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When Apo signed up for this, she was signing up to go to an unpopulated area that almost nobody actually ever came to, despite her defenses that she was here because it was a tourist trap- more than anything, she'd wanted to be alone. The calmness, the quiet of the countryside- if they wanted to be around people, they would have signed up for an outpost in a city.
But they didn't, so they signed up for Oakhurst, because it seemed like their best option. They'd expected some difficulties, the ruins wouldn't have been a big problem unto themselves, but nonetheless somewhat of a difficulty, but the people?
The girl who believed in Bigfoot, the man who kept insisting with increasing desperation that vampires existed, the spoiled rich kid she'd stolen from and promptly realised wasn't… quite as spoiled as she'd thought he was, from the way he'd expected her to ask for payment after a joke, after she clearly clarified she wasn't actually trying to steal from him or anything, crazy people outnumbering them ten to one, people in general.
It was just- it was all a lot, and they’d really been hoping for a much more peaceful experience, one without people talking about massacres and other such nonsense, with only Pyro and Dr. Legs as other actual, rational, adults.
She was glad there was at least two other rational people, because the first few days had felt like weeks, and especially this last one- everyone wanting to talk to her, tell her about things, ask questions, trying to get Truffle home, and, after she was already exhausted and done with the day- and the week- as a whole, Avid coming in, shouting about someone gone missing- and, if she was missing, then Apo would have to help, it’d be part of their duties, and they really didn’t want to, especially after he grabbed their shoulders, pulling in too close to speak too loudly, and they were just- ready to be done with the day by the time Shelby returned, in another flurry of motion and volume, and then, against her better judgement, when asked to go on another trip, she joined the group, entering the crypt, ignoring the part of her that cringed at every new stimulus, staying all the way until morning to check for the mysterious book or whatever.
By the time they got back to the house so that the only person they would be dealing with was Pyro, they were just… exhausted beyond belief. The day had gone on for an eternity, this wasn’t what they’d wanted when they signed up for this position, they were so tired of being one of the only rational adults, they didn’t even know if they wanted to sleep, just that they wanted it all to be over, and sleep was the closest they could get to completely blocking out their senses and time traveling back to choose a different outpost to sign up for.
Not that time travel was real, a stipulation they never would have thought they’d need to add to anything, but they were fairly certain that Shubble, if asked, would have said that time travel was totally real- and, gods above, it wasn’t that she was doing anything wrong necessarily, but Apo just- they couldn’t deal with all of this.
So, by the time they’d finally, finally gotten back to their shared cottage with Pyro, they barely even processed the vaguely concerned look he gave them, just stumbling towards the bed, half-collapsing onto it with a groan.
They could hear Pyro’s pen scratching at the parchment, a comforting sound, just a calm, quiet repetition, bereft of anyone talking, after a day- and an entire night- of holding back a scream at how loud they all were, and their eyes finally drifted shut into a blissful silence.
She was woken up by the door slamming open. It was loud, and startling, and that was enough unto itself to have her eyes going wide as she tried to figure out what was going on, heart racing, and she probably would have been a bit irritated if it was Pyro that did it, but, seeing that it was another person? That someone else had come in to bother them, at the one point in the day when she could properly be allowed to rest- this entire place was like a Hell specially crafted for her, where everything in it had flipped her expectations on their head in the worst way possible.
They could hear Pyro talking to whoever it was, sounding far calmer than they would have, though his voice was carefully quiet, such that they had to strain to hear, just to make sure they didn’t have to deal with it-
“-po’s just gotten to sleep, I know the house judging is meant to happen now, but can you wait a bit? Or, just- be quiet.”
Avid’s voice was much louder. “Oh! Sorry, I didn’t realise- I mean, isn’t it morning now, though-”
“They didn’t sleep at all last night.” Pyro cut him off.
“Oh.”
But Avid was right; it was morning, Apo should have been awake by now, it was her own fault for deciding to stay up the night before.
She blinked her eyes open, one hand going up to shield her eyes against the sunlight streaming in through the windows, and the other helping to prop her up.
“It’s fine,” She called, “I’m awake now.”
She didn’t miss the uncertain glance Pyro sent her, just ignored it, pushing herself into a fully standing position, doing her best to look reasonably put-together; back straightened and hands clasped firmly in front of her, eyes perfectly open despite how heavy they felt.
“Great!” Avid’s voice was, for once, not frantic, but it was still overly cheerful, and they, truthfully, really would have preferred to allow Pyro to send him away and let her get a bit more precious sleep, but that wouldn’t look particularly good for them- especially considering that everyone else was already awake, and they were the only actual military personnel here, so they had to command respect. “Alright, not a bad house, I really like…” Apo did their best to tune out his voice, and the voices of the few other people who decided to enter the house and look around.
Once Avid left, a sign on the door heralding his exit, and everyone other than Pyro streamed out of the house, she collapsed back onto the bed. She’d- she was awake, she should probably head out and make sure nobody was getting lost in the woods or blamed for murder, or littering, she just… needed a minute.
“Apo?” Pyro’s voice was still carefully quiet, even though she was plenty awake now, and her ears had already been assaulted by everyone else’s volume. Though… she could admit it was nice, not as unpleasant as everyone else.
“I’m just taking a minute, I’ll be out to… do everything in just a minute,” She mumbled in response.
He looked… hesitant. “Right… I get that. But, you know, while they’re doing the whole house tour thing, they don’t really need anyone to watch them, you could sleep a little more?”
She shook her head swiftly. “With this group? We’re outnumbered ten to one on sanity, someone’s probably already lit a house on fire.”
“...I’m a little worried about you, though?” At her glare, he lifted his hands, quickly backtracking- “I mean, what I’m trying to say is that you seem pretty tired, or, I mean, I don’t think you slept last night, and, like, Owen’s been saying there’s wolves out there and all that, and I wouldn’t want my housemate to get hurt?” His voice raised in volume as he defended himself, and Apo covered her wince with a hand.
“I’m fine, Pyro. I have an actual job to do.”
“I know, I just…” He sighed heavily. “I’d feel better if I knew you were ready for the day, had all your critical thinking actually working and all.” He said ‘critical thinking’ with a bitterness that made Apo half-want to ask what he- or someone else, she supposed- had done, if that was why he was saying it like that. “We wouldn’t want everyone to think you weren’t a good soldier because you’re all sluggish,” He added.
And that- that was a fair point. They wouldn’t want to risk whatever reputation they did have with the townsfolk.
And they were tired, and just about done with everything, and Pyro was offering them an out, one where they wouldn’t have to deal with everything that made their head hurt, at least for a bit.
“Okay, just… wake me up if anything happens, alright? I’m still a soldier, not your friend.” They didn’t look at him as they said it.
“Of course. But, for what it’s worth… I do consider you my friend, even with everything else going on.” When they didn't respond, he added, quietly, "And I want you to be okay, even if..." He trailed off, and the sound of pen scratching at paper resumed.
She hadn’t come here to make friends, hadn’t wanted to meet anyone, but… at least there was Pyro, she supposed. Out of everyone, he was the only one she would’ve actually been okay with meeting, if the rest of this hadn’t happened.
Just another six months, she reminded herself, and then this would all be over.