Invited

Chapter 23: Settled

Saber had guided Xander and Kite to their rooms. They were able to pick from the copious amount of rooms available in the guest house. The rooms given to them had everything ready for them to use; bed, closet, vanity, mirrors, desk, couch, balcony, and adjoining bathroom. Thankfully for them, they had chosen rooms that were next to each other, which relieved Kite to be near someone he knew.

"Someone will come to your rooms later to bring you to the welcome reception. Please relax until then." Saber placed half of the bags on the bed of Kite's room, then pointed his free hand to the wall next to the door. "If there is anything you need, at any time, you can press that button to call someone into your room. We will be happy to do anything for you to be comfortable here."

He left the room, went next door into Xander's room, and placed the other bags onto the bed in there. Xander and Kite continued to stand in the hall to stay out of the way of Saber.

"I'll see you at the reception later." Saber tilted his head forward into a small bow, and went down the hall towards an empty corridor. As he turned the corner, Minerva and Summer waved to him in passing. He quickly waved back and rushed out of sight of the two men still standing there in the hall.

"Hi! You two are here for the Council Selection, right?" Minerva had made it to the two of them, Summer still next to her.

"Yeah, we are! What about you?" Xander happily replied, rushing closer to Minerva. He scanned his eyes up and down Minerva, taking in her appearance. She had worn similar style clothing to them, leading him to deduct that she was invited outside of the nobility, surprising him a bit.

"I'm Xander, by the way. This boy here is Kite." He added.

"I'm here as a guest, I don't have a seat in Layla's Council." Minerva stepped back a little, leaving a bit of room between her and Xander. She eyed Kite from the side, seeing his scowling face.

"You seem pretty familiar with the nobility." Kite glared at Xander, coming closer to the three others.

Minerva gasped, and covered her mouth. She turned her face away when she realized she didn't address Layla with her proper title in front of other people.

"You're Lady Minerva Arcadia, aren't you? Second daughter, fifth in line of a branch in the Arcadia Family. Your family lost their ranking in the nobility a few years ago." Xander asked her, waiting for a confirmation.

Minerva paused for a moment, letting go of her hands over her mouth. "I am. You can just call me Minerva though."

"So I assume you'll be living here too?" Kite pulled onto the door of his room, looking back to the group.

"I'm down the hall. Turn the corner and look for the room facing the staircase. That's my room." Minerva motioned with her hands a makeshift path to show which way in the hall they should follow. "You are welcome to come ask me anything about the nobility during your stay, if you want to learn more."

"Thanks! We will." Xander lunged forward and grabbed onto Kite's shoulders. "You'll be at the reception tonight? I'll drag him along too."

"See you tonight then." Minerva made a quick turn to the direction she came in, and waved goodbye to the two hanging off the door.

When out of earshot, Summer whispered into Minerva's ear. "You have to be very careful about formality."

"I know, it just slipped out. I'm not used to calling Layla with her title." Minerva whispered back, looking around her for any other unwanted guests in their conversation.

With the two young women away from them, Kite glared at Xander once more. He stared at the hands still grasping onto his shoulders.

"Do you mind? I would like to unpack." Kite muttered under his breath.

Xander released his hold on Kite's shoulders, and backed away from the taller male. He made his way over to his own room, watching as Kite promptly went inside without another word.

"Rude." Xander said to himself, loud enough to get a sigh from the other side of the wall.

"I can hear you, Xander." Kite yelled loud enough through his room, which made Xander jump from the sudden reply.

Xander quickly ran into his room and shut the door behind him. He went over to his bed and unzipped the contents. Clothing spilled out of the bag onto the bed. His phone that had conveniently sat on top of all his clothing rolled onto his bed, and landed on one of his shirts. He picked up the item and swiped the screen on. From there, he chose the text option, swiping through the names he had on the screen. He found a text labeled 'Kite', selecting it from the options.

He then went on to type a few words to the grumpy companion he had.

What do we wear for the reception?

He waited for a response to his reply, but he received nothing. He went to look around the room, admiring the matching details between the edges of the mirror and the vanity next to it. Every color was made to complement the other, as the wooden grains of the vanity seems polished regularly, and the mirror edges painted over to cover any imperfections.

Finally, a quiet ring came from his phone. He looked at the screen, finding his reply from Kite.

I don't know. Go ask.

He huffed at the reply, rolling his eyes at the shortness of the message. He decided that it wasn't worth pressing for more from Kite. He was already in a bad mood for coming here, he may as well find someone else to entertain.

He left his room, careful to not make a sound as he closed the door, and went down the hall to Minerva's room. He found a room exactly where she had previously described it to be, and saw that her door was left slightly open. He went to the door and knocked quietly.

Minerva opened up the door and looked out carefully to see Xander standing a little bit to the side.

"Hi Xander. Need something?" Minerva asked, opening her door wider.

"Not really. Just what do we wear for tonight?" Xander shyly replied, careful not to seem too excited, even though his stomach felt like it would flip any moment.

"Try to be formal. You'll blend in more that way." Minerva smiled as she walked out into the hallway.

"Thank you!" Xander ran off back into the hallway, almost running straight into the wall that ended at the corner.

Minerva watched as he attempted to recover from his deadly close impact onto the wall, with Basilisk coming up behind her and tapping her on the shoulders.

"Layla asked me to deliver things for you, if you needed them."

"Oh, it's you. I didn't see you coming." Minerva whipped around and grinned ear to ear seeing her longtime friend.

"Did I see him almost run into a wall?" Basilisk motioned towards the hallway where Xander was running through moments before.

"Yeah, he almost went face first into the wall. He reminds me of my boyfriend, Devon." Minerva laughed, pulling out her phone to show Basilisk a picture of Devon.

"I dare not to ask questions." Basilisk looked at the picture of Devon on the phone, and shook his head.