Strange World (3)

When Theo and Zaine returned to the living room, they found the two women sitting on a couch giggling over something. Theo wasn't sure what they were on about, but noticed Maria was holding a small rectangular device in her hand.

Zaine frowned at the sight. "What did you two do?"

"Nothing." Maria giggled as she got up. "We're going to go now. Take care of yourself."

"Yeah. Yeah." Samara smiled, getting up so the two could hug. "You take care of yourselves too."

Once everyone had said their goodbyes, Theo awkwardly watched the whole thing with the couple soon leaving the apartment.

Samara turned to Theo. "I'm going to bed since I've got work tomorrow. You'll be fine by yourself, right?"

"Yeah…" Theo paused for a moment. "Actually, can I use the sho sh-shower?"

That's what Zaine had called it. At least he hoped so. Theo's mind was a little overloaded with everything that was happening around him.

"Sure. Everything in that room is at your disposal." Samara declared. "You have towels and know how to turn the water on?"

Theo nodded his head. "Left for hot water and right for cold water…. This whole idea of indoor plumbing is quite interesting."

"Is that right?" Samara mused with a weird expression on her face for a moment before getting serious. "Then again, there's a lot of things in this world people take for granted. Guess, I'll put indoor plumbing on the list of topics to go over."

"Thank you." Theo said before going quiet again. "I don't suppose you have a place I can store my armor?"

"I don't…" Samara shrugged. "Would storing it in boxes be okay or does it need to be hung up?"

"Boxes will be fine for now." Theo murmured.

"Alright, I think I left an empty one in your room. There's also a few in my room so I'll bring them over for you." Samara said before wondering off.

Theo wasn't sure what to do so decided to go to the spare bedroom. He found the empty box Samara had been talking about and placed it on the bed.

He then began removing parts of his armor, using some magic to clean it before placing it inside the box. It was only when he had removed all his chest armor did he hear a knock on the door

"I'm coming in." Samara called out.

Theo, thankfully still had a tunic on so he wasn't too worried as Samara walked inside a few moments later holding two more boxes in her hands.

"These should be enough?" Samara asked, placing the boxes on the bed.

"Yes, they'll be enough." Theo agreed.

"Alright, I'll be heading off then." Samara said as she walked back to the doorway, pausing for a moment. "If you want to turn the lights off, switch this flip here and extra blankets and pillows are in that closet."

Theo nodded in understanding, making a mental note to ask Samara how the lights worked. Perhaps it was the same method as the microwave. Or maybe they were just ordinary fire lanterns, but for some strange reason Theo doubted that.

This world seemed too advance to have fire lanterns. 

Whatever the case was, it could wait for tomorrow.

He was exhausted and the sound of a hot shower sounded like heaven after being on the battlefield for days. Thus, he headed for the bathroom as soon as Samara closed the door behind her, deciding to enjoy this strange world's luxuries.

***

Theo slowly opened his eyes the next day, confused as to where he was for a moment. Recalling what had happened the previous night, Theo sighed.

It wasn't a dream after all. He really had been teleported to another world.

He got up from the bed, noticing it was a little past daybreak which surprised him. He usually awoke before the sun even rose, being a light sleeper and someone who constantly suffered from nightmares.

Mostly of the day he had lost everything.

Theo quickly shook his head, not wanting to go down that dark path.  I probably just slept well because the bed was comfortable.

And it truly was. 

Granted, he had spent most of his life sleeping on the hard ground or straw mats that poked him so this bed was heaven sent compared to what he was used to.

After freshening up in the bathroom, Theo headed out the bedroom, making his way to the front of the apartment. The scent of food soon filled his nose along with some clattering noise.

When he got to the kitchen, he found the source of the noise and food scent. On the table lay a plate of what seemed to be fluffy flat bread. Theo wasn't exactly sure what they were but they looked quite good.

Samara meanwhile was standing on a small ladder, putting something away in one of the top cupboards. Theo noticed she was wearing something similar to what Maria had yesterday.

Once Samara was done packing whatever it was, she lifted her head and noticed him.

"Oh hey, Theo. You sleep well?" Samara asked as she closed the cupboard doors and got down from the ladder.

"I slept fine, thank you." Theo responded. 

"Good to hear." Samara nodded. "I made pancakes so eat up. We'll need to leave soon so we can go to the pawnshop. Oh yeah, do you want coffee?"

"Coffee?" Theo asked as he sat down, unsure what it was.

"It's a hot drink people in this world have to give them energy." Samara mused. "It's a little bitter so I suggest you add sugar to it."

"But isn't sugar expensive?" Theo questioned.

In his world, only nobles could afford such a luxury like sugar. A commoner such as himself was lucky to even try it once in their lifetime.

"I mean for most people here it's a common item you get." Samara shrugged. "You don't have to worry about it too much. So, do you want some coffee?"

Theo nodded his head. It wouldn't hurt to try this common drink out. Samara smiled before she turned away to prepare their drinks. A few moments later, she sat down across from him and pushed a mug across to him. 

"Enjoy." Samara said before grabbing some pancakes. "Here's the sugar if you want. I've already added some milk to it."

Theo nodded, deciding to try the drink without sugar first. As he took a sip, he instantly regretted it. He wanted to spit out the disgusting drink but didn't, knowing he would be rude to.

Samara noticed it and laughed. "Guess you need sugar."

She slid a small container over to him and Theo gladly took it before pausing . "How much do I put in?"

"Well, I put in two teaspoons so you can start with that and add more as you wish." Samara suggested.

Theo did so and when he tried it, the drink tasted much better. However, he wasn't sure if he liked it. He decided to focus his attention on the food and enjoyed the pancakes much more.

Once they finished cleaning up, Theo insisting on helping since Samara had prepared breakfast, they finished getting ready and headed out.