Chanceball Chapter 71: Shit House

You grabbed for his hand and squeezed it merrily, swinging it a little as you and he walked down the road then turned down a small alleyway to get to the ‘house’ you had looked at.

“Where the fuck is this pl—oh god,” Dabi groaned loudly, “oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me.”

“What?”

“Are you serious?” he asked, pointing ahead to a ‘house’ that was sandwiched between two apartments- the only access being down the narrow alleyway that you were both standing in.

“Uhhhh,” you stalled, “umm, yeah, I think this is it?”

“What the fuck?”

“Well… it might look better on the inside?” you said with a fake smile, trying to channel as much optimism as humanly possible.

“Let me guess, you just push the door off its hinges to get in?” he asked sarcastically as he started forward again.

Dodging rain puddles- or whatever they were, you made your way up to the front of the house and stepped forward to knock on the splintered front door- still hand in hand with Dabi.

“Be careful, you’ll get splinters,” he sneered.

You looked back at him and poked your tongue out.

“Coming!” someone inside the house, called out.

“That’s what she said,” Dabi mumbled cheekily.

There were a few bangs and bumps then the door creaked open and the real estate agent stood there with a brilliant smile on his face.

“Y/N and Dabi, I assume?” he greeted with a zealous handshake to each of you, “please come in,” he added, gallantly inviting you into the house.

“Here we have,” he started, picking up a grandiose tone as he clicked into real estate agent mode, “a very eccentricity quaint abode, right in the heart of—.”

“—hell?” Dabi interjected with a smirk as his turquoise eyes met the agents. He knew what the man was doing and saw straight through it, “sorry,” he then apologized- with zero sympathy in his voice as he continued to stare the agent down, “go on.”

The agent cleared his throat and took the lead, gesturing to the small staircase that lead upstairs, most of the steps rotten away or caved in.

“I will take you upstairs in a moment, but let me first show you the lower level.”

You nodded and stepped around a puddle of something on the floor and glanced up at the moudly ceiling before grimacing and following the agent through to the kitchen.

“Open plan living makes this space ideal for—.”

“—watching rats congregate?” Dabi offered, earning himself a sharp jab in the ribs from you.

The agent cleared his throat again and looked around for something else to direct your attention to.

“The garden outside—.” He paused.

Outside the back door, through the broken fence, an older lady could be seen watering her plants completely naked.

“Well. That’s something you don’t see every day? A full moon in broad daylight,” Dabi commented.

You turned to the agent quickly and tried to maintain your composure but it was thinly veiled, “thank you very much, sir, we’ll be going now,” you said in a very stiff voice.

“Oh, are you sure? Don’t you want to see the upstairs bedrooms?” the agent begged.

“Why go upstairs when we’re going to end up back here in 2 seconds because we’ve fallen through the floor?” Dabi deadpanned.

Without another word you two left, not even looking back as you made your way back down the alleyway to the main road.

“Did you have to be like that?!” you snapped at Dabi.

“Did that place have to be so shit?” he replied.

“Listen. I’m doing my best,” you growled angrily, “I don’t see you trying to find a place?”

“Give me 3 minutes and I’ll find us our home,” Dabi said, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

“Fine,” you pouted, crossing your arms across your chest in a huff as you turned your head away from him and looked off down the street.

“Got it,” he said smuggly.

“No.” Your head whipped back towards him. “You’re a fucking liar.”

“Dead serious,” he leered wiggling his phone midair, “come with me, let’s go.”

“Where is this place?” you asked suspiciously as he took your hand and headed for the bus station.

“It’s two streets back from the college,” he replied, reading something on his phone as you both walked.

“How much?” you asked.

“$210.” His eyes shifted to look at you then quickly looked away.

“We can’t afford that!” you gasped, “see I knew you couldn’t find us a place.”

“Let me handle it,” he said calmly, nodding towards the bus station ahead, “it’s only a short ride.”

You pursed your lips but didn’t say anything else as you hopped onto the bus and got a seat with Dabi beside you.

…………………………..

Having not made any appointment to see the place yet, you and Dabi walked along until you found the address, your eyes falling on a fairly decent little townhouse that was squished between some larger houses.

“Front yard could do with some work,” you commented.

“Well if that’s the only criticism, then I’ll take it,” Dabi replied, looking down at the weeds growing through the uneven path that lead up to the front door.

There were brown newspapers up against the inside of the windows on the bottom floor so you couldn’t see in, unfortunately, but the place, in general, seemed a lot more sturdy than the last.

“Want me to ask for an appointment?” Dabi queried as you stood back and looked up at the second level windows.

“Mmmmm, guess so?” you replied, “but I don’t know how we’re going to afford it?”

“Listen, this place hasn’t been lived in for a while, they’ll probably jump at the opportunity to have someone in here, if not, then we move on. It’s fine,” he replied casually, “the house is only a home when there are people in it. It doesn’t matter where the house is.”

“So the other place was fine then?” you replied cheekily.

“Definitely not. I’m not going to deal with crack lady at the back,” Dabi deadpanned and you burst out laughing.

“Ok, fine, but I still have some places to look at if this one doesn’t work out,” you said, giving him the side eye.

“I’ll make this one work out,” he promised, scooping you into his side and kissing you on the temple, “then I’m going to bend you over every piece of furniture in the house to claim you on every inch of it.”

“Yeah, yeah, you said that before,” you teased with an eye roll.

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