Gaia

Having a connection to Andy was a weight lifted off Mari's shoulders. She'd call to check in with him every now and then, but she didn't tell him much out of fear that he'd try to do something stupid to come get her. She didn't need him getting sent to Grelhurst in an attempt to keep her out, and the truth of the matter was that he wouldn't last very long in the prison at all. Andy's crimes happened to be far more serious that Mari's, after all.

"Is he mean to you?" Andy asked her.

"He's mean," Mari shrugged, "But I don't think it's towards me specifically. I think he's just a grumpy guy."

"Don't let it get the best of you," he warned.

"I never do," she promised. "Hey, guess what?"

"What?"

"I might meet Ella Stellar," she grinned. "She's having one of those glitter parties we see on the floating screens. Eli has to do some security thing for her and I'm going to try and weasel my way in."

"Fuck, you have to tell me what she's like," Andy said. "That's not fair. You get to meet my wife before I do?"

"Sorry," Mari laughed. "Except I'm not sorry. At all."

"Alright, alright, no need to be smug," Andy said, rolling his eyes. "Hey, I gotta go. I think Rocky brought new socks, and I want to get in on that before they're all gone. Stay safe, okay?"

"Alright," Mari sighed. "Bye, Andrew."

"Bye, Marilyn."

The studio was eerily silent after Andrew hung up. The upper levels were glamorous and luxurious, but that couldn't make up for how lonely and quiet it was. Mari put her heels on and went back to Eli's house. To her surprise, the door's locking feature had been turned off and she entered without a key. She glanced around, seeing that only Reuben was there.

"Good afternoon, Miss Gold," he greeted.

"Hey," she said lazily, looking around before calling for Eli. "Eli? Hey, the door was left open! Should I lock it?"

He poked his head out of the office, speaking quietly.

"I'm in the middle of a conference call," he said quietly. "Yeah, I left it open. You're making keys somehow, and I decided that until I figure out how the hell you're making them, I should just leave it open. I don't need a billion keys to my house made. Now don't bug me, this is important."

Mari made faces at the door after he shut it on her, flopping down onto the couch and looking for the remote to turn on the holograph screen. At this point, Reuben knew her well enough to bring her snacks while she flipped through the channels.

"Thanks, Reubs," she said. "Hey, do you know how to make cupcakes?"

"Cupcakes are not in my system, Miss Gold," he answered. "Would you like to program it?"

"What, is Eli too manly for cupcakes?" she asked, raising a brow. "Fuck it, I'll make them myself. A state of the art kitchen like this can't be that hard to use, right."

She got up and walked to the kitchen, digging around the cupboards and refrigerator for the ingredients she needed. It was mostly guesswork, based off the cooking shows she'd watch sometimes, but she figured it couldn't be that hard. Unfortunately, she was wrong. The oven ended up blazing like the fiery pits of hell, and Reuben calmly put it out with some powder. Eli came out and his eyes grew wide as saucers as he switched off the caller in his hand and examined the mess.

"My sister... Wants to meet you....," he said slowly. "What the fuck happened here?"

"Aw, I'd love to meet her," Mari said happily.

"You're too manly for cupcakes, Sir," Reuben said politely.

"What?" he frowned. "Mari, did you teach him that?"

"Not on purpose," she said defensively. "Kay, gotta go, bye!"

With that, she turned and booked it out of there before Eli got a chance to yell at her again.