All I can say is one thing. Or two.
Incredibly-extraordinary.
Is that even words? I think so.
His laugh was deep and masculine, but very relaxing to hear. As I stare at him, my jaw drops to the ground. I’m afraid it will never come back to its proper place.
Though it wasn’t obvious, I saw the small crinkles in his eyes and the twinkle in his eyes, but my eyes were busy focusing on one thing, his lips…
The frown that I’m used to seeing on his lips was replaced by a smile, his gleaming white teeth showing while a laugh was escaping from his mouth.
He looked so young.
And alive.
For a minute I forgot this was the guy I thought was a robot. Either he hasn’t noticed me staring or he was too busy laughing at me that he shrugged it off.
He high fived Nathan and commented, “Look what you did to your little brother, how many guys have you even brought here?”
I rolled my eyes at him, “It’s only you and Luke, and why are you asking me as if I have a lot of guys to hang out with.” I chuckled.
My little brother looked at the both of us innocently, tilting his head, “Did I say something wrong Snowwy?”
I shook my head, pinching his cheek, “No Nate-nate, everything’s fine.” Gosh, why is this even happening? My brother just misunderstood me. I stole a glance at Eion who still had a bright look on his face. Wow. Although it embarrassed me, I couldn’t help but feel happy, seeing him like that.
And most of all, I just can’t believe that with just one statement from my brother, Eion would start laughing, and it wasn’t even intended.
I guess it wasn’t a bad choice to do our work here in our house after all. What a day.
I then explained everything to Nathan calmly and slowly while Eion just quietly stared at us. Thankfully, Nathan finally understood me and he immediately apologized to me.
We relaxed for a minute while sipping our juices. When we finished, I went upstairs to go and grab my laptop. After that, I went downstairs so we could start. I put the laptop on the table because we decided to do our task in the living room.
Disturbed by the noise of the television, “Nathan, can you please turn off the television? You can watch SpongeBob in mom’s bedroom.” I asked my little brother and he nodded obediently and did what I said.
“Snowy? Can I stay here? I want to watch you work on your task…” He asked silently, looking up at me with puppy eyes. As always, my brother is a curious kid. “I promise I will keep quiet!” He added.
Because I am a kind sister and because his puppy eyes were adorable, I nodded my head and agreed to his request.
“Yehey! He exclaimed, and jumped in joy.
“But, you have to behave. Don’t disturb us, is that okay?” I asked.
“Okay! Pinky promise!” He exclaimed before sitting beside me.
I turned to look at Eion. “I’ll start the task first,” I said to Eion and typed on the keyboard of my laptop. He nodded his head, looking over my shoulder to the laptop. Feeling his hot breath on the back of my neck, I shifted uncomfortably.
He didn’t notice it since his attention was on the laptop. I shook my head and started focusing my attention on the screen.
The next minutes were spent by me, copying and pasting the important details from articles while asking Eion’s suggestions. I saw from the corner of my eye that Nathan stood up and left. Maybe he got bored and went upstairs.
After a few minutes, Eion also stood up, saying something but I was so engrossed in my work that I didn’t bother to hear what he just said. I just nod my head at him and turn my attention back to the laptop, losing track of time as each second passed.
“Eion, should I put this one?” I asked, reading the article. But the only reply I received was silence. Maybe he didn’t hear me.
“Eion?” I asked again, still focusing on the laptop. I only heard the sound of footsteps from the kitchen answering me. My eyebrows furrowed and I looked to my right to check if Eion was still there and saw nothing but the empty sofa. I look to my left. Then I remembered that he stood up and got somewhere earlier.
With that, I stood up and brushed my shirt straight, wanting to find him. Where could he be? The sound of the footsteps from the kitchen was still there. My eyebrows furrowed even more, and I walked towards the kitchen. Maybe he is there?
With that thought in my mind, I continued walking towards our kitchen. I turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.
My body froze at what I saw. My eyes widened in shock.
“Snowy! What are you doing?” It was my little brother, Nathan, standing there in the doorway. What shocked me was the helmet resting on his head and a water gun on his hand while clutching his teddy bear.
He raised his teddy bear up to his lips and said, “A girl in trouble. A girl in trouble. A girl in trouble.”
My jaw dropped, confused at what he was doing. “Nathan! What are you doing?”
He was still talking to his teddy bear, as if it was a walkie-talkie, and nodded his head to it like he was agreeing with someone from the other line.
He finally looked up at me. “You’re in danger, don’t worry, I will help you. I am Captain Nate.” He said hurriedly while looking around warrily, left and right.
“What?!” I asked again, what happened to my brother?
“Come! Let’s hide before he finds us.” He motioned for me to follow, when I just stared at him blankly, he grabbed my hand and led me to the living room.
Then realization dawned on me. He was playing like a soldier. I decided to play with him and asked, “Where are we going, Captain Nate?”
“To the base camp.” He simply replied and sat on the floor in the back of the sofa. I followed his actions and sat beside him. He made sure that we can’t be seen and put his fingers to his mouth, silencing me.
“Who’s the enemy, Captain Nate?” I asked in a whisper, attempting to make a scared look on my face.
“It’s him,” his expression was serious as he whispered back at me.
“Him? Then where is he?” I asked, looking around.
“He’s everywhere,” He put his hands to his mouth. Suddenly, the sofa moved and the sound of a mimicked gun echoed. Nathan stood up and pointed his gun to the attacker.
“You can’t win, monster!” Nathan shouted while making gun sounds. I took a peek at who it was and got shocked at what I saw. Oh, it was only Eion. Right, he probably stood up earlier and went to play with my brother.
And right now, my brother probably assigned him the role, ‘monster’. I just acted as if I didn’t know it.
However, what made me break my act was the saddle on Eion’s hands, clutching it tightly and using it as a gun towards my brother. He was sitting on one knee as his other knee was on the ground.