Youth

#7 - Day Seven and a Sad Little Pirate

    "[Y/n]..."

    "[Y/n], are you awake?"

    "[Y/n]?"

    "Yeah, yeah, I'm awake..." came [Y/n]'s tired, groggy reply as she tried desperately to crack her eyes open. The wall clock read 9:12am.  [Y/n] looked over at the little boy who'd decided to interrupt her slumber. A head of brown hair and two big red eyes stared at her. "Good morning Draka," she mumbled.  No response.  It was only then that she noticed the small tears in the boy's eyes.

"Oh, gosh, Draka, what's wrong?" [Y/n] sat up immediately, suddenly feeling ridden with guilt at the tired, dismissive manner she had previously displayed.  The boy shrugged, looking down.  [Y/n] rubbed the back of her neck, wondering what she could do to help the poor boy.  She patted beside her, encouraging the boy to sit next to her.  He did so and leaned against [Y/n], his head resting on her chest.

"Has someone been mean to you?" [Y/n] asked softly, her arms wrapping around the boy in a comforting manner.  He shrugged again.  It felt strange to see Draka upset - he was always smiling.

"I feel lonely..." he said quietly, looking up at [Y/n].  "No one wants to play with me.  Everyone's doing stuff with one another and no one wants me to join in," he frowned.  [Y/n]'s brows furrowed and she frowned as well.

"That's not very nice," she said, shaking her head.  "Why don't we all go and play a game?"

"They won't want to," Draka pouted.

"Whelp, now they've got no choice," [Y/n] grinned.  "No one makes Draka sad and gets away with it!"  Her tone was jocular and jubilant; infectious, in Draka's eyes, as he couldn't suppress a bright smile himself.  [Y/n] scooped him up in her arms (which was now getting difficult as the kids were all so big) and carried him through to the living room, unbothered that she was still in her pyjamas.  Everyone else was there and - as Draka had said - they were too busy doing their own thing to even notice [Y/n] and Draka enter. 

[Y/n] cleared her throat, attracting the attention of the boys.  "Right, the seven of us are going to play a game," she declared.

"Six," Seishin corrected, "I'm not playing a stupid game."

"You'll do what you're told, mister," [Y/n] scolded.  Seishin rolled his eyes but [Y/n] didn't react, continuing regardless.  "The seven of us are going to play a game I used to play when I was younger.  It's called the Pirate Game," she explained, smiling.  The room was quiet as they waited for her to continue.  "One of us is the captain, one of us is the parrot and the rest of us are the crew," she began.

"Can I be the parrot?" Draka asked excitedly.

"No fair, I wanted to be the parrot!" Aytsa complained.

"We'll decide soon, don't worry," [Y/n] confirmed.  "Anyway, the person who plays the parrot has to mimic one of the crew members - basically say and do things the person they're mimicking would do without specifically saying that person's name.  The person playing the captain has to guess which person the parrot is mimicking.  The captain only has one guess.  If they guess correct then the parrot changes, but if they guess wrong then the captain changes.  Got it?"  Nods all around the room.  [Y/n] grinned.  "Great!"

"You can be the parrot, Aytsa," Draka offered, to which Aytsa beamed and nodded. 

"I'll be the captain," Seishin announced. 

"I thought you didn't want to play~?" [Y/n] sang in a teasing voice.  This caused Seishin to pout and look away.

"W-well... it sounds kinda fun," he shrugged.  [Y/n] giggled at this, nodding her head.  She sat down on one of the sofas and encouraged everyone else to sit down as well, other than the captain (who sat on a chair) and the parrot (who stood up).  Seishin seated himself on the chair and Aytsa stood in the middle of the room with a grin.  [Y/n] said the words and the game began.