Red Smiler

Ch4 ~ Red Smiler Pt1

"Look, son," This was mentioned to the son by his father who pointed to the soldiers working in the field near the base. The small boy looked over at the soldiers who were jogging and shooting at targets in the field. "One day, you will lead them; one day, you will be the one giving them orders; and one day, you will be standing beside them as they protect the country that gave them everything." The youngster nodded to his father while staring at the soldiers, his face blank. "This is everything you've ever wanted, Thorfrid," the father said as he stood up and gazed down at his kid. "You were born to accomplish this, and papa is proud of how far you've gone. You'll be a wonderful leader one day, and everyone will be proud of you. When things get bad, everyone will look to you for strength and leadership. They will obey your commands without hesitation."

Thorfrid only nodded; he did not make eye contact with his father while the man was speaking to him, which irritated the leader. With one hand, the man grasped his son's face and forced him to gaze up at him. "When someone is speaking to you, you must make eye contact with them," he continued, narrowing his gaze at the toddler. "It is impolite not to do so." The toddler quickly nodded and said quietly, "Yes, papa."

"Speak louder." The father demanded.

"Yes, papa!" Thorfrid spoke more forcefully, and a tear streamed down his cheek as his father's grasp on his face tightened. The man scoffed and released his grip on his son's face. He stood up straight, his eyes still narrowed at the child, who was now staring back at him. "Leaders do not cry or show signs of weakness. You will not cry or display signs of weakness. Understood?" The youngster nodded

"Good."

~~~

"And... done!" Tom smiled broadly as he rose up and glanced proudly at what he had done: he had taped the dorm floor to separate his and Tord's halves of the room. Tord glared at what Tom was doing from his bed. He looked up at the shorter boy smirking at him from the other side of the dorm room. "This is so damn useless," murmured Tord. He got out of bed and crossed the tape leading to Tom's side of the dorm. "Hey! What the hell?!" Tord ignored Tom and strode into the restroom, slamming the door shut, making Tom wince. Tom remained silent for a few moments. The dorm was deafeningly quiet. He didn't hear anything coming from the bathroom, so he just rolled his eyes and sat on his bed. He grumbled and laid down, staring up at the ceiling while his mind raced. It's been a few days since Tom and Tord started sharing a dorm; it wasn't going so well, so Tom tried to come up with some rules for Tord and himself to follow so they could stay as far away from each other as possible, but nothing worked, and Tord just ended up breaking some of the rules, which irritated Tom. The shorter boy tried talking to his counsellor about it and asking if she could help him switch dorms, but all she said was that she couldn't because there weren't any more dorms for him to switch to and that the school assigned dorms to people the person knew and frequently hung out with to make the person more comfortable with who they were staying with.

Tom sighed, running his hand through his hair, which was beginning to grow out. His hand came to a halt on his face when it brushed against the lower half of his jaw, which was sprouting a little stubble, but it was nothing to worry about, just a couple of days of stubble. "I've been considering..." Tom arched an eyebrow and sat up on his bed, peering at the wall on Tord's side of the room, as the voice in his head began to speak. "Yeah?" Tom inquired, waiting for the voice to respond. "I believe I should begin assisting you in controlling the abilities you've obtained from me; I've noticed how much trouble you're having with them in the last few months since I've possessed you." "I believe it is a better option to assist you rather than simply lying around in your head, waiting for you to figure things out on your own." Tom exhaled deeply and rubbed his temples. "Why are you telling me this now?" "You should have discussed this with me a few months ago, maybe when you first took over my body." The voice was quiet for a few seconds, which made Tom uncomfortable. "I didn't trust you yet; I still don't, but I think it'll be best just to get you used to my abilities," the voice finally said. "Once you're used to me possessing and assisting you, you'll have a little more control over your body."