Olifar noticed that Haron seemed surprised when he said he didn’t know any other languages, but he didn’t know why. Haron seemed to know what they were saying, but Calley looked just as confused as Olifar felt.

“You look confused,” Sanel chuckled, “Do you have a translator, then?”

Olifar’s eyes widened and he quickly shook his head, hair swishing back and forth. He couldn’t afford to be so frivolous that he would waste his precious escape money on something so expensive. The cheapest ones didn’t even last two orbits!

Sure, he had saved up enough money to buy one of the high tier translators that could last a lifetime, but his only thought when earning money was to save it so he could leave when he graduated third school.

“I thought you must have had a translator, speaking fluent Kairae like that.” Haron furrowed his brows after watching Olifar fervently shake his head.

“Oh! Did you move here from Kairael, then? I haven’t seen anyone from there in so long.” Sanel asked with a wistful expression.

This time when Sanel spoke he listened carefully and noticed what was so strange. The redhead hadn’t been speaking Traetan, yet Olifar understood, crystal clear, exactly what they were saying. This language felt so right, like he had been speaking with a mouth full of cotton all his life and he was finally free from those restraints.

What is Kairael? Is that where Sanel is from? So I’ve been speaking Kairae, and I can understand it?

Olifar had many questions, and it was pretty obvious, so Sanel just smiled reassuringly before he got overwhelmed.

“We can talk about it later, after you get settled in, if you want?”

He hesitantly nodded, not wanting to forget his questions, but also not wanting to ruin the mood by being annoying and pestering them.

Heading over to the long, oval dining table, everyone sat in the chairs on the longer sides. Olifar and Calley sat across from Haron and Sanel, in the middle with their backs facing the kitchen. There were still 6 empty chairs, and Olifar wondered why they had so many chairs.

He had decided to ignore the weird conversation and just eat what was put in front of him, which consisted of two pancakes drenched in a sugary, sticky liquid, fresh fruit scattered around the edges of the plate, and a glass of some kind of juice, also sweet but not overwhelming like what was on the pancakes.

Everyone had started chatting, and Olifar noticed that Sanel could also speak Traetan. They had a slight accent, one that sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place where he had heard it before.

They all spent a while getting to know each other, staying seated well after everyone had finished their food.

Finally, Haron got up and started collecting everyone’s dishes and bringing them to the sink in the kitchen.

“Sanel can show you to your room if you want to see it and get unpacked, Olifar.” Haron looked over his shoulder at the table, continuing to scrub at the dishes while he talked.

“O-ok, if that’s ok with you.” Olifar turned to Sanel, who nodded their head and stood, pushing in their chair before leading the way out of the dining room and into the entrance.

“Ah, Sanel!” Calley chirped, “I’ve been meaning to ask, and I don’t want to come off as rude, but I was wondering if you would be willing to tell me your pronouns?” Calley blushed and looked at Sanel nervously.

“That’s ok! It’s much better for me when people ask before assuming. I use they/them pronouns usually, but I don’t mind he/him either.” Sanel smiled brightly, ears turning slightly red from excitement.

“Great, I’m glad I didn’t offend you!” Calley laughed, relieved, “Oh! I got completely distracted, I need to head out now! Olli, don’t hesitate to call whenever you want. You have my number, feel free to give it to Haron and Sanel if they want it!”

Calley grinned, almost tripping over herself as she scrambled to get out the door. Olifar shook his head and faintly smiled, she was almost always late to something, whether it be a meeting for work or a dinner date she had forgotten. It had become something of a game to him to guess if she would leave in a rush whenever she had called or visited him in the hospital.

He waved as she drove off, and Sanel closed the door when he stepped back.They had grown closer during the time he was in the hospital, but this was the first time he had heard Calley call him by a nickname. He remembered his mother calling him the same when he was younger, before she passed away, and smiled sadly.

“Is that your nickname? Could we call you Olli, too?” Sanel looked over at him and smiled hopefully. How could he say no to such a face??

“Y-yes, you can call me whatever you want.” Olli smiled timidly, looking at the warm figure next to him.

“Thank you! We have a couple empty rooms on the third floor, so you can look at them and decide which one you want.” Sanel started towards the stairs, waiting for Olli to grab his bags before they made their way up the many stairs.

The huge house, in total, had five floors, four of which were above water, and one below. The first floor was where they had entered, and included the entrance, dining room, kitchen, living room, and a bathroom. Olli slung his backpack over his shoulder and picked up his suitcase, trudging behind Sanel as they led him up the stairs.

The second floor was a wide hallway with four doors, and he could see the entire entrance from over the banister. Sanel opened each of the doors for him as they walked past. First was the game room, then the media room, the family room, and at the end of the hallway was another bathroom.

Olli couldn’t believe his eyes, each room was quite big, and everything looked so expensive. He only peeked for a moment into each room, too nervous to actually enter in case he broke something and not wanting to waste Sanel’s time.

The hallway and stairs were all lined with a fluffy red carpet, and Olli felt like he was walking on a cloud. His feet sunk down into the warm fluff as they made their way up to the third floor.

The third floor wasn’t just a hallway like the second floor, but had a doorway leading to open space with couches and a tv to the left as well. There was a doorway leading to the living room and a hallway closet on the left, two doors on the right, and one at the very end.

“The third floor is just the guest bedrooms. Haron and I share a room on the fourth floor, so you can pick any of the rooms here and that will be yours!” Sanel walked up to the doorway on the left first, “This is just a small living room, it has a fridge if you want to put food and drinks in it, though.”

Sanel then led Olli across the hallway to the first bedroom. The room was bigger than his old room, and had a door on the left and one on the right. There was a big bed right under a window with grey curtains, and a sturdy looking night stand was next to the bed.

“There’s a closet over there,” Sanel pointed to the door on the right, “and this room and the next share a bathroom, so if we have any guests you might have to share it with them if you pick this room or the next.” Sanel walked inside and opened the door on the left.

Inside was a toilet directly next to the door, a big shower, and two sinks right across from both. Two cabinets lined the wall next to the mirror and there was a towel rack next to the other door.

“Depending on which room you choose, you’ll have the sink on the left or the sink on the right, along with the cabinets and space under each sink. The third room has its own bathroom though, so that might be the better choice.” Sanel stopped for a moment to let Olli look around, then continued through the bathroom to the next room.

It looked nearly identical to the room before, but instead mirrored it. The closet was on the left side of the room, along with the bed and nightstand. The only difference, besides it being mirrored, was the color of the curtains, these being an off-white cream color instead of grey.

When Olli was finished looking at both rooms, they made their way to the last room.