We soon reached the inn and entered through the front door. The place was quite busy as it was dinner time. I saw Elsie's mother at the reception. She smiled at us as we entered and asked "Would you like to have dinner?"
Cleo was about to answer when something slammed into me from the side. My feet left the ground as someone picked me up. I started to struggle and tried to get down by instinct but I was not a match for the person's strength.
"You are back Ren! Big sister missed you!"
I looked down in shock and realized that it was actually Elsie who was holding me.
"Eh.. umm… what?"
Elsie giggled and bounced me up as if to get a better hold on me. She then pouted as if she was hurt by my response.
"Don't you want to play with your big sister?"
I didn't know how to respond and started at her. Didn't we just meet today for the first time? How come she is mad that I haven't "played" with her? I started looking around to see if anyone can help me. Cleo was right next to me but I saw that she was trying very hard to hold back her laughter. Elsie was holding me more than half a foot off the ground which meant I was around the same level as Cleo. I looked at her somewhat angrily since it was obvious that was really enjoying the situation. Since she was not going to help me with this, I decided I had to do something on my own.
I placed my palms on Elsie's shoulders and pulled back a bit so I could talk with her.
"Uh… I… I want to play with my big sister but…. I just came back and I am a bit tired ..."
She looked at me in confusion and tilted her head a bit. She then started pouting even more and said "You don't wanna play with me?"
"No no… I wanna play with you… uh… how about we play after dinner?"
It was the only thing I could think of. I wasn't really tired and Elsie didn't really seem to believe my lie.
"Ok! Do you want to eat with your big sister? We can eat and play!" Her hands tightened around my legs a bit more. Was she nervous that I would say no? I couldn't think of a way to refute her even after thinking for some time. Finally I sighed and said "Ok. Let's do as you say ..."
Elsie immediately smiled and turned to face her mom.
"Can I and little Ren eat in my room mom?"
Elsie's mom had been looking at us with a smile and replied "Sure. But don't forget to clean up before going to sleep. Also don't keep Ren awake for too long, understand?"
"Yup!"
Elsie nodded her head in understanding. I thought she would finally put me down but to my horror she didn't bother to do that at all. She turned to face the opposite direction of the dining hall while shifting me to her right side. She let go of her left hand and started walking while holding me in her right arm. I was quite shocked by her strength and only remembered to look back at my companions after a few seconds.
Turek and Leana were looking at us with a shocked face. Sheila was looking at me with a sad face while Cleo was barely able to stop herself from laughing out loud. I gave her a glare for abandoning me but I didn't really have much time. Elsie soon reached a door and opened it with her left hand and carried me in.
She walked towards the bed while I started to look around. It wasn't a really big room. It had a bed and a table. I didn't see any kind of toys and wasn't sure what Elsie wanted to play. Elsie went to the middle of the room and stopped before asking all of a sudden "Eh… are you hungry Ren? Do you want to eat first?"
I had a lot of food when I was out with Sheila. I didn't really think I could have dinner anyway. I had brought it up as an excuse before. I looked down at her and said
"I am fine. I am not hungry right now… um… can you put me down?"
Elsie giggled and placed me down gently. I looked up at her smiling face and sighed internally. This girl was 3 years younger than me but she was already taller and stronger than me. I could still deal with Sheila's behavior considering she was older than me by 10 years but to be treated this way by a younger girl was much harder on my self esteem. I started to feel I was really pitiful. Even this girl could be a better adventurer compared to me.
Before I was even done wallowing in self pity, Elsie suddenly bent down, grabbed my legs and picked me up in her arms. She then sat on the bed and placed me on her lap. She adjusted me on her lap and placed my arms around her neck. She smiled and said
"Hihi… Ren is so cute!"
Just what was so cute about me? Both Sheila and Elsie were obsessed with my "cuteness". I looked away and saw a mirror on the opposite side. I looked at myself on top of Elsie's lap and thought that I did really look quite young, even compared to Elsie who looked more mature than me. She really could be my older sister.
"So Ren, what do you want to be when you grow up?"