“S-so,” Stel said. “What was going on with your day that had you down, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “Oh my god,” Evy said instantly, not letting Stel worry about overstepping. “You would not believe.” She ate a handful of fries. “So the day before our rent is due, I wake up to find my roommate had somehow, in the dead of night apparently, pletely packed up and bailed on me, the day before rent’s due.”

  “Seriously?” Stel asked.

  “Seriously!” Evy said. "Did I say the day before rent's due?"

  "Once or twi there, yeah."

  "Well it bears repeating!" Evy said. “I have a doctorate, I don’t his!”

  Evy smashed more fries into the ketchup and barbecue sauce. “So I have to find some way to either sge up the cash by tomorrow or…I don’t even know! Just take the overdraft, I guess.”

  “I didn’t expect you to be the type to live with a roommate,” Stel said.

  “What’d you expect? Me living in a b or at the school?”

  “Kinda, yeah.”

  “Some nights it feels like it,” Evy said. “I’m behind on some correg because of this. Plus side, I really hated my roommate so maybe an overdraft is worth it.”

  “Were they that bad?”

  “Listen, I’m somewhat of a garbage dump type persht?”

  “Huh? You’re awesome though!” Stel said. “You’re like the total opposite of a garbage dump. Like a kind and loyal…puppy, that’s like adorable but also incredibly smart and has a doctorate.”

  “Aw, god,” Evy said. “That’s…really nice. I meant more for like ing and generally keeping my life together. I’m like that, and my roommate is like a trillion times worse. Like full on ‘somehow actally burns doortion of the post offid bmes them for it’ bad. And I have to live with that. Just piles and piles of their garbage as in like food a cetera garbage as well as garbage choices.”

  “Wow,” Stel said. “And you didn’t evehe satisfa of kig them out.”

  Evy squinted. “Oh my god, that’s it! That’s why this feels so much more stressful! I didn’t eveo throw that dumbass out onto the street!”

  "How much is it?" Stel asked. "If you don't mind me asking that, either?"

  Evy sighed. She got out a pen from her jumpsuit and scribbled down a number on a napkin and slid it over to Stel then looked away, not wanting to see her rea.

  “Hm,” Stel said, having a sudden idea.

  No, that’d be really really stupid to even suggest, she’d get mad. Don’t you dare.

  “No, wait, I know that look,” Evy said.

  “Whaaat…?” Stel said. “I’m not…making a look.”

  “And now I know where Zeta gets her lying abilities from.” Evy smirked.

  “Ha.” Stel said. “But…you know.”

  Don’t say it.

  “I was just thinking—"

  “I’m n to you or anything!” Evy said. “I’m not asking you for money.”

  “No, no! Listen, Evy!” Stel said.

  Fine, say it.

  “So if I get this job, I really don’t want to ute all the way from LE to Sky Cy every day.”

  “Uh huh.” Evy said, putting her burger back together after it pletely fell apart from her st attempt to pick it up with ketchup and barbecue sauce covered hands.

  “And I don't want to live that far from Zeta while she's at school. So I was already looking for a pce while I was thinking about the Rising Shards job,” Stel said. “And I haven’t found a pce yet.”

  “Huh,” Evy said. “Oh, wait. Really?

  “Yeah, so,” Stel said. “I have enough saved that…if the snowstorm was bad, I was gonna stay in a hotel tonight, so. Your pce would be a step up, and would be about the same price. I pay the roommate’s half of the rent as thank you.”

  Evy visibly calcuted it in her head for a few moments.

  “That’s amazing! Holy crap!” Evy said. “You don’t have to pay—”

  “Please, let me!” Stel said. “I owe you so much already. Not just with this job, but you’re so great with Zeta, she’s always full-on fangs bared beaming whealks about you. I don’t worry as muowing you’re there for her. If you wouldn’t mind me crashing on your couch for the night, I’d be happy to help you with your rent.”

  “That’s…really great.” Evy said, looking like a great weight had just been lifted from her shoulders, which fortunately had not yet been smeared with ketchup and barbecue sauce from her burger and fries.

  Either the ercial that ying was incredibly quiet, or the whole world around had muted in her mind as Stel kept her eyes locked on Evy’s.

  “WOW THIS ULTRA TACO SURE KICKS FIRE OUT MY BUM BUM, AND THAT'S WHY THEY CALL IT—” A ercial interrupted with a screaming voiceover and plenty of belch, fart, and explosion sounds, making Stel jump.

  “Oh hahah. That. Really scared me.” Stel adjusted on her seat.

  "Ultra Taco's ads are only getting weirder..." Diast said. "If I didn't run into you, I'd probably be there getting trash food. Getting the Deluxe Fire Bum Bum Spectacur sounds like how I'd deal with today, holy."

  "I wouldn't bme you," Stel said. “So. Yeah. Even just for tonight, I’d be cool with…giving you some mohen if I don’t get the job. I dunno.”

  “You’ll get it,” Evy said. “Then if you do, you do have a pce to stay here any time for that month.”

  “Oh,” Stel said. “Yes, that’s true.”

  “While you look for another pce, you know?” Evy said.

  The two ughed awkwardly, but after a few mihey got their versation ba track, and had a really nice dinner, only interrupted by a frantic call from Zeta where she had to be calmed down out of fear of Stel braving the blizzard on her own ("The weather site is saying it's a snow emergenbsp;Stel. That's what they call it when it's really bad. And you're out getting food in the middle of it?!"). Stel told her she’d found a pce for the night in Sky d didn’t eborate further or let Zeta know she was with Dr. Diast.

  “I love this pce, but I’m so full afterwards I don’t want to move,” Evy said. “But we probably should to be doh this storm for the day.”

  “Yeah,” Stel said. After to pay for the whole meal after learning about Evy's rent issues, she eventually debated her way to splitting the bill. She followed Evy to her car, and helped her brush the snow off of it.

  “It occurs to me right now that I could just drive you home if you want to back out now.” Evy said when they got ba the car. The snow was still falling steadily, so staying out much ter could lead to traversing some really dangerous road ditions.

  “Nah, I don’t want to make you drive any more than you have today,” Stel said. “Plus, I wanna see your pce if I’m gonna be renting with you for the month.”

  “Alright,” Evy said, sounding more nervous than Stel had ever heard her.

  “Unless you don’t want that?” Stel added.

  “No!” Evy said. “It’s more that I extraordinarily want that. And don’t want to seem like I’m being overt about it.”

  “Well, unless your pce is as garbage-y as you say, I think I’ll be alright.”