𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗮𝗻
(𝗻.) 𝖺 𝗐𝗈𝗆𝖺𝗇 𝗈𝖿 𝖻𝖺𝖽 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗍𝖾𝗋.

𝗠𝗔𝗬𝗜𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗙𝗨𝗟, 𝗠𝗔𝗬𝗜𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗢𝗚𝗔𝗡𝗧
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

"Mayil!" the shrill yell of her mum caught both their elusive attention, effectively putting a temporary seize upon their petulant bickering.

Maribel was quick on her feet, reaching for the door before she turned to face him again, "one sec— huh?! Wait, why're you getting up?"

"...." Kaiser blinked, perplexed with her query. What did she mean by that..?

They both stared at each other in awkward silence. Upon hearing Maribel's mother's call and seeing Maribel reach for the door to go downstairs again, Kaiser too had clumsily stood up from the spinning chair he made himself so comfortable in. The reason being? He didn't want to be left alone again.

"...I'll be back....." she hesitantly reassured when noting Kaiser's unresponsiveness, before leaving the room and closing the door after her once she received a light nod in comprehension.

"...." Kaiser sat back down from his ungainly posture once maribel had left. The image of him stuck between standing and sitting not leaving his mind as he internally screamed from the rush of humiliation. he dragged his hands down his face and bounced his leg on the spot in what he refused to acknowledge was trepidation.

Sigh. Did I come underdressed..? He shook off the foolish thought. No, he was Kaiser and Kaiser made anything look good. Be it a trash bag or granny chic fashion or even nude, it was just in Kaiser's nature to make something so unflattering, hideous and tacky, look presentable. Right, his physique was gifted by divinity and his looks were blessed by the heavens. He was not underdressed.

With much self reassurance, Kaiser nodded in denial before sighing in defeat. But... I didn't expect her to wear something like that. She said she didn't know I was coming, so how come she was dressed like that...? Bringing a finger to his chin in deep thought, Kaiser mulled over her outfit choice.

It certainly wasn't ugly, in fact, Kaiser thought it suited her very well. The colour choice against the floral pattern was pretty, and it supposedly flattered her figure, not that he would ever admit it. Yeah, but it just looked really... domestic? He concluded. But even though it looks domestic, it also seemed too elegant to be casual, right..? At least from what he knew.

After deep considerations, where Kaiser's rational thinking had been infected with delusions yet again, he had come up with the diabolical theory that maribel was lying about not knowing of his visit with hopes to cover up the fact that she actually intended to impress him.

And her casual low bun hairstyle was just reverse psychology to throw me off!!! Nodding his head when he was happy with how 'everything added up', Kaiser's train of thought made a turnaround with her hair now being the centre of focus. She has curly hair, hm? He didn't expect that either.

In fact, Kaiser had not really taken a moment to thoroughly think about Maribel's physical appearance, not when his executive attention was solely focused on deriving her entertaining expressions. Despite its frizz at first glance, her hair seemed quite healthy. I wonder what products she uses... involuntarily spinning on the swivel chair that had a lone violet seat cushion for extra comfort, his gaze became fixated on the clutter littered along the extensive, long desk.

Items ranging from stationary like markers and paintbrushes, books and revision resources to skincare, cosmetics and haircare and a random purple skipping rope that was tangled beyond repair. What the fuck? Making his best effort to ignore the completely out of place toy, Kaiser made a mental note of the occasional products that caught his eye, before shifting them to the lone bookshelf that held a variety of literature materials.

There were a few that had intrigued him, urging him to go and physically take a look, but he refrained. Kaiser knew better. Despite his strange delight being scolded by Maribel and seeing her funny expressions, it probably wouldn't be a good a idea to do so in her house. A shiver crawled up his spine at the thought of Maribel scolding him in front of her family. Eugh—

Albeit he sighed in relief when the shiver didn't seem to last. Thanks to his outfit choice (high turtleneck), Maribel's mother had worriedly inquired if he was cold, and before Kaiser could even get a word in, (since he was actually wearing it to cover his taboo tattoo) she had hastily turned the heater on and offered to make him a warm beverage.

Despite having only met and conversed with her mother today, Kaiser noted the family's hospitality. But it was probably because I was quite buttery to her... Yes, that's right. Kaiser couldn't afford to make a bad impression on them. Not when the treatment he received in return for his flattering words were this generous. A pang of displeasure coursed through him with his insincere actions, however, he calmly brushed it off, at least I got rid of them shitty sweets...

"...." Fidgeting with his nail bed, a tick he seemed to have adopted from frequently observing Maribel, he inwardly berated himself for learning those basic tamil phrases. There was no need to, at least not when he had his translating earbuds enclosed in his fist, sitting unused in his pocket. Waste of my fucking time...

And amidst the drowning of his haze that lulled him further into the abyss of his growing frustration, he snapped out of his stupor when hearing the creaking of the door, a strange groan in protest with the heavy burden of all the clothes that were hanging off of the hooks behind it. Despite it's unpleasant sound, Kaiser relished in the relief that pervaded his system and immediately perked up with more anticipation then he'd like to admit.

Looking up expecting to see Maribel again, he was surprised to see a child, no older than around 7 or 8, worming its way onto the closest single bed of two in the room. The child made himself rather comfortable within the pile of blankets and pillows whilst blatantly ignoring the springs' recoils within the mattress that expressed clear opposition at the added weight.

He laid down on his side facing the now half-opened door, positioning his obnoxiously loud ipad parallel to his gaze that seemed to be locked with whatever was so damn interesting on it. The crossdressing man stared with bated breaths as the boy clutched on what Kaiser assumed was his lifeline. One look at the thick, heavy duty, vibrant blue case told Kaiser everything that needed to be said. This one was an ipad kid. and a severe one at that.

"Skibidi toilet! Skibidi skibidi toilet..!"

"....." Kaiser noted the boy's dark loose curls, leaning more towards soft waves when paired against Maribel and her mother's more tighter curl pattern. Is this her little brother..? He came to a solid conclusion from their running trait.

"I tried eating the world's spiciest ice-cream at my local barn—"

"...." huh? Spicy ice-cream? And from a fucking barn? Imaginary question marks appeared beside Kaiser after having heard the utter bullshit being spouted by the speaker. 

"Whichever one of these 3 people can get the furthest away from me in 24 hours wins $10000–"

"...." With the overstimulation derived from the constantly changing videos, Kaiser involuntarily bounced his knee in agitation again. Furrowing his brows in concentration, he tried to single out the pattern of his steady breath over the vociferous noise of the speaker hoping to quell his growing stimulation.

"Guys, you're not gonna believe when I say this, but—"

"Udai!" a high pitched voice suddenly barged in, the heavy door swinging up open rather aggressively against the weighty burden of clothing.

The abrupt scream had awoken him from his drowning haze, Kaiser's elusive attention now focused solely on the new intrusion. A girl, seemingly aged ten or so, with waist length, dark straight hair, stood by the bed. Stalking over the younger boy, who had completely disregarded her tone, her face twitched in irritation, reminding Kaiser of Maribel.

Now intrigued rather than irritated, Kaiser examined her features and noted the slight resemblance they both held. Sauf for their occasional and obvious differences, Kaiser came to a rapid judgment of their blood relation.

"Reba-akka said to stop watching youtube shorts!" She yelled in udai's face, her anger growing tenfold when said boy paid her no mind.

"Sawri shush!" Udai refuted, turning his back on her so that he could continue watching whatever nonsense he was watching in peace. Sawri clearly didn't take this well, turning to violence by attempting to snatch the ipad out of his steel like grip. This led to the two taking turns pulling the device in each of their respective sides like some sick game of tug of war, each side not showing any signs of relenting.

Kaiser sat by the side, his existence still yet to be acknowledged, only watching the surreal quarrel between the two siblings. Mouth turning agape, he observed how the younger kid resorted to sending a barrage of kicks towards the girl who seemed to have the upper strength due to her footing placed firmly on the ground. From the sudden setback, Sawri abruptly let go, sending Udai flying back, where he hit his elbow against the corner of the bedside table that separated the two beds.

A sharp cry erupted after, drowning out the intense volume of the ipad. "Sawri! You hurt my arm!" Udai screeched, the veins on his neck becoming disturbingly visible.

"Eugh! It's not—! It's not my fault you didn't listen when I told you the first time..." she argued back, albeit a little more hesitantly knowing that she was going to be scolded. When Udai showed no signs of ceasing his tears, sawri took it upon herself to massage his injured arm despite his defiance. "I'm sorry, okay?" Her apology did nothing to extinguish his cries and despite her reluctance, she stretched her arm out closer to him. "Here, you can hit me... only once so it's fair, okay?!"

It was only then that udai perked up, his crocodile tears no more as he sceptically scrutinised her outstretched arm before slapping it rather weakly. "You're angry for no reason... did Reba shout at you?"

"Ugh! She's always angry and shouting!" The dark-haired girl decided to take a seat on the bouncy bed, her arms crossed as she rolled her eyes in volition. Taking this opportunity to vent to her little brother, who was reaching for his ipad yet again, she mimicked the scolding words of her oldest sister whilst making exaggerated hand gestures. "Why are you watching youtube shorts again? How many times have I told you not to watch it?!"

Clearly not paying a single word to sawri's frustrated rant, Udai turned to his older sister, "Sawri, do you want to play roblox with me?"

"I don't have any charge on my ipad." She complained with a drawl, pointing at the currently charging ipad with the same, thick, heavy duty case in red. Due to this, she had been watching youtube shorts on her mum's phone downstairs where she got caught by their lovely sister who rebuked her in response. Thinking back on it, her mood dampened in distaste before a mischievous plan of revenge clouded her mind. "Let's hide Reba-akka's phone."

And before Udai could even get the chance to reply, he was going to decline, too busy immersed in his game of blox fruits, the yet to be acknowledged existence had made his presence known. "Who's Reba? Or Rebecca was it?"

"....." A deafening silence encompassed the three beings as an imaginary tumble weed rolled passed them. It didn't take much longer for the two younger siblings to turn to face the intruding presence, rather frigidly and robotically reminding him of Maribel's humorous mannerism. The silence was replaced with an ear-piercing scream, one that told Kaiser he was fucked.

Inwardly cursing his inattentive nature, he watched helplessly as they hurriedly ran 'for their lives', slamming the door close whilst leaving behind their precious ipads in their haste. Fuck. "....." Kaiser's urge to remove his wig only increased as his head began heating up uncomfortably. Despite the two running out, he could very well hear their not-so-quiet, hushed conversation outside, and he resisted the impel to facepalm.

"Udai, who was that?! How did you not know she was there?!" Sawri frantically threw question after question at her little brother's lack of caution.

"I don't know!" The voice replied, panic adorning his tone before shifting to horror. "Sawri... I left my ipad in there."

"That's what you're worried about?!"

"Sawri... what if—"

"No! Don't— don't say it!"

"What if that's Gemma?!"

"It's not!"

"But—"

"It's not Gemma! Don't say that, they both said Gemma's not real, so it's not Gemma..."

Gemma, was just the name of Suranika's acquaintance, one she met in a crèche that she volunteered at for work-experience. Maribel and Suranika had then decided to use the name to create a story to scare their younger siblings. It was a really stupid, poorly fabricated, horror story, where Gemma, a young girl who had lost her life along with her mother to car accident. The story proceeded with the girl's spirit witnessing her father's betrayal when he married a much younger woman. (For reference, they showed a picture of Leonardo Dicaprio and used him as the face claim for the father)

Feeling betrayed, the girl had returned as some monster, haunting the youth and urging them to play with her when no one else did.

"Plus!" the the added in denial, "Gemma is supposed to be our age, that girl looks really big."

"That"s true... but Reba said she can change her appearance.."

"Udai-!"

And to their luck, a visibly annoyed Suranika had come to their rescue. Marching up the stairs, her steps becoming heavier and louder with the slam of her slipper against the wooden floorboards.

"What?!" She yelled and Sawri was quick to shrink in guilt. "Why are you guys screaming like you flippin saw Gemma? Amma's shouting at me because of you guys." She muttered, clearly annoyed.

"We did!"

"....hah?"

"Gemma's just sitting there!"

"What the fu— what?"

"In there..." Udai whispered.

Kaiser sat anxiously, waiting for what was yet to come, and unlike in a match, he couldn't predict a plausible outcome. There wasn't enough knowledge to make an accurate forecast. "...." Brows furrowing in scrutiny, he unknowingly clenched his fist and tightened his stomach, an involuntary action of self-dense.

The door opened slowly, creaking loudly on its way, only emphasising the horror like mood that had been formed with the mention of the monster 'gemma'. By the doorway, a girl of similar height to Maribel stood rather imposingly, her attention focused on her phone with whatever was more eye catching on it, completely unbothered as she amused her siblings whines about 'Gemma being here'. Kaiser watched as she carelessly looked up, her still mouth turning agape.

"Oh fuck," she cursed, eliciting Sawri to look up at her with a narrowed gaze. "She is."

"Akka, you said a bad wo-"

"Shut up Sawri, Gemma's literally in my room and now's not the fucking time." The girl interrupted, before glancing at the two, a devious thought crawling up her spine. "Run!" With her imperative call, the three all agilely ran downstairs, pushing each other so they wouldn't be the one left behind, their countenance a hybrid of mirth and fear as the ring leader cackled finding the situation to be absolutely entertaining.

"...." Feeling himself let out a breath when no one seemed to jump out and beat the shit out of him, he momentarily sank in the spinning chair. The girl just now, he pondered whilst pinching his chin in deep concentration, I'm sure I've seen her before... He expeditiously surfed through his memories and paused on one where the girl was speaking to some second year members of the club. Right, unlike the introverted Maribel, her younger sister was much more outgoing and socially confident.

Not long after his discernment, the thrumming of multiple footsteps caught his attention, he payed particular attention to one and his hopes augmented, was that raconteuse? After what felt like eons of feeling abandoned, she was finally returning. Kaiser looked up, and to his relief, she was there. Staring back at him with her usual pensive yet blank gaze.

The constant whispering queries of "Who's that?", "Is that your friend, Reba?", "Why is she white like ghost?" and "Is that Gemma?" Filled the silence of shifting white noise. Maribel gently shoved her siblings that blocked the way to the side, their questions left unanswered.

Kaiser's gaze followed her intently, inciting maribel to raise her brow at him. Why did he look so constipated? "I'll be back in a minute."

"Wait, raconteuse." He called out desperately, cringing at his ungainly actions before adding, "how long are you going to take?"

Maribel stared blankly at the sudden desperate attitude before muttering, "...two minutes, just need to get something."

"Don't get sidetracked. Please."

"...right," biting back a scowl of disgust, she turned to leave, not before telling her younger siblings to behave civilly. Her sibling followed her out, leaving Kaiser alone.