Welcome Home (SOL/Possible Self-RP; Knock to enter)

It had been years, now, since Antonio Salvai had moved out of the apartment that he and Jarek "Rogue" Ackerman had shared, and even longer still since Rogue had met his weapon. Shortly after their fateful meeting, it had been agreed that, in order to better aid him, as was her goal and purpose as a guardian, she would need to undergo some training more specific to his own fighting style and line of work. As such, he had gotten into contact with his grandfather, his only living family member that he cared to speak of, and sent her on her way. Since then, Tony had gotten engaged and moved out, leaving Rogue as the solitary owner of what was previously their three bedroom apartment. A lot had changed, since then. For starters, Rogue had his own girl, now --- miracle upon miracles --- and he'd managed to revamp the apartment into looking significantly less like a college bachelor pad. The furniture finally matched in the living room, with the instruments packed away either with their owners or in Rogue's closet, since the drums were his. The dining area was decorated and arranged to be properly used to entertain guests, with a curio cabinet on one end and a buffet on the other, long table in the middle to make use of the space provided. The kitchen had never been much, if any, of a problem, but he'd made sure to keep it clean enough that not even Tony could complain about the state of it. Rogue's own room was still mismatched as ever, but at least his tech was in a far better state than it had been for a while, with his wavelength-hiding circuitry lining the inner perimeter of the room, blocking him from view whenever he practiced with the use of his chakras. The guest bedroom was looking less barren, now, as well, with more decorations and a reading nook added --- likely an idea stemming from Candace herself, if he'd bothered to ask her. It looked lived in, now, rather than as just a simple spare room they'd kept in case of the sudden visitor. Tony's old room, however, had been touched the least. It still had the same old paint, which Rogue had gone through the trouble of touching up where needed, and a rug added, but overall, it was simply a bed in a room, nothing more or less.

That was where Rogue would be found when the first few knocks hit the door, his attention on trying to figure out how to breathe life back into the long-abandoned space. At least it was clean, something that he made note of as he stepped out of the room and went to answer the door. Most people simply knocked once and walked in. Since this hadn't been the case, he suspected a stranger. With no packages or food inbound, he wasn't quite sure who would be knocking. After all, he wasn't expecting a soul, and no one had relayed any message to him.

"No one," of course, included his grandfather, in this instance.

So, when the assassin opened the door to find his partner standing there, her previously shoulder length hair grown out not to around her midback but her style otherwise left unchanged, beaming at him, he was left with quite a bit of surprise, "Zoe?"

She nodded at him, bowing a bit, surprised to find that he didn't seem anywhere near as nervous as he'd been when they'd met. He wasn't even twitching, now, and the swirling colors of his eyes were steady. If she'd been a meister instead of a weapon, she would have found his wavelength to be steady, as well. Of course, if she were a meister then they wouldn't be in this situation at all. "Long time no see, huh, Ackerman?"

"Four years?" He said with a laugh, holding a hand out but unsurprised when she took it as an invitation to transform, adjusting her size to better suit him before shifting around to get used to the changes in his physique. There was another, more nervous laugh as she did this before she shifted back and hugged him. For a moment, his chakra began to destabilize, but she released him before it could do any lasting damage on his demeanor.

"You going to let me in this time, or am I doomed to forever stay on the threshold?" Her tone was teasing, but her words were just as innocently careless as they had been back then.

Taking a step back, he made an unnecessarily wide, showy gesture as a way of welcoming her inside, giving her room to properly walk through the doorway. She did so, then, looking around and taking in the sight of everything. Certainly, he'd made the place seem welcoming and homey, though she had nothing to compare it to from before. When she was all the way inside, her three bags included, her closed the door behind her, not bothering with the lock; he never did.