DISCONTINUED - Promise // Ray X Reader

23 | Preperations

"Ray is one-eyed sleepyhead."

"Emma is antenna."

"Don is beanpole."

"Gilda is rigid four-eyes."

"Thoma is pizza ingredient."

"Lanni is curry ingredient."

"And I'm piss eyes? What the hell did I deserve to get the worst nickname! I'm his distant sibling, for gods sake!"

"He isn't willing to learn any of our names anytime soon." Gilda comforted Thoma and Lanni, as I sulked while carrying books, hearing Ray snicker behind me.

"Okay, sleepy cyclops. I'm going to start calling you arsonist if you don't stop-" I snapped at him, and he only laughed harder at me.

"Guys, stop fighting!" Emma hit the back of my head lightly, almost dropping her books in the process. I only sat next to her and across from Ray, sticking my tongue out at him as I placed books on the table, Gilda and Don sat on either ends.

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We were busy studying more about the outside world, finding more through books and documents, everyone doing their best to prepare the three of us for our farewell. There wasn't much time, as we were being rushed. The man had only given us 4 days to pack before we left. I spent time with Emma and Ray for the first 4 hours of the day, and spent the rest of my time strengthening my body, before staying up late at night with Ray in the resource room after dinner and our baths. We often spent our time together, or if we were both burnt out, he taught me what he liked to call, "Isabellas Lullaby" to me, which I strummed quietly in the room. I had reminisced quietly to myself how Isabella hummed this same tune to me the first time I arrived to the orphanage, and I realized I had came so far in such a short time.

"How could you play it so fast after I hummed it only a few times?" Ray would ask me, and as I played, I rested my head on the side of the guitar, staring at him in the dim light as the tune flowed to our ears, and it made me quite sleepy.

"I was a big music girl back at Glory Bell, me and Hikaru would play, I did guitar, he did piano. Nap time for the babies would consist of them begging for me to play, since it was easier to bring a guitar into their nap room. They would sing random songs, and over time I learned to play by ear and do improv." I confided to him, my head stinging slightly but I continued to play, the music soothing my pains away. I sat on the couch, as Ray was seated on the floor with books scattered sometimes, he would always look up at me often, and he would either hum along with the guitar or sigh out of happiness, closing his eyes and drifting off before continuing his work.

"I'd like this to stay between us two. It's calming, comforting. We don't have to worry about our travels, though I know we both are constantly. But the kids won't be worrying us here while they're asleep. It's nice, peaceful, and you changed her lullaby even though you play it the exact same. I like it." He told me the second night, and leaned his head back onto the seat of the couch, looking at my face with a soft gaze. I could only feel my face heat up slightly, but through the dim lights of lanterns, it was like you couldn't even tell.

'You like it...?'

'I like...'

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"Skunk, could you tell us what the poachers are?" I asked, as the was standing in that tattered room, bunk beds and scratched words on the wall, a big word with "poachers" was right there at the front of the door, I always hated passing this room.

"Stay out my sight. And don't wander around to begin with." He replied to me, though his back was facing me.

"Actually you aren't even looking at me, and I haven't stepped foot in this room. I wanna ask before we left, again who the poachers are? How far did you guys go last time, did you make it? Why did you stop, was it because your group got wiped out? How did they get wiped out?"