RYENNE

[ 3.32 ] - Intermediate: Danger is gone.

Intermediate: Danger is gone.

[ 3.32 ]

R Y E N N E  A T S T E L L I

『 Year 12 』

"Ryn."

"What is it, Xael?" I asked, not bothering to look away from the papers in my hands. With Carhee taking charge of the current games going on in the busy gymnasium, I sat with Xael in a private section as he lied his head on the table languidly.

"Someone is staring at you." He replied. I glanced at his dark eyes which stared back at me, as though asking what to do.

"Just ignore them and help me with this paper work instead."

I passed him half the stack of papers, however he did not bother to touch it and instead kept staring at the person.

"He's approaching us, should I scare him away?"

"If he hasn't done anything, then just ignore him."

"He looks a little creepy. I think the situation is dangerous?"

I scrunched my brows together as I sat back in my seat, taking a good look at Xael's stoic face which veiled his emotions, however his eyes were unable to conceal the laughter he was holding within.

"Quit joking." I lightly flicked his forehead before turning my attention back to the documents in front of me. Unfortunately, my attention was called for when my name was spoken from a voice that did not belong to anyone I knew of.

I looked over to Xael who just stared at me with his eyes which said, "I told you."

Paying no attention to Xael, I turned around and found myself pleasantly surprised to see that the person was someone I knew.

"Ezen? What're you doing here?" I asked, standing up from my seat and turning to face him properly. His signature smile was etched onto his face as his warm brown eyes curved. His stature was much taller than the last time I saw him and his voice was also much deeper. In comparison to most boys our age, he seemed to be one of the more proportioned ones.

"My friend is playing so I came to support. I heard Ryun is also playing, so I came in hopes of seeing you and it seems I was correct."

"I see. Watching the games are very exciting, so it was the right idea to come and see—Oh, right!" I turned towards Xael who had been staring at Ezen the entire time with suspicious eyes and gestured for him to come over. Once he stood besides me, I introduced the two to one another.

"Ezen, this is Xael, one of my childhood friends. Xael, this is Ezen, my friend I made during this past spring."

Ezen extended his hand out towards Xael who looked at it silently before taking it and shaking it.

"I'm Ezen Ru."

"...Xael Alpheus."

"Nice to meet you."

"Hm...Likewise."

I stared at the two, feeling slightly odd about the current atmosphere, however I decided not to think much of it since Xael was an extremely unsociable person. It would be difficult for the two to get along right away.

"Well, I suppose I should get going. It was nice seeing you, Ryenne."

"Ah, alright. I'll see you another time then."

Once Ezen was out of view, the atmosphere of the room seemed to go back to normal and Xael returned back to his seat, this time working on the paper work I had set aside for him to help with earlier. I couldn't help raising a questioning brow.

"You're helping now?"

Xael paused for a moment and glanced at me before returning his attention to the documents in front of him.

"The danger is gone. It turns out that it was your friend."

Pursing my lips together, I rested my head on my propped up hand, asking him, "Do you not like the friends I make outside of our group?"

"That's not it. Ezen is better than Fluer by a landslide, however his intentions towards you seem a little questionable."

"Questionable? What do you mean by that? And if Ezen seems questionable, then what does that make Fluer?"

"I don't have enough information on Ezen to come to a conclusion about my thoughts about him. As for Fluer, I've concluded that she is not a good person. I can tell she has bad intentions."

My eyes widened in surprise by this sudden revelation. "Bad intentions towards who? Me? I don't think she's ever done anything bad towards me, though?"

Xael stopped writing as he stared at me blankly before sighing and just shook his head. "I shouldn't have said anything."

"Are you not going to tell me?"

"..."

"Xael."

"..."

"Xael Alpheus."

"..."

"Ras."

Finally, he looked at me, however he reached out and pinched my cheeks, stretching them until they were sore.

"Loelle...Stop talking or else I won't help you anymore."

I glared at him resentfully as I massaged my cheeks and let out a puff of annoyance.

"Ack. Just don't call me that."

『 16 September x029 』

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Author's note:
Hey! How has everyone been? It's been a while, I know but I think I'm finally getting out of my writer's block. Some other exciting news...I was accepted into 5/11 schools I applied to!! Currently still waiting until March to get a response from private schools and a few public schools though so that'll be exciting (or heartbreaking).
I've also been creating new playlists left and right throughout my break. The first one was called "imgoingbaldbutthasokay". I was super stressed out and my hair was falling out, but recently I've been noticing new sprouts so I created a new playlist to celebrate called "myhairisgrowingback"
(〃ω〃)
Anyways, how did you all like this chapter? Personally I found it fun to write, though there are things that I could still work on, but I think I was able to capture the dynamics between Xael and Ryenne and also show the difference of how Xael acts between a close friend and a stranger.

Updated Author's note (3 months later):
I think I just need to post to get in the groove again. Life is busy again, but I think some of the most stressful things are out of the way now. All that's left is to keep my grades up and graduate!

Question:
Feel free to answer the questions I threw into my author's note!

25.2.2021