A-Z Apartment

[Zade]

Zade got off the taxi, paying the driver the fee before the yellow vehicle sped off. Zade watched it as it left, then gave out a sigh. Turning around, he took a few seconds to survey the area for a moment. It looked just like the neighbourhood he grew up on. For a moment, he stood there for a while, a gangster on the other side of the road catching his eye. He reminded Zade of himself. Of his old self. When the gangster noticed him, Zade looked away. The last thing he wanted on his first day in the city was trouble. He walked up the staircase that led to the door that provided entry to the building of apartments where his was in. He grabbed the handle and twisted it, unlocking it as he pushed the wooden board aside. Closing the door behind him, he walked to the other side of the hallway, to the staircase and climbed it to the top floor. The fifth floor.

Finally reaching the top of the cursed staircase, he took a deep breathe and then walked over to the door beside the window at the end of the hallway. Looking at the door, he searched his duffel bag for the keys. His spirits was raised as he heard the jingling sound of keys hitting against each other. Pulling it out of the duffel bag, he inserted the metal object into the keyhole and turned, smiling after hearing a clicking sound. Pushing the door open, he walked into his apartment. Closing the door behind him, he took off his shoes and placed it by the side, then walked into the apartment, the duffel bag over his shoulders.

There were two bedroom, opposite the door. A kitchen to the left and a living room to the right. It seemed that they fit the dining room and the living room together. Zade sighed as he walked over to the room on the left. Opening it, he entered his room. Dropping his duffel bag beside the bed, he turned on his heels and leaned backwards, falling onto the bed. Well, it was comfortable enough. At least he knew it was in good condition. Time to check out the rest of the house. He stood up and walked out of his room, his eye now stuck on the other door that led to the other room. He then remembered that someone had applied for that room. Well, if there was two bedrooms, why not rent one out? After all, Zade doubted that he could pay the bills all by himself. He walked into the kitchen, checking whatever electrical appliances were available to him then.

Any sooner now, would his new roommate would arrive. Zade had left the door unlocked purposely. He wondered how he would be like. Or was it a she? Who knows?

[Aurora]

While on her lovely parent's income...Aurora had one choice when it came to apartments. She'd have to have a roomie...and it'd have to be a rather cheap cost to the parents. Thus why she was here.

The red head was dropped off out front, a duffle bag hanging from her shoulder, and two suitcases in her hands. A bit much for the little girl, but she was managing. The curses of having too many different clothing items and the like.

"It....was...the fifth floor right?"

The dark eyes stared up at the building and she gave a sigh. It would be an interesting climb. But it had to be done, so Aurora headed for the front door.

Soon enough, the pale girl was staring at the door to the apartment. It had been a battle...climbing with the suitcases and duffle bag bashing into her legs and such... but she had made it. Slipping the key in, she found the door unlocked.

What would her roomie be like? Aurora had to stop and think on that one for a moment. A girl? A guy? Oh dear lord, please let her roomie be a girl. The girl blushed even thinking she'd be sharing the living space with a male.

But in she walked, large eyes searching around.

"H-hello? Anyone here?"

[Zade]

"H-Hello? Anyone here?"

The pitch of the vioce made Zade jump and hit his head on the top of the cabinet. He yelped, then took a step backward as he pulled his head out of the cabinet. Standing up straight as he rubbed the back of his head, he looked out from the wide hole on the wall that allowed the 'chef' to look into the living/dining room. And there, he saw a red-head girl. Man, was she cute! Due to the loud noises he had just made earlier, he doubted that she still hadn't noticed him. Flashing her a friendly smile, he waved his other hand once. "Hey."

Putting down both hands, he walked out of the kitchen and towards her. Only then did he notice the heavy load she was carrying. He sighed, then walked over to her side and offered to carry the suicases. "May I?" Of course, she would have accepted it. If not, then Zade would have to take them from her as nicely as possible. The former was a better choice, though. As he walked towards the door that led to her would-be room, he turned around and gave her another smile. "Name's Zade. Looks like I'll be your roommate for now."

[Aurora]

"Hey."

Aurora's eyes went wide. There, her fear confirmed. Her room mate was a male! Instantly she clutched one of her suitcases, trying to stutter out a reply. Her pale face had become a color much like her hair. Red.

"H-h..." He walked over with a smile, and Aurora was at a loss as to what to do next. All that was coming out of her mouth was "um" and "uh". Over and over. Was the fact that Aurora was shy had anything to do with it? It seemed like it was...

"May I?"

Her eyebrows lifted. He was asking to help her with her suitcases! Well, if he was this close the blush would be easy enough to see. The red head nodded, trying to control the blood rushing to her face.

"T-that would be very nice, thank you."

Then he showed her to her room. Once again, acting very nice. Aurora was begining to calm down. A weak smile was plastered on her face, and she followed him quickly when he moved.

"Name's Zade. Looks like I'll be your roommate for now."

"Oh! I'm Aurora Nevin...It's nice to meet you Zade." She ducked her head slightly and held out a hand to shake his. It was only polite after all!

[Zade]

"T-that would be very nice, thank you."

Well, that confirmed it. She WAS shy. What made Zade so sure? The firs ttime she saw him, she was blushing. When he neared her, she blushed even deeper. And he asked her if he could take her suitcases, she stuttered. Or was the stuttering natural for her? Meh. Another thing that made him wonder was, was she always this shy? Or only around him even though they only just met? And this many questions is surely not good to Zade's brain. As he stood beside the door, the suitcases now on the floor and resting on his feet, he looked and listened as she introduced herself to him. He looked at the hand, then back at her. Giving her another smile, he grabbed the hand gently, shaking it.

"Nice to meet you too, Aurora."

A nice name for a cute girl. Man. Was today Zade's lucky day? But never mind that. Her hand was so damn smooth Zade was almost reluctant to let go of it. He then turned and grabbed the handle for her. Opening the door, he motioned for her to go in first. BUt right befone thing. "By the way, can you cook?" Yeah. Zade didn't know how to cook. If neither did Aurora, the two of them were screwed. They'd have to leave the house for lunch and dinner, and the cost would be much more expensive. Curses. Hiring a personal chef was out of their financial reach too.

[Aurora]

"Nice to meet you too, Aurora."

Aurora began to relax as the situation began to make itself known. It seemed like things would be interesting to say the least. Once the girl got into a comfortable enviroment... she would stop blushing, stuttering, and such. Become more of herself.

He went to open the door, then stopped. Apparently, something else needed to be done or said. Aurora soon found out.

"By the way, can you cook?"

Aurora couldn't help but let a giggle slip out. It seemed that he was a typical guy...like her real father had been before he had died. That brought a soft smile to the red head's face. If Zade was anything like him, well, it'd be more than nice.

"I can! Not anything fancy of course, but I cook decently."

Another thing that was on her mind was how to decorate the rest of the apartment. It seemed so bare at the moment... that would have to change if the apartment was to become 'Home, sweet home'.

"Seems like this place needs a bit to fix it up. I'm sure it won't be too hard though, right?" Another smile and she headed in the room. Another bare place...but...Aurora could change that as well. She set down her duffle bag and smoothed the tan capris she was wearing. On her feet were a pair of brown heeled sandals, and her torso was covered with a white tank top and a tan sweater with blue flowers sown onto the sleeves. She smiled back at Zade, becoming more comfortable by the moment.

[Zade]

Zade couldn't help but smile when he heard her giggle. It was too cute for him to resist. The smile after that was simply a bonus. A very nice bonus. Well, now that the food problem was settled, Zade was yet to see if the television was working. No, he wasn't a lazy bum, but he wanted to relax. The trip had been a long and very uncomfortable one. He was still car sick from that old taxi's wretched smell. He then picked up the suitcases and followed her into her room. It was basically the same as his, except that the placing of the furniture and the door was opposite. His bed had been on the left side, whereas hers was on the right side.

"Well, yeah. I was gonna work on that somewhere this week. Still have to get used to the place, you know? Besides, I don't really have that creative an imagination. Maybe you can help with that. I don't mind doing all the handiwork."

He gave her another smile, before placing her suitcases on the bed. It seemed that hers was slightly softer, as if it had been expecting that its owner would be a girl. Weird indeed. He looked around the room. A coffee table beside the bed, and a study table opposite it. The cabinet was beside the door, and a window above the coffee table that looked out on the main road. Wait a minute, were they forgetting something? Where the hell was the bathroom?! Zade looked at Aurora. "Excuse me for a while."

He said as he walked out of the room, then looked around for any other door that might lead to the bathroom. Ah, there it was. Beside the living/dining room, nearer to Aurora's door. He chuckled, then looked into her room. "I think I found the toilet."

[Aurora]

"That's always good!"

Aurora put her duffle bag by the suitcase. Her dark eyes scanned the entire area of the room and she gave herself a nod. She would make the room comfy, and it wouldn't take that long.

She opened her bigger suitcase. Inside were her jeans, skirts, shirts. Most of her clothing, minus the embarassing things...which were hidden in her dufflebag under her books and things.

She put a few things away quickly, but soon got a bit bored with it. The red head realized she hadn't brought anything to cook with her. She doubted Zade had.

"Hey, for dinner...how about take out?"

She walked out of her room and headed in the general direction he had gone. A smile was on her face. The girl was comfortable around Zade, for some odd reason.

[Zade]

Zade let out a humming sound, before giving her a nod. "Well, it doesn't seem like you would be able to cook with anything right now since we're low in supples. Also, the walk might be good. Though, I don't really like the look of the neighbourhood. Reminds me too much of my old one." Zade had to look away from Aurora just to hide the fear and pain visible on his eyes. He walked past the smaller girl, giving her the best smile he could put up at the moment, before entering his room and walking to his duffle bag. He needed the keys, after all. He zipped the bag open, pulling out all the clothes and placing them on the bed. Not much, truth be told. There was only five black shirts, two yellow shirts, three plain white shirts, two red shirts and three blue shirts. There were also a grey cargo pants, a black one and two blue jeans. Once his dufflebag was almost empty, he reached for the bottom, searching for the small red packet that lay underneath. Finding it, he smiled and pulled it out. Opening the red packet, or the hong bao as the Chinese called it, he took out the money from inside $100 bucks, from whatever he could get from his parents. The rest were in his bank account, but he wanted to use that to pay the bills until he could get a job.

Walking out of his room and relieved that he had recovered from his earlier 'breakdown', he pointed at the door. "Shall we?" He walked towards the door and sat on the nearby chair putting his shoes back on. Black converse shoes, to be precise. He looked up, checking to see if Aurora was following.

[Aurora]

Something seemed wrong for a moment. Aurora almost thought it had been something she had done. And she almost apologized. But...he seemed to be elsewhere as he walked into his room.

So Aurora returned to her room and pulled her purse from the few in the duffle bag. A white little thing, it already had her cash and things inside. She put it on her shoulder and turned to walk back outside.

There she saw Zade pulling on his shoes. Her eyes went wide and she gasped. Aurora had forgotten to pull off her own shoes. Now...the red head felt really bad.

"I'm sorry! I forgot to take off my shoes! Please forgive me Zade!" She looked worried, and upset with herself. Aurora tended to blame herself about a lot of things. This was going to be interesting.

[Zade]

He cocked his eyebrows after hearing her apologise for an unknown reason. He sat up, leaving his right foot uncovered and his left foot already in the shoes. What happened? Did she realise why he seemed so distant earlier? How did she? And then, the second sentence registered into his head. He sighed, then chuckled. Standing up on his right foot, he gave her a reassuring smile, then replied.

"Nah, it's alright. It's your first day, after all. Besides, not like your shoes were that dirty, correct?" He chuckled once more, then looked at the ground. It seemed that whoever had lived here before, didn't really know how to sweep. In fact, even if Zade had not removed his shoes, there would be no visible difference on the floor. Looks like whenever they were gonna give the house a makeover, it was going to be a lot of work. Zade looked back up at Aurora, before putting on his right shoe. "Well, shall we go?" He said as he opened the door, waiting for her to leave the house first. After all, she didn't have the keys to lock to door... Did she?

Zade wasn't sure if he had sent her the keys. Cause if he did, he would have remembered it... Right?

[Aurora]

Later...

Aurora opened the door and finished walking in this time. Also...she remembered to pull off her shoes. This ment letting go of Zade's hand finally, but she was too fized on patching up the boy to concentrate on anything else.

"I have a kit in my bag."

She walked to her room rather quickly, rummaging around in her things til she found the white box she sought. There. They would clean the wounds and then...well..it really wouldn't need much patching now would it?

"I got it!"

The red head walked back out holding the first aid kit in front of her. She still looked worried...Zade, he had procted her. She wouldn't forget that.

[Zade]

Zade followed Aurora back into their apartment. Well, he was dragged in, actually. After Aurora let go of his hand, Zade got into taking off his own shoes. Taking a deep breathe and rubbing the aching parts of his head slightly, he stood back up and walked forward, hoping to reach his room before Aurora would find her took kit, when she suddenly emerged from her room, a white box in hand. Oh great. Zade never really liked being treated to health by a girl. It seemed... Embarrassing, so to say. He looked at her, then leaned on one leg.

"Great."

Zade flashed a smile, but stopped when he found that it hurt one side of his face. In reaction, he closed one eye and hissed, before looking at Aurora. Well, it did seem like he needed medical attention, or he wouldn't be able to smile for a while. That would indeed suck. Zade let out another sigh, then looked up at Aurora.

"Where do I sit?"

[Aurora]

"Umm....The couch! That'll work right? At least it'll be nice to sit on..." Aurora pointed over to the object she spoke about. The pale girl still held the first aid kit in her hands, big eyes worried.

"It'll probally sting when I clean it... but I'll try to be careful...I promise Zade." She was looking up at him, being as truthful as possible. It would sting. But she would try hard to be as gentle as possible. There was only one way to describe it. Aurora was over worrying.

"Please? The couch..." She still clutched the white box, trying to calm her heart, still fluttering. The entire fight had scared her, and if hadn't been for Zade...well she didn't want to think on it. It was time to take care of her roomie...her only friend here thus far.