poor unfortunate souls

Hal had been lying on his back in his bed since he had woken up that morning, hiding under his blankets like how one would cover a cadaver in a morgue. He had tried cleaning, reading, doing his homework, meditating his brains out, and even drawing but it wasn't enough to keep his mind a ease.

That morning, he had received a notice that he was going to have someone to share his room and his mood just went spiraling down from there. For the past few months, Hal has been enjoying the room all for himself, ever since his previous roommate moved out to where ever. He couldn't care very much. Despite it being a room for two, he had claimed the whole area for his own purposes.

But that morning, Hal had to clear out the pile of papers he left on the other bed to make space for his new roommate. Part of him was a bit anxious about who would move in and what sort of person they could be. His last roommate was a body from being a ghost that haunted his dorm room. He couldn't even remember their name and the only conversation they ever had was casual greetings and questions if they could switch the lights. Hal agreed with himself that those weren't actually conversations. Either way, he was partially okay with that kind of roommate.

Hal was too occupied by spacing out to have noticed the noise from the outside, or even the sound of the doorknob rattling. His thoughts had flown from trying to imagine if his roommate had the face of a rat, to how he was going to be able to handle a year with a theoretically nagging roommate.

It was only when the door swung open that Hal's attention snapped back to reality. Hal pulled his covers out of the way when he sat up to see his visitor — or rather, meet his new company — who was surveying the room with a look Hal wasn't pleased to see. The guy had looks, yes, but his expression was not attractive to Hal. He would have loved to have a monologue in his head about how he was not going to enjoy this year until he saw what came with it.

Hal scrambled to stand on fours atop his bed, almost hissing at the newcomers, "Okay, what the hell's up with that?!" he snapped when he identified a cheetah in the same room as he.

Hal's eyes did not leave the large feline in the room which seemed to be making itself comfortable. But of course, he could hear the other creature talking as well and the tone of his voice made him want to rip something to shreds. A housecat? Are you even serious? That thing was way too big to be a 'housecat'. Hal could get eaten in 10 seconds flat. Or worse...

Hal immediately shook the thought of being mauled by a wild animal in the safety of his dorm. It wasn't even detailed but Hal didn't want to think about it at all. Who would even allow a cheetah on school grounds? Shouldn't there be a rule about pets??

His gaze moved temporarily to the other creature which he would be calling a roommate in the weeks to come; shooting at its general direction something that would probably pass off as a glare. "Oh don't worry about that. I'm not even going near 'her' at all." he said with gritted teeth, effectively managing to ignore the fact that the oh-so tall one had just ridiculed his height by calling him, though indirectly, a mouse. Mostly due to the fact that he was trying to pretend that he was not scared of animals.

Hal caught in his peripherals how the 'housecat' was casually just strolling around and was padding up way to close for comfort to his side of the room. He eyed it suspiciously, not wanting it to come any closer.

Aw, look, she likes you. Hal turned his attention towards the taller creature that spoke with a look that fell between terrified and disgusted, "Don't you dare let that thing any close to my bed, or my side of the room or else." he (mildly) threatened. He really did not want to wake up with something close to his face other than his pillow. (Or his plush toy.)

"I prefer not having animals roaming too freely around me." Hal responded, eyes glued to the cheetah as he carefully relaxed to a sitting position on his bed, his knees folded under him. He wasn't exactly relaxed... not until the 'cat' was out of his sight. Hal was completely unaware that there was no use hiding his fear, too. His roommate already saw through him and was more or less enjoying tormenting him.

People would kill? Heck, he could kill the cheetah if he weren't scared to walk near it. He never understood petting zoos. He never liked petting zoos. Why were people so fond of animals? Hal would never really understand. Animals are dangerous creatures capable of murder.

Hal's eyes flickered between his roommate and the cat. "Don't you even dare, cheetah." He was trying his best to make an intimidating look but his fear was showing a little too much. And it was growing the closer the cheetah became. Relief washed over Hal when the 'cat' turned its back to him and returned to its master, his shoulders dropping as the tension lessened slightly, shooting another glare at his roommate.

Hal then let his now neighbor talk about how he was really small, not even caring how his irritation showed clearly when his eye twitched. Hal absolutely hated it when people pick at him for his height. It's not like it was his fault that he stopped growing taller. He was only glad no one called him "little Hal" anymore.

After that, Hal had opened his mouth to make a well-thought out reply, but then his mind registered what the last line could have meant. The other student spoke again and made Hal blush. He could feel his cheeks and ears warm up but he tried not to think about it. Attempting to go back to trying to make a sarcastic reply, he turned his gaze to the side.

"Wow. That sure did you good, didn't it?" Hal managed to say calmly, congratulating himself in his thoughts for not stuttering. And he didn't say anything weird, too. "And i-it's Hal." he gave himself a mental punch in the gut for stuttering once. "And for Pete's sake, I'm 15 — I should report you for harrassment."

"Even if I did report you, they'd tell me off again, saying I was being childish about being picked on and just wanted a room for myself." Hal muttered under his breath when his roommate stopped to a pause. To be fair, the first few times he had complained about an unpleasant roommate, he was really over-reacting. He really did want a single room but he always requested it at a bad time, so the only option he had was to get them evicted.

Then when August said his apology, Hal's expression almost immediately softened to show his surprise. After that first exchange, he was not expecting an apology this soon. And even if he was, he would have expected it to be very casual; like it wasn't even meant. And that was not near being casual. Hal could hear the hesitation in August's voice, and as far as he knows, hesitation could mean a lot of things. It might as well mean that he... at least partially meant it, right?

His eyes just fell steady on his roommate, almost like he was trying to read the expression on his face. For one moment, something popped up in Hal's thoughts. One which he quickly shoved to the back of his head when a piece of clothing was suddenly thrown at him. His reflexes didn't fail him and managed to catch the shirt first, leaving it right next to him.

"You should look at the mirror first before you say that." Hal retorted, a light brush of pink across his face, realizing he was just staring at him. He could only imagine what his face actually looked like then, and it only made his face flush more.

You could use an hour or two in front of a mirror.' said August. "Excuse you!" Hal immediately retorted while the other student continued to speak. Hal never really cared much about appearances but having someone to nitpick at him for the way he dressed made him a little conscious.

"I don't need you to tell me how I prefer to dress." To be fair, he only became used to dressing so casually when he moved to Starlight. It was hard to maintain dress shirts and all that when he was busy trying to maintain training, studying and surviving. Well, surviving was a strong term for it. It wasn't like he was stranded in an island with strangers — he was but not to that extent.

While he had been trying to figure out how to make those lines into words, he did not expect his roommate to suddenly walk up to him and grabbed at his hoodie. All the more did he not expect August to suddenly get way too close for comfort. Because of that, Hal wasn't able to respond immediately. Man, what a creep, was all Hal could think of.

"For your information, I don't shop in thrift stores." he said, finally when he recovered from his surprise. He pushed his glasses up before trying to swat off August's arm away from his hoodie. It was not completely a lie. He really did, but very rarely. Hal was a little too picky with most things.

"And what makes you think I'd agree to that?"