Skyla sat on a bench in one of the main parks, reading through apartment listings while Jack played with the local children. She glanced up occasionally and smiled as she watched him run around and make snowballs for everyone. He was entirely in his element, and entirely unfocused on her. She looked back to the paper.
Bunnymund had stopped by while she was sleeping and Jack told her the rabbit hadn't said much. He just dropped off her purse and the bags of luggage and then left. She believed him, but was upset that there was no update on the Nightmare. Having clean clothes to wear put it out of her mind though. And she'd paid for the deposit on the hotel room, and asked for the room indefinitely while she searched for an apartment.
"Skyla!" Jack yelled, and she put the paper down just in time to get hit in the face with a snowball. "Oops! It wasn't me, Sky! It was Henry!" Some children started arguing while she brushed the snow away from herself. "Okay, okay! It was me! Sorry, Sky!" he admitted, laughing.
She covered her nose as she sneezed. "Jeez, I'm freezing! Hey, Jack, I'm going to go get a coffee alright?"
"Yeah, yeah! Go on, I'll be here."
"I know you will be" smiled. To herself she added, "I'm not coming back until my hands stop looking blue."
The familiar smells of a coffee shop made her smile. She'd forgotten to check the name, but figured by the non-serious decorations that it would have been something with a pun. "Hi there!" some one greeted her from behind the counter with a sugar sweet voice.
"Oh, hi!" Skyla approached the counter and quickly scanned the menu board, "This is sort of weird for me. I'm used to taking drink orders."
"It's a bit different on the other side of the counter, huh? You're a coffee girl?" her short, curly blonde hair bobbed slightly as she talked animatedly. "Do you work nearby?"
"No, actually. I just moved here- Or, I will be moving here. I just got here last night, and I'm searching apartment listings. Know of anything good?"
"Well, I don't know if it's good but... A buddy of mine is movin in with his girlfriend and is leaving his two bedroom behind. It's in a good neighborhood but the apartment itself isn't that great. I can give him a call to meet you down here? He's desperate" she laughed softly, like it was some inside joke.
"Oh, well, if it really wouldn't be trouble. I'm desperate, too. These listings suck" she held up the paper. "And most of them are built for families."
"Nothing wrong with families. So, you're a single girl, moving to Burgess with nothing more than dreams of a bright future? You were dumped." Her brown eyes held sympathy but she smiled slightly like it amused her. "Sorry."
"Erm, no. It's not like that. I moved here because my- my boyfriend calls Burgess home."
"That's not what those beautiful grey eyes are saying" the barista leaned against the counter. "I'm Amani, by the way. Yeah, my name doesn't fit me. Blame my hilariously out of it parents."
"...Okay. I went through a break up. We split because I fell in love with someone else. Nothing wrong with that. And- and I still love him- the first guy. You look like him, sorta. His hair wasn't as curly. He also wasn't so obviously a girl. But you two have the same devilish qualities."
"I don't know what you mean" Amani smiled and oh-so-innocently batted her eyelashes. "How about I get you something hot with chocolate in it and call that buddy of mine, hmm?"
"Yes, I would appreciate it." Skyla answered, all too ready to get away from the doppelganger. She paid for her drink and waited at the counter to grab it as Amani chatted on her phone with the 'buddy' she'd mentioned.
The blonde started reaching out to give Sky the drink when she froze, brows furrowing, "What do you mean?" An annoyed voice crackled through the phone in response and Amani sighed, "You're never going to sell that place at this rate."
"What's wrong?" Skyla asked as she grabbed her drink, "Is something broken?"
"No, no. Nothing like that- What? I have to tell her, she's interested- Yes, she is." Skyla nodded to encourage whatever conversation was going on. "Yeah, she just said so. Well, she nodded. Enthusiastically. Okay, umm, he says he hasn't cleaned it yet or anything... And he's disgustingly lazy with those things, I have no idea how his girlfriend handles it-"
"As long as it's nothing that will stain or that I'll be blamed for -as long as it doesn't cross that very thin line- I can clean it myself."
Amani stared at her, "You're certainly a go-getter ain't ya? And desperate. More than- Yeah, she seriously said that. So?" The voice said something seemingly reasonable by the curls bouncing around the baristas bobbing head, "Okay, I'll tell her. I think she was looking forward to spending some time indoors though- No, she is not a hobo! She's temporarily homeless since she just moved here and- I didn't ask. I'll give her the address just make sure you have clothes on!"
"Umm-"
Amani flipped her phone shut dramatically then grinned, "He wants to show you the apartment! He'll move a few things around and you can decide if it's something you want to deal with! If it isn't he'll have to spend his savings on a cleaning service. Oh, and don't worry about the clothes thing. He likes to hang around in his boxers all day. Don't ask me why, his heating barely works. Brr! Know anyone like him? Immune to all kinds of freezing temperatures?"
"Yeah. Which reminds me..."
"Boyfriend stuff? Does he know you're here? I can give him a message if he comes to find you!"
"I don't think that would work. But he probably won't come looking for me any time soon. He's... at work. He's sort of a babysitter. Anyway, that address?"
Amani smiled and scribbled on a piece of paper. "This is it. Ring the apartment number and he'll let you up. Like I said, it's nothing fancy; but at least the locks work!"
"I'll keep that in mind" Skyla accepted the paper and asked for quick directions. The walk there only took five minutes but by the time she reached the door, her coffee was gone. She frowned at it, wishing it would just refill itself before throwing it in a nearby trashcan. She was still cold inside, the mocha did next to nothing for her, so she quickly walked up to the call box. She pressed the buttons for apartment #307 and waited through the buzz.
"Y'ello?" A voice, smoother than the one she'd heard talking to Amani, answered.
"Hey, it's Skyla. Prospective buyer? Amani called you!"
"Oh, right! Heh. Come on up!" Another buzz and she pushed through the doors. It was a classic lobby; mail lockers on the left, stairs straight forward.
The apartment door, at the end of the hallway, was wide open so she stepped inside. "Hello?" It was a corner apartment. A short hallway, small coat closet on the left behind the door. Then another closet, she guessed, larger than the other. If there was a need for a third room, someone could probably fit a small cot inside it. Kitchen on the right, living room, too. A small patio-
"Skyla?" She turned and looked towards the bedrooms. Just emerging, shirtless, was someone only described as tall dark and handsome. That he was such a slob threw her off.
She stared at the clothes littering the floor, "Water water everywhere..."
"And not a shirt to wear" he smirked. "Yeah, sorry. Just let me-" He reached down to the floor, picked up a bright pink sweatshirt, and sniffed it. Shrugging, he threw it on. Skyla laughed and he joined her for a moment, "Is it the color or the fact that I have no fear of dirty clothes?"
"No, I love the color! I didn't think it would, but it suits you! I've just never met anyone as... uninterested in doing laundry as you are. Do you even know how? Or is that going to be your girlfriends job?"
His face dropped and he pressed a toe into the cheap carpet, "I'm not used to all of this... I'm expected to have my life together but it's just not that easy for me... I don't want to make Jane do all my chores, but I don't know..." he sighed, "Why am I telling you this?"
"Because I can help. I used to have a useless roommate, and my influence helped her become not so useless. I'll actually try with you, if you want."
He stared at her skeptically, "What's in it for you?"
"I don't have to clean this apartment by myself."
His eyes lit up momentarily and Skyla wondered if she'd ever met someone so animated. "You're still going to take it?" She nodded at him and he hugged her "You're like an angel, you know that?"
"I've been told" she replied, patting his back awkwardly. "I've also been told I'm pretty strict when it comes to cleaning so you better be a fast learner."
"I'm not... But I'll try!"
"Hey, Gavin!" Skyla called from the kitchen a while later, "Come here for a sec!"
He appeared in a moment, slightly sweaty and with a bright smile. His eyes sparkled as he asked breathily, "What is it?"
"How long have you lived here?"
"A couple of years, why?"
"Just wondering. But the apartment's really plain. Didn't you ever want to decorate?"
"No, not really. I thought I wouldn't be staying here long. I moved here to be with a friend, this was his apartment. He, umm.. Anyway, I thought about moving out, for a while. Then I got caught up in work, girlfriend, and the ridiculously tempting lazy-mans lifestyle. There was no point in redecorating, and then I just didn't feel like it. Does that answer your question?"
"Yeah" she smiled, "Now I'm a bit worried, though."
"What do you have to be worried about?" He asked, leaning against the counters on the other side of the small kitchen with a look of worry, "I mean, an angel with worries?"
She stared down at her feet, "That's what I used to be called, you know. It was a gimmick for this cafe I worked at and- it's how I met my now-ex boyfriend. He was Demon. Kind of funny, huh?"
"Mhm. Now answer my question. What worries you, Skyla?"
She looked back up at him and searched his dark eyes for something -though she didn't know what. "I'm moving here to be with my boyfriend. This is his hometown. I don't have a job, or anything other than some luggage and a bit of savings. I'm also dealing with the reality that we won't be together forever and, though I have somewhere to go back to, I'm worried- I wonder how long I'll be stuck in this apartment. Alone. Waiting for something to change in either myself or everyone around me. Or something" she pressed a palm to her forehead, willing away the headache that threatened to bust through the barrier she kept the mass of her emotions behind.
"Oh." he said. Almost awkwardly he stepped forwards and hugged her again. "I guess you can't really know, right? I spent too long here, but the way things worked out I would do it all over again. All of it, no matter how much it all sucked. Talk to the guy, make sure he knows what you're thinking. Hell, if Jane kept something like that from me- I wouldn't actually know what to do."
"Hug her?" she asked and he pulled away, "I don't mind, I'm just not used to random hugs from people I just met."
"You're cleaning my apartment and we're giving each other life and dating advice. I would think a hug is acceptable" he reached over her head and opened a cupboard, "And sharing the last pop tart is also acceptable. I don't have a toaster, so I hope you like it cold."
"You don't have a toaster?" she tried not to laugh, "It's the most important kitchen appliance other than a microwave-" she looked around, "Where's the microwave?"
"Don't look so horrified!" he laughed, "It's already been relocated. Jane's roomy broke theirs so-"
"Wait, you're moving in with two-"
"Yes. Two. One who drives me crazy and another that breaks microwaves. So. Pop tart?" he ripped the pastry in half and handed her a part, "I don't know how long it's been in there, so check for mold. I'm kidding! It's a new box!"
"Now I feel bad. These pop tarts must have been your only food source."
"I have other stuff! You'll see, while you're cleaning in here."
"You're helping me!" she laughed and took a bite of the sugary treat.
