By the following morning, Drake walked in with a look more miserable than normal as he hated going to interviews so early. He barely made any effort to look enthused as he entered inside the office of the nearest apartment renting company he could find since he burned the bridge with the last land lord. He entered the room with a kick on the door not caring about the noise he made. He approached the reception for his appointment with the new land lord he was going to meet. Unfortunately she said there was a waiting period.

Receptionist, looking bored out of her mind

“Take a ticket then go to the waiting area.”.

Drake reluctantly did so and snatched the ticket. He sat down with a heavy thud. Leaning back with his arms cross already feeling like he was waiting to get rejected. He thought about taking a nap since he already had experience with he long these things take, he is in hell after all. But he was in that state where he was tired but couldn’t sleep. Out of boredom, he started looking around him. He looked at the paintings, the walls and so on until he looked to his side and saw the Witch who glanced at him back. Then they stopped glancing and averted their eyes from each other, acting as if they didn’t recognise each other.

A few moments later in silence. The two had their brains click and immediately realised with their eyes widened and eyebrows raised that they have just met once again. They looked at each other and both snapped to one another.

“YOU!”

Drake snarled

“What the hell are you doing here!?”

The Witch, sneering back at him

“Well if you must know, I’m looking for a new place to live since my whole empire went on fire no thanks to you.”

Drake

“Oh don’t start that crap again!”

The witch

“What about you? Why are you here?”

Drake, reluctant to reply

“I got evicted from my apartment and now I’m looking for a new one Nd this was the nearest I could find on short notice. I had to sleep in a tent last night.”

The Witch, after raising an eyebrow.

“In a tent?”

Drake

“Would you believe me if I told you this isn’t the first time this has happened?”

The witch acting snarky

“Judging by your personality that sounds about right”

Drake, sarcastically

“Ha ha ha, that was so funny I forgot how fucked my life is.”

The Witch

“Oh please at least you had nothing to begin with. You know what it’s like to climb on top and lose it all in one day?”

Drake

“Forgetting that fact you were a crappy boss to begin with.”

The Witch, annoyed

“Oh you wish you had me as a boss.”

Drake, sarcastically

“yeah like a need a toxic narcissist diva for boss like a need a another hole up my.......”

An office door opens and the landlord approaches the two. Thick glasses, balding, green skin, pointy ears and a lizard head. He approaches the two as he reaches for his clipboard to read the names. He reads and calls out.

“Drakehelm?”

Drake

“That’s me”

The Witch

“Drakehelm?! Like Wilhelm? Is your name a pun for a dragon?”

Drake, in an agitated tone

“Well what yours? Or is violent the name you were given when the doctors claimed you were the spawn of Satan?

The witch

“Well if you must know. It’s actually Violet?”

Drake raised an eye brow

“Really? I thought as a rule everyone in hell gave themselves a name. But yours seem normal”

Violet

“Well, I tried to call myself Violet the witch but someone misheard for the word Violent and that’s how I got the name the Violent Witch.”

Drake, about to get up

“Makes sense. Well I’d love to stay and argue some more but I gotta go.”

Land lord

“Actually she’s coming too. This is for both of you.”

The two looked at each other in confusion but both followed him to his office anyway.

It wasn’t that big of an office except it had way too much orange. For some reason the sun or whatever hell has instead of a sun seems to hit the room just right to make it look like the inside of a tangerine.

Drake and Violet sat next to each other as they faced the landlord on his desk, ready to give them the details.

Landlord, reading his board.

“Greetings, first off my name is Ali Gabe and I have some news which is either good or bad news depending on how well your relationship is.”

Violet, as sincere as possible

“We literally only met yesterday and hate each other with fiery passion that eclipse the sun.”

Ali Gabe

“Then I have some bad news. Both of you I would take in however I only have one apartment that is available.”

Violet turned the Drake with a smile

“Well better luck next time, hope you’ll find a new place faaaaaaaaaaaar away from mine.”

Drake snapped

“Hold the fucking phone. Who said you’d get it? I’m the one who got evicted because of you.”

Violet talked back

“first of all, you started it and second, and why should you get it? You’ll just burn it down or blow it up or get kicked out again anyway.”.

Drake

“And you’ll most likely let it get stolen again by pissing off someone else with your amazing people skills.”

Violet, glowing eyes and hands

“Listen ass-hole. I’m not backing down until that apartment is mine and I am more than willing to fight you for it”

Drake got up and cracked his knuckles.

“Took the words right out of my mouth wicked bitch of the west”

They both glared at each other creating a tension that would be denser than iron. Even Gabe could suffocate. Both their eyes glowed but then suddenly their faces dropped and they simmered down.

Violet defeatedly said

“Though last time we faught it ended in a tie.”

Drake, also defeatedly

“Not to mention that’s what got us into this mess in the first place.”

Violet

“Well I’m not quitting until I get that apartment.”

Drake

“Neither am I. So how are we settling this?”

Gabe climbed out from hiding under his desk and said.

“Why don’t the two of you share the apartment together?”

Both of them glared at him and both exclaimed.

“ARE YOU FUCKING NUTS? NO WAY!”

Gabe as he hides under the desk.

“It was just a suggestion.”

Drake turns to Violet

“Alright so how do we settle this?”

And so, Drake and Violet spent the entire day competing against one another over who gets the apartment. With Gabe as the one to count the points. The first contest was a game of chess with Violet black and Drake white. However after five minutes Violet had won checkmate with a smile in her typical attitude while Drake smashed the board in half in anger. Gabe wrote one point for Violet.

Next challenge was push up challenge at the gym to see who could do the most push ups in five minutes. Needless to say that Violet had already had the wind taken out of her in less than one minute while Drake continued with one hand behind his back. Gabe gives one point for Drake on the chalkboard

Violet covered in sweat and despair

“Not fair”

Third challenge was video games at the arcade, a fighting game. However by some dumb luck it ended in a tie.

Drake, dumbfounded

“You played video games before?”

Violet

“Well yeah I’m not always on my phone.”

Two points for both

Fourth challenge, doing a sketch of Gabe. Surprisingly though, Drake won the round with a sketch of Gabe that made him look like something out of Baywatch. Violet stared at it for five minutes and decided

“You know what fair enough.”

One point for Drake.

Fifth challenge, ribbon gymnastics where two compete in ribbon dancing in brightly coloured ribbons. Violet with her slender and flexible petite body was able to perform dances that made even Gabe cry a little while Drake had already been tied up by his own ribbons due to poor foot work.

One point to Violet

And so it went on and on. Challenge after challenge after challenge they competing against each other without either one submitting. 10 hours later the entire chalkboard has been completely filled with points and the game is tied. Both Drake and Violet are standing in park. Both of them completely exhausted as if they were about to collapse like zombies about to continue decaying. They both raised they arms heavily and slowly for one last game. Rock, paper, Scissors.

1, 2, 3, they both use rock. It is a tie. But they are so tired to couldn’t bother going again. And so they both look at each other in defeat on both of them. Between the exhaustion, the board ending in a tie. It was very clear on the outcome. So both of them said.

“Fuck it”

And eventually, they both gave up and agreed to share the apartment.

Drake opens the door and the two come into the apartment. It looked kind of lacklustre, almost resembling a cheap motel. But it had everything they needed. One bathroom, one couch, one tv, one kitchen and in the middle of the room in front of the TV was one bed.

Ah crap one bed.

They both glanced at each other knowing neither one of them wanted to share the bed nor sleep on the couch do to it looking as if it would fall apart. But after everything they just accepted it.

So both of them just lay on the bed and ready to go to sleep. Neither one of them said a single word while dressed in their sleep wear. They just stared blankly into the ceiling. But then after an hour in silence. Drake got up, turned to Violet and said,

“Look, we don’t like each other. However, we’re both in this shitty situation. And we both are going to have find a way to get money to get by until one of us gets back on our feet. And we’re going to need to come up with a way to pay this months rent. So if we’re going to do this. We need to respect each other otherwise we’ll just make this harder on both of us than it already is.”

Drake gets out his hand to Violet

“So....... Truce?”

She stares at his hand for a moment. Has a think and responds with a reluctant sigh as she shakes his hand.

Violet

“Truce. But if you touch me in my sleep I will castrate you with a chainsaw.”

Drake, taken a back.

“Understood.