Thanks to Misha's nasty prank, Gabriel couldn't swallow anything for the rest of the day. He tried to drink one small glass of milk to alleviate the taste of vomit in his mouth, but his stomach went on a strike. And once again, he had to dash to the toilet to puke his guts out.
The disgusting sight, the strange taste, and the particular texture of the worms…. They seemed to be haunting him. The more Gabriel didn't want to think about it, the more he thought about it. It was a never-ending cycle.
Although Gabriel wasn't a neat freak, he wasn't particularly fond of bugs either. Thanks to his upbringing, he had never played with dirt or insects as a child, too busy with lessons. Also, his mother had a phobia of anything that crawled, and she'd often tell him things like "earwigs slip into your ears in your sleep to devour your brain", "worms can drill a hole in your skin and crawl underneath", and "spiders are vicious things that will bite you to death". Pretty much all bugs were deadly things in his mother's mind, and she instilled that fear into her son early on.
Needless to say, little Gabriel feared bugs just as much as his mother and would run away whenever he caught sight of a spider. The number of times he collapsed to his knees and bawled his eyes out because of ladybugs…..
Putting aside his dark past, Gabriel wasn't as afraid of bugs now that he was older and could rationalize. However, he still had a low tolerance and of course, eating earthworms-flavored muffins was trauma-inducing for him. Well, most people's stomachs would churn after taking a bite of such a disgusting muffin, so his reaction wasn't that exaggerated.
Right…?
Anyway, all that to say that it was currently dinner time, but his stomach wasn't feeling any better. He thus didn't touch his meal, only poking the vegetables a few times with his fork. Upon noticing his antics, Mrs. Brown gently told him, "It's alright if you're not hungry. Don't force yourself to eat."
"I'm very sorry," Gabriel smiled awkwardly. "My stomach is still upset. But I assure you, it looks and smells delicious."
Meanwhile, the culprit was happily eating and even had the nerve to say, "Gaby, you shouldn't waste food. It's what bad adults do!"
Why did this little devil have to rub salt into the wound? Didn't he have a shred of sympathy for his victim? But regardless of how he felt deep down, Gabriel's warm smile didn't dwindle in the slightest, and his emerald eyes were as gentle as ever.
"Gaby?" Masha repeated, a grin stretching her lips. "What a cute nickname!"
Misha seemed to freeze for a second, then innocently shrugged his shoulders. "It's shorter and easier to say. It's also cuter than Gab."
While outwardly smiling, Misha silently called himself an idiot a hundred times. For the past two months, he had been careful not to use that familiar surname as everyone called the teenager Gabriel or Gab, but bad habits were hard to break. Misha had called him this way for many years in their past life, and today his mouth moved on its own, spilling out that old nickname.
Oh, well, it wasn't a big blunder, so he didn't think much of it and quickly tossed his worries to the back of his mind.
"Indeed, it's pretty cute," Masha laughed, glancing at the teenager with some mischief in her eyes. "I like it very much."
And thus, Gabriel's nickname became Gaby on that day, and no one asked for his opinion.
After eating, they started to load the car. Misha tried to help, but he couldn't do much with his thin arms; he felt like an ant trying to lift an elephant. He could only bring one small bag at a time, and even just that was enough to make him huff and puff. His tender white cheeks quickly turned red under the effort, and his face soon beaded with sweat.
When his mother saw his exhausted appearance, she sent him to his room, ordering him to drink water and rest. She ignored his protestations and pushed him inside the house, where the air was cool and fresh. Even if it was the evening and the sun was about to set, it was still hot as hell outside.
In Ontario, the end of July and the beginning of August were the days with the hottest temperatures throughout the year. And the evenings weren't spared from the heat, far from it.
The hot weather seemed to take its toll on her son's body, so Gulnas refused to let Misha leave the house for the rest of the evening. In any case, tonight, everyone had to sleep early to wake up in the early hours tomorrow. Thus, in Mrs. Brown's opinion, Misha might as well go to bed first. They were almost done packing, anyway.
Since his fever a month ago, her son seemed less energetic and more taciturn. He'd even take naps in the afternoon when he had already slept quite a lot during the night. It was worrisome, but the doctor didn't find anything wrong with her child when she went back to the hospital to do a check-up. So, she could only swallow back her worries and pretend everything was fine.
Because of Misha's health, she even thought of canceling their camping trip. However, her children had been impatiently waiting for half a year for this trip. It was the same for her husband, although the man didn't show it. They were all excited about it, making her unable to voice her concerns. All she could do was make sure her son wouldn't push himself too much and keep an eye on him.
In the end, Misha couldn't win against his mother and went upstairs, putting on his pajamas before climbing into his bed. His movements were clumsy, almost awkward, making him realize that he was indeed dead tired.
Since early in the morning, he had been busy preparing his luggage (he had insisted on doing it himself) and then preparing his prank. He had also skipped nap time, which he now regretted a little; it felt as though he hadn't slept for three days in a row.
A few days after returning from the hospital, Misha realized that he tended to be tired in the afternoon, dozing off without even realizing it. He had no choice but to start taking naps after lunch or become nonfunctional around the end of the afternoon. It was like being a little kid again. Well, he technically was one, but still!
Perhaps, sleeping helped his body recuperate from the damage his older mind caused to his brain when he transmigrated? When he thought of such things, Misha stopped complaining under his breath. As long as he got better in the end….
Still, losing so much time just because he was sleeping was frustrating. As an adult, Misha only needed to sleep around five hours per night, which gave him ample time to do many things in a day. But now, it felt like he had no time at all! He could only do so many pranks in the few hours he was awake!
Lying on his back, Misha stared at the ceiling covered with plastic stars. He thought back on the day, and a vicious smile stretched his lips.
All in all, Gabriel's reaction went beyond his expectations. Not being able to immortalize his face in a picture was his only regret. He'd have loved to use it as wallpaper on his future cell phone.
Although his mother reprimanded him afterward, Misha knew she wasn't genuinely outraged. After all, she did worse than him. Sometimes, when he thought about what his father went through, even he had to admit that Alexey was a little pitiful. How could he accept everything his mother did with a smile? It left him speechless.
'I'm starting to wonder if that aloof appearance of his doesn't hide a masochist underneath.' At the thought, a chuckle escaped his mouth, but it was soon followed by a frown. Misha shook his head and quickly pushed aside his father from his thoughts, not wanting to think about him too much.
With each passing day, he felt more and more conflicted about his father. Even if Alexey seemed to suffer from facial paralysis and rarely showed his emotions, Misha could still feel his fatherly love every day. His eyes seemed to become tender whenever his gaze landed on his children, and his voice sounded a little softer when he called them.
Misha turned over, pulling the blanket over his head, and curled up into a small ball.
'Forget it. I've got a busy day tomorrow, so I better sleep.'
_________
Mini theater
Author: We learned a bit about Gabriel! Yay!
MC: It was about time! I didn't even know he doesn't like bugs!
ML: ... Then why did you put earthworms in my muffin?
MC: Why not? It worked well in the end!
ML: *mumbles* You have a child's mentality...
MC: What did you say?
ML: Nothing!
Chapter revised on 2022-05-04
Edited by Clozed! ♥
Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/rs_vaesen
Discord: https://discord.gg/ZsEYr5eh6h