Narrowing his eyes further, Ralph seemed to stare at Oliver's outstretched hand before switching to his face. Then, after a tense second, he straightened his back, and his heels returned to the ground. With a reluctant face, he reached out a hand to grasp Oliver's.
"...nice to meet you.'
"Ralph?"
Stepping out from behind him, I looked as the tense atmosphere between the two calmed as fast as it had risen.
"Dan."
Squeezing my hand, I saw Ralph give a weary glance at Oliver before shifting his questioning gaze to me. Then, as if he had seen his answers on my face, he closed his eyes slowly before fully putting down his guard.
A little awkwardly, the three of us started making our way up the stairs. On my left was Ralph, who adamantly refused to let go, even if the stairway was a little tight with the three of us walking. And on my right was Oliver, who was looking at Ralph from the corner of his eye. Of course, with such blatant stares, Ralph had long noticed the slightly cool look aimed his way. However, save for a couple cold stares back, he ignored Oliver and leaned towards me to ask about my day.
Reaching the top of the stairway, I recounted the long journey that had just this morning, and the three of us stopped right outside our apartment.
Stretching out my hand, I inserted the key inside the lock and turned the knob. Pushing open the door, we made a beeline straight into our room. But before I entered, I stole a glance at my parent's closed door.
Something deep down inside of me anxiously wanted to try the lock and check that it was closed, even though there was no logical reason why my parents would leave their doors open. Aside from the break-in at the adoption center, our lives seemed to be a perfect picture of... well, not peace. But a mediocre life.
Feeling a squeeze from my hand, I turned my head to meet Ralph's slightly confused gaze. He didn't seem to understand why the air around me had suddenly turned solemn, but nevertheless, he clenched my hand in consolation and leaned closer to me. Touching shoulders, I felt the warmth translated over and couldn't help but give a small sigh.
"Could you give me a moment?"
I slipped my hand out of Ralph's loose grip and sneaked up to the door. With a silent, deep breath, I carefully touched the dull doorknob and slowly held onto it with my sweaty hands. Then, turning it ever so slightly, I waited until I could no longer twist it before giving it a small push.
It was locked.
Letting out a sigh of relief, I released the knob like it was on fire and rushed back happily to the two who were waiting.
"Alright, we can go in now."
Smiling, I slipped my hand back into Ralph's, and the three of us locked the door behind us as we entered.
Looking around, Ralph seemed a little curious about the new layout, and I introduced him to who owned what.
"The outer bed is Oliver's, the inner one is mine. The bookshelf is shared, and so is the table. That chair, as you know, is mine, and the one beside it is Oliver's."
I headed over to my chair and sat on it. Following me, Ralph shot Oliver a glance for his permission before sitting down as Oliver nodded his head. And Oliver, after taking one of the books from the bookshelf, sat on his bed, facing us.
Looking at the book, I suddenly remembered that I hadn't visited Camelia after being distracted by Oliver's matters.
Oh well, I could always visit her later.
"So what do we want to do now?"
Closing the book, Oliver 'asked' as he went straight to the sand boxes and took out three. Passing them to each of us, we automatically opened the covers and prepared one of the games. It was the most popular one, and everyone seemed to default to it as soon as we touched the boxes.
Oliver slipped off the bed to sit on the floor. Following him, the two of us set our sand boxes down as Ralph gave Oliver a narrowed-eye look.
"Who wants to start first?"
Nonchalantly asking, I saw Oliver's gaze go straight to me. Titling my head, I saw a pair of ice cool eyes stare back at me.
"...Fine, I'll go first."
Sighing as I took the initiative to place my mark on the board, I braced myself for the incoming pincer attack from the two of them. Although Ralph, as a beginner, was good at the game, he didn't have the strength to instantly kill me at the start. However, Oliver, on the other hand, with his aggressive playstyle, as if not fearing death, was a force to be reckoned with.
But interestingly enough, the moment the two made their marks on the board, I became an accessory in their fierce and brutal war against each other. Ralph carefully laid several traps here and there as Oliver pushed forward with his soldiers. With one pushing while the other retreated, the whole battlefield seemed to fall into a stalemate.
At least it would have if it was a two-person battle!
With a bitter smile, I swiftly caught both Oliver and Ralph off guard, swallowing them whole in a decisive victory with no casualties on my side and both my opponents too injured to continue. It was my win.
'The two of you! Don't just play amongst yourselves."
Grumling, I glared at the two of them as I reset my box.
"...Sorry."
"...I'm sorry."
Apologizing, Ralph leaned over and gazed at me with such pure and sparkling eyes that I couldn't even stay mad at him. And Oliver, bowing his head to me in a sincere apology, still had the cheek to smile at my predicament with Ralph. But, noticing that the tension between the two of them was gone, I just sighed and gestured for us to resume the game.
Clearing their boxes, the three of us started a new round where I was no longer some invisible insect on the wall. Since in the previous round Oliver was the first to lose, he went first. Putting down my mark, I gave Ralph a nod, and the two of us immediately chased Oliver around the boxes. Ralph set traps here and there, which Oliver barely avoided by the skin of his teeth, while I guided the whole battle and pushed Oliver closer and closer to Ralph's traps.
Gritting his teeth, I saw Oliver make an unpredictable move and head over to Ralph's mark. Then, giving Ralph a look, I frowned as I realized Ralph had formed a truce with Oliver and had started chasing me all over the map.
Smiling as I dodged one trap, I set my own and watched as Ralph unfortunately fell into it. Then, left with a 1 vs. 1 match, I used my previous experience to snatch the last soldier away from Oliver and claim the victory.
"That was exhilarating!"
Exclaiming as he stretched, Oliver had a genuine smile on his face as he congratulated me on my victory. Similarly, Ralph couldn't help but grin as he cleared his box. Even though they both lost, the battle was close, with the tides turning every few moves. It was truly one of the most fun battles I had had in a while.
"Those traps were so tricky to avoid. If I wasn't so conscious about them, one wrong move would have made me a sitting duck for the two of you."
Praising Ralph, Oliver turned his head, and the two children smiled at each other with a newfound friendship.
"You were very good at running away."
Complimenting him in his own awkward way, Ralph smiled at Oliver, and the three of us took a little break from that legendary fight.
I gave a sigh as I leaned back against my chair. I heard noise coming from outside the door and knew instinctively that my parents had awoken. Hopefully, not because of us.
Gesturing to the two, I stood up and walked over to the door. Then, turning the knob, I opened the door just slightly to peek out into the living room. There, with their arms entangled, my parents hugged each other before parting.
"Stop. The children seem to be home."
Using his hands to separate my sticky mother from him, my father still gave her a small peck on the cheek as he straightened out his clothes.
"I wish I could stay here longer, but there's a meeting with several faction leaders today. I'm going to go early and chat with some of them to exchange some information."
Up to this point, my father suddenly gave a sigh and shook his head.
"One of them is a warden at the prison station that houses Andrew. I'm afraid..."
My father lowered his voice into an inaudible whisper. However, after a while, I saw my mother shake her head as they headed to the front door.
Quietly, as I watched my mother wave my father off with a slightly dejected smile, I closed the door and locked it.
"Is there a problem?"
Feeling a frown pull down my face, I heard a concerned voice sound from in front of me and a hand slip into my own.
"...Yeah. I'm fine."
Giving Ralph a small smile, I stole a glance at Oliver and held back the words in my mouth. Swallowing them down, I dragged Ralph back to the boxes with me and tried my best to hide my feelings.
"Why don't we play another game?"
Rubbing my finger against Ralph's hand, I could see the frown on his face from the corner of my eye and ignored it. In front of me, Oliver raised one eyebrow at me but ultimately decided to remain silent.
"Why don't we play hangman?"
Pushing the sandboxes apart, I gave the two of them a pleading look before they each allowed the topic to slide. Ralph squeezed my hand tightly before releasing it to play the game, while Oliver just gave a small shrug with his shoulders before tearing those sharp obsidian eyes away from me.
"Then, I'll start first."
Reaching out a hand, I made the first move.