Our walk to my apartment was full of her getting distracted by almost everything. When we got to the bridge, she almost fell over it while looking at the familiars that were swimming beneath us. It took almost twice as long to walk back than it usually did.

And once she was in my apartment, I figured she would make a comment about it being a small studio. But she was oddly excited about it. At first I thought her enthusiasm was sarcastic and she was just being rude. But she continued to go on about how nice and clean everything was.

Unfortunately I didn’t have much for entertainment in my room. So not knowing what else to do, I showed her where the window was. That way she would have something to look at while I made dinner for us and Dog. It was the only window in my apartment, but there was at least a nice view to the lake from it.

Dog followed me to the kitchen and sat down to watch me cook as usual. My eyes were off of Naomi while I was cutting the vegetables. When I was finished and put a pot on the stove in order to cook the onions, I was able to peak at her from around the corner to see her looking out the window.

“This is crazy, right?” I said to Dog “There’s no way that this apartment is appropriate for two strangers to stay in. I’m surprised she didn’t turn around and walk away as soon as she saw the place.”

He gave me a look that said he wasn’t entertaining that notion. So I brought my attention back on the cooking. With the onions being ready, I put the carrots and pork in. This was when I had my eyes off of her for the longest time, as I didn’t want anything to burn. But as soon as it was cooked, I put some water in and let it simmer for a bit. Then I took another peak at her.

She was still very enthusiastically staring out the window. I could almost see a tail aggressively wagging back and forth “Say, did you happen to notice something about her? You gave me a look that said I could trust her. Or was I imagining that?”

Of course I knew he wouldn’t be able to give me a clear response, but our connection was still good enough to get some sort of sense of what he was thinking. He quietly barked at me, then looked at Naomi and back at me. And I could feel he was telling me to trust her. Even though I couldn’t talk to him, I was still trusting enough in his body language.

So I was trusting enough to take my eyes off her once again. I had given the food enough time to simmer, so I stirred in the roux for the final simmer. Then went to my fridge so I could heat up some left over rice.

After everything was ready, I neatly dressed up three plates for each of us. But when I was about to serve, I suddenly remembered I didn’t have a table yet. A stupid thing I couldn’t believe that I forgot.

Since I was living there, every meal was either eaten over the kitchen counter or on a cardboard box. It was something I became so accustomed to that it hadn’t even crossed my mind how embarrassing it would be for me to invite a stranger to eat there.

“Uh food is ready.” I was so ashamed when she turned around to see me placing the food on my box table “Sorry about the box… I don’t have a table.”

Though again, Naomi was unfazed “Box? Oh that’s fine! I’ve eaten on worse.”

She crawled over from the window and sat cross-legged at the other end where I was standing. She looked up at me the same way Dog would whenever I made food. Her positive attitude had me wondering if this was the way she always acted, or was she just putting on an act since I provided her a place to stay?

But with my stomach rumbling, it was hard for me to focus on anything other than the food I just made. So I placed a plate down for everyone and took my seat. Naomi gave the plate a curious look “What is this called?”

“This is curry. Oh and I guess I should have asked beforehand, but how are you with spicy food? Because it’s…” I didn’t have time to finish once she immediately plunged into the plate, paying no attention to the spice. She didn’t even allow any time for the food to cool down.

It was astonishing. She finished the plate almost in an instant. There wasn’t even any indication that she noticed the spice. And I tend to make things really spicy! I looked down to Dog whose mouth had dropped in amazement at what he just saw.

After she felt she had an audience, she let out a small laugh “This is really good! Thank you so much for taking care of me!” she closed her eyes and gave us a bright smile. Being caught staring like that got me embarrassed. I wasn’t even able to look at her for the rest of the meal.

And while eating my meal in silence, all that was running through my mind were questions about her. But it was hard to focus when her eyes were glued onto me for the rest of the meal. With her finishing her food so quickly, all she did was quietly watch as I continued to eat. It helped me to finish my meal much quicker than I usually do.

Washing the dishes afterwards with my back turned to her felt relieving. No more did I feel her eyes on me as I cleaned the kitchen alone. And the time alone allowed me to clear my head and make a plan for what I wanted to ask her. So once I was done, I looked over my shoulder to see where she was at.

She went back to looking out the widow while I was cleaning. Not wanting to seem too confrontational, I calmly walked up to her and knelt beside her, acting like I’m looking out the window with her “So uh… are you able to use any magic?”

Her head never turned to me. It would be the first time she responded to something I said while never making eye contact “Yup. Only a little though, and I’m not very good… what about you? I haven’t see you use any, but you have a familiar, so that must mean you have some right?”

A confirmation that she could use magic may have sounded good, but there was still too many inconsistencies with that answer. Like just what type of magic she had, why she didn’t have any color in her hair, and of course the biggest question, where her familiar was. Though the answer to those questions could be something every witch fears. It’s possible she lost her familiar.

When a familiar dies, a witch permanently looses their ability to use magic. With no more vessel, the spirit or demon returns to their world and takes their magic with them. It leads to the witch turning into a basic human. The color fades from your hair and you even loose your passive abilities. It would explain why talking about her magic was the only thing that she didn’t enthusiastically talk about.

And feeling that may be the case, I decided to not press her on it. Instead I answered her question, even though my magic wasn’t something I liked to talk about “Yeah, I have magic… I just tend to not use it all that much.”

Her head turns to look at me “Really? What kind do you have? Can you show me a little?”

Even though I really didn’t want to, it was hard to say no when she was looking down at me with her large eyes. So I once again prepared to embarrass myself and held out my hand with my palm facing up. It had been so long since I showed someone my magic that I began to sweat.

After pushing everything I had into my hand, and producing some sparks, the same weak and pathetic dark red flame that I always made sat in my palm. Showing her a flame that was no larger than a lit candle was so humiliating. I quickly shook my hand after feeling I gave her the adamant amount of time to see it.

I expected her to fake enthusiasm the same way as she did upon first seeing my apartment, but she didn’t. Her head was slightly cocked to the side and her eyes had narrowed while still looking at my now empty hand. I wasn’t sure what to make of that response.

She glanced over to Dog, who I hadn’t even noticed sitting beside me, and gave him the same look she had given my hand before turning her attention back to me “You can use Fire magic?”

Not knowing how to act, I put my hand between my legs as if to hide it “Yes. No matter how weak I am, I’m still a Fire witch… what about it?”

Her eyes kept darting between me and Dog as she spoke “Oh it’s nothing! It’s just my first time seeing a Fire witch is all!”

It was obvious she was hiding something. And I could have continued pressing her, but for some reason, I decided not to. I knew that I should have been more curious about the stranger that was going to spend the night at my house, I wasn’t that oblivious. But there was something in my head that told me to not push her too hard.

So I found a way to end the conversation and began preparing the room for bed.

Even though it was still a little too early for me to sleep, all I wanted to do was lay down and process everything before bed. My head felt like it was spinning after all the events of that day. And having a stranger in my room certainly made it hard to relax.

As I lay out the futon, Naomi turned her head away from the window to watch me. There was nothing special about my bed. Just something small and cheap that’s easy for me to throw around and comfortable enough to have a good night sleep. Something I knew I wouldn’t be getting that night.

After putting some clean sheets on the bed, I acknowledged Naomi “Here’s where you’ll be sleeping tonight.”

She slides away from the window and kneels down at the head of the mattress where she squeezes it with her hands “There’s only one? Does this mean we’re sharing?” she looks up at me with a childlike smile and a giggle.

I look away from her and rub the back of my neck “N-no. I’m going to sleep in the bathtub tonight. I know it’s not ideal for me to take up the only bathroom, but it’s really the only choice I have.”

Not the best plan, but I couldn’t figure anything else out on such a short notice. The bathroom was just the only place I could sleep where I could be behind a locked door. There was no way I was planning on having a stranger stay over and not have the safety of a door between us.

As Naomi was laying out the sheets, I grabbed a few more for myself and made my way to the bathroom. And as I passed the bed, I saw Dog sitting on top of it as if he were waiting for me. “C’mon Dog, we’re sleeping in the bathroom tonight.” I waved for him to get moving and he did so.

Then I brought my attention to Naomi, who was curling herself up in the blanket “So if you need to use the bathroom at any point tonight, just knock on the door and I’ll give you some privacy. It doesn’t matter what time it is either.”

She brings the blanket up and hides her mouth behind it “Okay, you’re the boss! I’ll try not to bother you too much.”

The way she was curled up in the blanket, I couldn’t help but to find her cute. So I shook my head to clear my thoughts and went too the bathroom to lock myself in for the night. But just before I closed the door, I peeked my head around it to say to Naomi “Tomorrow I’ll show you around town for a bit. So don’t leave and try to explore yourself.”

She giggled from her blanket cocoon “You’re the best! And don’t worry, I wouldn’t dream of ditching you! Good night!”

“G-good night.” I quietly said back as I slowly close the door and lock it. My head felt a little hot and I turned around to face the rest of the bathroom where Dog was looking up at me and giving me a smirk.

“Don’t look at me like that. You don’t know what I’m thinking right now.” I say to him while dropping a blanket on the floor for him to lay on.

He stepped on top of it and circled around a few times before finally laying down with his face turned to the bathtub I was laying with blankets and a pillow. Though no matter how many blankets I lined it with, it wasn’t going to be a comfortable night for me.

Once done, I lay down on the hard, porcelain tub with only a few layers of fabric to provide me comfort and I looked up to the ceiling. I was preparing for a night with no sleep.