Hi and welcome to my first ever fanfiction. Here's hoping it goes okay. If you have any tips or tricks feel free to leave them in the comments. Just so you know what you're getting into, this is going to be a casual slow-burn romance story between Chris R and an OC with some suspense and hurt/comfort elements. If you prefer reader insert, feel free to mentally swap out information to better fit you. My idea is to take a look at the character from a slightly different angle so blood and gore will be minimal for a RE story. I apologize in advance if I end up writing a character in a way that seems out of character or seems weird based on game lore. I don't know all of the RE lore. If I do make a mistake, let me know and I'll see if I can correct the course. Fair warning the first chapter is going to be a bit slow as it's introducing the main setting and characters but I promise it will pick up a bit after.
Something I enjoy when reading is when the author leaves a song suggestion so I'll probably do that as well. Feel free to suggest music in return, it may end up influencing the story :)
Song Suggestion: Dance Monkey by Tones and I
Disclaimer: I don't claim to own anything. This is fanfic. Capcom owns their characters I'm just goofing around and writing. Okay? Okay.
It was the 2nd week of June and the day's heat made it obvious that summer would begin in only a few days. "Well, at least it's not raining," said a brunette woman, roughly in her mid-30s as she carried a large box into an old apartment building from the moving truck parked on the side of the road. The historical building was rather beautiful but with its age, it lacked an elevator. Despite the woman's slender build, she pretty clearly did not work out much as her constant up and down the two flights of stairs was quickly winding her. Luckily her door was the closest to the stairs so that made the trip a bit shorter. Upon making it to the apartment with the most recent box she carefully placed the container down on the marble island counter of the kitchen before catching her breath for a moment. "No elevator, no air conditioning... no wonder this place was so cheap." she quietly grumbled while fanning herself and looking around the apartment. Luckily she had hired movers to take care of the larger furniture like couches and her bed but the rest was up to her to move from the rented truck.
"Emma Swanson?" An elderly voice asked from the doorway causing the brunette to turn to look for the source. Standing in the doorway was a kind-looking older man, around his early 70s with thinning white hair, but based on a guess, all the stair climbing required with upkeeping the building kept him active and lively since he didn't seem to need a cane.
"That's me," she confirmed and walked over. "It's nice to officially meet you, Mister..."
"Jacobs" the man replies with a smile and offers a hand which Emma took to give a gentle shake. "I'm just glad I could find a new tenant so quickly. The last one up and left after not paying rent for 4 months." the Landlord explains with a grumble.
"Seems it's lucky for the both of us then, it's a lovely apartment," Emma compliments. While the place was small it was more than enough for a single person with 1 bed 1 bath and a study to the back of the apartment and a full kitchen dining area in the front with marble counters and up-to-date appliances that led into a spacious living room.
"I'm glad it's to your liking, I was hoping we could do the move-in walkthrough really quick, I'll hand over the keys after that," the landlord explains before shifting to offer Emma a folder he was holding in his other hand. "That will cover all the service providers for phone, internet electricity, and water that have leads into the building. Feel free to take your pick, it also has the number for our service and repair department if anything breaks," He further explains as the two walked through the apartment. There was a bit of pre-existing damage to some of the walls and one of the door hinges was out of line but other than that the apartment was as described. With those discrepancies documented she signed the paperwork and handed it over to Mr. Jacobs. "Perfect, when you have the time you should introduce yourself to your floormates. There's Bastion Howells across from you, he's an interesting sort but a good guy. Next to him is the Russos, a newly retired couple. Good folks, if you need anything they'll likely be more than happy to talk your ear off." Mr. Jacobs explains "And you'll be sharing the kitchen wall with Chris Redfield in the apartment to your right. Military sort so he's often gone, quiet guy but pays his rent so can't complain too much." the landlord said with a shrug.
"Thanks for the heads up," Emma says with a nod "I'll make sure to introduce myself after I get settled in," she agrees as they head back to the door.
"I'm sure you'll fit right in, Here's your key and a spare. The Russo's have a key share thing going so if you want to join that make sure to mention it to them. Something about it being safer than leaving a key under the mat in case of emergencies." The landlord said before handing her two keys for the apartment. "Oh, and mail arrives around 4 pm each day. They usually leave packages on the shelf by your door. but feel free to use that for holiday decorations. The postman knows to leave packages in the main office if they're too big to go through your mail slot," he explains while gesturing to the old fashion door that had a thin slot for mail with a brass cover that could be locked from the inside.
Emma nods as she walks down the stairs with Mr. Jacobs so she can get another box while he explains the ins and outs of the tiny community she was joining by moving into the apartment. "I might have to take them up on that offer, I can be a bit of a klutz," she admits. "Thanks again, I'll make sure to reach out to you if anything comes up."
"Good good. see you around then," Mr. Jacobs says before excusing himself to head to his office on the first floor while Emma goes back to the street and continues moving boxes up to the apartment. by the time she was done with that load, it was roughly 4 PM. Emma took another deep breath after getting the window air conditioning unit set up for her apartment.
"Okay one more load," she says coaching herself before heading back down to the curb with her keys for the rental truck and drove out of town, tapping her fingers against the wheel while humming quietly to the music from the radio. Upon walking into the old apartment she was greeted with barking which caused her to smile as she was tackled by the larger golden husky mix. "Duke! Who's my good boy? have I been gone for like 7 forevers," Emma cooed whiles petting the dog and ruffling his fur. "Are you ready to see your new home?" she asks receiving a bark in response. "That's a good boy. Go get your stuffy," she says which causes the dog to hurry off and picks up a very well-used teddy bear that was almost flat. In the meantime, she started taking boxes to the truck as Duke followed her back and forth from the truck. Another hour of packing and driving later Emma made it back to the new apartment with Duke and finished unpacking the last of the boxes, dropped off the moving truck at the rental center down the road, and walked the rest of the way back to the apartment before collapsing onto the couch.
Seeing their owner collapse caused Duke to hurry over and start repeatedly licking Emma in an attempt to revive her. "I can't feel my legs," Emma grumbles while receiving the puppy bath before pushing the dog away so she could sit up. " I can do this. Just gotta meet the neighbors and I can go to bed..." the woman coached herself before giving another tired sigh. "meeting people is draining... what do I even say," she said while petting Duke before looking over to the kitchen. "Cookies might make it easier..." she says quietly before pushing herself to get up, wash her hands and face then start unpacking the kitchen.
Luckily she planned her move well enough that she didn't have to completely restock and she was able to mostly just move over what food she had from her last apartment. Eggs, flour, sugar, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, a pinch of salt, baking soda, and chocolate chips. With all the ingredients laid out alongside the bowl and mixer, Emma started preheating the oven and started measuring out the ingredients with a smile. "They do say that making cookies is a realtor's trick to make a house feel homely. Maybe this will help me feel more moved in too..." the woman says with a short chuckle and made it about halfway through mixing the dry ingredients before a frown started to form. She scraped the bottom of her sugar container for the last cup needed only for it to be empty.
"... Crap..." well, she could try a half batch but that would be pretty skimpy as far as cookies go. A regular batch made 24, half batch made 12 between 3 neighbors so. 4 cookies a plate... Yeah, that was not going to work. She was not going down as the neighbor that made 4 cookies as a 'nice to meet you' gift. You're better off just not offering a gift at all at that point when cookies are that easy to make. "Okay just, ask a neighbor for a cup of sugar, it's not that weird. It's practically a rite of passage in sitcoms," The brunette said as she put down the measuring cup and whisk to head over to the door and enter the hallway. 3 doors, and 3 options. It seemed like the Russo family would be the one she needed to make a better impression on. After thinking it over Emma went to the door to her right and knocked on the door. This Chris guy was rarely around anyway, right? So it wouldn't matter as much if she made a bad impression and if he's not home then no harm no foul.
It took a minute but shuffling could be heard behind the door before a few clicks and the sound of metal sliding against metal before the door opened showing a man in his early to mid 40's.
"Hi, I'm Emma Swanson, your new neighbor," Emma started since the guy seemed a bit quiet. "I just moved in today. I'm in the middle of cooking but I'm short a cup of sugar, I was wondering if I could borrow a cup from you?"
"Name's Chris... Let me see if I have any," he says before closing the door followed by the sound of sliding metal again. A minute or so passed again before the door opened once more as Chris returned with a measuring cup of sugar. "Here. Need anything else?" he asks, while he didn't seem grumpy he did sound tired and disinterested which caused Emma to feel a bit guilty. He wasn't sleeping already was he?
"Thank you, that should be it. I'll get the measuring cup back to you soon," she said and accepted the offered ingredient.
" 'Kay. Have a good night then," he says closing the door once more and locking up before Emma could really reply. All the same, she went back to her own apartment. Once safely back in her own apartment and back in her kitchen, she smiled a bit. She already met one neighbor, that wasn't so bad. He did seem really tired though, maybe she'll drop his cookies off tomorrow or something... She thought over what to do about that as she finished making the chocolate chip cookies, placing 8 on each paper plate before plastic wrapping them with a small handwritten note to introduce herself, and added her contact information in case they needed to reach her.
"Wish me luck Duke," she said to the contently resting canine before heading over to the door directly across from her own. A young man around her age with long dark hair that was pulled back into a ponytail answered the door.
"Hello? oh. um Hi," they replied while trying to process an unexpected visitor with baked goods.
"Hi, I'm your new neighbor, I just moved in across the floor My name is Emma. I thought I'd make some cookies and introduce myself so," Emma said offering the plate to the young man "Here you go," wow this went a lot better during her first introduction.
The man smiled "That is just so sweet, thank you," he said as he accepted the cookies causing Emma to notice that his nails were very nicely painted.
"Oh wow, I love your nails," Emma commented before she could catch herself, though the man's smile only grew. "Who do you go to?"
"Thank you, I actually do them myself, it's nice to know some people have taste around here," he replies with a smile. "I'm a nail tech at the nails and spa just down the road, just stop by and ask for Bastion and I'll help you out."
Emma smiles and nods, "Definitely, I'm usually at a keyboard so I keep my nails short but, if a special occasion arises you'll be the person I go to," she confirms feeling much more relaxed now that it seemed like the conversation was going well.
Bastion nods in response "Alright, well you have a good night Emma, it's very nice to meet you."
"Thanks, you too," Emma says before giving a short wave and heading back to her apartment as Bastion closed his door. once she got the next plate of cookies she walked over to the door diagonal from hers. The Russos had a very homey feel to their apartment with a door wreath, a welcoming mat, and a small potted plant on their door-side shelf. "Maybe I should pick up some flowers," Emma whispered to herself. The plant was a nice touch she had to admit. With that, she took a breath and knocked on the last door to hear, well it didn't quite sound like English but two voices were heard on the other side of the door. Italian?
Sure enough, the door opened to show a short graying woman with her husband sitting on the couch in the background watching TV. "Hello dear, are you lost?" she asks with a concerned expression.
"Oh, no I'm not lost. I'm your new neighbor across the hall, I was hoping to introduce myself and drop off some cookies" Emma explain before offering a hand. There we go, the third time was the charm. "My Name is Emma Swanson it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Oh! Well it's a pleasure to meet you as well," the woman says accepting the handshake before looking back into the apartment to call over to her husband, speaking Italian once more. "My Name is Anna, and this is my husband Marco," she says as the graying man walks over to join her "We're home most days so if you need anything make sure to let us know," she says as she accepts the plate of cookies.
"Thanks, Mr. Jacobs mentioned that you have a key share going for the floor?" Emma asks which causes Anna to nod.
"Yes, did you want to join," she asks.
"No, she just brought over cookies and asked about it for her health my dear," Marco points out earning a gentle swat from Anna.
Emma gives a half-hearted chuckle as she takes out one of the keys from her pocket "If it's not a problem, I'd appreciate it."
Anna accepts the key "it's no trouble at all, I'll get it copied and give one to the other two as well, I'll have your set over by the end of tomorrow" she explained which surprised Emma slightly.
"Oh, we all keep a copy?" she asks having misunderstood slightly. it wasn't an issue but it wasn't what she initially expected
"Just out of caution, at least one of the four apartments is bound to have someone home. If it's an emergency it's best for everyone to be able to help out when possible," Anna explains with a nod."It will be nice to have all 4 of us on the same page. The last tenant was rather adamantly against participating." the woman continued on to tell Emma more about each of the other tenants as well.
"I see, well, thanks again," Emma says with a smile, Mr. Jacobs was right, she did talk a lot...
"It's our pleasure. Is there anything we can help you with? Did you get all your boxes unpacked?" Anna asks with a motherly tone.
"Everything is taken care of," Emma confirms "Just wanted to introduce myself, I won't take much more of your time since it's getting late."
"Alright, have a good night Emma," Anna says before nudging Marco.
"Good night," he says before turning to go back to his place on the couch.
Emma waves as she turns to leave while Anna closes the door. Once home in her own apartment again a triumphant smile crosses Emma's face. She did it. She moved in, met all her neighbors, they all seemed pretty nice too which was a stroke of good luck. Emma looked at the last plate of cookies and the mess on the counter. She should probably wash everything but, she was tired... She'd wash the measuring cup and return it tomorrow. For now, she picked up the final plate of cookies, walked to the remaining door, and left the plate on the empty shelf by the door before heading back.
Emma had just finished locking up the door for the night when she heard a loud THUD against her door causing her to jump back with a yelp as Duke start barking. Whoever it was, the barks seemed to scare them off as she heard footsteps quickly hurrying down the stairs. She hadn't exactly been stealthy about moving in but she didn't expect someone to try and break in because of it. "Maybe, I should talk to the landlord about installing one of those doorbell cameras... If I offer to pay for the installation maybe he'll allow it." Emma says quietly as she walks over to the still grumbling dog to sit next to him and pet him until he calms down.
What a strange day.
tadah /o/ the stage has been set, the characters introduced and the play put into motion. let me know if there is anything you'd like for me to try and add :) see you soon for chapter 2