remnants in dreams (sal fisher x fem!reader)

chapter one: the calm

no matter how hard you scrubbed at the walls and floors of your new apartment, the place seemed stained and dirty. it was unsettling, but the soap had made your hands dry enough for it to be too uncomfortable to continue, so you settled onto the couch with a wary glance over the living room.

the place looked clean...but in some way it wasn't. you couldn't explain it, but it was annoying.

swiveling your body to lay down onto the old couch (it came with the place) you assumed it was once a bright color, but now it looked dusty and muted.

a soft tapping came from your door. it took you a moment to realize it was someone knocking.

"oh, the door's unlocked, you can just come on in," you called out, your voice a tad higher than usual to sound more polite. normally, you would've gone to open the door, but the couch was comfortable enough to make you want to stay there for a moment. or maybe you were just too tired.

with your head against the arm rest of the couch as your little makeshift pillow, you watched the door open.

in any other circumstance, you probably would've been worried that a stranger who's face you couldn't see just entered your apartment, but the pit of your stomach gave no warning. you'd always had eerily good gut instinct, and right now it was saying that you're perfectly safe. actually, it felt oddly strong, like you had some type of psychic pull towards them.

your lips turned down into a frown. you were getting ahead of yourself.

"hi," the stranger said with an awkward wave.

you realized you'd been staring at them for a long moment now, and you're sure the frown you were adorning wasn't inviting. your face felt hot all of a sudden.

"hey, sorry, i zoned out for a moment. nice to meet you, my name's (y/n). i'm, uh, i'm new around here."

"i'm new, too. well, sorta. i moved in a couple of weeks ago. you can call me sal, or sally face, whichever one works for you."

so the stranger now had a name. noted.

there was an awkward pause of silence before you forced yourself to say something. "the uhm, the mask is cool." you shot sal a grin, the compliment was genuine. it really did look nice.

"thanks, it's actually a prosthetic." he nodded slow with his words, and you sat up from the couch, scooting over to make some room.

"you can come sit, if you'd like. it's a prosthetic?" you hoped you didn't sound like you were prying.

he walked over almost soundlessly, taking a seat next to you. "yeah, my uh- my face is fucked."

you gaped. "i apologize, i shouldn't have asked!" slight internal panic set in, worried you just messed up first impressions. sal let out a breathy laugh. "don't worry about it, it's not much of a bother to ask about. plus, you were just curious, you couldn't have known."

you let out a short huff of relief, one that took another laugh out of the blue haired boy next to you.

your apartment door clicked open, and your head snapped up to look at it, only to see that it was barely open. "man, you didn't even knock," sal grumbled next to you, though it was directed towards the tall figure who's head was currently sticking into your apartment.

"she doesn't even look that scared, it's fine," you blinked, slow and confused, and looked back and forth between sal and whoever was standing in your doorway. "by the way, i'm larry," he shot you a wink. "next time i'll knock, i swear i'm courteous, but i need sal real quick. a friend of ours got something for him, i wouldn't barge in if it wasn't important."

whatever larry was talking about clearly got sal excited, he was up off the couch and next to larry in a quick flash of blue. "it was nice meeting you!" sal called as he left the apartment, larry shutting the door behind them.

"what the hell," you muttered, staring at the door after they had left. "at least the neighbors aren't boring, i guess," you reassured yourself before your door popped open again.

"firstly, you really should get a lock for your door so people can stop barging in. secondly, sal said you can tag along, so c'mon new girl." larry spoke quick, his hand lingering on your doorknob and an eyebrow raised as he looked at you.

you were so lost.

"you comin' or not?"

you were off the couch and standing in the hallways of Addison Apartments before you could really process it.