After being woken from my trance, Claire led me inside. The doors opened up, and a long hallway with stairs on the right-side of the hallway leading upstairs, there were doors all along the left and the right leading to various rooms. I was shown the dining room, the first door on the right when you walked in, where we would have breakfast lunch and dinner everyday.
"Lloyd will show you to your room. You'll share a room with him for now, but don't listen to everything he says. He's a troublemaker and I already have my hands full with him so I don't need another one. Now go." and with that Claire shooed the two boys away while she started to walk towards the room at the end of the hallways, presumably her own room and office.
"Come on, I'll show you around." Lloyd said, smiling. He had initially struck me as a timid, and sad, boy however perhaps the walk home got his mind off whatever was bothering him when we first met.
Lloyd took me upstairs, and down the end of the hall towards the front of the building. Our room was the last door on the right, and we had a clear view of the road outside. My bed was in the corner next to one of the windows look down towards the street, which was nice, but the best part was when I lay down I had a view of the night sky through the space above the street. I was lying down, thinking to myself again when
"I don't have parents either..." I heard Lloyd say in a small voice. I sat up on my arms and looked over at the boy who's bed was against the wall opposite the windows. He had that look again, the same one as when we met. I figured that I had reminded him of some painful memories, with how I looked.
"They died during a monster outbreak a few years ago, they were both members of the Guild. I have been living here since I hitchhiked my way from Ganon to here, and Claire picked me up. She's a nice woman, and she really cares for us. You'll meet the other kids tomorrow too, and I'm sure you'll like them as well! I guess, I just wanted to say that, I know it's not ever going to replace mine or your family, the people here are people you can depend on."
I didn't know what to say. I lay back down in silence, and processed it all. I felt bad for Lloyd, empathetic that this child had a sad life but was working through it. I once again felt annoyed at the way I had lived, I used to have a loving family, but I had pushed them all away with my coldness. I had definitely wasted an opportunity to experience familial love, and at this moment I was sad I took it for granted when it was there.
"My name is Alistair... I hope we can be friends." I said in a quiet voice, almost inaudible for fear that he might be sleeping and I would wake him up with my nonsense. Perhaps even, spoken so quietly in hopes that he was sleeping, out of fear of making myself vulnerable to make the same mistakes as I previously had.
There was silence. When I finally felt that defeat, and started to retrace the step I took in my heart, I was pulled out of that emotional shell.
"Welcome home, Alistair." Lloyd said quietly.
With that last exchange, I finally fell asleep. Having felt freed from a heavy burden and long past of emotional vigilance, I slept better than I ever had before. That night I dreamed of a future school life with Lloyd, coming home to a big family and having home cooked meals by Claire.