Immediately Angus jolted to attention.
"Yes, I am Ian's brother."
"Great! I just want to inform you that we found Ian and he is currently staying in our house. When would you like to pick him up?"
Instead of great excitement and joy, Angus first felt suspicious and doubtful of the other party's words. He questioned their motive; a habit ingrained in him due to the nature of his work. Did a hostile organization find out about Ian going missing and want to lure him to a place and ambush him using the guise of having found Ian? Angus couldn't help but to doubt and go through all the possibilities in his head.
"Give Ian the phone. I want to speak to him," Angus demanded after great thought, his tone leaning a bit to the rude side.
The other party, Aretta's mom, didn't feel offended, she just assumed the other person was like this because of how anxious and worried he was about his little brother, although she felt strange at how naturally the other seemed at commanding people.
There was a little noise coming from the phone call before a familiar voice reached Angus's ears, instantly relaxing all of Angus's tensed up nerves and his normally cold-looking face even bloomed a smile.
"Big brother!" Ian called out from the other end of the call.
"Ian," Angus breathed out. His voice subtly held a hint of relief and happiness to know that Ian was safe. "Where are you?" However, until he gets his exact coordinates and until Ian is safe once again under his protection, he won't be able to truly and completely relieve the tension in his heart.
It took Ian some time to respond. Angus could hear him asking the woman, who had initially called him, for the address of her house.
Then Ian reiterated the address he just heard to Angus who immediately had the driver change the direction of the car and head to the given address.
Angus hung up the phone after telling Ian that he was on his way.
On the other side, Ian gave the phone back to Aretta's mom.
"My brother will be coming to pick me up soon."
"This late?" Aretta's mom showed surprise. "He must've been so worried, and so anxious to see you, otherwise, he could always wait till tomorrow. We don't mind if you stay the night."
Ian smiled. "Thank you for your kind words." Ian politely thanked her.
"No problem. Oh! That's right! Dinner. I need to cook dinner," Aretta's mom suddenly remembered that they haven't had dinner yet. She quickly rushed to the kitchen. "Aretta, come, let's make dinner."
Aretta also went into the kitchen area.
Popping her head back out of the kitchen, Aretta said to Ian, "Ian, mom says you can eat with us. You can watch TV while you wait. Dad, you too." She directed her last sentence to her silent father who nodded in acknowledgement and walked to a sofa and sat down. He took out his laptop from his work bag and opened it, planning to work on some work assignments while waiting for dinner to be ready.
Ian also nodded and sat down in the same spot he sat in when he first came. He did not turn on the TV. Keeping his hands to himself he just sat there, straight and still.
Click-Click-Click.
The gentle and steady sound of typing on the keyboard created a feeling of peace and calm, the sensation of relaxation coursed through Ian. He felt content just sitting there. Boredom was not a concept for him.
Light seemed to fill up his heart. Even his purple eyes glowed and the dark purple eye turned a bit faint and light purple.
Taking a break and looking up from his laptop, Aretta's dad saw Ian sitting there doing nothing. Afraid he was restraining himself and being too conscious of his presence, Aretta's dad turned on the TV.
The TV slowly came to life, displaying a logo that soon faded before playing the channel it was on.
Ian looked surprised.
Aretta's dad said, "Feel free to watch the TV. It won't bother me." Then he looked down again to continue his work.
Ian nodded and softly replied, "Okay."
So Aretta's dad stared at his laptop while Ian stared at the TV screen, watching whatever channel was on.
"…A week ago, a man was arrested on the charges of murder. From our sources, we found that the suspect killed the man who allegedly plotted the murder of his entire family. His act of revenge, however, was not taken kindly by the police and…"
The TV was on the news channel.
Report after report of crimes committed by people went into Ian's ears, transforming into something that inconspicuously seeped into his heart.
A wave of discomfort struck Ian's heart, the light in his heart wavered and receded slightly. Sparks of darkness seemed to see the chance and attacked.
A dull pain was felt from Ian's heart and head causing him to wince. Someone seemed to want to break out of his body and take over his mind.
Aretta's dad looked up, asking if he was alright. Ian nodded and said it was nothing. The other looked down again.
The crime news reports finished and they moved on to weather forecasting for the week.
Strong light defeated the weak darkness.
The sparks of darkness could only retreat, waiting forbearingly for their next opportunity to arise.
The heart was once again completely enshrouded by shining, warm light.
The pain was gone.
Ian showed puzzlement at the sudden, inexplicable pain he experienced. 'What was that?'
Unable to discern the origin of the bout of pain, Ian went back to watching the TV with nothing else to do.
Dinner was soon ready to be served.
Ian sat with Aretta's dad at the table while Aretta and her mom brought out the dishes and bowls.
The dinner was lovely.
"Thank you for the good meal." Ian said with gratitude to Aretta and her parents.
Being around such a normal and kind family, Ian had completely forgotten about his brother's teachings.
"You're welcome." Aretta smiled. Happy that Ian liked the food she cooked. Half of the dishes were cooked by her and the other half by her mom. She had noticed that Ian especially liked the taste of the dishes she made. Thinking of this, a spring of joy flowed from her heart, drenching her feelings and adding weight to them.
Putting the dirty dishes and bowls into the sink, Aretta was about to start washing them when Ian appeared behind her, giving her a slight scare.
"Ah!" Aretta screamed when she suddenly noticed the presence of Ian. She wasn't expecting him behind her. "Ian, what are you doing here?"
"I would like to offer help in washing the dishes."
"Oh, no need. You're the guest. I can do this by myself."
"No, I insist," Ian persisted, not relenting. Totally unlike a typical 9 year old. Aretta thought.
Aretta found herself losing against Ian, especially when her eyes met his.
Pink and purple collided.
She instantly blushed. No matter how child-like he acted and how he insists he's only 9 years old, Aretta can't see him that way.
Reluctantly, she nodded her head. "…then let's wash them together."
"Yes!" Ian smiled and cheered at his victory.
Washing the dishes together, Aretta felt the space was a bit cramped in front of the sink. Awkwardly and shyly, Aretta soaped and rinsed the plates with Ian.
While her body was occupied with the task at hand, her free mind wandered back to the times she had looked into Ian's eyes. His eyes were, in simple words, beautiful and clear. Clean of all worldly desires and greed, of hatred and violence.
When she first met him, despite how dirty he looked on the outside, she was given the feeling that he was like a piece of white paper, no dark ink can ever leave a permanent trace on him.
Pure.
That's what she felt from him.
Everything about Ian. From his eyes to his face to his words to his actions. Everything about him seemed to scream positive adjectives. He was like light. Pure, unadulterated light.
Not the sun, or the moon, or the stars.
Only light.
Just light.
Aretta looked at the serious Ian concentrating on washing the dishes spotless.
She could feel the warmth and light surrounding him like a halo, radiating off of him.
She shook her head. 'How's that possible?! There's no way something like that could actually happen in real life! This isn't a novel!' She felt embarrassed by the unrealistic sensations she perceived from Ian.
It's probably just her imagination.
Aretta went back to focusing on washing the dishes.
The faucet stops running.
Placing the last dish onto the drying rack, Aretta and Ian wiped their hands dry with a towel.
"Thank you, kids," Aretta's mom appeared and said. Handing them two popsicles as a reward, one for each of them. "You can go and play now."
Ian took the popsicle, looked at it curiously. This was the first time he had seen this type of frozen snack. Opening the package, a frozen pillar of purple on a flat wooden stick appeared before his eyes. He slightly licked it.
Grapes.
It tasted like grapes.
Ian's eyes widened. Taking a bite of it, Ian enjoyed the cool sensation of the ice melting in his mouth, his tongue absorbing the tasty flavor.
This was his first time eating a popsicle. Ian was used to eating cakes, cookies, and occasionally, ice-cream, and other high-end desserts, however, not a single popsicle had ever appeared in his house or his diet so he never knew of them.
'So this is popsicle. Yummy. I'll ask brother to buy some and keep them at home.' Ian thought to himself happily, happy for such a simple thing. He was easy to please and satisfy.
"Aret, do you know where to buy this popsicle?" Ian turned to ask Aretta who, similarly, was savoring her popsicle that flaunted the same color as her hair and eyes: pink. Ian looked at the package, her's was strawberry flavored.
"Mm, I think you can buy this at MMM Marketplace—we buy it from this place—or any store really," Aretta answered after a little consideration. Afterwards, she turned away, not willing to let Ian see her cheeks turning slightly red.
Ian saw her blushing ears peek out of her pink hair even as her face was turned away from him. Ian tilted his head in a daze, feeling peculiar about how often Aretta blushes around him.
Ian didn't understand the meaning behind the act of blushing. 'Is she embarrassed? But why?' Curious, Ian wanted to ask, but something in him told him he shouldn't, so he refrained in the end. Stopped, Ian returned to thinking about popsicles.
"Oh." Ian kept what she said in mind.
'Any store…
So all stores have popsicles, but I just didn't know.'