Flint opened the door to the duplex next to Shiro's. He was a little surprised when he saw that this one was also fully furnished. It was the same type of furniture as Shiro's. There was a big curved TV mounted to the wall next to the door. There was an entertainment system beneath it. The latest gaming councils were tucked in neatly in the open shelves. A speaker was sitting on top of it. There was a book shelf full of video games next to it as well. In front of the TV there was a gray pull out couch with a coffee table in between the two.
Flint looked towards the dining room and saw that there was a small table with four chairs around it. On it there was a note with his name on it. He walked over to it and picked it up.
"Hey little wolf, you can use my old stuff. Thank me in the game world." it said. Flint laughed a little. He was dealing with so many feelings. He was angry, scared, thankful, seen, confused and frustrated all at the same time. A tear escaped his eye as he kept laughing. Flint looked at the note again.
"PS. Take the room on the right. The school beds are uncomfortable." Flint wiped the tears from his face.
He put the note back on the table. He walked up the stairs and looked at the two doors. He opened the room on the left out of curiosity. Inside was a twin size bed. The bedding had the school logo all over it. Against one wall was a door that led to an ensuite bathroom. Next to the bathroom was a dresser with three drawers. Next to the bedroom door was a simple desk with a lamp on it. There were no windows in this room and the colour was a weird yellow.
Flint closed the door and turned to the other room. Inside was a big futon. The bedding was a neutral grey. The drawers in this room were set inside a walk in closet. There was a TV mounted above the desk that had a stand for his PL and a new U-turn council. Its bright red and blue detachable controllers were vibrant.
Flint dropped his bag on the desk chair. He grabbed his clothes and towel again. He had full intentions of cleaning up earlier, but he got distracted while talking to Shiro and Catherine. Eventually Catherine had to go to her own dorm and Flint took the opportunity to get settled down.
He took a shower before he went back downstairs to get into the hot springs. Flint opened the sliding doors to the back yard. There was a tall fence dividing the lawn between the duplexes.
There was a lawn table and chairs on the deck. He grabbed a lawn chair and took the stone path towards the hot spring. He sat it down and put his towel on it. Walking into the hot spring Flint felt himself start to relax. His joints relaxed then he stretched. His joints popped and cracked releasing tension from his body. He walked in until the water was to his stomach. He then submerged himself under the water then popped back up and shook the water from his hair. The stress melted from his body, his shoulders relaxed and he felt like he could breathe easier.
Flint looked at the scars that criss crossed his body, the branding that spotted his torso, and the new bandaged wounds he had. He then noticed that there was blood in the water. Flint looked confused then looked at himself to make sure he wasn't bleeding anywhere again. No it wasn't coming from him this time.
Flint sniffed the air and closed his eyes. He could see the smells in his mind's eye. He focused on the bright red and blue smell of blood in water. He opened his eyes and followed the scent. The blood smell was a mixture of fox blood, humanoid divine.
Flint swam the bend that went around a giant boulder. It lead him into the yard next door. He swam on then noticed the girl that was sitting in the springs. She had red hair, fox ears and a fluffy fox tail. Her shoulder was bruised and looked wrong somehow, there were scratches on her arm. They were still fresh; this was the source of the blood in the water.
"Holly shit are you okay?!?" Flint said, seeing the injured girl. She didn't move or react. Flint went up to her and checked her breathing and pulse. He sighed in relief when he heard her steady breathing and felt the steady pulse in her wrist. He looked around looking for any potential danger but he could not smell or hear anything.
Flint acted without thinking and carried her out of the water. He focused on the air around him, he felt his body levitate. This was harder while holding this girl, but he managed to float them to his side of the fence. He grabbed his towel and wrapped it around the girl then grabbed his shorts before heading into the house.
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Vivica stirred, she was in that weird limbo between sleep and consciousness. She pulled the covers up on her but she was still cold. "Wait, wasn't I in the hot springs just a little ago?" she thought to herself.
Her heart sank and she opened her eyes. She shot up and looked at her surroundings. She was in a room she didn't recognize, on a futon. She hadn't slept on a futon in a long time. She pushed herself up before realizing she was putting weight on her hurt shoulder, except it didn't hurt anymore. She looked down at it and saw that all evidence of her injury was gone. No bruising, discoloration, nothing, there was only a small ache that remained.
Then she noticed that she still had her wet towel on her, and an additional one as well? Pocket monsters? Then she squealed; she was still naked! What happened? She looked around again holding the towels to herself then she spotted something on the desk in the room. It was an old track suit. Simple green sweat pants with a matching sweatshirt. The cuffs were frayed, and both had obvious stitches where someone had tried to fix them. She quickly grabbed it and put it on. She didn't know what was going on but she needed to get out of there.
She tried the door and sighed in relief when the knob turned. Good she wasn't locked in at least. She opened the door and was immediately hit with the smell of food cooking. The smells tickled a part of her brain that hadn't been touched in a long time. It awakened distant memories that she convinced herself she had forgotten a long time ago.
Vivica walked down the hall as quietly as she could. She got to the top of the stairs and heard music and a voice singing along to it. It was gruff and smooth at the same time. By no means was it a professional singer, but it was the kind of voice that she didn't mind listening to. Rough around the edges, slid smoothly through the notes; it gave her the feeling that whoever was singing meant every note, every word. Vivica quietly descended the stairs, she had to know who was singing.
She sat on the staircase where she could see into the kitchen. The house she was in had an open floor concept. The stairs lead to a small dining room which opens to a living room attached to a kitchen. The only thing separating them was a small island with stools on one side and the kitchen on the other.
From her vantage point Vivica saw a boy at the stove. His skin was a light brown with rust red undertones. His black hair was messy and curled at the ends. He wore a raggedy old shirt that looked like the neck hem was about to fall off. He had black basketball shorts on, there were traces of a design that had long fallen off. The boy was head banging to the rhythm of the song and singing into the handle of a spatula.
"Nobody to see, nobody to lose; youngblood on the street; been blackened and bruised; get ready for me, I'm ready for you; go sharpen the blade, bear witness to truth" The boy scooped up something from the frying pan into two bowls next to him as he kept singing.
"Oohh, my pretty little demon, I burn bright like the midnight sun" he cracked some eggs into the pan. Vivica inhaled the smell that was coming from the kitchen, the boy was using seasonings that reminded her of her past life, when she was happy.
Vivica's stomach growled like an animal excited to try these flavours again. The boy stopped dancing, and singing. Vivica saw his ears twitch like an animal; he turned towards the stairs, fear in his eyes. When he recognized her he sighed in relief. He grabbed his phone and paused the music.
"Oh gods you're okay!" he turned back to the frying pan. "I thought you were dead when I found you." He topped one of the bowls with the fried egg and set it on the island. "Come on down, eat, it will help with your healing." he said, turning back to the stove.
Vivica slowly got up and walked down the remaining stairs. She was embarrassed that she had gotten caught, embarrassed that she was even in this situation. Vivica tried to put her usual mask back on. "Who the hell are you?" she demanded. The boy looked up, surprise flashing across his face followed by a frown. He lowered his eyes away from her.
"Oh yeah, I'm sorry, I I'm Flint." he said, finishing off another bowl.
Now that Vivica was closer she could see that there were noodles in some kind of sauce and bits of cubed meat in the bowl. It was topped off with green onions, some darker green flakes and some sesame seeds maybe. It smelled amazing and Vivica wanted nothing more than to dig in.
"Why did you bring me here?" she demanded, trying to hide her hunger. "Did you drug me?"
Flint's eyes widened "What? No!! You were passed out in the hot springs when I found you! Y you were bleeding!" he said panic in his voice. Vivica stepped closer, her arms crossed in front of her. She was trying to not reach for the bowl of food.
"I have a boyfriend you know." she said "You better have not done anything weird." She threw a glare at him.
"No! I would never do anything like that." he said looking into his bowl. "I was just trying to help…" Vivica could see that his hands were shaking now. Now that she was closer she could see discoloured areas on his arm. Slashes criss crossing his fore arms. Vivica saw some leaves on his knuckles. They looked like they were peeling off and beneath them she could see fresh looking wounds.
"Healing takes a lot of stamina, eat something before you leave so you don't pass out again." Flint said, setting his bowl down on the counter next to the stove. "I'll get out of your way." he turned to head towards the dining room where the sliding doors were.
"Wait!" Vivica said "My shoulder, what happened? It doesn't hurt anymore." She was too exhausted to keep up this act, and she wanted answers. Flint was the only one who could provide her with any at this point.
Flint didn't turn to look at her, he shrugged "It was nothing," he said "I healed what I could see without taking your towel off." he continued walking away from her.
"Wait! Damn it! Turn around, I have questions." Vivica shouted. Flint's hands turned to fist at his side. Vivica shrunk back expecting to be hit, instead she heard him take a few deep breaths.
"What is it then?" he asked, still facing away from her. His hands were shaking at his side. Vivica was suddenly at a loss of words; the change that happened to this guy was drastic. His voice was now full of sorrow, he sounded defeated. His shoulders were now slumped.
"Uhm what all did you see?" she asked the first thing that came to her mind. Flint turned his head to look at her over his shoulder.
"Like I said, I didn't move your towel. I just did a general healing and then focused on your shoulder." He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his shorts.
Vivica pulled up the sleeves from the sweater. The scratches and bruises were gone from her forearm, there were only old scars left. Vivica looked back up at the boy. "Why?" she asked him, her voice was starting to tremble. "Why did you do it?" Flint looked at her confused.
"Why help you?" he asked her, then rubbed his arms and looked away. "Would you?" he asked her. Flint sighed and walked back to where she was. He lifted an arm towards her head but stopped. He looked away and brushed his hair out of his face instead.
"Eat, get your stamina back, it will help with the leftover pain." he walked to where his own bowl was "It's better when it's hot, don't let it get much colder." he lifted the chopsticks up to his lips.
Vivica looked at her own bowl. She hadn't used chopsticks since she was a girl. "Give me a fork, weirdo." she said. Flint pulled one out of the cutlery drawer and tossed it to her. It landed directly in her bowl.
"Yoooo!!!!" Flint said his face lighting up "that was awesome!!!" Vivica couldn't help but to smile. "You're a dork." she said, trying to hide her laugh.
"The dorkiest." Flint said, continuing to eat. Vivica looked at the bowl and poked at the pieces of the meal.
"Sorry if you don't like it, but it's all I had." Flint said through slurps.
"No no it's fine, I've just never had this." Vivica said, scooping up some noodles and chunks of meat. She tried it and her mind was instantly taken back to when she was a little girl. Her chest felt lighter, and her entire body relaxed into the chair. A small tear escaped her eye, she wiped it away before Flint could see it.
"Thanks dork." She looked into her bowl. "It's okay, I guess." She continued to eat the noodles and was sad when she saw that it was all gone. Flint took her bowl and dumped the rest of his into it.
"I'm not that hungry." he put his bowl in the dishwasher. He made sure to keep his back to her so she wouldn't feel uncomfortable.
Vivica smiled a little. "Eww you dweeb." she teased as she dug into the second helping. At midnight both of their phones rang with a notification. Flint grabbed his phone but took Vivica's off the charger in the kitchen he had put it on once he found it outside.
"I found this outside with your stuff." he handed it to her and pointed at the table in the dining room. Then he looked down at his phone. "Oh hey! It's team assignments."