Chapter Nine:

Skyrim

I frantically struck at a cat-like man on the side of the road, screaming, "Die! Die!"

"No Elli! You're not supposed to attack a Khajiit unless it attacks you first!"

"Oh..." I smiled sheepishly at Phil.

He pointed to the television."He's swinging at you! Now to have to kill him!"

I turned my attention back to the screen, pressing random buttons until I successfully murdered the cat-man. Jumping up, I shouted, "Yeah! You take that, Khajiit man!I killed you good! Yes!" I high-fived myself and Phil cracked up.

"You're such a pro."

"Yeah, I am! All thanks to you." I flicked his nose, plopping back down beside him.

"You kids want some tea?" Aunt Wei asked, popping her head into the front room.

Phil and I bolted into the kitchen and took a seat at the bar. Wei made the best English tea.

"Thank you, Mrs. Chung," Phil said, taking a sip and burning his tongue.

"No problem, Phil. It's nice to have you young people appreciating my tea." Wei beamed. She really liked Phil. I found I could confide in her about him when Alana wasn't around, and considering the way things were going, she was sure he'd ask me to be his girlfriend sooner rather than later.

I thanked Wei as well, and she continued about the kitchen, finding new things to clean.

As I sipped my tea, I looked longingly at the tele. I'd never been much into video games, but the fast-paced, someone-could-jump-out-and-kill-you-at-any-moment nature of the game was alluring and exciting.

"Ellison? You there?" Phil snapped his fingers in front of my face. "Whatcha thinkin' about?"

That's when I made a break for the controller.

"No!" Phil yelled, laughing all the while. "You're gonna suffer from Skyrim overdose!"

I turned to the now-standing Phil and shouted, "Fus Ro Dah!"

He raced towards me, picking me up. "Your dragon powers don't work on meeeeeeee!"

I kicked and flailed. "Phil! Let me down this instant!"

Alana and Dan then walked into the apartment, and Phil and I froze, looking at them.

"What's going on in here?" Dan asked warily.

"Phil won't let me play more Skyrim!" I pouted.

"You've been playing for three hours! And I don't want you to get addicted. Addictions are bad. Just look at Dan." Sure enough, Dan was in front of the television, having abandoned Alana, battling a dragon. My dragon.

I squirmed out of Phil's arms, walking over to Dan. "Dan?"

"Yeah?" He didn't even bother to look away from the TV.

"You just killed a dragon. My dragon."

Alana picked up on the vibe and advised, "You might want to give the controller back Dan."

"Yeah Dan. Give it back."

"No."

So I tackled him and pinned him to the floor. He actually looked quite frightened. "That," I pointed to the screen, "is my Breton. Mine. Make your own character."

Dan turned to Phil. "A possessive Skyrim-lover. I approve." I got up, smiling triumphantly as Dan switched to his own avatar.

Alana interjected. "I guess Dan's never gonna bring it up, so I will."

We all turned our attention towards Alana.

"Chris is having a party tonight and he's invited us all to come."

I recalled that Chris was Phil's friend who we'd met in the park about a week and a half ago. "Cool," I exclaimed.

"So are we all in?"

Phil and looked at each other and shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Who doesn't love parties?" Phil attempted to beatbox, and we both danced awkwardly.

"Alright then! see you guys at seven!" Alana beamed at us, then walked over to Dan, pulling him out of the apartment by his ear.

My first English party.

Cool.

A/N: Whoo! Early morning installment! I know this chapter's a tad dull and extremely short, but it's just sort of a filler chapter, leading up to the party. I wasn't sure how exactly to lead up to the invitation, so I thought, "Why not Skyrim?" I hope you enjoyed this chapter nonetheless. Reviews are love! xoxo