Chapter Text
The gloomy, rainy atmosphere of City Z, along with the fact that it was crawling with some of the most heinous monsters known to man, was enough to have anyone running far, far away from there. Ness, however, was already running, running from the screaming, the fights, and every abusive act that wore down their soul. Freshly eighteen with just a tattered suitcase, they finally had hope. They escaped their parents' relentless torment. The rainy, grey skies and the crumbling apartment that lay before them were someone else’s nightmare. But not to Ness.
It was a beacon of hope.
Taking a deep breath, Ness walked through the front doors and up to their new apartment. They spoke to the landlord earlier that morning, who gave them their room number and told them their keys were waiting for them under the mat outside their new apartment. They guessed not even the landlord wanted to be caught in the nearly abandoned City Z. Who could blame him? There was a reason the rent was so ridiculously cheap.
They unlocked the door with shaky fingers and turned on the lights. The bare bones apartment brought tears to their eyes. They finally did it. They had a place of their own. They quickly wiped away the pesky tears and went to get settled in. They didn’t have any furniture, but they had some clothes and a couple of blankets. Which will have to do for now. They got changed out of the soaking clothes that were sticking to their body, and laid out a makeshift bed with their few blankets. They had a job lined up at the supermarket one town over, so once they got their first check or two in, they would be able to make the apartment feel more like home. But for now, Ness decided it was time to sleep off the long day they’d had.
Ness was awoken from their nap a few hours later by a loud bang that shook the ceiling above them. Shooting up from their mess of blankets, they call a “bed”, they were hit by flashbacks from just a few weeks ago of broken plates, broken glass, and the screaming voices of their parents. Curling into a ball, they began to sob.
They were broken out of their state of terror when they heard the muffled voices of two men in an argument, something about knocking over the bookshelf. They were relieved it was something minor and just their neighbors. Ness took note of how little insulation there was in the decrepit apartment complex, which shouldn’t have been surprising. However, their mind couldn’t help but wonder who lived above them.
Later, after they had eaten a small snack that they had stored away in their bag, they decided to go up to the roof for some air. Sitting outside in the cool air and dim lights of the night always proved to be an excellent coping mechanism for them. They were always so enamoured by the stars and as a kid wished to be on a different planet somewhere in the sky, far, far away from their life; they always knew. But now they had some privacy of their own. Not having to worry about their parents hunting them down or scolding them for climbing out the window to sit on the roof.
As they reached the door at the top of the stairs, leading to the roof, they quietly closed the door, purely out of habit. Yet, they were happy for their little habit when they turned to see a tall man --well, not man-- they weren’t sure what he was. He was shrouded in metal parts and gears, with spiky blonde hair, and black scleras and beautiful golden irises. Realizing that they were staring in awe, they went to hide behind a small pillar on the roof. They silently hoped he wouldn’t notice them as he was consumed in some type of training.
‘Was he a hero?’ Ness questioned silently.
Ness was aware of the hero association, but never really got into the whole thing, because they never believed in heroes. How could they? There may be monsters all over the city and the surrounding ones, but the real monsters were humans. Monsters that rip you apart physically could never hurt you as badly as the regular humans that tear apart your soul, then put on a bright smile to everyone else.
They snapped out of their awe-induced trance when the cyborg stopped training and stilled to stare out at the city around him. Ness realized they should most definitely leave before he was to notice their borderline creepy staring. They slip away as quietly as possible, but as they walk back down to their apartment, they can’t help but kick themself for not trying to talk to him. They were hoping they’d have the chance to get to know the interesting (and somehow extremely handsome) cyborg.