summary: If you live in this area and are not a gang member, you are an old drunk thrown on the streets, a phantom in society, or dead.
highlight:¨What is it?¨ you encouraged him, who looked hesitant ¨Come on, I know the deal I made.¨
warning: none? I hope there are not many grammar mistakes tho
notes:If you´re still here, thank you for waiting! If you´re new, take a seat, help yourself!
There you were, again, on his front doorstep, holding a bag. It was another chilly Wednesday night, a couple of days passed, and you were feeling almost one hundred percent back on your feet.
summary: If you live in this area and are not a gang member, you are an old drunk thrown on the streets, a phantom in society, or dead.
highlight:¨What is it?¨ you encouraged him, who looked hesitant ¨Come on, I know the deal I made.¨
warning: none? I hope there are not many grammar mistakes tho
notes:If you´re still here, thank you for waiting! If you´re new, take a seat, help yourself!
There you were, again, on his front doorstep, holding a bag. It was another chilly Wednesday night, a couple of days passed, and you were feeling almost one hundred percent back on your feet.
You wanted to thank Killer for taking care of you, and you did so by purchasing a nice set of artisanal beers. It was probably not the best idea for a gift. But firstly, you knew almost nothing about him, and secondly, you assumed he had money to buy anything he wanted. Therefore, it is all about the intention.
On the previous night, right before you were getting ready to finish your work for the day, you heard the sound of his motorcycle pulling up in the parking lot. You never thought it was possible to recognize a vehicle by its sound.
Well.
Considering that Killer must have been tired from his trip, you decided not to bother him right away. You spent the whole day rehearsing what things you would say when giving him his gift.
¨Hi! Uhm, no.¨ you paced a bit more around the living room, sipping a warm cup of coffee ¨Oh, hey. I just wanted to drop this… I just wanted to thank you for your help the other day.¨
His bike was sitting in the usual spot, so he must be home. You even considered leaving the package and ringing the doorbell like the last time, but that would be ungrateful of yours.
So, again. There were you, once more, on your neighbor´s front doorstep, holding a bag.
¨I don´t see it.¨ you flinched with the sudden voice coming from behind.
Your heart seemed like jumping out of your mouth as you turned around, trying to keep your balance. You looked up, seeing Killer standing there with a small plastic bag from a convenience store, a beanie, and a mask.
¨Sorry, I didn´t mean to scare you.¨ he said, putting his hands up.
¨S´alright.¨ you sighed, putting yourself back together ¨Geez, you´re quiet, even walking on pebbles.¨
His eyes squinted a bit, and you assumed that he smiled behind the mask ¨It´s like a job requirement. I´ll try to kick some rocks next time.¨
¨I ´d appreciate it.¨ you smiled ¨I saw your bike and thought you were home.¨
¨Hey, I can, like… walk, you know? With these…¨ he tapped his legs, and you rolled your eyes.
¨Okay, okay, my bad.¨ you looked around ¨Hum, what-what did you say earlier? You don´t see what?¨
¨Oh, yeah. I don´t see it.¨ the blonde stood still, focusing his eyes on the door ¨Everytime you come here, you just stare at the door. I don´t see what you like about it so much. Or maybe you can´t find the doorbell? You can always knock, you know?¨
It was clear in his voice that he was messing with you. Still, you were taken aback by his attitude. It has been a while since he was this playful, and you did not find the words to answer it.
Your mouth opened and closed a few times, brows furrowing as your system rebooted.
¨Alright, I´m gonna stop giving you a hard time. You wanna come in? It´s getting colder.¨
¨No, I-¨ you sighed when Killer was already getting in ¨I guess, then. Excuse me.¨
You followed him inside, being comforted by the fact that you wouldn´t feel too lost there since you lived in the same building.
However, walking into his living room, you felt extremely out of place, not at all what you were expecting. There was something really wrong with his apartment.
¨Uhm, I just wanted to give you this.¨ you said, trying to find the cause of your bad sensation.
¨I´ll be there in a sec.¨ you heard Killer reply from the distance.
Standing in the middle of his living room, you put the bag on the coffee table, a profound frown contorting your face. Maybe you were finally surrendering to madness, but his apartment was… deeper?
¨Hey, sorry, I… Y/N?¨ the blonde returned, drying his hand off in a towel ¨Are you ok?¨
¨Yeah, Uhm… did you do something to this place? I mean, it looks… I don´t know. It looks bigger.¨
¨How would you know that it´s bigger?¨ he asked, a smile slowly growing on his lips.
¨So it is bigger?¨
¨Hold on, I didn´t say that.¨ Killer said ¨I asked how you would know such a thing.¨
¨Look I…¨ you stopped, thinking that maybe it would sound like a weird thing ¨You know what? Nevermind. I must be going nuts.¨
¨No, no, keep going. If you say anything that makes sense, I´ll make us dinner.¨
¨But… didn´t you buy dinner? I kinda saw the convenience store bag.¨ you admitted, feeling your cheeks get hot.
¨Yeah, but before I didn´t have beer to pair with a nice meal. I do now.¨ Killer gave you a smug look, and you averted your gaze from him, smiling at his words.
¨This¨ you shook your head, biting your lip to hold back your grin ¨this is stupid, but you know what? I haven´t had dinner yet, so, free food for me, I guess.¨
¨I like your confidence. Let´s go, then.¨ he said, sitting down on the couch ¨What´s wrong with my living room?¨
You looked around, trying to come up with a way to explain your point of view clearly. It was challenging since you could feel Killer´s eyes on you at all times.
¨I…¨ you stopped, moving your hands around, hoping that it would help you ¨I pace a lot.¨
Killer hummed after you went silent for a few seconds. He had his hand over his mouth, thumb under the chin giving him support.
¨I pace. A lot.¨
¨Uhum. You kinda… already said that.¨
¨I know, but you don´t get it. I pace around my living room a lot. I know my living room with the sole of my feet.¨
¨Poetic.¨ he teased.
¨I know. Anyway, your furniture is bigger than mine and still… there´s so much space. It´s not the same pacing. I couldn´t pace the same here because… the walls are so further away.¨
¨Really?¨
¨Yeah, like, you know those camera trick shots? When they zoom in the frame while stepping away from the person? It´s like that.¨ you were almost breathless when you finished your explanation.
Suddenly, you felt stupid.
You felt stupid for getting so excited about pacing, walls, and camera tricks. Your mind ached at the things you said.
Why would you say those things? That´s so weird! Killer´s gonna think that all you do is notice and judge. You talked about his convenience store dinner, his furniture, and his living room. Why woul-
¨Wow.¨ he said.
¨I … look,¨ you struggled, feeling your armpits start to sweat under the layers of clothes ¨Let´s just forget about d-¨
¨That was impressive.¨
¨What? No, it wasn´t. It was stupid.¨
¨I knew you paced a lot. I just didn´t know you made it with your soul and all.¨
¨What do you mean by `you knew I paced a lot`?¨
Killer sighed and stood up, getting the pack of beer from the coffee table ¨Time for the house tour. Shall we?¨
Before you had the chance to speak against the house tour, the blonde was already disappearing into the hall. Cursing yourself under your breath, you decided to follow him.
At first glance, the structure of the place was similar to yours, only it seemed stretched out. The short hall became a fashion show runway, and even though the ceiling was the same amount of meters from the ground as your apartment, you felt like a tiny dwarf.
You knew your apartment from top to bottom, to the point that if you ever lost your sight, you would be able to live there without so much hitting your pinky toe. Being in Killer´s place definitely messed up your senses.
¨Right here.¨ you heard his voice.
You were so immersed in your measurement observations that you didn´t notice him entering the kitchen. Still on the first door left, but so much bigger than your sardine can.
¨What the…¨ the words die in your mouth.
¨I know, it´s a bit too much.¨ he disappeared behind the fridge door ¨But I spend a lot of time here whenever possible. Here.¨ he offered you a glass of water.
¨This doesn´t make sense.¨ you mumbled, so confused you forgot to thank him for the hospitality.
¨I know. Kid had this place designed for me so… I can´t complain.¨ he said as if it wasn´t a big deal.
¨What do you mean by designed? Can you… oh, my God!¨ your eyes widened in realization ¨You guys did not buy the entire first floor and turned into one huge apartment!¨ you shouted.
¨When you put it like th-¨
¨I couldn´t sleep and work for months with all the noise the construction workers made!¨
A burst of rage exploded from within you when you remembered all the hardships you had to bear. The feeling was not directed at Killer in any way. Instead, it was more of piled-up frustration you let out to the universe.
At the time, you were in the middle of a terrible bedtime cycle. And by the moment you reached your perfect sleep, the excruciating noise of people hammering down walls brought you up to reality. Hell.
The noise, of course, stopped you from sleeping any longer. Not only that, but even your noise-canceling headphones couldn´t do their job properly, leaving you alone with pages to fill with codes.
You, alone with pages and more pages to fill with codes. Laughter, heavy metal, and stone crushers. You really considered that vibe check from God.
You reminded leaving your cave one day, when you were on the verge of having a breakdown, to ask what they were doing. The workers said that the entire first-floor plumbing was broken, and they had to replace all of it.
The one good thing you got out of it was that your leaking sink was fixed.
¨It surprises me that you didn´t notice all your neighbors were gone.¨ Killer commented, pulling some vegetables from the fridge and placing them on the counter.
¨Oh, I… I wasn´t so close to them, you know.¨
¨Uhm, right.¨ he smiled ¨Anyway, that´s how I know you have this habit of pacing.¨
You tilted your head to the side in response.
¨You living room is right above my bedroom. And the wood is getting old. I had to soundproof my ceiling.¨
¨Oh, my bad.¨
¨S´alright. I like to think that it was karma for the inconvenience with the construction.¨
The next couple of hours were surprisingly pleasant. Even though your social battery was running on low and your eyes hurt from looking at your laptop screen all day, you had a good time.
Killer gave you a quick tour around his house and then hopped in an apron to prepare dinner. You weren´t much help in there. If anything, you became a huge burden for him.
You tried talking him out of the dinner idea, but he wouldn´t budge. It was a weird feeling, not a bad one, but uncomfortable.
For years, you lived alone in your apartment. No friends to come over, no coworkers to chat with. Somehow, having people do things for you became an unknown factor. And then comes this guy, taking care of you and cooking you dinner.
Though it was nice, you prefer to do things on your own.
¨I mean, you probably had a long day, and I saw your take-out. You must be tired.¨ you insisted again.
¨My day had as many hours as yours.¨ he replied, throwing some vegetables into a pan ¨And I could run a marathon right now.¨
He offered you some cappuccino from his coffee machine, and you sat near the counter, watching him work his magic. His words.
¨Hm, you should get one.¨ Killer said, wiping his mouth.
¨A bike?¨ you laughed, alcohol already warming up your cheeks ¨I would kill me and a few innocent passersby.¨
¨Well, if it makes you feel better, no one in this area is innocent.¨
¨I like to think I am.¨ you said, smile slowing dying on your lips ¨Still.¨
¨About that,¨ the blonde cleared his throat, looking more serious. ¨I hate to kill the flow of the conversation, but since we´re at it…¨
And there it was. The moment you wished would take longer to come, the moment that would forever change your life. The line you would cross to never come back.
¨What is it?¨ you encouraged him, who looked hesitant ¨Come on, I know the deal I made.¨
¨Right.¨ he gave you a sympathetic smile.
¨Right.¨
He let out a heavy sigh before talking.
¨Kid has something for you.¨ Killer got up and walked over to his coat rack, pulling a pendrive from the jacket he was wearing earlier that night.
He went back to the couch, leaving the object on the coffee table.
¨Do you remember this?¨ you nodded, recognizing it from the night at the bar. ¨You downloaded the content of the cellphone here along with some coded messages. Kid wants you to decode them and find out who the sender is.¨
You nodded, waiting for him to continue.
¨That´s pretty much it.¨
You nodded again, surprised by the shortlist. Though you had a gut feeling that things wouldn´t be so simple.
¨What´s the catch?¨ you tried to squeeze some more information out of him.
I mean, how much worse can it get?
¨Kid wants to see you working.¨
Well, a lot worse.
You didn’t say anything about it for a while, positive or negative. Instead, you grabbed your beer and chugged it until the last drop. Suddenly, the exhaustion from the day began to wear you off, so you decided that it was about time to go home.
You helped Killer clean up the kitchen before going, even though he insisted on doing it by himself. But maybe it was a part of you that enjoyed his company, despite of you not being a people person.
But both of you have had long days, and to add to the count, he might have invited you in for dinner only so he could have a chance to tell you about Kid.
“Can you put the pots in the fridge?” He asked, back turned to you as he finished the dishes “Wherever you find some space.”
You let out a low agreement and grabbed the plastic containers, marching towards his enormous fridge. It was difficult not wonder what the inside would look like.
To your surprise, but at the same time expected, it was quite tidy. It was, in fact, tidy enough for you to notice the organized lines of beers that resembled convenience store refrigerators.
No beer to pair up with a nice meal?
You laughed through your nose, letting a slightly intoxicated smile grow on your lips.
“What is it?” Killer asked, drying his hands off in a towel.
“I was wondering how the building didn’t fall down when they did the whole breaking thing. Do you know?”
