#seedpods

... Oh, yeah. Juno glared over at her desk, checking if the collection of dirty mugs had decided to disappear, the assignments magically filled out when she wasn't looking. Of course, the only change she saw was a single ant, bravely venturing out to start a new life and family amidst a single-sipped latte that Louise had gotten her earlier that day. The caffeine made her feel like she was having a heart-attack, but it was a nice gesture-

CRASH!

A long, lanky figure appeared in front of her, and, taking a single mug down with them, slammed onto the cheap floor. Juno briefly considered nudging the body with her foot, until it groaned. She slammed the door behind her as she quickly skittered to hide in the bathroom.

... Ring, ring... Ring, ring... "Oh, hey,  Junebug!!" The chirpy voice of her girlfriend rang out over the phone's speaker, "I thought I told you not to call me 'til I texted you..."

"Th- a body just appeared in my bedroom? I-I don't... Can you come home?"

"Uh-huh, okay-" her voice moved away from the phone speaker, "nah, that looks great on you, Val!- Okay, Juno, I gotta go." Click.

... Ohhh. No, great, awesome. Her girlfriend's out with her crush, and now Junebug's all alone in a closet with a weird zombie body in her bedroom. Uh-huh, yeah, and now she's gonna get stabbed to death by a million tiny shards of a broken mug, and death by a thousand literal papercuts from the homework she hasn't done, and-

"Excuse me," an unfamiliar, smooth voice spoke from beyond the bathroom door, "I simply must apologize for my rude entrance into your fine home."

Juno cracked the door, to see the mysterious figure patting down their long brown coat. "Oh, haha, no worries!" What? No. Total worries. "... wh-who are you... ?"

The... visitor... replied simply, "I'm new around here," before walking down the hall and into the kitchen.

"Oh, hey, new guy!" The greeting escaped her lips before her brain caught up with her. It was probably

nothing, but from where she was standing, it seemed as though the mysterious person had flinched.

After hiding in the bathroom for a completely regular amount of time to calm her nerves, Juno wasn't expecting them- him, her? to still be in her apartment. She most certainly didn't expect to find them... cooking?

"Baking, actually. I was just tidying up." The stranger's gaze met her's, and Juno could swear she felt a warm summer's breeze blow through her body. "Peach cobbler. Would you like to give it a try? It's my first time using this recipe. It is meant to be simple, warm, and comforting."

"Ah, sure..." She hesitantly sat down at the counter as the 'new guy' delicately spooned a generous portion of the dessert into an ornate bowl that she'd never seen before. She laughed, awkwardly. "This is already weird enough, why not?"

"That's right. Where are my manners?" New Guy suddenly procured a fresh peach from who-knows-where, "If we're both eating, it will be as though we're two friendly strangers, catching up over lunch."