spotlight :: malum

: seventy seven :

Silverware clinking against fine china fills the nearly dead silent dining room. Calum is prodding at his food in disinterest, he's lost his appetite to eat. No matter how good it smells or how appealing it looks.

Michael's parents and his parents (and Mali) are over for dinner. An idea that the redhead brought up the other day for a nice engagement reveal. Having both of them here saves time and gives them an overall look at what their sons have been doing. It sounded like a great idea, until it actually came together.

"This is a lovely house." Michael's mum, Karen, makes note of the decor as she enjoys some of the chicken prepared for them. Her eyes gaze at the vast elegance of the chandelier in the mix of modern architecture.

"Thank you." Calum tries his best to sound welcoming, he just can't stomach the feeling of complete and utter nausea inside of him. It all feels too tense, none of them are comfortable, not fully at least. He can barely look anyone in the eye right now without getting sick.

"He wanted to buy us one just like it," Joy is using her warmest tone of voice possible, combined with a tight grin. "We like to keep things a lot simpler, though."

Calum lets his hand place his fork to the side in favor of drinking his water. Being as anxious as he is right now isn't normal, maybe it's because he knows they'll only love this engagement because of Michael and not him. Calum's the flaw in this mix, he's not the golden boy who never did anything wrong.

"Michael's always wanted to live in a big house." Karen's the most talkative at the table, happily starting conversations for the benefit of the group. Her husband, on the other hand is a quiet man, nodding every now and then when they speak.

"Well, I'm happy I can share it with him." His sharp brown eyes meet hers for a split second before bouncing back over to Michael beside him, a gentle grin rises up onto his pale vermillion cheeks. He's doing a good job of calming him down through wordless gestures, it means more to him than he'd like to admit.

The redhead meets eyes with Mali and she's giving him a barely there grin, tweaking her lips up slightly only to drop it soon after. She seems tired, her eyes are drooping and sad, her movements slow.

"So, Michael," Joy calls his name, "What is it you do again?"

"Oh, um, I don't have a job. I graduated two years ago. I'm thinking about doing courses online but Calum says I shouldn't worry about it." His ankle finds Calum's under the table, hooking his foot around his leg. He makes enough money for the both of them, more than enough. Besides, Michael has no idea what he'd even want to do.

"I find it very interesting that Calum's, um, profession got him to this." Now Michael's dad is speaking, he's very confused with what Calum does, as is every middle aged man, but at least he's not treating him like shit for it.

Joy nods, "He was always a great singer, we knew he'd go somewhere with it."

Now it's Calum's turn to laugh, nearly choking on his drink as he coughs a bit. His eyes water slightly and Michael tries his best to hide his nervousness with a smile. He shouldn't be rude. Not when his own parents are here. This can't turn into a mess like the other times they've started these bickering fights.

"Mum," Mali mumbles so she can tell her politely to stop, her eyes warn her not to continue. Weary, matching brown eyes fighting from across the table.

"What? I'm complimenting my son."

"You never wanted him to go into singing, you told him he'd fail." Mali points this out as if it's brand new information, Michael can sense the way the table thickens with tension. How fast things escalated with that one sentence. He watches the way Calum calmly sets his glass back down and places his hands in his lap. Everyone's moods switch from calm and happy to nervous. The balance once surrounding them is starting to tilt.