Chapter 7: Sleepover

Okay. Small recap. Vampy got abused by Dogoos and is now staying over at my place. Pros? It's nice to have company, Vampy's all cleaned up, and her clothes are on their way to become nice and tidy.

Cons? Vampy wants to use my bed. Yes. My bed. In my own place. Like hell no. No way I'm that nice.

If she wants it, she can pry it from my cold dead hands. And even then, she'll need to work hard for it, because I'll likely have glued it to them, just to keep it safe from her!

"The answer is no and that's final!" I exclaim while I stand between Vampy and the bedroom door with my arms crossed. "This is my place and that means it's my bed. Just take the freaking couch!"

"So let me get this straight. You invite me to stay but I have to take the couch?" Still with those towels on her head and torso, Vampy accusingly points at me. "Dude. That's just wrong. Way to go, punk."

While she does have a point, I can't exactly let her take the bed either. "Well, I don't wear pyjama's. And it's not exactly that warm in here at night. Not to mention I only got one set of covers."

Her hard gaze glares a hole through my resolve. For some reason, I feel like I just dug my own grave.

Vampy folds her arms. "Okay. So you want me to sleep on your couch with nothing but a few wet towels?"

I opened her to ask 'What about your hoodie', but quickly close it again. Teeth gritted, I look to my left… Right where we left Vampy's clothes to dry… I guess she got me.

Reluctantly I sigh. "Fine. Just for tonight… You're lucky that tomorrow is a Sunday and that the place I work at is closed by then."

Plus, I can use this as an excuse to pull an all-nighter. I didn't say it, but I was actually about to rank up in my game… Stomping kids to grind for that sweet, sweet MMR (that's a big-brain gamer term, if you don't know it, you're a filthy casual). Then again. At this time, only the die-hard players like me are online. So it might be better to—

Vampy abruptly snaps her fingers right before my eyes. "W-What?"

"You were zoning out again," she states. "You do that a lot, you know?"

"A-Ah… Well… Just take the bed. It's yours for tonight…" I heave out another sigh while my shoulders droop. "It's gonna be a cold day in hell."

While she rolls her eyes, Vampy puts a hand on my chest and gently pushes me away. "Yeah, cold night yada yada. That's great. Can I go sleep now?"

Tsk. Ungrateful snob… The least you can do is give me a thank you!

Before I can even vocalise my complaint, the door closes. The Vampire-girl has liberated the bedroom.

"... Well then." After I clear my throat, I put a hand on the wall beside the door and bellow "Good night to you too, alright, Linda!"

She gives me no response… Which is arguably even more infuriating than her countering with something. So I smack the door with a fist and grumpily walk to the couch…

The nerve on that girl… Who does she think she is? The Pope!? Pah…

Okay. I might be overreacting a little. Can't forget… This is Vampy we are talking about. A girl that grew up as an Admin of ASIC. Someone that problem lived most her life as a street rat. Let's just take a deep breath and calm down. Think about it from her perspective…

…

Fuck that. I want to be salty!

My eyes divert themselves to the controller and headset beside me. Ah yes. My plans to pull an all-nighter.

My hand reaches over to take a hold of the controller. I gently stroke the side of it, almost as if to comfort my poor companion that has lasted so many hours of button mashing and controller clenching. "Only you truly understand me…"

"... W-... Whu-.. Nh… Wha-...?"

I find myself waking up to, well, nothing but discomfort. My arm feels numb and my legs are a bit tingly. My shirt is covered in crumbs and I can feel just how sticky my lips are from whatever sugary soda I had last night.

Through my eyelashes, I can clearly see the TV. 'You have been kicked due to inactivity'. That says it all. I fell asleep during my gaming session. Again. Great…

As I dust myself off and wipe my lips with the palm of my hand, I groan loudly. I don't know for how long I've been asleep or awake… But the clock reads eleven in the morning. At times like this, I regret doing all-nighters… Or at least my body does.

A few things run through my head. First of all, I wonder why I even wanted to do an all-nighter. Then I remember Vampy and start to wonder why I allowed her to take the bed. From there on out, I just remember every last bit, up until this exact moment… Including all the teabagging I did on some Russian kid. Cyka Blyat? Ha! Dasvidaniya, kiddo!

… Right. Vampy.

I peer into my bedroom carefully. The door's already wide open. And Vampy is nowhere to be seen. My bed is a mess, but other than that, she left the room in a clean state.

"You're welcome…" I utter in irritation. Yet again, she has proven to be as ungrateful as a spoiled toddler. At what point am I going to stop pardoning her for it? I don't ask for much here, right? I'm not the one that's unreasonable here, am I?

"Ugh… I'm getting worked up over nothing," I speak out loud. "Let's just eat something. Yeah… B-Face gets grouchy when he gets hungry."

And to the fridge I go… And to disappointment I arrive. The fridge is empty, safe for a few ingredients, which I do consider trying a few times, but… Not even I can make a meal out of mustard, four eggs and a jar of pickles.

Guess I'll have to go out and get some bread then. Some cooked eggs on toast does sound nice. Could buy some butter to go along with it… A bit of bacon, too… Those cheap strips, I mean. And… And maybe I'll buy some cheese with it too… Ah, hell, I'm just making myself more hungry here. Let's just go…!

I look myself over one last time before going to the door. I swing it open, but quickly recoil as someone is right in my face as I step out. A high-pitched yelp followed my reaction of surprise. It's Vampy… Fully dressed, cleaned up and carrying two brown paper bags with a big yellow N on it.

She seems unimpressed. "Yo…"

"E-Err… Hi? I thought you left…?"

Vampy walks in as if she owns the place. "Yeah. I left to get you this," she announces, dropping the bags on the kitchen counter.

Let's see. It looks like Nepdonals. It smells like Nepdonals. And it sounds like Nepdonads. She got me junk food for breakfast. A big, greasy burger that represents a heart attack in edible form.

To be perfectly honest, I'm not looking forward to eating something like that in the morning. But I can't tell Vampy that. Not after she went out of her way to, well, get me something. Heck, she paid for food and got it for me. I can hardly decline.

I force a smile and nod. "Thanks… I-... Uhh… Yeah. Thanks."

Well then. Let's have it then…

My hand reaches into the bag that I presume is mine. What are we going to get today? A Whomper? A NepWrap? A Fourth Pownder?

None of those, apparently. I pull out two boxes and a cup of hot coffee. Wait a minute…

Inside these two boxes are actually that same breakfast burger I had with Vampy some time ago. The one with bacon, eggs and cheese. And she got me two of them.

Thrice I blink at the rather thoughtful choice in meal. It's eggs. Bacon. Cheese. All on a toasted bun. What are the odds? I was actually just thinking about getting something like this…

"I figured you'd want those things thing," Vampy explains while unveiling her own breakfast—it's nothing but junk food. "You had it last time too, so… There."

My eyes go between Vampy and the food I'm holding. I take it back. This is something quite nice, actually. In a more genuine tone, I speak. "Well… Geez, I-... Thanks… That's actually really thoughtful of you."

Vampy's smile grows from confident to cocky. "Heh! Hey. Anything for a bud who went out of their way for lil' ol' me, right?"

"... Yeah. Anything for lil' ol' you." With a faint smirk, I firmly pat her back twice. Sure. She took my bed without even a second glance. But I guess that's just how she is… Maybe she ain't so bad after all…

I'm baaaaaaack~

But not for long! Enjoy my horrible levels of procrastination! (No, but seriously. I should take more time to work on these. They hardly take effort and people seem to like them... I'll look into focusing on these more for real this time)