Apartment Hunting For A Friend

[Anna]

Anna smiled and nodded. "Okay! Follow me!" she led the way out. Before stepping outside, she began to bundle up. "It's too close for a car. Bundle up!"

Anna led the way through the area, not moving slow, but still being careful. You never knew where there would be ice in these cold areas. Something she did remember from the Chicago winters though was that as long as you kept moving, the cold wouldn't get worse. They arrived at a small, quaint diner. Anna had eaten here before and they had a good menu. The food was good too.

Anna entered and was grateful for the heat. The waitress told them to go ahead and sit anywhere, so Anna found a table far enough from the door that they wouldn't be hit with a blast of cold if someone came in. Anna ordered her food - a croque madame with a side of bacon and, of course, a coffee. She let Cade order his own food and when the waitress left, she began to speak.

"So we have two more left. The last one was your second favorite, so you're favorite is still out there," Anna said, smiling. "Hey, you still haven't told me about your job. What is it that you found?" Anna hadn't heard anything yet.

[Cade]

They walked to the little diner that Anna knew. it was quaint and friendly. But most of all it was warm. Anna chose their seat wisely.

Cade ordered waffles and bacon and a hot chocolate. He wanted the extra sweetness and it just felt right. It was cold and winter, and he was freezing. And it brought back memories -- of his childhood.

Anna asked about his job. He chuckled. "Did you know Nox was a philanthropist at heart? To go with his monster hunting." That was something Cade still wasn't really used to. Monsters were real. Not that he hadn't seen some with his own eyes, but Nox truly fought them. He'd nearly died to many of them. He was suffering now because of one such creature. He didn't understand it exactly but he understood that his brother wasn't himself. It was something everyone reassured him with. "He's starting a free clinic to go with his refugee sanctuary." Another thing he didn't really understand. "Second Chances Foundation and the Orphan Foundation are teaming up to pay their doctors and instructors. Nox, well Anastasia Vega, offered me a job as their pediatrician. And with her being the ex-daughter-in-law of Jivana they offered to help with research I was doing as well. So it's win-win."

[Anna]

Anna smiled as he spoke. ”I’m very happy for you! It sounds like a good fit.”

Anna took a sip of her coffee and sighed contentedly at the warmth it brought through her. ”And I’m happy you’re staying too! I think it will be good for both of you. she paused for a bit. She wanted to reach out and touch his hand - a gesture meant only for comfort, but held back from doing so. That might make him uncomfortable. ”Nox can be rough around the edges, but he does have a good heart. And a kind of hero complex to go along with it.” she chuckled. Her face turned a little more somber. ”I hope they can figure out what happened and can fix the problem. It would be nice for you to see him the way he used to be.”

Anna really didn’t understand much what happened. Only that he could no longer touch the power and that made his moods empty. Marta had said numb. It was odd, and she knew it really bothered Marta quite a bit. The waitress arrived with their food and Anna nibbled on a strip of bacon first. Bacon was a gift from god.

[Cade]

Their food arrived and the first few moments were quiet. Not that awkward quiet, more like they were both busy enjoying their food while it was still hot.

"He hunts monsters I can't imagine anyone would do that without some sort of savior complex." Cade wasn't a psychologist but he had taken courses and had done a stint as a resident. It was eye opening. But then he dealt with children and their parents, it helped to understand their mental reasoning a little bit. "I hope I can meet the real him one day. Not that this one is bad." he smiled. His brother was interesting -- strange and disjointed from reality. He didn't live in the real world like everyone else. He had magic. He hunted monsters. He worked a burlesque club and fought in underground fights. He was extra-ordinary. Not normal by any standards.

"The next place is my favorite. Good location and two bedrooms." Cade changed the subject.

[Anna]

Anna just listened and nodded as he spoke, focusing on finishing her meal. She was really happy for Cade - and for Nox too for that matter. They both deserved to be happy. They truthfully tried to make the world better for other people and deserved no less for themselves. And she was glad to be friends with both of them.

Cade told her that the next one was a favorite - a good location and the two bedrooms he was looking for. She nodded. ”Sounds great! Let’s head over and take a look!”

They settled the bill and got a cab. This time Cade wasn’t sitting so close to her. She kept the disappointment of that off her face. She understood and wanted to respect her promise to respect his boundaries. Anna caught him up on some of her life. Nothing too exciting, but enough to fill the silence. Until they arrived at the building. Anna hadn’t looked up this listing as they were driving, so it would all be new. They were met by a middle aged woman - the land lady.

She approached Cade. ”You must be Mr. Reese,” she said with a smile and offering her hand. ”Im Maria - the land lord. And you are…”

”Anna - just a friend helping him find a new place,” she said, hopefully for stalling any other potential issues with people thinking they were a couple.

She nodded and gestured for them to follow. ”Neighborhood is nice and safe, and the community here in this building is polite and quiet, she gave a slight smirk. ”At least they haven’t been calling me about any problems with neighbors. So if there are issues, they’re working them out themselves. Seems like they have a nice little community here. The woman who lives across from the unit I’m showing you happens to be a cop - she can come in at weird hours, but never heard any complaints about her.” she led them to the entrance of the building and held the door open so they could enter.

[Marisol]

Marisol sat on the stairs going up to the upper floors of the apartment building, face buried in her hands. Nothing was wrong - not really, she was just incredibly tired. Crime tended to spike this close to the holidays. Work was busy at the precinct, and Marisol, always feeling a desire to prove herself, leapt into the thick of it. Her partner had been the first to comment that it was okay to slow down and she needed to rest. But it hadn’t been until her captain pulled her in, told her she was taking the rest of today and tomorrow off that she had gone home. Her previous sergeant must have communicated her idiosyncrasies to him because he followed it up by making sure she knew she was doing great work and he needed her to take care of herself to be most effective. Her partner had solidified this in her mind as she got her things to leave.

Still Marisol didn’t like that she had to go home. She loved her job and felt a little guilty that the other detectives (primarily her partner) would have to pick up her slack. On the way back to her apartment, she had stopped at the store for groceries, knowing that if she went home first, she wouldn’t be going back out. She was starting to carry them up the stairs to her apartment when one of her bags broke, spilling its contents into the otherwise pristine entryway of the building. Thankfully, nothing had shattered, but she was certain some fans had been dented. Currently it blocked access to the stairway. No one was usually around at this time. At least it hadn’t been her produce that had scattered. Marisol, as tired as he was sat down to collect herself.

Marisol was drawn out of her thoughts as three people entered. One of them was Maria, her land lord. Shit! She must be showing someone the empty unit! Marisol thought.

”Oh my god, you’re showing the empty apartment today. I’m so sorry - I’ll get this out of your way right away,” she said.

Maria interrupted before she could stand. ”Marisol, it looks like you’ve been burning the candle from both ends,” she said, a kind tone in her voice. ”I have a box in the office you can use to help with your groceries. Excuse me,” the last, directed a the other two.

Marisol stood up, flustered and embarrassed. She was wearing her suit pants and an MPD coat. ”Im so sorry - you have to waste your time because of this little mishap.” she began to pick things up and put some of them in the unbroken bag. Some she could put into the the box that Maria was getting. The woman, who she noticed at that time was also Latina, came over to help. ”Really you don’t —

”don’t worry about it. It’s fine.” the woman said with a smile.

Marisol felt a bit of the tension in her body ease. Sometimes all it took was someone being kind. ”thanks,” she said and she turned to look at the man, who was also approaching. He looked familiar, but she couldn’t place him. ”I’m Marisol. I rent the apartment across from the one you’re looking at. This is…not a daily thing.” she said, hoping this didn’t make Maria look bad. She really was a good land lord who cared.