The Silver Peaks Home

Once the sun began to set, a few guests arrived downstairs a night early, and all the filming for the skit had been done—Evony and Osric gave their goodbyes to their friends, watching as Thomas, Javari, and Cally hopped aboard their blaster and flew off into the steadily darkening sky.

Afterwards—Evony felt both refreshed and exhausted, in a fantastic mood after all the fun they’d all had, but she was beginning to feel just how drained she was as she and Osric rode the elevator down to the private top floor.

When they emerged, they strolled down the hall to the door of the hotel suite, where Evony’s rolling bag was still parked.

“Did he ever actually show you the inside?” Osric wondered, reaching into his overcoat and pulling out his ring of skeleton keys as he approached the door.

“Who… Levi?” Evony muttered, wiping her forehead beneath the edge of her beanie. “No, I don’t think so…”

“Well, then… prepare to be delighted,” Osric smirked, inserting one of the elongated keys into the door and turning it. “No keycard for this room. Just one old-fashioned key.”

He pushed the door open, allowing her to peer inside.

The interior of this special suit was as spacious as it was comfortable; a long pine-colored rug expanded into the room from the door, and to the immediate right was the wall, wood-paneled and harboring a massive 3DTV mounted on it, as well as a few elegant scenery paintings. Across from it was the enormous king-sized bed, complete with a similarly dark green comforter, and what must have been twenty pillows of varying sizes and shades of emerald. Alongside the bed were two nightstands, each with decorative lamps made from elk antlers, and perched above the bed was a deer’s head. Past the bed and along the farthest wall was a kitchenette, a window above the sink that provided a fantastic view of the Silver Peaks property and the distant Black Cove, and to the right of the kitchenette was the entrance to a big, luxurious bathroom.

“Whoa.” Evony stared into the room, breathing out a laugh and turning back to Osric. “You’re gonna get me spoiled.”

Osric chuckled. “Well… your position can always just become a permanent live-in one, you know. I don’t exactly need this room for anyone else. Not anymore…”

“Mind yourself, sir,” Oliver advised. “You’re jumping the gun a bit. Perhaps come back to that offer after she’s lived here for longer than… you know… a minute and a half.”

Osric placed a hand on Oliver’s screen and shoved him away.

“Thank you,” Evony said gratefully. “I really appreciate the offer… and the room… everything. Seriously.”

Osric smiled at her, surveying her closely from behind his dark lenses, his brow wrinkling the slightest bit.

Evony noticed his odd look, even with his goggles on.

“What…?” she said.

“Nothing. Nothing,” Osric muttered softly. “Do you, um… do you want any food brought to your room?”

Evony almost politely declined, but her stomach was aching, and she quietly realized she hadn’t eaten since she left home.

“Ahm… maybe,” she laughed. “But… I didn’t think there’d be room service up here…”

“Oh… not room service like everyone else’s room service, no,” Osric smirked, turning to Oliver and clapping his hands twice. “Come’ere. Got a job for you!”

“Oh… joy,” Oliver said tonelessly. “How may I further enslave myself to your whims, sir?”

“Ah, wait, speaking of slaves… call one of your brothers in,” Osric requested. “I want one of them specifically assigned to Evony’s room. But, for the moment, you can just go and grab her dinner for her.”

“Very well, sir.” Oliver turned to Evony. “What would you like to eat this evening, Madame?”

“Oh no—wait, hold on, I need to eat too,” Osric quickly interrupted, his bot butler briefly animating an eye-rolling motion on his screen. “Call one of your brothers beforehand.”

“For what purpose, sir?”

“For to help you carry things, smart one. You can’t carry two dinners up here on your own, with your stubbly little arms.”

“Very well, sir. May I take both of your orders now?”

Oliver’s screen flickered, suddenly showing a full and complete menu of everything the lodge was offering tonight. Evony and Osric took turns scanning it and selecting everything they wanted, Oliver quickly and effortlessly memorizing it.

Then, the bot butler whizzed down the hall and vanished into the elevator.

Osric sauntered into the hotel suite after the bot was gone, marching along the rug in between the foot of the bed and the giant 3DTV on the wall. He strode over to the corner of the room, pushing the bathroom door open and flipping the light on, Evony following him and gazing inside it.

It was farily large for a bathroom; to the right was a big marble sink, an elegant and shapely mirror posted just above it, and across from it was a shower with a glass wall around it. At the end of the bathroom was a huge, rounded bath tub with a white and green curtain half-drawn alongside it.

“Wow,” Evony snickered. “Yeah… like I said… spoiled…”

“Well… can’t hurt to be comfortable,” Osric replied with a sideways nod. “The best suites downstairs are similar to this one… although, this one is… better. In its own ways.”

Evony smiled again, turning to him and feeling genuinely grateful for all of this.

“Do you know… I have never lived this nice before,” she told him. “I used to work three times harder, and I lived a lot less… comfortable… than this. This is just… crazy…”

Osric tilted his head slightly, giving her a thoughtful look and flashing a half-smile.

“You don’t think you’ve worked hard here?” he uttered with a breathless little laugh.

“Not particularly,” she replied. “I’m mainly just running little errands for you… and that’s just occasionally…”

“No… you’re mainly protecting my wellbeing , Evony,” Osric corrected her. “And I value that a lot more than any labor you could ever do. Believe me.”

Evony opened her mouth to reply, but she fell silent, looking down and pondering on this for a moment. She never really spared it much extra thought, but perhaps he was right; from stepping into physically dangerous situations to helping with this frankly risky and frightful investigation, she really was doing more than she ever considered. Yet, still—just as she’d said the day they met—she felt it was just what a person was meant to do, and that whenever action was needed in a situation like this, then you should simply act, because it was necessary. To her—just as it had been with her father, and how it now was with Osric—this was just what she should do.

“And I certainly don’t consider that moral obligation to be one-sided , either,” Osric added, holding up a finger and removing her from her thoughts. “I intend to look after you as much as you do me. Oh, actually, speaking of that…”

He shuffled past her, moving over to the kitchenette and pulling open the door of the tall, rounded fridge. He glanced around, found the bottled waters on the bottom shelf, and collected one before closing the fridge and facing her.

“Drink,” Osric said, handing her the bottle.

Evony gave him a strange look, taking the water and unscrewing the lid. “Why do you keep trying to force water down my throat all day…?”

“Well… first of all, water is the most crucial component to maintaining human life,” Osric replied curtly. “And second of all… your body loses a lot more water than usual when you’re fighting a fever. It’s important to accommodate.”

Evony took a small swig, narrowing her eyes at him. “Who told you I had a fever…?”

“Oh… come on, now,” Osric chuckled, tapping on his arm atop the sleeve. “I wear a bio-reader… and it can scan people other than me , you know. I can just tell.”

Evony stared at him suspiciously.

Osric slowly bit his lip, then shrugged and nodded. “All right, Levi told me… but I still would’ve noticed even if he hadn’t. Maybe. Oh! Wait, I need to show you something…!”

He suddenly rushed over to the 3DTV, staring down at the long rectangular table underneath it. He then reached down and grabbed an oddly-shaped silver remote, stepping back from the wall and raising it with an excited grin.

Evony joined by his side, watching as he aimed the remote, not at the television, but at the wall just underneath it.

Osric pressed a button on the remote that was in the shape of a video game controller.

Then—the wall beneath the television suddenly parted in the center, the wood panels folding overtop of one another and shifting to the sides, revealing a few shelves inside the wall that were filled with several video game consoles, a neat row of different controllers in the lower right corner.

“Ehe,” Osric beamed, turning to her and offering the remote.

Evony slowly took it, gazing at the big collection of video game consoles in slight astonishment.

“H’oh my God,” she murmured, her eyes shifting from one console to another. “Oh my God, I could never afford… any of these… is that a… is that a Game Station Nitro? !”

“Nitro, Retro, Deluxe, Hybrid, and Mega… yes,” Osric affirmed with a nod. “I have every variety. Oh, and also…”

He took the remote back and aimed it lower than the embedded entertainment center—and the wall flipped open in a long rectangular lid, revealing a secret compartment where a few different brands of VR headsets resided.

“There you go,” Osric said gleefully, placing the remote back in her hand. “I imagine our friends would have a field day in here. Just… if you do play anything with them, particularly with VR… try not to break anything in the room…”

Evony sputtered out a laugh, then gave him a curious look. “Am I… allowed to bring them up here?”

“Oh, sure,” Osric shrugged. “We just need to be certain that they never ever repeat the elevator passphrase to anyone.”

“Okay,” Evony nodded. “Wow… thank you…”

“No… thank you , because this is just as much for me, and I’m fairly certain I’m going to bother you a lot about it,” Osric snickered. “I couldn’t keep all the consoles in my own room. I always came in here to play them… once in a blue moon… although, a lot of the games I have downloaded aren’t much fun unless you’re playing… with someone.”

“Well… you’ll have that now,” Evony smirked.

Osric returned the smile.

A moment passed by, Evony simply marveling at all the consoles, until another thought occurred to her.

“Oh… hey, um… what about a key?” she inquired, motioning over to the open door. “Do you have another key for the door I can use…?”

“No.” Osric reached into his coat, pulled out his skeleton keys, and removed one of them from the ring, offering it to her. “I have the one and only.”

Evony eyed it for a second, giving him a hesitant sort of stare. “Are you sure you want me to take the only…?”

“Yes.” Osric slid the remote from her hand, tossed it on the bed, and planted the key in her palm instead. “Here.”

Evony gazed down at it, then sighed at him. “You really trust me with the only key?”

“ You? Of course,” Osric laughed. “Just don’t lend it to anyone. I do love our friends, believe me, but I definitely wouldn’t hand any of them one of my keys so easily. Ahm… and… don’t tell them I said that…”

Evony sniggered. “Yeah, I won’t…”

“You’ll be getting another key tomorrow, too,” Osric added. “I’m having a new blaster shipped here, and I want us both to have a key for it. It’ll be kept on the roof.”

“Okay… gotcha.”

“And, um…” Osric scratched his cheek, glancing up at the TV screen. “If, at any point, you’d rather be reading than watching TV or playing a game… you’re always free to go into my office and peruse my library. You told me you liked reading, so…”

“Yeah,” Evony nodded. “It’s always really peaceful to get immersed in a book when you have the TV on just really softly in the background. I used to do that a lot…”

“Hah. I do the same thing… but with machine-tinkering instead of reading,” Osric remarked. “It is peaceful.”

There was a pause.

“Well, I suppose I can… leave you be now,” Osric disclosed. “You shouldn’t have to get up very early tomorrow. Most of the guests arrive after noon… and there will be a welcoming ceremony in the dining hall… but that takes place right before dinner. You’ll have plenty of time beforehand to just… rest.”

Evony turned and stared at him.

Osric read her expression and let out a laugh. “And I know you don’t think you need rest… but I’d rather you have it. And keep drinking water, too. I’ll instruct your bot butler to bring a water to you every few hours. Oh… and… when that bot butler shows up, it will ask you a series of questions, as far as what you’d like its name to be, and what asthetic you want it to use.”

Evony squinted at him. “What… like… like Oliver’s hat?”

“Well… yes and no,” Osric replied, nodding sideways. “Oliver is a bit more… complex, and unique… and I put that special hat on him myself. But a regular bot butler can ‘equip’ one. There are a few different options… trilby, top hat, cowboy hat…”

“Oh… cool,” Evony grinned. “Thank you. That’s awesome. Well… seriously, all of this is awesome.”

Osric breathed out another laugh. “Only the best for you. I think I’m gonna go up to my workshop now… because I’ve got a project I want to finish as soon as possible waiting for me up there. Just call me if you need anything else.”

“I will. Thanks again.”

“No thanks necessary. Goodnight, Evony.”

“G’night, Oz.”

He gave her a wave and smile, turned on his heel, and strolled out of the room, gently rolling her bag into the room for her before he quietly closed the door.

Evony was left standing in front of the television, smiling at the door moments after he was gone, and feeling thoroughly happy and warmed inside. She didn’t care that she felt cold despite being indoors and still bundled up in winter clothes, and she didn’t care how exhausted she felt; she was simply delighted, standing in this huge, extravagant, and comfortable room, filled with ammeneties and entertainment, as well as every basic need, with a fresh hot meal and a free in-room robot butler both on their way here. She felt so cozy, so deeply cared for, she could hardly put the feeling into words.

But, as she snuggled into the center of the gigantic bed with the remote, allowed the comforters and the mountain of pillows to engulf her, and powered the TV on, peacefully flipping through the channels and smiling contently—she slowly began to remember where she’d felt this feeling before.

It was all those years ago—during childhood, when the world was the brightest, when she had her own safe and comfortable bedroom with the warm embrace of her mother’s down comforters, and when her mom and dad both showered her with just as much care and compassion as Osric was now.

Evony leaned back against the mound of pillows, gazing into the partially 3D depiction of an old anime, and still wearing a tired smile, replaying several minor moments in her mind, though to her, they didn’t feel minor at all. Osric kept urging her to drink water, ordered dinner to her room, assigned a bot butler to her—and he’d also gone out of his way to force an Azarias Pod into her bedroom back home, just as a safety measure. He’d grabbed onto her on impulse when it looked like the Christmas tree in town might fall in their direction, practically dragging her away from it, and she still remembered how his close, warm embrace felt when he’d sat behind her on the blaster, holding onto her tightly, murmuring into her ear, and reassuring her that everything would be okay.

It felt so nice, so indescribably wonderful, to be cared for so often and so much.

Perhaps that was why he valued her so greatly, even though she herself didn’t feel like she was doing much here at this job. Maybe that care, and that insistence to simply look after him, was all that he had ever been looking for.

And now—she felt she could only empathize.

“I love him,” Evony sighed, without any forethought at all.

Then, for a few moments after, her eyes narrowed at the TV, and her gaze wandered down, staring at her blanket-covered lap and rethinking what had just wandered out of her mouth. It was just an utterance, a mindless little thing she felt like saying, but the longer she dwelled on it, the more she felt it to be true, her mind wandering to his childlike smile, and his high little laugh, and that warm smell of very mild cologne, mixed with the heat of his inner overcoat, the scent of being close to him…

“Oh… hell,” Evony breathed, peeling her beanie off and running her hands down her face.

Yes, it was becoming difficult to ignore. She looked forward to him every day, she smiled at nearly everything he did, and she felt happiest whenever she was by his side. It was getting impossible to avoid what was obvious. She certainly did love him—and it gnawed at her just the slightest bit more every day.

And—she couldn’t help but agree with what Cally had said about it. Evony once briefly speculated that Osric was ‘above’ her in some way—but really, the more she got to know him, and the closer they became, the more she felt that he was simply like her, very human, somewhat dissociative, changed by past trauma, and fairly ambitious in all his endeavors now. He came from a humble, broken past—and he was far more relatable than most people in the world could probably ever comprehend, having only ever seen him periodically pop up on TV. Knowing the real man in person didn’t give one the impression of being in the presence of wealth or royalty; it simply felt like being around a real, earthy person who just happened to have special skills and a long list of fun and unique eccentricities.

He wasn’t above her, or out of her reach.

He was simply relatable—and now, her closest friend.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

Evony blinked and shook her thoughts away, looking to her door after hearing faint, tiny knocks. “Come in…?”

The door creaked open—and a bot butler floated inside, a third retractable arm reaching out from its underbody and holding onto the doorknob, its other two arms occupied by a large black tray filled with fresh foods. This bot butler had a basic expression and no hat, and it used its extendable arm to close the door before whizzing over to her and placing her tray of food down on her lap, smelling wonderfully; it was a plate of fresh steak, a side bowl of macaroni, a bag of chips, and a dessert of cheesecake, a closed water bottle on the side.

“Oh… awesome, thank you,” Evony smiled at the robot.

The bot butler did not speak, but its screen displayed the phrase YOU’RE WELCOME.

Evony took a moment to survey the long, juicy steak, cooked medium-rare. When she faced the bot again, its screen had a different message, reading CHOOSE: VOICE, HAT, NAME.

“Oh. Um…” she uttered at a loss. “Do I just… say them to you? Is that how it works?”

The screen changed to a thumbs-up emoji.

Evony gnawed her bottom lip thoughtfully for a moment.

“Sullivan?” she said. “Sullivan’s a good name.”

The screen showed NAME SELECTED; SULLIVAN. PLEASE SELECT HAT AND VOICE.

“Um… a regular top hat, I guess,” Evony shrugged. “And just… whatever your default voice is.”

The screen changed into HAT SELECTED; TOP HAT. VOICE SELECTED; GENERIC BRITISH MALE.

“Thank you, Madame,” the bot suddenly spoke, its voice similar to Oliver’s, but lighter. “I am here to see to the needs of your home inside the lodge, and to cater to your wishes while you are here. Do you wish me to add the generic butler’s asthetic to the body, miss?”

Evony’s mouth drifted open, then she shrugged again and nodded. “Ah… sure. Go ahead.”

Sullivan’s chest cavity seemed to shift, the outer shell segmenting and opening, two slides of metal retracting and replaced by a pair of black and white ones, which made the front of his body look like a tuxedo. Then, the top of his metal body opened up as well, and a tiny black top hat appeared there, one that reminded Evony of Oliver’s hat, but it was not a custom one; this top hat was jet black and normal, and it segmented itself in place.

Evony choked out a laugh. “Whoa. Cool…”

Sullivan suddenly made a beeping noise, then swiveled around and faced the kitchenette, gliding over to it and pulling the fridge open. He grabbed a bottle of water, then soared back over to the bed and placed it on her tray.

“I’ve just received orders from Master Azarias to provide you with water routinely, Madame,” Sullivan informed.

Evony blinked, staring down at her tray. There was already a bottle of water on it, and she was still holding the one Osric had given her a while ago. Now, there was a third.

She snickered and sighed, plopping back against her pillows.

“Do you require anything else of me, miss?” Sullivan inquired.

“No… I’m good, thank you,” Evony dismissed.

“Very well, miss.”

Sullivan floated away, and Evony let out a big, sleepy breath, straightening up and starting on her dinner, feeling more comfortable and at home than ever.

Once she was done, and her belly was full, she texted her father goodnight, turned the TV to a lower volume, and asked Sullivan to cut off the main light, sinking deeper into her bed and drifting into a long, peaceful sleep.