According to some, Lucius and I have an odd relationship.
To start, we have "weird" nicknames for each other.
We usually call each other by our last names.
I call him Cas and he calls me Moon.
Or I call him Casadilla and he calls me loony-moony.
I call him mouse or dog, and he calls me chicken.
Well, he doesn't really ever call me chicken because it was somehow shortened to chives, which got further condensed to Chi.
Dog and Chives.
Cas and Chi.
Whatever.
- - -
We always ride the bus whenever we go to Lucian's, I don't know why. His family's rich enough to hire a private driver or something.
As we finally leave the school and begin to move down the bumpy road, I turn to Lucian. "Cas, you said your mom is being touchy. Why? Did something happen?"
He paused for a moment, his finger tapping lightly three times on the seat in front of us.
"No, nothing really. Just that dad's on a business trip. He's gonna be gone all month again."
"All month…?" I'm not too surprised. "I'm sorry, Cas." I lean my head on his shoulder.
"That's alright Chi." He leans his head on top of my own. "It's nothing new, she's just worried. That's all."
We sit in silence like that for the rest of the ride, a very rare occurrence as he usually never keeps his mouth shut- unless he's eating. He even talks in his sleep.
The bus finally pulls up to our stop and we slowly stand, reluctant to break the moment of peace.
Walking down the street was silent as well, however it was a different kind of quiet.
That serene atmosphere left alongside the bus. Instead, it was a sort of on-edge vigil, both of us surveying our surroundings for danger.
The houses we walk past were larger than one would actually ever need to live in.
The owners probably pick a different room to sleep in each month and still have plenty extra to spare.
It takes half an hour until we successfully reach his house, yet we still don't dare drop our guards.
Cas's mom is rather peculiar, after all, and it's best to expect the unexpected when it comes to her.
Compared to the houses we passed, the house we stop at dwarves them in comparison.
Cas lives in a castle.
Literally.
The walls are made of an ivory-colored stone, accented by swirling swathes of gold and surrounded by a lush green garden.
My suspicion only mounts as I walk though the familiar doors, wide-open, as if anticipating our arrival.
"Mom, I'm home. Adrian's here too." Lucian calls out, his voice bouncing off the walls and reverberating through the room.
I hear a squeal and before I could blink, a blur dashes towards me and pulls me in a suffocating embrace.
I don't even attempt to dodge. After all, it's not worth it. She wins every time anyways.
"Ahh~ darling, I've missed you so much!" She squeezes me harder.
"I missed you too, Aunt Michelle." I reply, turning around to return her hug.
She always gives the best hugs.
"Ah! What did you just call me?" She asks, pulling away, grabbing my shoulders and looking me in the eyes.
"Aunt Michelle, not this again…" I sigh, looking away.
"Didn't I tell you to call me mom? You and that brat are practically brothers! Plus, I'm your god mother! You should call me mom!" She says, tears dripping down her face.
I don't flinch at her 'tears'. After all, as an actress world renowned for her skills, she could cry at the drop of a hat.
"You know how my mom would feel about that. I can't." I quickly spit out an excuse I use every time she mentions it.
"Tsk." She pulls away and crosses her arms. "Your right. Amanda is so petty. She would totally try and fight me."
After a moment she looked back at me. "Are you hungry? I made some snack for you!"
"Sure."
We turned the corner, leaving a speechless blond boy behind.
- - -
We ended up hanging out with his mom for over three hours.
Most of the time, Cas's mom was sitting on the couch and I on the floor, her hands running through my hair.
There's a no-shoes-in-the-house rule that not even I can escape from, so nearly the whole place is covered in the plushest carpet you could ever imagine.
The walls of Cas's bedroom make a stark contrast to the bright white ones in the rest of the home.
His bed on one side, a desk complete with all of his gaming equipment on another, the empty spaces on the black walls filled with equally as dark shelves, red lights lining their undersides. In the middle of the room lies a medium-size square table.
Throwing my backpack in the corner, I sit at the table, slumping my upper body over it's surface.
Cas chuckles, throwing his backpack next to mine and sitting next to me. He leans his body across the table and looks me in the eye.
"You see what I mean? She's being touchy."
"…Yeah."
We fall into a comfortable silence as I watch the red lights slowly pulse and my eyelids begin to grow heavier by the second.
Cas seems to be quiter than usual these past few day. I wonder why.
- - -
When I opened my eyes again, I was no longer at the table. Instead, I was in Cas' bed.
He had probably carried me while I was asleep.
Whatever.
I roll over to see Lucian sitting at his desk playing a battle simulation.
Battle simulations are widely popular, filled with a variety of uses.
Firstly, you could play it like any other game. Pick a character, give it stats, and level it up by defeating monsters and other players.
Secondly, and most importantly, you could design a private battle.
In a private battle, you could give your character any kind of stats, equipment, or Kalistas.
This was the most popular feature of battle simulations because it could be used to strategize for any upcoming fight.
Your going to kill a Gobblehopper in your next tower conquest? Just input your stats into a blank character, select a Gobblehopper as your opponent, and watch the character defeat it in a myriad of way.
By studying these simulations, one would be better prepared for their upcoming fight.
And right now, Lucian was watching what is called "AVSB".
It literally means "player A VS player B."
An ASVB battle is one created to predict the outcome if two life forms, or Kastors, were to fight.
Of course, a Kastor v Kastor AVSB will never be completely accurate.
After all, no competent Kastor would put it's stats and abilities on public display.