It was so awkward talking to his parents after so long.
His mum kept herself busy with peeling apples for him while his dad paced the room.
His uncle had escaped by himself, his excuse being that he needed to take Nala to the vet to get her checked.
As awkward as he may have felt though, Malik was still reeling at the fact that he'd been in that weird ass gate for five days. It had felt like an hour at most, but going by the way his stomach was rumbling nonstop and how damn thirsty he was, it had to be true.
So much was happening at once and he wanted his family to leave him alone so he could have processed it all properly without distractions.
It was eating away at him so much, him of all people not knowing his situation, that he ended up speaking his thoughts without thinking. Then again, nothing his parents weren't used to.
"Can you both leave?"
His mum dropped her knife and his father stopped pacing. The awkwardness in the room grew and even Malik felt it.
He glanced at his mum who looked at him like he'd grown two heads, the at his dad. His dad looked downright furious.
Uh…oops?
"Are you out of your mind?" His dad had said those words in a whisper, that alone letting Malik know the man was beyond pissed. Yelling, he could've ignored, but the soft anger was different. It was a little terrifying.
Malik could've handled fighting monsters the height of skyscrapers, but his quietly seething parents made his blood run cold.
"Malik…" his mum's voice shook as she placed the plate of fruit on his bedside table.
She used her hands to gently turn his head to face her, her eyebrows still knotted with her odd mix of emotions.
"We thought you had died, Malik," she said in that same whisper dad had used. "We had thought that we'd lost our baby and we had no way of even putting his body to rest. And you're asking us to leave?"
It sounded rather cruel when she'd put it like that.
"…I'm alive though," he said while tilting his head slightly.
She'd sucked in a sharp breath and that was his clue that he might have said the wrong thing yet again.
"He's insane." His dad's pacing had started again, faster. He'd removed the tie he'd been wearing and ran a hand through his shirt black and grey hair. "My son's insane."
"It could be the shock, darlin'" His mum was trying to calm her husband but even Malik thought that had been weak.
"Lauretta!" his dad yelled his mum's name and Malik felt himself go stiff at the way she'd flinched. "He's been like this since he was a child! Shock my ass!"
"Baba." Malik spoke in Chinese, his eyes narrowed slightly at his father. "Breathe. Do not yell at Ma."
He watched as his dad's shoulders visibly shook under his jacket. The older man rubbed his eyes under his glasses and let out a deep breath before walking towards his wife.
"Forgive me, Laurie," he said gently, looking as apologetic as he sounded as he placed a hand on her shoulder.
She put one of her own over his hand and gave him a quick smile before focusing back on their son who was watching them with blank green eyes.
His dad was kind, giving and silly, that was how Malik remembered him. But he also had a temper as well as a loud voice, yelling whenever he got frustrated. As a kid, Malik had found it funny when his mum would yell back and it always shocked his old man enough to keep quiet but those were simpler times.
"Wei." His dad was looking at him again, hand still under mum's. "You scared us. You terrified us. It was one thing knowing you were with your uncle in that…in that place—"
I liked it there.
"—it's another getting a letter from the Hunter's Association telling us…Fuck!"
Malik's eyes widened when his dad got on his knees and clutched the young hunter's hands between his own. His father put their joined hands to his forehead and took heavy, deep breaths.
"I'm so glad you're alive."
Is he crying?
Malik bent his head to look down and his father's face, eyes widening more when he saw the actual tears running down the man's cheeks.
"Mal."
He sat up straight again and looked at his mum, her expression leaving no room for disagreement with what she was going to say next.
"You're coming back home with us."
"Ma. I can't."
She straightened her back and wiped her determined but teary eyes, giving Malik a slight glare.
"You can. And you will. Your uncle has moved your thing to ours…We had a funeral prepared for today."
Her words made a lump form in his throat, their situation slowly hitting him.
It wasn't like he didn't understand. He understood their feelings, he wasn't some emotionless psychopath. His problem was just how slow he was with emotional situations. He could've understood how to fix a relic hydro plasma gun just from holding it, but processing the fact that someone was hurt took him a little over an hour.
He'd hurt his mum, he'd hurt his dad, and he'd probably hurt his little brother and uncle too.
But he still didn't want to go home. Like said before, he loved them, but he didn't like living with them. But ever since his father got his high paying job with the Hunter Association.
It was…suffocating. Living with them was suffocating.
But he didn't think his mum was going to leave him much of a choice and the way his dad's hold on his hands tightened, neither was his old man.
For a while, he thought to himself as he took a deep breath. I can stay with them for a while. Until they feel better, at least.
"…Can I bring Nala?" he asked slowly, starting to get a little uncomfortable with how long his dad was holding his hands.
The old man had clammy hands.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought you loved that dog more than your family." At least his mother's sarcasm hadn't left. That was a good sign. "You can. If she messes up the house, though, that's on you."
"She's a right doll, ma—Umph!" She'd suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him close as his dad continued to clutch his hands and cry. "Uhm Ma—."
"Stop talking for once, Mal," she whispered into his ear as one of her hands was placed flat on the back of his head, like she were holding a baby. "You scared me half to death."
It wasn't exactly the family reunion he expected to have with them. If he were to be honest, he didn't really think they'd have a reunion. He'd very much planned to not see them for at least five more years.
It wasn't like he was the one that decided to leave entirely. They'd technically been the ones that kicked him out.
So he was confused. Confused about the gate, the mysterious green giant of a woman, his now green eyes and now his parents were added to that confusion.
He just hoped that Yulong still didn't like him. He needed something to still make sense, otherwise he was going to pass out again from how dizzy he was getting.