By the time Axiom woke up, Cell had completed the jigsaw puzzle several times over.
At the beginning, he had struggled with it, taking hours. Now he had shaved that time down to a single hour, having grown bored of assembling the same puzzle repeatedly.
He looked over at Axiom, who was yawning and rubbing his eyes.
Having tasted entertainment after sheer boredom, Cell wanted more. Another game. Of course, he wouldn't fetch it himself—he had important things to do. So he intended to take advantage of Axiom's helpfulness to acquire more.
Axiom stood up and looked at Cell, noticing the stare.
"…Are you done with the puzzle?"
Cell nodded. "I am. And well, Uno has become boring, so get a few more games. The newest one you brought became boring quite quickly."
Axiom nodded, floating upward and turning away, but paused and turned back for a moment.
"Oh, and I'll be staying somewhere else, so I'll bring a lot of games before that."
Cell narrowed his eyes before sighing, knowing there was little he could do about it. "Alright. But the games better be interesting."
Axiom nodded before flying back to the lady's house.
__
Walking inside, he looked around for her, only to find her still asleep in her bed.
Assuming she required more rest, he did what he considered the only reasonable thing—he sat down beside her bed, crossed his legs, and watched her while training his ki control.
__
A few hours later, the lady woke up, rubbing her eyes and yawning. She noticed the blanket felt heavier than usual, as if something were pressing down on it.
Looking around, she spotted Axiom staring at her and flinched at the unexpected sight.
"Why are you here?" she asked.
Axiom continued training his ki control but responded, curious whether he could multitask.
"I told you yesterday, didn't I? I'd be coming back every day for food. And if you're wondering why I didn't wake you, I assumed you fell asleep late, so I didn't want you to lose sleep."
Axiom knew the dangers of sleep deprivation well. He didn't want his food quality to suffer because of impatience.
Her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion before she seemed to relax slightly. "Huh… that's awfully considerate of you… thank you."
She stretched.
Axiom nodded. "You're welcome. But now, let's get to the true purpose of my visit."
She froze mid-stretch, her mind racing as she tried to anticipate what he meant.
"My… friend, you could say, needs a few more games. And since I've decided I no longer want to sleep on his hard floor, I've decided I'm going to stay here. Is that fine?"
She hesitated, unsure whether she should allow a being like him to live in her home.
"I—I'm sorry. I don't think I'd be very comfortable with that," she refused politely, hoping it wouldn't provoke him.
Axiom had anticipated rejection. Seeing her earlier hesitation, he adjusted his approach.
"You know, yesterday was a fluke. I wouldn't know if anyone were to threaten your life like that again. But I completely understand. I'm a stranger. And while I haven't hurt you, I have threatened you. So I understand if you can't accept me into your home."
He had noticed her overthinking earlier and hoped a small nudge would guide her conclusion.
She frowned, sensing something calculated beneath his civility. But he had waited for her to wake. He had saved her life.
What if someone else came for her? What if she died—or worse?
If he stayed, she would be safer, as long as she fed him.
The answer became clear.
"…Fine. I guess you can stay."
She got out of bed and changed from her pajamas into casual clothes.
Axiom smiled. "Much appreciated. And the games?"
She paused, having nearly forgotten. Moving to the drawer where he had found the puzzle the day before, she asked, "Two-player or single-player?"
Axiom thought for a moment. "Hmm… both should be fine. As long as there are instructions and they're not overly complicated."
She rummaged through the drawer and grabbed a checkers set—choosing it over chess since it was less complicated—along with three jigsaw puzzles, the last ones she owned.
"These should work. This is called checkers." She held up the box. "It doesn't have instructions, but it's pretty simple. White moves first, and—"
She stopped, realizing it would be harder to explain verbally to someone who seemed to have never played before.
"…Maybe we should play once. That would be faster than me trying to explain."
Axiom, who had stopped training his ki to examine the game, nodded at her suggestion.
__
A short while later, they had completed a round of checkers. The lady won, which wasn't surprising—she had experience, and he had only just learned.
Axiom considered the game. Cell would likely enjoy it; it required skill rather than luck like Uno.
He nodded. "Thank you once again for your help."
Grabbing the games, he began floating upward, steadily flying out of the house. Before leaving, he turned back to her.
"Oh, and I'll come back later today. Could you cook something for me?"
She nodded, watching him fly away with a sigh before closing the door and fixing her bed.