"Mom, mom! Look, there's a pirate!"
The excited voice of a child traveled to Jake's ears, snapping him out of his reverie. He raised an eyebrow and glanced at the little girl causing a ruckus. The mother looked at him apologetically and tugged on her kid's arm to pull her to another room. But the girl's cry had already drawn attention to Jake, and every child in the vicinity peeked at him with curiosity. One-eyed people weren't a common sight, and Jake's well-crafted eye patch was even more intriguing. In their young minds, Jake could be nothing but a pirate. The aquarium atmosphere was just right too. Behind Jake was a glass wall filled with water, corals, and exotic fish. It cast a pale blue light on him, whitish-blue hues seemingly dancing about on his hair.
"…."
Gabriel couldn't stifle his laughter any longer. Some kids had escaped their parents and flocked to their side, their eyes shining with excitement. They at least managed to restrain themselves from climbing on Jake's lap.
"Are you searching for a treasure?"
"Where's your parrot?"
"Why don't you have a sword?"
"Where's the rest of your crew?"
"Is the man sitting beside you a pirate too?"
"Your eye patch is so beautiful!"
"Did you find it in a treasure chest?"
An endless flow of questions fell upon Jake, almost making him dizzy. He eyed Gabriel, who then smiled at him. This guy…. He clearly had no intention of helping out. Jake wasn't surprised, however, and could tell what his brother was thinking. Though they had grown closer, Gabriel had the bad habit of testing him whenever the opportunity arose. He also loved to observe his reaction like one would with a lab rat. But Jake didn't mind. He knew years of hatred couldn't disappear overnight, and Gabriel needed to gauge his real personality to put his mind at ease, to know what to expect of him.
"Shh," Jake said as he pressed his index against his lips, smiling at the children. "I snuck out of the ship to play at the aquarium, and that guy here—my little brother, by the way—decided to follow me to make sure I don't get into trouble. Our captain won't be happy if he learns about it, so can I count on you to keep quiet?"
The kids nodded furiously and lowered their voices. Then, again, they asked, "Is there a treasure in the aquarium?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure," Jake whispered, his voice carrying a hint of childish conspiracy. "You should ask my brother for this type of thing; I'm all brawl and no brain. Anyway, he's our navigator and the one deciphering treasure maps for us, so he should know."
"Really?!"
"Really."
And so, Jake successfully diverted the kids' attention to Gabriel. No way in hell would he be the only one interrogated here! His brother cocked an eyebrow at him, and Jake responded with an exact replica of the smile he had shown him earlier. Gabriel was good at pitting others, but so was he. Thankfully, his brother played along, and they thus entertained the children until their parents came to fetch them, apologizing and thanking them.
"You're good at handling children," Gabriel said, "and you're surprisingly a good storyteller too."
"Well, I had five kids, and they were a raucous bunch who loved bedtime stories. I can't tell how often I had to improvise a story on the spot, and my first stories were terrible enough to make people want to cry. When even a kid can tell that your story is illogical…."
Jake let out a half-hearted laugh. He'd rather not talk too much about his children. He had accepted they would never be born in this timeline, but it didn't mean he wasn't sad when he thought of them. They had been his little sunshine; they lightened up his dark, lonely world. Now that they were gone, it was plunged back into darkness.
"Wait—where's Tristan?"
Gabriel's words were like a cold shower, and Jake jolted back to the present. He scanned the room but didn't see his little brother. They only took their eyes off him for a moment, and he was gone! They had warned him not to wander about, yet he frigging did.
"Fucking hell, where did he go?!" Jake cursed as he leaped to his feet. He took the bag with the small aquariums and stuffed it in Gabriel's arms, saying, "Meet up with the bodyguards! I'll go search around."
Not waiting for his brother's answer, Jake bolted to the next room. But then again, Tristan wasn't there. His heartbeat increased tenfold as he ran through the crowd of people, calling his little brother's name. His cell phone vibrated, and Jake glanced at the text message Gabriel had sent him. The bodyguards had no idea where Tristan went.
'What's the point of their high salaries if they can't even keep tabs on a young kid?!' Jake silently screamed as he ran by open stairs leading to the second floor. He then caught a glimpse of a sailor hat and stopped dead in his tracks, almost tripping on his feet.
Tristan was sitting on a bench, alone. His usually smiling face was shrouded with gloom, the corner of his eyes red from having cried too much. He had brought his knees to his chest, wrapping his legs with his arms. He was curled up into a ball just like a wounded animal.
"Tristan!" Jake yelled as he veered and dashed to the boy, whose body had stiffened after hearing his voice. "Are you ok?!"
Jake kneeled on one knee in front of his brother and searched for any wounds. Tristan seemed to panic and quickly rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands, wiping off the tears.
"I'm fine," he smiled, but his lips trembled. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to go to the toilet."
'Only a fool would believe that lie!' Jake felt his mouth twitch. Going to the toilet wouldn't make that kid break down in tears! But first thing first, he had to tell Gabriel he had found Tristan, so he quickly sent a text message to his brother. However, he told him not to come for the time being.
"Alright," Jake sighed after putting back his cell phone in his pocket, "but you have to tell us next time. It's bad for our hearts when you disappear like this."
A nod was his only answer.
"….Won't you tell big brother why you were crying?"
"I wasn't crying."
As the boy said this, tears welled up in his eyes. It left Jake at a loss. The Tristan he remembered wasn't the kind to cry, and he wasn't sure how to react. A few seconds passed, and Jake was still in a deadlock. It wasn't until he saw his little brother's shoulders shaking that he finally hugged him, gently stroking his back. Although Tristan clung to him lately, he rarely hugged him first. The last time he voluntarily did it was during the kidnapping case.
"I promise I won't get angry, so won't you tell me?"
"You really won't…?"
"I really won't."
"It's stupid, you know? I'm just a bit upset."
"Upset about what?"
"You never smile at me like you did with those kids," Tristan choked on a sob. "You don't laugh either!"
Jake felt his worldviews shatter. Tristan had been crying because of this….?! It was true that he didn't smile at his brother often, and when he did, his smile would be stiff. He also didn't laugh much. But why would it sadden the child so much? No, Jake knew why. He just didn't want to accept it, or it'd feel like the fear he held toward his little brother was pointless.
"Don't worry," Jake eventually said, "I was just being polite to those kids."
Tristan pursed his lips, looking wronged. Mixed feelings sprouted in Jake's heart, and he wasn't sure what to do. But he could understand where this bout of jealousy was coming from. His little brother had always craved his love, and he had never given it to him—not so blatantly at least. Of course, seeing him smile at other children and laugh with them wouldn't settle well with the boy. However, the Tristan he knew would get overwhelmed by anger, not sadness. He wouldn't cry like this. But what did he really know? Maybe it wasn't the first time his little brother hid to cry. And maybe he often did it in their past lives.
A few weeks ago, he told Gabriel that children were sensitive to how adults perceived them, yet he hadn't realized just how much Tristan had noticed his discomfort until today, nor did he realize how much he bottled his emotions. No, he had to catch him crying to understand. What a fool, honestly.
'Stop seeing him as the adult Tristan,' Jake told himself as he kissed the boy's forehead. 'For now, he's just a kid.'
"Come, I'll buy you a plush as an apology."
At these words, a smile finally bloomed on the kid's face, brightening his eyes. He nodded and hugged his brother tighter. Jake froze for an instant, then closed his eye.
'Ah, please, if there's a God, let him be this cute little child forever.'
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Edited by Clozed!! ♥
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