Prologue - The Roommate

A gentle breeze tickled Fae's nose awake. With the Summer season in its final stretch, New York was getting cooler, however, upon realization, Fae's bed seemed t be getting warmer.

"Holy fuck!" Fae opened her eyes and shot up out of bed. She looked over at her alarm.

8:00 am

"Oh my fuckin god," Fae said quietly to herself. To her left, a woman slept peacefully. Who the hell was this? Fae didn't remember how she got home, who she got home with, and why was this woman still here.

The woman tossed in her sleep, but Fae did not find this at all appealing. After months of living boringly alone, Fae finally had some company moving into the apartment.

"Hey, um, rise and shine sweetheart, you gotta get going," Fae lightly shook the girl, her eyes opening ever so slightly.

"Hey, beautiful" The woman started, rising slowly to lean in for a kiss.

"Whoa, look, last night was fun, but I have someone coming over, like, now." Fae almost shoved the woman down.

"Rude!" The woman gave Fae a scowl, getting up from the bed and frantically throwing on her shoes. "Fine. But you will never forget me! No one forgets me! My name is Tina! Tina Cohen-Chang!"

"Whatever." Fae threw her hands in the air. Didn't that girl say she had a boyfriend last night? Not important. What was important is that Fae needed to help move in her new roommate pronto.

/

"Excuse me miss," Fae ducked her head to get the employee's attention.

The employee barely acknowledged Fae, only simply pointing at their nametag "Ethan, they/them"

"Oh, I'm sorry-" Fae retracted.

"No, no, it's fine," Ethan started. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Yeah, I'm looking for some office supplies…" Fae looked around nervously. Office supplies. Really?

"Oh, you got an office job?" Ethan smiled. Fae liked their Australian accent.

"Yeah, you could say that. For a, um, a nonprofit." Fae bit her lip.

"Oh, that's awesome, I actually volunteered for a couple myself." Ethan smiled.

"Yeah? Well, good for you!" Fae gave a hearty laugh. Too much. "Well, could you point me to the largest Rubbermaid bins you have?"

"F-for your office?" Ethan stuttered.

"...Yes" Fae looked deadpan at Ethan's face, causing Ethan to laugh.

"Alright, over here then." Ethan walked Fae over to the storage section. "Here they are."

"Thanks, oh and hey," Fae reached out. "Could you actually give me a hand with these?"

"Yeah, I could" Ethan looked at Fae. "You live alone?"

"How'd you guess?" Fae smiled. "I got no one around to help me with these damn things!"

"God, I wish I lived alone." Ethan sighed. "My roommates are absolute sociopaths. They're manipulative, abusive, and just horrible to live with. One of them even bit me!"

"That can't be right…" Fae looked painfully at the employee.

"Hey, milk toast!" A tall blonde figure came running over. "That's where you've been! Have you finished repricing all the kitchenware yet!?"

"No Sue, not yet…" Ethan's eyes fled Sue's gaze.

"Well, wouldn't Emma like to hear about this," Sue smirked.

"Sue, no! I was just helping this customer," Ethan started.

"Yeah, she was helping me!" Fae jumped in front of Ethan. "She was helping me bring these out front to load into the taxi."

"Fine." Sue sighed. "But you better be back here at lightning speed, Ethanol!" She gave one last huff before she stormed off.

"Sheesh, is that what you have to deal with here?" Fae gave a sympathetic look to Ethan.

"Yep, almost every day." Ethan sighed. "I'm auditioning for a Broadway musical actually," Ethan's eyes suddenly lighting up.

"Oh, yeah?" Fae smiled. "Which one?"

"Wicked!"

"Ooh, never seen that one."

"What!"

Fae shrugged. "I dunno, I've been living here for months now but I haven't seen it. I'll have to one day."

"Oh, you must!" Ethan's eyes gleaming.

"Maybe one day," Fae laughed. "Say, how about we get these to the taxi before that evil Sue lady comes back."

"Sounds like a plan."

As Ethan helped Fae take the bins through the checkout and out the door, Fae felt reluctant to leave this poor person here like this, as if it were a lost puppy at the shelter.

"Ethan," Fae turned to look at the younger person.

"Yes?"

"How about you come n' move in with me," Fae was nervous to ask but figured why not. "You can think about it, of course, I can show you the place n' everything, prove I'm not some crazy person or something"

"Yes."

"W-What?"

"Yes! Oh my god get me out of here. I hate my roommates so much, honestly, anything will be better." Ethan was pleading at this point.

"Alright then," Fae smiled before digging through her pocket. "Here,"

Fae tossed Ethan a business card with her details on it.

"Thank you! You won't be disappointed!" Ethan jumped for joy before remembering where they were. "Well, back to work. Thank you so much, Fae!"

Fae winked at Ethan before they turned off back into Target.

/

"Hey, Harm," Fae bustled through carrying the large bins.

"Hey, Fae, they're waiting for you in the lab." Harmony was the receptionist at Wolfram and Hart, forever a teenager, as she was a vampire.

"Sweet, thanks." Fae rushed off, smiling.

Wolfram and Hart was a law firm, but not your average law firm. Dedicated to the supernatural, run by a very prominent and powerful vampire, Angel. Fae herself was not a vampire, and how she got involved in this company was through an old girlfriend. Long story; ended badly. The job itself was messy, and she wasn't really able to tell others where she worked. Not because of any privacy laws, but for personal sake. Who would believe in such a ridiculous company?

Fae worked officially as an administrator for the firm, however, she was often sent to do odd jobs around for the company.

"Hey, here's the bins you wanted for those alien specimens" Fae dumped the bins on a side table.

"Thanks, Fae." Marley Rose smiled sweetly at her senior. Marley was relatively new at Wolfram and Hart, and her talent was incredible. Her analytical skills were phenomenal and she got along with everyone. And that's hard in a company full of… unique… individuals.

Fae took a seat on a nearby chair as she watched Marley take a bin from the stack. "So, I found a new roommate."

"What? You're finally getting some company hey?" Marley laughed softly to herself. "I thought you were gonna become a complete hermit living there all by yourself."

"Hey, I have people over, sometimes…" Fae scoffed.

"Right. You and your very special company, one night stands." Marley jeered.

"Shut up."

"You know I'm right, Fae. When are you going to just settle down and stick to one girl?" Marley looked at Fae, eyebrows raised.

"I dunno, let me see how living with my new roommate goes and we'll go from there I guess?" Fae looked away in thought.

"Don't tell me you're going to sleep with this roommate. Fae-" Marley crossed her arms.

"Marley what the fuck! No! That's a huge rule-breaker of mine. And they're way too young for me." Fae looked at Marley in revulsion.

"Alright, I don't want to hear of any of that." Marley rolled her eyes, grinning.

"Listen, Marley, you won't. I'm actually excited. If this goes well I'll put up the other room too. The more the merrier, right?" Fae looked optimistic.

"Hey Marley, can I get those bins?" A voice cried from the test room.

"Coming, Fred!" Marley gave Fae a final laugh before going into the test room. "Sure, but don't come crying to me later if poop hits the fan."

/

"Ethan!" Fae ran out of the apartment's lobby doors.

"Fae!" Ethan pulled out some boxes from a taxi van. "You mind helping me out with this stuff?"

"Of course, of course!" Fae docked the door with the door stopper and helped Ethan move in.

"The place is lovely Fae, very cute." Ethan smiled as they walked in the unit's doors.

The apartment was brick meets modern, it was small but had enough space for a group or small family. The kitchen was minimalistic, featuring an island with bar stools as a dining space, plants hanging from the upper cabinets, and small appliances lining the back counter. The living room was cute, a couch with a marching armchair faced a large window with a TV residing in the corner. The window overlooked the busy street below, with more plants covering the windowsill. The walls were mainly bare, with the occasional picture of random women Ethan's never seen before. Ethan's room was next to the washroom that separated them and Fae's bedroom and had a double bed and dresser.

"I know it's a little small, but I think your stuff will fit." Fae smiled meekly at her new roommate.

"This is perfect Fae, thank you so much. Seriously, this means a lot." Ethan huffed as they threw a box on the floor. "I don't have a ton of stuff, so it's easy."

"You said you wanted to be on Broadway right? How about tonight I take you out for dinner at this place called Spotlight Diner, they put on live shows." Fae asked as she put down a box.

"Sounds great, I'm in."

/

Ethan and Fae got along great, since Ethan was so busy with working at Target and juggling Broadway auditions, Fae barely saw much of her new roommate when she got home. Fae was pleased with how well this was going, she figured it would be smart to rent out the other spare room as well. Why not? Fae knew one thing for sure, it had to be another woman-aligned individual and they definitely had to be some sort of gay. So she put up an ad on an LGBT renters page and crossed her fingers for someone good.

"Aja. Black, bisexual, looking for love and new opportunities in New York. I love singing and I love women."

"What do you think, Ethan?" Fae turned to her roommate on the couch.

"I think we found our new roommate!"

/