He sighed. It was nice here.

Sitting alone on a wooden bench beside a stone path, he was surrounded by bright green grass and a few trees as lamps lit up the park.

This night, all around, kids were playing and running about. The youngest was about five years old, while the oldest seemed to be in their late teens. In the distance, a play park where a group of kids played tag. In a larger grass area, a different group played football. There was even a large stone area which resembled a basketball court, except instead of a backboard, there was only a single, glowing, floating hoop that was golden in the middle of the circular court. Kids were currently playing a game of whatever it was called, all of their backpacks and personal belongings in a pile on the side.

Lincoln watched them play since it enticed him the most out of the rest. Every time a team would score, the golden ring would flash brightly for a second. He realized while watching that there were three teams, all of them working together to try and score points by passing, guarding, and other strategies. Like most of this world, the kids were pretty mobile compared to the average earthling back home. They jumped high and were pretty agile, able to handle the ball easily.

At some point during their game, one team tried to make a pass, and a kid on another slapped the ball away. This happened multiple times before, but it was the first time the ball rolled over to where Lincoln sat.

The white-haired boy got off the bench as the kids, a mix of boys and girls, took notice of him. He picked up their ball and threw it back to them with a smile from where he was.

The kids paused their game for a moment, starting a conversation. It was a good distance away, so when the kids talked amongst themselves, Lincoln didn't know what they were saying.

Moments later, two approached Lincoln, sitting back down on the bench. Both were boys who wore shorts and t-shirts. They looked to be about his age.

"Wanna play with us?" one of them asked.

"Oh," Lincoln said, "Can I?"

"Yeah! The more the merrier! Up to you."

Lincoln stood up from his bench and smiled at them. "Okay! I don't know the rules, though."

"That's fine," the other boy told him, "We can teach you."

"I'm Lincoln."

"Todd."

"And I'm Bill. Nice to meetcha!"

Lincoln was introduced to the friend group, and throughout learning the game, appropriately named "Ringball," he grew accustomed to these kids, namely his teammates. He chose not to use energy since it wouldn't be fair and toned down his physical strength. He wanted to stretch out his arms, so at some point, he took off his hoodie and played in his light-blue t-shirt underneath.

Before they knew it, the sky was turning orange as the new day was beginning, and some kids had to head home.

They played a few more games of Ringball before the last of the kids had to leave, too, shouting that they would meet up in school tomorrow. One of the kids, Todd from earlier, who first invited him to play with them, blurted out a comment as he left.

"Hey, next time you should show off some of your cool moves!" he said to Lincoln as he looked at him with sparkling eyes.

"Uh, what do you mean?" Lincoln asked.

"You know, how you fought at the Big Boss's tournament! You were awesome!"

"Oh." Lincoln scratched the side of his head. "You were watching?"

Todd nodded. "My dad took me. I can't wait to tell him I met you!"

Lincoln chuckled. "Well, maybe next time I'll show off a little bit. Tell your dad I said hi."

"Will do. Bye, Lincoln!" Todd waved as he walked off.

Lincoln walked over to where he left his Inventory and pulled his sweater out of it to put on.

He had a blast today. Those kids were fun. Maybe he should come again tomorrow? Perhaps even the day after?