Moment of Peace

There’s just something about the smell of home. 

It’s in the little things: the walls, the furniture, the sharp hints of smoke, the gentle scent of candles, the comforting warmth of recently dried laundry, and an aroma of freshly baked goods overpowering the musk of everything else and swallowing it up within its deliciously pleasant presence, as if it were the only thing that mattered.

Well, at the very least, it was to Minim. The bun lets out a long hefty sigh, slowly dragging themself off of the warm pile of clothes they’ve found themselves inevitably asleep in once again, and quietly rubbing their eyes with a soft yawn. It lazily reaches its two arms out front while arching her back to stretch, much like a cat, before properly getting back up on its own two feet to finally head towards the kitchen. They skid down the hallway in their socks, today’s being ones patterned with large cartoony googly eyes with dinosaur spikes going down the back, this particular pair having the added bonus of allowing them to slide across the smooth wooden floors without much hassle, though they nearly stumble as they catch themselves and come to a sudden halt at the doorway. There seemed to be an awful lot of rumbling coming from the room but, this wasn’t exactly an uncommon happenstance in this particular apartment.

The bun lifts its head to sniff the air, the warm scent of banana bread quickly enveloping their senses as they walk inside. With a satisfying click she turns off the stovetop and grabs her favorite mug from the nearby cupboard, the pot of water she had apparently left sitting on the fire continues to boil vigorously in the meantime, as its lid continuously threatens to pop right off and topple over at any second from the fierce bubbling pressure below. Minim however remained absolutely still, simply eyeing the pot as it slowly and unceremoniously quiets down to a more levelheaded simmer instead. At least there was still plenty of water left this time. It kind of lost count of the amount of pots they’ve lost at this point; perhaps it was more than five.

She quietly hums a monotone tune whilst she makes tea with the remaining hot water, taking out a tea bag and the weirdly misshapen container that held the sugar. For the next few minutes, there was nothing but the sound of steaming water and the little clinks of a tiny spoon tapping against the edges of her cute eye patterned mug. As it takes a sip it vaguely recalls the neighbors telling them off about falling asleep around active fire hazards, but quite clearly nothing’s managed to come of it, for better or for worse. Perhaps she should take better caution, there wasn’t much she could do if they ever wanted to evict them, and they certainly wouldn’t want that. It was already hard enough to support itself with odd jobs and the even odder benefactor here and there, best not to push that luck too far. It’d hate nothing more than to go hungry…but there was no point in worrying about hypotheticals. Those pesky empty calories never made anybody feel good. The bun casually sways from side to side, lightly tapping her feet in turn and aimlessly spinning thoughts in her head. It kind of felt like they were forgetting somethi-

Beepbeepbeepbeep!

The oven alarm sounds and the bun hops about a foot into the air, landing awkwardly as her slippy socks nearly cause her to crash straight onto the floor. It takes a quick breath before rushing over to grab its oven mitts and take out the bread. The bread was important enough to warrant an alarm you see; there’s nothing more pitiful than wasted food. She sets the banana bread on a rack and after confirming its quality, peacefully settles back down to enjoy her tea. They sit themselves by the largest window within their abode, the one that overlooked the rest of the city, and whilst she lived a relative distance away from what most would consider the heart of the city, she nonetheless enjoyed the limited city view. Up inside her quaint apartment, where the scents are comforting and the atmosphere perfectly cozy, looking out towards the lively streets made them truly feel at home. Even if there wasn’t exactly much excitement to be found. She won’t have to feel hungry if there is nothing to eat, after all. Though perhaps that was simply a fault of itself being unable to hold back when presented with anything delicious, food or otherwise. A little bite never hurt anybody, surely.

Their eyes wander back towards the distant skyline, thoughts now wandering towards the next day’s activities for when they go out once again. Looking at the city did always make them peckish however. Something about the endlessly bustling streets simply made them curious about the things that were out there in the world, the sights, the smells, the tastes… Minim lightly licks her lips, the familiar feeling of an endless pit within her stomach suddenly rearing its head and stirring her appetite. It lets out a small huff, turning away from the window to head back towards the kitchen. Perhaps the bread was cool by now, an unreasonable assumption given the amount of time that had passed but regardless, she was simply feeling hungry again.

And we can’t have that.