“Chaya!” yells a voice from the couch, though as far as she can tell there’s no one sitting there, just a pile of pillows. Then the pillows move and her focus adjusts to see the well-padded man sprawled across it.
“Rey!” she hollers, and leans over to give him a big hug. “What are you wearing? I thought you were part of the couch.”
“My newest purchase,” he says gleefully, “I saw the ‘pajamas’ in the catalog and just had to buy them, and they match the decor. What a coup.”
“Er, are you going for the upholstered look this season?” she teased.
“It’s all the rage,” he assured her seriously, though the twinkle in his eyes made her wonder.
“Hey, I need a place to crash for the night, father decided he couldn’t stand having me there any longer,” she said.
“Of course, dear. Of course. Stay as long as you want. We’re planning a celebration tonight, so you’ll need a costume, but there should be plenty of space for you.”
“Oh, um. What are you celebrating?” she asked.
“It’s the Queen’s birthday, you silly girl,” he said with a grin.
“Rey, we don’t have a Queen, just a city council.”
“Yes, yes, I know,” he said, waving his hand airily in negation.
“It’s not our queen we’re celebrating, it’s the birthday of the Queen in that book he’s writing,” interjected Lisandro. “He decided that he needed more excitement, and wanted to throw a party and then just add the whole of the party to his book. I think it’s a silly idea, myself.”
“It is not, you loved the idea when I came up with it last night,” he waved off Lisandro’s continued muttering, “Anyway, I’ll tell you what part you’re to be playing and we’ll find you a costume and fit you right in. It’ll be tons of fun.”
“Oh, I forgot,” said Chaya, “My clothes are,” she held up her bag, the now drying mud flaking off of it and into a tidy pile on the floor, “er… not doing so well.”
“Xavier,” called Rey, “Could you show Chaya where the laundry is? You have a better handle on those new-fangled contraptions than I do. I’m always messing them up.”
“That’s because you refuse to ready the manual,” said Xav, rolling his eyes.
“Come on, and I’ll show you were you can crash tonight, there’s a lock on the door and everything,” said Xav leading her down one of the darkened hallways.
Chaya knew Rey had a bizarre dedication to communal living, which was useful at times like this but also had its downsides, like most of the rooms not having doors or having doors that wouldn’t really close anymore. Of course that could mostly be put down to the general disrepair of the house.
“Thanks Xav, I appreciate it,” she said.
“Well after last time, when you freaked out when we walked in on you,” he said sheepishly, “I figured you’d appreciate it.”
Chaya coughed, “We really don’t need to talk about that. What the three of you do, as consenting adults, is none of my business. And it was pretty hilarious after I got over the shock of being woken up that way.”

The two of them trundled down to the laundry, which was located in a hidden corner of one of the sub-basements. The room was filled with light, piped down from a skylight far above by a column of mirrored fiberstone. The steam that filled the air was clean and smelled of soap and lemon. The mechanicals in the room were of brazed golden metal, stainless and rustproof. The last thing you’d want were the laundry mechanicals getting rust on your linens.
“It’s amazing that he spends the money on these, but refuses to get that nasty old carpeting replaced,” said Chaya under her breath.
“Especially considering how much time he ends up spending on that carpet of an evening,” said Xav, echoing her thoughts.