v e n t (+16)

(5)

Daylight creeped onto his desk slowly as a whole new day began. He tried to move his legs, but there was pressure on them. That made his eyelids flutter while trying to get used to the sunlight. His masked eyes looked down to see someone's head on his lap. A yawn left the young hero's mouth as he stretched out his back. It took him a while to realize what's going on. The mug, papers, turned off computer... Robin didn't recall the moment he fell asleep, but he for sure didn't remember having Michelle by his side before that. The man could tell he left to work after making sure she's sleeping peacefully.

"Maybe she felt lonely?" - a thought appeared in his head as he sighed through his nose.

His hand travelled onto her back and with gentle movements and quiet speech - he woke her up. She appeared as very confused and sleepy. Her sight seemed uncertain, searching for an answer to what happened. She looked up at Robin, who's face expression resembled his inner confusion. Michelle blinked a few times and pulled herself away from his lap. She sat down on the floor. The dad stared at her from an angle. To him, the girl looked so innocent and powerless, taking short gazes at the surroundings, as if her memory couldn't recognize the moment when she got there. He exhaled through his nose with ease and grabbed his dirty mug.

- Would you like some tea? - he asked the poor figure sitting next to him on the floor.

Her sight instantly landed on his face, reacting to the sound of his voice. She nodded slightly with an absent face expression as an answer.

- Alright... Get up - he commanded and stood up from his chair with the porcelain dish in his hand.

The man helped her up gently and walked her over to the kitchen. He supported her while she was getting on one of the swivel chairs. She eventually sat down on her own and rested her hands on the countertop in front of her from fear of falling off of the seat. The older poured some water into an electric kettle and turned it on to start the boiling process. He then proceeded to wash his mug under hot water with a dish soap on his sponge. He used the rough side of it as the dried coffee circles on the walls of the red porcelain looked imprinted on it. After some scrubbing, the sponge managed to clean it off completely. Robin grabbed a fresh towel and began drying the dish while standing next to the sink with his right hip pointing towards it.

He took that as an opportunity to look at his daughter. Michelle wasn't really doing anything. Her sight was mostly pinned to the countertop with occasional glances at Robin, behind her or at the direction where any sound was coming from. But because she was so silent and confused, he found that worrisome. His face was sometimes very exposing of his soul, his heart and feelings. It was clear how much he loved and cared for the girl, however he didn't like being that soft. It made him feel naked and vulnerable. He preferred his poker face the most. But when it came to Michelle, he couldn't not be emotional. And he had troubles guessing if that's good or bad.

- Wanna talk about this, love? - he asked carefully, as he put his mug next to the kettle, which was soon about to turn off.

The girl looked up at him with interest when he spoke, but she herself didn't let a word out. She looked away. The leader took out Michelle's favorite big lightblue mug and placed it next to his. He added a green tea bag to both and poured boiling-hot water into them, filling up the entire dishes generously. He then grabbed both of the beverages, turned to Myth and placed her mug in front of her and his - in front of him. He sat down, facing the younger girl and observed her to figure out what happened. Of course he sort of had an idea of what could, but he still wanted to make sure.

- Tell daddy. What happened yesterday, hm? - he spoke to her like to a small child to make her focus without taking his eyes off of her.

Michelle's and his sight met which assured the leader in a theory that she does understand what he's saying and does pay attention to him. However, her sight would immediately leave anywhere else just to avoid eye contact right after he finished talking. That made Robin wonder if it's because she's trying to recall the events or are the events too tricky or embarrassing to explain and therefore - require a deeper thought. After a few minutes of waiting for an answer, he decided to help her.