants for a place to sit.
They showed him a garden shed
While waiting, he brought out a new lollipop, unwrapped its seal, and put it in his mouth. He sat at a nearby while getting unwanted attention from the workers, he didn't want to keep looking at them, so he decided to use his phone
Raphael was busy on his phone when a blonde kid approached him and greeted him.
"Good day, are you my big brother?" Henry asked.
Raphael could say nothing but smirk; those eyes of his gave him a lot of sleepless nights and nightmares; he finally had the opportunity to eliminate this threat once and for all.
"Yes, I sure am your big brother. Nice to meet you, Henry," Raphael said stretching out his hand for a handshake. Henry stared at Raphael's hand for a while, lost in thought.
'Isn't this supposed to be the scene where he cries and hugs me since it's our first time meeting? Cartoons and movies sure know how to bend reality.' He finally shook his brother's hands.
He was told to have a seat while they waited for his sister.
"It's nice to meet you, how's everyone at home?" Henry asked. Raphael looked amazed but then smiled before answering.
"They're all missing you. We all feel incomplete knowing we have a little brother but he's not around." Henry picked up that he was lying from the insincerity in his eyes.
"Oh... that's good to hear," Henry said and continued ", I'm sorry, brother, but I can no longer hide my curiosity. Why do you have two different coloured eyes?" Henry questioned.
Calling him brother felt weird, but it wasn't difficult; maybe it was because he wasn't holding any meaning to it. Saying something you don't mean is easy.
But he was genuinely curious, who wouldn't be? If it were possible, everyone in the lab site would have rushed towards Raphael to interview him on the same question Henry just brought up, but, they knew who he was and cherished their lives.
"Wow...I thought that you would find it difficult to communicate with me, asking me personal questions right off the bat, how bold." Raphael shrugged, sounding a bit disappointed. He had planned to tease him if he appeared to be timid but he didn't appear timid.
"We're brothers, we're supposed to know each other on a personal level. This is my way of catching up with the missing years and making things less awkward, or am I not getting it right? Should I change my speech pattern?" Henry asked while rubbing his chin with raised eyebrows.
'Impressive, I guess preying on him won't be easy.'
"Sigh.... No, it's fine; I'm just impressed, that's all. About the eyes, it's because we're hybrids; that's why we possess Mom's golden witch eyes and Dad's crimson vampire eyes." Raphael explained.
"Although it is my first time seeing it for myself, I can say it's indeed beautiful," Henry replied.
"I'm equally curious about your purple eyes. You see, our paternal grandmother once had those pair of purple glistering eyes, but it was powerless. It adds a tune to your beauty though." Raphael said.
"I'm glad my looks didn't disappoint you, and thank you for the information; I wouldn't have known otherwise," Henry said while bowing in gratitude.
'I can't read him, there's something fake about him, not everything's fake about him. It's like he has no personality, it feels like I'm talking to a robot.' Raphael studied Henry for a moment to know if he'd get any lead to what he might be thinking, but unfortunately, Henry's expression was blank, though he was smiling, it was a face Raphael knew he was putting on.
'How odd. Why does he remind me of my 'death' days? It's very...sad.'
"I guess that explains me having little mana," Henry said catching Raphael off guard. " I'm better off this way though. Having enough mana would have been too much. I have a tight schedule as it is and I don't want anything added to it." Henry said, his honesty was transparent.
"..." Raphael kept silent. "What do you do every day?
"A lot, a lot of things," Henry replied
"Why's that supposed to mean..."Raphael was interrupted by Riley who barged-in in excitement
"Here's my cute little brother! Big sister has missed you so much, have you been well?" Riley jumped on Henry. She was excitedly rubbing her cheek against his.
Henry, like a robot, immediately analyzed how the conversation would flow to not get awkward. If he greets as he did to Raphael, then it would be awkward; the solution is being informal.
"Hey big sis, I have always looked forward to meeting you. I'm glad I have a beautiful sister." He said while wearing a bright smile.
"Aww! Cute, cute, cute!" she exclaimed, looking very excited, but on the inside, she was surprised.
I was surprised at how he controlled the conversation and his confidence. 'Been looking forward to meeting me? Charles said it would be his first time knowing he has a family right. He's informed I see' She immediately knew to be careful around him.
"I see that you and your big brother have met," Riley said, finally letting him go. Henry could notice that she had become wary of him. He was satisfied somehow; he knew that a family should honestly bond, but after seeing these two, he had an idea of what kind of family he was born into, so he was satisfied by being so distant and yet so close to them.
"Yes, and I'm grateful, he has shown me how much he cares this past minute," Henry said while focusing on her patched eye.
'Just like the rumour, she patched her golden eye, so she just prefers father's special eyes instead?' Henry wondered.
"Ok," Riley clapped, "How would you like to have a taste of the cupcake that your big sister spent her precious time making JUST FOR YOU." She said, intentionally stressing the last words, and deliberately keeping Raphael out of it.
Henry became alert, he heard that she deals with poison, but since he couldn't just turn down her cupcake, he had to eat it.
"It's not like I want your cupcake or anything," Raphael said noticing the void in Riley's acting and trying to patch it up. He knew the kind of person Henry was from the little conversation and understood that he couldn't be fooled so easily. But Henry's reply made him doubt his judgment about him.
"Oh, that means you'd never get any more pieces of my cupcake." Riley pouts.
"I didn't...ah, Riley?" Raphael said with puppy dog eyes. Truly, Riley's cupcakes were the only thing that met with his taste; he couldn't afford to lose it.
Seeing the two, Henry let out a genuine laugh. "Sure, I would love to," Henry replied certain that whatever it was, it wouldn't kill him.
Raphael closely watched them as Riley sat beside him, brought out the cupcakes from her spatial ring, and offered them to Henry, accompanying it with a chilled cola.
"Thank you," Henry appreciated and looked at the drink, it was going to be his first time having a drink.
"What, you don't like it?" Riley said as she noticed him looking at the drink.
"No, it's going to be my first."
"Oh...good thing I'm taking your virginity with my cupcake then.
"Yo, don't say things like this to our little brother!" Raphael warned, and Riley just ignored him.
"Go on, have a bite." She encouraged. Henry was tempted, he was famished. The lectures took a toll on him and now he's very hungry; he wasn't going to let the delicious-looking cupcake pass him by without having a taste of it. He picked up the cupcake, took a bite of it, and swallowed it.
"Argh." A short but not too loud exclamation left Henry's lips as he froze in place.
'Yes.' Riley inwardly exclaimed excitedly. 'Gotcha!'
...
Sheon, seeing what happened, smiled but then frowned in sudden realization.
"Now that I think about it, If Henry loses his will to live, he should be more vulnerable to possess right? Because the action just started. Riley right? How good of a host is she going to be?"