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A couple of days had passed since Mike had gotten the dogs and things had been going better than usual.
They had managed to chill out with their whole mission to destroy his apartment, so he couldn't complain. As long as they kept quiet and did as they were so strictly told, everything would be good.
It was now Thursday, which meant that it was also laundry day. Usually the rest of the people living in the building did theirs during the rest of the week, so the decent sized room full of washers and dryers was mostly empty.
Laundry day isn't typically some big thing, but for Mike it is. The reason for that being that often times when he did his laundry, El would be there.
The laundry room just so happened to be one of those places where the two were prone to run into each other at, so he was really hoping this time wouldn't be the exception.
Mike surprisingly hadn't seen El any since Monday. He figured she had work and other things going on, so it was no big deal. Still, it was odd that he hadn't seen her around like he usually does.
Running into her this time would be different than all the others though, now that they're friends (he's assuming) and they actually talk to each other.
He was already looking forward to the time he might get with her, since they didn't have very long together when she had stopped by his place.
So, Mike continued to rush and get the rest of his things together to take with him, tossing the last of his dirty towels into the basket when his cell phone started ringing.
He glanced at the screen to see it was his sister, of course. She's been texting him quite often about the dogs, so he should've known that she'd resort to actually calling him at some point.
"Hey, Nance. What's up?" Mike spoke into the phone, while his shoulder held it securely against his ear as he finished up with what he was doing.
"Hi! Just calling to see how my babies are doing, are they okay?"
"Your dogs are just fine." He assured her, while rolling his eyes for what was probably the hundredth time over her weird attachment to her pets. "My apartment though, not so fine. I'm seriously going to have to make up a list of all the items I'll need replaced by the end of these three weeks."
"Oh, stop being dramatic."
"I'm not. So far you owe me a lamp, a couch pillow, and probably some new flooring."
"Very funny."
"Not kidding, but okay. How's your mysterious trip going?" He could hear laughter in the background, along with the faint sound of music playing and it certainly piqued his interest.
"Good, we're having a great time!"
"We?" He questioned, now curious as to who else was on this trip with her.
"Yeah, 'we' being myself and the girls... Robin, Tina, Heather and Allie."
"Ah, so you're on one of your infamous girls trips." He concluded, it all making perfect sense to him. She goes on those trips quite a few times a year, he should've known that's why she had suddenly taken off for three weeks.
"Yes, I am and now I'm going to get back to it before you ask anymore questions. Bye, Mike! Give my babies kisses for me!"
Mike scoffed at her request. "Not a chance, bye."
Their short call ended and he stuck his phone back in his pocket. After making sure he had his dryer sheets, since he often tends to forget those, he grabbed his basket and headed down to the laundry room.
It wasn't too far of a walk, he just had to walk around to the other end of the second floor and then go down to the basement. Carrying a rather large basket full of clothes though, made it a bit more of a hassle.
Like always though, he made it.
He punched the code in on the keypad and pushed the door open once the lock clicked. As soon as he walked in, he spotted El sitting in her usual chair near the machines in the back.
She had her legs propped up on the small table next to her, one crossed over the other while she was nose deep in a book he didn't recognize.
Usually when Mike would come in, she'd completely look the other way and practically hide herself from him the entire time, but this time wasn't like that at all.
As soon as El noticed that it was Mike who walked in, her face lit up. He had expected her to be friendlier than her usual self, but this was so much more. She seemed so genuinely happy to see him and he couldn't help but let his enjoyment over it show on his face.
"Hey!" He called out across the space of the small room, noticing that there were only two other people, both chatting amongst themselves.
She lifted her hand and casually waved at him.
He had fully intended on going over to her, but just as he had made the move to do so, her eyes darted away from his and she shoved the book right back up to cover her face.
Mike's movements halted, not knowing whether he should still walk over to her or leave her be.
She went on reading her book, not sparing him so much as another glance, so he went with the second option.
He really wanted to talk to her, but figured maybe she wasn't in the mood. She was reading a book after all, it would make sense that she didn't want to just stop right in the middle of it.
Still, after the way she had just reacted to seeing him come in, he had expected her to at least want to talk to him.
Instead, she hid herself again.
Weird.
And to make things even weirder, the next day when Mike was in the midst of chasing down Ziggy, El showed up at his door just as she had the last time.
He certainly didn't expect to see her at his front door again, not after last night, yet here she was, grinning like a fool.
Then again, what happened last night was probably nothing. Like he had told himself last night and many times since, she was in the middle of reading a book.
It wasn't important, especially not when she was literally standing at his front door, clearly wanting to come inside.
"Is this a bad time to play with the dogs?" She asked, noticing his lack of response and the somewhat distressed look on his face.
"Oh no, not at all. Come in!" He quickly replied, once he shook away the shock of her unexpected arrival. "I'm just trying to stop Ziggy from choking to death on this stupid chew toy that he managed to rip to pieces."
"That doesn't sound good." El commented, laughing softly at the situation.
Like usual, the dogs flocked to her at once, leading her to crouch down to their level. Each one welcomed her attention, tails whipping back and forth like crazy as her hand patted at their fur covered backs.
"It's good that you're here actually, can you keep them distracted while I deal with this?" Mike asked her, still a bit preoccupied with the Ziggy situation to give El his full attention.
"Yeah, of course." She assured him, continuing on playing with the dogs currently climbing all over her. After all, that's why she was here.
Mike took Ziggy into the kitchen to handle the situation with him.
Once that was taken care of, he then joined El back in the living room, excited to spend time with her again. She was now sitting on the floor, her back resting against the couch while two of the dogs repeatedly crawled across her lap.
"Wow, you must've worked today because I can smell the coffee on you from here." Mike teased, while taking a seat on the couch. Despite the fact that he didn't like the taste of coffee, he had to admit that it did kind of smell amazing.
"Unfortunately yes, I did." She exhaustedly sighed, leaning her head back against the couch to look at him. "Just be glad you don't have to deal with the smell as much as I do. At first, it seems great and all, but then you get used to it and it's like torture."
"Oh I bet." He replied, then un-paused what was playing on the television, but turned it down a little just so there wouldn't be any awkward silence between them.
El looked up the screen, immediately recognizing the movie. "You're watching Attack of the Clones?"
He couldn't help but feel impressed that she figured it out that quick. The girl clearly knew her Star Wars and that fact didn't really help his growing fondness of the girl.
"Yeah, they're having a marathon of the movies today, figured I'd take advantage since I haven't watched them in awhile."
"Awesome, I love the prequels!" She exclaimed rather excitedly.
"Well, you're welcome to sit and watch with me. I'll even share my popcorn with you." He offered, picking up the large bowl of popcorn and putting it on show for her, as if she needed convincing.
"Now that's an offer I cannot refuse." She playfully gasped, quickly getting up off the floor and taking a seat next to him. The dogs weren't too happy with that arrangement, but Mike certainly was, especially with how close she was sitting to him.
Mike watched as she picked up one of the dogs, giggling at the rest of them. They were going crazy, clearly all wanting her to pick them up too.
"Sorry pups, Coco gets the special attention right now." She so sweetly told them, before her attention went to the movie.
Mike turned the volume back up and tried to watch it too, but he couldn't exactly concentrate on the movie when El was sitting right next to him. He didn't want to be 'that guy' and talk while she was trying to watch, but he figured that she wouldn't mind the intrusion.
"You seem to really love dogs, huh?" He questioned her, though it was pretty obvious at this point.
"Oh yeah, I do. They're my favorite." She smiled, looking down at the one currently resting in her lap. "I haven't had one in a long time though."
"Why haven't you?" Mike asked, just as his phone decided to ding. He ignored it though, whoever it was could wait. Talking to El was far more important, seeing as he only got the chance to do so when luck decided to be on his side.
"Well, growing up I had terrible luck with my dogs. They would either run away, get ran over by a car or they'd just die."
"Jesus, that's awful."
"Tell me about it." El lightheartedly scoffed. "I'll just stick to playing with everyone else's instead of having my own. I don't wanna expose another one to my string of bad luck."
Mike chuckled at her words, his brain trying to come up with some witty reply, but he got distracted when his phone went off again... and again. Figuring he should probably check it since it kept making noise, he picked the device up and groaned once he saw who had texted him.
"Ugh, it's my sister." He told her, as he scrolled through the various texts he had received from Nancy. "She's so concerned for her dogs it's ridiculous."
"You and your sister seem close."
"Yeah, I guess we are. I have a younger sister too, but she's thirteen and wants nothing to do with her lame big brother."
"You're lucky though. I don't have siblings. I wish I did, but my parents were a one and done kind of couple."
"Well, they're not that great." Mike muttered, while sending a quick reply to Nancy and putting his phone back down. "Look at mine, dumping her four dogs on me while she's off on some wild trip."
El laughed softly, as she shifted a bit closer to him, gently placing her hand on his and giving it a light squeeze. "I think it's really sweet of you to do that for her though."
Mike's breathing slightly hitched at the unexpected move.
He honestly didn't know what he enjoyed more in that moment— the way her hand was resting on his, the way she was looking at him with those kind eyes of hers or the words she had so tenderly spoke.
"Oh, oh my God! I love this part!" El suddenly squealed, turning her attention back to the movie and taking her hand right along with her.
"Yeah, me too." He dazedly replied, still reeling from the moment.
"You know Mike, you are the only person I know who appreciates the prequels. Where have you been all my life?"
That comment definitely helped snap him out of his daze.
"Well, for the past year I've been right across the hall." He joked, making her break out into a fit of laughter so lovely, he never wanted it to stop.
Eventually though, her laughter faded away and she focused back on the screen, smiling contentedly as she watched Obi-Wan and Anakin battle Count Dooku.
Mike was smiling with content as well, but he was focused on something else, someone else... far more compelling than the movie.