It took a little longer than what Pepper had anticipated, but eventually the entire shipment was packed inside the workshop. He took a few minutes of practically spinning in circles and trying to think of what he should work on first. He finally stopped and chuckled at himself as he finally told himself. Start at the bottom and work your way up.

  The mental statement was something he felt Ryan or even Nate would tell him. No journey to greatness started without a solid foundation. He grabbed onto his first container of clay and read over the instructions. Once his quick glance was done, he got to work.

  He finally stopped when his hands simply couldn’t continue any longer. Pepper stepped away from the work bench and fell onto the couch in the far corner. He robbed his hands together for a brief moment, but then let them sit in his lap and slowly throb in pain.

  Then in the silence of work he heard a small thudding noise coming from the house. He sighed at the fact that he was sure Marcus had invited over his friend group yet again. Pepper cringed and appreciated the fact that he blocked out the world around him whenever he worked on his golem.

  The reality of his situation though was one he regretted having to come back to. Would it kill him to just have a quiet night in? He mentally asked. He loudly exhaled and then felt his stomach shift and loudly groan. He tapped his hand on his stomach. I guess a real meal could do me some good.

  “Come on Amp.” He called to his familiar. There was a slow chuckle and Pepper shook his head when he saw his familiar had someone managed to fall asleep while being upside down. The familiar’s body and slid down the front of the couch and came to a stop on the top of it’s head.

  “What? Who? Are we going somewhere?” Amprage immediately asked while powering up.

  “We’re going inside, it’s time for dinner.”

  “Wonderful! I’m famished.” His bonded replied while trotting across the threshold and into the backyard.

  “We’ve been over this. You don’t eat… and are physically incapable of eating actually!” Pepper called out over the distance while lifting his hand up in a confused manner.

  “Fine! But would it kill you to buy me a tennis ball every once and a while?”

  Pepper groaned while he closed the door to the shop. Guess the metal fur ball has a point. The quick glance through the back window confirmed his suspicions and a large group of strangers sat in the living room. The music grew louder as he approached but he was at least grateful that it was nothing compared to last night.

  He walked into the room and was created by a loud welcoming cheer. “The big dog of the house! What’s up P-dub!” Marcus called out to and a few in the group gave partial waves and head nods greeting him.

  His eyes continued to scan the room while he went. The thing he couldn’t help but notice was more evidence that their food supplies were being depleted by the minute. He navigated through the group and finally made it to entrance to the kitchen area.

  The moment led him towards wanting to avoid Marcus all together, but he couldn’t help as his roommate approached and rapped his arm across his shoulders. “P-Dub, I was telling these guys how you were working on your Golem. You up for showing some of them your process?”

  Pepper was taken back by the question. He paused and saw the excited expressions on the few strangers who were closely gathered around. It was in that moment that Pepper felt the genuineness amongst the few gathered around. But he couldn’t deny that his energy levels were depleted past social interaction.

  “I can’t do it tonight. Sorry, I’m completely exhausted and going to go to bed as soon as I get some food in me. Perhaps later this week?”

  To Pepper’s surprise, Marcus didn’t protest but rather tapped his shoulder. “See! What did I tell you guys! My roommate is the real deal. Ain’t nobody else at this invitational working as hard as this guy.”

  The compliment warmed his heart and he appreciated the recognition shown to him by his high charismatic roommate. “Thanks Marcus… I… that means a lot.”

  “No worries man!” Marcus gave him yet another reassuring tap on his shoulder and then stepped away. “Go relax man.” Marcus turned to those gathered around. “Hey, don’t worry. I’ll totally keep you guys posted on when y’all can come check out his setup.”

  Marcus and his friends faded back over to the living room. The room was a mixture of laughs, intense conversations, and amplified music. A quick inhale and Pepper was caught off guard by the strong odor of clay, dirt, and grime which appeared to be latched onto him.

  He suppressed his hunger and chose to get cleaned up first. The hot shower was a welcome to his exhausted muscles and he felt like he was on the verge of passing out with the water washing over him. The latest discover upon his exit of the shower was the absence of available clean clothes. He chuckled when he grabbed his final clean set of underwear, “Guess this is next step we need to tackle.”

  A quick scan of the room and he realized he needed a more organized system. In each corner of the room were piles of clothes yet to be identified as either dirty or clean. He hesitated when he was about to conduct the standard sniff test, and rather decided to play it safe and wash everything all at once.

  He gathered everything up and wobbled his way across the hallway to the laundry room. It took him a minute to navigate the cupboards, but he eventually found the laundry soap. A quick glance at the machines instructions and Pepper then started to prep the washing machine while he tossed in his garments.

  “You’re not separating your colors?”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  The monotone voice caught him off guard and he paused and looked at the doorway. To his surprise Wilson stood perfectly still with both arms at his sides. The entire vibe was more like Wilson was a ghost overseeing and commentating his actions rather than being physically present.

  “Nope… I have always just kept them combined. I never saw a difference in separating them.” Pepper had looked back at the machine when he answered. When he looked up to check back on Wilson, he discovered his roommate had disappeared just as quickly as he had arrived.

  Gosh that kid is so weird… He thought in his head while dropping in the next handful of items. His soul practically leapt out of his skin when a giant pile of clothes came flying in. He snapped his head around to see Wilson walking away from him.

  “Thanks for doing laundry.” Wilson said over his shoulder.

  What the h… “I was doing just my laundry…” He called out, but the only reply he received was Wilson’s door being closed behind him. Pepper jumped yet again as the machine turned on while he stood there in silence and the cold water startled him back to what he was doing.

  He looked down at the machine and watched as Wilson’s clothes merged with his as the water soaked them all together. Pepper’s hands balled into fists and he gritted his teeth. “Why can’t you… I am not your mother…. I just don’t… what the… GAHHH!”

  Pepper resolved to throwing his final few items into the machine as if he was a sports athlete. The machine door closed in a loud resounding bang and he headed for the kitchen. To his surprise, Marcus greeted him at the mouth of the hallway.

  “Everything okay P-Dub? I heard a loud bang.” Marcus took a sip from his cup.

  Pepper continued to walk past his roommate. “I was starting my laundry and Wilson just dumped his practically on top of me, totally adding his into the wash cycle.”

  He turned just in time to see Marcus perk up. His finger pointed towards him. “Oh man, is there still room? Do you think I could throw some in also.”

  Pepper was happy he had opened up one of the cupboards and had his facing hiding behind it. His jaw dropped for a second when Marcus asked the question and he took a second to calmly breath. He isn’t trying to be a jerk… he isn’t trying to be a jerk…

  By the time Pepper grabbed the box from the cupboard and closed the door, he had clamed his tempura enough to respond accordingly. “Sorry man… its all full actually. You’ll just have to wait and do a load once mine is done.”

  Marcus smiled and his cool, calm, and easy-going demeanor was a welcomed relief. “Ahh, it’s all good man. I’ll just do mine tomorrow. When you said something I just realized that I should probably do some also.” Marcus gave him a nod and then turned and faded back to the group.

  Thank god… Pepper thought to himself. He finally took a second to breath and realized he didn’t know what exactly the boxed item was that he had grabbed while in his frustrated state. Pancake mix. He placed the box down on the counter and looked at the image of warm hotcakes with melted butter and syrup flowing off their side.

  “You know what… why not? Breakfast for dinner, here we come.” He said and grinned as the thought helped alleviate the situation. That was until he partially turned to his right and discovered Wilson was standing just behind him.

  “Ahhh! Wilson! Do you try and scare me or something?” Pepper stepped back and brought both of his hands up to the sides of his head. He had to fight the instinct of wanting to rip his hair out and merely clawed his hands and grabbed hold of the air.

  His emotionless roommate continued to stand there perfectly still. Pepper couldn’t help but notice Wilson was wearing a Golem League Trading Card Game graphic tshirt. He had never seen in before as the sunburnt orange backing complimented the graphic design on the center chest portion. The part that stood out to him was the fact that Wilson had tucked his shirt into his blue jean pants.

  “I came to ask you a question.” Wilson stated in a monotone voice, void of any personality whatsoever.

  Pepper took a deep breath and looked off to the side. He proceeded to take two more deep breathes, trying to let his heart rate settle back down. “What is it?”

  Wilson reached up and pressed his glasses further up onto his nose. His arm lowered back down and rested at his side. “May I have some of whatever you’re about to make for dinner?”

  Pepper felt his eyes blink rapidly. Is this kid serious, or is he really, really, really… good at messing with me? He lifted his finger partially up towards Wilson. “Are you serious?”

  Wilson nodded slowly. “I haven’t ate all day. My mom said I should just ask and see if you’d be willing to let me share whatever dinner you were making.”

  Gahhhh why did you have to play the mom card! And why the hell am I responsible for, for, for caring for this kid who can’t even take care of himself? How could parents just, abandon their unprepared child out into the world like this?

  Though his mind raced with frustrated animosity towards the situation, Pepper couldn’t help but mentally image Meg. Meg could at least take care of herself, she didn’t… well, she wouldn’t… I mean. The more his mind played over the comparison of the two, the more he wanted to justify their stark differences. Yet, a small voice deep within him told him that he there was only one right answer to this situation.

  “Sure…” He muttered in response.

  Pepper turned to grab the milk out of the fridge and discovered that Wilson had departed back to his bedroom. At least I can make dinner in peace. He thought. The rest of his time spent in the kitchen was only interrupted by the few guests who were coming in and out to refill their drinks.

  He finally piled up the large stack of hot cakes onto a large plate. His hand firmly knocked on Wilson’s door and he informed him the meal was ready. He turns and began to walk back towards the kitchen when his ears heard the distinct sound of the bedroom door opening up.

  By the time Pepper returned to the kitchen and turned around, he found his peculiar roommate taking a seat across from him at the kitchen counter. The youthful face looking down at the dinner seemed to make his frustration fade away.

  “Well, help yourself man.” He said and nodded with his head.

  “You first… you made the meal, you should get the first choice.” Wilson muttered back and once again adjusted his glasses.

  So be it. Pepper grabbed a plate and started to lather a large helping of butter and syrup. Wilson then started in and began to help himself. The entire time Pepper couldn’t help but notice that his roommate never looked him in the eye. He quickly thought back since he had moved in and realized that he couldn’t remember Wilson ever matching his gaze.

  The curiosity grew in him, but Pepper chose a different approach. “So… did your mom and dad never teach you to cook?”

  Wilson was about to cut into the hot cakes when he paused. He shook his head and Pepper felt his roommate was nervous to answer honestly. Wilson finally took a large bite of the meal and Pepper couldn’t help but grin when he saw the butter run down the side of his face.

  He reached for a napkin and then tossed it across the space. Wilson reached up and grabbed hold of the napkin and wiped his face. “Thank you.” Wilson muttered.

  “So… is there a reason why they never showed you how to make a meal?”

  Wilson stopped and shifted his gaze upward slightly, but still wasn’t even coming close to gazing towards him. “Because my parents didn’t want me around.”

  Pepper could feel his face contort after Wilson shared with him. What? How could that… Pepper didn’t have much time to think more regarding the comment as Wilson surprisingly shared further.

  “I was not to be seen, or heard in my household. The only time I was to come out was if I needed something. I was to go to school, do my studies, and not disturb my mom and dad.” Wilson took another bite of the meal while they shared a brief moment of silence. Pepper watched as his roommate took another few bites, but then stopped and muttered. “Thank you for dinner.”