"Well~ make yourself at home~" Eve said having already taken of her shoes, at the same time I could only stare out of confusion, Amanda herself? she hadn't come in herself but honestly there wasn't anything much to say.
"T-thank you for inviting us…" Looks like she snapped out of it first eh? as Amanda entered her room, taking of her shoes and I followed suit. It was a rather looking normal apartment at a glance, just like mine you know but…
There were a lot of boxes, unopened untouched, it looked rather inconspicuous at first glance but, curiosity is a part of human nature after all, ah just like that quote from Madam Herta.
"Eve, what's inside these boxes?"
"Hmm? Oh, those are energy bars! a few of those could probably keep you running for a few hours!"
"C-can I have a few?"
…
"A-ah they seem useful when I get hungry during a workout"
…
"Sure!, just grab a box or so"
"A-a-ah, I don't really need that much, but thank you…"
"I have chips, jerky, Oh, we could heat up these Pizza's to, what would you guys like?"
"I-I'll have the jerky then"
"I'll have some chips"
Step Step Step
"Alright~ and for drinks? I got zero sugar coke, pepsi and sprite, Oh? I also have zero sugar fanta, orange and berry flavored" As she had gone to her kitchen, shouting so we could still hear her.
"Then I'll have a pepsi."
"J-just water please-?"
"No~ It's zero sugar either way Amanda" Eve's soft voice could be heard as she had disappeared to her kitchen the sound of her rummaging through her fridge could also be heard.
"Uuuu…"
"Are you bad with fizzy drinks?"
"Uhm they sting my tongue, I don't really like it…"
"Then what do you usually drink?"
"Coffee. I-I usually drink milk coffee tho…"
"Oh~ I have somee don't worryyyy~ Milk Coffee right?"
"Y-yes!!!"
A few moments later…
"Well here's your snacks, enjoy~"
"Thanks"
"T-thank you…"
Crunch
Well I mean, they're just your average chips ya know? so honestly it all tasted the same, so honestly they were just 'Okay I'd say'
"You guys heard anything in the workplace?" Out of no where Eve started a conversation as we were still munching at the snacks.
"Not much, I'm not really close with the other cleaners."
"U-u-uhm—I'm too scared, but I did heard some rumours…"
"Oh? What is it?"
"I-I heard they captured a humanoid remnant, he looks human with blonde hair, I heard he grows as the sun rises, and returns to normal when the sun falls…"
Well that sounded familiar? ah right, Escanor, the sin of pride, from the series Seven Deadly Sins / Nanatsu no Taizai—Ohhh I remember reading the manga and watching the anime… The manga was nice, the anime? It kinda fell off after season 3…
But hey, at least it ain't as bad as One punch man season 3… It was just a Powerpoint slide….
"Oh??? That's interesting" I couldn't help but mutter it out loud.
"I heard some cleaners were demoted to R-Class again after planning to steal one of the Remnant things, It was the Omnitrix I think?"
"Damn, well they got what they deserved."
"True."
Nod Nod
Amanda on the other just stayed completely quiet
"Amanda? Does the conversation makes you feel uncomfortable?" I asked out of curiosity with a mix of pity
"U-uhm… I do feel bad for them… But there's nothing we as some random lowly 'cleaners' could do anyways so I'm just stomaching the fact…"
"Y'know sometimes I think your to green Amanda."
"W-why?"
"I meannn I can sympathize with them, don't get me wrong on that but, honestly it was a dumb idea in the first place y'know, they must be quite irrational to think they'd succeed in stealing something from The Silentium."
True—It is a very big organization after all, one that is quite ruthless with it's rules, but as long as you follow those rules it's not exactly that bad. Ah but if they found out I have a system…
Shiver
"C-cael?"
"Were you thinking of something bad~?"
"N-No, I was just wondering what it would feel like if I woke up and gained super powers y'know? Like Goku." Unfortunately I'm stuck with a barely usable system…
"Who?" Both Amanda and Eve said in unison—Hol'up They don't know the legendary Goku?
"Wait? You girls seriously don't know who Goku is?"
Nod Nod
"This can't happen, I need to educate you guys about Goku and the dragon ball series nicely." with a rather wide grin I said, as both Eve and Amanda seemed to take a step back
"U-u-uhhhhh… Cael? Can't we talk about this." Eve said as she slowly back down, on the other hand Amanda looked rather scared but obviously, as a fan of fiction. I must educate them about one of the father's of modern anime.
"No." with a wink
An unknown amount of time later…
"I surrender…" Eve's tired muttering could be heard as she layed sprawled on the couch, no longer caring about any images, on the other hand Amanda was—
"Woahhhhh!!!! Goku sounds so cool!!!"
"I knowwww, we should watch it together when we're free!!" with the enthusiasm of a 10 year old, Ahhh finally someone else who loves fiction, or at least is interested in it.
"After we finish with Dragon ball series, we can go with One piece, Naruto, or maybe even Bleach…"
"Ahaha- maybe not anytime soon?"
Hmmm. True, if you rush watching it'll bore you out too fast…
"Hmmm… yeah you're right… Oh what time is it btw—WHAT THE HELL?? It's 11.00PM??" I spent 3 hours talking about Dragon Ball…? Oh shit. well that explains why Eve looked absolutely tired…
"A-ah we can't get back now can we?"
"Yeah…" Uhhhh…
"You guys can stay the night…" Thankfully the room owner gave the green light, guess we're staying for the night.
"Oh the showers that way by the way, no warm water unfortunately"
"Eh, it's fine I don't use war water either way so"
"A-alright…"
"Oh you guys can shower first, I'm a guy, I won't take that long"
"Oh~? you sureeee???" I could've sworn this girl looked absolutely dead a few seconds ago, where did she have the energy to respond like this?
"Welll alrighttt~ Amanda you can go first, I probably have some spare clothes"
"I'll just go shirtless if that's fine for you guys?"
Nod Nod
Both of them just nodded, then again we've been working in cleaning these cells for a while now, there are some Remnants that just stick to your clothes, so most of the time we guys just go in shirtless, the girls just use some tank tops and co so yeah, common things.
A little while later
Now obviously, we're all mature adults, there's quite literally zero chance for one of those accidental meet up while naked scene you see in animes, Duh.
"I have some spare blankets and pillows by the way"
"Thanks."
"Thank you…"
"We can just sleep in my room, it's big enough for the 3 of us, I also have a few mattresses, Old Man Randy and his wife used to come over after all"
"The Old Guy has a wife?"
"Well he's quite old y'know, his wife passed away though."
"Old age?"
"An accident during a cleaning procedure."
Ah.
"I shouldn't have asked."
"It's fine~ It's a thing of the past, ah—Don't tell the old guy I told you this though…"
Nod Nod
"Oh by the way, don't touch any of my collectibles"
Oh? she collects things? I wonder what they are… figurines? yeah nope she doesn't know shit about anime, dolls probably?
Step Step Step
"Well then~ Welcome innnn"
Creakkkkkkk
…
Hmm?
As soon as the door was opened, I had expected a rather normal looking room, but the first thing that came to mind when I looked at her room was rather simple. What the—?
It was painted black, well sure maybe she likes gothic fashion? But in her room, there were shelves and they were all packed with—That's right you guessed it. Scuba Diving Gear.. Somethings I recognize.
Regulators, Double hosed regulators, some vintage looking ones, they looked like the ones used in that anime… Grand Blue I think? There were a few old looking diving helmets, you know the ones people in the 1900's used to use, some LAMA helmets were also on display…
"Hehe~? Surprised?" Yet this damn Scuba crazed girl only gave a wink as she showed a 'V' sign…
Glance
There were some things I couldn't recognize, maybe they were regulators, or maybe some others things I couldn't tell—Wait the damn minute. Is that a fucking Oxygen tank in the corner of her room???
"Eve."
"Yeah?"
"Why is there a big ass Oxygen tank in your room?"
"Oh~ I also have some gas masks and hazmat suits" STOP CHANGING THE DAMN TOPIC
"W-w-woah…" Yet I could hear Amanda with a sound filled with admiration and curiosity. Ah for fucks sake.
"So this is where all your money went huh?" You know she had an ordinary looking apartment, like me, like Jeremy, Well Jeremy has that 6000 dollar set up for War Thunder, and 3 damn monitors. Meanwhile this girl just has scuba gear everywhere.
What's next? Amanda's place is a gym disguised as a room? Ah fuck I swear if I jinx that shit…
"I-if I use those things, that means even if I'm underwater I won't sink right?!?!" Ah. Right she's also kinda dodo on the head…
"Well~ would you like to try~?"
"A-a-ah.. actually no… I might accidentally break them if get to scared…" Ah yes said the damn muscle monster.
…
Eve had this look, like she was contemplating you see, Is it worth it to let her try, but if it breaks… Ohhh the money down the drain…
"How many of these 'Vintage' equipments do you have by the way???"
"Hmmmm??? zHonestly I dunno, I stopped counting after 20~"
"Then you don't remember the amount of money you spent on them?"
"No reason to, they're fun you know~ You wanna try?"
Shiver.
"Yeah Uh—Maybe not any time soon"
"Awwwww…. It's alright, maybe next saturday."
Absolutely not, I don't want to be her test subject, better make sure I don't come to work next saturday then…
Click
The lights were off, it was time for us to drift into sleep—At least that's what I thought.
"H-hey Evelyn?"
"Yeah?"
"Why Scuba?"
Eve went silent for a bit, before she spoke.
"Because it's quiet. Silent, just you, your gear, and the water, it's a peaceful feeling, like meditating."
"Oh."
…
"And you? Why the Gym?"
"Uhmmmm, because if I'm strong then I won't be a burden, especially because I can't swim…"
"Is that so? and you Cael? Don't tell me it's just Dragon Ball"
???
"Of course not. I just like fiction in general, every book, every movie, every series, most niches I've explored."
"Hmmm. Fair enough."
"Alright, we should really sleep you know, can't be late for work, Team leader and Old Man's gonna complain the whole day"
I could hear Eve suddenly giggle before muttering, "yeah you're right." As I let my thoughts drift to the dream world, I looked at the system's sceen.
[0]
Weird, did I ask another question today? Well, whatever—Time to take a good sleep… Hopefully.
And that night, was the first time in a few months that I slept without having a single nightmare.
The quote from Madam Herta being : Curiosity is a dangerous thing y'know~