A New Home #2 (Mae <3)

9:00 am, the sun is shining through the open window, illuminating the insides of a room. The room looks like it had been trashed all over, as it is filled with piles of wooden planks, empty cupboards, wallpapers (thankfully, not the star patterned ones the Manager wanted to put up) and many other things you'd get when you wanted to renovate your home. That was exactly what was going on. Charles woke up Mae early that morning, around 7 am, so that they would be able to start working sooner. He didn't want her to help since she was a guest but... it was Mae, the always helpful and cheery little pink-head. No arguing with her about that, she demanded that he lets her help and so he did. And now, the two of them were supposed to arrange everything how they wanted and set up the new home.

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Charles brought inside the last box filled with screws and other utilities donated by the old man. He put it down on the floor and looked up at Mae, smiling. "That's the last one." He said to her before picking up the empty glass from the floor and examining it in his hand curiously. She drank the water already. He went over to the fridge now filled with groceries but put away so that they'd have more place to work the renovation and poured her another glass from the bottle. He brought her the glass and handed it over to her. "Thought you'd appreciate it." He grinned at her. They were nowehere near finished. Sure, the wallpapers have been set up, simple pale yellow colored wallpapers, but everything else needed to be arranged. The work table, the shelves, the cupboards... They also needed to work on the bathroom. It was going to take a while. It's already been a few days since Mae moved in. This change was going to make everything more comfortable for her. They just had to make this one final push and do the work themselves. Not that he had anything to complain about-all time spent with Mae was time well spent. He tilted his head. "Do you have an idea how we are going to set any of this up?" He asked her, gesturing towards the piles on the floor. He had no real preference, as long as he could live there. It was Mae this was all for so it was fair that she would be the one to decide on the arrangement.

"Phew, yeah... We still have a long way to go though." Mae answered, wiping her forehead, looking proudly at what they had accomplished in such a short amount of time. Due to the fact that Charles was a robot made this so much easier, due to the fact that he never really seemed to become tired. Still, it had taken them a good while to get the wallpapers up on the walls properly. "Hm?" Mae looked at the glass of water Charles had refilled for her. "Thank you." She smiled, and took a sip of water as she looked at the rest of the things they had to do. The drawings still lacked a place where they could stay organized. "Hmm... Well, I think..." The pinkette started explaining how she would've arranged it. "But it all depends on your tastes as well. I know you might not care too much about how it looks for you, but remember, that we're both living here, so your opinion matters just as much as mine." She took another sip of water before continuing on. "What do you wanna do with the sketches? Would you like to hang some of them up on display? I personally think it would look nice." They would need frames for that, but it wasn't something too difficult to arrange. "We still have a long way to go though..."

Charles frowned wrily at the idea of his sketches hanging on the walls. He never before felt that way, but the idea embarassed him. Those sketches were of random people. Sure, they meant something to him, something he could not explain, but they were still sketches of strangers. Not only that, but having all of them placed here in the open for everyone to see... It was an invasion of privacy. He was turning way too human... But still, nope, he wasn't really happy with the idea. "I don't think hanging them would be a good idea... So let's not. Uhm... W-we could just stash them away, yeah." He shook his head, trying to sweep the 'let's hang your sketches on the wall, it's going to look nice' idea under the rug before Mae could start considering it seriously.

The way Mae explained the setup, however, was nice. Not that he cared. All the people always wanted his opinion! Why couldn't he just stay neutral and let it all play out on its own? "I like your idea." He said, crouching next to her and picking some stuff off the floor. They should get started with it soon. He was going to take care of the more difficult labor like carrying things and setting them to their places while Mae drilled the nails and did the planning. That was how he wanted it to play out. It was now up to her to speak her mind and either let the current topic drag on or start working on the rest of the apartment.

"Well... Not all of them. That would take up too much space..." Mae said, sounding quite dissapointed. Well, it was his apartment. "It's such a shame... I really like the ones you drew of me..." The pinkette said shyly. Although, would it be too obvious if someone walked in here, seeing that? Maybe... "Glad you like it! I hoped you would. After all, this is your home..." It made sense for Charles to be the one to decide how his own home should look like. All she could do was come up with suggestions and Ideas. Not that there was anything wrong with that.

"Oh yeah, Charles. If the school situation gets resolved... Would you mind if I stayed here anyway?" The question sort of came to Mae out of the blue, but it was something of importance for her now. She had not only grown accustomed to living here with him... She actually preferred it over living by her lonesome back at the dorms. "And don't worry about the Dorm Room I was assigned to... I know someone who could definetely use it. Remember my friend Ayane? The girl with the bunny-hood? She lives on Malstu with her Exchangee's parents... or well... she used to. You know what happened there, don't you?"

He squirmed, embarrassed by her words. She really liked his drawings... But he was still determined not to hang them. That would've made it all even more embarrassing. He nodded. Mae's idea was nice and they could maximize the amount of light coming from outside that way. Before, he had piles of stuff blocking the window, but now that they've organized it all, the window would've been free. That itself would cut the need for electrical lighting and, therefore, the electrical bill as well. Well, at least throughout the day, but it was fine as long as he didn't have to spend as much for it. Charles was a scrooge, although he didn't realize that about himself. He considered himself 'reasonably careful'.

He had just gotten up and was about to suggest doing some more work, seeing as their conversation had ended, when Mae spoke up again. The question she asked didn't quite lodge itself properly for the first few moments as he looked down at her. When he finally realized what she was talking about, he couldn't help but step backwards, almost in a daze. Not a bad daze, the happy daze. She wanted to stay here with him... Seriously? W-wow! That was awesome! He had to say something, but he couldn't and just ended up waving his hands around with a big grin on his face as he stuttered, unable to exclaim a single syllable. He walked over to her and took her hands. "I! I!" He had to frown a bit at his own stupid act. He ended up hugging her instead of speaking and it somehow eased him and enabled him to say the word. "Y-yes! Stay!" He stuttered, holding her in front of himself. He never before even thought about what'd happen when the schol got fixed, but this was the best possible scenario. If she wanted to stay, she could stay. His enthusiams only grew as Mae continued speaking. He didn't care what was up with Maltsu. He heard about the volcano, of course, but it seemed irrelevant now. All that mattered was that Mae wanted to stay with him. Forever.

Mae found herself being suddenly hugged by Charles. He was such a sweet guy... She hugged him back, still a bit bewildered by Charles' actions, but happy nontheless. Although, why had he gotten this sudden urge to hug her now? It felt a little out of place. Then again, Charles was a bit strange at times. She could live with that though. "Really? I can stay? Thank you so much!" Mae couldn't help but smile at the wonderful news! "Now then. Let's get going with this stuff. We got our work cut out for us." Mae's heart started beating a bit slower now that the big question had been answered.

"Do you think the manager is going to be okay with me staying here?" Not that it was a big concern right now... The dorms were still full with sand, and the area was closed off anyway, but it was still good to have the Managers consent before making this her home for the future... "As long as I can stay here with you, I'll be fine." Mae mumbled, before the two began working again.

Charles shrugged, still dazed but now able to speak properly. "Of course. I mean, why wouldn't he?" The manager was a nice guy, there was basically no chance in hell that he'd kick Mae out of there for any reason. "We should really get on with the work, though." He added, turning to glance at the remaining 'debris'. With some luck, they'd be done with it before Mae's next feeding time, lunchtime. Actually, he felt like they could definitely finish it by then, especially now that both of them were so fired up and enthusiastic. Alright, time to get to work...

*insert montage here*

Four and three quarters of an hour later...
Charles threw himself onto the newly set up bed, puling Mae with himself in a hug. They were done! Actually seriously done! No wonder, of course, as he had worked extra hard with his newfound motivation. He giggled as he threw her next to him on the bed and leaned against his left shoulder, looking at Mae's face. "How do you like it?" He asked curiously. They had already taken out all the unnecessary stuff out and were left with their new little private piece of paradise to enjoy. It was really beautiful and full of life. They put the sketches in drawers next to the wall opposite of the bed and filled the closet with Mae's clothes. The bathroom was looking prettier than ever as well! It was truly all magnificient... Charles never imagined how happy he'd feel looking at all that, since he felt detached, but it made him truly truly happy now that it was done and he hoped it also made Mae happy just as much as it made him.

"True... He seems to only want the best for you." The manager was a nice man. It had been silly of Mae to doubt him. And Charles trusted him too. "I just don't want to get you into trouble..." She fidgeted slightly before nodding in agreement with Charles. "Yeah. Let's get this stuff done!" After which, the two started working again.

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"Phew..." Mae said, looking proudly at what they had accomplished in such a short amount of time. There was no way they would've gotten all of it done this quickly had it not been for Charles being a robot. "Kyah~! What are you-?!" Mae squealed as she was pulled into a hug by Charles. Her face was just a mere couple of inches away from Charles' own. "Teehee. What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" She apprechiated it though. A pleasant suprise, if you will. "I love it! Did you do this for my sake?" She asked, looking up at Charles with glittering eyes.

"Did what?" He tilted his head curiously before grinning and pushing Mae away from himself on the bed softly and playfully. He sat on the bed next to her and leaned back against his arms-they sank deep into the softness of the mattress. He turned over to Mae and smiled somewhat nostalgically. "This is all so strange to me." He began. "Feeling this way, that is... And it hurts, but it's a good pain, I think." His right hand moved up from the bed and towards his chest, but he stopped it mere centimeters before touching them and looked down at the fingers. "I'm not yet sure what this all means, but... I still want us-you to be happy."

Something shimmered in his eye as he studied the palm of his hand, almost as if it entranced him somehow. A new purpose, yes. His job now wasn't only to fight Shadows, but also to keep Mae happy. His lips streched into a smile all of a sudden and he slowly got up from the bed. "Let's go somewhere." He streched his hand out to Mae. "We need to celebrate. That's what humans do on joyful occassions, isn't it?"

"You know... Renovating the entire apartment. Did you decide to do that for my sake?" Mae looked at Charles expectantly. If her hunch was correct, then yes, it was the case. "What is so strange about this?" Mae smiled at him. "I'm sure you'll find it eventually... Just give it time, Cha-chan, alright?" She took his hand. "And I want you to be happy with me, Charles." her face for once wasn't reddening completely, but if he looked carefully, Charles could still see a tinge of pink on her cheeks.

"You're asking me out on another date, Charles? Sure, I'd love to go somewhere with you." Mae took his hand, and got back up on her feet, looking up at him with her dark-pink eyes... "What did you have in mind?" She asked cheerfully. Mae was overjoyed. Not only had they finished the renovations in a timely manner, but he was asking her out again. What a wonderful day this was shaping up to be! <3

"Just a little surprise." He smiled at her, helping her up. He had been planning this for quite some time and had been through a lot of trouble in order to prepare it all, but he was ready now. "You get ready, I'm going to be waiting for you outside." He led her over to the wardrobe. He wasn't going to let her know what it was he was planning and he was going to keep insisting that she went over to the bathroom to get herself ready until she decided to comply.

If she were to do that, he was going to get himself ready and eventually get out through the front door and wait for her there. He was surprisingly calm at the time. Odd as he expected himself to turn into a nervous trainwreck on the occassion. Funny how things never work out the way one plans or expects them to. That was just one of the new things he learned through his experiences with others. Hopefully, however, the plan he had for this day was going to turn out perfect. He picked out a pager from his pocket and pressed the button. Time to get the manager rolling as well.

"Oh? Okay~" Just the word suprise got Mae excited. What could Charles possibly have planned for tonight? She smiled warmly at Charles before opening the wardrobe and looking through her collection of dresses... "Okay. Now what to pick...?" It took her a couple of minutes to find the one she was looking for. "Oh, there you are! Alright, I'll see you soon then~♥" Mae said to Charles with a little wink before she headed to the bathroom to shower and pretty herself up. She could barely contain herself, when she closed the door behind her. After a somewhat decently long shower, Mae got herself dressed up. A deep, red dress. Nothing super fancy, but the material was nice, and it did look quite good on her. Sure, it was a little bit more revealing than the stuff she usually wore, but this was a special occasion.

The last thing she did before leaving the bathroom was snapping the hairpin she had gotten from Charles back neatly in place in her hair. She would then put on her shoes and open the door, slowly. "Now then... Where are you taking me, Charles?" She asked curiously. "Ohhh! You got some new clothes! They look really good on you!" She said with a smile, gesturing towards Charles new clothes. "Now then, shall we go?" The pinkette would offer her left hand for Charles. This was going to be something special... That much she could tell... He seemed to have been planning this for quite some time.

All right, everything was going as planned for now. He got the confirmation note back from the manager on his pager, saying that all was going great. Now it was time to initiate phase A of the plan. He pushed the pager back into his pocket and pulled out a tiny notebook with an attached pen, full of scraps of ideas and dialogues for the perfect day with Mae. He memorized all of them-there was no place for any mistakes-beforehand, and was feeling ready and well prepared. He looked at the phases, written down one underneath the other. Hmm, he should just scrap the 'Buy a present!' pre-phase. He failed to manage himself in all the shops, not knowing what even to buy... At least he got his clothes-he lowered his gaze to check if he was wearing the intended attire and then grinned, checking the tiny box next to the note. That, along with finishing the apartment renovation, concluded the pre-phases. Oh look, Mae was ready! Now it was time to get to the real deal.


Charles put away the notebook into the back pocket of his pants, welcoming Mae with a smile. She was so lovely in the dress. "Hey!" He greeted her as he took her hand. "Ah, you noticed." He tilte his head at her remark, clumsily hiding his self satisifaction about the new clothes behind his wide, welcoming smile. "You look quite stunning as well, if I may notice." He recited one of the lines from his notebook. He walked her over down the stairs. "Oh right, you want to know where we're going." He turned to face her as they walked. "I have the whole day planned out, just you wait and see, Mae." He answered her kindly. The two exited the building as Charles' heart grew more and more excited by the minute. If everything went well, he had his hopes on how the evening would end!

"Here we are." He led Mae to a nearby movie teather, leaving the other preparations to the manager. He put a lot of his hopes into the old man-he trusted him more than anyone else. Okay, except maybe Mae. He would've taken a bullet for her, which wouldn't have killed him as he was a robot, but he assumed the saying was applicable only on humans or something like that. Anyhow, he had his VIP tickets ready and he pulled them out. They could trade them for any movie currently being shown at the teather. He gave them to Mae. "You can choose." There were three movies on the list: a rom-com, a sci-fi thriller and a tearjerker. Whatever suited Mae best, he really didn't care as long as she was enjoying herself. That was why he bought the special tickets. Hopefully it would fill the time they had until dinner. It was still early for the finale of the day.

"T-Thanks..." Mae said shyly, blushing slightly. Stunning huh? "Teehee... Alright, then, show me the way, Charlie~♥" The pinkette giggled happily as she was led down the stairs. Charles really knew how to make Mae feel special. The robot didn't seem to be as awkward now as he used to be. "Hehe... So, what inspired you to take me out today?" Mae asked curiously as the two walked. Both guys and girls alike stopped for a second and looked at Mae as she gracefully passed them by. "Geez... I wish they could stop staring at me so much... Is this dress perhaps a bit too revealing?" Mae said nervously, as her grip on Charles' hand tightened slightly. Some of the guys directed jealous glares at Charles, which was amusing to her. Maybe this would make the android realize just how lucky he was to have found Mae?

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"Ohhhh! You're taking me to the movies?! Awww!" She gave him a bright smile as they entered the theater. "That's really sweet of you." Then she noticed the VIP tickets he gave her. "How did you...?" The girl found herself to be at a loss for words. "I can choose? Oh, this is hard." she would cross her arms and ponder which movie to pick... The romance one seemed to be the one most fitting for the occasion... Maybe it would give Charles some ideas as well. "That one." Mae pointed at the tearjerker after considering her options carefully. "Hehe... I'm so excited for this."

"Hmm, what inspired me?" Charles put on a face, pretending to be deep in thought. It was all part of his plan-he already had the answer to that question jotted down in his notebook. Suddenly, as he rose a finger up in an act of illumination, Charles spoke up. "Us! Isn't that the best reason? I felt a need to do something nice for you, for us." He directed a loving smile at her. There would be no mistake, Mae would definitely be satisifie with the answer. His romantic plan was flowing in the right direction. Ha, even the people around them were all turning and gazing at them in awe. It must've been his outfit, yepyep. People were most definitely jealous. ...or maybe it was like that time on the rollercoaster. Were they all enemies? Mae broke his train of thought and he looked over at her. Dress..? Revealing!? They were lustfully grazing at Mae? Impudent! Impure! Mae was the epitome of purity! He held her closer, his brow furrowing into a frown. Alright, this was a slight imperfection, an unexpected interferance in his perfect plan. For a moment, he was dumbfounded by the new situation, but he collected his cool. This was no time to mess around. Moreover, if Mae was feeling unsafe or rattled, judging from her actions, he had to make sure her tender emotions get eased. "I don't see a problem with the dress." He answered her. "If they have any problems, I'll gladly take care of them." He threw a glaring gaze at the people around them. If they wanted to look, they'd have to deal with his first.

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Charles winked at Mae's surprise about the two tickets. "It's just one of my secrets! A magician never reveals his secrets, does he?" He answered her playfully. She seemed really excited about the movies. It was the right decision to take her there. She decided on a movie and the two entered the screen hall. He gentelmanly guided his girl to the special two seats, away from the regular seats. They were the VIP guests, they could do whatever they wanted and these were the special seats Charles reserved for Mae. The movie was about a young woman and her story about growing up. The scenery, the music, the shocking romantic twists of the story as well as the ending during which the girl is left all alone (before she finds new happines through working for the cause she feels is valuable) made for a sensational one way ticket to crocodile tear land. However, Charles could feel only confusion. Sure, the movie was tragic and whatnot, but the new emotions presented by the movie were all strange to his. Maybe tricks that worked on humans didn't work on those of his kind too? What did Mae think of the movie?