Aiden stepped into the dark city,Jesse by his side. He looked around,"Well,what are we waiting for? Let's hurry up and get to your house."
Jesse put their hands up,"Okay,buddy,calm down. Don't make me regret my decision of not sending you back."
He practically shrank,flinching away and looking at them,alarmed. They frowned,"Hey,it's okay,I'm joking. I wouldn't do that." They attempted to give him a reassuring smile,giving his hand a squeeze. He hadn't realized they were literally holding his hand,so he stammered for a response,pulling away,his face reddening. They chuckled,gesturing for him to follow them as they walked towards a large stone building. He followed,embarrassment written all over his expression.
They pulled out a small crown,a large red stone item,a white pumpkin with a slash on it,a book,and that stupid flint and steel he had become so familiar with.  He seemed unsettled by the flint and steel,and winced away from the crown,as if the founder would literally hop out and stab him in the side. They placed it in a bunch of item frames,in an order he forgot already. He just knew that the flint and steel was first,and the redstone thing was last. He rolled his eyes; some weird Order of the Stone thing he didn't care about.  The door opened,and Jesse grabbed the stuff from the item frames,"Alright,c'mon." They gestured for him to follow inside the building when they entered,and,of course,he did so. The boy almost dropped dead right there. Holy crap,so much stuff. There were chests piled on top of eachother,only separated by a thin wooden plank and some space,so they could be opened. They were labeled,'food','weapons','armor'... His jaw dropped,and his head filled with jealousy,before he quickly dismissed it,guilty. He had promised he wouldn't compete with them anymore. They did have mercy on him back on Sky Island,after all. They could've just stabbed him with their sword and be done with it. He almost felt sick at that thought,so he turned his attention back to Jesse. They were looking through some chests,putting some items in their bag,and holding a couple in their hands. He was about to start going into deep thought again when they looked back at him and said,"Hey,can you hold this for me?". They lifted up a blue bag filled with some sort of items.
Aiden blinked,unsure,and said,"I..don't know if I can,but,uh,okay." He extended his hands slowly,glancing behind himself. They dropped it in his hands,and he literally wheezed,it almost slipping out of his hands.
"Aiden,buddy,how much have you eaten back there?? You...seem kinda weak."
"I-I'm not weak! But,um..not enough. I think they adapted to have less food,because they didn't wanna risk using the eversource too much. B-but I'm not like that! Look,all I mean is they didn't give me enough food,alright?" He started gaining a hostile tone after rambling so long,before he finally shut up when they lifted their hand. He stared at it as if they'd smack him,but they just placed a finger over his mouth.
"Calm down. It was just a question." They said,removing their hand from his face. He stared confusedly.
"What. Why did you just-"
"Ah- heck,shut up a second." They muttered,yanking his arm and literally shoving him down a chest. He yelped,"W-what t-" They slammed their hand over his mouth.
"Be quiet. And stay in there. Someone's coming." They shut the chest.
There he was,in the darkness,alone,in a tight space.
What if Jesse didn't come back? What if they left him to starve to death? What if they lit the chest on fir-
"Lukas! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the gate?"
"I just got a little tired,so I'm done greeting guests. There weren't any this week,so I decided that they can wait till morning if they wanna come in that bad.  What about you,Jesse?"
"Same. I decided to take a walk before,so I'm a bit tired now. Hey,it's always this order who leaves,isn't it? Me,you,Axel,Olivia,Petra. When Ivor's up,I don't think he leaves at all. Does he even sleep?"
"I don't think he does."
"Ah,Ivor the restless."
They both giggled quietly,Lukas sighing afterwards. "I'm gonna go to bed now,Jesse. Goodnight,if you're gonna do the same."
"Yeah. Goodnight,Lukas."
The faint sound of footsteps faded away as Jesse opened the chest back up.
"Hey,buddy,you doing alright in there?"
Aiden felt guilty. That was the friend he ditched.  "I'm fine."
"Alright,let's go." They pulled his hand up,so he ended up tripping out of the chest. As he stumbled forward,mouth gaping open,Jesse quickly reached forwards,pulling him up.
"Hey,let's try that again. Just step out this time. Oh,watch out for arrows."
He froze up,"W-what's that supposed to mean?!"
"That's the weaponry chest."
"Why did you make me go in this one?!"
"Closest one." They shrugged. "But hurry up. Do I need to carry you?"
"N-no!" He hissed at them,stepping out carefully,his expression showing dread due to the risk.
"See,that wasn't so hard. Now,Aiden,let's go." They held their hand out.
He stared,before simply nodding,but not touching their hand. They shrugged,and walked off. On the way to their room,they asked about stuff like what his favorite food was,stuff like that. He responded truthfully,it's not like he could be blackmailed for liking the color red.
"Okay,here we are." They grabbed the bag from his hands,opening it and dropping it on the floor. They bent over,picking up a folded sleeping bag and a small pillow. There was...a teddy bear... What.  He didn't complain,though,it was more than he deserved.
They laid out the stuff by their bed,"Wake me up if you need anything." They advised while turning the lights off and locking their door. A small lamp was dimly lit on their bedside table. They flopped on their bed,and he awkwardly folded the blanket on the floor over himself,head laying on the small pillow. He shoved the teddy bear away,and turned away from under their bed,as if someone would reach out from it and drag him under.
Despite these thoughts,he was perfectly content sleeping. It had been a long day,after all.