Candy for Dinner

It was near 8 in the evening when Pitch finally got back to her apartment. The sun was just beginning to set, and it threw long, distorted shadows of Pitch and the buildings around her. Her roots plodded down the sidewalk, dry leaves crunching underfoot. By her sides, a pair of shopping bags were held just high enough to prevent them from dragging on the ground.

It had been a long day. But then - when was the last time she had a 'short' day. Her team was digging out a new maintenance tunnel, a passageway from a popular shopping district to connect to the existing network of stone passageways lining the underground. They were two days behind schedule, and they could only close foot traffic to the dig site for so long. Progress was slow, the rhythmic hammering of picks and shovels serving as a metronome to measure their incremental chiseling through the earth. At the very least, there'd been no cave-in scares that day. So, Pitch supposed she had something to be thankful for.

Of course, as she ascended the stairs to her floor, the weight of the bags tugging down on her arms - that wasn't the only reason she was home late. Normally, she would have-

She stopped, her train of thought halted a door or two down from her unit. She heard voices arguing. They were muffled through the walls, but Pitch could still clearly tell one was her roommate, Root. And the other...

Pitch felt her eyes close, a deep sigh finding its way from her mouth. She'd actually been feeling pretty good that evening, fatigue aside. She had plans, was looking forward to chatting with Root, things could have been a lot worse. And so, as was so befitting her day to day, they did. She recognized that other voice. Hearing it seemed to sap whatever positive energy she'd had left from her.

"... fucks sake..."

She approached the door - more slowly, now, as if taking her time might delay the inevitable. The bags crinkled as she set them beside her, taking a moment to fish around her pocket for her keys. All the while, she could hear the two of them still going at it. Nope, that was the key for her locker... something was getting thrown... sunglasses.... someone yelled something explicit... ah, there they were.

She unlocked the door with a mechanical click - evidently loud enough for the people inside to have heard, because the arguing suddenly stopped. Pitch didn't need to open the door to know they were staring, waiting for her to come in. But she did need to open the door to go inside, as much as she dreaded it. It actually wasn't all that different from being back in the Deep, she thought. No place like home.

She opened the door and was greeted by, what was at this point, a familiar scene. Root - Pitch's lavender kobold roommate - was holding a broom like it was some kind of weapon, frozen mid-swing as he watched Pitch come in. Despite everything, even just seeing him - frazzled and violent as he might have been in that moment - was good. Root was good. Pitch was glad to know Root.

Just barely being missed by the swing of the broom, though, near the ceiling, was the source of the other voice. A phosphorescent, otherworldy glow of cyan and pink that barely seemed to adhere to the laws of this world. A messy tank top and torn fishnets, a mop of frazzled pink hair, a long, wispy tail, and a jagged grin aimed right at Pitch. Her other roommate, though not by choice.

Candy.

Candy had first become an... issue a few weeks after moving in with Root. They would be minding their business, when lights would start to flicker, food would go missing when their backs were turned, and at times their possessions would be rearranged seemingly at random. It took another few days for the ghost to actually make herself known, at which point it was clear to the two of them - they were being haunted.

Neither of them had dealt with ghosts before, and at first that unknown caused them a great deal of fear. They didn't know what she was capable of. For better or worse though, Candy wasn't one to stay hidden, and it didn't take long for them to grow accustomed to her behaviors, her routine, her 'quirks'. That was when the fear vanished, when they realized Candy wasn't really all that dangerous.

When they realized, she was frustrating.

"Heyyyy, look who's home!"

Candy floated down from the ceiling, her whole body gliding in an arc almost like a dolphin swimming underwater. She came right up to Pitch - a lot closer than she'd have liked - reclining against thin air beside her. Pitch couldn't help but grimace a bit, squinting at the ghost. Something about Candy was hard for her to look at. Not in the sense of her appearance, that... that was a whole other thing. It was more like looking at one of those optical illusion books that somehow fatigued your vision. Some trait of ghosts, she supposed.

"Hey Pitch-" Root called out, and Pitch heard the broom get set down. She could just make out his face over Candy's shoulder, their hair looking a bit more frazzled than normal. "Sorry, I tried to get her to leave, but-"

"But I wasn't about to head out without seeing my faaaaavorite lil string bean-" Candy cooed. She reached out and ruffled Pitch's petals with a hand, like an aunt greeting a young relative at a family gathering. Pitch grimaced and, like that young relative might, reflexively pulled back. She shot Candy a disapproving glare. She wasn't sure if Candy noticed.

She stepped into the apartment, shoving Candy aside with one of her leafy hands. At the very least, she was easy enough to push around, floating in the air.

"Don't worry about it-" Pitch said to Root, doing her best to ignore Candy. She set the bags on the kitchen counter, and almost immediately Candy floated over and began rifling through them.

"You get some shopping done?" She asked, rooting through the bags and pulling out a bottle of some sort of sauce. Without a word, Pitch snatched it out of her hand, setting it aside. She shot Candy another glare. Candy scoffed.

"I'm just asking! Jeez, you ever try making conversation before?"

"Doesn't mean you have to steal my crap-" Pitch grumbled. She began taking other items from the bags, setting them on the counter. Boxes of pasta, containers of spices, a package or two of meat. Candy eyed her with clear interest.

"What's this, you turning into a chef all of a sudden?" She asked, picking up one of the boxes of pasta and shaking it around. Pitch reached out to grab it from her, but Candy let herself float just high enough to keep it from her grasp.

"Yeah, I can cook food. Shocking." Pitch jumped, just managing to pry the box from Candy's hand and set it back down. Just as she did, Candy floated down and picked up something else, just out of Pitch's sight.

"Could've fooled me." Candy said, floating back up above Pitch and munching on an apple she'd claimed. "You always made me think the average Deepfae diet was pizza and takeout."

"Yeah, well, expense wise it adds up. Not that you'd know about that." Pitch looked around the counter, trying to find an apple she'd seemingly misplaced.

"What, you don't think I pay for food?" Candy asked, finishing the apple she'd just stolen and tossing the core into a houseplant nearby.

Pitch groaned, turning away from Candy - only to find Root hurriedly buttoning up a jacket. A bag loaded with books and papers was slung over one of his shoulders, and Pitch could just recognize a handful of academical symbols in Root's chicken-scratch handwriting .

"Wha- you're leaving already?" Pitch asked, a frown developing on her face. "I was hoping we could do dinner together, or something."

Root shook their head, coat buttoned, as he walked to the door.

"Nah, sorry bud - I hate to leave you with... her, but I'm already running late for an alchemists guild meeting. Jamie has me swamped in work, this week, but... next week, maybe!"

He offered an empathetic smile to Pitch, but saw it have little effect against the fae's comparatively sour expression. Still, Pitch nodded, not making much effort to hide her disappointment.

"Alright, well, I'll see you in the morning then." Pitch said.

"Later, fuzzball!" Candy joined in, floating down so she was laying eye-level beside Pitch. Root shot Candy one more disapproving look as he stepped out the door.

"Behave, Candace, or I'll make you wish you'd gone to the afterlife." They said, before rushing off and letting the door slam closed behind them.

"Well-" Candy nudged Pitch with an elbow. "Fuzzball might be out of the picture, but I'll take you up on that free dinner, huh?"

"... I'll think about it." Pitch said, an elaborate Deepfae phrase that translated to 'no'. She finished sorting out her groceries, tucking most of them away while leaving out the ingredients for pasta.