Stefan was awoken by the clattering of spoons and forks coming from the dining room. He figured it was just Haliya, getting ready for breakfast like always. He rolled around on his bed to check the sun outside and found that it was way too early for breakfast. Heck, he wasn't even sure it was the next day yet.
"Stefan, dinner!" Haliya yelled.
Dinner! That's why it was so dark outside. He realized he'd slept for the whole rest of the day since he got back from the literally crushing morning he just had.
He took a few seconds to stretch and shake the sleep off of him before finally standing up to meet his sister downstairs. Each step felt heavier as the dread of telling her that not only had he not gotten a job, but he also lost his wallet and ID.
"Finally! There you are. You had half a minute before I marched up there and dragged your ass down to the dining table," Iya said.
Stefan trudged over to his seat, taking time to drag his feet as he walked, trying to play the pity card so that Haliya wouldn't murder him for being careless. But in his defense, carelessness had nothing to do with losing his wallet.
"Why the long face?" she asked him, walking over to meet him at the bottom of the stairs. She took his chin in his hands and pulled it down as if she was making his face longer. She immediately regret it when Stefan's atrocious breath wafted into the air.
He slapped her hand away as she covered her nose to shield it from the awful stench.
"Geez, do you ever brush your teeth? It's like a fish market in there," she said.
"Why did you make dinner, Iya?"
"Uh," she said, dragging out the word,"Look, okay? I may have forced you into getting out of the house a while ago because you were always making the house so messy and noisy with your friends coming over all the time and I wanted to eat my darn Cheetos and watch Orange is the New Black in peace but-"
"But then it got too quiet and you realized your life was meaningless without me."
"No. I got home to a half-dead, half-asleep tarsier sprawled on my couch and decided maybe I shouldn't have sent you out without even telling you what to do."
She weakly punched his arm in an attempt to lighten the mood and went back to setting the table, encouraging Stefan to sit down.
He dragged a chair out from under the table and sat down, holding his head in his hands and muttered, "Been a long time since you called me a tarsier."
"Been a long time since you acted like one."
Iya set the food down in front of him. Nothing special, just some reheated leftovers from what they had for breakfast. She pulled out the chair that was across from him and moved the plate closer to where she was. She took a large amount of the rice from the serving plate, shamelessly filling her plate up with as much food as she could.
But Stefan remained with his head resting in his hands, only staring at the food, but not moving to touch it. And of course Haliya noticed this. Putting the serving spoon back, she leaned back in her seat and sighed,
"And it seems the tarsier is having another episode."
"I'm not having an episode."
"That's what we always say. You know this, we've been over it a thousand times-"
Stefan cut his sister off with a loud groan as he moved his hands to cover his face and comb through his hair.
"You're one to talk, you just had an episode a while ago," he said, mumbling so that Iya couldn't hear.
Sighing, Iya stood up and started grabbing her things for work.
"Why don't we talk later instead?" Iya said, checking the time, "9:37. Can't be late today, there are rumours about some of us getting promotions soon. Gotta be one of those getting one, am I right?" she said.
"No, don't leave me here. I'm sorry," Stefan said, turning around to see Iya propping her foot up on the sofa arm and pulling up her socks.
"You'll be fine, just find something to do."
"But I-"
"Or someone to do, how 'bout that?"
Stefan cringed at his older sister trying to encourage him to find a sex life. He wasn't even remotely interested in getting it on with someone. It always seemed too messy, and he always thought that if he was going to do... that that he would do it with someone special.
"Finally got you to shut up, huh?" Iya said.
"Why do you have to go now?"
"Oh Stefan, some of us have to go to work everyday so that others can have something to gamble. Preferably not, but where's the options menu? You know what I'm sayi-?"
"I lost my wallet," Stefan blurted out, hoping it would make her stay to at least scold him, "and my ID."
She paused for a minute before replying, "Are you saying that to make me stay or did that actually happen?"
"Yes."
"Well, I guess you have more incentive to find a job."
"And my ID?"
"Oh, please, we both know you don't bring your actual Citizenship ID everywhere you go, I have it. Was it your high school ID or your ID from your last job? What was it? Feel Goo-?"
"Shut up! You can leave now!" Stefan himself pushed Iya towards the door and slammed it in her wide smiling face, an embarrassed smile on his.
He decided to finish dinner before staying at the computer to see if any of his friends were awake to play some online games with him. He switched the TV on so that there would be some background noise but as soon as the colors showed on the screen, he heard a frantic knock at the door.
He hesitated for a bit before turning the TV back off, checking if maybe it was from the show that was on, or if he was hearing things. But surely enough, another knock sounded through the house.
YOU ARE READING
Your Robot Boyfriend
Macera"How the heck are we going to go all the way to Germany if we can't even afford plane tickets to the Manila Port?" Haliya whisper shouted as to make sure Dave couldn't hear what she just said. "Shut up, Iya. No one's forcing you to come with us." Ma...
