Apricity

Eternal Fear

Robert pushed the hot chocolate towards me with his fingers, encouraging me to drink it. He then walked away to the sink. I took a sip and rested it on the table.

"I give it a six."

Robert shook his head and chuckled. He had his back turned and was washing the dishes. Me? I was simply hanging around him and eating snacks. The boys didn't come down from their rooms, so I hung out with Robert. You know, I can really get used to this whole butler thing.

"Robert, can you pass me the sugar?"

He reached for the cabinet and gave me the sugar. First, I added just a little more sugar. But then I thought, why don't you just add even more? So I did.

I gave it another sip and put it back down.

"What's the rating now?"

I stared at the hot chocolate.

"...I think it got lower."

I've been sitting here for more than an hour. Which may seem unproductive, but it really isn't. I got vital information after all. It turned out the guy who entered dramatically and exited quietly was Xavier. The smaller boy next to him was Roman.

So far, I have met three brothers out of eight. Five more to go, and then I would've met most of my family already. Though, I think achieving that would be hard. It's looking like these brothers rarely come home. And if they do, it's usually very late. Right now, it's almost seven. Which isn't very late, but considering the fact that three of the brothers haven't been seen since yesterday...

What could they be doing?

I'm curious. Really curious. But I'm not going to hurt my brain thinking of it anymore.

"Robert, can you do something for me?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"I want to paint, but my notebook is all the way upstairs, and I'm way to lazy to get it. Can you get it for me...? Please? Oh, and also my paint set, and a round brush. It's not big, it's pretty small. Make sure you get the right type. You can get other brushes too. Then there's tape in my bag, and after you get that, can you fill up a jar of water? Thanks."

Robert sighed.

"I'm regretting telling you I was on your beck and call."

He dropped the towel and headed for the stairs. I drank some more of the hot chocolate while waiting for him to come back. It's best to finish it so that there aren't accidents when painting. I only sketch in my notebook when I'm bored, or really need to draw something on paper in case I forget about it. It's usually very light so that I wouldn't do too much damage, especially when I'm looking for a specific way I want my painting to come out.

"God, you're obsessed with these things aren't you?" Robert said as he walked down the stairs, flipping pages. "Fish, fish, fish, wait is that- Nope, it's a fish."

"I prefer the word passionate, and they're really nice to paint, Ok? Besides, there are mammals in there too, it's not just fish."

Robert rested the paint set on the table, along with my notebook. It was a cold-press. I got up from the seat near the counter of the kitchen island and sat there instead.

"Speaking about mammals, I think I'm going to paint a narwhal. I haven't done that in a while. Do you want to watch?"

"No, I have things to do. Which is including but not limited to my job." He said sarcastically. Filling up a jar with water. I shrugged and planned all the colors I was going to use. I like to use the wet-on-wet technique for my paintings, so naturally I would water my surface after I use my tape. But before I could even get a drip of water on the tips of my brush, the front door opened.