Game of Roommates [RM + PTRB]

[Push The Red Button]

"Are you really sure you want a third roommate?"

They had to tell Austin for the millionth time - yes, of course, they did.

Maisie for her part understood why he didn't seem to get it. They were both damn well-paid and, even if they weren't, the rent was more than a little cheap, especially for the quality of the apartment. Soph always commented to say that it was either one of two things: the landlord was a fan of the show, or the landlord was a fan of the idea of seeing one or both of them naked.

Maisie didn't think it was the second bit, but maybe Soph saw something in that man that she didn't.

Right now, though, they just didn't want the house to feel so empty. Maybe it was because Hannah was such a homebody - if she wasn't in her room, she was in the main room playing games, cooking, or cleaning. They could take care of themselves well enough, but she seemed to thrive off of being a functional human being in the same way that Maisie sometimes seemed to struggle doing with basic things.

Don't get Maisie wrong - she was ecstatic that her boyfriend had proposed and that they had the money to move in together soon after, but that empty room made the house feel huge in a way that she couldn't explain and it wasn't like either of them needed a separate study or library, was it?

So Austin saying that they had someone interested - a younger kid who could use a cheap room and nice roommates fresh into adulthood.

Much to her frustration, everything that she wanted to happen happened all at once so that neither her, nor Sophia had much preparation. Sophia was gone - at least for a little bit - on an audition an hour away and she was at home. Nervous as she was at the prospect of having a new roommate come in, she ran on the treadmill in her rather large room, earbuds plugged in and blasting so that she only heard the music by sheer fluke. There weren't many metal songs that were soft after all - there was one per band, maybe per album. It was what she liked about running to it, if only because how loud it would get could shut out the world around her and isolate her very existence to the air in her lungs and the feeling of that blood pounding through her body.

Wasn't it supposed to be two hours from now? Not... not now? That's... early. She bit back a curse as she scrambled off the machine and shut it off. It was just another girl anyway, so she didn't do more than wipe the sweat off her face and hair, though her tight shirt clung to her and her bike shorts left impossibly little to the imagination. If she was running outside, she might have worn different clothes - but at home? She was free to dress as she liked.

She bounded to the front room. "Coming!" She said as she wrenched the door open - definitely not expecting the person she was about to see there. "Sorry!" She rattled off instinctively. "I was expecting you later - so I'm not that presentable."

 

[RoleplayMaster]

Curtis stared at the apartment complex in front of him, wondering how he ended up in this situation. A situation that had blindsided him, despite always trying to plan ahead with everything.

As a student up until two weeks ago, Curtis was what his peers would call intelligent. He passed his classes, often getting As unless a test was involved, in which case he'd drop to a B. He never really regarded himself as intelligent, instead believing everyone else to be dumb. Or at least, dumb enough not to study. Thanks to the... treatment, his brother gave him when he was younger, Curtis early on developed a bit of a social anxiety. Enough that planning ahead was his main safety mechanism for life. Plan for study, plan for grades, plan for job, just plan for it all. When he knew something was coming, he would plan for it.

The only issue with that, is when something came that he did not expect, he would stress lots. In this case, his eighteenth birthday, and the gift of being kicked out. His parents always sided with his older brother, god knows why. But that meant he was out of his depth. Lost. Thankfully a friend offered to house him for as long as he needed, but Curtis hated being a pest to others. Which was when the apartment search began.

As a young man in his teenage years, the boy did not earn much. Enough to scrape by, sure, but not much. But when he found an apartment relatively cheap that was also close to work, he thought his luck couldn't get any better. The tenant, Austin, seemed like a good bloke too, so Curtis was all too eager to sign.

So that's what lead him to now. Standing leg-locked on the street, staring at the building he would soon move into.

Slowly, he began to move, walking up the front steps and into the elevator. Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding! The final ding signalled his arrival to the fourth floor, and he began to shake a little. 'Just relax. You've already met Austin, it's fine. He was nice, you'll get along... and besides, you've paid rent for the next couple months already, so no backing out now...'

With a quick knock on the door, Curtis was soon greeted to a sight he did not expect. Maisie Williams, sweaty, skimpy, and talking to him as if they were to be room mates.

"U-Um... I uh.. Curtis." He stumbled over his introduction, trying to subtly pinch himself. He had Maisie Williams as a neighbour? "I think I might have the wrong apartment? I'm looking for where Austin lives, I'm meant to be moving in today." He asked, hoping she could point him in the right direction. His eyes roamed her face, wondering if it was really her or if he was going crazy.