Flaming cocoon, Or, How I learned to break free of my shell

Ch. 1: Cosmic probability

     I stare at the note in front of me, not daring to believe it. Taking a shuddering breath, I read again the words etched on the document, words that seal my fate. The letter reads: 'Dear resident(s) of Apartment 143, Complex 2, Redbird Lane, you are receiving this notice to inform you that you owe rent payments of approximately $3125 to this establishment and its landlord. Failure to pay this amount within the required 2 weeks will result in eviction.' I choke back a sob, then notice there's a postscript that I missed when I received the letter 3 days ago. The postscript was from my landlord, Evan, who must have resealed the letter extremely carefully to avoid being caught. He'd written this: 'Hey Cosmia, noticed you lost your job recently. Since you've fallen on hard times, come see me when you read this postscript. I have an idea that might help you.' I blink, trying to catch my breath. I open my door and cross to Evan's apartment, knocking on his door apprehensively. He opens the door and beams. "Ah, good. You're here. Come in." I follow him to his living room and sit down, my wings fluttering nervously. I shift my gaze around the room, nervously trying to work out what I'm here to hear. Evan returns from his room and grins. "So, ready to hear the big idea?" I take in a shaky breath. "Ready as I'll ever be." Evan chuckles. "Good. So, I have a friend who could probably let you move in with her. She's your upstairs neighbor, and I think you'll like her. It also solves your rent problem, because I can supersede it and pay it off for you, no reimbursement needed. I have more than enough to share that I don't really need, but clause 4 prohibits me from helping you out financially in other ways. Unfortunate, but we'll make do. What's your decision?" I blink. "I... Honestly, the job market's shit right now. I accept, but I owe you a massive favor after this. Usual terms." Evan grins. "Excellent. Avia, show Cosmia around." A movement out of the corner of my eye startles me, and I yelp as what is very clearly a hummingbird, standing around 5'7", emerges from the corner of the room. The bird, who I presume is Avia, blinks and shuffles slightly backwards. I take a breath. "Sorry about that. You just startled me. Avia, I presume?" The bird nods and speaks in a surprisingly deep voice, "Yeah, that's me." Avia winces. "Ugh. Voice. Ick. No. Yucky." I giggle. "You just summed up how my brother feels. He's trans and hates his voice." Avia chuckles. "Mood. she/they pronouns, just to clarify." I grin. "Same. So, you gonna show me around your apartment?" Avia smiles. "Sure. See ya Evan. Good luck with the paperwork!" Evan groans. "Don't remind me. Oh, and by the way. There's a few flower nymphs moving into the neighborhood in a few days, and I'd just like to remind you about rule 86." Avia gags. "Loud and clear, boss. Not that I'd do anything, but thanks I guess." I grimace. "Ah, rule 86. Put in place because some idiot tried to fuck someone when it wasn't ok and they weren't ready. Good rule to have for protecting others, and understandably applied more to pollinators than anyone else while still being applied fairly. We really need to tone ourselves down as a whole. Also, it is worth noting that that incident was a fringe case. Most people won't be awful like that." Evan looks sharply at me. "Yeah, you do need to tone it down, and while that may have been a rare chance, it still happened, and I won't take chances on anyone's account. That's why I'm moving one of the nymphs in with you. As a fellow pollinator, I have to be sure everyone is respected, and believe me, I know both sides can be victims." I salute. "Understood. So, shall we Avia?"Avia grins. "Let's go." We leave Evan to do his paperwork and head back to my apartment. "I'll be just a moment. Gotta grab essentials." Avia nods and hums as I step inside. I grab everything that I'll immediately need and step back outside. "Ok, I'm ready." Avia grins. "Good. I'll show you around." We step upstairs to her apartment, 244, and she pulls out her keys. "Give me a sec. This lock can be tricky." I nod. After a minute, she pushes the door open. "There. Come on in. I'll show you the setup bed wise." I nod and step inside. The apartment is pretty clean, which makes a nice change from my old place. Avia leads me to the bedroom and stops. "Before we go in, I'd just like to preface with the fact we may have to share a bed. I refuse to let you sleep on the floor, and the guest room is messy enough I won't get it clean on time. Plus, my bed is huge." I grin. "I'm fine with that. I do want to warn you that I sleep half nude. You good with that?" Avia chuckles. "Long as it's not the waist down, we'll be fine. I tend to get morning wood, so I don't want anything to happen accidentally." I blink. "Ok. That'll work. To clarify, to what extent do you get dysphoria? I just want to know because then I know what to shop for to help you feel better, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to." Avia grimaces. "Fair point. I only get top and voice induced dysphoria. I don't get bottom dysphoria because it's not like everyone sees that, so it's not as big of a deal." I grin. "Ok. Good. Thanks for letting me know, and if I accidentally offend you, just let me know, ok?" Avia chuckles. "Alright. Shall we?" I grin. "Sure. I wanna see how big the bed is." Avia grins and opens the door. I gasp as I see how large the room is, then nearly fall over as I see the size of the bed. "Oh wow. That is a big bed." Avia grins. "Yeah. Come sit down." I pause. "You sure? I don't want to make anything messy." Avia smirks. "Not an issue. I have enough room in here to allow half the bed to be messy with no problems." I smile. "Neat. Anything else?" Avia chuckles. "Bathroom is down the hall to the left, shower is fully stocked, and washer sings when it's done." I beam. "Ok. Cool. Any allergies?" Avia pauses. "Not that I know of, no. You?" I smile. "Lavender and ragweed. Though, everyone is allergic to ragweed." Avia grins. "True. Anything else?" I smirk coyly. "What happens if we walk in on each other? Just putting it out there, because with my shit luck, it'll probably happen." Avia pauses. "Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get there." I blink. "Fair." I take a few minutes to get everything in order, then Avia pipes up. "So, dinner. Anything you want?" I grin. "I'll grab a nectar smoothie from the fridge. I poked around while you were grabbing extra pillows. Oh, and Evan knows about my allergy, so our third roommate will probably not smell like lavender. Probably." Avia grins. "So, just how bad is this allergy?" I shudder. "Near instant anaphylactic shock upon smelling or ingesting it, but antihistamines do fine at reversing it. Hasn't failed me yet, and my regular coffee shop has my usual on file, and someone competent at the counter constantly, because lavender is surprisingly hard to work around here, and to anyone not used to me, I probably sound entitled with my order." Avia laughs. "Oh dear. That's...wow." I grin. "Yeah, no kidding. Actually, one of the people who usually takes my order is a really hot flower nymph, and she said she's looking for a place to stay. What would you be willing to bet on her being our third roommate?" Avia blinks. "Firstly, did you just come out to me without noticing? Secondly, 20 bucks says no chance, but another 30 says that she'll ask you out when you visit the shop next, because we go to the same place for coffee, and I've seen her talk to you and about you. Ready to lose 50 bucks in two days, since we'll know our third roommate by then?" I grin. "You're on, and another 20 says that she won't ask me out, she'll ask you out. She swings hard for all teams, and has heart eyes when talking about you. And I'll call your 50 for her being our roommate. Ready to lose 70 bucks in two days?" Avia grins. "Ok." With that, we head to sleep.