Before heading down to the dryer room, Daniel took an energy pouch from the fridge and began drinking it. He carried it in his mouth as he headed out with the laundry basket in his arms, closing the door behind him before heading towards the elevator. Waiting for the elevator gave him some time to think, waiting for it to go down after he got in it gave him some more. Unfortunately, Daniel didn’t have a lot to think about.

  As the numbers ticked down, his thoughts drifted to work. He had worked for the company for a good while now, and he was more or less satisfied with his position in it. Truth be told, he hadn’t planned to stay there for so long, but when life comes knocking, your plans have to take a backseat.

  The elevator dinged and the door opened, revealing the apartment’s ground floor. Daniel threw the empty energy pouch into a nearby bin, before taking his laundry basket down the stairs, into the basement of the building. The enclosed space housed the apartment’s fleet of dryers, separated from the rest of the world by a glass wall and door.

  As he entered, he noticed another person inside, a young woman with short red hair. She looked up as he opened the door, and her blue eyes happened to catch his. He nodded to her before going to one of the dryers. The woman nodded back instinctively, turning back to her phone as the dryer tumbled in front of her, but then she did a double take. Daniel loaded his own laundry into the machine.

  “Mr. Thistlewitz?” She asked as he inserted his coins into the dryer.

  He blinked and turned to look at to the young woman. On a second glance, she seemed somewhat familiar.

  “Huh, it is you. What a small world.” She said, smiling. “But I guess we are living in the same apartment.”

  “Uh...” He wanted to ask who she was, but didn’t want to seem rude. He did not seem to realize that his response had been rude enough.

  “My name's... Rachel. I fixed your door last Sunday.” She said, tactfully ignoring his awkward pause.

  “Oh, right!” Daniel said, not noticing hers. “I didn’t know you lived in this apartment too.”

  “I moved in recently, about a week ago.”

  “Huh, ok.”

  And then they lapsed into silence. The dryers tumbled their contents rather quietly – a testament to modern engineering – but that only accentuated their conversational defficiency. The red-haired woman coughed to break the silence.

  “So, how long have you lived here, Daniel?”

  “...About 4 years?” He said, after thinking for a while.

  “Oh, I see.” She replied. “Where were you from before that?”

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “I lived in the eastern suburbs... Over that way.” He said, waving his hand towards a far corner of the room.

  The woman gave him a strange look.

  “That’s northwest.”

  “Oh, I see.” Daniel said, shrugging. It was hard to point in the right direction when they were underground.

  “...What did you come here for?”

  “For work.” He answered curtly. He didn’t really want to go into the details with a stranger.

  And then they returned to silence. After a while, Rachel spoke up again.

  “Say, do you have any pictures of your cat?” She asked suddenly.

  “Well, uh... not really.” Daniel said. After all, the creature wasn’t exactly photogenic. “Why do you ask?”

  “I said it before, right? I like cats.” She replied, shrugging.

  “Sorry, but I don’t take pictures.” He said, slightly embarrassed.

  It wasn’t really a lie, the last image in his camera roll was of a botched food delivery he’d gotten about a year ago.

  The young woman gave him another strange look, but Daniel didn't make any attempt to defend himself. Their conversation once again brought to a dead stop, Rachel returned to her phone, and Daniel went back to focusing on the dryer. Eventually, the dryer in front of the young woman started beeping. She retrieved her clothes and put them in her basket, before getting up to leave.

  “...It was nice meeting you again.” She offered.

  “Thanks, you too.” Daniel said politely.

  She left promptly afterwards, Daniel’s laundry was dry in a few minutes after that. He put his laundry into the basket and went back the way he came. After another uneventful elevator ride, he arrived back at his apartment. Upon entering, he put the basket besides his couch – it was late, and he was too distracted by his thoughts to fold them now. He would surely have the time to do so tomorrow.

  Heedless of his hubris, Daniel went to the bathroom and prepared to go to sleep. The rain had softened from before, but was still present – the steady pitter-patter of raindrops hitting the window marked the storm’s persistence.

  Daniel exited the bathroom and pushed open the door to the bedroom, yawning. Forgoing the lights entirely, he put his phone on the night stand and slipped straight onto his quilted double bed. As his head hit his pillow, he closed his eyes and willed the thoughts from his mind, drifting towards a peaceful sleep.

  A few seconds later, his eyes shot open. He used his left hand to lift a section of blanket, revealing the creature, blinking its compound eyes at him from under the covers.

  “What are you doing here? Your bed is over there.” Daniel asked, frowning and pointing at the creature’s cat cave.

  The creature continued staring at him, uncomprehending. Or maybe it was simply pretending. In any case, it refused to move. Daniel considered removing it with force, but as he made to move, his eyes met the creature’s gaze. And after a minute of a silent standoff, he decided not to evict the creature from his blanket. It was just trying to find some safety in a scary world, how could he begrudge it that?

  Daniel let the blanket back down and dropped his head back onto the pillow. As he lay there trying to fall asleep, the creature began fidgeting under the blanket. He frowned and ignored it, hoping it would settle itself. Eventually, it burrowed its way into his side, laying itself to rest nestled in his arm.

  At this heartwarming display of trust and affection, Daniel couldn’t help but feel incredibly uncomfortable.

  Its spiny legs poked his skin through his pajamas, and its proboscis occasionally poked his arm. Its smooth, glossy carapace was a strange thing to feel in his hands. He did not dare to move, fearing that the disturbed creature would plunge its nose into his vulnerable armpit.

  In this state, it took a very long time for Daniel to fall asleep.