Still Doll

The bewildered doll hid behind a sofa in the living room. The footsteps heard above her gave her a chill of small fear. He stopped counting. The footsteps stopped, replaced by the sudden noise of a door opening, followed by more footsteps; faster footsteps. He's seeking. Cautiously, Kanon took a glance at the grand stairs, and regretted it almost instantly. There he was, sitting with his knees bent, elbows pressed against his knees, and head resting on his hands. He smiled. He saw!

Kanon quickly put herself in a crawling position, ready to run away when she got the chance. She'd never done this sort of thing before, in fact it was more fun than Alexander ever made it sound like. The way he said it... "It's a child's game, Kanon! And not at this hour, it's nearly midnight! I think you should focus on resting right now, alright? Besides, it's improper. A lady should never have to hide in a closet, or under a bed..."-he glanced at Henry taking notes in a small notebook and frowned-"...just to have some small fun with a thirteen year old boy!" The way he said things like that only made her feel locked away. As if it was back to living with William all over again. She didn't want that; desperately needed to forget about it.

Kanon tried to look closer without being seen, and caught a glimpse of him sitting, lazily on the sofa. A small squeal of shock almost left her lips, if it wasn't for her realizing it on time and covering her mouth with her hand. So close..., she thought. Maybe it's meant for me to be...chased? The doll that hid behind a sofa, slowly straightened up and made a run for the stairs, only to be grabbed and pulled back. They both fell onto the sofa, followed by joyful laughter that filled the room.

Taking his chance, he straightened up and pinned Kanon down. "This is fun."

"Yes, I've never played hide-and-seek before!" she said, looking up at Henry's eyes. "It's much more fun that I'd thought."

Henry chuckled and, letting go of one of her hands, took a strand of her hair in his hand. "I wasn't talking about hide-and-seek," he told her, a smooth smile spreading across his face.

"Then what?" she asked, unaware of the awkwardness of their positions. A small aristocrat pinning a lady down to a sofa.

Their conversation was cut short by the sound of Alexander's angry voice startling them both apart. "Where are they?!" they heard him yell-at probably one of the maids. "Well, find them!"

Before they realized it, the maids and Alexander had found them, separated them, and sent them back to their rooms.

Alexander, Henry, and Kanon all sat in their seats enjoying their morning breakfast. No one had started conversation, all was as a quiet as a funeral. The uncomfortable doll looked at both boys sitting on both ends of the table, and looked back down at her plate nervously. They were so quiet that she had a feeling their sudden silence had to do with much more than a silly game. This feeling-I've learned that they must not be ignored.

"Uh, I..." Kanon scowled at the realization that she had nothing to say. If she ever mentioned their silence, she was afraid they would both be angry with her. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't want ask anyway. "Alexander...?"

"Yes?" he said in a toneless voice.

"...are you upset?" she asked, already wishing she could shove the words back into her mouth and never speak again. The sad look in his lonely eyes made her heart ache.

"Of course not. Why would you ask me such a thing?" Alexander asked.

"You've been terribly quiet… It worries me," Kanon said.

Alexander winced at the sound of her voice. Sad; it made his heart ache, too. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you."

"Please, don't apologize for worrying me, if not apologize for not..." She stopped herself from saying anything she wasn't sure was rude or not. It's not like me living with him excuses me for any disrespect...

"For what?" Alexander said, looking at her strangely.

"For not...-"

"Yawn!" Henry suddenly said, his hand hovering over his mouth.

"Henry!" Alexander scolded.

Henry chuckled deviously. "I think what she's trying to say is that you shouldn't worry about anything, and simply enjoy yourself, Alex!" He smiled. "It worries her-it worries us."

Alexander snorted, but caught himself not wanting to be rude around Kanon. He highly doubted that Henry cared at all about Alexander, especially now that he'd set his sights on the blushing doll. Wait..., he thought. He looked at her strangely again, and asked, "Why are you blushing?"

Her cheeks turned a deeper red, and she shook her head. He raised an eyebrow and asked again. "Kanon, what's wrong?"

Kanon stiffened, looking as if she was fighting the words trying to leave her lips. “Kanon," he said firmly.

"Henry!" Kanon gasped, standing up and snatching what looked like a piece of paper out of Henry's hand.

Henry let out a heavy laugh, holding himself from the stomach pain, and said, "Oh, dear! It seems I've embarrassed our princess!"

Alexander scowled. Unlike him, Henry had no problems giving rather obvious hints about his feelings. While Henry and Kanon fought playfully for her paper, he thought to himself. It seemed that while Alexander had been thinking and trying to get Kanon to talk, Henry had been waving a paper in front of him. He wasn't sure why he didn't notice before, but he was sure. Henry, he thought, held a paper in his hands...that Kanon didn't want anyone to see. As the two continued talking, Alexander whispered to himself, "Exactly what would she not want me to see?"