B3 Chapter 4 - Moving Out
I didn’t speak much with my parents during the moving process.
I had assumed I’d need help at some point. Everyone always complained about how tedious and time-consuming moving apartments was, and I wasn’t exactly the most knowledgeable or skilled person when it came to real life problems.
When I actually looked at the workload in front of me, though, I remembered that my belongings fit into a few boxes. I had more stuff now after shopping in Thailand and buying a new, larger VR headset, but that was about it.
My bed was still a squeaky piece of crap, even smaller than Veyra’s single-person bed. Any other bits of furniture like the cabinet belonged to my parents’ attic, and were too old to show off to Veyra anyway. All of my belongings, excluding my game pod, would easily be moved with a single car trip, no van or even the family SUV needed.
As for that game pod…
“Happy birthday, Anna,” I said with a funny grin as I knocked on my sister’s room.
She eyed me suspiciously, as if wondering whether I’d lost my mind. “Is this a prank, or…?”
“I’m moving out,” I said. “I’m not really feeling like moving my game pod though. It’s all yours.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Really? You don’t feel like moving it? Isn’t it like five grand?”
“If you don’t want it, it’ll dust away.”
I knew she wanted it—or at least, she’d been asking for a new game pod. Dad still hadn’t gotten one for her. She’d instead been playing at internet cafes, or sometimes with my old headset if she couldn’t get to one. That was a last resort, though. Quick-casting on that thing was worse than trying to write with a foot.
“Well…” Anna said. “If you really don’t need it? When are you moving?”
“In about an hour.”
“Wait,” she said, tone switching. “You’re moving today?”
I nodded. Finding an apartment had been surprisingly easy. I picked one outside the city in a neighborhood that appeared safe with quick research. It was a wheelchair accessible two bedroom apartment larger than most in the city with a designated parking spot in a parking garage, and the landlord agreed to let me move in on short notice.
The rent price was still heinous at over three grand a month with another two hundred on top for parking. I wouldn’t want to be paying that long term. Other than the pricem though, I thought it was the perfect place temporarily set up camp with Veyra.
I cleaned all the built-up garbage from the attic and threw out a few worn-out clothes I hadn’t worn in years, before carrying my stuff down. My parents were both on the couch with my mom silently on her phone and dad shopping on his laptop. Their heads turned when they spotted me carrying a box.
“I’m moving now,” I said. “I’ll come back home to visit with Veyra if you apologize about yesterday.”
“Yes, I’m sorry,” Mom said right away. “I didn’t mean to get angry. And pause for a moment, Aiden, you’re moving right now?”
“Yep, can I trust you to keep a spare key?”
She required a moment to process that. “Of… course. Where are you moving?”
“Just outside the city,” I said. “I might show you around at some point. See you.”
I stuffed what little I’d brought along in the car. My dad came after me to ask if I needed any help, but the answer was self-evident when he saw all of my belongings fit in the trunk of a supercar. He just reminded me to eat well and to call mom every now and then. I promised I would, and with that, I drove out of the driveway of the place I’d always called home.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The start of a new life, huh?
It felt bittersweet. Was I too cold to my parents? They obviously loved me, even if they were controlling every now and then. My Mom already apologised…
She’ll get over it, I thought. Maybe she was just shocked yesterday. She’d accept the fact I wouldn’t have kids soon enough. I wouldn’t let their opinion dictate my life in the slightest, but it would be nice if they got along with Veyra and supported us being together.
Either way, I grabbed the keys from my landlord and arrived at my new, completely empty apartment.
***
“Wait, you moved this quickly?” Veyra asked, when I logged in thirty minutes later.
I teleported to her in Silverheaven Harbor, and the pleasant scent of ocean waves greeted me to a city that was way more pleasant than Mycelara or Rayshire. Small brick buildings were built around rivers, kind of like Vienna if it was a city in an MMO. Further north, a mountain rose high up with a huge mine opening visible from here—the entrance to the Endlich Event.
In practicality, Silverheaven was a mid-game city that hadn’t seen top players in over a year now. We didn’t have any reason to be here. But since the city had all the necessary services, like blacksmiths and auction houses, we could always just teleport here instead of Mycelara. The open sky was a pleasant break after being stuck at an underground event for months straight.
“I just had two boxes to move, and I stocked up on noodles and toilet paper and stuff like that.” I’d also grabbed a bunch of miscellaneous stuff like kitchen utensils and pots and whatevers, and a bucket for Veyra. “That’s about it. I ordered a bed as well. Queen sized should be good for us, right?”
“You didn’t bring any furniture?”
“No, I’m buying everything new,” I said. “We can take a look at what we need when you get here. For now I just grabbed a bed.”
She gave me a look.
“What?”
“So you moved in, and the first thing you do is bring your game pod and log in?”
“No, I donated that to my sister. I’m playing on the headset.”
“That’s even worse!” Veyra blurted out. “So you’re telling me you’re in an empty apartment right now, lying on some mattress with your headset?”
“Oh, I’m lying on a pile of clothes right now. I don’t have a mattress yet. It’s coming with the bed.”
She blinked at me, tilting her head, before bursting out laughing. “Oh my god, Aiden, there is no way I heard that right.”
I rubbed my cheek while she continued laughing at me.
The laugh lasted for a solid ten seconds. She slowly calmed down, only to glance at my face and relapse into another fit of laughter right away. “A pile of clothes, oh my god! That’s too funny.”
“It’s just a temporary solution,” I said with a sigh. “Like I said, I just bought a bed. And for the rest, I was thinking of looking at furniture with you.”
She wheezed a few final laughs before saying, “Yeah, queen sized is perfect. But just remember that it’s still your apartment. You’ll have to decorate it in your style. I don’t want to feel like I’m visiting myself every time.” She paused and added, “Wait, don’t tell me you’re one of those people who lives in a blank white space.”
“Uh,” I said. More like the type who lives with overflowing garbage bags. “Your apartment was prettier for sure. But no, I’ll get this place as ready as I can before you arrive.”
I received no reply. Veyra just eyed me with her eyelashes just visible under the brim of her hat.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Nothing.” Her smile widened. “I’m excited to see it. I used to only daydream of visiting a boyfriend. Just promise to take care of me, okay?”
“You’ll be pampered with more care than any princess,” I promised.
“I don’t need pampering,” she said. “I just need a puke bucket and someone to take care of my diet. If I die, you’ll be responsible.” She laughed, as if to say she was joking.
“The bucket is handled, and the apartment has a shower seat already in place,” I said. “I’m also grabbing the ingredients for your meals. So if you bring your meds and everything else, we should be good.”
“Wait, there’s a shower seat? Did you move to a full-on wheelchair accessible apartment?”
“Yep. With a sliding door for the bathroom and all.”
I’d thought this would be an obvious thing; of course I’d move into an accessible apartment if I was going to have Veyra live there with me, but she seemed surprised. “Are you fine living in an apartment like that when I get back home?” she asked.
“Yeah? The bathroom is bigger and that’s pretty much it. It’s not like I’ll miss the doorframes of a regular apartment. We’ll eventually live together anyway, right? Our house will need to be accessible.”
“Fair enough,” she said.
I smiled at that. For a long time now, Veyra had hesitated to speak about topics living together. I’d been dreaming of moving in together with her from week one like the idiot I was. Now we’d been half a year together, and I was glad she was also in on the idea.
She asked me, “Are you hoping I’ll move to America?”
“I think having an apartment in both countries is perfect for now. Expensive, maybe, but it’s not like we’re short on money.”
“Yeah, agreed. I’m down to travel back and forth while we figure things out.”
A group of players teleported outside the auction house behind us. They spotted us, and I realized I’d forgotten to put [Stealth] on. I quickly did so. Veyra laughed and hid as well. “Anyway, enough of that stuff, let’s get back to work.”