Alone Together

13: "Home"

How Melvin managed to get out of bed that morning was never to be known for years and years to come. Future generations would question themselves, and go to great lengths to figure out the answer; how did Melvin get up that morning?

The answer is simple.

He remembered that Ryou made bacon.

Okay, even though he initially swore he would not fall for Ryou's antics, he was starving.

Melvin felt groggy when he got up, and he looked around the room. The curtains were still drawn closed, but they were pretty thin. The room was dim. Melvin groaned.

He felt a little chilled on his skin, so he reached for his shirt that was folded on the nightstand. Without bothering to change from his pajama pants, Melvin stood up and wandered the apartment, getting a better look of the room as the daylight lit it.

The sofa, a nice shade of maroon, was directly across from the TV. There was a black coffee table in between them, with metal coasters stacked in the corner.

He retrieved the bacon and sausage links from the kitchen and carelessly threw them onto a plate.

Next to the sofa was a white arm chair that looked quite comfy. It was beside the window, but had a nice TV view and reclined with a footrest.
"Mine." Melvin declared, getting comfortable as he sat down and reclined, putting up the footrest.
"All mine."

It was like that chair was made for him; his back fit almost perfectly against it, and it was probably the most comfort he had ever felt in a chair such as that one.

With his breakfast in one hand and the TV remote in the other, he began flipping from channel to channel. Eventually he stopped on one of those competitive cooking shows, and watched as they scrambled to make some complex food dish with the given ingredients before the time was up.

The stress and fear in their eyes made Melvin quite happy.

Eventually he ran out of food to eat and realized that if he wanted more, he'd have to get up and retrieve it. So, he heavily sighed and got off his lazy ass to get to the kitchen for whatever was left.

The TV show only became background noise as he opened the fridge, eyed a cup of yogurt, and decided why not?

Melvin held the spoon in his mouth, thinking about how he could take control of the situation without the chance of getting kicked out.
Think about it; he was surrounded by things that weren't his own, food he couldn't choose, and a person who he knew practically nothing about.

He had absolutely no control over anything. And he hated that.

Assessing the situation, he realized that first he'd have to figure out who Ryou really was, and what his weaknesses were.

Ryou wouldn't know what hit him.

Melvin's eyes wandered to the key on the counter, with a note -with handwriting much neater than his own- beside it.

Mariku, I left this emergency key for you, just in case you needed to go out and about for anything you might need.

I should be back by 1:30, at the latest, but please leave some kind of message about where you might have gone. You do not have to do so, but I feel more comfortable knowing where you are, in case you might need me to come get you.

I've also left you an old phone of mine, in case you might need it. I'm already in the contacts under "Ryou", so don't worry about numbers.

Anyways, I hope I don't make you feel as if I'm hovering over or suffocating you. Please, make yourself at home and stay safe.
~Creampuff

Then there was a little smiley face at the end.

:)

Melvin picked up the phone and opened it, seeing it had no backgrounds or passwords into it. The photo album and inbox was empty, along with the contacts (except for Ryou's, of course) and the text inbox only had one message from Ryou.

Have a splendid day! ^3^

"...Is that a kissy face?"

Melvin cringed a bit, seeing how Ryou had just given the sweetest and most disgustingly nicest letter and text message anyone had ever given him...and they had emoticons.

Still, Ryou had been idiotic enough to give him in and out access to the apartment, and a phone to contact anyone he needed.

It was all to good to be true, though. Something had to be up with Ryou, and Melvin would find out.

There wasn't much evidence that pointed to a creepy side for Ryou, plus he was too small to take him in a fight. But Melvin now knew the rules to the game—Ryou was trying to get close. Be trusted. He would destroy Melvin from the inside out.

Melvin needed to explore the place; he was sure to find something to give him all the info he needed.

So, before proceeding further, Melvin washed his hands. He may never clean a mess, but he won't leave his greasy-fingered evidence that he'd been snooping in places he shouldn't have been.

Down the hall and the first door by the entrance was Ryou's. Of course, there was no way for Ryou to be watching, but still he winced as the door creaked when he opened it.

Ryou's room was illuminated by drawn curtains, and below the window was a window seat with pillows on it. His bed was against the wall (which Melvin fought every urge not to jump on it), and a nightstand, with an alarm lock and a reading lamp on it, beside it.

Beside the lamp, however, was a piggy bank, cans and tins, jars and a Pringles can, but all were filled to the brim with money, and written on each, how much inside.
For a moment, Melvin considered taking it, but stopped when seeing a little piece of paper in front of them, with, in black ink, the word "HOME" on it.

Melvin raised a brow, said, "Whatever the hell that means." And explored elsewhere.

Behind the door, there were ceiling-high bookshelves filled with...well, books; which explained why the room smelled like them. It smelled pretty good, actually.

The room was clean; the bed was made and the furniture dusted. The books were in author order and organized by genre. The wardrobe was tidy and the drawers were closed.

What really caught Melvin's attention was the desk right across from the door, which had a laptop in the middle of it. He opened it, saw that he needed a passcode, and closed it again.

He began checking the drawers for a paper or something that might've had it, but he found nothing to his liking or interest.

"His room is useless!" Melvin exclaimed angrily before slamming the door upon his exit. "There's gotta be something to tick him off, some kind of weakness..."

When he heard a knock, he bolted to the chair and threw himself onto it as Ryou unlocked the door to the apartment and came inside with some French fries and said, "Oh, hello Mariku! I'm glad you're still here!"

"How was work?" He decided to play dumb, to play along with the game.

"Okay, I guess." Then Ryou said, "I have a question for you, just to make sure."

"Um...ok?"

"Alright. Please, enlighten me: we live in a world where men can't get pregnant, correct?"