Can Anybody Find Me?

Chapter 6

~~~ This is my mental image of Belle. Look down the right hand side -->~~

Elonore sat on her faded and ugly couch, and flipped the tv onto the sci fi network, hoping to distract Belle from her hurt by watching the end of the Supernatural marathon. It worked like a charm too. Belle sighed and swooned as Jared, or rather Sam Winchester ended up in a debacle with his equally goregous costar Jesen, Dean Winchester.

Her apartment was the same size and layout of Belle's, except her window opened onto the fire escape. Most people didn't like there being that much easy access to their homes and Lone had gotten the rent price dropped to entice her to take it. She would have anyways, needing a place that didn't ask questions about residences paying in cash, but it was always good to get a discount. The only other difference in their homes was how they furnished it. Belle's was her place of buisness as well as her home. The aparment was just a place to crash for Lone.

Her furniture was all one step away from complete collapse, held together only because she reinforced it all herself, her few important or valuble belongings she kept inside the General itself, in case she felt the need to cut and run. Although the clothes here were nice, and in a closet and not a go bag like she used to do, there was nothing for her to come back to if she wanted to bolt.

But despite hte rundown nature of everything, it was somehow cozy, safe feeling. Lone hadn't bothered to upgrade the appliances so they were a motly mix mash of sky blue stove circa 1970, white fridge and stainless steel sink. Her bed was also the couch, a monstrosity of a pullout that she'd had to spot weld back together in places. Still, it beat throwing a matress on the floor like she used to do.

"Hungry?" she asked her friend. Belle nodded, completely over her rejection and absorbed into the show. It was cute, how hard she crushed on the actor despite being an escort. Somehow Belle managed to use sex as a commodity while keeping her sense of romance untainted.

Smiling at the complexities of her friend, Lone got up and started to throw together a real meal. Now that she could afford groceries and rent at the same time, Lone was expanding her recipe field to include anything that wasn't microwaveable. So she covered portobello mushroom caps with tomato paste, put a chicken breast on each cap and covered the chicken with grated cheese. It wasn't much but it always tastes awesome. She'd make rice to make it more filling because that fight had gone on forever. She hadn't been lying to Rimmon earlier, she hadn't had a fight last over an hour before and she'd been running out of gas when the cops came. So she threw on brown rice, grateful that it only took 5 minutes because now that she'd mentioned food, she was starving. The rice was ready long before hte chicken so she slid a bowl in front of Belle and nibbled on her own, adding in salsa to make it zesty. Thirty minutes later, the aromas of hte baking chicken had both women in hte kitchen salivating as Lone pulled it out of the oven.

"Never figured you for the domesticated type." Belle said, mouth full of steaming hot food.

Lone grunted. "Had to learn to cook something so I didn't end up with scurvy or food poisoning." she admitted with a shrug. They scarfed down the food, and ended up back on hte couch to watch more boob tube.

"Lone?" Belle asked, voice soft.

"Hmm?" Lone replied.

"Can I spent the night here?" she asked a little timidly. She'd admitted to Lone once that she hated sleeping alone, which made her job pretty much perfect for her. Then men she brought home would pay her, have their fun and stay until she drifted off into sleep. Then they'd leave and she'd be oblivious. Everyone was happy.

"Sure Belly." Lone said, using the nicname she'd given her friend. She knew what it was like to feel unsafe, even in your own home.

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