Turned out, the neighbour had already opened their door. She stood hipshot in the open doorway, gnawing on her lip and pondering. After a moment, she went back inside and hauled out her butterfly chair, then positioned a fan just inside the doorway to pull some of the hot air out of the apartment. Helios dragged himself out to writhe luxuriously on the concrete, white belly up and dark-masked blue eyes slitted against the sun.
Honestly, she didn’t even know who her neighbour was. If they were both going to do this, maybe she should do something about that … later. When it wasn’t so damn hot. Maybe after the sun went down.
As she settled in her own doorframe, Ace stood leant up against his own, peering into her tiny flat with a rather stoic expression on his face, jaw set.
He needed a few minutes to collect himself. Usually, he had a lot more endurance for heat, but his patience slowly began to deplete after a particularly nasty break-up with his ex-girlfriend just a week prior.
Eyebrows furrowing with curiosity, he watched as she retreated back into her apartment, scoffing when he presumed for the rest of the afternoon to cool down, and turned on his heel to disappear into his own.
Diesel felt too hot to move yet, his tummy pressed against the wood floor near his bowl filled with ice-water, ears perking as his beloved owner walked by, settling back with his jawbone resting atop the back of his paws.
The lad decided it would be best to keep to himself until he calmed down. They’d have to form a relationship on some type of level so passing by their opened doors won’t be so awkward, he knew this much.
Just this once, maybe he could make nice.
By the time the sun went down, Summer had actually forgotten her resolution to go talk to her neighbour. The apartment was still fairly hot, and stray wisps of red hair stuck to the back of her neck. But she had turned her music up loud, ensconced herself crosslegged on the floor, and dragged out her jewellery-making gear. Now she sang happily along as clever hands constructed a shining necklace out of the rainbow piles of gemstone chips in front of her.