An Ordinary Life
The second meeting is worse than the first
Read on Ao3
Chapter 4:
Aradia rushed around the apartment trying to clean it up as best she could. She told herself she wasn’t trying to impress Kurloz, as far as she was concerned he should be grateful for whatever he got. But at the same time the idea of being seen as a slob by a family friend was a humiliating thought. Her first challenge was cleaning out the room she’d offered up. The room acted less as storage and more as a lab. It was small with a desk against the far wall. The surface was dusty from Aradia bringing her findings and leaving them there to be sorted.
There were shelves littered with different rock and bone fragments with tags identifying what they were, where they had been found and their estimated date of origin. Aradia had meant to donate a few the samples to the university – in exchange for extra credit of course – but found herself struggling to part with them. The desk’s lamp was on and illuminated Aradia’s tools; the brushes and shovels were less organized than they were just strewn about. Aradia worked to dust off what she could and vacuumed the carpet the best of her ability.
There was enough space in the room for a queen-sized bed and maybe a dresser, but not much besides that. The closet was mostly empty save for a couple boxes of paperwork and old essays. Aradia sifted through several sheets before drawing the conclusion that it was all garbage at this point – and she had electronic copies of it all. Aradia hefted the boxes up and out to the hallway to be thrown out later. It was hard for her to let go of these things, but she began to tell herself the only way to find Damara was to let go of the past.
Aradia pulled her hair into a high, messy bun before setting to work on organizing the bones and rocks, choosing critically what to keep and what to donate. She hoped Kurloz wouldn’t mind too much if a couple of the walls' shelves were taken up by her findings. He didn’t strike her as someone with a lot of trinkets he would want to put up anyway.
Aradia continued to sort through her items until the alarm on her phone went off signaling that it was 12:30. Aradia let out a little huff and stood up, stretching. She hadn’t quite finished, but this would be good enough for now. Besides, she really needed a shower. Aradia pulled her hair from the bun and entered the bathroom, turning on Hozier before she stepped under the hot water stream. ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Kurloz’s leg bounced impatiently as he obsessively looked at his phone screen to check the time. He was on a bus route he was unfamiliar with and worried he would be late to his meeting. He had checked and double checked the address many times as well as calculated the bus times but still felt a gnawing of worry in the back of his mind. He tried to dismiss this anxiety, by reminding himself he was visiting someone’s home not going to a job interview. It would be ok if he was a few minutes late. These thoughts did not quell his anxiety however.
When his stop grew closer Kurloz was quick to his feet and pulled the cord signaling the driver to stop. The bus jerkily halted in front of a sign and Kurloz was off in a flash. He took a moment to look around and noticed the area was much nicer than he was used to. There were little clothing shops, multiple coffee houses, and at least 2 salons. Not barber shops, but real salons. Kurloz felt his anxiety pick up again. There was no way he could find work in an area like this. He stood out like a sore thumb with his shabby clothes, his natural untamed curls, and dark skin. For the first time in a long time Kurloz felt very unsafe. His senses went into hyper-drive when he noticed a police car turn the corner and go past him. He was sure it would stop. He was certain he would be frisked. He knew he would be. He waited tensely for several minutes and let out a small sigh when the squad car was out of sight.
Kurloz felt his body shake as he tried to keep his composure and walk to Aradia’s, hyperaware of every sound and constantly looking over his shoulder. Kurloz had been through his fair share of rough neighborhoods. He’d seen people shot in front of him, stepped over dead bodies in the streets to get away before the cops came. Hell, Kurloz had been shot at! But he had never felt so out of place as he did in this neighborhood.
When Kurloz found the building Aradia resided in he let out a breath of relief, it matched the picture he had seen on Google’s street view. Kurloz checked his phone again – although he knew by now her apartment number – and rang the buzzer. He waited tensely for 1... maybe she wasn’t there? 2… had she been joking? 3… this was a mis – his phone vibrated in his hands. Kurloz looked down to see a text from Aradia: {if thats you buzz two more times and ill let you in.} He let out a relived sigh and followed her instructions. An obnoxious buzz came from the door and Kurloz opened the door, almost surprised he’d actually been let in. Kurloz entered the building and felt his phone go off again. This time Aradia had sent a simple: 0u0
Kurloz walked up the steps to the third floor and stared at the door. Beside it were a couple boxes whose contents seemed to be trying to burst free. Kurloz fought the urge to search the boxes and salvage whatever was in there. He shook his head, took a calming breathe and knocked on the door. It swung open quicker than he expected it to and Kurloz instinctively took a step back. He instantly felt foolish because – of course – before him was only Aradia. She wore a loose t-shirt advertising the University’s archaeological department and pajama shorts. Her hair was damp and in a high ponytail. Kurloz was a bit struck by how comfortable she looked. He supposed this was because it had been a while since he’d really seen someone in their home.
“Hey, glad you could make it, you didn’t have any trouble finding it did you?” Aradia asked, moving out of the way of the door. Kurloz shook his head no and glanced around the hallway, uncertain if he could go into her apartment without causing trouble. He thought again that maybe this was a mistake.
“You alright?” Aradia asked, looking confused. Kurloz could hear a hint of annoyance. “You can come in if you want.” Aradia tried to remain friendly. Having to be so straight forward was a bit strange, but mostly it reminded her of vampire lore and the image of Kurloz trying to bite her neck flashed across her imagination.
Aradia mentally shook the thought from her mind and ushered Kurloz in, saying again, “Come on in.” Aradia walked further into the apartment. “Close the door on your way in.” She added trying not to sound too impatient.
Kurloz nodded, but when he entered his footsteps were hesitant. Kurloz had not been in someone’s house in a long time and for a moment he panicked as to how he should act. Luckily Aradia invited him to take off his shoes and get comfortable on the couch.
“Would you like tea, coffee, water…anything?” Aradia asked, taking her wet hair out of the ponytail and running her hands through it. Kurloz was momentarily mesmerized by the length. He used to have longer hair, but the up keep had made it impossible for him to maintain. He was thoroughly impressed with how she could keep her hair looking nice at such a length.
“Kurloz?” Aradia prompted again, bringing him out of his trance. Kurloz smiled sheepishly and signed for green or black tea. He wasn’t really a fan, but he wanted to seem more mature and figured requesting soda would be counterproductive to this. Aradia nodded and turned to enter the kitchen.
Kurloz felt relieved that he could take a moment alone to recompose himself. He slid off his shoes and looked around the apartment as he did so. He noticed first the number of books. There were books everywhere – the shelves, the table, the floor, etc. The coffee table itself was mostly cleared but the dining room table was strewn with, Kurloz assumed, textbooks, pens, note pads, and other writing materials.
A low sound made its way to Kurloz’s ears and he turned his head to see a large tank in the back of the room. Kurloz cautiously approached, looking over his shoulder to ensure he wouldn’t get caught snooping. Peering into the glass he saw two fat frogs sitting in a pool of water and croaking quietly to one another. Kurloz smiled to himself. He had never been one for pets but there was something so fitting about the muddy girl from his memory having frogs as companions.
Kurloz looked along the wall and saw a closed door next to the tank, next to that was the bathroom, the door was open and even from here Kurloz could see it was neater than the main room. Across the hall was another closed door. Kurloz assumed one of the closed doors was Aradia’s room and the other the spare. Kurloz had to fight the urge to peek into these rooms.
Kurloz made his way to the couch lethargically, taking in titles of the books around him. Unsurprisingly most were about soil types, rocks, bones, and so forth. Kurloz slowly let himself sink into the couch reveling in how comfortable (and clean) it was. Hell, he would pay just to sleep on this! He could clearly see into the kitchen from this spot. It was a small room, sparsely decorated, and it looked seldom used. Even still, it was nice to see a full kitchen again. And almost entertaining to watch Aradia bustle around gathering the necessary materials for tea.
It took Aradia longer than she thought it would to boil water, get mugs, tea bags, sugar, milk, and honey. She felt bed for making Kurloz wait so long and sheepishly apologized when she finally entered the kitchen with all the supplies. Kurloz shrugged and signed a [thank you] before taking a mug and putting a huge amount of sugar into it.
Aradia watched in poorly masked horror as Kurloz desecrated the drink. She bit her tongue from commenting and instead cleared her throat to get Kurloz’s attention. His eyes snapped to her. “So,” She began, picking up her own mug. “Should we discuss living arrangements?”
