Life Goes On

“Ollie!” Hikaru said, her voice brimming with energy and excitement as she came in the apartment door. It was Sunday and you’d woken up earlier than you wanted, as usual, so that your sleep schedule wouldn’t get out of whack for the work week. She’d gotten up, as usual, and made breakfast while refusing to let you help, and then while you had settled in to get some painting done on a new unit of Arclite Transhuman Ravagers that you’d put together last week, she’d headed out.

“What is it?” you asked, setting down the mini you’d been painting and looking over at her.

She’d kicked off her shoes and came over to you, and big smile on her face. “I got a job offer!” she said. “Well, I was asked to apply, and they said I’m pretty much a shoo-in. And it’s not in my field or anything, but it’s a part-time job so I can start actually working and making money and being an adult. Guess where it is?”

You were pretty sure you knew exactly where it was, but you didn’t want her to know you’d had a hand in it. “Where?” you asked instead.

“The Cafe around the corner, so it’s super close to home too!” Hikaru squealed happily. “Your friend Paula came up to me after the whole breakfast rush cleared out and talked to me for a bit, and then she told me I should apply and she could get me to start with a training shift this week. It’s just a barista job but it’s still something.”

“That’s fantastic, Hikaru,” you said, standing up and squeezing her in a hug as she practically vibrated in your arms with excitement.

“Thank you so, so much for everything you’ve been doing, Ollie,” she said, still hugging you. “Letting me stay here without rent or anything, buying all the groceries - you’re the absolute best person I know.”

“You’re my favourite cousin,” you said. “How could I not?”

“I’m not even your cousin anymore though,” she said, pulling back from the hug and looking at you. “I’m like… your ex-cousin if that’s even a thing. But you’re the sweetest person I know. And now I can finally start chipping in.”

“Whoa,” you said, shaking your head. “You need savings, and to be able to buy stuff for yourself. There’s no way I’m letting you chip in on rent or something when I was already covering this place by myself.”

“Ollie-” she started to complain.

“You already make me breakfast, and most of my dinners,” you said. “And don’t think I haven’t noticed you cleaning up around here too. That’s more than enough ‘chipping in’ for now, OK?”

She gave you a look and then sighed in acceptance. “Fine,” she said. “But that means you can’t fight me over making breakfast anymore. Just accept that I’m doing it.”

“Fine,” you agreed. “But only if you agree that if you get sick or something, I’m going to be the one taking care of you and you don’t try to push yourself.”

“Agreed,” she said, holding out a hand. You shook it with a smile and then pulled her into another hug.

“I’m so happy for you,” you said. “And proud.”

“Thanks, Ollie,” she said softly, and it was good to hear the smile on her lips.

The ringing of your Discord app from your computer wasn’t something you were expecting. It was late-ish on Sunday night and you’d spent the afternoon at the Game Store playing Arclite even though you hadn’t gotten your new Ravager unit painted up completely. The game went longer than expected, but then they always did, and you’d made it home just in time for dinner with Hikaru and Margot. Now you were going through the notes that Hannah had sent you on your upcoming fitness journey.

What you were, and were not, allowed to eat was depressing. You were already missing Paula’s pastries.

You clicked over to your Discord and raised your eyebrows, grabbing your headset and putting it on before accepting the call.

“Hey, Charli,” you said. “It’s good to hear from you. What’s up?”

“Hey, Ollie,” Charli said on the other end of the call. Her voice was almost cartoonishly high, which you knew she hated, but she also sounded ridiculous if she tried to talk in a lower register so she’d long ago learned to live it. The fact that she compensated for having ‘Kid Voice’ by going Goth wasn’t lost on you. “How are things?”

“Pretty good,” you said. “Nothing I can complain about at all. And I saw that you hit another milestone on your YouTube channel. Congratulations!”

“Thanks,” she said warmly. “And I did see your text when it happened, I appreciated it. Sorry I didn’t text back, I was kind of getting flooded at the time.”

“No problem at all,” you said. Charli had graduated from college at the same time as you with a double major in communications and psychology and had started up her own YouTube channel that covered a bunch of nerdy news stuff, interviews at conventions, and highlighted her cosplay and LARP activities. Considering she’d been the President of the university LARP club back in college, you’d never been surprised by her success in the nerd sphere.

“So, this is a little awkward,” she said. “I’m coming to your city next month for Sword and Blaster Con because they invited me to attend as a guest judge for their cosplay and mini painting contests, but the event staff just got back to me and one of their board members fucked off with a bunch of their funds and there’s a legal thing now. The long and short of it is that the Con is still going to happen, but they can’t cover my hotel stay like they were supposed to. I was wondering if you could put me up the weekend of the 17th? I can get you and a couple of friends some VIP passes to the Con, and chip in for meals and stuff.”

Your immediate gut reaction was to say yes - Charli might not have been as old or good a friend as Hannah or Margot, but she was a friend even if you hadn’t talked properly in a couple of years. That was adult life though - things happened, and people got busy. There was, however, another issue.

“I’d love to,” you said. “One thing is, my cousin is living with me so my guest room is kind of occupied. She’ll probably still be here then, so I can offer you a very nice couch. Oh, or I can ask my neighbour Margot - she lives alone right now and has a guest room too, she’d probably be willing to let you stay with her and then you can just come one apartment over for meals and stuff.”

“Well, obviously I’d prefer a room and a bed, but I’ll take a couch,” Charli said. “You said your cousin is a she?”

“Yes,” you said.

“Then I’m good with it,” she said. “God, Ollie. Thank you so much. This means a lot. Let me know how many VIP passes I should get set aside - are you still stuck at the hip with Hannah?”

“I am,” you chuckled. “Always will be. I’ll see if she wants to go, and a couple of other friends, and I’ll get you a number.”

“You’re amazing, Ollie,” Charli said. “OK! Now I can get back to planning this trip, and everything else. I’ll give you a shout. Thank you!”

“You’re welcome,” you said, and the two of you hung up the call.

It took almost twenty minutes before you realised that you hadn’t told her about April. That was going to be a fun surprise for her - Charli loved one of the darker anime that April had voiced a major character in, along with two of the games. She was going to be shocked.

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