The Ranch

Partnership (1)

The children end up dispersing to do their own thing, with most of them heading towards the cafeteria for some grub.

Kai plans to go as well. He calls out to Tih," You coming?" Tih shakes his head in refusal. He's still not used to eating more than a meal a day. He'll probably increase the amount he eat over time before his appetite returns to normal, but for now, he can only eat one meal.  Kai shrugs and respects Tih's decision. He heads out by himself.

Soon, Tih is the only one left in the room, along with Major Jax. He pipes up,"You leaving or not?" Tih turns to face the major that's currently slouched on the couch. The fluffy looking couch appeals to Tih, he moves to sit beside Major Jax.

Major Jax didn't expect Tih to do that and didn't have enough time to stop him. Both people end up taking half a side. A silence permeates until the unsettled Major grumbles,"You're a weird one..." before trying to find a comfortable position to resume sleep.

Tih also finds a comfortable position, with his head off the side of couch and his legs resting on the top of the backrest. With his body slanted, Tih looks at his upside down view as he fiddled with the grappling gun. He soon grows sleepy and closes his eyes to take a nap.

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What's with this kid? How can he sleep in such an uncomfortable position? He'll break his neck like that.

I stare add the odd child that's asleep on half of my couch. Shameless... I'm a major y'know. Course I have no real power on this island, but I should still be respected! I huff. Not just anyone can get this position...

I probably could've had a higher position if I wasn't so full of myself. When I first arrived here, I was a little better than the others. My ego was infinite....until I got dropped down a peg by that monster.

I completely gave up after that. Now I'm here, with the title of Major that hold no real power. But this is good too. I get to laze around all day while my subordinates do all the paperwork. I need to treat Scott to a meal sometime...

Yes, this isn't so bad and even if it was, I'm well aware it's too late for regrets. Speaking of which, I should start training again, my next trial is coming up soon-mfph    ...this brat

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Tih occasionally has the tendency to move around in his sleep. Squirming around to find a more comfortable position, Tih's foot accidentally knocked into Major Jax's chin, before resting on his lap. With both legs on top of Major Jax's thighs, Tih is now taking up both sides of the couch.

Starting the first exercise of his workout, the Major gets up and swings the sleeping Tih over his shoulder. He uses Tih's ID to look find his room number, before carrying his to his apartment.

With a light coating of sweat, Major Jax opens the door to Kai and Tih's house before dropping him on a random bed. Exhaling, he sighs," Maybe I'm getting old. I don't remember getting tired this easily?" He leaves the apartment to take a cold shower,"That's enough exercise for today."

About an hour later, Kai entered the apartment to see Tih sleeping on the wrong bed. "Tih? Did u fall asleep on my bed?" Kai moves to shake Tih awake, but drops the idea after seeing his peaceful expression. He takes a shower and collapses on Tih's bed."You better not get mad at me in the morning. You've brought this onto yourself." Those were his last words before going to sleep.

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Tih's eyes open at the crack of dawn. Analyzing his surroundings, he notices he's in his apartment. Not giving it a second though, he gets up to head outside when he realizes he's in Kai's bed. He looks over to see Kai in his bed, sleeping soundly. Ignoring the loud snores, Tih walks out of the apartment.

A few seconds later, he returns to take a shower and brush his teeth. Back at the orphanage, he could go multiple days without washing. Hygiene has never been a consideration for Tih, but the old man was. When the other workers were busy with the other children and ignoring him, the old man would force him to take care of his hygiene.

When Tih was younger, he would find it very annoying and would often hide in the woods for days at a time. He would always return after getting a feeling in the pit of his stomach from seeing the old man worry. The feeling only disappeared after he showed up in front of the old man, so he would only hide in the woods occasionally.

When Tih left just now, that feeling started to appear again, so he went back inside and washed himself. If Kai knew about Tih's situation, he'd laugh and call Tih one of Pavlov's dog.

Tih left the bathroom to hear a sort of ghostly moaning. Searching for the source, Tih finds Kai in a stiff and awkward position.

Spotting his silent roommate, Kai calls out,"Tihhhhhh, I- my entire body feels like it's on fire. I've read descriptions of soreness before but I've never been forced to deal with it personally. You...how are perfectly fine, you freakin monster?"

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mmm... monster.

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Tih hadn't heard that name in a while. He was used to being called that by the staff at the orphanage. Or he would overhear workers talking behind the old man's back about him, while he was climbing trees. He would often climb sequoia-like trees and stay there for hours. Tih would observe the people beneath him and listen to their gossip, watch the other play and observe how they act, or watch the animals and observe their movements. Sometimes he would lose track of time and would hear the old man calling out to him. Usually, he would be too well-hidden and no one would realize he was there, but very rarely, the old man could spot him and would call for him to come down. The workers would watch Tih climb down with weird expressions. The would whisper and gossip about his inhuman movements or weird personality.

Tih was more familiar with the name "monster" than "Tih", which that strange man gave him. So, when Tih heard Kai call him that, he was actually quite pleased after feeling a sense of nostalgia.