ODYSSEY (Punishing: Gray Raven X Arknights X OC Characters)

Vol. 1/ Chapter 3: A fresh start

It has been over five months since the arrival of two strangers in Jane and Nino's life, bringing more experience in life than they already have.

In that span of months they were together, a lot of things has to be re-established from the ground up. It was a hectic situation for all of them, but in the end, they knew it would be worth it.

At first, they were a bit shy interacting with each other, especially since they are technically talking to new people. However, the more time they got to spend with each other, the more they piece together one's personality.

As hours turned to days, and days turned to weeks, the four of them gradually grew closer with the exception of Alpha, who still liked to keep things short and discreet. Lee's aloofness slowly changed overtime, since he was being infected by the radiating friendliness of Jane and Nino.

The first month was the most exciting one. They have had to re organize the entirety of the house to make sure everyone is comfortable while living in it. Furnitures were moved, and the things that they deem unnecessary was either thrown away, or was sold in a yard sale.

The greatest concern was where Lee would sleep, since technically, he was the only male resident inside the would be lodging house of the four of them. It's now common sense that he's not allowed to sleep in a room with the others.

Yet.

In the following weeks, Nino decided to make a few rules regarding his stay on the house. He was given the vacant room that was in the second floor, in which Jane's room was the nearest. The first and foremost rule was that he was to be the first one to take a bath everyday for the rest of eternity so that he would be off to doing things inside the house.

The second was to help her sort some things out in their old family barn, and what she meant by sorting things out was driving a tractor to plow the fields and helping her plant new vegetables. She also wanted help in rebuilding it, since the frame of the shack barn was already old in state.

Lee tried countering her argument by dragging in Alpha's existence in the house, but was shut down instantly after receiving a barrage of logical explanations as to why he was better suited at the role. Even though he had no prior experience in doing farming, he didn't filed a single complaint afterwards.

And lastly, the third was...

"STRICTLY. NO. PEEKING. You got that?" Nino asked- no, demanded for him to answer while pointing a stick at him.

Lee opened his mouth a few times as he stopped drilling the wall, before ultimately sighing. He felt like he was being held gunpoint right now.

"Now why the hell would I do that? How would it benefit me, huh?"

They were busy laying the groundwork regarding the reconstruction of the front end of the house, which Jeanne said that she was planning to open up a business. He was in charge with the bulk of the work and planning as per his suggestion, while Nino assisted him by preparing light meals.

"I don't know, maybe because you're a boy? Y-You know what I'm talking about!" She yelled back at him, before placing his packed lunch in a nearby table. "Here, you better eat that."

"That's low-key sexist." Lee commented as he washed his hands. Nino ignored him with a 'hmph' and picked up the vacuum cleaner, before proceeding to suck in every dust she could see.

"Follow that rule and we won't have a problem, got it?"

"Crystal clear ma'am." Lee smiled and saluted, before continuing his work.

Whenever they are finished with house work or are in a break, Jane uses the opportunity to teach Lee and Alpha about the names of countries that are in Terra in their free time. Lee was extremely attentive whenever they discuss this sort of topic, while Alpha just listens from the sidelines.