Under the bright neon lights of the bathroom, Misha's puffy eyes appeared overly swollen and red; it was a miserable sight that tugged at people's heartstrings. His pursed lips, furrowed brows, and watery eyes... he looked just like an abused puppy. It made Gabriel's heart ache a little.
However, the slight pain in his chest was not entirely due to the child's pitiful appearance. He knew that behind the teary eyes, Misha was already thinking of a way to get back at him—even though this situation wasn't exactly his fault.
"My eyes hurt so much that it feels like they are on fire! And oh my gosh, I stink! I'm sure trash smells better than me right now," Misha sniffled as he rubbed his eyes. "It's all because of you! Everything, absolutely everything, is your fault! Why did you have to startle a skunk?! Who's foolish enough to do that?! You're an idiot! A real big idiot! The biggest idiot on earth!"
Misha glared at the teenager through half-closed eyes, feeling aggrieved down to his core. He had barely popped his head out of the tent to watch over Gabriel when he was suddenly doused in skunk spray. And because he had rotten luck, the secretion was sprayed near his eyes, and now they stung like hell, rendering him unable to hold back the tears. The area near the eyes and the nose was sensitive, and even if Misha didn't want to cry in front of Gabriel, he couldn't help himself. Tears just kept on streaming down his cheeks.
Although the teenager took the brunt of the skunk's attack, he had the reflex of hiding his face in the crook of his arm, saving his eyes from the stinging pain. Thus, he was better off than Misha, who only thought of closing his mouth.
Not too long after the incident, Masha was woken up by the pungent odor—it made her retch, and she barely managed not to throw up in the tent. When she learned what happened, she rushed to her brother to verify that the musk didn't enter his eyes, or they might have had to go to the hospital. At the very least, he had a bit of luck for once, and it didn't get in.
After making sure Misha was alright, Masha broke down laughing as she went to wake her mother, who was sound asleep in the other tent. This was hilarious, honestly!
Masha briefly told her mother the situation at hand, and Gulnas rapidly leaped to her feet and rummaged through the cooler to retrieve two big bottles of clamato juice. Because it had only been two days since their arrival, the bottles were mostly full—the group only had the time to drink two glasses or so, and therefore there was plenty of clamato juice left.
With the bottles in hand, Mrs. Brown glanced at her son, her heart clenching at the sight of his sorry state. Just keeping his eyes open seemed particularly painful, and tears glistered at the corner of his eyes, threatening to fall at any moment.
"It's better to keep your eyes shut for now," she had said. "If it hurts too much, you don't have to force yourself to open your eyelids."
"Hn," came Misha's muffled answer.
As she wiped off the skunk's spray on her son's face, Gulnas realized that he'd need help showering. He was currently more or less blind and couldn't do much by himself. And since Gabriel also had to wash up, she entrusted the task to the teenager. If her boy were left alone, she knew he'd cut corners, carelessly splashing the clamato juice on his body without rubbing his skin. Whether Misha liked it or not, his hair at least had to be washed with extra care, or his trip to the bathroom would be utterly useless.
With a bit of awkwardness, Mrs. Brown handed over the bottles to Gabriel and asked if he could help her son with the clamato juice shower. The acidic content in the tomato juice could help reduce the smell, if not get rid of it. It was better than nothing.
Gabriel agreed without making a fuss, unlike Misha, who blanked out for a second before throwing a tantrum.
"No way! I'm not showering with him!"
After listening to his various and numerous complaints, Gulnas proposed to do it herself if the idea of the teenager seeing him naked made him uncomfortable. Misha had a change of heart following these words. He grabbed Gabriel's wrist and clumsily dragged him to the bathroom with bright red ears.
Although Misha was in the body of a nine-year-old kid, he was still an adult, and the idea of his mother helping him shower was embarrassing enough to make him want to crawl into a hole. So he thought that he might as well trouble Gabriel. Anyway, it was all his fault; therefore, he should take responsibility.
Thus, it resulted in the present situation, where the child blamed Gabriel non-stop while the teenager prepared the shower cabin, putting their change of clothes on the bench, just beside the towels. The public bathroom was empty at this hour, and only Misha's angry voice resonated in the room, a bit like a broken record.
"Yes, yes, I know. It's all my fault. Do you need help to undress?" Gabriel asked, blatantly ignoring the child's tantrum. Agreeing to everything Misha said instead of trying to reason with him made his life much easier, something he had learned the hard way.
"NO!" Misha roared after a short second of silence. Once his brain processed the teenager's words, his small face flushed, and even his neck turned scarlet red. "Even with my eyes closed, I can take my clothes off without your help, thank you!"
Upon seeing his tomato-like face, Gabriel couldn't help but tease him. "Are you shy?"
"Of course not!"
"Well, for someone not shy, your cheeks sure are red. It's not like I'm a girl, so there's nothing to be shy about."
"I'm telling you I'm not!" Misha yelled, his face becoming redder under the anger.
And to prove his words, he directly stripped before throwing the top of his pajamas in the teenager's face. Or, more accurately, he tried to target his face, but it was no easy feat with his blurred vision. At times, he even saw two teenagers standing before him instead of one.
Startled, Gabriel managed to catch the pajama top just before it fell onto the wet floor. 'This kid sure has anger issues,' he thought without daring to say it aloud, putting the soiled clothing into a garbage bag.
Misha resolutely turned his back, taking off his pants while muttering something unintelligible. Gabriel felt like he was whispering a deadly curse, making him despair deep down. What did he do to make him hate him so much? If possible, he'd very much like to know.
With the two of them standing in a cabin, it was a bit cramped, but it didn't hinder their movement too much—however, it trapped the foul odor into a small space, making it all the more horrible for the nose. With this in mind, Gabriel hurried and undressed, telling Misha to go inside the shower first.
Before entering the shower and closing the door curtain, he put a few coins into the shower timer. The water should run for a few minutes.
Just as Gabriel turned around to reach for the handle of the showerhead, he realized that Misha was quite obstinate and had opened his eyes again, uncaring about the pain. Of course, the boy was squinting, unable to open his eyelids completely. Misha stared at a specific part of his body below the belt with a pensive look, making Gabriel feel self-conscious.
Then he heard the boy say:
"It's small."
"..."
Gabriel felt like crying, but he had no tears.
___________________
Chapter revised on 2022-05-08
Edited by Clozed! ♥
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