it's hard to keep my soul on the ground

[rekd]

[ reki knew his luck was too good to last. the roommate he was supposed to share his double with just never showed, so it's been almost a whole semester of not having to deal with that situation. the walls have been his to paper with his eccentric art, the extra bed stripped down to serve as a makeshift workbench, and monkey the iguana has commandeered the shared desk. (it's not like anyone was using it to study anyway.) it's been a dream—so of course he'd get an email notifying him that a new roommate is on the way. nothing good can ever last.

he tells himself he'll make time to clean up the room, but, as is always the case, shit happens. assignments pile up, his side hustles to keep the tuition checks rolling out consume the better part of his days, and the little time he has between those two things are nibbled away by visits to the park and ragers he's all but contractually obligated to attend. the new roommate is put out of his mind until reki rolls into the parking lot on the day of and spots an unfamiliar car, which reminds him, oh yeah, wasn't he supposed to get a new roommate at some point? what day was he supposed to come, anyway?

reki checks his phone, sighs in vain to the heavens, and then it's a frenzied rush up the stairs, his stomach sinking the whole way. the new guy is going to think he's an asshole, and while that sentiment is probably inevitable to begin with, it's never fun to start that way. he makes it to the door in record time, red-faced and out of breath, his hair still wind-whipped and cloudy from skating home. another great first impression. ]

Sorry, man. This, uh... Let me help.

Comments

[snowboarding]

[ moving from one country to another is not an easy venture, even if the countries are technically neighbors. unfortunately langa had to learn this the hard way. he’s nearly an entire semester late, all due to not having his immigration paperwork finalized in time. it’s almost a miracle he’s still able to attend and the worst outcome is that he’ll probably graduate a little late.

he doesn’t bring much with him, but he is caught off guard at how the bed that he assumes is supposed to be his is being used for something other than sleeping.

langa’s head turns to the door when he suddenly hears someone, who he assumes to be his roommate, running into the room. ]

Thanks… I don’t have much though. [ all he brought with him is clothes, a few books, and stuff for class. you could call him low maintenance, a ~minimalist if you will. ]

[rekd]

[ that's good, because once reki clears the bed of the boards and his tools and retrieves the mattress from its home against the wall, there isn't much room for anything else. he's just thanking his lucky stars that the guy doesn't seem mad about the situation, even if he feels like he owes him an explanation. ]

The shop's way the fuck out in the middle of nowhere, so I've just been making this work. I'll run all this shit down tomorrow to make more space.

[ he relieves langa of a few books, slotting them in next to monkey's cage, and then starts on the closet. it's a horror-terror in there too, but he has hands to shovel with, and soon he's cleared out a peaceful patch among the riotous melange and shoved enough of his hoodie collection aside to make room on the rod. ]

If you want one of 'em, feel free. They're all nicks, anyway.