Chapter 80: The Couch, A Drink And The Store
April stepped inside and didn’t say anything for a moment.
She just looked. Moving her eyes slowly around the living room the way someone reads a room they’re trying to understand — the furniture, the layout, the general shape of how he lived.
David shut the door and watched her do it.
’Hmm... why’s she just staring around? Is she looking for something...or...?’
He couldn’t tell what. Her face wasn’t giving him much. Which, with April, usually meant her brain was giving her plenty.
In time, she turned to face him.
"Plain," she said.
David stared at her. "...What?"
"Your place." She gestured, unhurried, at the space around her. "It’s completely plain. It’s almost like—" she tilted her head slightly, "—a simple man lives here."
"That is, in fact, what’s happening."
"Have you been here long or did you just move in?" She glanced toward the furniture. "Because your setup is giving very much... I haven’t committed yet."
David opened his mouth.
Closed it.
’That is a little bit hurtful.’
"It’s cozy," he said.
She looked at him.
"It’s functional," he tried.
She kept looking at him.
He sighed. "I mean...yeah, I just moved in."
April blinked. Then something broke across her face — not quite a laugh, but close enough that it counted. "Wait, seriously?"
"Recently, yeah." He lied again, saving his face as little as he could.
"Oh my god." She pressed her lips together, visibly containing herself. "I didn’t know you were also a fresh move-in. I’ve been judging your furniture."
"You were absolutely judging my furniture."
"I was," she admitted, without a shred of guilt. "I apologize. Partially."
David shook his head slowly, but the corner of his mouth had moved without his permission. "It’s nothing."
She looked around once more — this time with slightly more generosity — and then exhaled. "Well. Since you just moved in, I can’t exactly ask you for decorating advice."
"Was that going to be the plan?"
"I was looking at how you arranged things." A beat. "For reference. For my own room."
"And?"
She looked at him flatly. "I’ll figure it out myself."
He laughed — short, genuine — and she didn’t stop him.
"Well, since I’m so mundane... Make yourself at home, then." he said, gesturing toward the couch, when he immediately noticed something- it was clean.
’Huh? That’s not...where’s the stain? Where’s the blood stain that was on it?’ He paused for a moment before he fixed his astonished expression, proceeding to act as normal as he could.
April was already moving toward the couch. "I made food, by the way. Made enough for two." She glanced back at him. "All you’d have to do is grab something to drink. I’m thinking beer."
David considered that for approximately half a second.
"I’d honestly rather just have a normal drink at this point."
April raised an eyebrow. "A normal drink?"
"A normal drink."
"Was your night really that pervy?"
"April... it’s not funny anymore."
"Ehh...a little bit now." She replied as she gestured with her thumb and index fingers almost clasping together, something quietly amused sitting behind her eyes.
"Well...whichever one you prefer. I’m up for it."
"Sure. Let me just grab it." He turned toward the kitchen and walked over to the fridge, pulled it open, and stared into it with the expression of a man confronting consequences he had fully earned.
Inside it was one sad bottle of water. Something in a container he didn’t remember putting there and a general atmosphere of abandonment.
He shut it.
’Brilliant.’
"So," he said, turning back around, "I may have just run completely out."
April looked at him. "Of drinks."
"Of drinks."
"In your fridge."
"It’s a fresh move-in situation."
She stared at him for one long moment and then pressed her hand over her mouth.
"I’ll just—" he grabbed his keys off the counter, "—run to the store. Two minutes. You can go warm up the food, I’ll be back before it’s ready."
"Okay..." she said, still fighting whatever was happening on her face. "...Mr. Eechi."
"I’m not—" He stopped. Decided against it. "I’ll be back."
April turned toward the door, still smiling at something she’d chosen not to share, and he followed her out into the hallway. She peeled off toward her own door without ceremony, and he heard it open, then close, and then the hallway was quiet.
David stood there.
Let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding as he locked his door.
’Of all the times to have a guest...’
He turned and started walking, keys already in hand, proceeding towards the store.
~~~
The night air was cool against his face.
David walked with his eyes down, hands loose at his sides, the street stretching out ahead of him under the amber wash of lampposts.
Not many people out this late — a few figures moving at distance, a car rolling past slow, the kind of quiet that settled over a neighborhood when most of it had already decided to sleep.
However, the system was not ready to grant him a moment of peace.
[As previously noted — April Holliday finds your audacity intriguing.]
’Intriguing,’ David thought flatly. ’Right.’
[The data supports—]
’System. I’m tired. I’m pissed. I just ran a dungeon, got hit more times than I’d like to count, and I’m currently walking to a store at midnight because I forgot to stock my fridge. Can we do this some other time.’
[Negative. Player’s growth does not pause for personal inconvenience.]
’That is genuinely insane. You understand that’s insane.’
[This is an optimal window for analysis of Target: April Holliday. Engagement data suggests—]
’I don’t want engagement data right now.’
[Player’s wants are noted and deprioritized.]
’Deprioritized.’
[Correct. Shall I continue?]
David walked in silence for a few seconds.
’...You’re going to continue whether I say yes or not, aren’t you.’
[Correct.]
’Then why did you ask.’
[Courtesy.]
He stared at the pavement ahead of him. A car rolled past. Somewhere down the street a door closed.
’Fine. Make it quick.’
[Target demonstrates consistent re-engagement despite negative incident. Behavior suggests curiosity outweighs offense. Prognosis: favorable.]
’She brought food, system. People bring food to neighbors. That’s just a thing humans do.’
[She also laughed.]
’People laugh.’
[At you. Specifically. Multiple times.]
David opened his mouth. Closed it.
’...That’s not the point.’
[It is, in fact, precisely the point.]
He almost smiled.
Almost.
’So what you’re saying is-’
Bump
His thoughts were abruptly cut short as someone walked into him.
Not hard. Just enough. A shoulder catching his, knocking him half a step sideways.
David steadied himself and looked up.
The eyes that met his weren’t apologetic.
Leon.
He was wearing a thick leather jacket, standing with the particular stillness of someone who wanted to be noticed, and he was staring at David with an expression that sat somewhere between contempt and boredom — like David was an inconvenience he hadn’t decided how to deal with yet.
’Huh...this asshole.’
David looked at him. Said nothing.
’Ignore it. No need to cause a scene. You’re going to the store. You’re going back to your apartment. April’s warming up food. None of this matters.’
He exhaled once. Turned away. Kept walking.
He made it three steps.
"Hey.... are you stupid, boy?"
David slowed.
The voice wasn’t friendly. Wasn’t pretending to be. He stopped walking and stood still for a moment, eyes forward, jaw set, before he turned.
Leon was still in the same spot. Still watching him. That look on his face had sharpened into something more annoyed now as he held David’s gaze and said, low and unhurried:
"You bumped into me...and I didn’t hear you say sorry."
David looked at him.
’Don’t react.. Don’t fall for it.’ The words sat behind his teeth, quiet and deliberate.
"Tell me, little boy..." Leon kept his voice even. Almost conversational.
"...Are you trying to pick a fight with me?"