Invited

Chapter 27: First Night

Later in the night, all the nobles had returned to their estates. The reception ended as peacefully as it started, minus the moment on the balcony, and Layla was taken back to her room to rest. Judah was left with Saber and Summer to clean the reception room, and wish the guests well until the next time they were to meet again.

Basilisk was tasked to return Minerva and Xander to their rooms, so the three of them walked through the courtyard on the way to the guest house. Xander still looked around the area with awe as they walked the pathway towards their destination.

When they reached the front of the guest house, Basilisk waved to them in his departure and wished them good night. Minerva stood facing Xander's back, worry still plastered on her face.

"Well, I should check on Kite." Xander stretched out his arms and yawned, looking behind to Minerva. He froze when she looked straight at him.

"I'll come with you. It's my fault he's upset." Minerva went to the door, and opened it to go into the guest house. She left the door open for Xander to follow, and they both went up the stairs onto the second floor.

They went past Minerva's room, which was directly in front of the staircase, and turned the corner to the hall that had both Xander and Kite's room. Minerva stood to the side when they arrived at Kite's door. Xander knocked once, no answer, knocked again, and still no answer.

"Maybe he went to sleep?" Minerva asked, coming closer to the door.

"He wouldn't be, it's earlier than when he usually goes to sleep." Xander put his hand up to knock again, but was stopped by Minerva.

"I'll try. Third time's a charm, right?" Minerva knocked on the door, and waited for a response with Xander. They could hear light shuffling of blankets and footsteps coming closer to the door after a small wait.

The door opened slightly and Xander peeked through the crack to see the tear-stained face of Kite staring right back at him.

"What do you want?" Kite asked, his voice breaking through heavy breathing.

"I'm here to check up on you." Xander answered, pulling on the door slightly.

Kite stopped him, keeping the door at the angle it was already at. "No need."

Xander paused, looking to his side where Minerva was perfectly hidden behind the door.

Kite followed Xander's motion with his eyes. "Who's there?"

"It's Minerva." Xander replied, "She's here to check up on you too."

Immediately, Kite slammed the door and locked it. He began to walk back to the bed, but only reached halfway across the room when there was another knock on the door. He ignored it and flopped himself on the bed.

After a few moments to himself, his phone started to ring. He reached over to the nightstand besides his bed for the phone. 'Xander' flashed on the screen, a red and green button under it. He threw his phone back onto the nightstand and rolled over to the other side. The phone stopped ringing after a minute, then went silent.

Kite sighed, finally having some peace, but that didn't last long. His phone began to ring again. Not moving this time, he allowed for it to go off a few more times.

Finally, after numerous calls, Kite begrudgingly pushed himself off the bed and grabbed onto the phone harshly. The screen still had 'Xander' printed on it in big bold letters.

He waited until the final ring, before pressing the green option on the screen. There was no sound coming from the speaker, only crackling noises.

Then he heard someone talk, but it wasn't directly towards him.

"Did he answer?" A quiet voice asked.

Sounds like Minerva. Kite thought to himself.

"He did. He's not saying anything though." Another voice replied, this one sounding more familiar.

Better say something or I'm hanging up.

"Kite? Can you hear me?" Xander somewhat yelled into the phone.

"Yes." Kite plainly answered, shifting his position to laying on the bed once more.

Xander began to ramble, "Good. I wasn't sure if the phone could work inside of this giant house. The fact that we aren't at home right now makes me worry if our phones would work. You know, we could never test it out here. At least it went through, so now I know I can call you and-"

"Why did you call me?" Kite interjected, cutting Xander off in his rant.

"I told you, I'm here to check up on you. You slammed the door on us."

"That means to leave me alone."

"If you aren't going to talk to me, at least talk to Minerva."

"No."

Xander sighed into the phone, shaking his head. He gave the phone to Minerva, and pressed the button labeled 'speaker' on the screen.

"That way I can hear him too." He pulled his hand away from the phone, and allowed Minerva a turn to speak.

"Kite? I'm sorry for what I said." Minerva spoke into the phone, trying to sound as gently as possible.

No answer. Minerva tried again.

"Xander told me you weren't very happy when you left the reception, so I wanted to come to your room to apologize again."

Still no answer.

The two of them stared at the screen, time still ticking on the call. They could hear movement through the speaker, so they figured Kite was still there and wide awake. Hoping for a response, Xander called out to Kite.

"Kite."

Nothing came, so he reached for the red button to end the call. Before he could press it, Layla and Basilisk came into the hallway. Basilisk carried a small tray with plates of food and a drink carefully arranged on top in one hand, the other holding onto a folded wooden object.

"Layla, what are you doing here?" Minerva asked, turning her attention towards her friend.

"I had food made for Kite. I was told he didn't eat at the reception." Layla pointed to the tray of food. "Can I talk to him, please?"

Xander handed over the phone to Layla, and showed her Kite was in a call with them. Layla tried to put the phone to her ear, but Minerva waved her hand against it and motioned to just speak.

Puzzled, Layla stared at the screen. She hesitated, then began to talk normally.

"Hi," Layla started out, "Basilisk made some food for you. Would you like to come out to get it?"

More silence on the other line, but this time there was slight movement.

"...no thanks..." Kite replied quietly.

"He won't change his mind." Xander reached for his phone, putting his hand out to take it back.

"Wait." Layla held her other hand over the phone. She looked between the phone and the closed door in front of her.

"At least open the door, so that I can talk to you directly. Xander wants his phone back." Layla added, finally handing over the phone to Xander.

Without anyone outside having touched anything, the call was ended by Kite first, then there were footsteps again on the other side of the door.

The door opened to a slight crack like before, but this time Kite sat on the ground facing away from the group.

Layla, having not looked into his room yet, came closer to the door.

She asked one simple question, "Are you hungry?"