"...Mm."
Looking up from his food, Ryan nonchalantly made a vague sound toward Oliver's greeting. He was clearly uninterested in making any conversation, and unlike his bubly and friendly sister, his ice cold eyes and aura pushed away anyone wanting to talk to him.
This, however, did not deter Oliver.
Standing up from his seat at the end of the short side, Oliver moved over next to Ryan, blocking him in the corner of the sofa between himself and Linel. Narrowing his eyes, Ryan gave Oliver a weary look as Oliver leaned closer to him. Then Oliver covered the side of his mouth and whispered something to him.
Whatever Oliver said, it was something extremely sensitive to Ryan. As the second after Oliver started whispering to him, Ryan visibly froze. Then he whipped his head towards Oliver and barfed his teeth, showing a threatening look.
Giving Oliver an almost primal growl, Ryan seemed to suddenly remember something and stopped his growling. Shooting a worried gaze towards the kitchen, he seemed to give a small sigh before turning back to Oliver and glaring fiercely at him.
"Don't worry. I don't plan to tell anyone."
Despite being the cause of this sudden weird mood, Oliver smiled at Ryan and 'reassured' him. Placing both hands up next to his head as a sign of surrender, Oliver gestured for Ryan to calm down.
Ryan, obviously very on-edge after whatever it was Oliver had whispered to him, naturally didn't lower his guard. Shooting a look at the rest of us, he narrowed his eyes in warning before facing Oliver again.
"How did you know?"
He gripped the cup in his hands, knuckles white and back straight, as he interrogated Oliver with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
"Because my sister used to have it."
Oliver stated that one sentence with a pained smile. He then panned his gaze over to the pictures displayed on the wall. They were the physical manifestation of the happiness and joy Ryan and Chris had found in Bottom street. However, underneath all those positive things, there was a hidden threat that could bring everything crashing down.
"Although we weren't as happy, she was still my beloved sister. I'm sure you know her name. Alex."
Tearing his eyes from the pictures, Oliver smiled at Ryan again as he tried to lure him to his side.
Hearing the loneliness and sorrow in Oliver's words, Ryan was obviously less vigilant than before. Furthermore, when Alex's name was introduced, a light of recognition shot through his eyes. However, that didn't mean he trusted or fully put his guard down around Oliver.
"So? Why did you come to Bottom street? Surely it wasn't just to tell me something like this?"
A sarcastic smile flashed on Ryan's face as his eyebrows narrowed further. Placing his cup on the table, he folded his arms and leaned back on the sofa. Crossing his legs, Ryan looked like a smaller version of Lucifer. But smaller didn't mean less deadly. The light of a predator shone in his eyes as they locked onto Oliver, ready to pounce the moment a single weakness was shown.
Acting oblivious to the pressure Ryan was radiating from beside him, Oliver placed his food on the table as he continued to speak.
"I'm sure you heard of the Hope Research Center from High street."
Oliver paused, his eyes flickering towards Ryan as if he was waiting for an answer from him. Ryan on the other hand, frowned as the words High street was spoken, but shrugged his shoulders at Oliver's sentence.
"If you're talking about the MDVA team there, all of Bottom street has heard of it."
Ryan waved his hand, gesturing for Oliver to continue, as he sneered at his own words.
"Well, that very team needs a little help right now. News hasn't reached Bottom street yet, but the MDVA prevention act has been paused."
Staightening his back, Oliver announced in a slightly softer voice as he leaned closer to Ryan. Almost instinctively, in order to listen to his words, I shuffled closer on the sofa, and us five kids huddled around the corner of the sofa with Ryan in the middle.
Glaring wearily as we moved closer, Ryan nevertheless didn't growl or shoot as any warning looks as we cornered him.
And when everyone had settled themselves comfortably in their new spots, Oliver lowered his voice to a barely audible whisper.
"Currently, several of the MDVA researchers have been caught by surprise reforms occurring within each research center. As a result, the MDVA research project had to pause it's research for the time being. However, just because the research has been paused doesn't mean there hasn't been any progress made."
Oliver reached into his pocket and took out a folded piece of paper. Unfolding it, he then passed it to Ryan to read. Craning my neck, I managed to just barely see the contents of the paper.
'Volunteer form for Hope Research Center - Private Project'
Below these large headings were several bunches of text too small for me to read. However, I could see Ryan quickly scan through the form and give a frown.
"And what makes you think I will join?"
He snorted as he folded the paper gently and tucked it away into his pants pocket. Seeing his actions, Oliver gave him a small smile as he gestured to him.
"Because all of us here know how much MDVA has derailed our lives, broken our families, and plunged us into a hopeless abyss where it seemed as if the sun would never shine. And I believe that since we know how horrible it is to live with MDVA, all of us will do whatever we can to defeat it."
Ryan stared at Oliver's outstretched palm as his speech rang through our ears. Then, with an almost helpless sigh, he placed his hand on top of Oliver's and shook it.
"As long as my sister doesn't find out about this. Although I suspect she knows, I would rather not worry her with all this MDVA bullshit."
Breaking off the handshake, Ryan leaned forward to pick up his food to continue eating.
"Don't worry. There are some of the faction people in Bottom street who will allow you to take part in all of this without leaving the street. I'll contact her later, and she'll find a way to meet you."
Lifting his plate from the table, as soon as he finished speaking, Oliver took a bite of his food. Beside the two main characters of the conversation, Frank, Linel, and I were exchanging glances as we munched and sipped on the snacks and drinks.
'MDVA?'
Flickering his eyes at Ryan, Linel then raised his eyebrows in a questioning look. In response, i subtly tilted my head toward the wall of pictures and purposefully widened my eyes.
'Look more carefully at the pictures on the wall. There are signs there."
Frank and Linel turned towards the wall of pictures and squinted their eyes to observe them. The two of them leaned forward, their plates and cups almost squished up against their chests. Beside them, Ryan was showing a puzzled look at their weird postures and shooting a puzzled glance at Oliver. Oliver, on the other hand, just raised one eyebrow before shrugging his shoulders, telling Ryan that he didn't have the slightest clue what the two of them were doing.
For now, the atmosphere was quiet—you could even call it peaceful—as we all devoured our food. Frank and Linel straightened their backs as they rubbed their sore eyes. The two of them showed different reactions. Frank, having had experience with MDVA through Will before, quickly noticed the signs I was referring to and was the first to lean back on the sofa. Taking a bite of his snack, he showed a face of thought as he stared blankly at his plate.
On the other hand, Linel was still staring at the pictures. His eyes scanned the walls blindly, jumping from picture to picture, obviously having no idea what to focus on. Finally, after his brows had furrowed in frustration, he gave up on searching and leaned over to whisper into my ear.
"What do you mean?"
I chewed my food, swallowing it quickly, before whispering back to Linel.
"It's Ryan's stickiness to Chris. A lesser known symptom of MDVA is that the victim is more emotionally attached than usual to their important person. Although it's hard to say how much."
Looking at the pictures of Ryan smiling beside Chris, I was reminded of when Leo would follow me around like he was my shadow. Wherever I was, he was as well. We left for school together in the morning and then parted for our own classes. Then, after school, we would meet up, go sightsee at the market, hang out at a nearby play area, or just go home and play on our sandboxes in his room. We were almost always together, as if we were attached to the hip, and I took for granted that this was normal.
And I paid the price for it.
Tearing my eyes away from the pictures, I diverted them towards Linel, who was staring at the pictures with fresh eyes.
Turning to Oliver and Ryan, the two of them were quietly eating their food as they sat a little away from each other. Polishing his plate, Oliver put it down to grab his cup right before we heard Chris and Joel's voices exit from the kitchen.
I turned my head over to watch the group of three come out with empty hands and happy smiles. Then, heading towards the sofa, they slotted themselves in any empty space.
Jade sat beside me on the end, where Oliver used to sit, and saw me staring at him. He gave me a small but genuine smile, placing a hand on top of my head and ruffling my hair a little. Although he didn't speak, I could see the teasing happiness in his eyes as he transitioned his ruffling to a combing motion, similar to what Lucifer had done.
I brought my food to my mouth, keeping my head still as much as possible as I polished off both the food and drink.
Seeing me eat, the smile on Jade's face never fell as he continued grooming my hair. And as I placed both my plate and cup on the table, the loud sound of the doorbell crashed through the slightly comfortable atmosphere.