After washing up, I headed over to Carmen's house for dinner.
Ever since I'd started staying here, I'd ended up eating there most nights with Carmen and Shannon. Shannon had been the one to insist on it in the first place. I'd pushed back at first, mostly because I already felt like I was taking up too much space in people's lives without meaning to, but in the end I gave in.
Honestly, Carmen made that decision way too easy.
She could cook. Really cook. In this world, that wasn't some small domestic skill anymore. It was rare. Valuable. Almost unreal some days. Half the time, when I thought maybe I should stop imposing and eat somewhere else, all it took was remembering the last meal she'd made and my resolve folded on the spot.
I still felt a little guilty about it.
Thankfully, Carmen didn't seem to mind.
