The Bear House

Act 2. Chapter 4: A study on the boy who perceives normal

Act 2. Chapter 4: A study on the boy who perceives normal

On that same afternoon, Colin thought it would be a splendid idea to stop over a small tea shop. Arthur expressed that he would rather prepare his own tea and bake his own biscuits, but that did not faze Colin's insisting that they sit down and act like 'normal people'.

"But what is normal, Colin? It's merely a concept created by humans to herd the flock easily."

Colin ordered a tea pot good for two and a bunch of expensive-looking biscuits his current companion do not mind paying for. "Ey. Shush with that Nietzsche shit."

"I do not care for Nietzsche."

When their order came, Arthur immediately appropriated the utensils around the small round table. He poured tea to Colin's cheap-looking tea cup and then poured to his. He scrunched his face in disgust while looking at his bland cup. He made a hand-swirling motion to guide the scent of the liquid to his nose, and to his expectation, the brewing is unsatisfactory.

"Okay, that's creepy." Colin muttered while blowing his hot tea.

"I call it sophistication and... a taste to quality."

"You're so upper class, man."

"I simply value delicate hard work. I'm not upper class, I'm literally from a serving class family, but that does not mean I deserve services below decency. What I told you about deserving and making things that are "just enough", Dear Colin, also pertains to the way industries treat the middle and the lower classes. Unsatisfactory services are so commonly given to people with lesser money that this capitalistic system gets to over-charge a moderately decent service." Arthur daintily slammed the table, not actually wanting to get attention, however, the patrons inside the tea shop had heard everything anyway and expressed their 'ooh's and 'ahh's.

Colin can't help but agree, that's why he's feeling a little bit awkward for his earlier statements. When he thought it's the end of Arthur's 'sophistication' rant, the young psychiatrist went on.

"And all I'm asking from this stupid society you try to be normal in, is to at least appreciate quality. Quality in service. Quality in craftsmanship. Quality in mind and body. Quality in personalities and characters. But no, Colin. All we get is people half-assed-ly living their lives, just neutrally reacting to whatever the upper class hand them. So no Colin, sorry, I don't want to squeeze myself with people who are so apathetic on how they are treated by this unfair life. I. Do. Not. Want. To. Be. Normal."

With that, Arthur sipped his tea quite angrily. Unsatisfied with the brew, he gently put it down its saucer he was holding mid-air. "This tea is shit."

The patrons of the tea house clapped, some of them even stood up. Arthur was suddenly alarmed, and for the unfamiliarity of the situation, looked at Colin for help. He still carried himself with sophistication, though; he will never forget quality in both his speech and actions.

Colin developed second-hand embarrassment from Arthur's perspective and took his hand to get out of the damned tea shop. He cannot recognize if the tea is really good or not, but he leaves that to the fact that he has never experienced good quality service. Arthur's little tea servings are really a lot better than that, he could say.

"Okay fine, sophistication is nice." Colin started as they walk up the nice brick slope leading to his mother's house. "And you really made some sense there. But do sophisticated people really watch someone else sleep?"

"I don't think so." Arthur admitted. "To be fair, I do not want to be observed while sleeping. But butlers really do that a lot, especially to their sick masters. My former young master was always sick that I had to make sure he sleeps soundly."

Colin nodded at that. "Well, I'm not sick anymore. And I'm giving you permission not to observe me while sleeping."

"Alright then. I see you are a lot better in mind, nowadays."

"And also," Colin raised his fingers for emphasis. "...respect my personal space. At least stay away from me for about, um, 4 feet!"

"Feet? Whose feet?"

"Ugh, like, more than 1 meter! Damn metric system."

"Colin, I advise you to use metric system more often."

"PROMISE ME!"

Arthur sighed. "Alright. I suppose I'll just have to lessen observing your micro-expressions. They are interesting, I love watching your face."

Colin's entire being shuddered. In intense anger, he halted from walking, faced Arthur and let out a loud growl while raising his arms. "Urgh. You CREEP!"

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