The first thing Eve noticed about the apartment was the music.
Soft jazz drifted through the tiny living room from an ancient speaker sitting beside a stack of books and tangled charging cables.
Warm trumpet.
Vinyl static.
Rain tapping gently against the fire escape outside.
It felt… lived in.
Not like Eve’s apartment.
Her place looked like a battlefield pretending to be student housing.
This place looked human.
Which somehow made Eve more nervous than fighting armed mercenaries.
“You stopped walking,” the mutant girl said from the kitchen doorway.
Eve blinked.
“Oh.
Right.
Sorry.”
Nyx spoke immediately inside her skull.
“You are experiencing anxiety.”
“I am experiencing awareness.”
“You checked your reflection in the microwave three times before entering.”
“That was tactical.”
“It was mating behavior.”
Eve nearly walked into the wall.
The girl raised an eyebrow.
“You okay?”
“Fantastic,” Eve lied instantly.
The apartment wasn’t large.
One bedroom.
Narrow hallway.
Small kitchen with yellow overhead lighting and mismatched mugs hanging beneath the cabinets.
A couch buried beneath blankets.
Plants near the window somehow still alive despite New York’s collective hatred toward sunlight.
And unlike Eve’s place—
Nothing was broken.
Nyx observed this too.
“She maintains territory efficiently.”
“She has a normal apartment.”
“A rare evolutionary achievement in this city.”
The girl moved back toward the kitchen.
“You can sit, you know.”
Eve sat immediately.
Too quickly.
Like a malfunctioning robot attempting human interaction.
Nyx sighed internally.
“Painful.”
“I’m trying.”
“You are failing heroically.”
Eve resisted the urge to strangle her own symbiote.
Barely.
From the kitchen came the sound of chopping vegetables.
Actual cooking.
Not microwave warfare.
Not instant noodles consumed at 2 a.m.
while covered in bruises.
Real food.
Eve stared blankly for a second.
“…I think I forgot people do this.”
The girl glanced over her shoulder.
“Cook?”
“Cook without crying, yes.”
A tiny smile appeared.
Dangerous.
Every time she smiled, Eve’s brain stopped functioning for approximately four business days.
Nyx had noticed this pattern.
“Your neurological responses around her remain deeply concerning.”
“She smiled.”
“Yes.
You react as if exposed to narcotics.”
Eve leaned back against the couch, trying desperately to appear normal while secretly monitoring every movement happening in the apartment.
Her senses had become ridiculous lately.
She could hear the stove flame crackling softly beneath the pan.
Hear distant sirens six blocks away.
Hear someone arguing on the street below.
Hear the mutant girl’s heartbeat moving calmly through the kitchen.
That last one was becoming a problem.
Nyx stirred beneath her skin slightly.
“You are listening again.”
“I literally cannot turn it off.”
“You could focus elsewhere.”
“On what?”
A pause.
Then:
“She owns seven knives.”
Eve blinked.
“…Why do you know that?”
“I explored.”
“THAT SOUNDS ILLEGAL.”
The girl looked back again.
“You’re arguing with him?”
“He’s conducting apartment surveillance.”
“…Fair.”
Eve paused.
Then narrowed her eyes.
“Wait.
Why is that fair?”
The girl shrugged calmly.
“I kind of assumed he already was.”
Nyx sounded pleased.
“She understands survival instincts.”
“This is enabling criminal behavior.”
“Incorrect.
Symbiotic reconnaissance.”
Eve pressed her face into her hands.
“This is my life now.”
A soft laugh floated from the kitchen again.
God.
That sound was becoming addictive.
The realization hit Eve immediately afterward.
Which was worse.
Because she barely knew this girl.
Technically.
But somehow everything around her felt easier.
Quieter.
And after the past month of constant violence, panic, hunger, and chaos—
That terrified Eve more than monsters did.
Nyx noticed the emotional spike instantly.
“You are afraid.”
“No shit.”
“You fear attachment.”
Eve stayed silent.
The girl carried two plates into the living room and placed them carefully on the small coffee table.
Pasta.
Simple.
But homemade.
Steam curled upward into the warm apartment air.
Eve stared at it like she’d discovered ancient treasure.
“…Marry me.”
The girl snorted softly.
“You haven’t even tasted it.”
“I don’t need to.
This already exceeds my nutritional standards.”
Nyx contributed:
“Our previous dinner was stolen convenience store protein bars.”
“They were on sale.”
“You robbed the cashier.”
“He was rude.”
The girl sat beside her on the floor, legs folded casually beneath her.
Close.
Very close.
Eve suddenly became hyperaware of literally every part of her own body.
Nyx observed this clinically.
“Your temperature increased.”
“I know.”
“Your pulse remains unstable.”
“I KNOW.”
“You are sweating.”
“PLEASE STOP MONITORING ME.”
The girl blinked slowly.
“…Should I ask?”
“No.”
“Yes,” Nyx said simultaneously.
Eve groaned into her hands.
The mutant girl laughed again.
And this time Nyx didn’t complain.
Interesting.
They ate quietly for a few minutes.
Not awkward silence.
Just… comfortable.
The kind Eve hadn’t experienced in a very long time.
She realized halfway through dinner that she was relaxing.
Actually relaxing.
No rooftop scanning.
No constant readiness.
No expectation of immediate violence.
Nyx remained alert beneath her skin, but even he seemed calmer here.
The girl noticed Eve slowing down.
“You look tired.”
Eve nearly laughed.
“Tired” felt like an understatement.
She felt stitched together lately.
Physically stable.
Mentally—
Less certain.
The dimensional pulse from yesterday still lingered in the back of her skull like distant static.
And Nyx had become strange afterward.
More focused.
Watching things he refused to explain.
“I’m okay,” Eve said automatically.
The girl gave her a look.
Not confrontational.
Just unconvinced.
“…You don’t have to do that with me.”
Eve paused.
“What?”
“Pretend you’re fine.”
Silence settled softly between them.
Nyx became unusually quiet.
Eve stared down at her plate.
She wasn’t used to people noticing things.
Especially not this quickly.
Especially not gently.
The mutant girl leaned back slightly against the couch.
“When I was younger,” she said quietly, “I used to do that too.”
Eve looked up.
The girl’s eyes stayed fixed on the rain beyond the window.
“After my mutation started.”
Her voice remained calm.
Controlled.
But Eve could hear the tension underneath.
“My parents thought I was sick at first.
Then dangerous.” A tiny shrug.
“Eventually they just stopped understanding me entirely.”
Nyx listened carefully now.
“So I got good at acting normal,” she continued.
“Even when I felt… disconnected from everyone else.”
Eve’s chest tightened unexpectedly.
Because she understood that feeling far too well.
The girl looked toward her again.
“You have that same look sometimes.”
Eve swallowed.
Nyx spoke softly.
“She sees us.”
That should have frightened her.
Instead—
It felt warm.
Dangerously warm.
Eve forced a weak grin.
“To be fair, I DO have an emotionally unstable alien in my nervous system.”
“Rude,” Nyx replied immediately.
“You threatened to bite a landlord last week.”
“He deserved psychological damage.”
The girl smiled into her drink.
“…I’m still not fully used to the fact he comments on everything.”
“I comment on important things.”
“You commented on her playlist for twenty minutes.”
“The acoustic guitar was emotionally manipulative.”
Eve nearly choked laughing.
The girl laughed too this time.
Real laughter.
Bright enough that Eve forgot how breathing worked for a second.
Nyx noticed instantly.
“You are staring again.”
“She’s pretty.”
The silence afterward was catastrophic.
Eve froze.
Her eyes widened slowly.
“…Did I say that out loud?”
The mutant girl blinked.
Then pink slowly touched her cheeks.
Nyx sounded delighted.
“Excellent.
Maximum damage achieved.”
“I’m going to throw myself into traffic.”
“That would inconvenience us both.”
The girl looked down, suddenly very interested in her drink.
“…Thanks.”
Eve wanted to evaporate.
The apartment suddenly felt way too warm.
Nyx purred faintly inside her mind.
“You are both reacting favorably.”
“Please stop narrating my humiliation.”
“This is not humiliation.
This is courtship.”
Eve made a strangled noise.
The mutant girl covered part of her smile with her sleeve.
“You know,” she said softly, “he’s kind of funny.”
Nyx became deeply offended.
“I am a perfect organism.”
“You made fun of my tea for twenty minutes.”
“The tea attacked Eve first.”
“…You’re both insane.”
“Correct,” Eve muttered.
Rain continued tapping softly outside.
The city lights beyond the window blurred gold and neon against the wet glass.
For the first time in weeks, Eve almost forgot about the hunters.
Almost forgot about the fractures.
Almost forgot that something in the multiverse was searching for Nyx.
Here—
In this tiny apartment—
Things felt normal.
Or as close to normal as her life still allowed.
Then Nyx suddenly stiffened beneath her skin.
Instantly.
Eve felt it.
Like ice sliding through her nervous system.
The room sharpened.
“What?” she asked internally.
Nyx’s voice lowered.
“Someone is watching.”
Eve’s muscles tightened automatically.
The girl noticed immediately.
“What happened?”
Before Eve could answer—
A shadow moved outside the window.
Fast.
Too fast for human eyes.
But Eve saw it clearly.
A dark silhouette standing briefly on the rooftop across the street.
Tall.
Motionless.
Watching the apartment directly.
Then lightning flashed—
And the figure vanished.
Eve stood instantly.
Black tendrils flickered briefly beneath her sleeves.
The girl rose too.
“What is it?”
Eve stepped toward the window slowly.
Her senses expanded outward.
Rain.
Traffic.
Electrical hum.
Heartbeats.
And—
Nothing.
No movement.
No sound.
But Nyx remained tense.
“That presence was familiar.”
Eve’s stomach tightened.
“The hunters?”
“No.”
A pause.
Then:
“Older.”
Cold unease crawled down her spine.
The girl moved beside her near the window now.
Close enough that Eve could feel the warmth radiating from her arm.
“You saw someone.”
“Maybe.”
Nyx interrupted quietly.
“He observed us intentionally.”
“Who?”
“I do not know.”
Which meant he absolutely knew something.
Eve narrowed her eyes internally.
“You’re hiding information again.”
“I am evaluating threat probability.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It is the only answer you currently require.”
Eve hated when he did that.
Outside, thunder rolled across Manhattan.
The girl studied Eve carefully.
“You’re doing the distant stare thing again.”
“Sorry.”
“You apologize a lot.”
Eve blinked.
“…Do I?”
“Yes.”
That caught her off guard more than expected.
The girl leaned lightly against the window frame.
“Like you expect people to leave if you become inconvenient.”
Silence.
Nyx went completely still.
Eve looked away first.
The problem with being seen—
Actually seen—
Was that it cracked things open inside you.
Things easier left buried.
Finally she muttered quietly:
“People usually do.”
The answer escaped before she could stop it.
The girl’s expression softened immediately.
Not pity.
Something gentler.
More dangerous.
She stepped closer.
Very slowly.
Like approaching a wounded animal.
“You know,” she said softly, “you don’t have to survive every single thing alone.”
Eve’s heartbeat stumbled hard enough that even Nyx reacted.
Emotion pulsed sharply through the bond between them.
Warm.
Unsteady.
Hungry for something neither of them fully understood yet.
The girl was close now.
Too close.
Eve could see individual strands of dark hair falling near her face.
Could feel the heat of her body.
Could hear her breathing beneath the rain.
Nyx’s voice dropped lower.
“Careful.”
Eve barely managed to think.
“About what?”
“I cannot currently distinguish whether I wish to protect her… or keep her.”
That answer sent heat violently through Eve’s chest.
The girl tilted her head slightly.
“You disappeared again.”
Eve swallowed.
“…Occupational hazard.”
A tiny smile appeared.
Then—
The lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Nyx reacted instantly.
“Dimensional instability.”
The apartment temperature dropped sharply.
Every electronic device crackled with static simultaneously.
The speaker cut out mid-song.
Eve’s senses screamed.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The air itself distorted near the ceiling—
Like reality bending incorrectly.
The girl stepped back immediately.
“Eve—”
The distortion widened.
A thin vertical fracture opened in empty space.
Blue-white light leaked through it violently.
Nyx snarled inside her mind.
“NOT HERE.”
Then something moved inside the crack.
A silhouette.
Tall.
Broad shoulders.
Black cape.
White eyes glowing faintly through darkness.
Eve’s blood froze.
The figure stood motionless beyond the fracture for half a second.
Watching her.
Analyzing.
Then the breach collapsed instantly.
Gone.
Silence crashed back into the apartment.
The lights stabilized.
The music resumed abruptly.
Rain continued outside like nothing had happened.
Neither girl moved.
Finally—
The mutant girl spoke carefully.
“…Did Batman just look at us through reality?”
Eve stared blankly at the wall.
“…I hate New York.”