PLAYING WITH FIRE

02

A/N: there'll be lots of thoughts from Kai, which will be in italic. Just a heads up for everyone!
•••••••••••••••••••••••
  "Do— do I... I know you?"
I'm screwed. What do I say?! "Ah, sorry.. I thought you were.. someone else." I chuckle lightly. "My apologies."
He looked at me with a warily look, yet gave a smile and reached out for my hand. "It's okay, just.. a little shocked, is all."
I grabbed his hand and lifted him up from the ground, then released his hand from mine. There was slight tension in the air; I can't figure out why. How come? The thought of actually running into him never occurred to me, yet here it is; the situation itself. I can't wrap my head around it; there's no reason I can think of. Hell, I can't even think about anything right now. He's standing right in front of me.
"Are, are you okay?" I mumble. Do I let him go?
"Yes, I'm alright." He smile was still there. Why? "Uhm, thank you. For, helping me up." How can I keep you by my side without telling you?
"Of course," I smiled too. "Also, if I may ask.. you seem to be in a rush.. is something wrong?" What if..
  I could see him bite his lip a bit. Is he going to make up a lie? "I'm in no rush.." his smile went away a little. "I'm just.. uhm.."
  I laugh. "You don't have to lie. You can tell me if you're comfortable." Am I doing the right thing?
—————
How did we get here..
We sat at a park bench; the leaves of the tree hung over us, covering from the beaming sun. Cole and Jay were chasing each other around the fountain, while I sat with the kid. "If you don't mind me asking," I choked out. "What is your name?"
"Oh! Sorry, I didn't realize.." he laughed. "I'm Lloyd Ga—.." he stopped and placed his hand on his cheek. "Uhm.. Lloyd, heh."
Why did he suddenly stop? "Nice to meet you, Lloyd. I'm Kai." How.. weird. But... don't ask, Kai. It's none of your business as to why he stopped.
"So.. about me rushing earlier.." He mumbled.
I turned my gaze to him, my eyes widened a bit out of shock; I didn't think he was going to tell me. He's.. opening up to.. me? "Ah, yes?"
His hand slowly made his way to his wrist, gripping it ever so slightly. "I was.. being followed." His eyes flickered between his hand and the side of him. "It was scary.. I didn't know who was following me, so I kinda ran."
That.. makes sense, right? "I see." I placed my hand on my chin. "Well..." here goes nothing. "If it makes you feel better, would you be okay with staying with us for a bit? Until we figure out who's after you."
He stayed silent for some time. Then, he spoke. "Yeah, I'd be happy if I could. I don't want to be left out by myself." He smiled. "And.. if it's not going to be a bother, either."
  "It won't be a bother, you won't have to worry about it." I said, "We'll take care of you."
  "'We'? Are you living with someone?"
  "Not someone, more like... some people."
—————
Jay, Cole, Lloyd, and I went back to the monastery after eating again. Lloyd was very quiet at first when Jay and Cole were with us, but he warmed up pretty quick and became a complete chatter box. At least Jay had someone who loved talking as much as he did.
Nya immediately liked Lloyd as well— although she's like that with all kids she comes in contact with. She kept him company most of the time with Zane, while Cole and I went out to buy him stuff that a child needed to live with. We cleaned out one of the rooms we had that was filled with boxes, and re-painted the walls to a forest green color. Cole brought in a bed we bought and Jay came with the sheets for it— which were decorated with lots of tiny ducks. At least he liked them.
  "Cole will also bring in your dresser for you," I said, fixing the blanket on his bed. "You'll be wearing the clothes you're wearing now for one more day, then we can buy you more outfits. If you need pajamas, I think Jay can lend you some.. he has some shirts that'll fit you."
  I could see Lloyd in the corner of my eye; swinging his legs as he listened and hummed in response to what I was telling him. It was funny, actually, with the way I was feeling. It felt as if I was an older brother, or even a father figure to him. Of course, I am older, that's obvious. But I never thought I would be here, having the feeling that I had a younger brother. I mean, I already have Nya as my sister. But I didn't raise her even though I'm older. She raised me. If I wanted to be the older sibling to her, should I have taken the initiative?
"Are.. are we gonna do other things too?" He asked. I could see him playing with his shirt. "Like, like eating out again? Or.. or play at the park too?"
If that's what you want. I smiled. "Sure, we can do those things tomorrow. If you come up with other things you want to do, we can do those as well."
  He smiled too. "Then, can I pick out toys? Oh! And- and pick out shoes?"
  I laughed. "Yes, you can pick out toys and shoes."
  "Yay!"
—————
  We went out the next day to buy him his clothes.
  Jay ended up handing him a shirt to borrow, but that was all since his shorts were too big on Lloyd. Well, so was the shirt, but it wasn't as bad like the shorts were. It was wearable; the shorts were not.
  "Kai, can we also get ice cream after we shop?" Lloyd asked as we walked in the main square. "I kinda want ice cream, but I don't want any if you don't want any."
  "It's okay, Lloyd. We can go get some after we buy your clothes." I laughed. "We need to really change you out of that shirt before you trip over it."
  He smiled and held onto the shirt with his free hand. "Yeah, I guess so. It's really big on me!"
  "Cause you're so tiny."
  "I am not!"
  I stopped walking to look at him and raised an eyebrow. "You barely reach my hip, let alone my side. You're very short."
  He furrowed his eyebrows and pouted at me. "Yeah? Well, well— you're old! Very old! That's why you're so tall!"
I gasped and laughed again. "How dare you. That's very mean, young man."
He smiled and started skipping to the store we were headed to. He looks so funny. I thought. Probably because he is short. If I had said that out loud, he would've hit me. He seems like the type of kid to hit you if you insult him in any way. I shouldn't call him short out loud anymore.
  I was too lost in thought to realize he was way ahead of me. I panicked and started running after him. "Lloyd, wait up! You have to stay by my side! You'll get lost!"
—————
  "Can I get this shirt?"
  "... it's green, too."
  He pouted. "But I like green."
  I sighed but smiled. "Fine. But you have to have at least 5 shirts that aren't green." I pushed the cart. "How about white? Or black? It'll match with your green, like a green shirt and black pants."
  He mumbled something before running off towards a rack. I couldn't help but chuckle, he was a funny kid. Everything in the cart was green; green shirts, toys, towels— everything you can think of. This kid really loves green, huh?
Lloyd came running back with a few pairs of shirts over his arm and smiled. "Can I get these?"
I looked at them and tilted my head. He actually went to get different colors.. "Of course you can get those."
He giggled. "Yay! Oh, and look! I found a shirt that's like yours!" He picked up a red shirt and held it to his chest; it looked just like mine. "We can match!"
  I was taken aback at first when I saw it; it was my shirt, but in a smaller size. He wanted to match with me? But why? I just met him yesterday, and even so, he's only here with us so we can protect him from any future events. How can he get attached so quickly? There's no possible way. Is it because he's young? I know young children have that mentality... no, Lloyd is too smart. Why is he attached to me?
  I smiled once more, but it wasn't as bright and wide like before. It was a small, genuine smile. "We can definitely match."
"Yay!" His smile was plastered on his face; it's not gonna fade anytime soon. "When we're done, can I change into the red one?"
"Yes, you can."
"Yay! We're gonna match today!"
He giggled again and put everything he had in his arms into the cart and skipped off to another rack, while I followed behind. It's.. weird. I'm feeling weird. My chest is tight, and I feel lightheaded. What the hell? I thought. Don't tell me...
Is this... guilt?
_____________
Tada~! New chapter :)
Thank you everyone for the recent support; I appreciate it a lot ^^
Enjoy!
•Phoenyx <3