Timely Trials

Chapter 9: Boring Days

ANTONIO POV

I got bored of having nothing to do while I waited for Toris to finish up his work. So I left to get a snack and talk to Amelia for a little while. When I came back to the room, I wished I had been in there the whole time. A panicking Toris was typing incredibly quickly, and Lovino was turning his head frantically to look all around the room until his eyes landed on me. Then he just stared. At first he looked relieved, but it changed to confusion in an instant.

Toris started to relax and his typing slowed to a stop. He sighed.

Lovino stopped staring at me. "Am I done in here now? I want to leave."

He could be so blunt.

"Yes. You're finished. Antonio, please tell Mr. Kirkland that everything was fine and we can test it this evening. And then have him talk to me, alright?"

I nodded. "Okay. See you later, Toris."

"See you."

I closed the door behind me. Lovino followed me through the next room and out into the hallway. He waited for me to start walking, probably because he didn't know where to go. I mean, he got lost the first time he tried to make his way back. I was curious about what I had walked into, though, so I didn't go anywhere.

"Hey, Lovino, what was going on in there when I came in?"

"Nothing."

"But it looked like Toris and you were freaking out over something."

Lovino's face turned red. "N-nothing was happening in there."

"Really?" I didn't want to press, but I couldn't help wanting to know. "But you--"

"Nothing was going on, okay! Toris just freaked out for no reason, if he was actually freaking out. Just take me wherever people keep dragging me around to."

I didn't know what I had said or done to make him mad, but I didn't argue. I let him simmer behind me as I led him back to his room.

He slammed the door behind him childishly. Amelia looked up from a jigsaw puzzle she was doing.

"What's with him?"

"I have no idea."

LOVINO POV

I didn't mean to slam the door. Hell, I didn't mean to yell at Antonio in the hallway either. He shouldn't have been so nosy anyway. But that wasn't the reason I snapped at him. Not really.

I sat on the bed in my boring, yellow room, thinking about earlier.

After Toris gave me the pill and set up the chair in the middle of the weird room, I guess I fell asleep. And I had a weird dream.

It was a normal enough situation. Feli, Ludwig, Antonio and I were at the restaurant that waitress from before-- Celena, I believe, served at. Feli was sitting beside Ludwig and both of them were across from Antonio and me. We were all happy and laughing. The dream me was even smiling.

Celena was trying to take orders, but she was laughing at something, too. It was when I looked at her that I started noticing something. The other customers, faceless though they were, had many possessions surrounding them; from pets and purses to fancy watches and bags of things recently bought at other stores. The items started disappearing. A couple of the owners looked around for their things, but soon gave up as they could not seem to find their things.

I found them without having to really look at all. I expected them to be there. There being under the table next to me. I had a strange feeling they were mine now. But it didn't seem right.