[Cathy's Apartment Building, Havok, Piasu, Ryomania, 3:20 PM, May 7th, Tuesday 2025]
Cathy and Amelia quietly stood next to each other in the elevator, feeling a warm sense of belonging.
Cathy Ariston: "For a maid, you're pretty awesome… I-I mean that honestly—Don't make a big deal out of it or anything!"
Cathy crossed her arms over her chest, looking away from her, blushing.
She hadn't felt so accepted since our childhood days.
Amelia gave her a gentle smile, nodding.
Amelia Orwell: "Thank you, I appreciate your kindness, Cathy! You're my first real friend outside of the Daniels family…"
They both came from entirely different mediums but were now so much alike.
They both had nowhere to go and every reason to stick together.
The elevator doors opened, Cathy turned to Amelia.
Cathy Ariston: "This is my floor, come on… If you make me sob again I'll hug you to death."
She hovered out of the elevator first, gliding towards her apartment with precision.
Amelia Orwell: "O-oh… Of course! Um… You're very brave to move so quickly despite there being a clear risk of anyone seeing us, right?"
Amelia followed after her, glancing around the hallway.
Cathy Ariston: "I don't really care honestly, enough people have seen me, seen us— Hell, I'm on the news. Or was."
The hallway was dingy as expected, old cobwebs every now and then, a trail of ants going across a wall from one crack to another, mold, flies.
Amelia Orwell: "I've never been in such a quaint place before, oh goodness… It's like a jungle!"
She giggled softly, turning to Cathy as they both stood in front of her apartment door.
Apartment 237.
Cathy Ariston: "Believe me, If I could, I'd leave in a heartbeat."
Cathy looked down at herself, after a day or so, realizing she forgot her backpack at school, alongside with her phone and apartment keys.
She had been wearing the same clothes, a white tank-top and black leggings alongside her purple rubber sneakers since then, though they looked more tattered and worn.
Cathy Ariston: "Oh shit, I forgot my backpack at school! My keys…"
Amelia looked between her and the door with a bemused smile.
Amelia Orwell: "Tinker Bell."
Tinker Bell suddenly materialized, hovering in front of her.
Amelia Orwell: "Tinker Bell! I wish for Cathy's apartment door to open!"
Tinker Bell rang once, twice, before a thin layer of golden light covered the door.
Cathy Ariston: "Oh, right… Thanks."
A moment passed, the door then swung open, the golden light around it fading.
Amelia grabbed Tinker Bell in her hands and giggled softly.
Amelia Orwell: "You're very welcome! I just love using it so much… It's so cute! Eeek!"
She let out a tiny squeak as she waved it around, causing Cathy's lips to curl up into a smirk.
Cathy Ariston: "Yeah, I figured as much… Get in before anyone sees you doing that."
Amelia Orwell: "You're not worried about anyone seeing your aura?"
They both stepped inside, Cathy shut the door with gravity without even looking.
Cathy Ariston: "Nah, I'd just scare them off or something. Bloody steal their phone too, chuck it out of a window."
Amelia gasped, shaking her head quickly.
Amelia Orwell: "No! That's so mean…"
Cathy Ariston: "I'm kidding, Amelia… Come on, let me show you around."
They both laughed about it and stepped past the doorway.
The entrance to the apartment was quite small, there were a few paintings on the walls, a large mirror next to a door on the left side of the small hallway and there was a small table in the corner next to a door on the right side.
Cathy Ariston: "Alright, pick and choose, what do you want to see first?"
Amelia pondered the question, rubbing her chin thoughtfully as Tinker Bell hovered over her shoulder.
Amelia Orwell: "The living room!"
In front of them was the bathroom door.
And to the left was the living room/guest bedroom.
They both stepped inside.
The detail that stood out most was that it had a foldable couch which doubled as a bed.
There was also a table next to the right wall, doubling as a dining table with seven chairs.
The room was decorated with pictures of Cathy and her family, paintings, memorabilia and furniture.
Amelia Orwell: "Woah… It smells like cinnamon! This is so amazing…"
She looked around in wonder, inspecting everything she could.
She looked intensely at a picture of Cathy, Normand and Yoshio, her nose scrunched up in concentration.
Amelia Orwell: "Why is your brother cosplaying as an ogre?"
She glanced over her shoulder at Cathy who was lounging comfortably above the couch, hands behind her head.
Cathy Ariston: "Oh, that's my younger brother Normand… He… He's no longer with us."
Cathy looked away, lifting a pillow off of the couch and putting it on her face.
Amelia didn't question it further.
Cathy mumbled from underneath the pillow.
Cathy Ariston: "You're gonna sleep here by the way… I mean, obviously."
She peered the pillow away from her face, looking at Amelia.
Amelia Orwell: "Yes, of course, I would not want to intrude on your personal space."
She nodded politely and stepped closer towards the couch, her hands held properly in front of her.
Amelia Orwell: "May I see the kitchen?"
Cathy scoffed, flipping over onto her stomach, kicking her feet in the air.
Cathy Ariston: "Geez, you're so annoyingly proper… Go."
Amelia softly chuckled and went towards the door on the right-side of the room, she stepped into the kitchen, noting how small it was.
She could pace back and forth between the small space before colliding with the wall, everything was neatly packed together.
From the door, there was a stove, oven, oven top, two counters with four drawers each and a microwave on top, a cutting board, a few more shelves above and behind her on the wall three different cupboards filled with plates, knives and other forms of cutlery.
Amelia Orwell: "This will do nicely, yes!"
She fist bumped the air then peek over into the doorway of the kitchen, making sure Cathy didn't see her.
She stepped out of the kitchen and closer to Cathy..
Cathy was lying motionless in the air, hovering above the couch, her head burrowed in her arms and her feet dangling in the air.
It was the first time since Amelia first saw her that Cathy looked this relaxed.
She reached out, tapping the aura above her right shoulder.
Cathy Ariston: "What? Can't you see I'm brooding?"
She flipped over on her back, stretching languidly and smirking at Amelia.
Amelia Orwell: "So… I don't have any personal belongings, at least not anymore… Does that mean we'll share things?"
Cathy felt a soft blush creep on her face at the suggestion, she flipped over, standing up.
Cathy Ariston: "What kind of a question is that?! I-I… I mean, maybe some things but not clothes o-or a toothbrush! I'll buy you what you need… Dummy."
Cathy reached out, flicking her forehead with a small burst of gravity, causing Amelia to stumble a step back.
Amelia Orwell: "Okay, sorry for asking!"
She gave her a gentle smile and bowed.
Amelia Orwell: "Can I see your room?"
Cathy thought about it, running a hand through her hair and crossing her arms.
Cathy Ariston: "Fine, just don't break anything."
She got up from the couch, gliding over towards the hallway again and into her bedroom.
Amelia quietly followed inside.
The room looked very simple, white painted walls, a painting of her hung up on the wall, a metal cross on the wall, a painting of with what looked like a brick wall in an alley with a candle on top of it with a prism-like outline on top of it and a golden wheel at the base of the stone wall.
Right ahead was another foldable couch that turned into a bed, next to the door was a large TV flatscreen mounted on a wall and below it a dresser with a white Wi-fi router on top that emanated a green light into the room, a series of perfumes and deodorants she kept around, a vase with a few plastic roses inside both red and white, seven of them, and alongside a green haircomb and a green towel.
But Amelia was drawn to what was behind them.
Amelia Orwell: "Oh wow! You have a Gintendo Plug Console!"
She ran her fingers across the top of the hand-held console, which was already sitting in its charging dock.
Cathy sighed and gently swatted her hand away.
Cathy Ariston: "I told you, paws off. And it's whatever… I don't even have enough time these days—I mean, I didn't before, with school and stuff so I never played that much on it. I'm more of a PC girl. But I don't hate it or anything…"
Beyond that Amelia saw her desk, next to the bed on the left-side of the small room.
On top of it was a gaming laptop held up on a stand, with a mechanical keyboard below, a mouse, an external usb outlet allowing for more slots and next to the laptop there were some wireless headphones sitting on top of a few items.
A hand-held drawing tablet, a screenless drawing tablet, and below those two a box with a familiar logo.
Amelia Orwell: "You have two tablets and some Pupil AR Glasses?! That's so cool! Master Jack also had one of these, before… Um, he always let me play with it whenever I wanted. Have you played the game Daggers & Magic?"
Cathy was slightly shocked by how much Amelia knew, she put her hands on her hips and hovered closer.
Cathy Ariston: "Yeah, but I don't play it for too long. Actually it's been a year since I've booted it up. I usually get too into it and sweat too much… I-It's complicated—Shut up!"
She sighed and looked away, hovering above her bed and lying down on her side.
Amelia noted a few other things on her desk, a kintama toy, a rechargeable flashlight, a lantern, two snow globes that seemed defective even from afar, a packet of bubble gum, a small case of wireless earbuds, a red cross keychain and her mousepad.
She then turned around to look at the large white wardrobe taking up most of the space in the room.
Amelia Orwell: "Wow, you must have lots of clothes in here…"
Cathy Ariston: "Don't look inside!"
She yelled at her and threw a pillow from the bed, it hit Amelia in the face and she instantly bowed.
Amelia Orwell: "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset! I wasn't planning to…"
She picked up the pillow, her lower lip jutting out as she pouted.
Amelia Orwell: "P-please don't kick me out…"
Cathy stared at her for a moment, before groaning and hovering towards her, wrapping her arms around her in a hug that repelled both of them.
Cathy Ariston: "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you, I won't…"
Amelia's pout went away, replaced by a gentle smile and returned the hug.
After a moment they both stepped back.
Cathy Ariston: "And I guess that's just the basics, so uh… Make yourself comfy or whatever… I'll be honest, I'm very very tired… And hungry and a bit…"
Amelia Orwell: "Smelly?"
Cathy blushed furiously and snatched the pillow from her, hiding her face with it.
Cathy Ariston: "Don't just say it so casually like that! Get out of my room! You're ruining the vibe…"
Amelia Orwell: "Ah! Okay, okay! I'm sorry…"
She scurried past Cathy and the bed, standing by the door.
Cathy looked back at her, throwing the pillow onto the bed.
Cathy Ariston: "I'm sorry. I don't mean it, you know…"
Amelia Orwell: "It's painfully obvious you don't, you're very kind…"
She grinned at Cathy and bowed politely before heading back towards the living room.
Cathy Ariston: "And yet so weak…"
Cathy hovered back to the bed, lying down again, shutting her eyes.
She finally felt safe, but didn't feel ready to hold it.