Tristan glared at Stephan, and Stephan stared back; sparks seemed to fly about. The standstill lasted until Stephan smiled and stretched his hands to pinch the child's cheeks, letting go of Jake's waist. The kid's skin was smooth and white, and it soon turned bright red under the mistreatment.
Stephan said in a teasing tone, "I know that you love your big bro, but there's no need to glare at me. I'm not gonna steal him from you, you brat!"
"I'm," Tristan stuttered, "I'm not glaring at you…."
"Uh-huh."
The boy pursed his lips before hiding his face in the crook of his brother's neck. He glued himself to Jake and pretended Stephan didn't exist, unaware that his beloved brother's heart was about to jump out of his throat. Even if Jake was a strong-willed man, it was still hard to steel his nerves when the tormentor of his past lives was clinging to him, sitting on his lap. The hell he had gone through was trauma-inducing, whether he wanted to admit it or not.
"Tristan," Gabriel's voice echoed within the room, and the boy's shoulders stiffened. "I'm getting jealous here. Where's my hug?"
Slowly, the child glanced over his shoulder. When the three of them were together, he usually clung to Gabriel instead of Jake. He'd sometimes even hide behind Gabriel's legs, only daring to peek at his eldest brother from a safe distance. Now that Tristan thought about it, he couldn't even remember the last time he had hugged Jake.
"You'll have many other chances to hug him," Gabriel coaxed. "Now, come here. Your brother is still feeling weak, and you're a little heavy. How about letting him rest?"
Tristan chewed on his lower lip, peering at Jake. He saw his pale face and realized that he indeed didn't seem to be feeling well. Thus, he reluctantly climbed down from the bed, not without kissing his brother's cheek first.
"Get well soon!" he said before plastering himself against Gabriel's right leg, wrapping his arms around his waist. "When you feel better, can you come over to my room? I want to show you my new Lego castle! It's bigger than me, and I built many rooms inside. You can see them through the windows! So…."
"Oh? And can I also come? I'd like to see it!" Stephan chimed in before Jake could answer. Tristan responded by puffing his cheeks, and thus Stephan added with a theatrical sigh, a hand pressed against his chest, "You've been so cold to me today! My poor heart is about to break, you know? Where did my cute little Tristan go…? I'm missing him!"
The boy tried to stifle his laughter but couldn't. With a chuckle, he finally nodded, "Alright, you can come over too!"
"Thank you, your highness!" Stephan bowed with a solemn expression, drawing out another laugh from the boy.
Standing by their side, Misha watched their interaction with rapt attention. He had realized it over the years, but Stephan truly was good at leading people by the nose. He just knew what to say to either please them, lower their guard, or anger them to death. It was something Misha could never do, his EQ too low. It was still interesting to watch, though.
"TRISTAN!!!" Angela's panicked voice resounded throughout the house, so shrill that it pierced people's eardrums. "WHERE ARE YOU?! ANSWER ME!"
'Tsk. Looks like she has finally found out her dearest son has sneaked out,' Misha thought with a grimace. 'It hasn't even been ten minutes.'
"TRISTAN!"
Tristan's body stiffened upon hearing his mother's voice, and Gabriel patted his shoulder to comfort him. He bent over to take him in his arms, his voice soft as he said, "Let's go meet up with your mom, ok?"
"I'd rather stay with you," the boy pursed his lips. "It's boring staying in my room all day long."
"Then, I'll ask her if I can stay with you today."
"Can Misha also come?"
"If he wants to."
"Why are you even asking? I'd love to!" Misha smiled, walking up to the door to open it. "We better go before she puts the house upside down."
"Right," Gabriel agreed, glancing at Jake. He squinted and told him, "I'll come back later. In the meantime, how about resting?"
"I'll try."
"Let me rephrase it: no work."
There was a second of silence before Jake repeated, "I'll try."
Gabriel stared at him but didn't pursue the matter—his brother was old enough to take care of himself. So instead, he sighed and left. As they passed through the door, Tristan waved at Jake and promised to visit again.
"I'll be waiting for you, then."
The words had barely left his mouth when Gabriel closed the door. Jake stared at it for a short moment, waiting for the footsteps to grow distant before bringing a report to his lap. Again, he blatantly ignored the man behind him and started to read, immersing himself in his work.
"Aren't you supposed to rest?" Stephan's mouth twitched.
To this, Jake responded with a snort.
***
"Don't ever do that again!" Angela scolded, holding her son's arms so tight it made him wince. "You scared the hell out of me!"
"Mom," Gabriel called Angela, diverting her attention to him. "He just wanted to see his brothers. He didn't intend to scare you. Now that you have warned him, I'm sure he won't do it a second time."
Gabriel's voice was soothing, calming her down. Angela took a deep breath and loosened her grip. Right. Her son was just too fond of his big brothers, something she had wished for. So, she shouldn't get angry for only this much.
Through the years, Gabriel had somewhat "grown closer" to Angela, for he was always there to placate her. In the long run, Angela unconsciously started to listen to his advice—sometimes, she even sought it. Her husband was cold to her, whereas her eldest son was a useless pawn, never meeting her expectations. His newest failure was about a certain deal with a foreign company, which fell off because of his playboy nature! If Jake wanted to seduce the CEO's daughter, he should have concealed his other adventures better. Thanks to him, they had lost so much money and many opportunities to expand their side business! Goodness, thinking about it was enough to anger her to death.
"Are you alright? You look pale," Gabriel said with a worried tone. "Maybe you should go down to eat a little something?"
"It's just a lack of sleep."
"Then, how about taking a nap? I'll watch over Tristan while you sleep. I know you're worried about your son, but you need to rest too."
Angela hesitated a while longer, but Gabriel's gentle smile got the better of her in the end. Thus, she hugged her youngest son and kissed his forehead, "Be a good boy and listen to your brother, ok?"
Tristan nodded, and then she left. The boy barely glanced at his mother's disappearing back before beckoning Misha and Gabriel to come further inside his room. "This way, my castle is just there!"
"Alright," Gabriel chuckled and followed along.
As they walked behind the boy, Misha grabbed Gabriel's shoulder and brought the man down to whisper in his ear, "I swear, your acting skills are as fearsome as ever. It makes me shiver to think that behind that smile of yours, you were thinking of stabbing her."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Gabriel laughed, a cold light glinting in the depths of his eyes. Honestly, he was just about to slap Angela when she gripped Tristan, gnashing his teeth so hard they seemed to crack open. If he didn't have to restrain Misha from pouncing on her, he'd probably not have been able to stay still.
"Look, look!" Tristan giggled, bringing back their attention to him. "I did a good job, right?"
Beside the boy stood a Lego castle almost as tall as him. It was awesomely made, and one could tell he had put hours into building it. He had paid attention to every detail, and when Misha bent to look inside through the windows, he saw rooms exquisite beyond imagination. How could someone, even more so a kid, build such a magnificent castle with only Legos? No matter how much Misha racked his brain over it, he couldn't understand!
"This is the living room," Tristan excitedly clapped his hands, "and this is Gabriel's bedroom, that one is Misha's, and that one is Jake's! Mine is here!"
In each bedroom, there was a Lego character. Tristan even drew glasses on the face of the character that embodied Gabriel, which made Misha smile from ear to ear.
He stretched a hand to ruffle the boy's hair, saying, "Wow, it's amazing!"
"But I'll have to work on it again," Tristan pouted.
"How come? I find it perfect as it is!"
"I need to add a bedroom for Stephan!"
"You don't need to! Just put him in Jake's bedroom, and that will do the trick."
"No, no, no! He needs his own room!"
Tristan puffed his cheeks, but they soon deflated as a pensive look flashed across his face. His eyes sparkled as he pondered how to adjust the rooms so another could fit and where he should put Stephan's bedroom. He wanted to keep the playroom, but….
Crouching by the boy's side, Misha couldn't help but shake his head. How could such a cute kid ever grow up into a monster? He honestly couldn't imagine it.
_____________________
Edited by Clozed!
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