to say this was disorienting was an understatement. this was such a far cry from anything ro had done in the past few years that somehow, her usual endeavors under a public lens felt less stressful than interacting with a house full of strangers. ro had spent much of the night pacing quiet observation with fleeting interactions -- enough to feel as if she was a participant as opposed to living furniture flitting about the building. though, that didn't sound like the worst option. no, no -- she'd committed. nonetheless, she'd resigned herself to the bed in her room, notebook and pen in hand. a recharge, a moment to collect her thoughts. ro had been so engrossed in thought in fact, that sudden movement caused her to jolt, notebook and pen hurtling to the ground between the pair.
"oh shit-- hey," she scrambled forward to retrieve her notebook, "i'm roo-ro, we're roomies-- roommates," she cringed internally at the faltered wording -- too much, too weird -- how did people talk to roommates they just met? "we're sharing the room." that felt better.
a pause for a beat that felt like a century all of a sudden. "how's the first night been going?" (@dxrcymoore)
the night had gone fairly well, considering. there was one name she’d been waiting to hear though, and still no rowena. darcy was beginning to think her room mate was a no show, but soon realised she was mistaken. the night had been filled with far too many first impressions. so much information to process in such little time. darcy’s mind had been racing, with possibilities, doubts, plans. usually she had a safe space to decompress and unpack, but in here she didn’t have that luxury. it wasn’t every day you started winding down for the night only to sleep in a room with a complete stranger.
the notebook, sprawled open on the floor was indiscernible from this distance. it didn’t stop darcy from being slightly curious at what information ro had gathered already. smiling kindly, she reached the notebook at the same time as the stranger, handing it back to them. “yes, ro is it? i’m darcy, and lucky for you i don’t snore.” it was evident they were quite nervous, but if there was one person darcy didn’t want to start trouble with, it was her room mate. everyone knows you don’t want to go to sleep angry (or afraid).
darcy began taking her jacket off, thinking of how to best summarise the evening. “it’s been more of a non-event than i expected really,” she mused, throwing the jacket amongst her other belongings. “i’m honestly surprised it wasn’t a bloodbath, but it’s only night one i suppose,” sitting on the bed she turned to the girl, her eyes lingering on her notebook. “and what about your night? newsworthy?”