Hello Hello :) Time for Chapter two! Thanks for sticking around and/or coming back to read more, it means a lot to me. I hope you enjoy this latest addition to the story. It's a slow burn story but things are hopefully going to start being a tiny bit more interesting from here out. I have a lot planned so I'm excited to take you all on this journey with me.
Music suggestion: Be like that by Kane Brown, Swae Lee, Khalid
Disclaimer: I don't own CapCom characters I'm just writing this for fun. Are disclaimers still a thing for fanfiction? Are they really necessary? Let me know.
A week had passed since the incident with the door, it still had Emma a bit shaken up but luckily she had received some good news.
"Given the circumstances, I think that's reasonable enough, lets just draft up an amendment to your lease so you can make that addition," Mr. Jacobs agreed with a nod which caused Emma to smile widely. This would certainly give her some peace of mind.
"Thank you so much Mr. Jacobs," Emma replies as he slowly clicks away at a keyboard.
"Luckily I had a request for one of those doohickies a few months ago, so I have a template already worked up. Just had to change out the names and dates," He replies waving off the thanks before pressing another key which woke up the printer.
"Oh? Have there been other incidents?" Emma asks with a note of concern which was once more waved away by the elderly landlord.
"Just some punk kids pulling that old ding dong ditch prank. You'd think kids could come up with something a bit more original," Mr. Jacobs replies which causes Emma to chuckle.
"I'd prefer that prank compared to them body checking my door," she admits but hearing that the culprit for the other incident was just some kids goofing off made her feel a bit better.
"Same here, I don't want to have to replace a door. If you catch the kid let me know and I'll give them a talking to they'll never forget," Mr. Jacobs offers. "They'll be giving the walls of the stairwell a fresh coat of paint if I get any say on the matter."
Emma relaxes a bit further as the printer finishes providing papers, "We'll if I catch anything on the camera you'll be the first to know," she agrees as the landlord collects the papers, signs, and dates a few pages then hands it over to Emma.
"Initial here and here then sign and date here," he says pointing to the different lines that needed her attention. Emma does as requested after reading over the document to make sure it was more or less standard and found that it was about what she expected. She was responsible for the installation and maintenance of the security camera. It couldn't be excessive, footage from the camera must be provided upon request of the landlord or authorities and needed to be removed when she moved out.
"That should about do it," Emma says as she finishes the final signature of the document and hands it back to Mr. Jacobs.
"Alrighty then, feel free to install it when you have the time, have a good morning," he says dismissing her from the office.
"Thank you, sir," she says as she gets up then heads back to her apartment. She had banked on getting approval for the camera and bought it on amazon the night of the odd door slamming to help herself fall asleep. It wasn't much but just knowing that the security was on its way was enough to help her feel a bit safer. She quickly walked inside for a brief moment to grab the box and a few screwdrivers before heading back outside to get to work. She rolled up the sleeves of her blouse before beginning to tinker with removing the current doorbell.
As she worked on the project the sound of a door opening and closing got her attention, causing her to instinctively look over for the source only to find Chris leaving his apartment. Emma gave a short wave "Good morning."
"Morning," Chris replies looking at the growing amount of clutter around her door. "Is something wrong with your place already?" he asks with a hint of surprise.
"Hm, oh no, nothing is wrong per se. I'm just installing a door camera" Emma admits with a slight wince in her expression. It wasn't the most trusting thing to install after just moving in but, the other night really freaked her out.
"I didn't realize the lease allowed for that," Chris admits with mild curiosity. She wasn't breaking her lease in the first week, right? That would be a new record.
"I signed an amendment agreement," Emma confirms before bobbing her head. "There's some kid running around and messing with the doors, they scared me half to death the other day by slamming into my door" she explains further resulting in a silent 'ah' motion from the man.
"That explains the shouting and barking," he replies while crossing his arms.
"The walls are that thin? I'm sorry about that, Duke usually doesn't bark that much, he'll just alert me if someone is at the door," Emma offers, hoping that he wasn't too upset. The last thing she needed was a noise complaint. Instead, he just raised an eyebrow.
"So the shouting is normal then," he asks.
"No! Er I mean, no. That won't happen again. I'm sorry." Emma replies a bit flustered but corrects her volume and Chris simply nods in response.
"Alright, well see you around," he says dismissing himself and he heads towards the stairs. "Thanks for the cookies" he adds as he walks away with a short wave.
"No problem," she says, finally relaxing after he was out of sight. "Well... he probably most definitely hates me," Emma says with a slight frown. Luckily he wouldn't be around too often. Which turned out to be true.
Aside from Chris installing his own camera that looked more like one of the tiny dome cameras in a retail store a few days later, the guy was barely around. Life went on, as usual, wake up, take Duke for a walk, shower, eat breakfast, go to work, come back eat dinner, relax for a bit then go to bed. This went on for a good two weeks and despite the rocky start to the new apartment, it was peaceful.
The thought caused her to smile as she put away the last of her Sunday Meal prepping into the fridge and got to work on her dinner for the night as she checked a pot that had been simmering on the stove to give the contents a stir while thinking over her last conversation with Mrs. Russo.
'*'*'*'*'
Emma shifted some of the plastic bags from one arm to the other to try and free up her hands to get her key from her pocket.
"Good morning dear!" Miss Russo called as she carefully walked up the stairs for the apartment building alongside Marco.
"Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Russo, did you have a nice walk?" Emma asks with a smile as she put down the bags on the floor. She'd only known the couple for a few weeks but it was already rather apparent that the woman could talk for far longer than her arms could support the bags.
"Yes, the weather is perfect today," she says happily as she reached the second floor before her expression shifted. "Puah!" she exclaims with a frown before speaking Italian which appears to have caused Marco to chuckle before raising his hands and walking to the apartment. "what is that?" she asks gesturing to a jar in the grocery bag.
"...Tomato sauce? I was thinking about making some spaghetti for Sunday dinner" Emma asks as she takes out the store brand jar which causes Mrs. Russo to scrunch up her nose a bit and shake her head.
"oh no you shouldn't use that, it's no good. it's full of preservatives and no flavor and completely overpriced. One second you stay right there." She says before hurrying to her own apartment then back.
"If you're eating Italian food on this floor, you're going to be making it right," she says with a solid nod as she offers Emma a piece of paper with a recipe written on it. "This will taste much better, it's very easy to make and cheaper than the processed jars from the store. If you need any help with it just let me know and I'll come over to show you."
"Oh. um, thanks," Emma says a bit surprised and confused but she accepted the recipe and looked it over. The recipe didn't seem too difficult, it was a lot of waiting though. "I'll pick up some tomato over the weekend and give it a try."
'*'*'*'*'
The young woman chuckles a bit at the memory, she honestly wasn't completely sold on the recipe. Mint wasn't exactly her first pick of herbs to include in tomato sauce, But she was curious enough to give it a try like she said she would. After tasting a bit of the sauce her expression shifted to content surprise as she bobbed her head "Not bad, alright." She said before starting on the spaghetti. "I guess I'm making tomato sauce from scratch going forward," she says with a chuckle.
Before long the meal was read, a heaping plate of spaghetti with freshly made sauce, green beans, and some garlic bread. Emma happily curled up on the couch with her plate of food as she heard heavy footsteps walk up the stairs and the door to the right open then shut with a loud thud causing the woman to wince slightly. "Well, the neighbor is home," she says looking to Duke who was more focused on begging for scraps. She chuckles a bit and shakes her head before tossing the dog a green bean which was wholeheartedly rejected by the pooch. "Such a brat," she says shaking her head as she bends over to pick up the green bean from the floor then gets up to walk over to throw it away in the kitchen trash can.
Cabinets could be heard opening and closing from the other side of the wall causing Emma to frown. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't heard hide or hair from the guy in a little over two weeks, and she didn't hear the shuffling of grocery bags when he was going up the stairs either. A frustrated and loud slam could be heard causing her to wince once more. That wall really was thin gracious, she thought before looking to the leftovers on the stove.
Was it being nosy to bring over a plate of food? Probably. Emma drummed her fingers against the counter while staring at the food and thinking it over before noticing the measuring cup in the dish drainer. She did still need to give that back as well.
Curiosity killed the cat but, luckily she was more of a dog person, the young woman thought as she put together a paper plate of food and grabbed the measuring cup before heading over to Chris's door to knock on it. Nosy or not, letting a neighbor go hungry when you have leftover food was just rude.
'*'*'*'*'
Chris walked over to the door with a quiet grumble as he walked into his apartment and closed the door behind him. That last mission was rough, though it wasn't like any of the work he did was a walk in the park. It took a solid 3 days to find the baker house in Lousianna and formulate a plan before getting Ethan and Mia out of there. Another 2 days of running through the mines chasing after Lucas Baker... That explosives psycho maniac. So many good people died and all he could do was watch and keep moving forward. It bothered him. And it still was unsettling to have to work with Umbrella within the BSAA... After that, it was another 3 days spent combing the area for Zoe then his time was mostly spent in recovery, counseling, and quarantine before the standard debriefing.
With a tired sigh, he lets his bag fall from his shoulder and heads over to the kitchen to look around for something to eat. nothing, peanut butter, nope, nothing. protein bar. he closes each cabinet getting a bit more frustrated as he hears the ticking of the clock echoing between his ears. STOP! He mentally shouted as he punched the countertop to try and rid his mind of the bombs strapped to the necks of his team and to his own arm.
He looked back at the jar of peanut butter, and the protein bar. He should probably just order something but he wasn't in the mood to go pick something up and delivery apps were highway robbery at this time of night. He was about to head over to the fridge to check it for anything not molding when he heard a knock at the door which caused him to frown and stare at it with suspicion. They never did find out who Lucas was trying to contact and he was not expecting guests. Luckily this was what the camera was for, so he pulled out his phone and opened the app to take a peek at who it was.
Oddly enough standing outside was the new neighbor holding a plate of food and a familiar measuring cup while looking anywhere besides the door. What was her name again? Ella? She didn't exactly look like a threat so he put his phone away and made his way to the door to open it. "Did you need something?" he asks.
"Hi, So I made a bit too much food, I figured I'd drop off a plate with your measuring cup. Sorry, it took so long for me to get that back to you." Emma explained and offered the two items. Well, his options were overpaying, a peanut butter covers protein bar or a random plate of food from the new neighbor...
"Thanks," he says taking both. "And don't worry about it, it's not like I was here to use it anyways."
"I see, do you travel a lot for work?" she asks with a note of curiosity.
"Something like that," he replies with a nod to indulge the small talk for a moment, it was at least better than letting his mind wander to recent events.
"Well, if you're low on supplies, I'm usually up and eating breakfast around 7:30, I just went shopping the other day so I have enough to share," Emma offered with a smile.
"I'll keep that in mind," he says with a short nod. "Have a good night," Chris adds.
"Good night," she replies and goes to leave as Chris closes his door. He then walks over to the Island counter to put the plate down and put the measuring cup away. He wasn't super keen on taking food from someone he barely knew but. his eyes drifted once more to the protein bar. That would have to be for breakfast. At least she was kind enough to put it on a paper plate so they didn't have to start playing who's turn is it for returning dishes.
Dinner, shower, Sleep plagued by nightmares of exploding heads and zombies then wake up.
The daily grind started over again as he shuffled from his bed to the kitchen to try and make a cup of coffee to find, yeah that was empty too. He stared down at the empty container unamused as if it would materialize enough grounds if he glared at it long enough. That lasted for only a moment before he threw out the container and went back to get ready for the day. He needed to head back to HQ for paperwork and drills with the team. He changed into a plain black UnderArmor t-shirt and some off-white slacks then walked back to the kitchen to grab the protein bar and slip that into his front pocket with his keys and wallet. After getting his combat boots laced up he decided to head out, locking the door behind him before looking over to the door by the stairs then checked his watch. 7:43 AM
He was already leaving a bit early for work. Alright. Just a cup of coffee then head out. He thought before walking over and knocking on the door resulting in barking from the other side of the door.
Duke, hush pup it's too early for barking, shh
Could be heard from the other side of the door as the barking calmed to mild husky grumbles and chatter before the door opened revealing Emma who seemed surprised to see him. "Chris, good to see you, come on in," she says as she moves to open the door further, which Duke took as an invitation to hurry over and check out the visitor, a mixed breed of some sort that had a blonde coat with typical white husky markings. Emma looked at the grumbling dog as he tried to sniff at Chris "Duke go get your stuffy" she says which causes the dog to immediately leave the room. "Sorry about him, he's gentle but opinionated" she admits before moving so Chris could walk in. "What can I get you?" she asks after closing the door.
"Just a cup of coffee," he says as he looks around. It seemed like she was mostly unpacked aside from a small stack of boxes by the living room.
"One cup of coffee coming up," she replies with a nod before walking over to the kitchen and motions for Chris to join her. The BSAA agent does so and takes a seat at the Island counter. "Cream and sugar?" she asks curiously as she takes a mug from one of the cabinets.
"None" he replies with a small wave of his hand.
"Mkay," she says pouring a cup from a half-full pot she likely made for herself earlier and puts that on the counter before walking around the kitchen "How was your trip?" she asked in an attempt to hold a conversation.
"It was work," he replies giving as little info as possible, missions were classified information after all. Besides what was he going to say, a civilian would not handle exploding heads and zombies well.
"Fair enough," she replied with a shrug before opening the fridge and looking over 6 things of Tupperware and took out 2 of them, and placed them on the island. "Take your pick, it's not much but, it should hold you over for lunch and until you can get to the store"
"That's kind of you but I couldn't," he says in response, it really was a kind offer but, he usually just skipped lunch anyways. it was a bad habit to be sure but it was what it was.
"I'll insist then, You were kind enough to give me a hand when you didn't really know anything about me." Emma points out with a gentle smile, in honesty it sounded like he was having a rough go with all the door slamming the other night. a little kindness can go a long way.
"I still don't know anything about you, and we're already more than even, it was just a cup of sugar" he rebuttals before returning to sipping his coffee.
"A good point," she admits as Duke wandered back into the room carrying a worn-out teddy bear that appeared to be missing half of its stuffing. The pup sat down and stared at Chris and picked up a paw to wave at him. "Duke no, bring it here," she says earning a grumble from the dog as he got back up and walked over to her
"He's a beautiful dog," Chris says hoping that would be a decent change in subject.
"Thanks, He's a rescue but I raised him from 10 weeks on." she replies with a chuckle. "he really is all bark though, at the first sign of trouble and he'd be hiding behind a couch."
"I doubt," Chris says amused that, first she was worried that a dog was going to scare him considering all he's seen, not that she knew, and second at the concept of what appeared to be a 70 to 80 pound tank of a dog cowering in fear when he was used to the ones at the BSAA.
"No no, I mean it. Watch," she says before moving to stand directly in front of Duke and points her hand at the dog to look like a gun "Bang," she says and the dog stares at her before reaching up with a paw to push her hand down with zero interest in her shenanigans. "I didn't teach him that," she says looking back to Chris who actually cracked a smile as he watched her make various other hand gestures to the dog yet the only one he'd react to was the pointed index and middle finger which the pup would push away.
"Interesting," he says before finishing the last of his coffee and looks to the two meals still sitting on the counter. He picked one up at random and gave a nod "Thanks for the meals." he says before getting up, "I should be heading out though."
"Not a problem, Have a good day," Emma replies with a wave as Chris lets himself out and heads down to the parking garage, and gets in his car to head to work.
Work was, eventful as it could be, and by that, it was mostly boring. With fieldwork, everything was chaos but, that resulted in a mountain of paperwork to do until the next trip. Chris sat at his desk and filled out report after report before eventually looking at the clock. 2 pm. Upon seeing the time his stomach complained, a cup of coffee and a protein bar during his ride in did not make for enough food. The team lead rubbed his eyelids before getting up and heading to the cafeteria to get the food Emma offered him from the fridge and put that in the microwave.
"Hey Alpha," says a familiar voice.
"Lobo" Chris replies with a nod to the Heavy arms expert.
"The fearless pack leader finally left the cave," he jokes with a smile as he gave Chris a nudge, "I didn't think you normally did packed lunches."
"Yeah well, first time for everything," Chris replies with a shrug.
"What's the occasion," Lobo asks with a mild level of curiosity.
"None, just a peace offering from the new neighbor, they handed it off while I was on my way out," Chris replied before taking the small container.
"Peace offering? Wait, is that bacon mac? Hell, how badly did you scare them?" Lobo asks amused but waves it off. "I'm just messing, hey when you get the time the rest of the squad is at the range for practice, you should join us, the paperwork isn't going anywhere."
"I'll be there in 10" he agrees, earning him a solid pat on the back.
"Alright man, see you there. I'm going to beat your record for sure this time," Lobo says while walking backwards towards the exit before turning around.
"Not a chance," Chris replies with a laugh, he had a good team, and he was grateful for it.
Good gracious this one took longer than I'd like to admit. I wanted to make sure I had the right personality for each team member so I had to spend a good hour or two looking between footage and wiki links to get the names assigned to the right personality. For the accuracy haha. With any luck, I'll have another chapter up shortly :)