Eliza woke up the following morning to Ares singing in her shower. It wasn’t bad. She actually really liked the deep melody coming from her bathroom, but his volume was a bit much. Her neighbors would be knocking on her door if he didn’t quite down. She rolled off of her bed and knocked on the door to catch his attention. He didn’t pause. She sighed and tried the door. It opened with a twist and his singing rang into her room. The mirror was foggy from the shower steam and his sleep pants were in a pile on the floor. Eliza could see his fuzzy shape through the frosted shower door, but she paid it no mind.

“I think my neighbors would prefer to sleep than listen to your singing voice,” she said.

Ares didn’t flinch, but he opened the shower door enough to peek out and see Eliza with her arms crossed, looking at the ceiling. He sent her a crooked smile, “Well, good morning to you, Lizzy.”

“I really don’t want my neighbors knocking on my door, so please sing at a more tolerable level.”

He didn’t seem to hear her or care if he did. “You know, it’s rude to walk into the bathroom when someone is using it. Unless you had an ulterior motive.”

Eliza smirked and finally looked at Ares. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Ares’ smile faltered as his eyes widened slightly. It was enough of a reaction to satisfy Eliza, so she turned and walked out without looking back. Ares stared at the closed door, wondering if his partner was ill. Then his lips turned up before he continued with his shower.

After lunch, Ares and Eliza walked to the apartment building they were set to meet the landlord at. It was as tall as Eliza’s building, but it was much wider to house two hangar bays, on each side of the center apartment section. The police station could be seen just a few buildings down from there.

“Your favorite diner is going to miss you,” Eliza said as she studied the surrounding area.

“They won’t if we keep having breakfast there.”

“I never said I’d go with you.”

“You didn’t complain before,” Ares grinned.

Eliza resisted the urge to smile at him. It helped that the landlord greeted them as they entered the main lobby. Her smile was left behind.

He was a decent looking man. His hair was graying and combed back stylishly. He wore jeans and a red button-up. A welcoming smile was on his face. Eliza was apprehensive, but he did seem friendly enough on first glance.

“Are you Mr. Matthews?” he asked.

Ares held out his hand to shake the other man’s, confirming his name.

“Welcome! I’m Robert, the owner of these apartments. Would you like to head on up to the apartment you inquired about?”

The bounty hunters nodded. Robert led them to the elevator, and they made their way up to the 10thfloor. The doors opened to a plain hall with a few potted plants between windows. Eliza liked it.

“This room was recently renovated because the last owners were a little rambunctious,” Robert started, “and because of that, this room has a slightly higher rate to make up for it. It will be a year-long rate and then it will drop to regular price after that.” He unlocked the door and motioned them inside.

The main room was huge; much bigger than Eliza’s place. There were no walls separating the kitchen from the living space, making it more like a loft. The whole room was carpeted except for a tan stone tiling in the kitchen. A bar jutted out along one side of the kitchen area with a few stools under it. It made an l-shape into the counters, which were a similar color to the floor. The cabinets were all an oak wood and all of the appliances were black. It was bland, but it would suffice. A washer and dryer were in the back corner of the kitchen with enough space to put a partition there to hide the laundry.

“The three doors on the back wall are the two bedrooms, with full bathrooms attached, and the half bath and each door on the right and left lead out to the hangars,” Robert said as he led them into the first bedroom.

Eliza immediately checked the bathroom, pleased by its large size and the shower with a seat in it. It was all a nice tan granite with white tile floors. A ceiling to counter mirror took up the entire wall the sink sat against, meeting up with the wall of the shower. Eliza stepped into the shower to see how big it was and grinned. Ares watched her, delighted she seemed excited to be house hunting. He couldn’t keep his smile at bay when she sent him a gleeful face without thought. She then looked at the room and took a peek at the walk-in closet. She nodded her head to herself. There’d be plenty of room for a larger bed, which she had been planning for long before Ares came around, as well as her furniture stored at Donovan’s house. It was old stuff he salvaged from her parent’s house on Earth and gifted to Eliza on her 16thbirthday. She’d finally feel at home.

“The other bedroom is a mirror of this one and the half bath is just the toilet and sink. If you would like to see them, you are more than welcome to. Go ahead and look around for as long as you’d like.”

Eliza didn’t hesitate to meander to the other room. Ares followed her while Robert waited for them by the front door. Ares came in to see Eliza staring out the window. He stood beside her to see the view. It was of the city, the other apartment building visible in the distance.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“I hate to admit it, but I really like this place. It’s big and gives both of us the privacy we need to live comfortably.”

“Aren’t you going to miss me in your bathroom?”

“No. Not at all.”

“You wound me, Lizzy.”

She looked up at him. She didn’t have her smile, but her eyes were bright. “Do you really think we can live in a place like this?”

Ares laughed, “Definitely. We both have plenty of money to live comfortably here.”

“Would it be too quick to say we should take it?”

“That is your decision. I’m only trying to help ease your suffering.”

Eliza sent him a sly stare but didn’t say anything. She turned to the window again to think. It was a very nice apartment, one they could afford. It put them more into the city, closer to the station, and further from the grasp of the Scorpion goons. She would finally have a bathroom all to herself again and that alone was enough to make her happy.

“Let’s take it.”

Ares’ face lit up. “When do you want to move in?”

“As soon as possible.”

Unexpectedly, Eliza took Ares’ hand and squeezed it once before letting it go. Ares flexed his hand at his side, unnoticed by his partner while Eliza stuffed her hands in her hoodie pocket.

“Thank you for finding this place.”

“I felt it was time to make up for all the times I’ve tormented you.”

The hunters stared at each other quietly, neither having anything else to say. Eliza could feel her face warm under his gaze, but she didn’t look away like she normally would have. Time after time he bothered her and irritated her beyond end but seeing what he did to give her a little more space again made her realize that taking him as a partner wasn’t as bad of an idea as she originally thought. All of the trouble he caused didn’t seem to matter as much.

He cleared his throat, “Do you want me to tell him or do you want to do it?”

A smile formed on her lips, “I think we can both tell him.”