Virtual Insanity

Sunny sat up in her room, it was later than she normally would wake up, around 11:00 AM-ish. She scanned the room, making sure she had packed absolutely everything she needed. Magnolia was sitting on her bed, purring with her eyes fluttering closed.
"Sam! Your guy is here!" Leo called from the living room. Sunny sighed nervously and opened her bedroom door, expecting to see Miguel in the kitchen.
"Oye, what are you doing here, creep?" Sunny jumped back into her room, embarrassed by her morning appearance as Hobie stood, leaning against the kitchen counter. She could her his cheeky giggle as her sister and Leo interrogated him needlessly. Of course, all of Sunny's clothes were packed up now and all she could do was slip a crew-neck sweatshirt over her tank top and unroll her shorts. She cringed as she looked in the mirror. Her socks were different lengths and her hair was uncombed. She sighed and went back into the kitchen, slightly annoyed to see more people than last time.
"Ay bendi... Seriously, what the hell guys? Acabo de despertarme." She pinched the bridge of her nose and mumbled profanities to herself. Standing in her living room, along with Hobie, was Miles, Pavitr, Gwen, and Miguel.
"Morning Sunshine" She glared at Hobie's playful greeting, not wanting to admit that she liked it.
"¿Dónde está Margot?" Sunny looked at the team, Miles and Hobie shrugging nonchalantly.
"She is working on technical things with Lila." Pavitr explained.
"Ok, yeah, cool. I still want to know why you're in my house?" She raised her eyebrows at the team, looking at them each individually for answers.
"Would you relax? Miguel sent us to help you move your things." Gwen snickered and walked past Sunny towards her bedroom. Sunny sighed and chased after her, anxious to let anyone into her bedroom without her. The boys followed as Sunny rushed past Gwen to get the to the door.
"Espera, I need to lay some things out if this is actually happening." She placed her hand on the doorknob defensively.
"What's up?" Miles tilted his head at the sudden stop. Right. Sunny didn't actually have anything to say, of course. She just didn't want these people she just met in her bedroom. She thought for a moment before thinking of a halfway-decent excuse.
"I... uh- I have a cat in here, and she gets really nervous around new people so..." Sunny nodded affirmatively, praying today was the day her cat decided to cooperate with what she was saying. Pavitr gasped at her words.
"You have a cat? I love cats! What is her name?" he almost squealed, stepping closer to the door. Sunny chuckled nervously, holding the doorknob tightly.
"Her name is Magnolia, she's pretty young, ok? Cálmate. I'll introduce you guys two at a time and then we can get started. Who's gonna come in with Pavitr?" She turned the doorknob slowly, looking at her teammates.
"I'll come." Gwen shrugged and stepped forward. This made Sunny ten times as nervous to reveal her room.
"Ah, ok. Come in." She led the two in and shut the door, gesturing towards Magnolia on the bed.
"Oye, Magnolita, you have guests." She sat on the edge of the bed, gently waking the cat. Magnolia made a quick 'brrr' sound, causing Pavitr to swoon instantly. Sunny waved for Pavitr to come closer as Magnolia positioned herself in her lap. Pavitr carefully drew closer to the cat, reaching his hand out gently. Of course, she immediately pressed her head against his knuckle, signaling for more pets. Sunny thought Pavitr might have passed out with the way he fell on his knees to pet her. This made her chuckle as she passed the cat to him, standing up from the bed.
"I thought she was nervous around new people?" Gwen slightly scoffed.
"Well, cats can vibe-check. I think it's impossible for anyone to be nervous around that one." Sunny giggled, gesturing at Pavitr "Do you want to say hi?" She asked Gwen, picking Magnolia up from Pavitr, who had cradled her in his arms on the floor. She held Magnolia up to Gwen, trying on a friendlier approach.
"Uh yeah, I guess." Gwen reached her hand out to Magnolia, who was purring contently in Sunny's arms. As Gwen's hand grew closer, Magnolia jolted slightly, causing her to retract her hand.
"It's fine! She's just nervous. Try again." Sunny smiled as Gwen reached her hand out once more, this time being met by the same soft brushing of Magnolias head against her knuckle. She chuckled and pet the cat, smiling slightly.
'𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳' Sunny thought to herself, watching the interaction. She gently placed Magnolia in Gwen's arms and stepped towards the door to let Miles and Hobie in. Of course, as soon as he entered, Hobie began snooping through the things that Sunny had displayed in her room.
"Oye, basta." She rushed over and shoo'd him away from her things. Sunny held her arms out, waiting for Gwen to be done with Magnolia so she could introduce her to Hobie and Miles. She carried her over to Hobie, who chuckled at the animal, scratching the top of her head.
"Aye the beast loves me." He boasted, taking Magnolia into his long arms and bouncing her gently like a baby. Sunny giggled, not noticing Miles going through a pile of papers on her desk.
"Yo! Did you do these?" Miles held up one of Sunny's paintings, displaying it. It was her least favorite. A grey mush with white lines scattered across it. There were ominous maroon clouds covering up a sun, with just one ray peeking through. Sunny snatched it out of his hand, along with the others, shoving them in a drawer.
"Uh yeah... I made those." Sunny sat defensively on her bed. The atmosphere thickened for a moment before Hobie broke the tension by handing Magnolia to Miles, who took her in his arms excitedly. Sunny didn't catch as Gwen continued looking through her desk, finding a thick notebook and flipping through it silently. A sly smirk crept across her face.
"Woah, Sam. Did you do these too?" Sunny's stomach dropped to the bottom of her spine as Gwen giggled, looking through her notebook. Sunny jumped up off her bed and reached for the book, but Gwen jolted back, continuing to flip through the book.
"Are these songs? I didn't strike you as so deep, Sam." Gwen teased.
"Oh I- put that down please." Sunny's tone became more stressed as the tension escalated.
"These are really good, will you sing for us?" Gwen giggled.
"Gwendy, lay off." Hobie's tone darkened for a moment. Sunny felt a small lump in the bottom of her throat. She hated being an angry crier.
"Seriously guys, it's good! Listen to this." She paused on a page, scanning for a lyric to read "(yes this is boygenius thanks)Black hole opened in the kitchen, every clock's a different ti-" she was cut off by Hobie seizing the book from her hand, passing it to Sunny.
"Take a breather, Sunshine" He looked down at Sunny apologetically. Sunny shook her head.
"Estoy bien. She was just playing" She smiled awkwardly with a shrug, picking up a box full of her stuff "Let's go ahead and get this done." Sunny brushed off the previous situation, changing the subject to the task at hand. They all nodded and grabbed a box as Hobie opened a portal to Sunny's apartment in his dimension.
"Miguel is meeting us there." Gwen huffed and stepped through.
'𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵' Sunny thought to herself, stepping through behind her.
The mood shifted as everyone admired the apartment. It wasn't luxurious, but it was nice. The walls were a light, dusty brown. Hanging from the ceiling was a simple, vintage chandelier that had a few bulbs out. Miguel stood in the kitchen, waiting for the team. He approached as they all set the boxes they had been holding down.
"What else is there to bring?" he asked, stacking the boxes on in the corner of the living room.
"Sólo un poquito más, maybe 2 more boxes and then Magnolia's things." Sunny shrugged, hearing Gwen snicker from behind her.
"She clearly doesn't like to pack light." She mumbled to Miles. Sunny felt her eye twitch. Sensing the tension, Miguel continued the conversation, ignoring Gwen's comment.
"That reminds me..." Miguel pulled something from the kitchen counter, handing it to Sunny "Esto es para la gatita." It was a collar, similar to the watches they were all wearing.
"She won't glitch as long as that's on her." He explained to her.
"Oh thanks. I'll put it on her now." Sunny opened a portal back to her bedroom and placed the collar on Magnolia. She then placed all of magnolia's things on one of the boxes and carried it into her new place. The team noticed and rushed through to help her grab the rest of her stuff. As the last of her things were brought in, Sunny picked Magnolia up into her arms and brought her through the portal. The cat immediately ran to hide under the couch, overwhelmed by her new surroundings.
"Thanks, guys." Sunny smiled at the team appreciatively and sat on the couch.
"Can you handle unpacking by yourself, princess?" Gwen teased, crossing her arms. It took everything Sunny had to not lose her temper. She took a deep breath and collected her thoughts, exhaling just loud enough to hint at her frustration.
"Yeah, I've got it, blanquita. I've done this my whole life." She smiled innocently and shrugged, knowing that Gwen couldn't comprehend the nickname thrown at her. Miles stifled a laugh and opened a portal.
"Let's go guys, catch you later Sunny-D." He smiled with a cheeky finger-gun at Sunny, stepping through the portal with Gwen and Pavitr. Before he left, Hobie approached Sunny, placing a hand on her shoulder and leaning in to whisper in her ear.
"Don't let her get to you, Mate. She's just warming up to you being around, ok?" He gave her a pat on her shoulder and left through the front door to go back to his place.
"You all good here?" Miguel asked, raising his eyebrows. Sunny nodded.
"You know where to find me." He placed a reassuring hand on her back, stepping through a portal to his office. Sunny's felt her eyes sting as the portal closed. She just got here and she already wanted to go home. Magnolia remained under the couch. For the first time in her life, Sunny was completely alone. The lump returned to her throat as she let a few tears fall down her cheekbones and off of her chin.
"Calmate, you're fine." She sniffed, wiping the tears from her face and standing up.
She began unpacking boxes, one at a time. She started with the bathroom, since that box had the least amount of things in it. The kitchen was next, seeing as the box was just full of her favorite snacks and some utensils(plates, forks, etc.). Sunny dreaded her bedroom. The truth was, the majority of the boxes were all things from her bedroom, since she left a lot of the kitchen and bathroom supplies with her sister in her home dimension. There was one box full of wall and desk decorations, two for her clothes and bedsheets, two for her art/music supplies, and her guitar case as well.
Unpacking took Sunny roughly 7 hours, only two being spent on the kitchen and bathroom. The bedroom was a different story. She fought for probably an hour just to get her bedsheets over the mattress properly. Arranging her posters and vinyls took another one of those hours, and the rest of the time was spent rearranging her bedroom furniture until she approved of how it looked. Her living room was practically decorated for her, all she needed to bring was the flatscreen from her room, which she was still putting off hanging on the wall. Sunny sat with Magnolia on the couch, completely exhausted and trying to find the motivation in her to hang the TV and do a load of laundry. Time passed by as she sat, staring at the wall, occasionally checking her phone. Eventually the sun began to set and she decided to make herself some dinner. She struggled to find something that appealed to her appetite. She let out a long sigh, being cut off by a knocking at the window to her balcony.
Sunny jumped, freezing where she was.
𝘼𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙘𝙠.
She cautiously crept toward the door, unable to see through her curtains.
𝘼𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙘𝙠.
She took a deep breath before swiftly opening her curtains to see who was outside.

Sunny sighed in both relief and annoyance as she saw a familiar, color-changing spider outside, hanging upside-down. She shot him a look and opened the door, letting him inside.
"Oye, casi te mato." She shoved him lightly and returned to the kitchen, trying to ignore Hobie as he followed behind her closely. "I don't a have a clue what you just said, but I was only playing. No need to throw a wobbly." He grinned, pulling his mask off and setting it on the counter. He hesitated for a moment seeing the look on Sunny's face. Her eyebrows were furrowed and she had a slight frown of annoyance on her face as she looked up at him through her eyelashes. He leaned against the wall, slightly hanging over her as she prepared the rest of her food silently.
"Are you mad, Sunshine?" He lowered his voice for a moment, speaking almost directly into her ear as he examined her facial expressions with a tilt of his head.
"Sammmmmm." Hobie half-whined and smiled, reaching over to poke Sunny's cheek. It took everything she had to not melt. Instead, she looked at him through the corner of her eye.
"Qué." She replied shortly, picking up her plate and turning to face him. The corners of his mouth turned up as she made eye contact with him.
"Are you mad?" Regardless of if it was good or bad, Hobie was enjoying the attention he was receiving from her.
"No dork-ass." She unsuccessfully fought back a smile, shoving past him and into the living room to cover it. This just added fuel to the fire, of course. He followed her around her apartment, teasing her for breaking so easy and asking her to confirm again that she wasn't mad at him.
"What are you doing here, Hobie?" She finally sat on her couch, watching as he sat on the same couch, opposite her.
"Just came to see how you're settling in, you had kind of a rough start to your day and for that, I apologize." He sprawled out across the couch, one of his long legs landing across Sunny's lap.
"My day was fine, I'm just tired." She lied. He knew she was lying, and she knew that he knew, but the topic was dropped.
"Well you know where to find me, we are a team after all." He winked, holding his fingers to his mouth, imitating Miguel's fangs. Sunny rolled her eyes. "Why can't you guys just get along?" She shook her head at him as he giggled at his own joke.
"He likes rules, I don't. He makes rules, I break them" He shrugged, throwing a small, rolled-up piece of paper that he found at her, chuckling when it landed in her hair. She shot him a playful glare as he reached over to remove it.
"You sure you're doing all right, mate? Need help with anything?" He tilted his head at her.
"You want to hang my TV?" She jokingly suggested, not expecting him to actually stand up and do it. But, there she was, sitting on the couch, as he hung her TV. Halfway through the process, she forgot about the meal she was eating and dozed off from the silence. Hobie turned around to show her that he had finished, chuckling when he saw her head hung in front of her with her plate still in her hand.
"Oi, you're completely knackered, aren't you?" He said in a hushed tone, taking the plate from Sunny's hand and setting it on the kitchen counter. Sunny only half-awoke as Hobie carefully picked her up over his shoulder and took her to the back of the apartment, setting her in her bed. Magnolia followed, positioning herself in the crook of Sunny's elbow. He chuckled, petting the cat softly before returning his attention to Sunny.
"I'm going now." He whispered to her.
"Adiós..." She mumbled, not completely aware of her surroundings.
"Goodnight, Sunshine." Hobie flicked the light off and exited down the hallway. He smiled to himself while he grabbed his mask, pulling it over his face. He made sure to double check that everything was locked up before he finally left out the way he came.
Sunny returned to her previous slumber, her thoughts finally slowing down while she thought of Hobie, hoping she didn't imagine the visit.