As you tap his shoulder, Kaiholo turns with a big smile on his face as he almost strikes a few poses with his new hair. He finally nods as he listens to you.
"I have faith that it will help a lot more than we expect." He mumbles airily.
As Kaiholo stands up and begins walking to your room, you hear him humming, and somehow you know exactly what he's humming.
Nighttime remained eerily long when the sun wasn't around all that often. Regardless, as you set up a place to sleep on the couch and turn off your lights, something about the darkness was just different. Different from the darkness in your bedroom; it could have been because of how much more space you have in your main room compared to your bedroom, or it could be the single light from down the hallway's window that hit your floor. Or it could be the first night with a mysterious neighbor setting off the energy.
Whatever it was, you didn't really care. You're going to sleep.
The sound of the light rain accompanied you as you get comfortable.
You close your eyes as the occasional car passing by adds some variation to the rain, but after a few calming minutes, the sounds begin to drown in a mixture of each other, blurring until you don't process them anymore
You open your eyes. Looking around, images aren't that developed yet, but as you continue to look with curiosity, the scene before you grows clearer.
You're floating over a vast ocean that doesn't really exist. You can see the fish dotting the darkness like stars in a clear night sky. What color are the fish? Can you see the bottom? Can you see the plants that float near the top? Can you feel the ground below you? That doesn't matter, but you can feel it if you want to.
Regardless, you could feel the other's presence, but you weren't sure if you were allowed to address it. The silence that followed only lasted a non-existent moment as the other spoke.
"What do I look like to you?"
The voice hung directly next to you, your left ear tickling at the sudden feeling of rhythm that their tone maintained. It took you a solid couple of seconds to actually focus your vision and see them.
The first thing you notice are their expectant eyes.
"I don't know," I mutter as the vision quickly blurs again. "I'm tired of you controlling my dreams. You always left me guessing." The words came out smoothly, but not for long. Their eyes glimmer closer every now and then, like a distant book I've read. What book? I don't remember.
"I guess that's the point, isn't it?"
You're not really sure which part they were responding to, but they refused to elaborate. They release a saddened grin, looking down into the sea.
"It's beautiful, isn't it? I've never actually seen it until now, I appreciate you giving me the opportunity."
They look back up at you, their expression holding a bit more of a serious tone now. Their eyebrows pressed down, but tilted up and inward to communicate fear; or sadness.
"I'm not a good person. I'm stuffed full of awful mistakes, and as much as I wish I could change, it's just not possible in my case."
They take a step closer to you, but their confession sparks something in you that causes you to take a step back in response. This visibly hurts them.
"I just wanted to apologize in advance for what I may or may not do. I'm sorry. It's a hard enough decision as it is, and you have to know that I myself am scared, too."
They stick their hands in their pockets and start taking a few steps away from you, away from the light, obscuring your view of their face. *
*"I'll see you later, Jen."
CLANG!!
The sound of metal hitting tile jerks you awake, almost forgetting you were on the couch as you look to the source of the sound. Kaiholo stood frozen in the kitchen, a fork laying smugly on the floor as Kaiholo whispers,
"Did that wake you up?"
"Wai-" I try to call out, but-
My body jumps in fear at the loud noise. I look around in a panic as the dream starts to fade away from me.
"Did that wake you up?"
I groan in frustration and throw the blanket to the side, feeling the same old stinging tiredness. "Yes, that fucking woke me up. I was in the middle of a dream and now I can't remember it," I snap at him, but instantly feel guilty. "Sorry, Kai. What are you even trying to do?"
Kaiholo's ears perked up when you responded.
"Dream?" He echoed, like a dog hearing the word 'treat'. "What happened in the dream?"
Kaiholo's always been eager to hear your dreams, as if they mean something to him. As you ask him what he's doing, he grows a bit sheepish.
"I was hoping to make you some breakfast before you woke up. I only have some scrambled eggs done." He smiled nervously, fidgeting as he rubs the nape of his neck.
I slowly sit up and rub my eyes, reaching for my glasses. "I told you, I lost the dream." When I slide my glasses on my face, the world is revealed again in a clean, clear perspective. The smell of eggs perks me up a bit, along with the soft sound of sizzling. "I love your eggs, do you need any help?" I offer.
Weirdly enough, Kaiholo appears disappointed that you forgot your dream. Nevertheless, he grabs a spice container, confirming with you that it's the correct one, and shakes a bit of it onto the eggs.
"I wouldn't mind, yeah. I'm worried I'll burn my hands making pancakes, but I have the batter ready."
He points to a mixing bowl of pancake batter, a whisk sitting peacefully inside.
"Also I forgot to turn on the lights." Kaiholo adds, grinning to himself.
I fall into a fit of laughter at his mention of no lights. I turn my head towards the window where Zain sat quietly, admiring the way the sun shone through the window to light up the room. "Very funny, Kai. You and your talents, cooking without lights," I say teasingly.
Pancakes weren't my favorite, but I knew Kai made quite the batter. I gently push him aside and make the both of us perfect little pancakes and toss them onto the plates, next to the eggs.
"Remind me again what you prefer on your pancakes, syrup? Butter? Whip cream? How much?"
Kaiholo grins as he stands a bit closer to you, turning to face you when you talk.
"Strawberries aren't in season anymore, are they? Just butter and lots of syrup for now." He chimes, waiting patiently for you to apply the syrup. For the most part he can guess where your table is, but since it tends to move the most, he bumps into it more often than the other stuff. For now, he just stands still, awaiting your next move for his queue.
my table does not move the most she is wrong
"I wish I had strawberries, that'd be so good right now. So, do you know where we're meeting up? Are the others going to call you?" I inquire as I bring the plates over the my dining room table. I place forks next to each meal, after that pouring up some apple juice, for it was all I had left. I tug at Kai's arm in the direction of his seat, indicating that breakfast was ready.
I pull out the chair and sit down, chowing down on the fluffy scrambled eggs first.
Kaiholo follows your lead to the table, sitting down as he thinks about your question.
"We'll meet up at my bar. It'll have to stay closed for a while, but I'm sure no one would mind."
Bars and pubs often closed for weeks at a time, due to the adventerous nature of a majority of the city's population. At least, that's what Kaiholo likes to think, but most of the time it's due to bars not passing health inspection or regulations, and needing to be closed for renovations or cleaning. Luckily, Kaiholo kept his in good shape.
"We won't be meeting until noon, so we've got a bit of time. I want to talk to Myst while I'm here. You should probably let her know you'll be leaving as well."
"Yes, I planned to," I reply after gulping down the rest of my eggs. I move onto the singular pancake, dancing to nothing in between each bite. "Bars aren't a necessity so it's really not a big deal. We're all broke anyway, plus you got regulars that love us to death."
After the two of you finish up, Kaiholo refusing to let you wash the dishes so that he could wash them, you gather your things and head out the door. As you step out, you hear talking coming from the mysterious tenant's door. Kaiholo hears it too, and immediately all of his attention directs toward the door.
The talking gets closer as you recognize one of the voices. Finally the door opens.
Myst and the tenant step out, the tenant in mid-sentence. "-it until now, I appreciate you giving me the opportunity."
"No problem, and if any problems arise, don't ever hesitate to let me know. I've got some good contacts for plumbing, electricity, all that fun stuff."
Myst turns around to notice you and Kaiholo, her smile shifting from the Landlord Smile to her friendly personal smile.
"Jenny! Kaiholo! Good to see you two. Great timing, too." She gestures to the tenant. He wore the same outfit from when you first saw him; the white button up and black pants. His hair was dark and fluffy, but still fairly short, at least compared to Kaiholo's. He had somewhat of a sickly look about him, but he held himself as if that was his usual appearance, the hazel eyes showing enough life in them to confirm he wasn't actually sick. Myst continues.
"I'd like you to meet Tyler! Tyler, this is Jenny, she's a good friend of mine, and this is Kaiholo, a good friend of Jenny's."
I walk out with Tyler and spot Myst. She always had the most luscious hair, thanks to her genes. The smooth silk black bounced nicely on her shoulders. I am not gay.
"Didn't you ignore me yesterday?" I mutter, eyeing the rather handsome-looking man. Tyler felt like a familiar name.
Tyler almost tried not to look you in the eye, but eventually glanced at you with an air of a friendly-stranger smile.
"Hm? Oh, right, my apologies." He begins, his voice polite, but you can tell it's the kind of polite that customer service workers have, "I guess you could say I was being pulled in all different directions. I understand everyone lives a busy life, but I never really get a chance to rest."
Kaiholo holds his hands behind his back as he maintains a polite smile.
Myst chuckles softly.
"Don't worry, Jenny," She starts, the tone of her voice setting up for what could either be a joke or a threat, or both, "Tyler knows the rules of the apartment. He won't cause any problems here."
What could you possiby be doing that didn't allow a second to greet your neighbor? I wonder, somehow doubting his words. Nonetheless, I put the thought aside, as Kai and I have more important matters than questioning a stranger. For now, at least.
"Right, well, it's good to meet you. If you need anything, I work at Kai's," I gesture to Kai," Kaleidoscope, or I'm here, at the complex."
"Except we'll be closed for a little bit."
Kaiholo adds, and unless you were mistaken, you sensed a bit of passive aggression in Kaiholo's voice.
"Which reminds me, we should get going. You ready?" Kaiholo starts gesturing towards the downstairs as he slowly gravitates to the exit, as if he was trying to leave as soon as possible, gently ushering you along with him. As you start leaving, Tyler waves a simple goodbye.
"I'll see you later, Jen!"
Kai pushes me with him before I could gather what is happening. The way Tyler said 'Jen" irks me greatly, so all I can mutter out is a "Bye?"
After the realization that we were walking off, I face Kai and put a hand on his arm, stopping him. "Woah there, I don't know why you're in such a hurry, but we still need to talk to Myst." My voice lowers a bit. "I get weird vibes too, but let's not make it obvious."
As you remind Kaiholo, he exhales a breath that you didn't know he was holding as he nods.
"Right, I'm sorry," He begins, luckily Myst wasn't too far behind you, and you and Kaiholo meet her halfway.
"Closed for a bit?" Myst begins, clearly curious, "Mister Spider, I could have sworn that bar was your whole life just a few weeks ago."
"It's just a mini vacation, so-to-speak," I explain, running my fingers through my hair. "Which I'll be going on, so I won't be at the apartment for a bit. How long again, Kai?"
Kaiholo appeared somewhat absentminded until you pull him back to reality by speaking his name.
"Hm? Oh, about two weeks, that's enough time to travel the world, right? Maybe three."
Myst nodded affirmatively, turning to you with a vague smile.
"Thank you for letting me know. Should I have Harmony take care of Zain, or…?" She begins, as Harmony herself enters the scene, stepping down the stairs with much more bounce and energy than when you saw her last night.
"Good morning everyone!" She exclaims, noticing the generous amount of people in the main lobby area.
I nod to Myst about my plant.
"Speak of the devil," I smile to Harmony. "what's got you so happy, girl?" Her feathers seem brighter, more saturated, and her face lit up with joy. Adorable.
Harmony glistened with a smile.
"Everyone knows a good night's rest is the best medicine. Last night I had the best dream. Picture this: Moss. Everywhere."
Harmony finished with a tone that suggested she had just started, but as the silence extends longer, the realization sets in.
"Anyway," She continues, looking around. "Did I hear my name right before I walked in?"
My mind moves to a world covered in green. The buildings just swallowed by soft moss, gentle to my eyes, the air smelling fresher and fresher by the second…
"Did I hear my name right before I walked in?"
"Yes, actually, I was wondering if you could do me a favor and water Zain every now and then, just for two weeks?" I mention, a bit of guilt sewn behind my words.
Harmony's eyes lit up as you mentioned Zain.
"Oh my gosh! I'd love to! How is he? Is he doing good?"
Before you responded, Kaiholo placed a hand on the back of your shoulder to get your attention.
"Alright, I'm ready," He murmurs, as Myst turns to leave back into the apartments. You eye her body language, though difficult to read as she walked away, she didn't seem like anything was wrong.
I take his cue and nod to Harmony. "He's doing amazing! But we should head on our way. Thank you again, girl!"
We make our way to the bar, but I can't shake the strange feeling off my back. The new tenant could not be more off. I try to forget and take in the surroundings around us.
Everything looked different in the day. Ironically, it felt darker, gloomier, as if the colors of the night vanished, afraid of the industrial sun polluting the air. But even the neon signs never replaced the color green.
Kaiholo remains quiet as the two of you walk, the air clearly more off than it usually is. Fortunately, by the time you reached the bar, the tension dissipated. Roger, Eddie, and Yuki were already waiting at the front door by the time you and Kai arrived. Eddie and Yuki were discussing the changes in seasons and how it used to work. Nowadays it's not as exaggerated as it supposedly was before rain dominated any potential weather. Nowadays it's either warm rain or cold rain. Today, it was cold rain.
Kaiholo inserted the keys into the door and the five of you piled inside, the bar somehow warm despite being left alone overnight.
"Jean and Anubis are finding the best flight options for us, but they said they'll be here soon."
Though there were commercial airplanes you could use, by now that was the bottom of barrel kind of option. You weren't sure exactly what Jean and Anubis were capable of, but hopefully, they could find anything better than an airplane.
"So what's the deal, boys?" I say, needing to pee. I realize that these things never have peeing. Just know, i do indeed have a bladder, and it feels pretty full. "Hey guys, I'm gonna go pee. I hope Jean and Anubis get they ass's here real soon." I make my way to the restrooms. I always hated public bathrooms. But I just gotta pee. A girl's gotta do what she's gotta do.
I come back and Jean and Anubis are definitely here now.
Jean pulls out a gun and shoots you.
"you think ur funny u stinky"
On your way out of the hallway leading from the restroom, you hear the front door open and close, followed by some muffled voices. You enter the main area, Anubis looks at you and places a hand on Jean, who's back was to you until Anubis alerted him of your presence as he turns around and gives you an expectant look.
"I didn't even realize how much Hawaii looks like fucking New York City nowadays, but we've got a pretty decent flight there, and it should take almost seven hours."
Jean utters as Eddie has to place a scolding grip on Yuki's arm to keep him from sneaking behind the bar and grabbing a bottle.
"On the bright side, it gives us plenty of hotel options."
Kaiholo approaches you and leans close so as to give him the ability to whisper.
"Would you prefer sharing a room with me if we make it two beds? It'll save money, but we can still book an extra room if you'd prefer."
