Kat backed up to give him some space to work. “I think it got toggled too hard,” she said, carefully. With Mr. Walker on the warpath over Cami’s smoking, she didn’t dare mention that it had been her, especially since Mr. Walker had made no effort to hide his sniffing around. She grimaced as she remembered that she still needed to have a discussion with him about Cami.

“There’s a wire stuck in here. I’ll have to take it apart, maybe replace the entire mechanism.” Mr. Walker gave a resigned sigh and pulled a flathead from the bag. “This won’t take long.”

“Sure.” Kat shuffled to the doorway. “I’ll be in the living room. Just shout if you need something.”

Mr. Walker grunted and put on a pair of glasses. He already had the shiny plastic handle off and was well into disassembling the lock. Kat couldn’t fault his efficiency. The guy was intimidating and gruff, but he knew his business.

“And about Cami.”

Kat drooped, pausing in place. Apparently, the discussion was happening now. “Yeah?”

“Tell her I got another complaint about noise and the smell of marijuana.”

Kat looked down, shrinking beneath his rough tone. “I, uh, meant to talk to you about that and the yelling a couple of days ago... Sorry about that. But it wasn’t anything serious, I promise—”

“Yelling isn’t the real problem here, Kat. You and I both know it. Cami is one small step away from more jail time. I can put up with a lot, but she can’t keep doing this. I don’t need cops showing up again and bothering my other tenants.” Mr. Walker said in a gruff baritone. “We both know her medical marijuana card doesn’t cover whatever else she’s been bringing around.”

Kat burned a spot in the carpet and she rubbed her arm. “She... I’ll talk to her...”

“What exactly do you expect Kat to do about it? She’s not the one causing problems.” Darius was suddenly by Kat’s elbow.

Mr. Walker looked over his shoulder, brows low. “This is between me and my tenant.”

“Your tenant is my girlfriend, and I don’t appreciate you blaming her for things that aren’t her fault,” Darius said in a soft, steely tone.

Kat sensed the tension in the air and hurried to speak up. “It’s fine, Darius. Can you give us a minute? Why don’t you start setting up the game?”

Darius hesitated, his eyes sliding from her to her landlord and back again before returning to the kitchen.

Kat watched him go, then turned to Mr. Walker. “I’ll talk to Cami again. She told me she would stop smoking in the apartment.”

Which wasn’t...exactly... true. She wanted it to be true. She hoped it would be true.

Mr. Walker heaved a sigh and stood up. “Kat, I like you. You’re a great renter, which is why I’m warning you to prepare for what might happen if Cami isn’t allowed to stay.”

“I’m making sure the rent gets paid on time. And Cami will shape up. She just needs a bit more time to sort things out.” Kat insisted.

“You don’t need to keep going to bat for her. Even ignoring the drug problem, it has not escaped my notice that she keeps bouncing between jobs and sold her car.”

“She’ll figure it out,” Kat said staunchly.

“There’d better be significant improvement in the next few weeks.” Mr. Walker jabbed a finger in her direction, and Kat’s spirits lifted. He might be gruff, but Mr. Walker was reasonable.

“There will be. You’ll see,” she told him as he got back on his knees and poked at the window latch. Mr. Walker shook his head, then paused, studying her for a long moment over his shoulder. Kat shifted a little beneath his judgmental stare.

“And tell your boyfriend to stop hanging around at all hours. He’s creeping out my other renters.” He finally said, waving one hand dismissively. Kat caught a glimpse of his army tattoo.

“O-okay,” Kat said, stepping into the hall, wondering why one of her neighbors would be bothered by Darius walking her to work in the morning.

Was it the other tenants who didn’t like it, or was it just Mr. Walker who didn’t? Well, she’d meet Darius half a block down or something. She didn’t want to risk getting on anyone’s bad side, not with Cami on thin ice.

She went into the kitchen, rubbing her temple.

Darius set a piece on the board and looked over as she sat.

“Is he threatening to kick you out?”

“No, not... not exactly. It’s... Hey, Darius? I appreciate you standing up for me, but you don’t need to do that, okay?” she told him guiltily. “It’s my responsibility. I can handle it.”

Darius hesitated and then gave her an affectionate smile. “Sure thing. If you... if you ever need a place to stay, I’ve got a spare room.” he offered.

Kat stared at him for a moment, distracted. Internally, she was despairing at having to talk to Cami again about rent and eviction troubles.

 She deliberately buried the worries. Now was game time, not the time to be a drag.

 “That’s very generous of you, Darius. I’ll keep that in mind.” She said gently, surprised at his offer. “Vanilla rules or street rules for the game?” She asked, pulling out a bag of candy for them to share while they played.

“...Street rules?”

“Street rules it is.”

“Oh, I was asking what street rules are.”

“You’ll find out,” Kat said mysteriously.

For Kat, street rules meant speedier gameplay. It also meant she made up rules on the fly. Several turns in, she was thrilled when Darius caught on and started making up his own rules. By the end, Kat ended up winning somewhat handily. Darius was unruffled by his loss and amiably helped her clean up the pieces.

“What now? Movie?” He suggested as he scooped pieces into the box.

“I’d love to, but not tonight. I’m beat.”

Darius clicked his tongue and settled the box lid into place. “You worked an extra shift again, didn’t you? Kat, you can’t keep running yourself this hard. You’ll burn yourself out.”

“I’m hanging in there,” Kat assured. “Besides, I need the money.”

He tilted his head, observing her. “You ever considered working from home, maybe painting and selling models? I noticed the ones in your room, and they’re great. I bet you could sell them online or something.”

“They’re not that good.” Kat lowered her eyes modestly. She’d worked hard on those models and was pleased that it showed.

“They’re very well painted, Kat. I mean it, you’ve got talent.”

“Thanks,” Kat said again and flashed him a grin that was cheesier than necessary to hide her embarrassment. “You’re sweet.”

They lapsed into silence, comfortable at first, and then it began to stretch into awkwardness. Kat played with the idea of trying to explain why physical contact made her uncomfortable, but then her gaze drifted down the hallway. It would be difficult enough to talk to Darius without her landlord listening.

“...Kind of creepy that he’s in your room, huh?” Darius said, following her gaze.

“I mean, that’s where the window is,” Kat pointed out. She wandered over to the couch and sat on one of the arms, leaning back and closing her eyes.

“Tired?” Darius asked softly.

Kat gave him a thumbs up. “Low battery.”

“Hopefully, your landlord will finish soon,” Kat felt the couch dip as he sat next to her, gingerly laying his head against hers on the back cushion. “You take care of yourself and get to bed on time, alright?”

Kat blew air through her lips and roused a scrap of energy. “What are you, my mom?”

“Hey, come on, sweetling. I thought you knew by now, I’m your boyfriend. Say it with me. Booooyyy-”

“Blahhrg.” Kat blindly stuck her arm out, found his face, and covered his mouth.

Something hot and wet snaked across her palm, and she convulsed.

“ACK! DID YOU JUST-!?”She tried to free her hand, but he held it fast, and her efforts sent her sliding into his lap. Squeaking, she escaped to the floor, landing on the rug with a soft thump.

“Ewwww!” Kat wiped her hand on the carpet, the imprint of his tongue still on her skin. “Why would you do that?”

Darius laughed, unrepentant. A peculiar gleam entered his eye, making the color rise even further in Kat’s cheeks.

“What else was I supposed to do?” He asked her, leaning on the couch as if readying himself to pounce on her.

“Um, anything else? Move my hand with, I don’t know, your ha-“

“You two finished?” Mr. Walker said from the hall.

Kat leaped to her feet as if scalded. Darius’s rakish grin morphed into a grimace.

Embarrassment threatened to swallow Kat alive. She cleared her throat and somehow managed to speak normally—a minor miracle.

“Sorry. We were just goofing off. How’s the window coming?”

“All finished. Try not to break this one.” Mr. Walker said, not bothering to hide his disapproval.

“I’ll be careful,” Kat promised, trying to exude responsibility. “Thank you very much for your help, sir.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He limped towards the door, and Kat ran to open it, seeing him out.

“Have a good rest of your night, Mr. Walker,” she said, watching him walk towards the stairs. Why he insisted on the stairs when there was an elevator, she didn’t know, but she’d never once witnessed him using anything but the stairs, despite his limp.

Kat stood there for another second or two, then went back inside. She shut the door and turned an accusatory eye on Darius.

“You’re gross. That’s unsanitary! That’s one of the rules they teach the kids in preschool: no licking stuff, no eating sand and glue. Next time, I’m wiping your spit on you.”

Darius turned around on the couch, green gaze alight with interest. “Next time?”

“No.” Kat held up her index finger. Her shoulders rose to her ears. “I said that wrong—”

“I think you said it just right.” Darius disagreed with a low chuckle.

“Y-you stop that! You’re impossible...” She half laughed, half groaned, covering her face with her hands. She’d never felt so embarrassed, not even when Cami had teased her.

Unable to stomach any more awkwardness for one day, she let her plans to talk to Darius slide through her fingers to be picked up another day. Instead, they talked for a while until Kat’s yawns became frequent enough for Darius to insist they both get some sleep.