Mind Reading Game

The kitchen was strangely quiet, even though it was breakfast time. The house was so silent that Gabriel could almost hear flies buzzing around. He frowned and looked at Masha, who mirrored his puzzled expression. They had woken up not too long ago and had left their room almost at the same time as Jake and Stephan, who seemed as stunned as they were by how quiet the house was at this hour. It didn't feel right, for Misha was usually up and about, fluttering in the kitchen. At one point in the past few years, the teenager had taken it upon himself to cook breakfast for everyone every morning. The only times he didn't prepare their meals was when his mother beat him to it or when they were outside and had agreed to eat at restaurants or hotels.

The four adults shared a glance before hurrying into the kitchen, only to stop dead in their tracks. They found Misha as expected, but the teenager wasn't busying himself at the oven.

No, he was slouched on the dining table, his cheek plastered against the wooden surface. Dark circles etched under his eyes, betraying the sleepless night he had. Yesterday, he was brimming with joy before going to bed, and now, he looked like a corpse. Even his gaze was lifeless, and Gabriel couldn't help but compare it to a fish's bulging eyes. It looked just as dead.

Despite hearing them enter the kitchen, Misha barely moved an inch. He didn't even flinch as his sister and Gabriel pulled chairs to sit on either side of him, framing him with their bodies.

"Are you alright?" the two of them then chorused, worry permeating their voices. 

Again, Misha didn't react much, barely lifting his eyes to look at the man beside him. He didn't need to answer, though; for at that moment, hurried steps resounded, and Tristan bolted into the kitchen, some medication for headache in his hands. 

"Mish'! I found some!" the boy proudly said, quickly handing the drug over. "Sorry for the wait."

"No problem, no problem," Misha mumbled as he gobbled the pills Tristan had brought. "Thanks."

"You're welcome!"

"Ha," Masha sighed, "So, it's a headache. Do you also have a fever?"

"No, don't worry," Misha smiled, though it seemed forced. "It's just a throbbing headache. I was probably too excited for this weekend outing and didn't sleep much. It'll pass with time." 

Too excited for this weekend…? Was her little brother being obvious in his lie, or did he honestly think he was being convincing? It might be the latter, as Misha's lying skills were as poor as ever. Suspicious, Masha thought of probing further, but Gabriel shook his head, gesturing it wasn't the right time. So, she sullenly swallowed back the words on the tip of her tongue and pretended to be dumb. They could always talk later.

"And you? How was your movie yesterday?"

"Quite interesting," Gabriel smiled. "I'll tell you about it later. What do you want for breakfast? I'll make it for you."

"…"

"Don't look at me like that! I can at least make some toast or prepare you a cereal bowl. What do you take me for?"

"Do you want an honest answer?"

"Actually, no."

Gabriel sighed, standing up to walk to the kitchen counter. He might not be a great cook, but he did have the minimum skill required to survive without Misha around to feed him. Or so he loved to think. 

.

.

Although Angela was around, she didn't interact much with them, allowing Misha to take a breather. He was not in the mood to entertain the witch today, and he was pretty satisfied with playing board games with Jake, Masha, Gabriel, Stephan, and Tristan. It was raining as if there was no tomorrow outside; hence why board games were scheduled for today.

"Alright," Stephan clapped his hands, visibly excited for the next board game. He was the one who had brought it after looking at the weather casting before coming yesterday. Heavy rain meant they were stuck inside, and watching movies could get boring after a while. It was more interesting to interact with each other over games. "Everyone's ready?"

"No," was Masha's curt answer. "Why do I have to sit next to you? I don't want to try to figure out what's going through your rotten brain!" 

"You're hurting me!" Stephan made an offended face, his mouth and eyes theatrically wide open. It had the merit of drawing laughter out of his audience.

"So," Tristan raised a hand, "if I understood correctly, my neighbor on my right puts down one of his cards with a word written on it, and I have to choose a card with a word on my end that I think goes well with his. Then, we try to guess what the other is most likely thinking of when considering the words of the two cards we put down, and after counting from three to one, we say the word we're thinking of simultaneously. If we've said the same word, we take a first-try point chip, and if we missed, we try again, but this time, with the words we have just said, and we cannot use the previous words. We have three chances, and when we get it on the second, we take a second-time chip, and on the third, a third-time chip. After that, I choose a word and put it down for my left neighbor, and we repeat."

"That's exactly it!" Stephan nodded. "It's a mind-reading kind of game. You must think of what the other will most likely say when they combine the two words. For example, if I put the word yellow and you put the word student, I'll most likely think of a school bus. The point is to try to lead the other to think of what you're currently thinking of." 

"That does sound like the kind of game you'd like…" Misha commented with a grunt, and his sister nodded in agreement. That guy loved to mess with people's brains and lead them to act and think as he wanted. He was good at it, too.

'At least, I don't have him as my neighbor,' Misha thought, pitying his sister who had been unlucky enough with the sitting arrangements: she was stuck between him and Stephan. As for himself, he was quite lucky to have settled between Gabriel and Masha when they chose their seats earlier. From the corner of his eyes, Misha caught a glimpse of Tristan sighing in relief, for he sat between Gabriel and Jake. Meanwhile, Jake had Stephan on his left side. The poor man could never shake off the leech.

"Anyway," Masha puffed out her chest, "I'm getting the ball rolling!"

That being said, she looked at Misha before readily putting down a card with the word "wheelchair" on it. Misha felt his mouth twitch. His sister's dark humor was sometimes overboard. He responded in kind and put the word "car" next to her card. They shared a look of mutual understanding and didn't even ask each other if they had a word in mind before counting down to one. They then said:

"Accident!" 

"…"

The others, who knew about the previous timelines, didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the victory sign the Lesskov siblings made. Sure, they got it on the first try, but that was at the price of rubbing salt into the wound! However, Misha didn't seem to mind, seemingly too excited for the next round with Gabriel, and turned around toward the man after picking a card. They had to always have five cards in their hands. Only, Misha didn't so much as glance at the new word he got and readily put a card on the rug. It contained the word "muffin". To which Gabriel responded with "chocolate".

3, 2, 1…

"Prank!"

"Worms."

Although they thought of the same event, they didn't use the same word to describe it. Back then, the worm-flavored chocolate muffin deeply traumatized Gabriel, who ended up throwing up his guts after taking a bite. It was now a funny memory they often brought up as a joke. It was the main reason they had chosen these two words, as they pinpointed that incident. Yet, they failed, making Misha pout, to which Gabriel softly chuckled. 

"Alright, again!" Misha nodded, determined to get it right this time. It was their second try, meaning they had to figure out what the other was thinking with "prank" and "worm" in mind.

3, 2, 1…

"Juice!"

"Jalapeños."

Stephan flinched. He was usually the one on the receiving end of this prank. He instinctively brought a hand to his throat, which had closed up slightly at the memory of the awful taste of Jalapeños juice. 

Not minding Stephan, Misha and Gabriel scrutinized each other, feeling a little discouraged. How come they were thinking of the same thing yet still managed not to say the same word?

"Vinegar!"

"Sandwiches."

Again, they thought of the same thing but didn't use the right words. They noticed one was using the ingredients while the other was using the medium. Thus, they changed their mindset to match each other, not knowing they had the same idea. Ultimately, they lost this round and gained no points.

"Dude," Misha made a deadpan face, "are you serious?!"

"I swear I didn't do it on purpose."

Masha and Stephan laughed their hearts out while Jake stifled his own amusement. He was currently playing his grumpy persona and had to pretend he wasn't enjoying himself. Angela wasn't far away and was eavesdropping. It wasn't because she didn't interact with them that she didn't pay attention to what they did in the house.

On the other side, Tristan was a little lost as he did not know all the inside jokes. Still, he couldn't help but smile and eagerly wait for his turn. He loved the idea of trying to guess what was going through his brothers' heads. If he managed to get it right, wouldn't it mean he knew them fairly well? Wouldn't it also mean they were close? As he thought of such things, it was soon his and Gabriel's turn.

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Edited by Clozed! ♥

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