The Soul Holds No Prejudice [Private] [Whimsical x Necrophile666] 18+

[Whimsical]

 

Name: Cecil Matthews

 

Age: 20

 

Height: 5’8

 

Weight: 120lbs

 

Appearance: Cecil has a rather small and slender physique. He sports bright hazel eyes accompanied by somewhat short, shaggy red hair. Cecil has soft features such as an upturned nose, wider eyes, and plumped up lips yet still has a somewhat strong jawline. His soulmark is located on his forearm, but it is always covered and drawn over up by his art.

 

Soulmark: Cecil's soulmark is located on his forearm and it is of a small intricate star-like pattern.

 

(but smaller)

 

Personality: Cecil is a rather reserved person; he’s isn’t quite the social butterfly, but nor is he the typical introvert. Despite being seemingly alone and quiet all the time, Cecil has no issue sparking up a conversation if he is approached. He doesn’t like to initiate any sort of social contact, yet he has no issues if another person makes the first move. Cecil is a generally kind hearted person with a good set of morals that he tried to follow; he always keeps the best intention of other people in mind, however he often neglects his own needs for others. Even though Cecil always has the best interest of others, he struggles with an Intermediate Explose Disorder (IED) which makes it hard for him to always remain kind. Basically, Cecil struggles with anger issues that are hard for him to control and it often rubs the wrong impression on people.

 

Throughout his life, Cecil has tried many ways to cope with this; from writing his feelings out, from medications, to even a therapist. In the end he always found himself going back to art as a coping mechanism; he found it the most effective and the safest way for him to handle his disorder. Wherever Cecil goes you will not find him without a sharpie or a black pen on hand. He always ensures that he has an art supply on sight, however rather than drawing on pieces of paper; Cecil developed a habit of simply drawing over his body. Anytime that you see Cecil, his arms will almost always be covered in his own original doodles. Cecil will always cover up his soulmark as he pessimistically believes that he will never find his soulmate; and that even if he did, they wouldn’t want anything to do with the “weird kid”.

 

 

 

 

The sun shined brightly, bathing the sight of the campus in warm sunlight as it towered in full glory. Large, modernized buildings surrounded the open areas of grass and small structures where flocks of students – both new and old – scampered to find their way around the campus. It was approximately an hour before the annual orientation and official start of the new semester, and everyone around seemed propelled by worry and nerves. The campus was split within three regions; there was the Community College, a Luxury University, and the regular Uni. Each area had been recently revamped and restructured to appeal to a modern aesthetic which were surrounded by with newly flourished trees and small park areas. The campus really was a gorgeous place.

 

Cecil himself had been a student at the Uni for about a year now; he had been studying sociology and law, two subjects that he really couldn’t be less interested in. But he didn’t really have a choice when it came to his future, as his parents practically treated him as if he couldn’t make his own rational decisions in life. Sometimes he wished people could understand…

 

Cecil inhaled deeply and swallowed the lump in his throat as he trailed along the path that lead to the Uni dorm buildings, all the while keeping his gaze fixated onto the newly paved concrete. Cecil already had a pretty good idea of the general layout of the campus and he knew his way towards the dorm buildings since he had been living there the previous year. To say Cecil wasn’t nervous would’ve been a lie; this year he would have a new roommate, and he had no idea who it was. His only friend and roommate from the previous year, Luke, had already been a senior and graduated in the spring and Cecil wasn’t too ecstatic about starting the new semester alone. Sure, he was acquainted with a couple of people from his old classes but he had never spent time with them or talked to them outside of class. It wasn’t that Cecil particularly minded being alone, because he didn’t, he simply preferred to know he had a friend around as anyone else would. Cecil found that the staring he usually got died down a lot when he wasn’t walking to class or eating lunch by himself; after all, people’s eyes tend to wonder at the people who are even remotely different.

 

It wasn’t that Cecil had any particular stand out features to single him out; it was the simple fact that his bare skin was constantly covered with dozens of artistic doodles. In a world where everyone shares a mark with the person who is considered their “soulmate”, it was silently frowned upon to cover up a majority of your body up with tattoos, or in Cecil’s case, his art. Most people’s first impression is that he has his body covered in tattoos; however they soon come to notice that some of the prominent designs may have changed or they’ll actually see him drawing on himself. Cecil didn’t expect anyone to understand why he did it and he didn’t really feel like explaining either.

 

Living with IED anger issues was something Cecil could easily say he hated. He hated the fact that people forget that anger isn’t just a brute emotion, but it’s a negative one on the mind. People are fast to judge someone’s temper whereas they’re just as fast to show compassion towards someone who is chronically sad. Cecil hated the fact that most people he told about his condition changed their attitude around him, and almost avoided him in fear of getting hurt. It was like people forgot that he owned any emotion other than anger sometimes. All throughout highschool he was seen as the “weird kid with anger issues who draws on himself”, but thankfully he found himself with a better chance in college. He found life got better than he didn’t go around telling everyone about his disorder anytime they asked about his art. He didn’t find the need to justify his coping mechanism with anyone, and found the “I like to draw” answer enough to satisfy curious minds.

 

Cecil shook the thoughts from his head and found his feet making a stop in front of a tall dorm building. The building wasn’t the same one he resided in the last semester, but he didn’t find it an issue. All dorm rooms looked the same anyway, right? As long as he got the bed near the window he’d be fine.

 

“Well, this is it. Another year,” Cecil thought to himself while inhaling the city scented air.

 

He shifted his backpack higher up on his shoulder and stepped into the building and promptly began to walk up the stairs to the third floor. He sported his signature maroon hoodie, a pair of distressed jeans and an old pair of vans shoes. Cecil kept the sleeves of his hoodie rolled up and had his arms and exposed parts of his legs almost completely covered with art inspired by henna-like patterns.

 

Cecil reached the end of the stairs and turned over his hand to examine the small number he wrote on the back of his hand that represented his new door room number.

 

“313… where could that be…- there.”

 

The student stopped in front of the third door to his left that was numbered 313. The dorm building was surprisingly empty and Cecil figured he had arrived early, and would have the room to himself for a bit before he got to meet his new roommate. Cecil slid his backpack down his arm and reached in one of the front pockets to grab a small key that opened up the room.

 

Much to Cecil’s suspicions, the dorm room looked a lot like his old one. The only things that was different was the placement of the beds which were facing the opposite direction that they did in his last room, but that wasn’t really the issues. The walls were plain and the room was clean and organized. It consisted of two small beds on each side of the room accompanied by two night tables. There was a small area with a table that consisted of a mini kitchen, and a door that Cecil assumed led to the bathroom. The small room was nothing less than his old one so he couldn’t really complain.

 

Cecil carried himself into the room and shut the door behind him. He proceeded to kick off his shoes and throw his backpack onto the bed beside the window before lazily throwing himself on the bed too. He exhaled deeply and shut his eyes for a moment, shifting his art-filled arm over his eyes to block out the light. They had another hour before orientation started and everyone would be given their schedules for the next semester and have their I.D photos taken, and there wasn’t much else to do to pass the time than to shut his eyes.

 

Here was to hoping the new year was gonna be alright.

[Necrophile666]

 

Name: Micah Krist

 

Age: 21

 

Height: 6'1"

 

Weight: 170 lbs, he's broad and muscular.

 

Description: Micah is of mixed "American Indian" decent; his hair is black, think, kind of wavey, a little long or maybe one would call it shaggy. It goes just down to the back of his neck. His eyes are a light brown, his skin is a darker olive complexion. He has high, sharp cheek bones, and a strong jaw line.

 

Tattoos: In an effort to hide his "soul mark", slightly to the right of being directly between his shoulder blades, he has a cattle skull tattooed as symmetrically as the human physique will allow, on his back. His "soul mark" is still faintly visible in the skulls right eye socket. He also has a tattoo on his left forearm, reading Dil’zhe’e.

 

Scars: There's a thick scar running through his left eyebrow.

 

Soulmark: spoiler, matches Cecil's.

 

Personality Snippet: Micah is a pretty laid back person. He claims that he doesn't believe in soul mates or true love, but that's a lie. Deep down, he has hope. Micah sleeps around, with just about anyone who is interested in him, perhaps this simply the belief that one should enjoy life and sex, or perhaps he's secretively hopeful that he'll eventually find that person whose weird shaped puzzle piece fits his. His biggest character flaw is the inability to be serious in serious situations. When discussing the uncomfortable topic of politics or his feelings, he'd rather make a joke than be entirely honest and open.

 

 

The city had consisted of monstrous buildings, gross alleys and side streets, and busy people. It was surprising to find such a place like the tri-campus here. Though it did have it's fair share of theft and mysterious trash can fires, it was otherwise peaceful, safe for the most part. Perhaps there were parties where the punch got spiked with something other than alcohol, but Micah had never experienced that himself. It might have had something to do with him being a little more careful than the average college student, or it may have been luck. Micah didn't believe in things like luck though.

 

It was certainly different from the small community Micah had grown up in outside Prescott, where nothing was higher than maybe two stories, and that was only a sparse few buildings, enough for him to count on one hand. Having grown up in severe poverty, sharing a small dorm rooms wasn't as bad as everyone made it sound. Sure, being in the same room with a complete stranger was uncomfortable, but Micah had shared a hundred square foot bedroom with his three siblings. Being the second oldest, he had to share the bottom bunk until he was fifteen. Besides, despite the roommate thing, in the dorm they had a small fridge and a perfectly good microwave to themselves. That was almost a god damn luxury as far Micah was concerned.

 

It was the start of his sophomore year, and he was returning from a summer spent in Arizona, mostly spent conversing with his grandfather and baby sitting for his mother. As much as he loved each memeber of his family, he was rather happy to be back at school, to continue working on his bachelor's so he could be out on his own as soon as possible. He had enough from the scholarship he'd been awarded to go to school out of state, and not need to worry about loans until senior year. The way the tri-campus was set up, he was able to complete the first two years at the community college, the classes there would be cheaper, and then transfer to finish his degree at the moderate University on campus. He would just need to worry about holding down a job and feeding himself. School came before anything else though, this was his door out. He was going for a degree in computer sciences, knowing that the possible job payouts would be more than enough for him to go anywhere he wanted. Most likely, he'd have to live in a city, but there were plenty of cities with in the neighboring states he could work in, and still be close enough to drive to visit his family.

 

When Micah came to his new dorm room, he took a brief moment to smirk at the number 313 before entering. He hoped it was cursed, and then he immediately took that back, because curse was not what he needed right now. Be careful what you wish for, dumbass, he scolded himself. He entered the room with two beat up, red dirt dusted duffle bags, and a box containing a collection of eviscerated laptops. Taking things apart was his past time. Micah wasn't dressed in anything fancy, jeans with a bleach stain on the knee, unbranded sneakers that had seen far betters days, and a loose, but oh so comfortable, Spiderman t-shirt. He glanced at his room mate, briefly, noting his arms with their tight, intricate designs, though he was a bit more focused on setting his heavy load down. The box of computers in pieces went on the kitchenette table, while one duffle bag was gracelessly dropped on the floor, the other set down in a far more gentle manner. He felt he had too much there, but he also reminded himself that a portion of it was food he'd bought before arriving, that would certainly be gone by the time he left for winter break.

 

 

As for the roommate, he wasn't entirely sure what to say. His previous one hadn't been interested in socializing with him. In fact, he'd been so disinterested in Micah, he'd had the audacity to assume he was Hispanic. Micah had in response been so kind to bring as many people back to the room as possible. Thankfully, for whatever reason, though nothing he felt immediately responsible for, they hadn't been paired up again. He had a very simple rule, as long as they were polite to him, he'd be polite back. In the first five minutes, he saw no issue, something promising, he thought. Some part of him wanted to strike up a conversation, and the other wanted to just leave things silent, uncertain what he was even supposed to say. Eventually, feeling a bit awkward as he did it, he directed his full attention to his new roommate, part way there, though he still wasn't sure how to just introduce himself to the guy.

[Whimsical]

The clean, fresh scent of the room and the soft sunlight emerging from the windows reminded Cecil of his first day at the tri-campus as a freshman. He nostalgically remembered laying down on his old bed and relaxing before any of the campus events started and listening to the growing noises of other students in the dorm building, scampering to find their selected rooms.

 

“Hmm… I should get up ,” Cecil remarked to himself nonchalantly, shifting himself up from his laying position and regarding the room somewhat lazily. Honestly, Cecil felt like the little energy he had was close to vanishing and it was only the first day of the year. Usually this worn out feeling hit him closer to second semester, but he almost felt as if his energy never returned after the holidays. Even then, during the summer he hardly did anything but relax; he spent his time at home with his family and got a part-time summer job, but he never went out too late or partied or anything of the sorts. Cecil had kept to himself for the most part and felt like he was re-energizing, however his state right now was quite the contrary.

 

Cecil sluggishly rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and groaned to himself. He felt his cellphone vibrate against his stomach that was located in the pocket of his hoodie. Sighing, Cecil reached in the front pocket and grabbed his somewhat old cellphone to check his notifications.

 

One unread message.

 

MOM: Don’t forget your meds sweetie! Love mom xox

 

Cecil frowned and texted back quickly, Love you too mom xx

 

He flopped himself back on his bed and dragged his discarded backpack closer to his face. He reached into one of the front pockets of his backpack and grabbed out a small, orange prescription bottle that read Risperdal. Cecil quickly made a face at the sight of the bottle and stuffed it far into the deep ends of his backpack before swiftly heaving himself up into a sitting position. He should’ve known his mother would throw them in his backpack; she always placed them right in the front whenever he “forgot” them. There was no way in hell that he was going to take them. He didn’t like taking any sort of medication; they just made him feel like he had some kind of problem. Deep down Cecil knew it was true but he had found his own outlet that he thought worked much better than swallowing some pills. He hated the way people treated him like some sort of ticking time bomb, especially his parents. They called it precautions, but Cecil begged to differ. He knew he hadn’t been the easiest kid to take care of but he also felt like he could control himself a lot better, which was something his parents disagreed with. None the less, Cecil refused to take the medications and besides; they always made him feel sleepy, and Cecil didn’t think that he needed any more contribution to his already low energy.

 

The doorknob to the room rattled a couple times before it completely opened to reveal another student. At first, Cecil barely took notice to the second occupant that entered the room. He was too busy lost in his thoughts while unpacking his own things. Cecil only brought along a backpack with any of his essentials, whereas he noted that his roommate carried a lot more luggage. Cecil had never been a very materialistic person and didn’t seem the need to bring personal belongings to a place he wasn’t fond of anyway.

 

A couple minutes passed and Cecil finished setting his belongings onto the nightstand that belonged to him when he decided to pay notice to his new roommate. The other male seemed too preoccupied in making himself at home to really notice Cecil, and he knew that staring wasn’t nice; but god damn. His new roommate was gorgeous. The male in front of him was a generous amount bulkier and taller than Cecil himself and he sported a casual outfit that screamed “college kid”. His facial features were structured and strong and were well complimented by a head of dark hair and light eyes. A stand out feature was a prominent scar that traveled all the way across his eyebrow, which somehow made him even more attractive. Cecil could feel his palms begin to sweat as his nerves caught up with him. He forced himself to remain calm and willed himself to stop feeling so nervous, and insecure, around his new roommate.

 

Cecil self consciously rolled the sleeves of his hoodie down to cover his arms because the last thing he wanted was for this guy to think he was weird, and retracted backwards to lean against the headboard. He ensured that he wasn’t obviously staring; but Cecil knew he definitely was.

 

‘There’s no harm in admiring, right?’ Cecil thought to himself.

 

The silence in the room slowly turned into an uncomfortable silence once his new roommate finished putting down his belongings and settling himself in. Cecil was at loss of what to do; he was never the best at initiating conversation, nor was he good at talking to strangers. His last roommate had been kind of a loud guy and it had been easy to get a conversation going with him from the start, however this guy didn’t seem to make much more initiative than Cecil did. Cecil wasn’t sure if he wanted to even talk. Did he want to mind his own business? Did he want Cecil to say something first? He wasn’t sure.

 

Cecil swallowed down the lump in his throat and awkwardly shifted his leg up against his chest. He heard his phone’s buzzer going off with another message but he chose to ignore it as it was most likely his mother again. Right now Cecil just wanted to break the tension in the room, but dear God he was so good at being awkward.

 

Cecil breathed in and cleared his throat, ignoring the rapid beating of his heart and all the thoughts screaming about how this could go wrong.

 

“Hey,” he spoke silently and somewhat awkwardly, his long eyelashes covering his eyes as their gaze drifted to his covered up arms. “Nice to meet you roomie. Guess we’re stuck together for a while, huh?” he finished on a lighthearted tone, offering a small smile while taking the risk and glancing up at his roomate's eyes.

[Necrophile666]

Micah took a moment to fully take in Cecil's features. Red hair and green- no, hazel eyes weren't something he was entirely used to seeing. Not like he'd never seen those features, but they were... Different. He was cute, even if Micah found a lot of people cute, this guy was different. His features were bright colors in a way, especially those eyes, something that almost made Micah wanted to smirk a little. There were also the doodles on his arms, which he'd definitely seen when he'd entered the room, though the effort this guy had made to hide them was adorable. Like Micah was going to judge him for drawing on himself. Maybe it was just a cheaper alternative to tattoos, or maybe it was an old habit he'd never grown out of, who was Micah to judge? But, maybe it was more the prospect this guy was concerned with what Micah might think that amused him. Also who used the word "Roomie" to refer to a roommate?

 

"Yeah." Micah laughed a little, perhaps it was a bit forced, though he was trying to keep it light. "Um, I'm Micah, I hope we can get along well enough." He managed, feeling a bit more at ease now that his roommate had also managed to be awkward as hell. Certainly they'd eventually at least get used to each other's presence, perhaps it would take some time, but it wouldn't so weird. Not neat as weird as awkwardly unpacking your things around each other in complete silence, while trying to pretend that you hadn't noticed the other person. Perhaps, Micah could have saved them from this whole situation if he'd just said hello when he'd first come in. That would have been the polite thing to do.

 

This was a better start that last year though! Micah had that to be thankful for; this roommate wasn't tightly wadded up ass who thought himself so superior that he couldn't even be bothered with pretending to be interested in greeting his roommate on the first day. That had been the worst, Jake sitting there on his computer while Micah- the nervous freshman- tried to figure out what to do. It was much less like having a roommate and more like having to share a bench on the bus. For. A. Whole. Friggin'. Year. Though towards the end of it, Micah had done just as much to piss his roommate off, as Jake had done to him, that Micah was partially to blame. He had been just as shitty. Micah was trying hard to put that behind himself though. He had certainly had worse, right? After three brothers, he could name a few choice times that he would have traded them for just about anyone when it came to room sharing. At least Jake had been respectful enough of his things. Brothers were not. Though he supposed the trade off was that he actually kind of liked his brothers. Though one could not say if that was because they were family or not.

 

"I will rehome that box on the table soon by the way, sorry." Micah added after a moment, not wanting to seem entitled. Though honestly, the box would most likely get shoved at the end of his bed, on the floor. Maybe there was a corner that would be better out of the way his roommate wouldn't mind him storing it in, though they'd have to discuss that. His biggest concern was the pieces being broken or someone tripping over it in the night, he doubted falling into a box of bits of metal and plastic would be the best adventure on the was to the bathroom. His bed just didn't seem high enough to fit it under though.

[Whimsical]

Cecil twiddled his thumbs around in circles, anxiously anticipating an answer. God why did he have to say something so weird, a simple 'Hey, I’m Cecil' would’ve sufficed. The couple seconds of silence felt like minutes as Cecil and his new roommate practically just stared at each other. Cecil was used to people staring at him, but he couldn’t quite recognize why this guy was looking at him with some sort of amusement in his eyes. Cecil concluded that he could either be extremely cocky, or a genuinely nice guy. He prayed for the latter.

 

Thankfully his prayers were answered and his roommate, Micah, responded positively. Cecil could already feel the stiff tension from earlier fade and he could feel his nerves creep away to the back of his mind. He breathed an inaudible sigh of relief and shifted his leg down from his chest so that they were both sprawled across from him and heaved his back off of the headboard to support himself on his arms instead. Cecil felt his smile remain on his face out of politeness and although his initial nerves may have faded, his awkwardness sure hadn’t.

 

“Ha yeah for sure, for sure…” Cecil replied while trailing off at the end, immediately regretting his words because who the fuck forgets to introduce themselves back. Cecil inwardly groaned at his lack of social skills and willed himself to find an excuse to share his identity to the guy who he’d see almost every day for a year; however he felt as if the opportunity had already passed.

 

Damnit.

 

Cecil’s eyes trailed alongside Micah’s movements; he unconsciously found himself staring at his physique over his face, a habit he had obtained throughout high school. He wasn’t a huge fan of direct eye contact with people he barely knew. Heck, people used to tell Cecil all the time that the floor and the walls were his best friend. The truth was, the eyes are an expressive feature and Cecil wanted to save himself from seeing the judgment he knew was there.

 

Micah’s voice drew Cecil out of his wandering thoughts and he stared deer-eyed at the box on the nearby table, “Oh yeah, don’t sweat it!” He breathed with a chuckle, “I probably won’t use it anyway, I usually just do my work… here,” He lightly gestured at the bed he was laying on.

 

Cecil hated the way his voice remained silent and close to being on the verge of cracking. He cleared his throat and reached out to grab his phone to check that text.

 

One unread message.

 

DAD: Don’t get in trouble kid.

 

To which Cecil frowned at and placed his phone face-down on the counter, ignoring the message. His father was probably the strictest out of his parents; his mother was more of the worry wart, always treating him like he was two years old and unable to do anything stressful by himself without going on a rampage. Cecil just reminded himself that it was because she cared and he should appreciate her efforts, but she did a better job at babying him than actually helping. His dad, however, was lot less patient. He was a lot less understanding than his mother and didn’t seem to bother trying to understand what life was like for him; instead choosing to make him feel like he wouldn’t make it anywhere in life if he ‘didn’t clean up his act’. Truth was, Cecil probably wouldn’t be in this tri-campus right now if it wasn’t for his father pushing law onto him. Cecil had always wanted to prosper in the arts, but of course his dad wasn’t the fondest of that idea. He was against careers that wouldn’t gain you a large amount of money. After many, many long arguments; Cecil just gave up. He was fighting a losing battle and he didn’t want things to get out of hand, so he gave up.

 

Cecil sighed and rubbed his eyes, being sure that his negative thoughts weren’t apparent on his face. It was thoughts like those that crept in his mind at unholy times to spark up his flames. Cecil felt the urge to grab out his sharpie and doodle away the small amount of irritation because he knew if it didn’t go away, it’d continue to escalate. But he didn’t want to make a weird impression on Micah, so he decided against it. Maybe striking up a conversation would help.

 

“So, what do you keep in there? The box I mean,” Cecil asked, breaking the small silence.

[Necrophile666]

Micah had to absolutely resist the urge to, as unmanly as it sounded, giggle at his roommates awkwardness. This poor kid. Was all he could think for a moment. At least he was making an effort to actually say something to Micah, and Micah found he kind of appreciated that. This seemed far more normal than his last situation, even if his roommate had entirely skipped over telling Micah his name. What was he supposed to call him? Should he ask him for his name or just let the conversation continue without it? He supposed that eventually he'd find out, he could probably find it somewhere on some roster or something.

 

His roommate also seemed... Nervous? Anxious? Over something. His roommate did seem to relax a little after Micah had spoken. Maybe new people made him uncomfortable, tough Micah didn't think he was that intimidating. His older brother had been taller than him by four inches. Though he did note this guy was kind of small, dainty one might say, but Micah didn't want it to sound like an insult.

 

When his roommate checked his phone, Micah had the thought to check his own. Of course there were no new texts or calls, that wasn't much of a surprise. If his mother was going to call, it would be later in the week, probably on her next day off. He dropped his phone and the two sets of keys he possessed onto the night stand, before taking a seat on the edge of his bed. And then he slightly regretted putting his phone down. If he had held onto it, he could have pretended to scroll through it, maybe even written a message out to one of his "friends" just so that he was doing something other than sitting there, turned towards his roommate. He wasn't afraid of conversations or making eye contact, but with his phone he could reasonably divert his attention elsewhere. Now he didn't have much to turn his attention to without making it obvious that he was trying not to stare. Alternatively he could somehow try to keep a conversation actively going until one of them figured out how to walk away or end it.

 

"Oh the box? It's uh... Well, I guess you could say there's a couple computers, they don't work though for various reasons so it's spare parts for now. I can salvage some of it though and potentially rebuild one of them." Maybe that was more information than his roommate would have liked, but he had been the one to ask after all. Micah considered leaving it at that, letting that information stew and making it just that more awkward for his roommate, but, he had been the one trying and Micah felt it was only fair he put in some amount of effort himself.

 

"I'm in computer sciences so I kind of like pulling things apart and putting them back together." He offered a small shrug. "What are you in school for?" His first assumption was art, though he knew that assuming wasn't polite, and he could always be surprised.

[Whimsical]

Cecil stuffed his semi-drawn on hands into the front pocket of his hoodie and shifted into a cross-legged position on the bed. He knew he was shifting around a lot, but he couldn’t find a comfortable enough position to sit in for long enough and oddly enough found that moving helped to fill any awkwardness within a silence. Thankfully for him, there wasn’t any silence once he had asked his question as Micah seemed more than happy to tell him what resided in his box.

 

Spare computer parts huh? Personally Cecil would’ve assumed the box carried a large amount of sentimental items that he might have brought to make the dorm room feel a bit more like home, but spare computer parts were interesting. Cecil liked people who had a passion for things, much like him with his art, and he had never met anyone who was interested in taking apart and potentially rebuilding computers.

 

It was different, and Cecil liked different.

 

“Oh that’s really cool,” Cecil commented in a somewhat curious tone as he could feel his previous irritation being drowned by a new focal point. He emitted a small, complimentary smile and wondered if Micah was here to study computer technology or if it was simply a hobby, but either way Cecil found it interesting. His old roommate had been studying law as well but he was a pretty plain guy; he liked to party, have sex, and play videogames. Admittedly he was a nice guy, but there just wasn’t much about him that stood out to Cecil. Nonetheless, he did miss his old roommate and only friend on campus.

 

Almost as if Micah had read his mind, he briefly mentioned that he was studying computer sciences. Cecil nodded at his words but didn’t really know what to say as he had already mentioned the computer stuff was ‘cool’. He appreciated the fact that he made the effort to continue conversation and it was to be expected when he was asked about his own course of study as well.

 

Cecil felt his demeanor noticeably shrink on itself, “Oh me? I’m studying law,” he answered nonchalantly, the smile on his face contradicting his body language.

 

“I guess it’s okay… not my first pick, but it’s better than aiming for a degree that wont land you a job right?” he chuckled somewhat dryly.

 

Cecil knew that he was being pessimistic and that he really shouldn’t believe his owns words, but he did anyway. No matter how badly he wanted an art degree, he couldn’t help but wonder to himself; who’d even hire him? How could he make a career out of it? The last thing Cecil wanted, and the last thing he needed, was to be stuck working a boring office job. At least with law you get a boring job with good pay. The lingering doubts in his mind about studying for art were only strengthened by his father, and no matter how much he yearned to strive for his passion, he didn’t and wasn’t going to. Cecil knew he shouldn’t have let his dad’s words get to him, but with nobody else but himself supporting his own decisions, there wasn’t much his esteem could do on its own so - hobby it was.

 

Cecil shrugged to himself and offered a forced lopsided smile to Micah, “First year?” he prompted, eager to take the topic off of himself and back onto his roommate.

[Necrophile666]

Micah wore a bit of an incredulous look for a moment. Really? Law? That sounded particularly uneventful, and honestly wasn't surprised it wasn't his roommate's first pick. Didn't kids go to law school because their Daddys' paid for their education and didn't realize what waste of skin their kids were? That didn't sound like the guy sitting in front of him, whose body language read "not interested in going into it" so Micah didn't push the subject. Not because he didn't care, but because he didn't see the use in making his roommate uncomfortable. If they wanted to talk about stuff that carried weight with each other, they would, later, he figured. Right now he still didn't even know this guy's name.

 

"Me? No, this year is my second." Micah offered a slight laugh. "I'm from out of state though, so I tend to over back just in case, you know, since going home really isn't an option until possibly the winter." He scratched the scar on his brow while he tried to think of something else to ask, buying himself just a bit of time. "What about you? Is this your first year? Or second?" Or more, but that part of the question didn't need to be listed, honestly. "Where are you from?" Micah wasn't certain he wanted to explain where he, himself, was from much more than "out of state".

 

One really didn't have very fond memories growing up on a reservation. If you considered where he lived a reservation. It was sanctioned off for the Yavapai-Apache Nation, though honestly, the Nations had blended together a lot, modern times allowed that. Big surprise. They no longer scalped each other, or tried to trap other nations in caves and set them on fire. His mother claimed his dad was Navajo, but no one could find him now. Growing up with a single parent, his mother had been stressed, distant for the most part, but who could blame a woman who had ended up with five kids? Three of which weren't her own. And with his older brother gone most of the time, it was up to Micah and his grandfather to entertain the younger kids. College promised freedom.

[Whimsical]

Cecil bit the inside of his mouth as he carefully processed each of Micah’s words. It seemed like the two of them were sophomores this year, and that they both had been assigned a new roommate. Cecil wondered if Micah’s old roommate had graduated too or if it was simply the school system that switched around people’s roommates each semester. Come to think of it, Cecil supposed that it was common for people to be assigned a new dorm room depending on their field of study; often students switched from the Uni’s here to the colleges and vice versa and it was highly likely that with the new buildings they’d be attending, their dorm rooms would switch to the other side of the campus along with their studies. Cecil wondered if that was Micah’s case, as he knew it his old roommates.

 

“Yeah this is my second year too,” Cecil mumbled back softly with a smile on his face, keeping his eyes downcast at Micah’s legs.

 

Where was he from? The innocent and conversation friendly questioned sparked up bitterness in his mind and he refrained himself from scowling at the memories that came with his hometown. He was born out of state as well and grew up in a small town near Washington D.C. Cecil grew up as an only child so he never got to experience what it was like to have an older or younger sibling, only parents. He grew up as a “troublemaker” kid because none of his teachers of superiors knew how to handle his anger fits; they always resorted to punishment, when all he really needed was reassurance. The town he grew up in was extremely close minded and judgmental and Cecil had no intent on getting started on the specifics of his hometown, so he answered with a simple, “I’m from out of state too,”

 

Cecil inhaled and uncrossed his legs to retract himself from his sitting position and into a standing one. He stretched his arms behind his back for a moment and exhaled deeply while glancing to the small, plain clock that hung on the wall near their door. It seemed that they only had about half an hour left till their orientations would start, and Cecil knew that he wasn’t going to be able to find another half-an hour worth of conversation topics. He sighed and grabbed his backpack from his bed to quickly grab out some of his uneeded (for now) art supplies and laid them on the bed, replacing them with his laptop and notebook.

 

“Ha yeah so, uh, orientation is soon.” Cecil cleared his throat and heaved his lightened backpack onto one of his shoulders, “everyone from the uni goes to the main hall- but, I‘m sure you know that… anyway, if you didn’t have much else to do, want to head out?”

 

Cecil felt shocked at the words that came out of his own mouth; since when did he invite people places? Cecil had an ever growing fear of rejection, and that people would turn down his offers to spend time with them, so he never liked to make the first move but just, what. He just couldn’t help it; he just felt the urge to spend time with Micah, whom he barely just met.

 

“The heck Cecil?” Cecil thought to himself with a small shake of his head.

 

Cecil proceeded to walk past Micah with his eyes downcast. He felt himself flush red as he slipped on his discarded shoes and slightly opened the door and- oh yeah.

 

“By the way, I’m Cecil… sorry for the late intro,” he chuckled silently and shrugged his shoulders towards the ground.

[Necrophile666]

Micah didn't feel the necessity to ask for more specifics. Everyone had their own secrets. He also glanced at the clock when Cecil looked up at it, looking for something else to turn his attention to. It was a bizarre clock to have in someone's room, one of those cheap, black, plastic rimmed school clocks with the white face. It was large in size, and looked out of place on the wall there. It also made Micah a bit uncomfortable to see it there, staring down at them. It reminded him too much of school, and he'd have to ask Cecil about taking it down later. He felt the last thing they needed with along side the college stress was to feel like they were perpetually trapped in a classroom.

 

Micah ended up watching Cecil as he moved about getting ready. When Cecil invited him to go to the orientation with him, Micah felt... Surprised. He hasn't expected that, not with how awkward the other guy seemed to be around him. It made him smile a bit more guinely. This would certainly be better than last year, he already knew. "Yeah, that would be nice."

 

He had friends that would be there, it wasn't like orientation was anything spectacular either. But reason did he have to turn Cecil down? After all, he was making an incredibly effort to... Get along with Micah so far. Micah got up, not needing to do a lot of moving to do so. He still had his shoes on, and all he needed was his wallet and his keys, both he shoved in his pocket before moving to followed the blushing Cecil, trying hard not to chuckle at how embarrassed the other man seemed. There was something cute about it, though he worried what might make Cecil refuse to look at him. He knew he wasn't everybody's cup of tea, but he couldn't be that much of a travesty to look at. Maybe it was just the other man's strange anxiousness. He wasn't certain if introducing him to his friends would make his roommate feel uncomfortable or welcomed. He thought that at least Riley might like Cecil. Perhaps he was getting ahead of himself. They just had to get along, he didn't have to be his friend. Nor did he really know they guy well enough to be able to say he wanted to be his friend. However, that didn't seen to stop the feeling that he at least wanted to try to be friends.

 

"So you think anything exciting will happen?" He asked with a sarcastic tone as they left the dorm room. He wanted to see what it took to make his roommate laugh. So far, Cecil had shown he could be awkward and anxious, but Micah knew that there had to be some thing out there that Cecil found humor in.

[Whimsical]

Cecil felt a small warmth in his chest when his roommate accepted the offer to head out to orientation together. He offered a simple smile at Micah and closed the door behind them when they made their way out of the dorm room and into the building lobby. They made their way towards the stairs in a comfortable silence and Cecil took the time to reflect on his current situation.

 

So he’d been roomed with a total hunk; a guy who was not only sweet on the outside, but looked like he was on the inside as well. Admittedly he had only known this guy for about ten minutes tops but trusted his gut. Cecil felt like he was good at reading people and grabbing accurate first judgment. He just felt as if his efforts were being met halfway, and that Micah was being conscious about what his boundaries might be and what he should or shouldn’t do. For example, Cecil appreciated that he hadn’t completely ignored him or dropped conversation whenever things got awkward. Furthermore, he appreciated that he didn’t seem to prejudge him after seeing his doodled up arms – I mean, Cecil knew that most people didn’t want to associate themselves with the ‘different kids’ in an environment where everyone just tried to fit in. While the atmosphere at uni was certainly better than high school, there were still a large amount of cliques and popular kids that liked to think they were cool because they party and drink every chance they get. Cecil definitely wouldn’t classify himself as that kind of a person.

 

Cecil knew for a fact that having a crappy relationship with his roommate would make the year more uncomfortable and stressful than it needed to be. He liked sharing a room with his friend last year, and Cecil found himself secretly hoping Micah would like him enough to genuinely become friends sometime. Or at least, try to be friends.

 

At the sound of his voice, Cecil’s eyes flickered up towards Micah and he raised an eyebrow in amusement at the question.

 

“Exciting?” He echoed the word, returning his gaze back to the floor as they began to step down the flight of stairs, “Unless one of the teachers show up drunk, I’m not sure orientation can ever be exciting,” he snorted with a silent laugh.

 

Cecil reached the end of the stairs continued to walk at a fairly leisurely rate alongside his roommate outside the dorm building. He shifted his backpack to be supported by both is shoulders and stuffed his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie, fidgeting with the sharpie that resided in there.

 

“Why? Did you expect anything exciting, or just hoping?” Cecil mused back.

[Necrophile666]

Honestly, Micah was a "different kid", he just wasn't fully aware of it since everyone where he group up was that kid, too. They all had some kind of family problem, known by everyone in their small community because that's how small places worked. Everyone eventually got word of someone else's history. Where in the city, there were too many busy people hurrying around to care. As they took their time making their way across campus, Micah wasn't even thinking about the ink on Cecil's arms. So what if he liked to draw on himself? It really wasn't any of Micah's business, it wasn't his body. It wasn't as bad as back home, where some people were addicted to gambling or alcohol. It was definitely preferable to having a roommate who did drugs.

 

 

"I can hope, can't I?" Micah laughed a bit, trying to imagine a teacher showing up drunk. "I don't know, maybe someone will start a fire, or a tornado will pull the roof off the building. A teacher showing up drunk could be entertaining, but that's not quite the excitement I was thinking of." Micah smirked a little. "It's more possible for a teacher to show up drunk, I guess." He let out a small sigh. He felt awkward, like he was trying too hard. Though it wasn't entirely un true. "Though you would think the first orientation would be enough."

 

Micah kept his gaze focused ahead, attention trained on their surrounding, the height of the buildings, the clearness of the sky. He thought it might be a bit warm for a hoodie, but he wasn't going to say anything on the matter. This felt nice, Micah thought, it was peaceful in a way. It made him hopeful that this was going to be a better acquaintanceship, if not a possible friendship.

[Whimsical]

Cecil felt a refreshing wave of air hit him as the pair stepped foot on the concrete floors of outside the dorm building. He exhaled deeply and found the scent of air much more pleasant than the chemically cleaned scent of their dorm room.

 

Cecil walked alongside Micah as they passed the campus structures one by one; in the area they were in, the buildings were a lot larger and more dynamic than other areas of the campus. There was a small, circular park that had a large statue of what Cecil assumed was the founder of the tri-campus. Around the statue was a small pool of water, surrounded by benches. There were a lot of trees and nature surrounding the buildings which really gave the area of the campus an elegant feel.

 

Cecil found himself laughing a bit at Micah’s absurd interpretation of “exciting” at the orientation. He found himself shaking his head and smirking for a couple seconds, really appreciating the rambling to try to break the ice and get along. Cecil found that humor was a great way to get to know a person and what they were like, and he could definitely see a guy he could get along with in Micah.

 

“Shit, if a fire starts it’ll probably be because of a drunk teacher,” he mused out loud. Cecil audibly sighed to himself before looking forward, “Hey, looks like we’re here,”

 

Cecil stopped right in front of the main hall of the uni. The building was one of the larger and broader buildings that were carefully sculpted with somewhat intricate patterns which stood out from the otherwise sleek designed buildings around them. The main hall was one of the few buildings that remained untouched after the renovations, and Cecil always loved the architectural style. It kind of reminded him of the style of a church. Surrounding the buildings were a number of other uni students either entering the main hall or sitting on the benches chattering away with friends. Cecil wondered if Micah had a group of friends whom he was looking out for, and if perhaps he would leave Cecil on his own when he met up with them. Cecil bit his lip and prevented his worry from reading in his body language on face.

 

Almost as if Cecil’s mind was read, a girl who was only a little bit shorter than Cecil came running up to them,

 

“Micah!” her feminine voice called as she ran forward to give Micah a short and quick hug, “Long time no see! How was your summer?” she cheered.

 

The girl was standing in front of Cecil, hiding most of his body from Micah’s view with her own. The girl wore a pair of grey sweatpants and a grey hoodie, accompanied by her brown hair tied up in a messy bun. In general, the girl was pretty attractive but Cecil had never found himself attracted to girls in the first place. If you know what I mean.

 

Cecil stepped back a bit and awkwardly shifted his foot and stared down at the ground, debating if he should just walk away and spare the pain of being ignored, but he decided against it. Micah didn’t seem like he was just going to abandon him as soon as he found his friend, or so he hoped.

[Necrophile666]

For Micah, anyone could be attractive it didn't matter on genitalia or really any physical characteristic at all. As far as sex was concerned, Micah didn't even think about personality. If someone showed interest in him, he was more than willing to show interest back. Of course, as far as actual relationships went, Micah lacked experience. He'd never been in love, but he didn't believe in really love anyway. Or so he liked to keep people thinking. He did have particular rules though, like he avoided sex with friends, that never ended well, which made Emily and Riley, off limits.

 

Riley was 5'8", wirey, but not so thin he looked starved. That was probably thanks to his ability to eat more in college. As kids, Riley had always been too thin, obviously not healthy, and everyone could attribute this to the lack of food available in that house hold. Man, if Micah though he had had it rough, it wasn't as bad as Riley. Though, Riley had eventually ended up in someone else's care, and moved out of state when the two were in high school. Through out high school they kept in touch, even if it hadn't been perfect, Micah was thankful for the friend on campus now. Riley's family didn't live far from the campus now, and Riley had been pleased when they had coincidentally settled on the same college. Riley had been such a wimpy looking kid when they were younger, of course, now, Riley had grown up. He had high cheek bones, slightly shaggy, thick black hair, and a similiar dark olive complexion as Micah. His eyes were a bright green though. They were both from the same nation, though Riley was supposedly part Sioux, that was something he'd never been able to completely confirm.

 

"Hey, Em," Micah returned Emily's hug briefly, offering a smile when she stepped back a bit. "It was alright I suppose. How was yours?" It wasn't a lie, alright was about as good as summer in Arizona got.

 

Riley took his time appearing behind them. His hair was artfully a mess; he sported a jacket bearing the logo of a video game, worn along with his torn up jeans and a plain t-shirt. Although his first though was to say hi to Micah, he changed his mind and tapped Cecil on the shoulder. They had obviously been walking together, they were here together, he figured Cecil must have been a friend or something.

 

He offered his best friend's roommate a genuine smile, dimples included, as he offered Cecil his hand. "Hi, I'm Riley." He said a bit softly, maybe just a bit shyly.

[Whimsical]

Cecil swallowed the lump in his throat and awkwardly watched his foot shifting on the ground below him. He debated if he wanted to say hi to this girl or if he should spare a desperate glance at Micah but decided against it. He silently inhaled and bit his lip while shifting his gaze sideways to glance at a nearby tree surrounded by students. Everyone around seemed to have a large group of friends that they all got along with; guys were sitting on the benched surrounded by girls, and Cecil could practically feel their flirtatious vibes. Cecil audibly sighed and retracted his gaze back to the floor to avoid being seen staring. Micah and his friend, Em, were catching up on how their holidays went; the girl rambling about how great her time down in Europe was, and how she wished she could’ve stayed in London forever.

 

‘Maybe I should go-‘

 

A short, gentle tap on his shoulder almost startled Cecil out of his socks as he wasn’t expecting anything to interrupt his thoughts. Cecil kept his cool and turned around to meet face to face with another male. The guy was about Cecil’s height, and almost matched his own lithe complexion. He had a gentle yet strong set of features and messy hair that Cecil thought suited him well.

 

Cecil, still somewhat caught off guard, retracted his hand from his hoodie and shook Riley’s own, “Hi, I’m Cecil,” he returned in an equally soft voice.

 

Cecil offered Riley a smile and bit his lip trying to think of something else to say. Luckily, he was ableto avoid the awkward silence when his back was lightly bumped into.

 

“Oh, so sorry!” Micah’s friend, Emily, turned around and apologized. She stared at Cecil for a couple of moments as he scratched the back of his neck with an awkward smile, “It’s okay,” he confirmed.

 

Emily returned the smile with a genuine one of her own, “Awesome! So, you’re Micah’s friend? Saw you guys walking just then,” she commented.

 

Cecil’s eyes automatically looked up to Micah’s own before glancing back Emily. He somewhat shrugged his shoulders, “Roommates,” was all he said.

 

Emily nodded and Cecil once again averted his eyes to Micah to see if he had anything he wanted to say as well.

[Necrophile666]

Riley offered Micah a slight grin, and Micah threw the other native boy a curious look. It seemed to make Riley chuckle as Micah turned his attention to Cecil. "Um, yeah, this is Cecil, he's my roommate. Cecil, this is Riley, my friend since like, kindergarten. And, this is Emily, she's just some girl who hangs around us, we don't really know her." Micah grinned a little too much as he teased the poor girl, before turning his attention fully to Cecil. "You can come sit with us or whatever... If you want, obviously we won't force you or anything..." Micah offered, feeling a bit awkward over it, but ultimately hoping that Cecil might agree to hang around with them. "I mean, it's not like we're exciting, but we don't bite."

 

"Speak for yourself." Riley chimed in with a bit of a malicious smile.

 

"Yeah, aside from Riley, who's not housebroken and still kind of a savage native, you know, but the rest of us are civilized." Micah refused to even glance at Riley, looking at Cecil the entire time he spoke. "He's had his rabies shot if that makes you feel better about it."

 

Riley couldn't help laughing, offering only a light hearted, "fuck you, dude" in retaliation.

[Whimsical]

Cecil offered both Riley and Emily a smile as Micah introduce him to his friends. He remained silent but plastered an amused smile on his face as he watched the friends banter and tease each other; all in good will, of course. Cecil found his amused smile turn into a genuine one when he was offered to sit with them and he nodded his head at the offer, his face slightly flushing red. He wasn't really used to being invited into groups, and Cecil tried to eliminate the thought that it was perhaps because they thought he was normal and that when they (if they) found out about his strange habits and issues, they'd disperse away.

 

But for now, Cecil merely answered with an, "If you guys don't mind, that sounds great!"

 

Cecil debated cracking a joke as well since the atmosphere felt lighthearted, but he was beaten to it by Emily,

 

"Rabies is the least of your issues with this guy," he chuckled with a smirk, nudging an arm at Riley.

 

Cecil huffed at the joke and he willed himself not to feel too awkward around everyone but he couldn't help the feelings anyway. They all seemed like such good friends, and Cecil didn't really know what that was like. He felt his stomach churn ever so slightly.

 

"Okay so guys," Emily started, catching Cecil out of his thoughts, "Party at my house tonight, I wanna get wasted like hell to start off the new year."

 

Emily chuckled and turned to Riley, "you better come, I'm gonna need someone to hold my hair when i throw up, and you-" she turned to Micah, "find a room this time, yeah?"

 

Before anyone had the time to react, Emily ended up turning around to face Cecil too. She spoke to him in a somewhat softer tone than before, "you're invited too!".

 

Shocked, Cecil refrained from gaping and instead wavered a smile in her direction, "Ha, oh, cool! Thanks," he stuttered, silently cursing at himself for not sounding more confident, "I'll be there..."

[Necrophile666]

Micah wasn't sure what to feel first, embarrassment over even the mention of his "little show" at the last party they'd all attended, or the excitement he felt thinking about Cecil joining them. He hadn't thought his roommate would actually agree, what reason did he have to? More so, Micah wasn't certain what made him care so much. Certainly it had to be that he just liked this guy enough, he seemed like a genuine and interesting person. Micah couldn't resist grinning, despite his embarrassment, when his roommate agreed to join them at the party.

 

"You have way too much faith in me." Riley rolled his eyes a little, though in the end he knew he'd do it, it's just what you did for your friends. It also meant not leaving the new kid to the group all alone at the party they had invited him to. Riley figured he'd have to keep Cecil close while Micah walked with the first person who showed interest.

 

"Yeah, just because he was someone's poor life choice, doesn't make him any help taking care of them." Micah chimed in quickly, throwing Riley a slight look, to which Riley merely offered a slight eye roll.

 

"Alright, whatever, fuck face, let's go get this orientation done with." Riley sighed a little, not unsmiling though.