Mickey stays shaking Salem, not stopping till he gets off the mattress, then stands up over him.
Salem is like a giant to a dwarf in the height difference between the two boys.
Salem fully wakes up then dives down and grabs Mickey in his arms. Burying his face into his stomach.
Salem: "Oh my god! Mouse! How was aunties place!?"
He wiggles his face back and forth, tickling Mickey's stomach.
Mickey begins to give out a little laugh before stops to look down to Salem with a tear running down his face from laughing and his stomach hurting.
Mickey: "Stop calling me Mouse... I don't even watch that anymore."
The reason Salem calls Mickey, Mouse is because of the fact Mickey on the weekdays that Salem stayed home to watch him and get him ready for school, then send him to school Mickey would also cry for Salem to put on Mickey Mouse, any iteration of it was fine as long as the television had the mouse on screen.
Salem: "You'll still be Mouse to me Mickey."
Salem then grabs him into a hug.
Mickey winces, Salem's strength damn near tripled and it seems he has forgotten that.
Mickey: "Salem too tight!"
Salem pulled back, his arms still holding Mickey but not hugging him. Salem then looks at Mickey's face.
Salem: "Sorry Mickey. Didn't mean to hug you that tight."
Salem face looks disappointed not at Mickey's outburst but because he hurt his brother even if it's accidentally it was still his brother, and as the elders Marissa would always teach Salem to protect his younger brother.
Mickey: "I'm okay brother. That just means I need to get stronger than you."
Salem puts Mickey down and looks at him with a smile.
Salem: "That's not happening anytime soon. I'm super strong after all."
Salem flexes his arms. It looks like it could just pop out of his black-tee shirt.
Mickey looks surprised at him. Almost admiring him to a new degree. Then his eyes narrow, almost suspicious of him.
Mickey: "Did you take drugs to look like that?"
Salem looks around confused as he drops his arm to take in what Mickey just said.
Salem: "Who told you about drugs, Mouse?"
Mickey: "My friend at school did."
Salem: "Don't believe your friends their all liars."
Mickey looks at him with a pout.
Mickey: "NO She's--"
(Distant) Marissa: "Mickey is Salem awake!?"
Marissa yells from a room outside of Salem's Mickey turns around and runs out the door, Salem only now noticing that Mickey had on his school uniform.
(Distant) Mickey: "Mommy Salem is bullying me."
Salem also begins walking out of his room, out into the hallway, after getting to the wall he turns right, following the wall into the living room he makes his way into another left, making his way into the kitchen/dinning room.
Where both his mother, Marissa and his little brother, Mickey.
Marissa is holding Mickey against her legs, that even with her shorter statures than Salem is still taller than the eight year old Mickey.
Marissa: "So Salem is bullying you?"
Mickey with fake tears in his eyes.
Mickey: "Yes Mommy. He squeezed me super tight..."
Salem mentally shivers at that, but Marissa thinks it's a cute thing that her two boys did after being away from each other for a full week.
Mickey: "...and he said I'm weak."
Salem sighs.
Salem: "That last part is a lie."
Mickey looks at Salem then back to Marissa.
Mickey: "No it's not he said that I'm weak then he showed his muscles."
Mickey does another once over at Salem, then looks back at Marissa again.
Mickey: "Mommy how did Salem get bigger like that?"
Marissa also looks confused.
Marissa: "How did you get big? And in a week no less... You using drugs?"
Salem: "Can we stop accusing me of using roids."
Salem visibly flustered a bit because of the attention now on him.
Marissa: "Just want to make sure you're taking care of yourself."
Salem looks saddened by the assumption.
Salem: "Of course I'm taking care off my self. I have a nurse mom... I need to make sure her reputation is upheld."
Marissa lets out a short but sharp laugh, then Salem just smiles at her, Mickey looks between the two trying to figure out the joke.
Marissa lets go of Mickey, and Mickey just watches her go to the counter, her laughter dying out slowly.
Marissa stops laughing then gets three plate and puts them on the table having to go back for the third for a second run, but when she comes back she takes a seat and invites them to a round table in their dinning.
Marissa: "I made breakfast let's eat together."
Mickey looks at Salem, Salem looks at Mickey.
Mickey: "Yay! Mommy made breakfast."
Mickey practically hops to a seat on the table, struggling just a bit to get into the seats of the tall table, he eventually gets into the seat, with more struggle than he thought he was going to have.
Salem: "YOU made breakfast?"
Salem looks at Marissa and tilts his head, and gives a suspicious look to her.
Marissa: "Yes I made breakfast! I can cook..."
Salem: "Last time you cooked food was turned into tar."
Mickey excited voice breaks through the two of them. As he gets comfortable.
Mickey: "It's French Toast. Mom how'd you know I wanted this today?"
Salem begins walking to the table to inspect it.
Marissa: "Because your mommy has the super cool power of knowing everything that her baby boys want."
Salem: "Not a baby no more."
Marissa: "You still are to me."
She gives Salem a fake scowling look, then begins trailing the table cutting in front of Salem before going beside Mickey.
Mickey: "Oh yeah then what I'm I thinking about right now?"
Mickey closes his eyes, then hums trying to cover his thoughts as if that how telepathy works.
Marissa: "I think you want... Super Mommy Kisses!"
She lunged forward and gave Mickey a barrage of kisses.
Salem moved around from behind his mother, and sees the food. It was actually decent looking.
The food that she cooked seems to be different thinking about what her sons would like.
She cooked Fried Rice for Salem, he looks over to where she would be sitting and sees the same thing that Salem has on his plate, also on a plate for her.
Salem: "You sure a magical beast didn't take over your mind and magically make these things?"
She stops kissing Mickey and looks behind her, slowly straitening her posture. Standing as tall as she can but still can't trump Salem's height.
Marissa: "I'll take the food and throw it into the trash sit and eat."
Salem chuckles then takes a seat as well, the seat in the middle of them, beside both Marissa and Mickey. As Marissa goes behind Salem to get to her seat which is beside Salem but facing Mickey.
Mickey begins to dig in, immediately after Marissa stops paying to much attention to him.
Marissa goes around to her side of the table, kisses Salem on the top of his head as she get halfway through and ruffling his hair, that has somehow been neatly cleaned from the point of being the successor to now, then she takes a seat in front of her meal.
Marissa: "Okay lets pray."
Mickey looks embarrassed at her. He stopped eating the syrupy Toast and grabbed Salem.
Salem's hand was unknowingly hot because of the heat of emotion.
When Mickey touched his hand he immediately pulled away.
Mickey: "OW! Something is hot in Salem's hand."
Salem looked inside the palm of his hand and naturally tried to calm it, he was able to after a few seconds.
Salem: "There's nothing...?"
His voice cracks then his face puts on a very awkward smile.
Salem poker face is so bad that even Marissa decides to check.
Marissa: "Let me see your hand, you sound like a liar right now."
Salem shows his open palm to Marissa and she finds nothing in his palm. She gives Salem a look, then she gives another look to Mickey.
Marissa: "Mouse... You sure that there's some hot in his hand?"
Mickey: "I felt it!"
Marissa looks disappointed at his outburst.
Marissa: "No need to yell Mouse. I understand, but there's nothing in his hand so you can touch it now."
Salem brings his hand over to Mickey, Mickey slowly grabs his hand and grips it.
Marissa gives a short prayer. Blessing the food, then blessing her boys, then thanking the lord for their food.
Marissa: "Amen."
Mickey/Salem: "Amen."
Both the boys say at the same time, right after Marissa.
Mickey goes right back to eating his French Toast, he doesn't seem to care about anything other than his French Toast.
Salem picks up his spoon and slowly takes up a spoon full. Bringing it to his mouth and spills the spoon of Rice, Portuguese sausage, Spam, and different types of seasonings and sauces.
Salem enjoys it, very much. He has a smile on his face, and he hasn't sat down to eat with his family in a while because Mickey was at their aunties house and Marissa was at work forever so it was difficult for that, and now Salem had to learn to control these now found powers.
Marissa been looking at Salem with a smile on her face, then she looks over at Mickey her smile practically plastered to her face now.
Marissa: "So Mickey how has school been?"
She takes a spoonful and brings it to her mouth, putting her lips on the spoon to make the rice slip into her mouth some of her lipstick still to the metal spoon.
Mickey practically jumps for joy at the thought of school.
Mickey: "I made a friend at school. She's really tall and funny."
Marissa looks at Salem and Smiles.
Marissa: "Seems like someone has a girl-friend... huh Salem?"
Salem looks at his mother with narrowed eyes.
Salem: "I also have a female friend too, he's not special."
Mickey looks disappointed.
Mickey: "Yes she is! She's super cool!"
Salem: "I didn't say she wasn't cool Mouse."
Mickey: "OH."
Mickey goes back to stuffing his face.
Marissa flashes a sly smile at Salem.
Marissa: "Oh yeah what's..."
She's stopped by a notification from Salem phone in his pocket, he forgot he even put it in there last night.
Marissa sharpens the smile.
Marissa: "Speak of the devil, I'm guessing."
Salem reaches into her pocket and pull out his phone. To indeed be speaking of the devil. It was Amelia. In a sort of way she was his friend.
She sent a picture, Salem unlocks his phone and looks at it.
It's a picture of The Burning Man jumping out of frame and Amelia doing the same as she gets away from the flames.
(Text) Amelia: *I want a redo... 🙄 It was so bad that day and it would be wierd to go back to you while changing so today you have to give me a redo or i'll send the video of you to everyone.*
Marissa tried to get close to see, like a comedic long necked looney tune.
Salem turns his phone away from her.
Marissa gives him a pout, her bottom lip puffed out.
Marissa: "Show it to meeeeee."
Her voice sounds like a toddler about to throw a tantrum.
Salem: "No... It's just school asking if ill join a club.. I told them no."
For some reason this lie works.
Marissa: "You really should try joining one Salem..."
Mickey still stuffs his face during the sudden mood shift.
Mickey looks away from his food and looks at Marissa.
Salem: "I can't work and be in a club at the same time."
Marissa looks at him... with a disapproving look, but she cant speak up on it regardless of her feeling for her son.
Marissa: "Okay son... You want to help I'll understand that..."
Marissa stops like another group of words was about to jump out her mouth, then she stopped, but with another breathe she spoke.
Marissa: "Salem... Um, I don't know how to break this to you..."
Marissa's voice goes really sullen.
Marissa: "You know Stone, your coworker?"
Salem brings some food to his mouth, swallows the food and nods, softly as his mother brings up his co-worker.
Marissa: "Well, he came into the hospital yesterday... He committed suicide Salem.... I'm sorry."