A frail-looking young man with pale skin and dark circles under his eyes was sitting across the table. He was cradling a cup of coffee in his hands .
"After all the things i went through, now this ". The people in the dining table winced. "We apologize, the orphanage director never said anything about rain having a sister that year", the woman said. The said frail-looking young man with pale skin looked at her with eyes that looks like what a cat would make if you were to throw a bucket of water over it, and said "I am a boy" calmly, very very concerningly calmly.
"pfft" Rain, his sister whom he just met after all these years spat out her tea.
Her mother looked as if she would rather be swallowed up by the ground, over having this conversation. Her father just looked uncomfortable.
He cleared his throat. "Can you tell us why you are here? We can adopt you now. Please just say so. We are happy to see you, to know Rain wasn't always alone in her entire life."
The said frail-looking young man with pale skin AKA soon to be "late Mr. Sunless" was it? looked at him. He replied "Well, i heard that fulfilling a dead persons wish would bring good luck, right? Well, congratulations, you just found an entirely unheard breed of a dead person, aka a dead man walking. Welp, you didn't even need to go that far, one came to your doorstep, in the flesh. You must have been blessed by the god/ goddess of luck or something! "
Now they look at his complexion seriously, while trying not to laugh of course. They all had one thought in mind "How does she simultaenously make us feel a primal instinct to protect her... i mean him while managing to make it hard not to laugh and send her... *cough* *cough* i meant "him" obviously *cough* to the deeper end of his? her? (damn it make up your mind already you bastard of a brain. you are supposed to be on my side here. don't you dare set a cancel culture cult on me, this time) an existential crisis".
"We can talk about. please don't do anything rash. even if everything seems hopeless, suicide isn't the way..."
"Oh for the love of..., I am infected by the nightmare spell, ah, same difference I guess."
Now their eyes widen in horror.
How long more they ask.
You turn to your sister "Our birthday is on day after tomorrow right?"
Ok now they can be excused for not immediately assuming that their 14 year old daughter... adopted daughter Rain and that gi... boy there are twins. I mean can you blame them?
He continued, like as if his revelation didn't just shake them to their core "I'll try lasting till then".
Rain grimaces and says "uhm thanks?"
Sunny looks at her incredously and then nodded to himself "Ahh, you don't remember me, do you?"
The man and the woman looked at each other and mouthed "Rain was three when she was adopted wasn't she?"
They looked at him like he(I love you brain. I knew I could count on you!) was a different kind of species with insane photographic memory.
The boy... riiight, Sunless says "Is there an extra room in this house or something? I'll be staying here for a while."
Ok now they are sure they are looking at a cat in human disguise.
The man said "We have a room for you. You can wear the clothes you find there. Why don't you wash yourself up first. We'll discuss about your condition. We can teach you a few things, that would make sure you survive there"
He looks at them as if he was looking at a small child, just sighs tiredly, and spoke to them, just as patronizingly as he looked at them, as a small child and as if it's his responsibility to teach them the harsh realities of life, etc, and with his infinite wisdom and patience, decides to save them from the second hand embarrassment and says "Don't bother. I am malnourished, underweight, weak. What could you" he looks at them, in a way, you know, one would look at a child saying some fantasy story, and you play along, and decided to do exactly that "Fine, your holiness, please enlighten this humble begger and impart him with the knowledge and wisdom to survive."
Why? Why? Why? They all thought on loop. How does he make us feel like children rather than the other way around, without even trying? Is this the infamous "Young Geezer Syndrome?".
The man says "Children, go to the rooms. And Sunless, we'll call you in a bit. The maid has prepared a bath for you. Your new clothes will be left on the bed. Wear them. You can come back here after that. We'll continue this later."
He just shrugged and went to the room.
"Seriously? Does he think it's his home or something" the man thinks.
"Cute! He is just like a cat!" the woman(rain's mom) thinks.
Inside Sunless's room, sorry, someone's room, he looks at the clothes arranged on the bed. He locks the latch on the room. Finally some privacy!
He enters the bathroom. He then looks at the mirror, and just tsked at his reflection, in annoyance at the dirt on his priceless body. He looks at the bathtub. He smiles. Good. I need to maintain my looks. If I look too clean, I will be labelled as a fraud, again. If I look too dirty and pathetic, I will be chased away. Just the right amount of shivering, looking weak, etc, you can get away with many things.
But, since I am gonna die anyway, might as well indulge my self.
He removes his clothes and steps into the tub. "Ah. this is life" He says. He opens the new bath scrub, and uses it on himself. He drops generous amount of shampoo in the tub, and rinses his shoulder length hair. He decides to pamper himself. It's not his money after all. He removes the dirt and grime and cleans his hair, again. He gets up, removes the drainer. After it became empty, he turned on the valves, started warm water, once more. A man must set his priorities straight.
After nearly half an hour, he was done. He looked at himself in the mirror. "Woah, is this what skincare products do to your body?" he asks himself. "No wonder why everyone in the slums like me. Hell, i'd fall in love with myself if I could!" He checks the mirror closely to check if he missed a spot. Who am I kidding? This narcissist is just admiring his body!
He goes out the bathroom. He saw a pair of underwear, in a brand new pack. 'Alright, they are good. I'll give them 7 stars out of 10' He mused. He puts it on. he then puts on the black shirt that accentuates his pale skin. 'Ahh, that woman has some fashion sense'
He looks at the wardrobe mirror, and puts on the practiced "kicked puppy" face that was famous among the old women in the slums. He droops his shoulder accordingly. His body mass or the lack thereof does the rest of its job properly. You spend a minute or two messing your hair. You take a deep breath, after preparing your face and body to become a perfect embodiment of "pitiful and must be protected at all costs!"
He then walks out with slumped shoulders. He must look the part after all, ahh who was he kidding? was there even a need to try hard now?