The Knightly Estate Chp. 3

I rush down the hall, the top of my coat still slightly damp, I hold the tablet in my hand, the map blazing across the screen, however, I don't even need it, the wonderful aroma in the air was enough to lead me to the dining hall, the large doors opened wide, I close the map, looking around for any familiar faces, it doesn’t take me long to find Kazu, or rather for, him, or her, to find me.

“Matt-kun!” says Kazu, bounding towards me with the gracefulness of a two legged deer, “come on, take a seat over here!”

Kazu directs me towards a seat, and before long steaming food has arrived in front of me, it is only then do I realize how starved I am.

“Duck l’orange,” said a man in a chef’s hat that had been stylized to look like it had come straight out of a retro video game.

“Ah thank you,” I said, turning towards the bird in front of me.

Just as I tuck in I hear the chef yell to his staff, “hey, send the food over to Owl, poor guy never leaves his room!”

I sit there wondering, who in the world would name their kid “Owl,” and why he never left his room, the expanse of the place was overwhelming, but not so much to the point an agoraphobia would stay shut in all day, left to stew in the stale air in their room.

“So, who’s Owl?” I asked, leaning towards Kazu, in order to indicate I was talking to him.

“Oh?” Kazu said, “you want to know about Owl-kyun?”

“O-Owl-kyun?” I stammer, Owl was the guy's real name? Oh deary me poor kid, I thought.

“He’s a bit of a shut in, plays horror games all night long, eats more ramen than real food, but thanks to Spencer, he’s the chef that served you, he’s actually been gaining real sustenance,” said Kazu, the cheeriness completely gone from his, or her voice.

“Oh, well, I won’t bother him then,” I said, “oh, and one more thing.”

“What is it Matt-kun~” said Kazu.

“Erm,” I said hesitantly, “what’s your gender?”

Kazu looks shocked, as if the answer were blatantly obvious, but then smiles and says, “I’m a guy.”

The look on my face was apparently covered up well, as I felt like an idiot, but nobody seemed to take notice. I quietly scrape the remaining bits of duck on my plate and look around, by now the 20 or so other souls had left, leaving their plates where they sat. Someone sits next to me, and I look over, it’s the chef.

“Hey there, I’m Spencer, head chef of the Knightly estate,” he said, extending his hand in order for me to shake it.

“Oh, nice to meet you, I’m Matt,” I said shaking his hand warmly, “your food is amazing, by the way.”

“Thank you,” he said, “so I assume you're the new guy, right? The door next to me got painted white, so I assume you're my neighbor.”

“Oh so that’s what the door colour means,” I said, “why only green and white?”

“Well there's also blue, but, only three people in the entire place has that, Austin, our floor’s caretaker is one of those people,” said Spencer, “although Emi said that she’d think of new colors when she decides not to be lazy.”

I look at him with astonishment, this person called the owner of this huge mansion by her “pet name” or whatever people called it now, as if it were nothing, I finally find the words to use after a moment of sheer confusion, “Emi? What are you guys close or something?”

He laughs, as if what I had just said was the most hilarious thing he had heard in his life.

“Emi insists that new member or old, you call her by her shortened name is all,” he said, still regaining his composure, “besides, she feels that getting close to people is important, unlike the guy across from you.”

“Really?” I said, “well the guy across from me must be really terribly bad at social interaction I presume”

“Why is that?” He asks, “I assume you’ve talked to Kazu?”

“Yeah, he says he’s a shut in, and until he got here only ate ramen for meals,” I said, “I think I might talk to him actually.”

“Well good luck with that, I’ve got dishes to clean,” said Spencer, as he got up and walked towards the kitchen.

Left all alone, I headed back towards my room. I finally get there only to hear something behind me, a tall shadowy figure quickly receding into the black depths from which it had originated from.

“Hey, wait up!” I cry, attempting to reach from the door only to faceplant into it.

“Ow, fuck, that hurt,” I said, rubbing my nose, “I guess I’ll try again tomorrow.

I get inside my room and get ready for bed, but as I’m about to do so, my tablet beeps. It was from Zephyr.

-Hello, neighbor, I really hope you didn’t mess up my door, I just had it replaced.-

I looked at the screen, complete bewilderment across my face, all the guy cared about was his door? Not even my nose which had painfully crashed against the glorified plank of wood?

I type back: You’re an asshole.

Owl: I get that a lot, nothing new.

Realizing that trying to get a simple “sorry” out of him was an act of futility I put the tablet on the nightstand, and ready myself for a much needed sleep.