It was a day.
With a heavy, pronounced thump, the door of the autotaxi slammed shut behind him, ending the barely-tolerable commute from stack 77A with a certain finality.
"Whew..."
With his bag on his shoulder, he heaved a sigh of relief as he took in the garish, unpalatable sights and sounds of this corner of the megacity sprawl. The sun shone high above — though it was almost totally obscured behind dense smog clouds — while bustling crowds streamed about like fish through water; the city never ceased to move. A great deal had changed since he first came here three years ago... but there were some things that still hadn't changed at all. He breathed out heavily, letting the wind sweep over him.
It wasn't a long trek up to his apartment; he did it willingly, and with eager anticipation — the last thing he wanted right now was to spend another minute listening to the booming announcements scratching his eardrums, or take another laborious breath from the blanket of exhaust fumes that settled down this low into the city. It was home, but no matter what time of day or night you passed by these streets, it always smelled just like this: stale, yet richly sweet and comforting, like an old paper book he'd salvaged from the dumpster a few years ago. That particular smell would never go away for good, not until someone finally tossed the city's contents onto a fire and watched the flames consume them.
His little studio was only four blocks north from where he stood, so without delay, he headed straight ahead along one of the main thoroughfares of the megacity, cutting across street after street of uninviting concrete buildings set against a backdrop of steel skyscrapers stabbing through and beyond the smog layer. With each step closer to his destination, he felt himself growing more excited... no, make that ecstatic! His feet seemed to dance their way towards the place they knew lay ahead — all that remained was the final dash through traffic jams and a short sprint up a flight of stairs, then he'd be back at his doorstep.
No, it didn't matter that he lived in one of the worst neighborhoods on Earth; nothing could ever bother him once he got inside that apartment, and the moment the front door swung shut behind him, everything would change. The thump-thump of booted footsteps clanging against metal stairs reverberated off the stairwell walls as he climbed upward, his steps taking on new life with every passing floor. There was something about knowing you were near your one and only that made even the most mundane things seem to take on added importance.
A quick glance to either side revealed no one was about to jump him at the door, and for a brief instant, he let out an almost silent sigh of relief, before following with a hearty laugh as he pushed the solid sliding panel open and stepped inside. Once again, it was time for another night of payment for his hard work and achievement... another day where his labors and toils would pay off.
"Sue, baby, I'm home!" He announced with pride, the door sliding shut again and locking behind him.
"Honey, is that you?" Came his wife's voice from somewhere deep within the cramped space of his cookie-cutter apartment unit. She'd been waiting here all along. Of course she had; why wouldn't she? Her love was unstinting, like a sunrise stretching across the sky during the longest night of the year. He grinned at the thought of how many times over those three years he'd called out her name just to hear this exact reply. It wasn't really any different than what he expected — yet somehow it felt so very good to hear it come back at him.
He walked deeper into the little studio until he found Sue sitting right where he expected — on the bed that dominated most of their living space; it served more often as a couch, but when it came time to get cozy, it's purpose was pliant.
As if she'd been doing this all day, Sue sat pretending to read an old copy of some sci-fi novel, while posing in a bit of a staged way. His face lit up as he approached; after all these years together, he still couldn't tell exactly which poses were real and which were merely his imagination working overtime. It didn't matter; they were the same thing to him. All he cared about was that his beloved wife was happy.
"You look great," He said as he stepped beside her and set his bag down on the floor. "But I gotta ask, why the... well, that?"
"You don't like it!?" She replied with a pout, though it quickly faded into a twisted grin.
"No! No, I love it honey! I'm just... surprised is all." He ran a hand through his hair before looking away towards a far corner of the room. He could put up with a lot of... strange things Sue did, but...
Just as he was about to defuse the tension, Sue bolted upright off the couch-bed, taking hold of his arm in her appendages and pulling him close. She kissed him hard enough to make him stumble backwards onto their tiny coffee table — which sent a stack of books crashing down on top of him — before she leaped right back on him, wrapping herself around him completely.
Sue wasn't just any girl, she was a