Chapter Text
Sal woke up around noon on Larry's beanbag. It was a common occurrence ever since the two became best friends. He actually hadn't planned on staying the night, but their long video game session had exhausted him to the point where he had just conked out right there. There was a blanket draped over him that he didn't remember being there before, most likely Lisa's doing.
Yawning, he sat up and moved the blanket aside. He had slept with his prosthetic on, something he didn't normally do, so his face felt itchy from the overnight contact with the foam padding on the inside. He knew Lisa was most likely out working on a different floor, and Larry was the only person he was comfortable taking his prosthetic off around, so he unclipped the buckle straps and took it off for a brief moment so the itchy feeling would go away. As he did he made a mental note to tell his dad that the foam needed replacing.
His pigtails were a mess from having slept with them in so he pulled the hair bands out and shook his head until his hair cascaded down his back like a waterfall. His working eye was still blurry from sleep so he blinked a bit to fix his vision. He looked over to see Larry splayed out on his bed, his snoring sounding like a steam engine. He chuckled softly to himself before grabbing a pillow from off the floor and chucking it at him.
"Yo, Johnson, get up!"
The sudden noise and the feeling of the pillow hitting him made Larry jolt awake in a confused panic. He jumped out of bed in a near fighting position, but got tangled up in his sheets and fell flat on his face. Sal did not hold back his laughter.
"Mornin' sleeping beauty," he said with a smirk. Larry groaned as he untangled himself.
"Dude, couldn't you have woken me up in a gentler way?"
Sal shrugged. "I could've. But it wouldn't have been as funny."
"You're a dick," Larry said, though more jokingly than angry. He finally stood up from the floor and stretched. "You want breakfast? I can make us something."
Sal's eyes widened. "Hell no. I'll make us something. You aren't allowed to cook ever again."
"Last time wasn't that bad!"
"Lisa had to get the fire extinguisher! It was that bad!"
Larry rolled his eyes. "Oh, ye of little faith. Fine, go cook something then."
Sal got up and went out to the kitchen. He opened the fridge to see what was available but there wasn't much besides one single egg in the carton and barely a drop of milk left.
"Shit," Larry mumbled, startling Sal, who hadn't even heard him walk up behind him. "Mom was supposed to go grocery shopping this morning, I guess she got distracted with a job."
Sal closed the fridge. "No problem. We can just head up to my place. We got food, Dad just went to the store recently. Besides, I need to head up there to feed Gizmo, he's probably starving."
"Fine by me. Let me throw on some different clothes first."
The two left the apartment about ten minutes later, briefly passing Chug in the basement hallway. He was waiting for the snack machine to be refilled like every Saturday morning, and they all had a short conversation before Sal and Larry stepped into the elevator to head up to the fourth floor. Larry's eyes were still heavy with sleep and he leaned against the wall of the elevator, yawning.
The elevator bell dinged once it hit the fourth floor and the two stepped out. Sal dug around in his pocket for his key and was about to unlock the door when he noticed a note taped to it.
Sal,
Work called me out for an emergency conference. Sorry it's so last minute. I'll be back on Tuesday.
-Dad
Sal sighed, the familiar ache back in his heart. Larry noticed immediately and put a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Hey... you know you can always crash with us when he's gone..."
Sal stuck the key in the door, pushing it open. "I know, but I don't wanna leave Gizmo alone for so long. He needs more attention than just coming up twice a day to feed him."
"Then bring him with! Mom loves animals, she's always wanted a pet around. But with her on call 24/7 and me at school most of the week it's just never worked out."
Sal grabbed the cat food off of the shelf in the kitchen. "Well... are you sure she would mind the cat hair? Gizmo sheds like crazy."
"Trust me, she's not gonna care. C'mon dude, stop making excuses!"
The rattling of the kibble hitting the metal of the food bowl made Gizmo shoot out from Sal's bedroom like a rocket. A series of grateful meows escaped his mouth as he rubbed his body against his owner's legs. As Sal set the bowl down Gizmo gave Larry a quick greeting by also rubbing up against his legs and purring softly, before heading over to the bowl to eat.
"Gizmo really likes you, dude," Sal said as he filled up the water bowl. Larry smiled at that as he plopped himself down on the couch.
"Heh, nice to know I'm loved," he said dramatically. He grabbed the remote to the TV and turned it on, flipping to the cartoon channel. Sal fixed them two bowls of Lucky Charms and handed one to Larry before joining him on the couch, interested in the new Ricko's Modish Wife episode that was on. He made a quick note to himself to ask Chug about the episode later, the two liked having conversations about new episodes of the cartoons they liked.
There was a thud out in the hallway, loud enough to be heard over the TV. Both teens perked up at the sound, being wary of strange noises was a new habit they had adapted, especially with all the weird shit they had been dealing with over the past year.
Another thud was heard, accompanied by a low curse. Larry muted the TV and got up to go to the door, looking out the peephole. Sal joined him but he was too short to reach the peephole, so he relied on Larry to tell him what was happening.
"Well? What's out there?"
"I see someone, but they're just out of view, damn."
Larry opened the door and poked his head out to scope out the hallway. That's when he noticed some moving boxes scattered around the hallway, and the door to 403 was open.
Mrs. Sanderson's old apartment.
"Huh... I don't remember Mom telling me we got new tenants..." Larry muttered, starting to get concerned. Sal instantly pushed past him to see.
"New tenants? Dude, get out of the way, I wanna see!"
"Aww, is someone too short to look out the peephole?" Larry teased him. That earned him a gentle, but painful enough punch on the shoulder.
"Fuck you. Lemme see."
Larry moved aside a little so Sal could get a good look. He noticed the boxes and the sudden broken ding from the elevator made him jump. A thin, middle-aged man with graying blonde hair walked out into the hallway, carrying a large moving box. He carefully maneuvered around the other boxes in the hallway and tried to open the door to 403 with one hand, but his grip ending failing and he dropped the box with a similar thud as before. He groaned loudly in frustration, following it with a string of curses.
Before Larry could even stop him, Sal had left the apartment and walked down to 403 to help the man. Larry facepalmed in frustration, damn Sal's good-natured heart. Sal approached the man and picked up the box for him.
"Here you go, sir. Need any help getting these boxes inside?" he asked cheerfully.
"Oh thank you young man, you're very kind to offer-" the man began, before finally getting a good look at Sal and nearly jumping out of his skin in shock. Sal immediately brushed it off, he was used to new people getting startled by his prosthetic.
"Sorry, sorry, I wasn't expecting... well, uh... that," the man said, gesturing to the prosthetic. Sal nodded, unbothered.
"Most people are, don't worry," he replied in a monotone voice, before switching back to his more cheerful attitude. "I'm Sal Fisher, I live right over there in 402. The guy who's too much of a scaredey-cat to come say hello is my friend Larry, he also lives here in the building."
Larry heard that and immediately flipped Sal off from the doorway of the apartment. The man chuckled at the interaction between the two, albeit nervously.
"I, uh, wasn't aware any kids lived in the building..."
Sal nodded. "Oh yeah, there's a few of us. Well, we're all teenagers, but yeah. Not too many."
"Oh... well that's... good to know..." the man said quietly. He started muttering to himself again, seeming frustrated about something. Sal was going to ask another question, but something from inside 403 caught his attention. A face, hidden partially in the shadows of the dark apartment. A pair of soft, brown eyes, gazing curiously at him, meeting the blue. They carefully kept themselves behind the door, so not much of them could be seen besides their eyes and part of their face.
Sal smiled, though he knew it was obscured by his prosthetic. But one thing about Sal was that you could still tell when he smiled, by the way the corners of his eyes would crinkle slightly and turn up. It seemed like the person inside noticed that he was indeed smiling, and what little light that illuminated them showed that they were smiling back.
The man noticed Sal staring into the apartment and turned back, eyes widened. He quickly moved over to the door, quietly telling the person to stay inside, before looking back at Sal.
"Look, it was very nice meeting you, but I have to go now. You have a good day, son."
He then went inside the apartment and the sounds of the locks engaging were heard. Sal was left there in the hallway, his interests piqued as always when some new strange thing happened. The sound of footsteps approached and suddenly a familiar deep voice caught Sal off guard.
"So... you getting the same weird vibes I am?"
Sal jumped when Larry spoke, pressing a hand to his chest. "Jesus! Give a guy a heart attack! I need to get you a damn bell, man..."
Larry chuckled, grinning as he did. "Sorry, dude. But seriously, something's up with that dude. You're picking up on it, right?"
"Did you see the other person?" Sal asked, ignoring Larry's initial question. Larry raised a confused eyebrow.
"No...?"
"There was someone else in there. I think someone our age. I couldn't see them very well but... they smiled at me."
"Hmm..." Larry hummed. "You know what? Let's talk to Mr. Addison. I wanna know more about these people and I know you're dying for info too."
Sal was already pressed the elevator button rapidly, shooting Larry a grin from under the prosthetic. "You know me so well, Larry Face."
The two boys made their way down to the first floor where Mr. Addison's apartment was. Sal was the one to knock, the same rhythmic tapping motion he used every time so he wouldn't startle the man too much. Knocking too fast or too loudly would get Mr. Addison very worked up, and that wasn't what they needed at the moment. The clinking of the mail slot was heard and a pair of eyes, along with a partial view of his face, appeared.
"Good afternoon, young Sally! And Larry as well, to what do I owe the pleasure of this impromptu visit?"
"Hey Terrence," Sal responded, having gotten more used to calling him by his first name lately. Larry still preferred referring to him as "Mr. Addison", but the landlord was receptible to either name. "We just wanted to ask, did 403 get new tenants?"
"Ah, yes! Just moved in today, very last minute rent I must add, but if I'm ever going to get those renovations done I'll need all the extra money I can get!"
"Yeah, we thought so, ran into them earlier, uh... dammit, Sal, what were their names again?" Larry asked. He was careful when he spoke, and Sal knew what he was doing. They hadn't gotten any names from the man when Sal had spoke to him, and Larry knew that, but Mr. Addison would never tell them a tenants name if he knew the boys didn't know them. It was "a breach in privacy", as Addison put it. But he fell for it this time, believing that the teens had already gotten the new tenants names.
"Yes, that's Matthew Redding, and son- oh dear me, what was that boy's name again...?"
There was a rustling of papers, then Addison spoke up again.
"Elliott! That's the boy's name. Matthew and Elliott Redding. They came to me yesterday morning, asking about any apartments for rent. They needed one as soon as possible. Mr. Redding was very eager to have an apartment on the top floor, of course I told him the fifth floor was under renovations, but I did suggest the next floor down, which as you know, was 403. I believe it's been long enough since Mrs. Sanderson's... er... dreadful demise, and so I rented him that apartment."
Sal had stopped paying as much attention after Mr. Addison said the boy's name. Elliott. There had been something in those eyes he'd seen, something familiar. And the fact that he didn't seem scared, the very first thing the kid did upon seeing Sal was smile.
That was so rare for him to see.
Once Addison finished talking, the two boys waved him goodbye before heading back to the elevator. Sal was deep in thought. Suddenly, a hand waved in front of his eyes.
"Sally? Bro, you still on Earth right?" Larry asked jokingly. Sal left out a quiet laugh.
"Yeah, I'm here. I just-"
"Can't get those new guys outta your head?"
Sal nodded. "Gee, you could tell?"
"Look, I don't know what's going on with those giys, but I'll tell you this. No one normal ever moves into Addison Apartments."
"Oh, thanks!" Sal exclaimed sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Larry grinned.
"C'mon, you know what I mean. There's something weird going on in that apartment. But, call me crazy, it doesn't feel like a 'bad weird'. Like, fifth floor bad weird. More like just regular weird. Maybe we'll get to talk to that kid eventually. Hell, it wouldn't be so bad having another friend in the group. We Addison Apartments kids stick together, ya know?"
Sal agreed. "Yeah. I guess we'll see eventually."
They headed back upstairs, ready to kick off the rest of the day with video games and way too much junk food.