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verminiss · 5 months

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Housed Hearts Ch2 Apartment Troubles

(This will heavily reference House Hunted 2 by Mortisfox and maybe House Hunted also by Mortisfox. Only the OC is mine.)

-THESE FIRST FEW CHAPTERS TAKE PLACE TWO YEARS BEFORE ROSE MEETS MAISON-

A coughing filled the air as the greyhorse bus pulled away from the station with a growl from its engine blowing up smoke as it drove off. It continued down the street before turning around a corner. Leaving the smell of smoke and oil in the air.

"Ugh. This is why I don't like the old models." She shook her head and waved a hand in front of her face to help disperse the foul smell from her nose. "Right then. I should be close to my house. But first thing's first. I'm starving."

Normal Business District. The place where she was going to be staying while on the waiting list for the housing department to find an actual house for her. Admittedly not the most ideal situation but she was sure she was going to be patient. She understood it took a while and she was sure her temporary apartment was going to be fine. However for now she was hungry so she was going to look for a restaurant before heading over to her temporary new home. Couldn't walk around on an empty stomach and she knew the address anyways so finding it later shouldn't be a problem. Grabbing her suitcase in one hand, she began walking away from the bus station and into the town ahead of her.

It was your typical busy small town with your typical wife variety of stores and various other businesses. 'Normal Business District' as it was called due to just how many companies were established here and how so many stores were opening up shop here constantly. Although she knew some of them were definitely far from 'normal'. It was just a matter of keeping your eyes open...Or in her case one eye. On the surface any normal person wouldn't think twice when looking at all these things. A local clothing store. A bar. There was a few convience stores. Maybe a grocery store here and there. Throngs of people walked around her not even batting an eye at her. Cars of all kinds honked and drove up and down streets. Your typical thriving town area. It was something that was a blessing compared to the tense aura that she used to be in. With a deep inhale she was able to sniff out her target nearby. The smell of hard brewed coffee and various food smells wafted towards her from the air. Ah! A restaurant of some kind was nearby. Perfect timing. She was starving. Smiling and increasing her strides she quickened her pace and headed towards the source of the smells.

She was eventually able to locate the cafe when she turned a corner and there it was across the street. It was small and quant and the smell of coffee wafted out strongly every time someone opened it's door either to go in or out of the cafe. From the large glass windows she could already see a few people inside eating the delicious food. Perfect. Smiling she made her way across the street. She had just made it across the street and a few yards from the cafe's doors when a sentence caught her ear.

"And you're sure this person WAS from the housing department and not just someone who called themselves a realtor or real estate agent?"

She stopped in her tracks pausing at the sentence before turning her head to the right and finding a sight. A petite woman was standing just a few feet away from her talking to a man. Long dark brown hair was thrown over her shoulder in a braid and brown eyes focused in concentration as she scribbled something down on a clipboard she carried. A red sweater and black skirt was her outfit. After she finished writing down whatever it was she was writing, she looked back to the man, seemed to thank him, and then looked around her. Her eyes locked with hers as she still stared and with a smile the strange woman approached.

"Good afternoon!," she greeted her as she stood in front of her close enough to hear with a smile. "You look new around here. May I have a moment of your time?"

She blinked but smiled politely back. "Sure. I'm in no hurry."

"Oh thank you. I promise I won't hold you for too long. My name is Ivy Woodrow," she introduced herself, "I'm the assistant to the mayor of the valley and I'm just doing my monthly census. I have to keep very close track of those coming in and the state of everyone's living experience. So you're a new resident I'm assuming?"

"Yes and no. I've lived here my whole life however it's my first time in Normal Business District. I'm just staying here temporarily until my new house is set up."

"I see." At this Ms. Woodrow hummed and scribbled something else on her clipboard looking between her and it. "I think I remember you. That would make you Ms. Rose Willow correct?" Rose happily nodded. "Ah. We're so happy to have you then. It really is a nice place to live if you know where you're going." She then hummed again and rose a brow. "I do have to ask about this 'house' you mentioned. "It was assigned to you by the Uncanny Valley Apartment Hunters right? And not by a REALTOR?"

"No. Well at least not yet. I paid for a house but it's going to take awhile so I've been told. Until then I'm renting an apartment here," Rose explained before smiling. "Don't worry. I'm not about to fall for those guys tricks."

"Ah. Perfect. Then you're already aware of the dangers."

"REALTORS might be tricky but I don't consider them dangerous unless I fall for their tricks, which I won't. Trust me. I've been living here long enough to know that."

"Ah. Good to know. And about REALTORS. I can't seem to find one of them for my census so just...stay alert," she warned, "I'm pretty sure they've reached their monthly attoinment but we've had some mishaps."

Rose sighed. "As you do with REALTORS. I'll be fine but thanks for the heads up."

Ivy smiled and nodded. "Hope you have a wonderful day. If you need anything stop by the Mayor's office."

She didn't say anything as Ms. Woodrow left and went onto talking to a different person. Rose shook her head before continuing on into the cafe to quench her growling stomach. She was quick to get in line and grab herself a tea and some doughnuts and scurry for the back of the cafe. A wooden seat met her but it felt entirely like memory foam hugging her body. That might've been strange to someone but normal to her. The red tea hopped between smells of florals, fruit, and caramel corn. The liquid tasted spicy then sweet then buttery. Nothing out of the ordinary for valley tea. The ham and cheese sandwich she grabbed just tasted like a plain sandwich. But the cake which looked to have purple dyed sugar with an edible gold symbol on top exploded spicily in her mouth before it deepened into a rich chocolate. Yep. Typical Valley food. She sighed in content just enjoying herself and looking out the window. Just watching the people go by. It was peaceful today. Not a worry in the world as she leasurely ate at her own pace. However she didn't notice the figure approaching her table until he made himself known.

"Hello pal!"

Rose jumped and whirled around blinking her eye and paused at who she saw. And older stocky man stood there perhaps a foot shorter than herself and smiled at her. He wore a plaid yellow coat, greyish undershirt, brown pants, red bowtie, and had a house pin pinned to his coat. He smiled at her with a tooth missing, a small mustache, and a grey haired comb over. And a very obvious cord like appendage sticking out from his neck.

She recognized what he was in an instant.

He cleared his throat before talking to her. "*ahem* I..." He smiled but paused with a blink. "Uh...Hang on." She watched as he reached into a pants pocket only to pull out a small piece of paper, looked over it, and then stuffed it back into said pocket with a smile right back to her. "Right. Right. *ahem* My name is Heim Baile. REALTOR. And I would LOVE to sell you a house today!"

Calmly she slowly smiled at him and his familiar speech. Ah. A REALTOR. She's definitely seen plenty of them around but none quite like this one. His movements were awkward and sluggish and he seemed to be perspiring a lot. Also how ironic was it that she'd run into one of them after just speaking about them around fifteen minutes ago.

"Um..Yes. so I would love to show you to your future home."

She chuckled before raising a brow. "A house that I haven't even looked at yet?"

He suddenly stiffened puffing his cheeks out for a moment. "Oh. Did I mess it up again? Forgive me. I'm a bit rusty with the whole REALTOR schtick. I would love to SELL you a house!" He corrected himself quickly making her chuckle despite herself. "This is the part where I give you my card. One moment!" She smiled watching as he quickly patted himself down going through pockets until he eventually pulled out a card. "Aha! Got it!"

He held it out to her and she took it from him out of curiosity to peer at it. On it was written 'Heim Baile #463 REALTOR' along with a phone number. And was that a smiley face and heart sticker on it? A few coffee stains creased the sides. Her smile widened despite herself. This was a REALTOR's card?

"Please gimme a call soon. I really need this."

"Hmhm. I'll think about it."

With a gleeful smile on his face, the man turned and quickly shuffled his way out of the cafe. She chuckled as he accidentally knocked over a few things gaining a few angry shouts and frowns from other people. She chuckled as he eventually waddled out the door and disappeared from sight. My my. Quite a fellow. Rose sat there for a moment before shaking her head and pocketing the card. Wasn't going to fall for any of his tricks but it was always amusing to see them try. Oh well. Such was life here.

The rest of her meal was peaceful and soon after she grabbed her luggage and left again. Walking back into the busy streets and walking towards the address she remembered so well. It should be just a little bit aways from here. And it indeed did not take long to find. An apartment complex just sitting there ready to live in. Now they said she'd be temporary set up in apartment one on the first floor until a house with her specific wants was found for her. It was easy to find the apartment and easier to just reach for the handle and just turn it...Only for it to not turn? Rose blinked. Before trying again a few times. Each time it was obviously locked with a click.

Eventually she hummed. "Well this isn't good."

The company said the apartment would be totally unlocked and the key left in the kitchen. She tried the door a few more times to no avail before giving up. She stared at the door for a few more seconds before reaching into her pocket and pulled out her phone. Dialing a number she put the phone to her ear and waited as it rung a few times. After a moment someone eventually picked up.

"Hello. Uncanny Valley Apartment Hunters. How many I help you?",a voice asked through the phone.

"Yes. I'm locked out of my rental apartment. Can I ask why?"

"Yes. We know who you are, Ms. Willow. We were going to call you but-" The person on the other end was suddenly cut off by a loud woman's shriek. It was so loud Rose had to pull her head away. The scream was followed out by...game show music? "Sorry. We were going to call you but we're having some difficulties at the office. We're working on getting the Mayor's assistant over here to solve it. Until then we're afraid your apartment had some slight-" the person was again cut off by some loud laughter and a massive sound of a chainsaw whirring about. Rose just...stared at the phone in shocked silence. "UGH! Listen. I'm sorry but your apartment won't be ready for- Oh! Ivy, you made it! Be right back, Ms. Willow."

Rose continued to stare at the phone. Well...that certainly wasn't something she was expecting but again things were never normal around the valley. The sounds of papers shuffling about and distant arguing was heard but it was hard to hear over the game show music still going on. Although she thought she Heard the words misunderstanding and host. Eventually the voice spoke again.

"Your apartment might not be ready until tomorrow. Our deepest apologies. This usually doesn't happen but there seems to be a mix up. We'll reimburse you for a hotel stay for the night. Go see the sights or something. There's still a chance we'll have this fixed in a few hours. Just... don't go through any strange doors for a while."

"Oh... Alright then."

The phone was hung up and Rose continued to stare at the door for a long moment... before sighing. Well crap. This wasn't good. And she was looking forward to just getting some sleep early. Oh well. She might as well go and get a hotel room for the day then if it won't be ready until tomorrow. Honestly these sudden annoyances were always the worst. She thought she saw a hotel in town as she walked to get here. Might as well go there..but she was calling a taxi. No way she was walking back all the way there with the distance. With nothing left to do, Rose just rolled her luggage out and again looked at her. Now what was that taxi company's number again? She walked out phone in hand just about to dial in the number-

"Heya pal!" Rose jumped at the sound of someone suddenly behind her and looked up...only to blink at the REALTOR from before. A few green leaves clinging to his body. "I had a feeling you were gonna call me. I could feel it in my bones."

Her eye blinked at him for a moment before her brow rose. "Actually I was about to call a taxi. You were just in those bushes weren't you?"

Again he seemed to stiffen nervously. "N-No?....AAAAAAAnyways. What say me and you go look at that house now?" He said changing the subject making her again slowly become amused. "He's just dying to meet ya!"

He was trying really hard wasn't he? It was amusing and almost cute in a way. He looked awkward but no where near threatening. She could tell. ...Ah what the heck. It wouldn't hurt to humor him a bit. She can always call a taxi when she was done being amused.

"Alright. I'll look at the house, but I'm not promising anything,"

He looked surprised for a moment but gladly lit up. "Hey. Don't worry about it! Just gettin' you inside the house is more than enough for.." He paused for a moment humming. "What do they call it? Commission? Yeah. Something like that."

She only chuckled. "Alright. Lead the way. "

He happily turned on his heels and gestured to her to follow as he started to slowly waddle off down the street. "Do you like television shows? There's this one game show program that I always enjoy watching. There's always something different on there every time!"

Game show? Huh. Kinda ironic that she heard a game show music over the phone. "Not much into game shows but I do like watch plant documentaries and gardening videos on the net. I adore gardening. Although crime shows are good too. It's fun to try and guess who did it and what happens next."

"Never really thought of it like that. You like fast food? The burger prince around the corner is always a great place to grab some grub!"

"I usually don't eat greasy foods too much but yeah. They make good burgers. I prefer the valley's teas and cakes myself. It's like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

"Mmm. Chocolate."

He continued to walk awkwardly down the street then going across one street and down another street before he rounded a corner. She followed him all the way. This wasn't too far from her apartment anyways so she could just walk back. It was a more suburban area of the Normal Business District and there was your standard houses in between one or two more grocery stores. Eventually he stopped and turned to her with a smile.

"Here we are, pal!"

Rose turned her eye towards across the street he faced and rose a brow. "You're selling an empty lot?''

"Ah! Nah. I mean the one behind me."

She turned back behind him. And then paused at what she saw. It was a house yes but it was an absolute DISASTER of one. The house looked old and had so many cracks in their walls, and the roof looking like it would collapse any second being slumped over like that. The windows were covered in dirt on the outside and the lawn barely had any grass. Only in dead patches here in there around the yard as it was littered with trash. Mostly empty fast food containers. She continued to stare at the dismayed house for a long moment.

"....THIS is the house?!," she asked in shock. She didn't mean for it to come off so rude but it just slipped out.

"Hey now, pal. It's a little rough around the edges sure. But with some tender love and care this house can become a home in no time!,'' he tried to assure her but seemed a bit nervous. "Or whatever. You just gotta see the insides. I promise you won't be disappointed."

She continued to stare at the poor sight. This was the REALTOR's main body?! Why did it look so poorly maintained? Even the least threatening REALTOR would have a decent looking main body. What on earth happened to him?

She slowly nodded. "Ok. Show me the inside."

Heim paused for a moment looking surprised. "Really?! Hot dog!!"

She couldn't help herself when he suddenly gave what looked like a happy Hop but only lifted himself about an inch off the ground. She giggled at him. For a REALTOR he sure acted rather cuter than most others she's seen. She watched Heim quickly walk to the door and open the door, politely gesturing for her to come in. She walked over until she stood just inside the doorway to look in. She wasn't naive enough to walk inside a strange REALTOR's main body. That's how people got eaten. She did peer her head in...and found the inside as bad as the outside. His illusions weren't very good at disguising his inner body. Isolation perked out everywhere from the walls and ceiling and the floors looked so scuffed and worn out. Graffiti looked to be scribbled across the walls and a torn looking sofa. The illusions weren't good at all. The only decent thing inside the place was the Giant TV that wasn't a part of the illusions.

"Well...What do ya think, pal? Not too bad right?"

Rose didn't say anything at first just looking around cringing on the inside. "Well... It's..not that bad. Not the worst thing I've ever seen."

He again stiffened for a moment in surprise before a bashful smile appeared on his face. "Wow. Ah geez. No one's ever said something that nice to me. I..Uh..Dunno what to say."

"I'd ask what you've been fed recently." Her eye looked around at everything before looking back at him. "You're either not being fed enough or the food you are eating isn't nutritious enough. It's not the worst I've seen but definitely a bit of off your mark there." She smiled at him. "Have you tried talking to the mayor about it?"

He continued to stare at her before he suddenly looked nervous. "Er...Is it that obvious?"

"Pretty much. I knew from the moment I saw you. It also helps that your lure cord is pretty visible. But I will say, I'm glad to meet a REALTOR that's different from the others I've seen." She giggled again smiling at him. "And one that can make me smile."

He again seemed to be flustered by her words. "Oh. Wowza. I uh.. Wasn't expecting that. Or such nice words. ... Please forgive me for being a bit forward but...Well gotta shoot my shot right?" Rose blinked as all of a sudden she found her hand being lifted and held by the REALTOR and...was his lure blushing. "Would you give this down-on-his-luck house a chance and let me take you on a date? I don't gotta lot of money but I'll treat you right."

Rose stared at him in shock for a long moment before she burst into a flurry of giggles and couldn't help but smile. "Oh my. Well aren't you forward."

He chuckled nervously. "What can I say? G-Gotta try my shot."

"Can't ever say I've ever been asked out that forward before especially by a REALTOR." His hands felt sweaty and plant like. Like wet leaves after rain. "But perhaps we should take things slow. We only just met and you don't even know my name."

Heim blinked before smiling nervously. "Uh. Yeah. Guess you're right. Haha. W-What is your name?"

She smiled at him. "My name is Rose. Rose Willow. It's nice to meet you Mr. Baile. You're quite possibly the nicest REALTOR I've ever met. But I hope you don't mind if I don't come inside. Y'know how it is."

"Oh. Actually I filled up on fast food earlier today. I'm also not very particularly fond of human. Give me a giant greasy burger any day right?"

"Can't say I disagree with that but then why were you following me around?"

"Hey. What's the point of being a REALTOR if I don't try getting out there every so often?"

She hummed. "Fair enough." A sudden ring through the air making both pause and Rose blinked. Her phone was ringing. "Oh. ..That might be the housing company. Excuse me. I should take that." She gently pulled her hand away before getting her phone from a pocket and holding it up to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hello. Ms. Willow?"

"Speaking."

"Great news! We were able to get everything in order with the help of Ms. Woodrow the Mayor's assistant." Oh. So it was the apartment company. "Your apartment is all ready for you now. We are sorry for the inconvenience. We can have a car pick you up from wherever you are to bring you back."

"No need. I'm only three streets away. I'll walk back but thanks for the heads up."

"If you insist. Thank you for going through the Uncanny Valley Apartment Hunters. Operating REALTOR free since nineteen eighty seven."

She smiled hanging up before looking back at Heim. "That was the housing department. My apartment is ready. I'd better go and check to make sure the movers didn't damage anything of mine. Sorry to cut our meeting short."

"Oh." He looked a little disappointed at that. "So soon?"

"You know where Im living for now. My apartment is the first one on the first floor. You can come visit me again if you want to, or you can stop by the green house in town. I work there. It'd be nice to make a new friend."

"R-Really?! Oh. You're being awfully nice to me. No one's ever wanted to be friends before."

"Just because you're a REALTOR that doesn't mean I can't show you decency." She patted his shoulder making him smile. "Feel free to stop by sometime and see me. I can always use the company."

He nodded. "I will! I'd love to see you again."

"Then I look forward to seeing you again."

With a small turn and wave Rose began walking away from Him and towards the apartment again. Certainly an unusual day. But for now she'd prefer the comforts of her own bed.

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