Bound

Chapter 9

-Joy-

"Hurry up already!" Aamon said with a pout. "Coming!" Amy replied, running up to the small group formed at the door. "No need to rush me!" Amy walked out the door. You, Aamon, and Volken followed afterwards. It was agreed that you'd all take Amy's car to the arcade.

~~~

"Wow, this place is bigger than I remember." You reminisced about the times you visited the arcade when you were younger. You never had a reason to go lately since you preferred solo games.

Walking into the arcade, Aamon paid for all of your cards. "Alright let's all meet back here in like... an hour to eat. If you need more points just come and find me." Aaman grinned gleefully at you all. "Alrighty then! Lets go!" Amy said enthusiastically, rushing over to a DDR machine. "Imma find a machine to gamble tickets on." Aamon waved as he followed Amy.

Volken also began to walk off. "Wait!" He stopped and turned to you. Volken was still being incredibly quiet. He wouldn't talk to you at all today either.

"Is... there something you need to tell me but can't?" He glanced away from you. You sighed defeated. As you were about to give up he finally spoke to you.

"It's best if you don't worry. It's about time I did something about it myself." With that, he walked off. His words confused you, but you were glad he was at least talking again. Finally, you walked to your favorite solo game in the arcade, ready to rack up tickets.

~~~

You had gotten a good amount of tickets at the last game you were at and decided to let someone else play for a bit. Looking around for something else to play, you spotted Aamon standing over one of those two player shooter booths. "Why not?" You said to no one in particular walking over to him.

"Hey, do you already have a player two?" He looked up at you and grinned. "Nope! Wanna join?" "Let's do it!"

It turns out he was pretty good at shooter games and the two of you made it considerably far before running out of lives. You both left the booth snickering, well Aamon was, you were incredibly dissatisfied.

"I'm telling you I shot him like fifty times! There's NOO way he should have got me there." "Sure you did." He put a hand over his mouth in a futile attempt to hide his wide grin. "You're one to talk. I carried you that entire round!" "Pfft~ In your dreams."

The two of you continued your pointless bickering as you traversed the arcade together. You played several competitive matches, tried to score higher on single player games, and tried your luck. All in all, you had a pretty good experience with Aamon. Maybe this meant that your small circle of close friends was expanding.

"HA! I told you I was better. I've got tons more tickets than you." You rolled your eyes at Aamons ridiculous statement. You crossed your arms as you scoffed. "That's because you have the luck of the devil. It's a well known fact that all of those claw machines are rigged."

"Nah~ I just got technique~ " He flaunted a haughty pose. You were about to hit him with a rebuttal, but then you spotted Amy and Volken near the entrance. "Ah shoot! We forgot about our meeting." Aamon looked in the same direction as you. "You're right. C'mon, they've waited long enough." The two of you briskly walked over to them.

"I better not hear anything about my timing after this." Amy grinned playfully at Aamon. "Apologies, apologies! We were settling a debate." Aamon lifted his arms defensively. "In which you lost." "Oh~? Still challenging me." "Hey, hey!" Amy interjected. "Let's finish this after we eat. I'm starving."

You all headed to the restaurant portion of the building and ordered your food. You were all talking about the games you played, except for Volken. He was just staring into space. Attempting to get him to talk again, you tried questioning him too. "What games did you play Volken?" You seemed to have startled him, as he jolted when you spoke.

"..." He glanced at his brother who had a smug look on his face. Choosing to ignore the directions given to him, Volken answered. "I'm pretty good at precision games, so I was mostly jackpoting on that color matching game." Aamon's expression remained unchanged, but anyone paying attention would notice that he was glaring sharply at his brother. Feeling a small burst of rebellion, Volken continued. "I then did a bit of DDR, but my favorite so far is the snowboarding race." Aamon could practically feel himself fuming in anger.

"Really? Those boards are sooo hard to steer!" Amy chimed in. The conversation continued on as you all ate. This time, everyone was a part of the discussion. Still, throughout your talking, Aamon's dark gaze remained fixated on his brother.

After you all ate, you decided to play a few more games as a group before going to the ticket exchange.

"Hah! I have enough for an entire lava lamp." You boasted to Aamon. "Go ahead and get it, I'm going to split mine more efficiently!" He stuck his tongue out at you. You divert your attention to Amy and Volken. "What are you two going to get?" "Probably a dart board." Volken said nonchalantly. "I'm gonna spend most of my tickets on candy, but I think I'll also get this bee plush." Amy was squishing the plush in question.

You and Amy exchanged your tickets. As Volken was about to do the same, an employee came walking by, shouting something. "Whoever owns an orange sedan, please move your vehicle out of the way!" "Ah, isn't that my car." Amy sweatdropped. "You two should go and check it out while Volken and I finish here." Aamon said. You turned to Amy and nodded. "Alright, let's go." The two of you walked away. "Ah geez, the machine's busted." The employee at the counter suddenly said. "Can you two wait here while I get my manager?" "It's-" "Of course!" Aamon interrupted his brother.

Just like that, the two brothers were left alone at the ticket exchange.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...What exactly do you think you'll gain by defying me, hmm?" Aamon's back was facing Volken.

"..."

"..."

"Is it really such a big dea-"

"I gave you an order and you deliberately disobeyed it. What kind of partner would do that?" Aamon giggled to himself.

"..."

"... Don't have an answer huh?"

"..."

"What part of ignoring the human I tell you to ignore is so hard, hmm? What part of keeping your distance and keeping quiet like you usually do is so difficult." Aamon turned towards his brother. A blank look was painted on his face.

"What do I have to do to make you ₒbₑdᵢₑₙₜ?"

~~~

"Thank god it was some other sedan they were talking about. I have such a good reputation at that arcade arcade." Amy said joyfully. You all drove back to the cafe to break off. It was mostly because you needed to get your bike, but it seemed like the other's didn't mind. "Yeah, it would have been a sucky way to end a good day." Aamon sighed.

You unlocked your bike and adjusted your helmet. "Us four should hang out like this again!" Amy beamed. "Yeah! I'd love to." Aamon added. "Sounds good." You smiled. Volken just nodded silently. "Alrighty then! See ya tomorrow!" Amy said before getting back in her car. You all said your goodbyes and went your separate ways. You couldn't help but notice that Volken appeared quiet again, but you chose not to worry about it. Afterall, it was pretty late by the time you all left.

It's only natural to get quieter when you're tired, right?