Roomies

Lark was rocking out to a song on her music library as Joe walked up and opened the door. In the doorway stood a few students from their floor. They were trying to take a sneak peek at the new girl before they heard his question.

"No, no. We just heard she kicked some major ass today on the freshman "hunt"." A dark haired boy said.

"Total ass." Another one chimed in.

At one point, Lark pulled out an external keyboard and a mouse--singing at the top of her lungs to Cell Block Tango. All the boys looked in awe as they tried to cram in through the doorway.

"She can sing too?"

Lark was nearly dancing to the song as she got up and turned around to reach for something on her bed. She saw the three boys in the door and raised an eyebrow.

"Can I help you...?"
 
"I'm trying to figure out what they're here for too," Joseph noted in response. He wasn't especially phased by her singing, compared to the boys that had decided to force their way in. "But they're here for you, it seems. You've become the talk of the dorm or so it seems."

"It's not that strange," another boy ran towards them, using too much momentum and knocking over Joseph and one of the other boys. "She's totally cool! I mean, she's super tough you know? She beat the seniors like it was nothing!" He was cheeky and cheerful, something Joe noted to himself to make sure he didn't get too caught up with him in certain scenarios.

"Can you get off of me please?" Joseph groaned, before the boy got up and helped him and the other who had entered. Joe dusted himself off, sighing and returning to his bed momentarily to sit. "As I said. You've become famous, Lark."
 
"Not in the way I intended," she muttered to herself.

As the boys continued to shower her in compliments about her performance earlier that night. Lark smiled sheepishly, and put her hand behind her neck.

"I.. Uh had a lot of martial arts as a kid. My brother was a big fighter. Lots of trophies," she mentioned.

Turning around, Riley sat in her desk chair and pulled up a program and began to type. Taking a short break after a few minutes, she pulled up her internet browser and brought up the school's website. It seemed that the school dance was coming up in a month or two.

"I guess I know why they're all excited..."
 
((OOC: Is Riley one of the guys?))

He looked over her shoulder when she brought up the internet page of the school's website. A school dance was a bit surprising for so early in the year, but Joe assumed it was meant to help students get along better as an ice breaker of sorts, much like the 'hunt' from earlier in the evening. "I suppose it makes sense. It's a natural instinct...But still, a dance this early in the year is more like an ice breaker. Isn't it fine to not go so nuts about it?"

He moved from looking over her shoulder to pulling out a spare memo pad he had in his own desk and writing something on it. He wrote down to find books about dancing, then moved into a thinking position with his left index finger to his chin. He had to make sure just what he'd need to remember, as he wasn't sure if it was mandatory or not- and he had a feeling that eventually, the information would be vital in the future. "Personally, though, I really do think the hype is a bit overboard. You certainly are an interesting person, but it's not just because of earlier this evening, after all."
 
(OOC: OH sorry that's a character for something I'm writing. Super sorry. It's still Lark)

Lark looked up at Joe who seemed to have come considerably closer to her.

"Well, um, yeah I guess. But I like dancing. It's pretty fun and usually if the music is great I just have an awesome time."

Lark stretched her arms over her head and took a deep sigh. When she heard the discussion behind her, she remembered that there were more than herself and her roommate.

"Seriously, is someone dying and in need of attention? I'm lost."
 
((OOC: Oh, kay. I thought it may have been but I couldn't be sure. I've met a guy named Riley so it could've gone either way to me xD))

Joe didn't notice how close they were in proximity, too interested in the words that came from her and not from the proportions of the room and those that were in it. "Well then, if you like dancing, you should certainly go to enjoy yourself. It's a good break. Dancing is good exercise too." He smiled easily, turning to his bed again before recognizing the other boys still in the room.

"I don't think anyone's dying. I think they just zoned out..." Shaking his head, he turned to the two and pat their backs. "Well, it's getting late. Time to get going, you guys."

"Seriously, why so pushy Joey?"

Joe tried to hide his slight distress from being called 'Joey'. Instead, he merely told them that it was troublesome to just loiter around. They did leave, though frustrated, and he closed the door behind them. Then, he sat at his desk, sighing with relief. "They'll come back when they make some sense of their thoughts."
 
(OOC: Yeah sorry about that hahaha. Also, can you describe the physical look of Joe?)

Lark smirked at Joe's reaction. She closed her laptop and turned her body to face him. Her left knee was on the seat of the chair, her arms were crossed over the back of the chair, and her chin rested on her arms. Subconsciously, she watched him as he walked to his desk.

"Yeah, I suppose so." Lark turned her head to look at the bed. "Funny. I came to this school to kind of get away from being in the spotlight--aside from being in shows--but look at that. I'm in the center of attention."

The way she said it, it seemed like Lark wasn't happy with her situation at all. She nearly dropped the end of her last sentence, engulfed in her own thoughts. Unbeknownst her, she blacked out for a moment before she realized what she was doing.
 
((OOC: I forgot to this entire time? Crud! You should've told me sooner! xD No problem. I'll add it to the post here :3))

Joe watched her without much thought as he took his seat, his body adjusting to get comfortable on the wood. He was a bit short for a guy, but not overly so- however, when he sat, it was more obvious than normal that he was a bit top heavy. His figure was lean and not overly muscular, but he did have at least enough mass to look healthy. His chestnut brown hair was disheveled atop his head like the head of a mop. His equally brown eyes were cast towards her, illuminated gently by the glare of a nearby lamp's light.

The subdued sense of dismay in her voice caught his attention, though her blackout hadn't reached his attention properly. "If it bothers you that they fawn over you, then tell them. If they don't listen...Then take the next step when they don't. But if you don't tell them it bothers you, they won't know, right?"
 
Lark blinked as soon as Joe began to speak and she cleared her throat nervously. She took her long, black hair and pulled it into a pony tail, leaving a few strands to frame her face. Lark herself thought that she had an athletic build from the training her brother gave her and from numerous dance classes. However, that didn't mean she was too confident in her physical appearance. That was entirely her fault. It wasn't her fault people didn't treat her very well in her past schools. Nonetheless, it contributed to her warped view of herself.

"Yeah, I guess. It's not really helped at this point, I'll be in the center of many talks whether I want to or not. Might as well just deal with it," she said nonchalantly.

She leaned her cheek on her arms. Her blue-green eyes looked at Joe, studying him for a moment.

"What about you? Do you intentionally become invisible or is that just how it's been?" she asked, suddenly curious.
 
Joseph let his glance grow more curious subconsciously, closing one eye slightly as he tried to think over an answer. "I don't really think of myself as 'invisible'." He expressed his words simply, his voice a mild tone that seemed fairly ordinary. "I suppose I am a bit ordinary...But it's better to be yourself than not. So if the way I am makes me seem to be a bit hard to notice...It's not too much a bother to me." He smiled to her easily at the statement, proud of his self confidence at this point. He moved his elbow onto his desk and leaned his chin on it, staring at the wall for a moment.

"It's interesting, isn't it? You're unwillingly in the spotlight, and I'm in the shadows without much interest in the fact. However...I don't think it matters where you are between the two myself, though I can see how either extreme can be a bit hard to handle." He turned to give his attention to her again. His movements were fluid, but slightly fatigued. "I'm the type...Who is easily absorbed in what I do. Once I'm enthralled, I don't notice what's going on around me. If someone isn't paying heed, it's hard to pay heed back. At least, that's what I've been told is the reason...But I can't say for certain if that's true. Still...I'm not unhappy."

Soon enough, he was standing so that his short legs weren't as notable again. He stretched his slightly lanky arms ahead of him, leaning his head on his shoulder as he lifted the stretched arms above him. "In this case, I'm going to play a bit of role reversal here. What do you think causes people to notice you the way they do?" As he lowered his arms, he thought to himself and shook his head. "No...It's foolish of me to ask that in a way. Instead, I should ask what's more on my mind...Which is a simple question to me."

He gave her a very heavy glance this time, clearly intrigued and on target. "What caused you to notice me when I blend into the background? If you noticed I'm generally 'invisible'...That means I'm far from it to you, doesn't it?"
 
When Joe stopped his short monologue for a moment before stretching Lark looked at their carpeted floor.

"What a luxury," She muttered to herself.

When he asked his first question, she felt a tug in her chest. She was about to say, "I'd rather not talk about it" before he corrected himself. Which gave her some strong relief. Of course, she wouldn't admit it. It felt like whatever was constricting her chest was gone and she took in a slight breath. Listening to his second question, she thought.

"It's sort of complicated. I guess, my entire life, I wanted to be invisible. So I sought out invisible people and watched them and tried to become them. However, the more I tried, the harder it got. When I started writing, I noticed how much I took in of these invisible people. I can tell you how one would act when they're nervous and then I can tell you how another one will act when they're extremely excited. After that I kind of just took an interest into people. I liked watching people. I liked noticing their tid bid habits. That's just how I went through life I guess."

Lark thought again for a moment and when she concluded that she was finished, se had a slight nod. Standing up, her long legs were noticeable and she walked toward her bed. The clothes she was wearing had some dirt on them, but they were comfortable and she didn't feel like changing. Pulling the covers aside, she laid back on her bed--staring at the ceiling. Her parents may have sent her to this school, and she might not have been excited at first, but at least it would take her away from her home town. She was dreading going home for the holidays.

"I'm going to go to sleep now. I'm exhausted. I haven't trained for a few months so this is all coming back to me."
 
Joseph listened to her answering his question with great interest, keeping his eyes on her to show she had his full attention. Putting his hand behind his hand, he had a thoughtful expression on his features. So she was a people watcher? The only person to call him Joey was similar to her in that aspect, though their reasons for people watching were fairly different. However, one thing came to mind to him.

"If you try to be invisible, people will notice you trying and fight against it. The more you notice things around you, the more things around you will notice you. Perhaps in your case...The best thing you can do is take things in stride, and try to ignore things more. If you don't pay too much attention, the attention might leave you similarly. Though, that's just an assumption from personal experience on my part."

When he was finished stating his philosophy about the idea, he noted that she was heading to bed. He moved to the light switch, standing carefully and letting his finger hover at it to press it when it was time. The way his finger hovered was steady, but slightly shaky, as if waiting to pounce on prey. "I'll turn the lights out if you're going to sleep...I might use my book light to read a bit more before bed, but I'll try not to keep it too bright or on too long so that you can get enough rest." He smiled gently, flicking the switch and turning to get his book.

In the dark, he maneuvered carefully and used his hands to find his bed before falling onto it head first with his stomach on the blanket. He tried to quietly move himself so that his legs weren't hanging off the bed awkwardly, and decided to just read while on his stomach. Finding his book light, he attached it to the previous pages where his bookmark hid and turned it on so that it dimly lit the page he was reading. Then, he went into his reading trance, enjoying his story. When he noticed the fatigue in his eyes trying to close them a while later, he turned the light back off and murmured a good night mildly to no one in particular but likely to Lark before falling asleep, missing the pillow as he fell into slumber.
 
Lark ended up sleeping in until noon. It was the first weekend at her new school and she was done with her weekend homework. She woke up abruptly from the slamming of the door to her dorm. She pulled the blanket over her head and groaned lightly. She hadn't slept that well and she felt her shoulder throb again. It should have healed by now. Lark took a deep breath trying to fall asleep again.

(OOC: Sorry for the short post, I'm kind of stuck.)
 
((OOC: S'okay. I think I can work off it.))

Joe hadn't meant to slam the door. His original intention was to get some breakfast and sneak it into the dorm room for his sleeping roommate. He'd gotten dressed early and read a bit, but then he'd gotten a troubling text- and that set him off enough to show an abnormal amount of energy for his normally quiet nature, slamming the door behind him in a slight bit of rage, angered by his wake up.

He huffed as he made it to the cafeteria, managing to walk briskly enough to use up the energy from his frustration. One of his friends from his circle of book lovers tried to talk him down, but it didn't help much- he was too frustrated by a simple, stupid idea. His best friend from home had said she was told off by her boyfriend for not drinking with him or some nonsense- and that bothered him severely. That anyone would force their significant other to do something was horrid in his mind- and she was important to him, like a sister! He was starting to feel like an older brother again.

When he calmed himself down while finding some food, he picked up enough so that he could bring it back to Lark, and fled the cafeteria without eating. Once he had returned to the room, feeling confident he was approachable without snapping, he put the food on her desk in tin foil and went to his bed, sending a response to that which bothered him and letting out a deep sigh before reaching for his book again.
 
Lark felt like she was forced to wake up by the time Joe came back. She was in the bathroom taking a shower, letting the scalding hot water run down her back. It soothed her shoulder and she took a deep breath before shutting off the tap. The cold air wafted in and she let out a slight shiver. Stepping out of the shower, she wrapped a towel around her body before flipping her head to wrap the towel around her hair. Standing straight again, she yawned and opened the door. Still half asleep, she walked by Joe unknowingly before taking a small stack of clothes and walking back into the bathroom and closing the door.

She slowly changed into her clothes and rewrapped her hair in a towel and walked out, her feet padding the carpeted floor. It wasn't until she noticed the food on her desk that she realized Joe was there the entire time. A slight pink twinge came up on her neck, but she hid it quickly by sitting in the chair in front of her desk and opening her computer, awaking it.

"So... uh, how was breakfast...?"
 
He'd covered his face quickly with the book when she came out in her towel- he certainly hadn't seen it coming, but he was quite calm about the female form being nearby. Since she didn't bring it up afterwards, he decided it best not to mention he'd even noticed her- instead, he left the book atop his face, as if enjoying its smell and shading him from the light that was on in the room.

"Breakfast was fine," He responded in a monotone manner. The emotion in his voice wasn't really plausible- almost like he was a robot, but with more fluid speech. "Since you were sleeping, I thought it might be good to bring you something to eat so you could sleep through breakfast if you were tired enough. It's not much, but you can eat it when you're hungry for your first meal. The first meal of the day is important."

He finally moved his book, feeling any tinge of embarrassment had fled his face quite quickly. Moving it to the side, he turned over to face the wall nearby, curling his legs near his rump as if he were to take a nap soon. He hadn't quite finished his weekend homework, but he decided not to worry about it- he'd finish it when he was feeling more competent and less stressed. "You sleep well? I feel like I didn't get enough, so I might take a nap."
 
Lark looked at him curiously when he responded to her question. She felt like something was... off.

"No. I kind of had a rough night." She debated whether she should ask if there was something wrong. However, it's only been a week so she thought against it and shook her head lightly. "If you're tired you should go to sleep. I'll be quiet."

Lark leaned back in her chair and thought for a moment, staring at the ceiling. It's been a week and she was already liking the place much better than her hometown despite the attention she's garnered.

(OOC: Again, sorry.)
 
((OOC: It's fine, it's fine~ It looks fine to me~))

Joseph glanced over his shoulder to look at her when she spoke to him, not liking speaking without giving his attention. "You don't have to stay quiet on my account. Just go ahead as you normally would. You've seen how easily I fall asleep even when I'm engaged in a book. I have a pretty one track mind." He laughed mildly, relieved by the change in his mindset- as well as the honesty in his words. Joe was no doubt the type to get overly enthralled in whatever was on his mind, to the point of sheltering out most of what else was around him. That was why he got so easily frustrated, however. And that led him back in a circular thought, which caused a sigh to escape him again.

I shouldn't sleep angry, He told himself. It was a bad thing, or so he'd been told many times as a child- but some things stuck even as he got older. "I hope I didn't wake you earlier," He admitted. It had worried him at one point in the back of his mind. "My friend sent me a message that got under my skin, I suppose you could say. I'm certain I wasn't the quietest when I left due to it. I'd like to apologize properly for that, in case it caused you any trouble while you were in slumber."
 
Lark glanced over at him and thought to herself for a moment.

"You seemed upset. You kind of slammed the door pretty loudly, it actually woke me up. Usually I would have gone back to sleep, but for some reason I couldn't. So I kind of just laid there, staring at the ceiling. What seemed to have upset you?"

She leaned farther back, her chair leaning on its back two legs and her hands behind her head. She gave another sideways glance at him.
 
He wasn't sure why he was surprised, but he was. It wasn't strange to him that Lark would show an interest in what had lead him to waking her up without meaning to, and yet her asking had him rather quizzical for reasons he couldn't seem to recall. Part of him was tempted to brush it off, not liking the idea of pushing information onto her about his background, but he decided it best not to throw the question out completely- but to be careful with how much he gave her, as he didn't want to burden her with his own problems. Sighing, he looked upwards while speaking, trying to find the words to express his frustration from earlier in the day.

"I got a text from a friend back home. We text a lot, me and the others back home...We're very close where I come from. This one person though is what you might call my best friend. We've been together since we were in kindergarten, or the equivalent thereof...I think of her like a little sister, you know? So...Getting a text that she's having trouble with her boyfriend being a pushy bastard..." He laughed nervously, shaking his head. "Well, I normally wouldn't be quite so distraught, but I'm much easier to anger when I'm still partially a zombie. So...I snapped as soon as I read it. Still am, really. No one should force someone close to them to do something they're not comfortable with, right? But...I doubt my getting mad would really solve anything. And it troubled you too, in the end..."
 
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