...
Theo, who was thinking of a possible explanation for everything, gave up after a moment's thought.
'Easier to ask her, but in the meantime, you'd better get out of those clothes and have a shower.'
With a sigh, Theo went back to his room, leaving Cappie to enjoy her game; there was enough time for them to talk later.
Meanwhile.
"Uuh?"
Cappie, fresh from yet another victory, raised her head and looked around, frowning. She was sure she heard someone sighing in there. But the room was empty, and Theo's bedroom door was now ajar.
"Heh..."
She let out a dry laugh.
"I think spending months in that place has affected my brain more than I thought. I'm even hearing things now. Ugh..."
She put the remote down on the table and leaned against the back of the sofa, her eyes staring at a real ceiling.
All she had to do was close her eyes for a few seconds and the memories would come back: hellish studies, metallic voices, studies again, loneliness and more studies.
Her body shuddered at the thought.
But then, like a click that drew his attention back, his eyes lit up.
"Speaking of the Host. Is he really not coming today? I wanted to see him as soon as possible."
The enthusiasm in his voice was genuine, but it carried a hint of anxiety that was hard to disguise. It was a new and slightly frightening feeling. After so long surrounded by it all, the mere fact of being able to talk to someone real, especially her host, made her want to count the minutes.
While Cappie fidgeted on the sofa, restless in his silent waiting, in the other room of the house, Theo had already finished his bath. The hot water helped relieve the tiredness of the day, or at least the confusion in his mind.
Almost twenty minutes later, dressed in simple, comfortable clothes, he left the bedroom and went straight to the kitchen. His steps were quiet, but his goal was clear: to devour the last piece of cake that Nayun had left in the fridge yesterday morning.
"I hope she doesn't come charging afterwards..."
He opened the fridge with a slight smile on his lips, but what he found made him freeze for an instant. The shelf where he had left the plate with the slice of cake was empty.
"..."
The smile withered immediately. Theo stood still, staring at the emptiness as if hoping that, by sheer force of will, the cake would reappear there.
It was then that he leaned over and looked slightly into the room.
It was then that he saw a small, clean plate resting on the coffee table, with no trace of anything on it.
But what caught his eye was the girl, fast asleep.
Cappie was lying on her side on the sofa, her body slightly curled up and the game controller still dangling between her fingers, loose, about to slip out. The glow from the TV flickered softly across her face, tinging her features with a bluish hue, but she seemed oblivious to everything, plunged into a heavy, calm and silent sleep.
"I didn't even want to eat cake..."
murmured Theo, in a resigned tone, but with a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
That last piece could have disappeared, but now it seemed irrelevant.
He walked into the living room, turned off the TV with a silent gesture and approached slowly. Cappie's breathing was steady, as if her body was finally resting after a long time of constant tension.
For a moment, Theo hesitated.
But then he crouched down beside her, carefully, and wrapped his arms around her gently so as not to wake her.
He carried her into the second bedroom and placed her carefully on the bed.
Theo covered her with the blanket up to her shoulders, carefully tucking the folds around her neck. His eyes then fell on the cap, half fallen on his head. With a calm movement, he took it off and placed it on the bedside table, within her reach.
"Good night, cap girl."
With those last words, Theo left after turning off the lights.
...
10:39 in the morning.
The sun was already streaming through the gaps in the curtain, casting golden lines across the room. The room was silent, except for the faint sound of birds outside and the soft ticking of a clock on the wall.
Cappie stirred slightly in bed, his eyes still closed. His body, accustomed to the discomfort and constant tension of the last few months, resisted believing that he could finally relax. But then her nose brushed against something.
She opened her eyes slowly, confused.
"...Huh?"
It took her a few seconds to realize that she was no longer on the sofa. She blinked a few times, feeling the fabric of the blanket over her body, the mattress under her back and the soft light bathing the room. She looked around slowly, stopping at the cap on the side table.
Cappie lifted her arms gently, stretching with a "waah!
"Toc! Toc! May I come in?
The voice outside the door made Cappie freeze in mid-motion, arms still raised.
She blinked in surprise. It was Theo.
"Uuh... can you?"
She said, a little hesitantly, whether she should get up or stay in bed. After a little reconsideration, she chose the second option, quickly getting into bed and pulling the blanket up to her waist.
The door opened slowly, revealing Theo, who was holding some clothes in his hand.
"Here... I took these clothes from my girlfriend, if they fit you, you can wear them. The bathroom is on the right."
After leaving the set of clothes and a towel on the table, he left again.
Cappie was silent for a few seconds after the door closed, her mind going blank.
She looked at the clothes folded neatly next to the towel and then lowered her eyes.
"Girlfriend, does my host have a girlfriend? Why didn't they warn me?"
She muttered, not knowing exactly why it bothered her a little. Not that it was any of her business. She was probably just sensitive about being someone who had learned so much for her master, but apparently someone else had already arrived without her knowing.
"Humph!"
She huffed, staggering at the thought, and picked up her clothes, carrying them to the bathroom with hurried steps.
Cappie even forgot that she didn't need the clothes he had given her, since as a special existence as she was, something like clothes or a bath wasn't even necessary.
She could simply make her own clothes appear with a thought, clean, dry and just the way she wanted them. But at that moment... Cappie forgot.
"Ah! Why did I have to be so hard-headed compared to them, if I hadn't failed, I could have been with the Host from the start."
Cappie stared at her reflection in the mirror with a grimace.
The truth was simple: she was different. Not because she couldn't do what the others did for their hosts, but because she chose to remain human, unlike the others, who chose to become one with their masters.
...