After a night of watching two full grown men beat each other to a pulp and scolding but also congratulating Axel on his successful bet, the group of four arrived back home at the labs.
The boys decided to head back into the city to hang out more while the girls wanted a more chill night and went on inside.
The sight of the lab at night was very different compared to the daytime. Only a few people walked along to carry out tasks while others were on their way back to their quarters. (Y/N) always liked seeing Castor Labs so quiet and peaceful, it's refreshing after a very busy day of working here.
Blythe stretched her tired arms out and pulled a pin from her hair that held it in a top bun, letting her red hair fall and stop below her shoulders. She turned to her female companion who was also pretty tired. "You wanna grab a bite to eat? I'm sure the cafeteria is still open."
(Y/N) raised her eyebrow. "But didn't you eat nachos?"
"That nasty cheese drizzled on tortilla chips they called nachos? I let Axel have them and decided I'll just get something later." (Y/N) nodded and followed Blythe to the cafeteria. She thought the nachos were... alright. They weren't the best but they weren't disgusting either.
Entering the cafeteria, Blythe went off to get food and (Y/N) picked a table for them and sat down. She looked around at the almost empty room, seeing two guards eating dinner, an older man video calling an older woman, and a lady reading a book while munching on a salad. Blythe was chatting with the cook as she loaded her tray with food and two cupcakes, making (Y/N) question if she was starving this whole time.
Suddenly, she heard a buzz coming from her pocket that caught her attention. She dug around until she pulled out her phone and saw a text message from Nora. Her eyes widened and she immediately opened it.
Sis💫: "Hey, sorry for the late reply. My patient has been really needy lately but I've finally gotten her to bed. I could use a good long nap right about now. 😩"
(Y/N) smiled softly and texted back a reply.
Me: "No worries! I'm pretty tired too after the night I had with some friends. Probably the most eventful night I've had."
Sis💫: "What did you do?"
Should she tell Nora that she went to an illegal ring fight and risk getting a huge lecture? Nope!
Me: "I went to an arcade with three friends and won one of those huge talking teddy bears!"
It wasn't believable considering those bears cost a ridiculous amount of tickets, but it's better than what actually went down.
Sis💫: Sure, that's believable🙄. So how's being a cook treating ya?"
"A cook? That's what you told her?" (Y/N) looked up and her eyes widened at Blythe's ginormous plate. She probably took one of everything at the counter and then some. "You're seriously gonna eat all that?!"
Blythe shrugged and placed the tray down, taking the seat opposite of (Y/N). "I won't but I'll try. But back to being a cook."
(Y/N) smiled sheepishly. "I had to tell her something and the first thing that popped up was being a chef."
"And she believed that?"
"I cooked a lot for us when I was younger."
Me: "Busy... I haven't had time to take a break until the weekend. What about you?"
Sis💫: Well my supervisor had told me that they're finally releasing doctors, including me. I'll finally be able to come back home in December for good!!!"
(Y/N) gasped which made Blythe look up. The younger Keeper quickly responded back with the biggest grin Blythe has ever seen on her.
Me: "OMG Nora congrats!!! It's been so long since you've been home!"
Sis💫: Ugh tell me about it! I haven't been able to touch up my roots in years, I look like a mess!"
Nora sent a photo that made (Y/N) giggle. Nora was mid-eye roll while holding a strand of her hair. You could tell they were sisters due to their extremely similar features. The only difference between them is that Nora's eyes were a darker shade and her (h/c) was lighter than (Y/N)'s. In the photo, Nora's hair was cut into a short style and messy from being too busy to care for it. Her (h/c) roots grew out a lot, leaving the rest of her hair in a faded pale blue color. The last time (Y/N) saw her sister, her hair was more shorter and a vibrant turquoise unlike now.
Me: "You might need more than just a touch up..."
Sis💫: "I probably still look way better than you tho😝"
(Y/N) narrowed her eyes and opened up her front camera. She turned around and positioned the camera to capture both her and Blythe while making sure none of the guards in the background were showing. She was sticking her tongue out playfully while Blythe was accidentally caught mid bite eating her mac & cheese. (Y/N) sent the photo before she noticed her friend and held back a laugh.
Blythe didn't look up but she heard the nervous giggles and got suspicious. "What's up?"
"Uh..."
Blythe finally looked up and (Y/N) showed the photo. To her surprise, Blythe almost choked on her meal while laughing at the expression she was making in the photo. "Sorry about that." (Y/N) apologized.
Sis💫: "Ooh who's she?"
Me: "My only female friend where I work."
Sis💫: "She's cute😍"
It was (Y/N)'s turn to choke. She showed Blythe what her sister had said after the lady had got done laughing. Blythe raised her eyebrows and tilted her head a bit in interest. "She thinks my eating face is cute?"
(Y/N) shrugged with a smile. "She'll find a woman sneezing cute." (Y/N) scrolled up to Nora's photo and showed the redhead. Blythe took a few seconds to observe Nora and even made a 'hmm' face. "Tell her she's not too bad herself."
(Y/N) squinted her eyes at both her sister's text and Blythe. Is she missing something or do they find each other attractive? She sent the text and was responded with a laughing and blushing emojis from her sister. What had she done...
Nora then said that she's gonna catch some zs before her patient wakes up and said her goodbyes to (Y/N). While the young Keeper was a bit sad that her sister had to go, she was happy that she got to talk to her again. Putting her phone down on the table, she stared curiously at Blythe eating one of the cupcakes. "Soooo... you like my sister?"
"Yea, she's pretty. She looks like a slightly older version of you." (Y/N) chuckled, Nora was only three years older than her but some people mistake them for twins. "We get that a lot. I guess the next time she texts me, she's gonna be asking about you. She usually sets her sights on a woman if she finds them attractive."
"I wouldn't mind talking to her. Just let me know."
(E/C) eyes widened once again. "I didn't know you swing that way!"
"I swing both ways." Blythe chuckled at her joke and handed (Y/N) her other cupcake while she went to toss her tray away. 'Am I playing cupid without knowing?!'
Blythe got the rest of her food she didn't finish and put it in a doggy bag and the two left the cafeteria, heading to the Keepers' quarters.
"Do you have any siblings?" (Y/N) asked, removing the cupcake wrapper and taking a bite.
Blythe shook her head. "Nope. As far as I know, I'm an only child."
'As far as she knows?' (Y/N) looked to Blythe for further explanation. "I never met my parents so I grew up in an orphanage for half of my life. I sometimes wonder if I do have brothers and sisters that I don't know about though. It would be interesting if I did." Blythe's tone was very nonchalant and she spoke about this pretty easily. The redhead noticed her friend showing concern and smiled. "Don't worry! I talk about it a lot with Axel so I'm used to sharing."
"I finished school when I was 16 and moved out soon after I got a scholarship to this not very well known college in Zone 6. That's where I met the dumbass I'm friends with today."
(Y/N) chuckled. Those two's friendship was something else.
They walked up to the door leading to the Keepers' quarters. Blythe pulled out her I.D. and scanned them both in. "So what's your brief life story?"
"Hmm..." (Y/N) wished she could talk about her past as easily as Blythe. She needed to get it off her chest at some point though. Unlike her, Nora would rather skip the subject altogether. "Mines is a bit longer. I haven't talked about it much with anyone besides my sister."
Blythe felt that the topic was uncomfortable for her and didn't want to push her friend to say anything, she softly smiled at her. "If it's not something you want to talk about then I understand."
"No! I mean- I guess I have to talk about it at some point." She shyly fiddled with the brim of her clothes, her mind wandering back to a certain man in her life.
Blythe squeezed her shoulder reassuringly and the two went off to Blythe's room. (Y/N) has never been inside or even seen what the room looks like so she was curious. Her guess is that the room was extremely neat and organized, no trash anywhere and nothing that can be a distraction.
Her guess was proven false after Blythe opened her door.
It was like the room didn't belong to the redhead. Posters on posters of various bands, photography, and aliens covered the walls. A tapestry of the world's continents was hanging behind her desk including small sticky notes with short notes Blythe must have written and placed on some of the countries. Her closet was open and clothes were stacked on top of each other messily and she even had many oversized graphic t-shirts of the same bands as her posters. The most surprising thing that (Y/N) had saw was a life sized alien model in the corner that was dressed in one of Blythe's bras, a black dress, sunglasses, a sunhat, and a blonde wig with a fake cigarette taped to its mouth. (Y/N) couldn't help but bust out laughing at the weird display. Blythe looked over to the alien and widened her eyes, even she was surprised. "What happened to Randy?!"
"Randy?!" (Y/N) leaned against the wall and was on the verge of tears. This wasn't what she expected to see at all.
Blythe went over to the alien and examined it before finding a sticky note placed on its forehead. She pulled it off and crumpled it up in her fist once she read what was on it.
'Randy is now Randette! Love, Axel <3'
"I'm gonna kill him..."
(Y/N) walked over, wiping away tears and getting a closer look at the alien. It was obviously a cheap model and was painted head to toe in green paint while the eyes, mouth, and nose were painted in black. "First of all, you have an alien model just sitting in your room and you named it Randy?"
"It was a gift from a friend. She was closing up her shop and gave away a lot of the decorations. And yes, I named him Randy." Blythe tossed the note away onto her bed and began pulling all the clothes off of the alien, Randy.
(Y/N) saw the note and picked it up. She read it and raised an eyebrow. "Axel did this?"
"That asshole." Blythe muttered.
Aren't Capturers not given access into the Keepers' quarters? They don't have the right I.D.s to scan themselves in. "Why was he in your room?"
"Because I-" Blythe turned around and saw that familiar suspecting look on (Y/N)'s face. She already knows that her friend thinks she and Axel have more going on so this is a bad look. "If you question my relationship with Axel one more time-"
(Y/N) giggled and moved away. "I won't I won't!" There was no way they weren't anything more than just friends. "The only way he could've got in is if you've let him. He even had your bra."
Blythe was this close to smacking her with said bra. "I borrowed his laptop cause' mines caught a virus, he simply came over to get it back!"
"Is that all he did?" She laughed when Blythe smacked her with the sunhat that Randy wore. "I'm gonna kill both of you." She grumbled as she took the clothes back to her closet.
She almost missed it but (Y/N) could've sworn she saw a subtle blush on the woman's cheeks.
After cleaning up the funny alien decoration, Blythe placed her food in her mini fridge and plopped down in her desk chair. (Y/N) sat on the rather bouncy bed and took in the sight of the room some more. "You know, I thought your room would look straight out of a classy hotel judging by how you look."
"I get that a lot. Mr. Fidero compared my room to his 14 year old nephew's after I'd settled in. He showed pictures and everything and I had never been so offended." Imagine getting your room, filled with everything you have an interest in and that holds value to you, get compared to some kid.
"Anyways... you ready to talk?" Blythe kicked off her boots and tucked her legs underneath her on the chair. (Y/N) took in a deep breath and nodded. This is the first time she's talked about her past in years. The last time was with her sister before she went off to college and left her alone in their apartment. She fell back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling as she thought of what words to use.
"So... to start off simply. My parents weren't the best but they tried. Well, my mom tried."
"Your dad?" Blythe titled her head.
(Y/N) rolled her eyes at the thought of that man. "He was pretty absent doing who knows what. Before they had me and Nora, they were addicts on some street drug but my mom managed to clean up some time before she found out she was pregnant with Nora. My dad was around for the pregnancy and birth. He even signed the birth certificate but he just never seemed to care. Three years later, they had me and my dad was still the same... Never really stepping up to take care of us like he should've, my mom was doing all the work."
It must've been hard for her mother to take care of a newborn and a toddler on her own. She hated thinking about the struggles her mom faced while her dad lazed about in the background like he didn't have two daughters.
"Even though my mom was clean of drugs, she still faced the after effects and it really took a toll on her health. Many of my memories about her are of when me and Nora had to take care of her and give her medicine because sometimes she would be too weak to do it herself. I didn't even know my dad was my dad until one day, I heard Nora call him by that name."
"Wow..." Blythe was speechless. She thought her childhood was rough but compared to (Y/N)'s, she had it pretty easy. She didn't have to worry about taking care of others like that and many of the staff made time to spend with the kids. "Where did he go if he wasn't home?"
(Y/N) shrugged. That was a mystery to her too. "I heard from my mom a few times say that he was out doing business. She never specified what kind of business though, just that he had a lot of work to do. We knew that was a lie. He would either be gone for days or at home doing nothing. Nora thinks he was out doing drugs and getting drunk, I can't help but agree."
"Geez... father of the year." Blythe said sarcastically.
(Y/N) smiled at the comment, he did suck as a dad. Her smile slowly dropped however when she thought about the point in her life that she chooses not to think about much.
"Um... when I was seven and Nora was ten, we woke up to the sounds of an ambulance outside our apartment. My dad wasn't home but I remember the old lady who lived next door walking us to her apartment. We were confused and asked where our mom was but all she did was change the subject or avoid our eyes... Later I found out... my mom died."
Silence enveloped the room as a single tear trickled down (Y/N)'s face. She would never forget watching the old woman answering the phone and receiving the bad news from the doctors over at the hospital. It was hard for her to tell two little girls who were just wondering where their mom was. The kind old woman kept them and let the girls sleep in her bed until morning came when their father finally showed up after hours of being out of the picture. (Y/N) understood fully how furious the woman was towards their father, the memory of her swearing at him up and down, giving him the talking of the century for not being anywhere the whole night was burned into (Y/N)'s memory. Nora resented him after that but (Y/N) was still too young to understand the situation fully, all she knew was that her mom was gone.
She felt her hand being held and a gentle squeeze. She looked next to her at Blythe staring at her lap. The redhead didn't know what to do or say but just be there for her. (Y/N) wiped her tear away and continued. At least the hard part was over.
"My dad became more and more distant as Nora and I got older. Without my mom there to cook or clean, Nora had to grow up quickly and become the caregiver while my dad would spend days away from home. The old lady would occasionally check up on us and made sure we were dressed for school, fed, and even helping us pay rent when Nora couldn't make enough working at the grocery store." She never met her actual grandparents or any other family member on either sides. Her parents didn't have the best relationships with them. She never had a grandmother in her life but she always thought of the caring old woman as one, she needed to make a note to check up on her at some time.
"The only time my dad would show up was to get food or have a place to sleep. When Nora turned fifteen and I was twelve, she had had enough of my dad and officially kicked him out for good. She changed the locks, tossed out all of his belongings into the streets, and told the worker downstairs to not let him up anymore. Obviously, the worker didn't allow it because she was fifteen but she was the one paying rent. The landlord agreed with us though. He hated my dad just as much as Nora did."
Blythe laid down next to (Y/N), still holding her hand in support. "What happened to him after that?"
"I don't know. He stopped coming around after he was told he no longer lived there." (Y/N) could remember watching her dad from her window get turned away from entering. The worker and him argued for a good time and even almost got into a tussle after her dad tried forcing his way inside. Nora opened the window and screamed at him to "GO AWAY AND BE USELESS SOMEWHERE ELSE!" The look he gave her as he yelled back profanities that (Y/N) would like to forget. Nora went back inside to grab a pot and hurled it at the man's head, hitting him bullseye in the face. It was amazing how her accuracy was so spot on.
"After he was finally gone for good, it had just been me and Nora in an apartment together. She became overprotective of me and always made sure I was staying out of trouble, getting my homework done, and finishing the chores. She took work and school seriously, especially studying to get a scholarship for medical school. I can never forget the day her acceptance letter came and how overjoyed we both were. We spent the day celebrating with the old woman while binging on cake and other junk food." (Y/N) smiled at the memory and the massive food coma they both had that day.
"I'm sure your mother must've been proud of you both." Blythe said, she even felt proud for them and she wasn't around back then.
"I hope so. A part of the reason why Nora became a doctor was because of my mother. Afterward, Nora went off to university but she didn't want to leave me alone in the apartment. I reassured her that I had the old woman to keep me company and pushed her into the car. I was eager for her to become a doctor as much as she was.
"She would always call to make sure I was doing my best and getting my homework done and not being stupid. Then two years later, I graduated and already had my mind set on studying demons. She, as you already know, disagreed because it's dangerous and she didn't want me getting hurt. I told her I wasn't gonna do it but..."
"You lied."
"I lied. I told her I was gonna study psychology instead which isn't too far from demonology. You're still learning about how their minds work."
"(Y/N)!" Blythe scolded while holding back a laugh. "You should tell her the truth. It's better she knows sooner than later. Wasn't she suspicious?"
"Very suspicious. She used to call and ask to speak with my professor. I would give the phone to my guy friend who had a really convincing posh accent and ask him to pretend to be my professor. I'm still surprised he did it, he's the type to value honesty over everything."
Blythe shook her head and sat up. "How do you go from psychology to cooking?" She gave her friend the most 'really' face she could muster.
(Y/N) shrugged and sat up as well. She does feel bad for lying to her sister. Especially after everything Nora has done for her, giving up her childhood to take care of her at such a young age. (Y/N) had to agree with Blythe, it's better for Nora to know now than later. Maybe when Nora returns in December, (Y/N) will take some time off to go visit her and... tell the truth. She can already imagine the massive lecture now.
"I'll tell her. It may be better to do it in person than over text." (Y/N) yawned, now noticing how tired she actually was.
Blythe felt tired too. It's been a long night for both of them. She looked over to her digital clock on her nightstand and noticed it was almost 3:00 AM. "Wow we've been up for a while."
(Y/N) yawned again. Her room was on the other side of the quarters, she didn't feel like walking all the way there. She looked to Blythe and rubbed her sleepy eyes. "Can I crash here for tonight? It's not like we have to work in the morning."
"Sure. I'll get you a t-shirt to sleep in." Blythe scooted off the bed and went to head over to her closet. She felt a hand tap her arm and turned around to see (Y/N) looking away. "Thanks for listening Blythe. I really needed to get all that out."
Blythe smiled and hugged her. "You're my friend (Y/N)! You can come to me for anything you need to get off your chest."
(Y/N) was grateful and hugged back, glad that she has a close friend in this stressful lab.