Chapter 841: Roommates
Ambriel stepped out through one of the royal castle's side-doors. The sun had already gone down, but the roads were still as busy as ever. Rather, they seemed even busier than when Ambriel had last had the opportunity to see them.
Of course, heaven definitely wasn't quiet in any sense of the word, but there was still a very large difference; here, they were forced to interact with who they considered 'lesser' before. In heaven, they were an angel that mostly interacted with divine beings, so they never really had to talk to the souls of those that had died, but here they had no choice in the matter.
This was the part that they would take a while to properly get used to, but Eisen was confident that they were going to get there in time. Once they really started interacting with the people of prototype, they would relaize that there was no need for them to worry. That's what Eisen was hoping, at least. He would make sure to watch them closely.
Serio had already been instructed to keep close watch of Ambriel and react accordingly should they start a fight.
Obviously, as long as Ambriel didn't end up being completely hostile to the point of murdering others in cold blood, Eisen didn't intend on throwing them back into the jail cell they spent the past few months in. There shouldn't be any need for that anymore. Not that he was going to tell them.
Thinking that there was a threat for them to go back there if they acted wrong would, at the very least, be helpful in keeping them in line for the time being.
"Are you alright?" Eisen asked them, and Ambriel slightly flinched, looking over at the old man before nodding slowly, "Y-yeah, I'm fine... It's just been a while since I..."
"Don't worry, you can take it easy. We're just headed to the place you'll be living for now. It's nearby, just a few minutes' walk," Eisen explained.
Ambriel, trying to steel themself, nodded and quickly followed the old man. As though they were trying to hide in his shadow, they were walking very closely to him, even if they were still trying not to actually touch or grab onto him. Of course, if they were trying not to draw attention, Eisen was probably the worst companion for him.
Especially since he had only just returned from his trip, people were happy to see him again, pointing him out to newcomers. And at the same time, seeing an unknown figure walking next to the old man, they were obviously wondering who that was right beside him.
But luckily, as Eisen had said, the place where Ambriel would be staying wasn't all too far away. It didn't even take ten minutes for them to get there once they stepped out from the gates in front of the royal castle. It was a busy road, even at this time of day, but where Eisen led Ambriel was an alley inbetween two of the buildings.
There, he knocked at the door at the complete end of that dark alleyway. It took a short while for someone to open it, but when Ambriel saw the owner of this house, they stared at Eisen with a perplexed expression.
"This... is where I'll be staying?" they asked, not sure if Eisen was joking or not. But Eisen just smiled, taking a step back. Encouragingly, he pushed Ambriel forward a bit, as the home's owner looked at their new, albeit temporary, roommate with a slight, even if playful, frown.
"That ain't very nice, I thought we were on good terms these days," Satel smirked, leaning against their doorframe.
"What, and that makes you want to live with me?"
"Oi, this is not about wanting to live with you. Eisen asked me if I'd be alright with lending you a place, and I thought, 'Why not'? I mean, I've got the space," the devil pointed out. Ambriel tried glancing past Satel, but they were only able to see a stone wall behind them. Since this door was in an alleyway, there was no way it was that great of a space, was there?
Glancing around, Satel sighed, "Y'know, just come in for now. This entrance is hella dusty, that's why I never use it. And be careful not to tread in any dirt, I just sweeped earlier."
The devil sighed loudly and stepped into their home, as Eisen quickly followed behind. Nervously, Ambriel stepped through the door as well, closing it behind them, walking through the narrow hallway to a set of stairs. It was fairly noisy here, and one of the slightly ajar doors seemed to lead to something like an office filled with gaudy decoration, but Ambriel didn't pay too much attention.
Satel and Eisen were just walking up the stairs right away, after all. Once upstairs, there was another door that they walked through, but the moment it was shut behind them again, the noise from earlier disappeared completely. Not only that, but the space was the complete opposite of that office.
The three stood in a large open space, with a number of couches and armchairs set up in part of the space, a dining table with enough seats for a dozen people in another part, and what seemed to be some sort of kitchen set up near the dining table. To the side, there were some hallways with more rooms, and opposite to the entrance was a large glass door leading onto what seemed to be a balcony.
But more importantly, the space was filled basically to the brim with different plants and flowers. The walls covered in moss and ivy, pots hanging from the ceiling or set up on basically every free and available surface. At a glance, it would be hard to tell if you were inside or outside.
"Wow," Eisen let out, practically ripping the words from Ambriel's mouth, "I honestly didn't expect this. I thought it'd be more... sleek in here."
Satel rubbed the back of their head, "Well, I took a likin' to plants. Somethin' wrong with that? We didn't have many of those in hell, y'know? And those we had were either poisonous and others were, well... venomous, I guess.
Not the kind you'd care for as a hobby," the devil pointed out, carefully grabbing onto the leaves of what seemed to be similar to a monstera stood next to them, "Jyuuk gave me some at some point. Not that I asked for 'em. But now he just gives me more whenever I see 'im."
Eisen smiled lightly, nodding his head, "Yeah, that sounds like him," the old man pointed out, "This is a fine hobby to have. After spending a lifetime in hell, you deserve some leisure. Especially with as hard as you're working already."
Ambriel, already trying to catch up to what they were seeing, heard Eisen's words and then looked at Satel, "You're working? You?"
Eisen raised a brow, "They didn't tell you? I thought they came to visit you a lot."
"They did, but they never mentioned anything like work... the only thing they'd talk about were parties, fistfights, and their latest hookups..."
Satel laughed lightly, "Yeah, I'd always talk about those things first, and before I could get to the boring shit, I already had to go again."
Eisen sighed and looked at Ambriel, "Satel owns some bars, clubs, and casinos now. This place is actually above one of his bars. Though it sounds like Xenia installed some soundproofing magic for you?"
"Yeah, she tagged along when Jyuuk came to look at the plants once, and just did it while I stepped out briefly... the bar was kinda noisy that night."
The old man looked at Satel with a wry expression. They had gotten surprisingly close with the other originals from the sound of it. At this point, Eisen was actually a little surprised that he hadn't heard any of this from the others. Though, it really didn't matter at the end of the day. Eisen looked over at Ambriel.
"Listen... if you don't want to stay here, then that's fine. We'll figure something else out. But I don't know if it's a good idea to let you live alone right now. Living in the castle probably won't be good for you either.
And here, you at least have someone you feel comfortable talking to," Eisen explained, as Ambriel seemed to awkwardly avoid the old man's gaze, "And hey, it seems like you two get along pretty well. Within an hour or so of me arriving, Satel came to me and vouched for you."
Ambriel was taken aback, looking over at Satel surprised, "You what? Why'd you do that?"
Satel scoffed, "Because every time I visited you down there, you'd whine to me about how miserable you are, why else?"
"Whine?" with a wry smile, Ambriel looked back at the devil, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"What do you think that's supposed to mean? It means that you're a little bi-"
"Anyway," Eisen loudly clapped his hands together, and both the angel and the devil nervously looked toward him, "Whatever the case may be, Ambriel, Satel graciously offered you a space to stay, free of charge. You will have your own room, you can come and go whenever you want, as long as you stay within Prototype, and you can spend your time doing whatever you feel like. Paint, sleep, whatever.
You're free to do what you want. If you're in need of anything you can't get otherwise, or need any living expenses, come to me."
The old man was already headed toward the door, and nearly as soon as he finished his sentence, seeing that neither Satel nor Ambriel had anything to complain about toward him right now, Eisen stepped out the door, leaving the two be.