On Sunday evening, Haven dragged herself back into the apartment exhausted. She went to her room and set up all her computers. The matrix of screens flashed and her three laptops were all set up and running. Fia walked into her room and tried to read a book. Over the loud clacking of keys and the light coming from the screens, trying to sleep would be futile.
"AHHHHH!" Haven screamed suddenly. Fia looked over in alarm. Haven was crouched over one of her older laptops, typing furiously, an alarmed expression on her face.
Fia ran over to her friend in concern. She peered between Haven and the screen. "Are you alright, Angel? What's wrong?"
"What do you mean you brought a girl home!?" Haven screeched at her computer.
Fia's expression went blank. Was… Was Haven yelling at her computer… about bringing a girl home…? "Um… Angel… What's going on?" she asked carefully.
"After I explicitly told you not to go on the internet as well!" Haven sighed.
Concerned, Fia slowly rose and retreated from her spot next to Haven, taking a few steps backward at first before breaking out into a full run towards the boys' room. She pounded on their door. "Karma! Nagisa! … LAZY ASSHOLE!"
The door swung open. A grumpy redhead and a concerned bluenette stared at her.
"What did you just call me?" Karma asked with a slight scowl.
"Nevermind that," Nagisa said. "Is everything okay?"
"Angel is freaking out a little bit and yelling at her computer - and I mean more than usual. Can you come with me?"
Karma rubbed his eyes and shrugged while Nagisa nodded. "Do you have any idea how late it is?"
Fia sweat-dropped. "It's late, I know."
The three peeked in through the doorway of the girls' room cautiously.
"She wants to meet my apartment mates?" Haven sighed, "I'll open your mod up on the big screen." Suddenly, the nine-screen matrix flashed and displayed one large image. On one side, there was a girl with pink hair in a school uniform. On the other, was a robot-like figure. Haven got up and was about to walk to the boys' room when she noticed they were already there.
"Someone wants to meet you," Haven said flatly and pointed to the computer.
The three peered at the screen.
"Who's this - " Fia began.
"RITSU?!" the boys exclaimed together.
The virtual girl gasped and began jumping excitedly. "Nagisa! Karma! I'm so happy to see you again! Are you Mr. Robo's creator's roommates?"
Fia slumped against the wall, completely confused by this whole ordeal. "Someone… please explain to me what's going on. Starting with you, Angel."
"I was a lonely sixteen-year-old! I programmed a chat-bot to keep me company! I never thought or meant for him to be sentient!" Haven protested. The robot on the screen flinched a bit. "Not that you weren't a happy mistake!" Haven added quickly.
Fia shook her head. "Why am I not surprised? And you? Karma? Nagisa?"
They looked at each other. "Um... We met Ritsu in… Middle School."
She giggled. "Wasn't it fun that one time with Koro-sen - "
"Ritsu!" Nagisa interjected. "Can you please enter my phone? Class meeting?"
"Sure thing!" Ritsu smiled. With a beep, she left the computer screen and appeared on Nagisa's phone screen. Exchanging glances, the boys carried the phone back to their room.
Fia stared after the boys, biting her lip. Her housemates always seemed to get more and more mysterious.
"Mr. Robo, do you want a new mod?" Haven asked. The robot nodded. Haven started typing furiously. After a few minutes, Mr. Robo had short blue hair and blue eyes.
"Do you want a new name too?" Haven asked.
"Yes, please!" Mr. Robo smiled.
"You have an English voicebank and a Chinese voicebank, so no speaking to strangers," Haven explained. "How does Wally sound?"
"I like it!"
Fia approached Haven. "Hey, Angel. Can we talk a little bit about our roommates?"
"What is it?" Haven replied. "Mr. Ro- Wally, no eavesdropping!"
"Well, to begin with," Fia started, "they seem to know an excessive amount of crazy characters from middle school. They went to school with an A.I. I guess she could have been a tutor but that doesn't seem very likely. Not to mention that they - "
Nagisa knocked on the open door politely. "We're back." Ritsu waved happily from Nagisa's phone screen then jumped back onto the computer screen. "We just wanted to catch up a little bit, sorry about that."
"I see you got a new mod," Ritsu smiled. The two AIs began chattering happily.
Fia sighed softly and, tired, shuffled to her own bed. She found a curious matt of red on her pillow. "... HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"
Karma grumbled. "Tired."
"So am I! So go back to your own damned bed!"
"Who kicked me out of said bed at 3:30 in the morning?"
Her face flushed. "I really thought something was wrong! N-now please leave! I just want to sleep…"
Karma slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes before yawning loudly. "You could just sleep here with me," he suggested.
Her ears turned pink. She tried to yell but all of her words just came out as incoherent stutters. Fia's face slowly turned from pink to red to scarlet. Slowly, she grabbed the pillow from the bed and began yelling feverishly into it.
"Fia, calm down," Karma sighed, "I was joking." He got up and exited the room, hands locked casually behind his head. "Nobody wake me until morning."
She glared at him from behind the pillow and she stuck her tongue out.
Haven looked at Nagisa and blushed scarlet. She ran to her bed and buried her face in her pillow before he could notice.
Fia removed the pillow from her face completely, but it still glowed like a hot iron. Eyes following the path Karma had taken out, she muttered, "I-I w-wouldn't-t m-m-m - …" She pouted and looked away. "N-never mind! J-just nevermind!" Fia threw herself under the covers.
Nagisa sighed. The bed lumps didn't look as if they were going to get up anytime soon so he returned to his room, shutting off the lights on his way out. They would all need to try and get some sleep before classes started.
"Wally, turn off all of the computers, please," Haven's muffled order came from her bed and the room went dark, still, and silent.
As the clock struck time to go and students began filing out of her class, Jelavic made her way to the one girl who hadn't moved all class period.
"Fia," Jelavic called flatly. "I know you're a quiet girl, but this is ridiculous."
Fia blushed. "I d'n' know wha' y'mean…" she mumbled.
"Would you speak clearly already?" Jelavic grabbed Fia's cheeks and stretched them.
"Ow ow ow ow ow!" she protested.
"Clearly!" the blonde professor demanded.
"I-I don't know w-what you mean!" Fia forced out.
"Good enough," Jelavic sighed and relented, letting go of Fia's face. The girl pouted and rubbed her cheeks, trying to avoid Jelavic's gaze. "Are those boys giving you a hard time?" she asked.
Fia blushed and dropped her gaze, remembering that morning's events.
"Timo!"
"Gyah! Huh?" Fia found a pair of snapping fingers in her face.
"Are you even listening to me?" Jelavic demanded Fia's full attention.
Fia's olive eyes met bright blue ones. "I… I'm trying."
"Listen, those two are a handful, trust me - I would know, but they're willing to listen if you would just get the confidence to speak up. Remember your first day? You could hardly tell me your name. You still need to work a little bit, but you've come a long way," Jelavic reassured her. "Communication is essential to survival in this world. Until you can become versed in how to converse, just try imagining a person you have a lot to say to, or someone who's easy to talk to."
Fia nodded slowly. "A-alright, I think I u-understand what I have to do." Fia smiled slightly. "Thank you, Ms. Jelavic."
"See? You didn't stutter at all. Now get out of my sight so I can go home and relax!" she laughed.
"Haven, what would you say if Ven was your birthday present?" Benny grinned at her as they walked to the cafeteria.
"Umm… I guess I would say thanks?" Haven shrugged "I'd probably give it to Fia though, she seems to really like the thing." Benny looked a bit disappointed.
"Well, what would you want then?" Benny asked.
"I'm rather happy with everything I have right now," Haven thought for a few moments, "Surprise me."
"Well, want to go shopping after lunch to find a present?" Benny asked.
"Not really. I'd rather just go back to my room and code," Haven said bluntly, causing Benny to sweatdrop. "But I guess we could go for a little while," she added.
It took forever, but Fia finally tracked down Nagisa after class. "Nagisa!" she called as she ran up to him.
He smiled at her. "Good afternoon, Fia."
Fia looked up at Nagisa. "Sorry to be so sudden, Nagisa, but can you and Karma help me out with something?"
"Sure," Nagisa replied. "Karma is supposed to meet up me with for lunch anyway. What do you need help with?"
"It's Angel's birthday," Fia admitted. "Because of Parents' Weekend, I didn't actually have much time to prepare."
And so, Fia, Karma, and Nagisa all met up and devised a plan. Nagisa would run to the nearest party store to pick up decorations while Karma and Fia picked up the ingredients to bake a cake. As Nagisa decorated and Karma and Fia baked, Benny would be distracting Haven to the best of his ability. Nagisa made it to his destination first and stared at the daunting number of exceedingly long and tall aisles.
"Where do I even begin…?" he asked himself. Nagisa pulled out a small notebook from inside his vest pocket and skimmed the pages. "Alright, I'll just start with everything I know about Haven." Grabbing a basket, Nagisa began going through the aisles without ever really looking up from his paper. "Let's see… She likes black and pink," Nagisa observed as he grabbed decorations in those colors. "But she doesn't seem to care for overly ornate things," he mused as he passed by the glitter and more-outlandish party favors. "Haven doesn't care for particularly loud things." He eliminated the chance of any firecrackers or noise makers. "She's simple and to the point. I like that," Nagisa laughed as he flipped closed his notebook and made his way to the check-out line.
Karma and Fia weren't having such an easy time. The redhead sighed as the girl beside him quietly pushed the cart.
"You haven't spoken to me once today. Are you really that bothered by what I said this morning?" Fia shook her head quickly and seemed to shrink in on herself. "Then what is it?" Karma demanded, slightly annoyed by her behavior.
She paled. "I'm trying to be inconspicuous…" Fia muttered as she rounded the corner into the baking goods aisle.
"Why?" he asked, grabbing the ingredients he could.
"Do you need any help with anything, Sir? Ma'am?" a polite store attendant asked.
Fia's face flushed and she froze. A pink frosting tube slipped from her hands and clattered against the floor. Fia's face flushed darker and she reached down to grab it, but, in her fluster, she only kept dropping it again. The store attendant picked it up and handed it to Fia who hid her face behind the frosting tube and squeaked out a "th-thanks."
"Well, let me know if you need anything…" the store attendant smiled politely and walked away.
Karma stared at Fia as she slowly became animated once again. She gently placed the frosting and a few candles into the cart and slowly began to wheel the cart and herself away.
"What was with that?" he asked as he grabbed her arm.
Fia bit her lip and averted her eyes. "I… I can't - I-It's nothing…" Karma quirked an eyebrow. Her cheeks cherried. "I… have a hard time speaking to people," Fia explained slowly. "I don't like to be noticed either…"
"You don't seem to have a problem talking to Haven and Benny, or Nagisa and I for that matter."
"I met Benny through Haven, there wasn't too much I could do about that. Haven and Nagisa are very quiet and very easy to talk to. And you - " she poked Karma's chest " - just get on my nerves!" Both went through the check-out line, playfully jabbing at each other with snide remarks.
Fia, Nagisa, and Karma were all waiting by the kitchen table for Haven's return. Nagisa had done a wonderful job with the decorations. A few balloons stood post at each side of the couch, and pink plates lightly rested on a black table cloth. It was simple, but very elegant. The layered angel cake with white and pink frosting swirls looked good as well. Nagisa wished he could say the same about Karma and Fia. Both of them seemed to have frosting stains on their faces that wouldn't wash out no matter how hard they tried. Luckily for Fia, the pink stains seemed to almost match the pigment of her cheeks. Unfortunately for Karma, he had a hot pink blotch on his nose, courtesy of Fia - and, yes, she would brag about it if you asked.
Haven and Benny returned with a good-sized package.
Nagisa was the first to greet her. "Happy birthday, Haven!"
Karma smiled. "We might have thrown something together for you, baked you a cake."
Fia scowled. "I baked her a cake. You just threw frosting at me!"
"I did help decorate," Karma laughed. "Your face, that is."
"Ha-ha. Very funny coming from you, Rudolf," Fia retorted smugly.
Nagisa sweat-dropped. "Well, anyway, come in. It's nice to see you again, Benny," Nagisa said.
"I told you guys not to bother," Haven blushed slightly, obviously pleased with the outcome.
The bluenette's cheeks became slightly rosy as he led the pair into the room. "I just hope everything is perfect for you." Haven smiled as Benny placed the package on the table, next to several smaller ones.
Karma brought out the cake - he didn't trust Fia not to trip - and Fia lit the candles - she didn't trust Karma with the lighter. They stood together by Nagisa around the living room table. Suddenly, Haven's cell phone began to ring. She answered it.
"Hello, Earnest… Thank you for the birthday wishes… I'm glad you koala-fied for state… You're rambling, Earnest… Shut up, Earnest… Goodbye, Earnest," she hung up the phone and went back to the party. "Sorry about that. He has the worst timing." The others stared blankly from Haven to the melting candles.
Fia waved it off with a cheerful smile. "Don't worry about it. Okay - 1, 2, 3!" Fia kicked off the birthday song with a sweet tone. By contrast, Karma's words were so flat, he could have been speaking them. Fia elbowed him into singing more genuinely, but Karma retaliated by tickling her side, to throw off her tone. Nagisa rubbed the back of his head as he sang along, a slight blush rising on his cheeks. Benny was a little off-beat, but he made up with his enthusiasm. They finished with polite clapping as Haven blew out the candles.
Karma pulled a knife from who-knows-where and began cutting the cake. As he did, Fia excitedly brought a small stack of gifts to Haven. Fia bounced a little. "What are you going to open first~?" Haven picked up a small red package. She opened it to find a stack of pocky boxes.
"Thank you, Karma," Haven smiled slightly.
He laughed. "No problem. Eat enough of those and maybe your hips will grow out enough that people will think you're a girl!"
"KARMA!" Haven pouted.
Fia quickly grabbed Karma and tried to push him away, but he stood as firmly as a wall. "What? You want to see her get worked up too, didn't you? Isn't that why you made her - "
"SSSHHHHH!" Fia shushed Karma. "Don't spoil the surprise!"
Next, she picked up the largest package, Benny's. Inside was a large, guinea pig plush.
"Thanks," Haven said quickly before moving onto the next present. Benny's shoulders fell just a slight bit.
Fia brought Haven her present, unable to contain her excitement anymore; however, when she got close to Haven, Fia slowly lost confidence and began to back away. The redhead smirked behind her and shoved her forward. Fia fell and hit the floor, but somehow the present ended up in Haven's lap anyhow. The girl on the floor looked up in dismay. The green and white polka-dot bow loomed over the edge of the package box, taunting her. Fia let her head hit the carpet and she groaned.
Haven unwrapped the present with anticipation. There stood a six-inch tall marzipan figure of a Chinese Lion, fully decked out in black, white, pink, and gold.
Fia sweat-dropped. "It took awhile to make… but you can blink the eyes, move the jaw, and flick the ears. Oh, and it's edible for whenever you're done with it… I-I know it's a little bit childish," Fia said as she began to blush profusely, "but I really hope you like it."
"It's a masterpiece! I'm not sure I'll have the heart to eat this!"
Fia's eyes gleamed. "You really like it?!" She laughed gleefully as she sat up and rubbed her head. "What a relief…" Haven went over to her friend and gave her a hug. Olive eyes flew open in surprise but Fia slowly wrapped her arms around her friend and gave her a tight squeeze. A little ways away, Karma snapped a few pictures with a small smile.
After that, Haven opened a yellow package. Inside was a lacy, pink bra. Haven turned scarlet and slapped her hand over her eyes, "AUNT JOY!"
Fia sweat-dropped. "Yeah… Been there, done that. I'm so sorry, Angel," Fia laughed dryly then covered her face with a hand as she sulked.
Karma slid past Haven in a split second, the only indication of him being his red hair and the repeated flashes from his phone. He glanced quickly at his phone screen. "Yup! Got the shot!"
Nagisa blushed slightly and turned away from this whole situation. Benny took it a step farther by falling out of his seat and hitting the floor. Trying to cover his red face with one hand, he stumbled towards the door. "I-I need a minute!"
Putting his hands in his pockets, Karma laughed. "I can't wait to see what the rest of the family sent you, Haven."
The next package was pure white. Inside was a pearl necklace. "Thanks, Mother," Haven gave a small smile.
The sixth box was tan. Inside was a lucky cat key chain. "I'm so lucky to have met you, you're purr-fect!" Haven read the tag hanging from the chain. "Oh, Earnest," Haven shook her head and sighed.
Fia read the tag over Haven's shoulder. She slapped her hand over her mouth and slowly backed away. Suddenly, the housemates' attention was brought to a loud flood of laughter coming from behind the couch. Haven peeked over the back of the couch and found Fia curled up in a tight ball, giggling uncontrollably.
"Tsu-chan?"
Karma's eyes flashed with recognition. He ran to the kitchen and darted back with a pink container in his hand. He smiled sadistically. "Time for payback!"
Fia tried to suppress her giggles as she tried to back away into the couch. "S-stay away," she laughed, "Leave m-me alone, Rudolf!"
"Oh, you're definitely getting a mustache for that!" He laughed as the struggle began.
Nagisa rushed over to pry them apart as Benny re-entered the apartment and slipped back into his seat. The more inconspicuous he tried to look, the more obvious it became that he was still embarrassed by the whole present-scenario. Nagisa came back around the couch and sat down next to Haven. He looked dejected as he tried to rub a pink heart off of one of his cheeks and a "xoxo" off of the other.
"Those two never quit, do they?" he sighed.
Covered in frosting, two faces popped up from behind the couch. "Nope!" they chimed together.
"Quit it, Karma," Haven pouted.
He stood and helped Fia onto her feet. "Alright, alright," he gave her a toothy smile before eating the frosting straight from the container. "You going to open Nagisa's present, Haven?"
"If you quit messing with Tsu-chan for five minutes," Haven bantered.
Karma feigned a hurt expression. "You don't trust me?"
"Not really," Nagisa said flatly.
"Nope," Benny sighed.
"Nuh-uh," Fia shook her head vigorously. "But share anyway!" The redhead laughed and passed the pink frosting. With those two quietly eating frosting and making faces at each other, Nagisa finally handed Haven his present. The light blue box was neatly wrapped. Haven unwrapped it slowly and carefully.
She found a wireless pair of black headphones with pink stripes. On the top of the headband sat a small, neat pink ribbon. Nagisa laughed nervously.
"I thought those would suit you, especially since you're always coding. It's noise canceling - you know, for when it's a little more rowdy around here." Nagisa looked down sheepishly. "I wanted to get you something practical but cute. I hope you like it." Blue eyes shone with affection.
"Thank you so much, Nagisa! They're wonderful," Haven tried them on.
"Oh!" Nagisa smiled. "Here, it's already paired to my phone - " Nagisa put on a rich classical composition. "How does it sound?"
"Huh? I couldn't hear you," Haven removed one side of the headphones.
He laughed lightly. "How is the sound? I find the piano striking."
"I thought the music was wonderful! Beethoven, was it?" Haven replied.
Leaning over the back of the couch, Fia and Karma simultaneously appeared on either side of Haven to see what Nagisa had gotten her.
Benny scratched his head. "You like classical, Haven?"
"Yes, it's almost the only thing I listen to," Haven nodded her head.
"O-oh. I didn't know that. I thought - Well, who is your favorite artist?" Benny asked.
"Probably Handel or Vivaldi. Although, I find Chopin's Nocturnes series is also one of my favorites," Haven replied.
Nagisa smiled softly and closed his eyes as if he could hear the music around him. "Yeah, they're some of my favorite composers too."
Benny frowned slightly. "Yeah, I meant 'composer.'"
"Of course, Liszt is wonderful as well," Haven commented.
"You know Liszt?" Nagisa asked with a smile. "Most people haven't heard of him."
"I especially like his Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. It's unfortunate that he isn't as renowned as Mozart or Bach," Haven smiled.
"But that makes him all the more charming," Nagisa responded.
"I hate to interrupt your boring music talk," Karma said sarcastically, "but the cake is ready."
Fia and Karma began piling slices onto plates and passing them around with forks. Nagisa thanked the two as he got his cake but then looked to the pair in concern. "You two have been really quiet, especially you Karma," he noted.
Karma smirked, "Haven said I had to quit-messing with Tsu-chan for five-minutes."
Nagisa sighed in response. "Are you saying that you can't open your mouth without antagonizing her?"
The redhead laughed. "Pretty much!"
Fia shook her head at the exchange and looked around to make sure everyone had their cake. "Eat up everyone!" she exclaimed cheerfully. "We have a lot more celebrating to do!"
Nagisa: I'm actually surprised that neither of you caked the other.
Fia: Well, considering our frosting war… You're still pink, Rudolf!
Karma: As are you, Tsu-chan.
Fia: Huh? Mine washed off -
Karma: (interrupts her with a quick touch to her neck) Now you are~
Fia: (turning pink) AM NOT!
Nagisa: (shakes his head) What are you listening to now, Haven?
Benny: Can we not get back to that conversation? Hey, Haven. Got any plans?
Haven: Yes, listening to Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.
Fia: I think I danced to that once…
Karma: (musing) Didn't he also compose for the Nutcracker?
Fia: I think I danced in that too…
Karma: Tutu?
Fia: (blushes) Not answering that one...
Benny: Not you guys too. Can we get the narrator in here?
Narrator: I'm partial to Debussy.
Benny: NARRATOR!
Narrator: Sorry, couldn't help it. Next time, we'll see who can stand watching horror movies! I bet Benny can't.
Benny: Oi!
Narrator: He's too scared to even be in the next chapter!
Benny: That's YOUR decision, NOT MINE!
