Arkay yawned as he stretched out his arms and flomped onto the freshly made bed in his new room. While he was utterly exhausted, he was very happy with how the move had gone. Everything had been packed up and sorted out pretty tidily. All Arkay needed to do now was arrange his new home the way he wanted it.
Things were going to be simple from now on. No more chaotic adventures in the void. No more stupid group politics. Arkay was going to have a simple job that he could do in the safety of this little house and that was it. The only downside was that he’d be alone and isolated. Physically, at least. He’d still have contact with the outside world, plenty of it. But he’d be living in this little house mostly on his own.
Rolling over in bed, Arkay examined his bedroom. There was a kitchen, bathroom and living room elsewhere, but this was his main place. His new little hub. Most of his belongings were still packed away in a couple of boxes, but on the desk was a small foldable computer. Well, the beings that had helped him pack had called it small, but it was just right for Arkay.
The great thing was that it was already set up on the desk. It was also great that his desk was already set up too, as the single set of shelves he had were still packed up.
A rumble in Arkay’s tummy however completely distracted the young Decayling. Thankfully, Arkay knew that there were some sandwich-making materials in the kitchen. With another yawn, Arkay rolled off the bed and onto his feet and headed over to the kitchen, pausing only to turn his computer on. By the time he was done with his food, it would have finished started up.
After briefly staring at the two extra, empty bedrooms, Arkay walked through the living room into the small kitchen. The fridge was somehow already stocked with food, about 80% of it being recognisable to Arkay. What the other 20% was, Arkay would have to find out later, because the cheese and bread were calling out to him. And, for a treat, maybe he’d have a squirt of ketchup and some ham as well.
It took Arkay a little too long to make his cheese toastie, but he was very pleased with the end result. The biggest problem was realising that he couldn’t find his toastie-maker. It had been buried in a box underneath a ton of cutlery Arkay didn’t even know he had. Arkay was beginning to think that someone had given him a ton of extra stuff, so he could have a functional home, because he had no idea where that pink knife had come from.
As Arkay wandered back to his bedroom, plate of sandwiches in hand, he was pleased to see that his computer had turned on. He sat down at the desk, took a bite from his first sandwich then opened up the chat program. There was an unread message waiting for him.
“Hey, let me know when you are all sorted out, so we can chat.” Retvik had written. He didn’t appear online however.
Arkay smiled, taking another bite from his sandwich and typed a reply. “I’m here, place isn’t unpacked yet but we’re good. What’s up?”
“Oh, hello!” a message quickly popped up, followed by a green icon by Retvik’s online pseudonym. “Are you alright? How is the new apartment? How are you? Can I see?”
“Sure, you want pictures or…”
“We could video chat 🙂 ”
The little smiley face made Arkay smile more than it should have. “Sure.”
With a little grin, Arkay started a video call, but kept his camera off, letting Retvik reveal himself first. Retvik accepted the call instantly. Immediately though, Arkay noticed something.
“You’re not wearing any armour?” Arkay asked as he turned his camera on, just revealing his head. Retvik was wearing literally nothing aside from the organic plating that was attached to his body that he couldn’t take off even if he wanted to. Normally, he was at least wearing privacy-coverings and a stomach wrap, so this surprised Arkay greatly.
“Of course not!” Retvik looked genuinely happy. Like, really, really happy. “Oh, do you… want me to put some armour on?”
“Oh, no!” Arkay hesitated, before smiling again. “Keep your armour off. I… I actually kinda like it…”