Imogen Moreno

As Grace listened to Imogen she couldn’t help but to smile as she listened to the explanation, it did make sense, at least when it came to Imogen in Grace’s opinion of the girl. She didn’t know her well but she seem quirky and that just made her words make that much more sense to her. “How about since you know my biggest secret you tell me one of your own,” she half-asked, half-suggested.

Imogen opened her mouth to protest revealing one of her biggest secrets, before promptly closing it again. It was only fair that she tell Grace something- some sort of secret collateral, no matter how meager. Not to mentoin the fact that it wouldn’t do much for Grace’s ability to trust her if she wasn’t willing to share one of her own, considerably less damaging secrets. “Alright” she agreed, chewing on the edge of her lip as she considered. What even was her biggest secret? She was a fairly open person, or at least she liked to think so. As soon as it occurred to her though, she felt silly for not having realized what it was sooner. “Promise you won’t tell anyone?” she verified. 

Valerie: Yeah, I've got to hear about this rooster phase.

Valerie: :) Stop, you'll make me blush.

Imogen: Great! Let's say I tell you at... 6?

@captain-dallas

@shespowerful

Valerie: Maybe you can tell me more about Stormy and his phases...

Valerie: Chinese sounds perfect. Though persuading sounds tempting ;)

Imogen: Let's see- there was his climbing phase, his hiding phase, his scratching phase... oh, and his rooster phase! I can tell you all about them tonight, if you want?

It hit Eli suddenly: now that his presence was known, he had to wonder if it would be welcome. After all, this was now Imogen’s room. Had he been in her shoes, he certainly would have had reservations about sharing a room with a ghost – despite the fact that he wasn’t even remotely alive. He was still sentient on some level.

He could sense Imogen’s hesitation about elaborating, so he didn’t prod any further. Eli understood all too well the need to only offer up the bare minimum. The time would eventually come where Imogen felt the need to delve into his past.

The internet would offer up some kind of explanation as to his demise. But the rest of his life–the depressing details that led up to his end–would have to come from Eli himself. There was nothing to lose really and yet, he was already sure that it would be a difficult topic to breach. Eli could only hope against hope that it wouldn’t come up for quite some time.

Nodding at her suggestion, Eli gave her his full attention. “Yeah, definitely. What are you thinking?”

“Hm...” Imogen paused briefly to consider. She hadn’t necessarily had any ground rules in mind, it had just seemed like a good idea to get something figured out if they were going to be living together. Or coexisting, she supposed. “Well, first off... are you, like, confined to this room? Or are you able to go other places too?” she asked, deciding that would have an impact on what the rules might be. 

“I mean, not that I’m asking you to stay out of here- it’s your room too" she quickly clarified, not wanting him to think she was trying to kick him out. To be fair she wasn’t even sure if she could kick him out, but either way it seemed being civil about this was the best course of action. 

“But just, if you don’t need to sleep and can leave the room, then maybe you could go somewhere else at night? Because, not gonna lie, it might be kinda creepy trying to sleep otherwise?

Valerie: Trash can phase? That sounds problematic.

Valerie: I am totally free for dinner with you. :)

Imogen: It was an interesting time, to say the least.

Valerie: Yes?

Valerie: Aw!! Cats are so silly, anything is a toy to them :)

Valerie: How are you guys doing? I miss you both.

Imogen: Right? It's hilarious and awesome at the same time. Anything's a target to become the next toy! To be honest though, I'm mostly just glad he's left his trash can phase behind... for now.

Fiona listened intently as Imogen spoke, it was hard not to be totally enthralled by the petite brunette who was so energetic. “You should make a list of your top three. That way you can focus in on them a little easier.” As they stood at the counter, almost ready to order, Fiona figured that she would go first since she had already visited before. “I’ll take a caramel apple spiced cider and the Thai spring rolls, please!” She said loudly as a new rush of students entered. After paying, she stepped to the side for Imogen to order, waiting patiently. It hadn’t occurred to her to try and mention what the best menu options were. For whatever reason, Imogen struck Fiona as someone who had her tastes and knew what she liked it. This was partially another reason that she had been somewhat charmed by the girl in the past. While they weren’t particularly close, the slightly older girl had admired that Imogen wasn’t a follower and that she stuck to the beat of her own drum. It was only in her gap year that Fiona finally let that knowledge sink in. Being yourself was important, whoever stuck around were the ones who were meant to be there in the first place.

After Imogen finished up, Fiona saw a tiny back corner table free up and rushed over to. It was a bit tight but it felt cozy and intimate which never hurt when you wanted to get to know someone more. She carefully took off her light jacket and placed it behind her chair, making sure that she didn’t accidentally hit anyone in the process. “I like your menu choices by the way,” she noted while they waited for their orders to be called. Smiling sweetly, she offered to go grab them once they were called. “I think it’ll be easier that way. It got so crowded all of the sudden.” Which was true, the room was now full of the lunch time bustle. “So, quick and easy question while we wait,” Fiona began. “How’s your roommate situation? I personally opted for the more expensive room without one and I’m already thankful.” She laughed a bit as she remembered hearing other students talk about how much they weren’t enjoying theirs. Fiona technically could have afforded something off campus but truly wanted to dive into university like everyone else. Though she had a feeling that even if Imogen wasn’t keen on her roommate, she would be a much better sport about it; but that wouldn’t keep Fiona from letting her know that she could always escape to her room if she needed somewhere else to be.

“That’s a good idea- I’ve got a list of my favourites right now, but I should probably pare it down- it’s a little hard to focus in on ten different things at once” Imogen admitted, pulling a face. When they arrived at the cafe, she looked over the menu as quickly as she could, not wanting to hold them up with her own indecision. Thankfully lunch was much easier to decide on than a major, and it wasn’t long before she’d opted for a fontina grilled cheese and chai latte. Once she’d paid for the meal she looked around for Fiona, quickly spotting the older girl setting her jacket down at a table in the corner. She made her way over, a little surprised when Fiona offered to get both of their orders when they were ready. She almost objected, but the older girl’s explanation made a lot of sense “you’re probably right- thanks!” she said instead, smiling brightly.

When Fiona asked about her roommate situation, Imogen couldn’t help but pull a face. "I wish I’d done that,” she said wistfully of the older girl’s decision to room alone. “I mean, don’t get me wrong- Courtney isn’t awful, she’s just...” Imogen trailed off as she considered, not really sure how to finish that sentence in a way that would explain what it was she thought of her roommate. “Meh,” she decided. It wasn’t a great descriptor, but she felt it was the one that best fit her roommate. She wasn’t quite bland, but fun didn’t work either- not boring, but not interesting either. Imogen wasn’t sure if she felt a stronger sense of comraderie or annoyance toward the blonde, nor did she particularly care to find out. 

Miles just nodded his head a bit. “Yeah, I am kind of used to the big house myself. Can’t say I’m complaining though. Means I can get away from Frankie and Hunter easier. Why’d you guys pick that place of all places?” It wasn’t like it was a bad place, he just never had taken her to be the type to live in that neighborhood.

“And I’m just curious. My dad mentioned something about the new neighbors, and I was a little interested myself in that all. He on the other hand thinks you’ll bring the property value down. How stupid does that even just sound?” Miles shook his head, realizing he was getting off track. “Sorry, yeah, just thought we should hang out more sense you live so close now.”

“I dunno. I wasn’t really involved in the decisoin making process,” Imogen replied, deciding to leave it at that. At Miles’ mention of his dad’s opinion of her and her potential effect on the neighborhood she blinked, baffled. “Pretty weird” she agreed, not having the faintest idea why Miles’ Dad would think her mere presence in the neighborhood would be enough to reduce property values. 

But then, she also had no idea why his son had decided living near her meant they should hang out more- perhaps nonsensical decision making ran in the family. “I mean, we could do that’ Imogen conceded “Or you could cut the baloney and tell me why you’re really trying to get on my good side” she suggested, raising an eyebrow.

Imogen: So, you know that bag we used to smuggle Stormy back to my apartment?

As perplexed as Imogen looked, (even though she was the one who talked herself into confusion, hilariously enough) Eli was willing to bet that he was even more baffled.

Had the world really changed so much over the years? The shifting nature of society and trends was clearly something he’d taken for granted while alive.

He was sure it all showed on his face. Meeting Imogen was both pleasant and a little depressing. She was so locked into the present, and Eli was something of a relic from the past. The people he was friends or even just peers with during high school were grown up. They aged, went on to get degrees and careers, a handful of them probably having families of their own.

Eli knew on some level that he didn’t really have a right to be resentful. The way he met his maker was avoidable. Those were his decisions, his rash nature that led to his death. There was no one else to blame.

In an effort to derail his train of thought, Eli turned the topic back onto her.

“So did you just move here?” he asked, gesturing to both the room and then further out into the house.

Imogen didn’t blame Eli for appearing so blatantly confused- she’d been rather thrown for a loop herself bys some of the changes that had taken place in recent years, and she’d been there to see the gradual shift- getting all of this information at once was surely a lot to take. Still, she wasn’t terribly sympathetic, having just discovered a ghost in her new bedroom. Clearly, they’d both need to be getting used to sudden shifts in their worldview. 

Despite how surreal the conversation had been so far though, Imogen felt she’d been handling things pretty well. At least, she had been until the topic of conversation suddenly changed from fashion and satanists to her moving in.

“I... yeah,” she answered, expression kept carefully neutral. Feeling such a short response would only lead to more questions, she quickly elaborated “No one else new is moving in though, just me. This is my mom’s place these days” She didn’t particularly want to explain any further, and hoped he wouldn’t ask.

“But, uh, speaking of me moving in. Maybe we should get some ground rules out of the way?" she suggested, eager to change the subject.

“Okay well I’ll keep your favorite in mind in case I need to tell someone a random fact or buy you something,” she stated as she continued to listen to the other girl speak. Hearing her next question she rolled her eyes and laughed, unable to help herself. “That’s a more original ice breaker than what my favorite color is but that’s just me. "Yeah I can it’s hard to explain how it works though it’s just something that I can do.”

“Well see, it would be more interesting, except that it’s exactly what you’d expect me to ask after a revelation like this. Which is what gave the mundane questions an edge, at least for the first. Speaking of mundane questions, feel free to ask me any you’d like! Or less mundane questions, although I can pretty much guarantee right now the answers won’t be as interesting as being able to breathe underwater. Which is, by the way, ah-mazing.”