Un-Chain

Entering the dining hall was quite overwhelming at first but Uteu was more interested in listening to his siblings talk about their days. There was a huge painting of Grello attached to one of the walls and Uteu had to pause to look at it.

"Oh its big bro Grello!" Uteu reeled back in shock to look at Ulo who had sparkles in his eyes as he looked at the painting.

"He was taking care of you when you were sick!" Uti piped in.

"He's so nice! He gave us lots of coloring books and snacks. Oh! And told us every day how you were doing!" Ulo said, the sparkles in his eyes intensifying.

"Shouldn't you call him uncle?" Uteu asked in amus.e.m.e.nt.

"He told us not to call him uncle. Cause uncles are unreliable." They said at the same time.

Uteu quirked his head at their words but brushed it off as Grello wanting to sound younger.

They headed over to the long table and enjoyed many dishes cooked for children. Uteu felt nostalgic as he ate a bit of everything. He hasn't had food like this in a while.

He was normally the one that cooked for them. But back in the day it was their caretaker that used to make these childish dishes for them. Ulo and Uti ate happily and they continued to tell him about all the things they were able to enjoy in the mansion.

They mentioned their favorite maid, Minh and least favorite maid Lia. All the things they loved to eat and how great the food was. They always had their favorites every day but some things they didn't like would be added in sometimes.

They even mentioned how big bro Grello would ask them kindly to eat their veggies. They'd be shaped in fun shapes so they were fun to eat, even if they tasted a little icky. Their favorite maid would give them peanut butter or ranch for some of the veggies to make it taste better. Big bro Grello even mentioned how proud Uteu would be of them.

They even told him what they would usually do during the day and which maids they interacted with the most.

Uteu smiled as they rambled on and on. The familiar chatter during dinner was exactly as he remembered it. It was also just what he needed for his nerves.

Finally, a bit of normalcy without having to worry about strangers or near death experiences.

He felt grateful for his siblings and frankly, he was also grateful that they didn't remember him being stabbed. He wanted them to retain their innocence a little longer.

When they finished eating, two maids Uteu didn't know the names of, cleaned up without a word and disappeared as soon as they were done.

Uteu's face turned solemn as he looked at the twins.

"Ulo. Uti."

Catching onto his mood, they quieted down and turned to fully face him.

"What rules did big bro Grello give you?"

Uti had a finger on her chin in thought as Ulo tried to recall, "Big brother Uteu needed his rest so we couldn't go find him on our own. We had to wait for him to find us... Not to go outside the house without a maid by our side and..."

"Oh! And to let a maid know if we ever needed anything! To use this whistle if we ever need one." Continued Uti as she pulled out a white whistle from under her clothes..

"Don't open the door for anyone. Don't go with any strangers ok? You two know about stranger danger, so I'm counting on you two to remember."

Ulo and Uti gave him a look as if to say, "Duh!"

But Uteu wouldn't let them go until they agreed.

They got up and he followed them to their room. It was a spacious and warm room with small windows that no one could climb in and out of.

Two identical beds with cartoon character themed sheets and blankets were pushed together against the wall. Small drawers on either sides of the bed were opened and clothes were messily stuffed in.

Uteu gave the twins a look and they sheepishly inched away to deal with their mess.

"I don't remember you having these before..." Uteu said as he looked at the designs of the clothing they were folding. They looked new, with a lot of their favorite characters on them.

"Big bro Grello got them for us!" The sparkles came back into Ulo's eyes as he folded quickly.

Uteu was surprised. He guessed Grello thought of everything. Now that he thought back on it. The twins didn't have that many sets of clothes when they stayed over at his place.

It wouldn't have been enough for however long they needed to stay here.

When the twins finished tidying up, he ushered them off to go brush their teeth. He honestly didn't know where their bathroom was and hoped it was nearby. The twins pulled open a door on the opposite side of the room, past a low round table with crayons and coloring books out.

He entered their bathroom with them and saw cartoon stools for them to step up to the sink to brush their teeth. Uteu heard buzzing as they used their cartoon themed cups and electrical toothbrushes and dried their faces with their cartoon themed towels. Uteu felt helpless. Their big bro Grello was spoiling them.

The two pulled their stools over for a quick shower. Uteu asked how they normally got showers. He looked at the open shower and drain and cute shower curtain. He turned the knobs and quickly got the water at a nice warm temperature.

"Minh would give us a shower. She was really gentle with our hair." Uti said as Uteu pulled out a cartoon themed tears free kid shampoo and conditioner.

Uteu hummed and had them wash their bodies as he worked a lather for their hair. He rinsed them off and they quickly grabbed their big fluffy cartoon towels and dried off. Uteu found a small hair dryer in one of the drawers by the sink and dried their hair.

"We missed you so much big brother." Uti said as she hugged him.

Uteu almost melted into the hug. He patted her hair and as he tucked them both in, they yawned.

The door creaked open and Uteu almost flinched. He quickly turned to to door, stiff. A maid with short wavy brown hair nodded politely at Uteu and pulled out a a children's book. Uteu visibly relaxed.

"Good evening, I am here to read the twins a story, unless sir would prefer to?"

Uteu almost agreed, but the twins decided for him.

"We like Minh's voice! Please read to us?"

Minh smiled and replied, "Of course little ones, I would love to read to you."

Uteu didn't have the heart to stop her and nodded in approval when she turned to him. If he didn't know enough about her from all of the twin's retelling of these past few days, he would have felt weary leaving the twins with her.

He watched as she pulled out two stuffed toys from the closet and handed them to the twins before pulling a chair over and dimming the lights. She left one bright light for herself to read.

When she softly told them a story he didn't recognize with emotions and different tones for all the characters, he suddenly had a thought.

This was similar to what a mother was like, wasn't it? He could see why they wanted Minh to stay and read them a story instead of himself.