"Well, looks like I've seen everything. And your place seems cheerier than mine," I noted, comparing this coziness with my wretched apartment.
And it was true, because cracked walls with moisture, mold from the dampness, and just plain poverty inside… well, that's not exactly what you'd call a dream home, so she's like a princess here, isolated from what's out there… truly, life in another dimension.
"And it's all thanks to you. Alright then, hungry?" she changed the subject, as if she didn't like the comparison.
I listened to my body's sensations. It seemed healthy, even renewed, but the feeling of hunger, it appeared, still remained. I needed to put something in my stomach.
So I nodded.
"Good. Let's cook something together!" The girl turned and went to the stove, as if knowing I would agree.
What a fox!
And after a couple of moments and a snap of her fingers, a cutting board, fresh vegetables, and a sharp knife suddenly appeared on the kitchen countertop, while she herself started fussing with a frying pan she'd taken from a cabinet next to the stove. Everything appeared as if by magic.
I was surprised again, but not as much as the first time. I'm probably getting used to it.
"By the way, where did the vegetables come from? Can you create food too?" I asked her directly.
"Well, we're in a game, come on, help out)))"
"Ahem… alright," I said vaguely, automatically starting to move towards the board with the vegetables and knife, and only after I got there did the foolishness of it dawn on me – what, exactly, are we cooking? Why am I helping cook something I don't even know what it is yet… That was stupid.
"Mita, what do you want to cook?" I asked, trying not to betray my confusion.
"I was thinking stew, what, you don't like it?" she asked, turning to me with what seemed like a concerned expression.
Lately, I'd been feeling that food tasted rather bland, so I just nodded.
"Good then! Let's get to it!" she energetically set about cooking.
Starting to chop potatoes and carrots, I pondered.
Yeah, it's true… why did I ask what we were cooking? Doesn't it all taste the same anyway?
Ah… right, for propriety's sake. Can't be so tactless.
It suddenly occurred to me that helping with cooking without even asking what exactly we were making was a bit dismissive. As if I didn't care what she was cooking.
I wonder, have I become so unlike myself since arriving in this world, or is it because of my finally healthy body…
But oh well… I just need to relax and enjoy the moment.
I chopped the vegetables, trying to do it as neatly as possible, while Mita deftly swept the results of my labor into the frying pan. Sometimes she stirred the dish, sometimes she covered the pan with a lid and just hummed something to herself.
It seems she enjoys spending time like this, I thought. As if she's dreamed of this her whole life.
When everything was ready and it was time to put the food on plates, I suddenly heard a strange request from her.
"Can you bring the scissors? They're in the bathroom."
"What do you need them for?" I asked, surprised.
"For the sauce," she replied, smiling mysteriously.
She showed me some packets she had quickly pulled out from behind her back.
Where from?
Another rabbit out of a hat, this time in packets...
I sighed, once again accepting the wonders of this world, and then resorted to logic.
"And what do you need the knife for?" I pointed to the knife by the cutting board. "Can't you open it with that?"
"Well, the sauce will splatter, I don't want that, and everything will be sticky. Brr!" she waved her hands, as if already imagining the whole kitchen splattered with the delicacy.
I smiled, imagining it in reality.
"Then let me teach you, I'm good at it," I told her, having experience opening everything from packets of various contents to cans of tushonka with a knife.
But Mita just moved away and shook her head.
"No, shoo to the bathroom!"
Shoo?! Me, shoo? Seriously?
"But…"
"Shoo!"
At that, I put my hands on my hips and… defeatedly went to the bathroom. That girl's insistent gaze wasn't something one could resist. And it wasn't about intimidation or determination, but rather a certain comicality.
Leaving the kitchen for the living room, I couldn't help but chuckle, her image appearing in my mind again.
She's a strange one, though. Weird, but cute.
I went into the bathroom and looked around.
And it looks different from the one in the game…
The room was tiled in white up to the middle, with a plastic dividing strip that resembled wood, and blue wallpaper with white wave-like stripes above it up to the plastic ceiling. Along the walls stood a couple of shelves; to the right was a washing machine, and directly in front of me was the toilet. Everything was clean and tidy.
Small things, like a toilet paper holder, a towel rack, a couple of personal hygiene items, a rug, more potted plants… she really loves those. The flowers only added to the coziness of this room.
To the left of the entrance was a sink with a cabinet and a large mirror, and in the corner stood a shower cabin, and quite a decent size, I must say. Everything needed for comfort was here.
But what was really remarkable were the two windows. The first one right at the end of the room, though where it led was another question. The second one… Oh, no, it wasn't a window, but just a porthole-like decoration in a stained-glass style. It looked very unusual.
Overall, quite nice, I thought, looking around the bathroom.
A glance to the left – and I saw my target: they were right on the sink. Long, sharp scissors.
I took them and turned around, intending to go straight to Mita, when suddenly I noticed something.
Seemed like a small thing, but unpleasant.
The ventilation grille on the right, a little further from the washing machine – the head and a large part of the shaft of a screw were sticking out of its corner.
The whole thing seemed to be holding on by a thread, and it seemed to me that the screw would fall out completely any time now – it was that loose, but from what?
A glance at the other fastenings – the situation was pretty much the same, but not as obvious there.
This won't do – the screws will fall out soon, I thought, and decided, oh well, I'll tighten them, the scissors will do as an improvised screwdriver, especially since their sharp part can be used for both flat and Phillips head screws.
After all, I couldn't just leave it like this, right? Especially since it was a trivial matter, just a couple of seconds.
I proprietarily knelt down and prepared to tighten the necessary spots.
Actually, I was about to get to work, but then my gaze caught on something.
Through the slits in the ventilation, I saw something in the rectangular passage, some things.
Interesting…
I unscrewed the remaining screws with suspicious ease and removed the grille. It fell right into my hands.
Inside were… I didn't even immediately understand what they were. But soon I remembered that there was something like this in one of the tapper mini-games… cartridges?