Twisted Wonderland | Mickey's Print

10. Tyranny

Deuce and Yuu returned to Ramschackle with two sports bags.

"Welcome," the big ghost greeted them.

Deuce almost backed away in surprise.

"Grim and your friend told us that you would come later," said the thin ghost.

"Hello! Yes, this is Deuce. He's also going to spend the night here with us," Yuu said.

"You are the same boy from this morning," the little ghost recognized. "Nice to meet you."

"Yes... Nice to meet you too," he replied trying to be polite.

"Forgive the mess," Yuu told him. "We are still rebuilding process."

Ace and Grim were sitting on the couch in the living room.

"You have finally returned!" Grim said. "The ghosts scared us when we arrived... Good grief!"

"We just wanted to say hi. Hee, hee!"

"Here's your stuff, Ace," Yuu told him as he handed her his gym bag. "It's everything you asked us for."

"Thanks." He opened it and looked for something specific. "Here it is! This will help us kill time."

He drew a game of cards from the French deck.

"I've been thinking about this," Grim said. "But how are we all going to sleep today? Our room is still the only one clean."

"What do you mean?" Deuce asked.

"I had to sleep on the couch last night..." Ace recalled. "There's another one over there for you, anyway."

"That won't be necessary, I've just been talking about it with Deuce," Yuu said. "Yesterday Grim and I looked through the rooms in this dorm and I found some futon-like spare beds in good condition. You can sleep in them here."

"Did you have spare beds to sleep on!? Then why did I have to sleep on the couch!?" Ace asked him.

Yuu gave him a nervous smile and shrugged. "Well... by then I didn't remember them and my mind was tired because I had woken up in the middle of the night."

"Will we sleep here tonight with them?" Grim asked him. "I refuse to sleep on the couch!"

"Relax, we have plenty of mattresses for everyone. And here we have enough space to be together, we just need to move the table and the rocking chair aside."

"Better for us, that way we can play some cards before going to sleep," Ace said, pointing to the cards. "Can you play Old Maid?"

"Yes. I know of other card games, too" Deuce said.

"Me too. I've just played a few times, but I think it's a good idea" Yuu said.

"I don't," Grim said.

"I imagined it... There is no choice, I'll explain to you how to play!"

"I'm going to get ready for sleep first," Yuu said. I'll be right back. "The bathroom is in good condition, in case you need to go."

"I should do the same too," Deuce said as he opened his gym bag.

"Do you want one more pillow to sleep better with the collar, Ace?"

"Thank you, but I don't think that even the biggest and softest pillow in the world will take away this discomfort..."

After changing into pajamas and brushing their teeth, the four of them chatted while playing until exhaustion got the better of them. Although Grim did not like going to sleep very much without having won a single time...