Disclaimer: I do not own Static Shock. I am not making profit from this story so no one sue me, please. Any characters whom are not from Static Shock are rightfully owned by me.
Summary: Virgil and Richie haven't been friends for nearly 20 years. They have gone their separate ways and lived their successful live through work. However, how have their personal lives suffered since their failed friendship?
Richie drew in a deep breath and exhaled it with a groan. He spent several minutes dancing between sleep and consciousness before he found himself awake, lying on his back, and staring at the ceiling. He dropped his left hand on his face, rubbing the sleepiness from his eyes, while his other hand felt around beside his chest for Aria. When he located her, he gently scratched her ear until he felt and heard her purring, at which point he began to pet her entire back.
Turning his head to the side, Richie took note of his alarm clock blinking 1:35. Judging from the sun coming through his window, he figured that meant it was afternoon. He puffed out his cheeks and let out the breath as he wondered why his bed hadn't vibrated that morning. Or Richie had just turned it off and went back to sleep? The latter really made no sense to him because, once he was even remotely awake, he was awake until he took his medication again. He turned his head the opposite direction to see Aria staring at him.
"Did my bed vibrate, Ari?" Richie asked pointlessly. He snorted to himself, continuing to pet his cat. "Like asking you would do me any good, anyway," he muttered and sat up, pulling Aria into his lap. She made a couple circles before finding a comfortable position to lie down in. Richie continued to stroke her back. He decided he would look into what was wrong with his bed later that day. At the moment, though, he just wanted to enjoy the fact that he actually felt good; that nothing was bothering. For the first time in a long while, he was in a good mood, and he was going to take advantage of it.
"What should I do today, Ari?" Richie asked as he moved his hand to stroke Aria's ear with his middle finger. Even though Aria was completely deaf, Richie still talked to her as if she weren't because she was the only other living thing in the house. Not that she would be able to answer Richie even if she could hear, but it made him feel like ridiculous to talk to her than to himself. "I was thinking that I could go for a walk later. It's been awhile since I've done that.
"How about we get you something to eat?" Richie suggested as he slipped out from under the covers. When he felt a sudden, rather surprising, draft against his lower body, he glanced down and went a little red across his nose. He turned to face Aria—who was stretching and not paying attention to Richie—and laughed. "But maybe I should get dressed first." He had forgotten he had fallen asleep without pajama pants.
Richie shuffled over to his dresser and opened the top drawer for a pair of socks, a pair of boxers, and white cotton, form-fitting tank top. With the garments in hand, he sat down on the edge of his bed and got dressed from foot to torso. He then got up again and walked over to his closet where he chose a two-colored, long-sleeved, cotton top. It was made to look like it was a black long-sleeved shirt under a blue short-sleeved one. There was even extra where the black met the blue for the added effect. To match, he chose a pair of slim, black jeans and a pair of black boots that went halfway up his calves, which he shoved the bottoms of his pants into. He finished off the outfit a black zip-up, hooded sweater (which he zipped about halfway) and his rimless, gold-stemmed glasses.
The last thing Richie did before leaving his bedroom was take care of his hygiene. With Aria held securely under his arm, he headed downstairs to the kitchen where he sat Aria down on the kitchen table. Even if she was deaf, Aria knew what it meant when she was sitting on the kitchen table, so she sat patiently, and watched intently as Richie looked through the cabinet above the microwave for a bowl to put her food in. In twenty years, Richie had never gotten around to buying her a food bowl; he never saw a reason for one, considering he had plenty of bowls that worked just as well.
Finally finding one he didn't mind having a cat eat from, he placed it on the table and walked over to the refrigerator where he withdrew the bag of salmon and chicken. He poured the remainder of the bag's contents into the bowl and watched for a moment as Aria began eating it. Clearing his throat, he turned around and tossed the bag into the trash can. He then sat down in the seat facing Aria and continued to contently watch her eat.
Richie may not have been leading a very exciting life for a super-genius, but at least it was a rather rewarding one. He had a job that more or less challenged his intelligence (less rather than more) and he had a cat that he loved like a daughter. All of that combined with the things he had invented, in his spare time, to make his condo, and ultimately his life, more interesting and manageable—the vibrating bed for instance—and he was living a pretty good life, even given the days he was a super-emotional wreck over Virgil.
Richie glanced at the clock on the microwave. He noted that it was 3:00 in the afternoon and he had yet to eat. Somehow he never really took the time to eat until it was later in the day, be it because he was working or because he was sleeping. Deciding he didn't want to cook, Richie got up to rummage through the refrigerator for something quick. It took him close to ten minutes to finally decide on a turkey sandwich, having realized it was the only thing he could put together that didn't require any cooking whatsoever. He grabbed tomato, lettuce, Swiss cheese, and mustard to go along with the sandwich he put on rye bread. He also got some pretzels and soda to go with it. It was, overall, a pretty appetizing meal.
An hour later, after Richie had cleaned up the kitchen and washed the dishes he and Aria had been using, he decided that it was now or never that he took that walk. After putting his cat on the floor, Richie made his way to his coat closet and grabbed a black trench coat that went to his hips and an electric blue scarf that Mike had told him matched his eyes. It really wasn't too cold out, but sense Richie would be walking, he decided it was appropriate to wear something that would block the chill.
Once he was bundled up, Richie grabbed his house key and made his way outside. He locked the door and put the key in the pocket of his coat and made his way down the driveway to the sidewalk. He breathed in the fresh air and let out the breath with a content sigh as he began his stride down the street.
Today is a good day, Richie thought to himself, smiling.
A/N: There's really not much I want to say about this chapter, except that it's basically spewing "I AM A FILLER CHAPTER" all over the place. Well, not really, I guess... Actually, it's more or less a lead-up chapter. It'll just make chapter ten make a little bit more sense.
I just wanted to say that that's the reason I went from Chloé, Rachael, and Virgil going to Sharon's house to this... Because I needed to build up to the scene in chapter ten. So... um... yeah. That's why.
Also. I was literally drooling as I described what Richie was wearing. I forgot to mention that he has a black hoop earring (similar to the one he wore in the show) but I think for most of you, that goes without saying.
Anyway. Please review/favorite/alert/whatever! It all means a lot! I really do appreciate the dedication of all my readers! Thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!