“We’re having sandwiches for lunch, with some dried seaweed and fruit.” Haron waited for Olli to catch up after closing the closet doors.

They sat down at the already set table, waiting for Sanel to come sit down too. They had already set all the food on the table while Haron had come upstairs to get Olli. Now, they were washing their hands before they came to eat.

The sandwiches were good, and there was a pitcher of juice on the table as well, which he had multiple cups of. They were almost done eating when Sanel looked up and asked Olli what they had all been wondering.

“So Olli, earlier… I was speaking to you in another language. You answered back, but you didn’t know you were speaking another language, right?” Sanel asked, looking genuinely curious.

“Y-yes… what did you say it was? K-kay..” Olli blushed and looked down in embarrassment, he couldn’t remember what they had called it.

“Kairae,” Sanel chuckled, “I’m from Kairael. People born there or whose parents are from there usually know the language even if they learned a different one growing up. I can’t explain it very well, but you must be part Kairae if you hadn’t learned the language before.”

This was getting even more confusing. People could just know a language?

Must have been my dad…

“Your dad was Kairaen?”

Olli blinked, he hadn’t realized he’d murmured that out loud.

“Oh… well, I didn’t really… know my dad, but my mom was definitely Traetan, so it couldn’t have been from her. I never met my dad, but mom said I looked exactly like him, so…”

Sanel nodded, “It makes sense. White hair and pale skin are both common features there.”

“Is it a cold planet? My mom didn’t tell me much, but I tried to find out where he was from before. She had a box of his stuff, and one of her diaries was in there. She mentioned him but didn’t say what planet he was from...”

He had found the diary at the very bottom of the box, buried beneath some old clothes and letters that belonged to Olli’s dad. He remembered his mom telling him his dad’s name, Cyrus Salem. They didn’t talk about him much, but he would never forget anything she said about him.

“Yes, It snows a lot there, snowstorms are a common occurrence,” Sanel answered, smiling.

When they had all finished eating, Olli insisted on helping wash the dishes and put them away. While he and Sanel were working on that, Haron wiped down the table and walked over to help them, setting the rag he had used down near the sink to dry.

As they all finished up, Olli remembered that he had no desk in his room.

“Umm… excuse me? I was wondering.. if I could maybe have a desk… for my room? I-It’s fine if I’m asking too much, I-I understand!” Olli looked down, feeling very awkward for asking Sanel and Haron for something when he had just moved in that stir.

“It’s completely fine, Olli,” Sanel said while Haron nodded.

“It’s our first time fostering, so if you ever need anything, just ask.” Haron smiled reassuringly.

“Th-thank you!” Olli sighed in relief, he wasn’t too sure how they would react.

“By the way, I forgot to mention this earlier, but we’re having guests over for dinner tonight. They’re our neighbors, and they have two sons, Vynsan and Arthir.” Haron smiled.

“Vynsan is your age, so we thought it would be nice for you to meet them!” Sanel beamed, “They’re really nice, so I’m sure you’ll all be great friends..”

Most people weren’t too nice, but Sanel and Haron had been so far, so Olli decided to trust them on this. He was still a little nervous though, as he always was when meeting new people, so he decided to read a bit to help calm down.

“I’ll be upstairs, thank you for lunch.”

“No problem, Olli! There are snacks in the pantry over there as well, if you get hungry later.” Sanel pointed towards a closed door on the far side of the kitchen, near the fridge.

“Ok, I’ll be down later, when they come by.” Olli started up the stairs, making his way to his new room. Once there, he pulled out one of his newer books. He hadn’t read it yet, and it looked good, so he’d bought it a couple weeks ago.

Sitting down on his bed, he opened it to the first page and started reading.