| • Set Inn Stowne • | • Lumine X Kody • |

•Chapter V•

"Charlotte!" Aiden said excitedly as he walked over to the receptionist. "It's so great to see you again!" The receptionist grinned widely.

"Aiden!" Charlotte stepped away from the desk and walked towards Aiden, she locked with him in an embrace and Aiden picked her up and spun her a little. "It's been ages!" She said as Aiden put her down. Aiden grinned.

"I know, I would totally come to see you more often, but you live so far out!" He looked around the main room and stared in awe at everything, "This place is grand!" He pointed at a giant chandelier, "It's so sparkly!"

"I know, right?!" She sprinted to a wall, "Look at the wallpaper patterns, they're so fancy!" Charlotte squealed giddily, until she noticed Lumine and Kody staring at her with confusion. She quickly switched to a more professional look and nudged Aiden's shoulder. "Dink, who are those two?" She whispered to him?" Aiden looked over at the couch where they sat and brought Charlotte over to them.

"This is my son, Kody!" Aiden told her with glee, her eyes widened and she smiled.

"Oh, hey! Aiden's told me a lot about you..." Charlotte looked over at Aiden with slight annoyance, "And by that, I mean he's told me you existed..." Aiden sheepishly put his hand behind his head.

"Heh... Sorry, Kody... You never really came up in conversation much." Kody rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. Charlotte looked over at Lumine.

"And who might this be?" She asked happily, Lumine stood up and put his hand out.

"My name is Lumine!" He shook Charlotte's hand and and she smiled.

"You have two sons?" Charlotte asked Aiden.

"No, no. This is my son's friend."

Lumine looked over at Charlotte nervously, "Who... Who are you?" Lumine asked. Charlotte glared at Aiden.

"What? You haven't told them about me?" She put a hand to her chest, "Oh, I'm hurt!" She exaggerated by putting the back of the other hand to her forehead, "I cannot believe that you haven't told them about your most bestest friend!" Charlotte pretended to cry. She wiped away fake tears and then laughed. "I'm Charlotte, I used to be Aiden's best friend in college. We shared an apartment." She looked over at Aiden and smiled evilly, "I drove him home every night aft-"

"N-Now, Latte! You don't need to tell them about that!" Aiden smiled nervously, a bead of sweat atop his forehead.

"Oh, yes I do." She turned towards Lumine and Kody, "I drove him home from a bar practically every night. He was always tipsy from 11 pm to 4 am." Aiden's face turned pink. "Every morning it was the same exact thing. 'Latte!'" Charlotte flailed her arms dramatically, "'Can you get me some ibuprofen? My head's killing- *ugh*'" Charlotte stuck a finger in her throat to mimic Aiden vomiting. Aiden coughed as he turned red.

"Th-That was the past, Charlotte." He cleared his throat, "I have matured much since then." Charlotte raised an eyebrow and scanned Aiden's body.

"Where." Charlotte smirked. Aiden rolled his eyes and grinned.

"It's great to see you again." Aiden let out one last laugh and shook his head, "Anyway, which room are we staying in?" Charlotte put on a pair of reading glasses and eyes a clipboard, flipping a page.

"It looks like you're in... C4." She crossed out a box and smirked. "Cause you da bomb..." Charlotte looked around for approval, and did not find any. "Get it? Because..." she sighed and pulled out a few keys from underneath the desk and handed it over to Aiden. "Just take the damn keys..." Aiden took the keys and walked towards the hallway, everyone else followed behind.

"See you in a bit, Latte!" He waved goodbye and smiled, and Charlotte did the same. "Ah, it's good to reunite with old friends."
____________________

"I would have never guessed you had such a drinking problem..." Lumine looked off to the side.

"I uh... Had a bit too much fun in my college days... Heh..." Aiden stopped at a door with the letter and number "C4" printed atop it, "Don't be like me..." He said as he pulled out the keys and unlocked the door.

Aiden pushed the door open, and Kody was the first inside. He immediately went inside a room and closed the door behind him. Sherry looked around a bit. "This is odd..." Sherry said, "This looks more like an apartment than a regular room..."

"That's one of the quirks about this place!" Aiden pointed to a room, "That's where Silver, Sherry and I will be sleeping." He looked over Sherry, "Don't worry, there's two beds in that room." Aiden then walked over to the room that Kody was in. "Lumine and Kody will share this room." upon hearing this, Kody opened the door.

"I thought I was gonna get my own room..."

Aiden stepped inside of it, "Nope!" He was s bit confused once he noticed there was only one bed. "Oh... There's only one bed." He turned towards Lumine and Kody, "You two can share it, or one of you can sleep on the floor. You can discuss that among yourself." He walked into the living room. "Silver, could you come with me to get the rest of our things?" Aiden said as he opened the front door. Silver walked behind him and they left.

Lumine explored the apartment-eqsue room a bit more. Maybe I'll find some sort of cool secret room! He thought. He saw a bookcase and decided to tilt one of the books toward him towards him. Hmm... Nothing happened. Isn't this the part of the story where someone accidentally opens a doorway to a secret lab or something? Lumine was a bit disappointed that didn't happen. He continued to look around more, anyway.
____________________

Kody sat on the floor, he was unpacking his things into the drawers and closets. He was more thinking about the sleeping arrangements. I know Lumine wouldn't hesitate to sleep on the floor if I felt uncomfortable sharing a bed. He looked over at the twin size bed. I move around a lot in my sleep. Maybe it's better if he slept on- He remembered the dream. Kody's heart melted and his cheeks became pink. Ugh... I can't get that stupid dream out of my head.

Well, obviously you don't think it's a stupid dream.

It is a stupid dream.

Then why do you keep thinking about it? Huh?

... I don't need to say it.

Fine, you don't need to. But think! That dream... Doesn't need to be a dream.

No.

Just share the bed with him! You don't even have to have any second intentions. It's just being a nice person, isn't it?

Kody sat in silence. His quickly hung up the remaining clothes and walked towards Lumine. "Hey." Lumine quickly turned around. "You don't mind sharing a bed, right?"