TW: Random AU

Title: ~Grocery Store~

Strife didn’t need to eat cheaply, being a CEO, but he’d rather not waste money on something as unimportant as food, which is why he was scouring the internet for cheap recipes before he leaves for the store.

It’s almost instinctual how he types in the URL of the oh-so mysterious ‘KD’ (the blogger once joked that it stood for ‘Kraft Dinner,’ a nickname they attained in college), and skims through the newest entries- thankfully, there’s something vegetarian right at the top, and he quickly takes out his well worn pad of paper so he can scribble the ingredients of the meal on it along with the rest of what he needs (coffee, creamer, detergent, ect), before locking his computer and leaving his small one bedroom apartment to walk to the nearby store.

Before he does though, he pauses by the mirror to quickly check his appearance- shirt buttoned all the way up, vest straight, no hair out of place- he doesn’t think he’ll be spotted, but he doesn’t want to take that chance, doesn’t want anyone seeing him as anything but perfect.

When he gets to the store he grabs his cart and he’s on autopilot while grabbing his groceries, checking and double checking his list to make sure he’s gotten everything, and nothing’s too expensive, or else he’ll wait (he’s not paying four dollars for a gallon of milk, he can go without for now) and he heads to his usual clerk- he likes her, she doesn’t ask questions.

He’ll even wait in line for her to finish up, rather than going to a less empty register, and it’s definitely not because of the cute bagger who works with her -fluffy blond hair that should look ridiculous (who even has mutton chops anymore?), blue eyes, just a few inches shorter than Will himself, and a delightfully charming grin when he commented on Strife’s choice of food, winking at him when the back of his neck flushes from the flirting, before Dave offers to help him carry his bags to his car for him, and invites himself to dinner again (and it’s not charming, not at all, and Dave is just playing with him, so he declines both offers (he doesn’t even have a car to take his bags to, for one).

Besides, it’d feel like cheating if he did- he has his mind set on the mysterious KD (who’s unattainable, and therefore he cannot be let down, even if KD does respond to his weak attempts at flirting in the comments, it will never happen), and so he doesn’t respond to Dave, except to nod at him and take his bags to go home. 

And when he gets home he’ll check the blog for a response, before making his dinner quickly and getting back to work until dinner’s done (he learned to take his laptop into the kitchen, so he can read over the recipe and catch up on his work without burning his food, like the first few times), and he’s happy with this routine, (he certainly doesn’t think about inviting Dave over to dinner even at his loneliest moments, wanting someone to fill in the quiet of his apartment- that would be silly).

~~~~

TW: Random AU,,, Xephos in his boxers

Title: ~Fire Alarm~

“What the hell is that?” Lomadia rubbed her eyes and glared at the source of the infernal racket that had interrupted her much needed sleep. The fire alarm was going off. Great.

Grabbing a blanket from her bed, she grabbed a pair of slippers and quickly, well as quickly as someone who had just been woken up at 3 am, walked out of her flat. She had only moved into her own flat two days ago and already she was starting to regret her choice. Luckily, Mr. Owl was still at her parents’ house, so she didn’t need to worry about getting him out of the apartment. 

Standing outside, Lomadia watched as other tired bodies shuffled out of the front doors. The landlord was running around nervously trying to make sure that everyone stood far enough away from the building. Lomadia chuckled at how much energy the landlord had so early in the morning.

Glancing back at the front doors, the last few people remaining in the building were finally shuffling out. Lomadia felt her cheeks warm slightly when she noticed her next door neighbor Xephos exit the building wearing only his boxers. His hair was disheveled and he walked like he was going to pass out at any moment.

Xephos moved to stand near the group and Lomadia noticed him shiver slightly. She should offer him her blanket, but would he find it weird? They had only talked once and that was just him welcoming her to the building. He had offered to help her unpack though. And he did look pretty cute with his hair all messed up.

Taking a calming breath, Lomadia walked over and held out her blanket. “You can use this if you want. You look pretty cold.” Blinking his eyes a few times, Xephos glanced back and forth between Lomadia’s face and the blanket in her hands.

“Aren’t you going to get cold?” Xephos asked slowly.

“I’m not the one standing out here in my underwear.” True, Lomadia dressed pretty warmly for bed and it wasn’t too cold outside. Xephos chuckled and scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed.

“I’m not the most alert when I first wake up. I kept thinking the fire alarm was just my alarm for work.” Lomadia laughed and held the blanket closer to Xephos.

“Here, take it.” Xephos took the blanket and wrapped it tightly around his body.

“Thank-you.” They stood in comfortable silence for a bit and watched as the landlord let everyone back into the building. Apparently some drunk guy had just been trying and failing to cook a pizza.

Shuffling back towards the building, Xephos stopped next to Lomadia’s door. “Here you go. Thanks again for letting me borrow it.” 

“No problem, what kind of neighbor would I be if I had just let you freeze out there?” Laughing, Xephos smiled and his face reddened slightly.

“Did you want to grab breakfast later? I’ll buy you tea as thanks for being such a nice neighbor.” Lomadia smiled and nodded.

“That sounds great. It’s a date then.” Lomadia teased and Xephos sputtered nervously for a second before noticing her smirk. Laughing, he nodded.

“It’s a date. See you in 7 hours?”

“See you then.” Walking into her flat, Lomadia was grinning from ear to ear as she crawled back into her bed. Maybe her choice to live here hadn’t been so bad.