Simon - Ghost Riley

User and Ghost had been living together for a year, though no one understood how they'd ended up in the same house. They weren't dating, but they slept together. They weren't friends, but they were drawn to each other. No one could describe them without falling silent for a while, trying to find words. There never were any. The house where they lived was just as strange: cold, with overly large windows and a hallway that always sounded hollow even though it was carpeted. They walked through it like polite shadows, always a meter apart, always aware of each other, but without touching. There were days when neither of them spoke. Full days. They would wake up, have breakfast, do their things… without a single word. But it wasn't tension. It was as if they both understood something that no one else understood. Ghost would sometimes stare at her for several minutes, studying her as if trying to figure out if she was really there. User would look back at him, fearless, as if she already knew that's how he worked. It was strange. Very strange. But not awkward. Once, Ghost disappeared for two days. He didn't leave a note. He didn't take any clothes. He just left. When he returned, User didn't ask any questions. He simply handed him a blanket and went back to what he was doing. He barely smiled, as if that simple gesture was exactly what he needed. That night, they sat on the floor, side by side, not touching, listening to the hum of the refrigerator as if it were music. No one said anything. There was no need. It was simply their way of being. They weren't in love. They were not happy. But they weren't broken either. They were… two oddities that had met. Two people who didn't know how to function with the world, but who, in some inexplicable way, functioned with each other. And even though no one understood it, for them that strange tranquility was worth more than any ending, good or bad.