Cosplay Shenanigans

1 - of control freaks and special attacks

August 2019, 07:08 AM.

Abel seriously could not stop himself from yawning.

It was the third one in a row. No matter how much time he spent in the freezing shower, his sleepiness refused to leave him alone. To be fair, he had been indulging himself in his new manga until the dead of night, so it was all worth the shot.

"Close your mouth whenever you yawn, Abel." Mom's reprimanding voice suddenly reiterated in his brain. Welp, it seemed like her advice slipped under the cracks, but no one was watching anyway. It already had happened too.

No one today even cared about seeing someone yawning anymore. After all, Mom was living a few decades behind everyone else. Because of her antics, old-fashioned etiquettes such as not putting elbows on the table continued to prevail in the household.

Mom is a piece of work, indeed. He internally snorted as he dawdled down the flight of stairs, rubbing his eyes.

Sauntering to the living room, Abel's drowsiness immediately retreated at the sound of Rocky's soft drumming footsteps. The border collie strolled towards him, boasting off its black and white coat. Its chocolate eyes lit up and its bushy tail wagged furiously at its grinning owner. At its large size, a fleeting memory of how small and vulnerable it was when Abel adopted the animal crossed his thoughts.

He's the best dog I could ever have...

"Morning Rocky," he greeted, his pitch a little higher than normal. He hunkered down and caressed its soft furs while the dog frisked about, licking his cheeks. "You're always up so early. Waiting for me, eh? You're a big baby, you know that?"

The dog barked as if it was responding to his questions, playfully pawing his legs.

"Oh... how I wish I could bring you to school and entertain me." He chuckled at its adorable actions before heading over to the dining room, with Rocky trailing behind him. Within seconds, Abel's stomach rumbled at the wrapped egg sandwich resting on the table, and beside it, was a small note.

Make sure to pray before eating.

Love,
Mom

Yet another habit of hers. Abel rolled his eyes at the constant reminder, but without further complaints, he snatched the sandwich.

Muttering a half-hearted prayer, he took a huge chomp on his cold breakfast; judging from the yolk melting on his tongue. As expected, it was extremely bland and lacked freshness, but with an empty belly, he would never hesitate devouring any food in his view regardless of his preferences.

This was a typical morning. His parents had always gone for work when the sun barely peeked out, leaving food for him and his older brother, Jethro, to feast. Then, they would usually return in the wee hours of the night. Occasionally, there were those times where Mom and Dad downright disappeared for a few days, but Abel never minded. In fact, he would rather have them that way. It's more nice without them around.

Munching on the remains of his sandwich, Abel's gaze hovered over the framed portraits practically filling the counter above the fireplace. God, how many photos did Mom put there?

However, one photo that never failed to catch his attention was the beach picture, taken from the ancient times. While his parents merely smiled with their flashy sunglasses, Jethro was doing some weird trendy pose. On the other hand, young Abel broadly grinned, showing off his missing tooth as he wrapped his arms around little Rocky.

Everyone had a few traits in common, one was the fact they all shared the same coal black hair. As for their eyes, Mom had oceanic blue while Dad had dark brown, inherited by Abel and Jethro respectively.