[Rosk] Old Stress, New Factors

[VoxApocrypha]

Prior Post

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Several hours later.

 Apollo didn't even remember taking off his shoes before he had collapsed into bed. They lay on their sides by the foot of his bed, the red panda still wearing his work clothes, a blanket haphazardly tugged over his upper body while his feet hung out from beneath the sheets. He'd not even bothered to set the clock to wake him up at a semi-resonable time, so tired that the thought didn't cross his mind until he was seconds from falling into a deep sleep, and by then it was too late.

 And for seven hours, he slept soundly.
He'd wake up towards the end of the day, rolling slowly onto his side to grab and check his clock. It was roughly six in the afternoon, and he had gotten home around mid-day. 
Setting it back down, the red panda would stretch his limbs, and take a moment to consider his surroundings, and the events of the prior day. With a yawn, he lifted himself up and soon, opened the door to the hallway, rubbing his eye with his hand as he walked out into the hallway, forgoing the usual morning routine, given it wasn't the morning at all. 

 "You still here Kaja?" He'd ask as he would cross an arm over his chest, stretching his shoulder as he made his way into the living room.  

[EpicToaster1]

Kaja was indeed still there, sitting in the living room reading one of the many books that seemed to be scattered about the house. Many of the books seemed to be history books or about political ideologies, most of which she didn't particularly care for. She had became a secretary in the government for a stable job and a steady income to support her family; she was fairly apathetic to the politics of the nation with how they had been failing the common folk for the longest time.

As she'd turn a page, she'd hear Apollo call out, the soft patter of his feet down the hall making her jump. She'd throw a small notecard into the book to keep her page before she'd stand up and call back in response. "Yessir, I'm still here." She'd set the book down, watching as he entered the room. "Would you like me to make you some dinner?"

[VoxApocrypha]

Apollo's selection of literature was a mish-mash of ideological manifestos, non-fiction historical novels, science fiction novels, and history textbooks. Among it they'd be able to find the odd entry about wild life or plantlife native to Roskana, among other things such as a world records book that seemed fairly old. Whatever she'd be in the process of reading, they'd find it had a lot of dog-eared pages. Something Apollo even did to official paperwork out of habit.

The red panda would look at her as she stood, his tail swaying a bit behind him. 
"Sure. I can help if you'd like. I'm taking today off." He'd say as he made his way into the kitchen next. "Just let me wash my hands." He'd go to the sink and turn the water on, letting it heat up for a moment before he'd grab some hand soap and start to scrub. 

"Have you called your family?" He'd ask. 

[EpicToaster1]

Kaja followed Apollo into the kitchen, setting the book down on the couch's armrest as she walked past. She walked over to the fridge, opening it and grabbing out some ingredients, looking over the mish-mash of foodstuffs Apollo kept and seeing what she could make from it.

"I did, yes. We've got about two hours before my ɛsisɑ ("ehseesa", trans. father) gets off work, so he'll swing by to pick me up around then. Should be plenty of time to make some dinner and enjoy it," her head poking out from behind the refrigerator door and smiling to him before returning to the ingredients. "I'm amazed you're able to afford a ʍʌʒə ("hwuhzhuh", trans. refrigerator). I mean...I'm not, you are one of the most powerful people in the country; but they're still so prohibitively expensive for most. I'm surprised it's worth the investment." She'd pull out some meat from the fridge, looking it over. "Well...considering this is still fresh, I guess that does make it worth the investment alone. Oh!" Her hands would dart back into the fridge, pulling out some fresh vegetables. "This will be so much better than canned veggies."

She'd place on the counter a couple of vegetables to go with the meat, along with some bread from the pantry.

[VoxApocrypha]

"Ahh." Apollo would nod. "I'll make extra then. Send you home with some for your family."
He'd say. "It'll probably be the only way it gets eaten before it spoils." He chuckles. "With how rarely I actually get to make dinner." 

 "It was probably the best investment I made this year." He'd reply. "I don't tend to buy a lot of stuff for myself besides books or movies for my film collection." The red panda would turn the water off, and use a towel to dry his hands and the fur on his arms, before he'd set it down, neatly folded out of habit. He'd make his way over to a wall cabinet and open it up, taking a skillet out from inside. 

 "I'd normally grill, but it's so damn cold outside I'd much prefer to stay in. This'll have to do." He'd take the cast iron out, and set it on the stove, before he went and grabbed a stick of butter and a bottle of olive oil from the pantry, setting it down. "Can you eat garlic? I know some races can't stomach it." He'd ask her, looking over his shoulder as he opened the packaging to the beef.