The knock at the door was soft, quiet, tentative. Chrome wouldn't have heard it if there had been any noise in her apartment. As it was, with nothing coming from a computer, phone, or television, she heard the raps.
Knife in hand, chain secured in place, Chrome cracked her door open and peered at her visitor.
"Oh thank goodness someone's home-"
She closed her door again before the man on the other side finished his first sentence. She re-locked all three locks and was able to take two steps to her phone, charging on her counter, before the knocking resumed. This time there was more force behind the blows, and the man's voice could be heard.
"Wait, wait, wait! I know this looks really bad, but please don't do anything drastic. No one else is around, and if I don't get some sugar I'm not going to be able to finish these cookies."
Chrome stared at her door. The man's pleading continued despite her lack of response. She went back to the locks, paused, then undid them again.
She pulled open the door as far as the chain would let her, hiding everything but her face behind it, and asked "Why are you not wearing anything?"
The man's face blushed pink as he scratched at his head, full of brown hair sticking up and out in all directions. "Well, I mean, I've got my boxers. That's something, right?"
Chrome's door creaked as she started to push it shut.
The man's eyes widened in panic. "Okay, so I might have started a small fire, it was an accident, the fire alarm didn't go off, everything's fine. But I really need some sugar, do you have any I can use? I'll pay you back, I swear."
The man did his best to clasp his hands in a pleading manner while holding a glass measuring cup. Chrome could see the red welts on his hands and fingers, thin lines that could have been burns from hot pans.
She gave a slow nod and held out her hand, not letting it stick out past the door frame.
If people glowed when they were happy, the man's face would have been a lightbulb. "Thank you so much. I only need a cup, not too much, and I'll pay you back as soon as I can."
He tried to pass the cup to Chrome, but it wouldn't fit between the door and the wall. The man pushed a few times, but all he accomplished was wedging it in the gap.
"Uh...hm." The man scratched at his head again. "You don't think you could...well, if you wouldn't mind…"
Chrome knocked the cup from its place and shut the door while the man fumbled to catch his measuring tool. After snapping the locks in place, she wandered over to her cabinets. The only sugar she had was in a large, unopened, bag. She picked it up and returned to the door, tucking the bag of sugar close with her knife hand while careful not to stab anything.
Once the locks were undone and the door cracked open, Chrome switched the sugar to her other hand to keep the knife hidden from the man. She tried to push the bag through the gap but it couldn't squeeze through. She pulled it free with a sigh, and they both looked at the chain holding her door back.
"If you don't mind-" The man began.
"No," Chrome interrupted.
The man stared at her. "You don't have to-"
"No," she repeated, but he kept speaking.
"-open the door," he finished. "We could try pouring some right here, if you don't mind."
Chrome blinked. The man gave a hesitant smile, and held the cup up to the door, tilted towards her.
Chrome stepped back to her counter, keeping watch on the man while she did. She set the bag of sugar down and used her knife to slice it open, this time not bothering to hide her blade. The man's smile didn't change, but his eyes widened when he saw how the sharp point pierced into the sugar with little resistance. The blush he had from earlier faded, replaced by a slight pale.
Chrome kept the knife displayed as she carried the sugar to the door. The man flinched when she brought it close to him, but Chrome kept the point downward, and used that hand to control the flow of tiny crystals. Seeing he was safe from imminent stabbing, the man shifted his gaze back to his measuring cup.
When the cup was half full, he tilted it back towards him. "That should be enough, thanks."
Chrome squeezed the bag and folded the top closed. The man began to turn away, but hesitated. "Really, I can't thank you enough for this. You're a lifesa-"
Chrome shut her door and twisted the locks shut with as much speed as possible. She stood still, in the darkness of her apartment, until she could hear the sound of retreating footsteps. It was only then that she put her sugar away and set her knife down.
Hours later, Chrome heard a shuffling at her door. She reached over from where she sat and grasped her knife, her eye focused on the crack between her door and the floor. The light from the hallway was blocked, and the shuffling noise grew louder. Chrome tensed as the edge of something white stuck under her door, but calmed down when the rest of the piece of paper slid into her apartment.
She waited for fifteen minutes after the noises outside her door had vanished before she picked up the paper. Chrome flipped on a lamp to read the note. At the top of the note was an arrow pointing toward the hallway, and in the center were two words.
For you
Chrome looked back at her door. She walked over, undid her locks, and peered out at the hallway. No one was in sight. She looked down, and saw a small circle at her feet, wrapped in a napkin.
Chrome picked up the bundle and shut her door. She was able to re-lock it without looking, her gaze drawn down to the package in her hand. Alone in her silent apartment once more, she unfolded it under the lamp and spent some time staring at the sugar cookie that had been given to her.