Chapter 8: Attrition

                                    

                                          
In a luxurious loft apartment not far from the Royal Family's Castle, just a hill or two down, Tiara had just awakened from a good nights sleep. She opened her eyes and lay still in her bed staring at her ceiling. Her windows had stayed open all night because of the extreme heat of the day before, and through the night as it had cooled down a light breeze made her beige curtains bellow in the wind. It felt cool in her room, and she felt it on her toes and arms. She sat up and glanced to her left at the windows near her door, then she pulled her thin sheets off herself. She was dressed in her night clothes, a white sleeveless t-shirt and yellow and white short pants.
Tiara yawned as she hopped out of bed, and walked on her fancy looking wood floors around to the other side of her bed to her dresser. Her long brown hair was a mess in her mirror, so she took a second to brush it, comb it, and tie her hair into a ponytail with her usual yellow bow. Then she moved to her door and walked out into the main room. It was huge and decorated with the finest furniture; all wood floors just like her bedroom and every other room. There were a few red steel beams protruding from the floors and ceilings across the area, but she didn't mind them because she liked the style of it. Her main room's walls were painted with dark-red wall paint, and furnished with simple, yet the highest quality accessories that any living space could have. To her left were red-brick walls next to the painted dry wall, with large windows every few feet and a balcony she could walk out onto.
The sun was coming out too and it began to crawl onto her floor. It was beautiful, and her apartment was luxurious beyond her wildest dreams; she had spent so long trying to achieve it and had about five years ago. Except Tiara had a blank expression on her face even when faced with all these nice things that she woke up to every day. This material wealth left her feeling empty…hollow…
Lazily she slid her feet across the floor as she moved to the right of her room and took a peek inside the cracked door of her new partner's room. Tiara smirked a bit seeing Honey sprawled out in strange positions on her bed; her hair was down and all her hair accessory's laid neatly on her nightstand near her bed. Her covers where on the floor and she wore a red nightgown, she had opened her windows too; which were on the opposite side of her room. Honey's room, like Tiara's room, was moderately big with plenty of room for furniture like a chair or even a small couch.
But the room was mostly empty and usually was even with the many partners she'd had over the years. Then the blank expression that crossed Tiara's face returned, Honey was still fast asleep and she hadn't even unpacked her belongings yet, which were two small suitcases. Tiara moved away from her door and walked over to her kitchen and prepared herself a cup of coffee.
Honey had told her she didn't own a lot since she started moving around a lot for her mercenary work. Honey and she hadn't shared much personal information with each other yet, but Tiara could tell the drifter life was not something she cared for much. It was quiet for a minute as Tiara prepared her coffee, listening to the pop of the boiling water as it mixed with the coffee beans and dripped into her coffee pot. Then she poured it into a cup and walked over to her balcony, opening the glass doors with wooden frames and stepping out onto the medium-sized oval-shaped area.
The morning sun was bright in her eyes as light started to fill the day. It was getting warm already so she knew to get ready for another hot day even though a nice breeze was running pass her this high up. Tiara walked pass a reclining chair and regular chairs to the metal railing of her balcony and took in the view. Because of where Arch City sat, on the coastline of a beach, it was as if it was a tropical paradise. In a sense, it kind of was, but it was also a city filled with danger. Tiara leaned her arms on the railings and began sipping on her coffee with a blank expression as she stared out below at the ocean waves, all the buildings, and all the people below her. Tiara knew just how Honey felt even though she never showed it on the outside, the difference being everything she did in her life she felt like a drifter….