"Finally," Xavier muttered as the door to their apartment clicked open. He shouldered the door open and stepped aside, allowing Calypso to enter first.
The goddess swept past him without a word, still brooding over their Dominic Black situation.
Xavier kicked the door shut behind him and took off his sweater, dropping it near the entrance, not bothering with the coat hooks that Calypso had insisted on getting ("Civilization begins with proper storage, Xavier!"). He made a beeline for the couch and collapsed onto it face-first.
"Sweet merciful oblivion," he groaned into a throw pillow. "Remind me why I agreed to this student thing again?"
Calypso moved around the kitchen, the soft sound of cabinet doors opening and closing punctuating her silence. After a moment, the refrigerator door opened with a soft whoosh.
"Because you need to build your hunter reputation," she finally answered. "And because Catalyst Academy is the fastest path to getting strong enough to close those gates and get me back to my real job."
Xavier rolled onto his back, one arm flung across his forehead. "Right. The gates. My cosmic community service."
He watched her through half-opened eyes as she poured herself a glass of cucumber water.
"So what now?" he asked, pushing himself into a sitting position. "We've got all night to brood about your potential reincarnation escapee, or we could do something to take our minds off it until we have an actual plan."
Calypso took a long sip of water, her pink eyes studying him over the rim of her glass. "Like what?"
Xavier reached for the remote, flicking on their wall-mounted screen. "Like normal people stuff. Food. Entertainment. Pretending the world isn't full of dimensional tears and monsters."
He stretched his arms above his head. "What does a goddess even watch for fun? Divine court TV? 'The Real Housewives of Mount Olympus'?"
"I'll have you know I have excellent taste in entertainment."
"Prove it." Xavier gestured toward the screen with the remote. "Pick something."
Calypso hesitated, then set her glass down and approached the couch. She didn't sit yet, hovering like she wasn't sure if she wanted to commit to relaxation. "I don't know what's good in this world."
Xavier scrolled through the streaming options, pausing on a category labeled "Emotional Dramas." The thumbnails showed various scenes of people embracing, crying, or staring meaningfully into the distance.
"How about this?" he suggested, selecting one titled "When Roses Bloom Twice." The description read: After losing her memory in a tragic accident, Eliza returns to her hometown only to fall in love with the same man twice.
Calypso wrinkled her nose. "That sounds ridiculous."
"Exactly." Xavier patted the cushion beside him. "Which makes it perfect for turning off our brains."
After a moment's deliberation, Calypso sank onto the couch, maintaining a careful distance between them. She tucked her legs beneath her, looking somehow smaller without her usual bluster.
The movie began with sweeping aerial shots of a picturesque coastal town while piano music swelled dramatically. Xavier settled deeper into the cushions, already anticipating the formulaic plot. This wasn't his usual taste, but he'd learned long ago that sometimes the best way to handle stress was to embrace the absurd.
Twenty minutes in, Xavier noticed Calypso's posture had changed. She'd uncurled slightly, leaning forward during particularly emotional scenes. By the forty-minute mark, she'd shifted closer to the center of the couch, her eyes never leaving the screen.
"This is completely unrealistic," she muttered when the male lead delivered a rain-soaked monologue about fate and second chances. "Memory doesn't work that way."
By the time they reached the third act crisis—the inevitable misunderstanding that threatened to keep the lovers apart—Calypso had completely abandoned her aloof facade. She now lay stretched across the couch, her feet resting on Xavier's thigh as if they'd been sitting this way for years instead of hours.
"Don't be stupid," she hissed at the screen. "Just tell him about the music box!"
Xavier glanced at her, a slight smile forming. There was something endearing about watching a cosmic being get emotionally invested in a B-grade romance. Her cheeks had flushed pink, and she clutched a throw pillow to her chest during particularly tense moments.
As the movie built toward its climax, a commercial break interrupted the flow. Xavier used the opportunity to pull out his phone, opening an app called IStation that had quickly become his window into this world's culture.
He scrolled through short videos—students showcasing their Essentia abilities, campus tour guides pointing out facilities, amateur comedians acting out skits about hunter life. It was remarkably similar to social media from his previous world, just with more glowing powers and references to gates.
One video made him chuckle—a D-rank student had recorded their professor accidentally triggering the classroom's anti-Essentia safety system while demonstrating a simple technique. The resulting foam containment had left the dignified instructor looking like a disgruntled snowman.
"What's funny?" Calypso asked.
"Nothing," Xavier replied automatically.
Calypso's eyes narrowed. "You laughed. Show me."
"It's just stupid hunter humor." He turned his phone away as she sat up.
"I want to see."
"The movie's starting again," Xavier nodded toward the screen, where the protagonists were racing toward their inevitable reunion.
Calypso ignored the deflection, her curiosity apparently stronger than her investment in fictional romance. She leaned toward him, trying to peek at his screen. "If it's funny enough to make you laugh, I want to see it."
Xavier held the phone higher, out of her reach. "Since when do you care about my social media habits?"
"Since you're using them to avoid sharing." She made another grab for the phone, nearly falling across his lap in the process.
What followed was a surprisingly childish scuffle—Calypso trying to reach the phone while Xavier kept it just beyond her grasp. For a being who had existed for centuries, she fought with the indignant determination of a younger sister denied her turn with a toy.
"Give it!" She climbed half onto his lap, stretching toward the phone.
Xavier was suddenly struck by how small she was in this form. The goddess who had once filled a cosmic throne with her presence now barely reached his chin. Her frame was delicate against him, warm and solid in a way that reminded him she was, at least temporarily, as human as he was.
"You're ridiculous," he said, but there was no bite to the words. In fact, he realized with mild surprise that he was smiling.
Calypso paused in her efforts, seemingly noticing their position for the first time. She was practically straddling him now, one hand braced against his chest for leverage.
For a heartbeat, neither moved. Xavier became acutely aware of the weight of her on his lap, the warmth of her palm against his sternum, the way her eyes seemed to capture the room's light and transform it into something more ethereal.
"You're still not showing me," she said, but her voice had softened to almost a whisper.
Xavier lowered the phone, allowing her to see the video that had now long since ended. "It's not even that funny."
She glanced at the dark screen, then back to his face. "You're right. Not funny at all."
Yet neither made any move to separate. Calypso remained perched on his lap. The movie continued playing in the background, its dramatic climax completely forgotten.
"This is weird, right?" Xavier said quietly. "A few days ago I died with a bullet in my brain. Now I'm here, with you."
Calypso's expression sobered slightly. "Is that a complaint?"
"An observation." His hand moved of its own accord, tucking a strand of silver hair behind her ear. "Two days from now, classes start. Real hunter training. Whatever this new life has in store."
She didn't pull away from his touch. If anything, she leaned into it slightly. "And I'll be right here. Stuck with you."
"Lucky me."
"Lucky you," Calypso agreed. She made no move to return to her side of the couch, instead settling more comfortably against him as she turned her attention back to the movie's final scenes.