Yuuta sighed with some relief. Despite not knowing what he wanted to hear, her words were calming nonetheless. He glanced at her, finally noticing how... beautiful she looked. Her hair, her clothes and her makeup didn't seem like her, not from the few encounters he's had with her despite being roommates. Her sunkissed skin and bright eyes were unique, different, enchanting. Perhaps the alcohol was opening his eyes, though his mind had been clouded by too much of the intoxicating drink earlier.

"Thanks," he finally managed to say. "I've had trouble finding a place to stay the past few months. The most I could manage was a week and a half before the roommate would "ask me to leave"." What he wouldn't say was that he thought that she might only like him, however remote, because of their work schedules. Not spending so much time with him was what kept her from harboring bad feelings for him, he theorized.

He sighed, leaning back into the couch, the softness welcome. How many nights had he been spending at the store, sleeping on the stiff cots and working constantly to get his mind off things? The money he collected for his mother had yet to be sent up to the North Pole in an envelope due to his indecisiveness. Where would the money matter more? he constantly asked himself. To his mother, who's condition wasn't improving. If it was a pointless case, wouldn't she want him to start saving up his money to go on with his life? She never mentioned money in her letters, though she had made a scene when he first suggested she go to see help.

"You're not half bad either, Shuai," he said though he didn't dare look her in the eyes. Was it just him, or was he warm in here? "I really feel like-" he cut himself off, realizing something more important than his feelings.

"Shit,"" he cursed, somehow finding the energy to stand up and pace. "With everything going on, I've forgotten," he began, remembering how keen he was on forgetting his mother's situation that he had forgotten other things along with it. "My hours are getting changed. My job at the warehouse," he clarified, running his hand through his hair out of frustration. He paced some more, but finally his leg's pain seeped through his intoxicated state and he was forced to sit back down on the couch.

"Less hours, and at a different place no less," he groaned. "I worked at a CabbageCorp warehouse, keeping stock. The police have seized the accounts, I can't get paid." Thankfully, he was not apart of production and seeing as they weren't completely shut down, a small percentage of the business would carry on. Counting stock, after all, was a minor but still needed job, but his hours were cut almost in half.

"Oh," he said, realizing that he had almost forgotten about Shuai. "Sorry for that outburst."

Shuai consoled him, something he never thought that would calm him down but it did. Usually when people tried to calm him down, he'd get angier, but his roommate was in an almost similar situation although she had two paying jobs whereas he had one paying job and an apprenticeship. Still, he and his master had agreed on a simple contract that he would get taught and be unpaid, but when his master's death came to pass, he would be the legal owner of the herbalry. Inheriting one was much easier than starting a whole new one, he could keep old clients and it came with an established reputation that would prove to be invaluable. Still, it was sort of evil, in a way, to wish for his master's death.

"Thanks... again," he murmured, glad she wasn't fed up with him, holding his head in his hands. He was glad to have ended up living with her; he had no idea what he'd do if he lived on his own (aside from the fact if he did, he'd probably be living on the streets. One part time job could only cover so many expenses). Yuuta humored her with a laugh when she said she listened to him because he listened to her back at the bar. Truth be told, he couldn't remember of what much happened there. He blamed the alcohol, though as his body continued to process it, he was sure he wouldn't be able to use that excuse

Shu-shu offered him something from the kitchen, but he shook his head. He was positive that something to eat would lower his intoxication level, making him a bit more sober. Having left his cane back at the store, he kind of needed the pain relief that came with being intoxicated. However, her next words startled him.

“Or, would you prefer to be in bed right now?”

Yuuta had the feeling it wasn't just a "are you tired and need rest" kind of question. He looked up, his eyes meeting hers. She looked confident, sexy, sure of herself... He smiled.

"I think I'd like that," he said, managing to stand up and head towards the bedrooms, though unsure which one to go to, in the end choosing his own. "I'm really tired, if you don't mind," he said with a grin as he headed towards his bed.

What a night.

Yuuta had taken his time to undress himself down to an undershirt and boxers, then gently edging himself into his bed, tossing the covers over himself carelessly. He waited, thinking maybe Shuai hadn't meant it, like this was just some sort of joke to her, but right as he began to suspect that she entered cloaked in a robe and gracefully slid into bed with him.

"Yuuta."

Hearing his name said was nothing new, so why did those two syllables suddenly cause his heart to race? He moved his head towards her's, kissing her forehead as she drifted to sleep. It wasn't long before he, too, was finding himself with the bliss of rest.

—-

He slept peacefully, feeling warm, calm and -above all- safe. It wasn't often he dreamed, but last night had been one of those rare dreams: he had been running all over the city and stumbled upon Shuai. It was odd he'd dream of her; it wasn't like the interacted on a daily basis due to their work schedules, but, nonetheless, she had been apart of his dream. He saw her in a different way than ever before: sexy instead of plain, confident instead of annoying, enchanting instead of average. His dream had been something like an adventure of dancing, fights and cars. Nearing the end of it, the dream became fuzzy and disorienting.

Yuuta slowly and awkwardly woke up, the sun from his window blinding his not-yet-adjusted eyes to morning. He quickly shut them once more. There seemed to be a weight on his chest, but his first priority was his leg. He stretched it, flexing his toes and whatnot and it seemed fine except for its usual ache and pain. Thankfully, it didn't feel like it had gotten any worse, though he couldn't say the same for his head. His head felt like someone had split it open, tossed in a bunch of nails and sewn it back together for every time he tried to lift his head, it felt heavy and gave off a dull - thought strong - ache that traveled down his spine.

After a few moments more of laying with his eyes closed, he opened his eyes to peak around his room while trying to avoid the sun's rays. Slowly, he tried to lift himself up so he could get to his day but that weight on his chest kept him from reaching his goal.

"Shu-shu...?" he murmured to himself as he noticed the head of hair and feminine figure attached to it. Shuai seemed the only possible person that would be there, unless Shachi had some how found a way into his house just to sleep with him.

Wait.

"Shuai!" he yelped, jumping up when it finally dawned on him that his roommate was in his bed with him. W-why was Shuai in bed with him? He tried to remember last night, but couldn't remember ever having left the herbalry to go to the apartment. Had had his dream ever been a dream? Or was that what happened last night?

"S-Shuai," he stammered once more. His eyes traveled down and he was wearing the minimal amount of clothing. Had they... had they slept together? He quickly reached for the nearest pair of pants he could find, quickly putting them on, halfway done when he fell, his bad leg giving out, the aches being irritated by the sudden motion. "Wha-what happened last night?" Not that he minded, but it was a big surprise.

He tried to calm himself as he stood up, pulling up his pants fully. "Not that I minded," he said for no real reason. It had been nice waking up with someone by his side, compared to being alone at the herbalry on the tough cots or even just in his bed by himself.

Yuuta agressivly nodded when his roommate asked if he'd like some breakfast, any words he might have replied with stuck in his throat. He felt his heat giving off an immense amount of heat as if any second he'd die from overheating. Thankfully, Shuai left with a hurry in her steps leaving the man to pace his room (to an extent) and try to recall something, anything, of what happened last night to make sense out of what had happened to wake up with Shuai in his bed. He ran his hands through his hair. He needed just a bit of information to make sense of what happened and he didn't even care what it was at this point, just something to get his mind off of... recent events or to at least make sense of them!

He decided to tidy himself up after cooling down and throwing on a pair of fresh clothes, his head and leg giving off a dull ache. Looking at his room, nothing seemed too out of place aside from the messy bed that obviously held two people last night. His face heated up when he began to think of last night, wondering what they might or might not have done together. Finally, he found himself stumbling his way into the kitchen and taking a seat at the table, the dull ache in his head growing into something of a throb.

"Shuai," he said, his elbows rested on the table top and his hands holding his head up. There was a long pause before he managed to even find the words he wanted to say. "I don't know how much you remember, but I remember going to a club. I might've drunken too much, which would explain this nasty headache of mine." He didn't even bother to ask how she felt. He had an idea if he asked her any questions that it would lead to nowhere. "But what I do know is... is that nothing happened last night as far as the apartment." Call him odd, but the apartment didn't smell any different, other than the smell of her cooking. In his line of work, he had to know, er, bodily fluids pretty well. Plus, the bed, though messy, didn't look like much happened in it. The bed sheets were still pretty smooth from the last time he ironed them.