[PRP] Moving In

[Suudonym]

"I don't think so," Cory said, bringing a hand to his chin in thought. "There are two that I was expecting, but one of them is going to school in Sandalwood, and the other is still pretty much bumming around at home with his parents, I think. The girl in Sandalwood, Ashton, might end up around these parts after she graduates, but that's not for another couple years. Mm, and yes, I am. We had this whole group of people that hung out together, but we started scattering a few years ago."

There was an abrupt clatter from near the door as Nate returned, dropping another bin at his feet. "Oh my god are you guys just standing up here talking while I carry all this stuff myself?!" he accused, melodramatic.

Cory raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "And what happened to getting the stuff out of your car, huh? I know your games; if you don't do it now, you'll just leave it there forever."

Nate slouched his shoulders with a long groan, "Uuuuugh. What is it with you grown a** men acting like ********' mothers." He threw his hands up in defeat before proceeding back out towards the stairs.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

"I see. Well, there you have it, then - " he said holding out his arms. " - the reason why Nate decided to move into an apartment with an almost-stranger. I doubt he wanted to bug anyone else with his living arrangements, especially if they didn't already have plans or they had their hands full."

Going to get a cup of water for each of them, he added, "Actually, I was the one who proposed the idea after I found him living out of his car one evening. Was almost as surprised as you were when he accepted."

Filling up a paper cup with tap water, he studied it dubiously before handing one to Cory. Water was water, he supposed. Maybe he'd go out and buy a filter later. "So, that group of yours...that include Ellia, too?"

He took a sip before almost choking when Nate came in. "Sorry," he gasped, swallowing. "I'm going. But maybe if you didn't act like such a kid, we wouldn't feel so inclined to parent you!" he called back down the stairs. Sneering, he turned back to Cory. "Is he the only one he'll let get anything out of his own car?"  

[Suudonym]

"I thought he'd either wait until one of them became available or live alone," Cory offered, shrugging. "He might not outright act like it, but he's really insecure, especially around people he doesn't know well. I'm sure he's awfully nervous about this whole arrangement."

He accepted the cup with a nod of gratitude, eyeing the shifting surface of the water thoughtfully before drinking from it. "Mm, for a while," he answered. "Once she finished high school, she started chasing work. Spent a while at the warehouse by the pier where Nate works now."

He laughed at Akira's response to Nate and at the middle finger that appeared in the doorway briefly from around the side. "Maybe. He is kind of a private person."  

[Akira Midoriyama]

"Mmm...well, maybe that was his inital plan," Akira admitted. "He said something about having enough by the end of winter to get his own apartment, but since I was planning to move out of where I was staying at and I didn't really know anyone else, I thought I'd suggest rooming together. It seemed like it'd be better for the both of us financially, but now that it's more than just theory, I guess we'll see."

The brunet smiled at Cory's comment that Nate was insecure. "Oh, don't worry; I could tell that about him almost since the moment we met. I've had to deal with that before, so..." There was one thing he wasn't sure about, though. "Nervous? That we might not get along as roommates or something?" What was there to be nervous about? Sure, perhaps they didn't know each other too well, but Akira had a hard time believing anyone cared what the hell he thought of them. Even people who acted tough on the outside to hide their insecurity within.

"Ah...so he followed his sister here," he murmued thoughtfully. "I had wondered why he'd come so far from home. I mean, I know he said jobs are scarce around Ambergris, but I figured it had to be more than just that. Couldn't have been that he was chasing some dream career." Considering the significance of Nate's current job in relation to his sister's past one, he almost missed the middle finger until Cory laughed, causing him to do a double-take. "Yeah, real mature."

"I noticed that, too," he said more quietly. "I mean, I hate to be nosy and everything, but I think I've learned more about him from you in the past half hour than I have from him in all the time we've known each other." Akira sighed. "Not that I haven't had experience with that either...but maybe we can take things one step at a time."  

[Suudonym]

"Maybe a little, but that's not what I had in mind," he replied. "He's probably nervous that you might find out things about him that he doesn't want you to know. He carries a lot of burdens, possibly more than even I know about, but he's so stubborn about carrying it all by himself - and looking strong and confident while doing so."

There was a quiet, affirmative hum as other man raised the cup to his lips, staring absently towards the empty doorway. "The fumbling big sister and the responsible little brother. Not quite the impression he gives off, right? They were always together when they were little, though, so no one was really surprised when he decided to come out to Camphoreon."

A light smirk approached his features. "I imagine that's exactly how he wanted it, and he'd probably get all in a huff if he knew how much I've said." He downed the remainder of the cups contents with a sigh. "Honestly I feel a bit like an overprotective father marrying off his oldest daughter," he admitted, laughing. "Just… maybe try and give him the benefit of the doubt if he gives you a hard time. He's a lot of trouble, but he doesn't ever really mean any harm."  

[Akira Midoriyama]

"Oh...that." Running a hand through his hair, Akira closed his eyes. "I'm familiar with that as well. My ex-best friend was very much the same way." Stubborn, secretive, nobly shouldering more than his share of burdens while seeming relaxed and laid back on the outside... Except instead of learning about him from his sister's friend, Akira had mostly gotten his information from his cousin.

This was feeling more and more like déjà vu, but that gave him all the more reason not to back down. Because that also meant that this was a chance to avoid repeating mistakes from the past. Studying Cory, he said, "Not that I don't know how to respect a person's privacy, but...between you and me, as someone who cares about Nate, you don't really think that's healthy for him, do you? Allowing him to keep all of that to himself, locked away with no one else to confide in?"

"If it's not the impression he gives off, I'd imagine that's mostly due to the fact that I've yet to see his sister, let alone both of them together." He frowned. "Did they have a fight of some sort?"

"Heh...well, what can I say, I'm curious about who I'm rooming with, too." Finishing off his cup of water, he cast Cory a reassuring smile. "I won't say anything if you won't. As far as being overprotective, I admire that. It seems like his sister would have done the same had she been here."

He crumpled the paper cup in his hand before tossing it into a trash bin under the sink. "Thanks for all the advice. I'll certainly keep that in mind, but truth be told..." Hesitating, he tried to think of the right words. "...I don't think I'll mind that kind of trouble. From my experience, unfortunately, I seem to be something of a masochist for it," he confessed dryly. "Well, better get back to work..."  

[Suudonym]

Cory pushed a hand through his hair, exhaling quietly. "I don't know. I was the oldest in our group so I naturally wound up playing the part of the mother hen, but I have a hard enough time determining whether or not I'm making the right choices in my own life. And honestly," he looked to Akira with a surrendering shrug, "do you really think he'd stop just because someone told him to? He knows there are people who will listen to him anytime he wants to talk, but trying to force that will only drive him further back."

There was a long hum in consideration, then, "Yeah. It wasn't really anything big, but they're both prideful, so it kind of spiraled out of control. It'll work out someday, though."

A quiet smile came into the man's expression, but he gave no remark in return to the sentiment. Instead he raised a hand and patted Akira's shoulder, "Well, it sounds like you two will probably manage, so that's a relief to me. And yeah, I guess we should get back to it before Her Majesty comes back and raises hell about how we're still up here."  

[Akira Midoriyama]

"Yeah...that makes sense." He sneered lightly at the rhetorical question posed to him. "No, I know he wouldn't. And there's no way I'd try to force him to. I just wondered if you thought it'd be for the best if he were left alone with his burdens forever, as I'm sure he thinks it would be. But I guess no one can really say for sure."

"Mm...I guess I better stay away from that topic, then," he noted. "Sounds like a touchy family matter."

Raising his brows slightly as Cory pat his shoulder, Akira looked down and chuckled. "Thanks. Whatever this is, it's good to have your 'blessing', especially as someone with his best interests at heart." Snickering at the bit about 'Her Majesty', the brunet nodded and headed back down the stairs. "Guess so. I appreciate the talk, though, Cory."  

[Suudonym]

"Mm, no problem," he replied with a nod, following to exit the apartment and return to the task at hand.

Nate, standing at the bottom of the stairs with loose items of clothing, bedding, and who knows what else piled in his arms up to his eyes - a few things were slung across his shoulders as well, capitalizing on all available carry space - regarded the emerging pair with a look of excessive surprise and a muffled "hey--!"

Cory pointed strictly at the younger male, cutting him off before he could continue, "Don't you dare drop all that! Do not! If you drop all that crap on the ground, Nate, I swear, you will pick it all up by yourself!"

Nate's eyes narrowed in disdain that his actions were so easily predicted, making his way up the stairs with a huff, "I wasn't going to drop it, jeez. Chill out." He regarded Akira with a suspicious glance as he passed, returning to the apartment to deposit his burden.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

Laughing a little at Cory's berating, Akira drew back a bit at the suspicious glance he got from Nate as he passed. Feeling that such a look had been given somewhat unfairly, the brunet pursed his lips. Yet another game two could play at.

"Maybe I should help him out, Cory," he called to the eldest of the young men, making sure his voice was loud enough to carry into the apartment. "It wouldn't be fair to make him take everything out of his car all by himself."  

[Suudonym]

There was a quiet whump from within the apartment, and Nate reappeared shortly after, swinging from a grip on the door jamb, "I already got everything but the trash."

Cory, halfway down the stairs, regarded the other two first with a mild confusion and then with blatant disapproval, gesturing to the side of the building. "There is a dumpster literally right there. Throw it away."

Nate slowed to a brief stop, hooking his thumbs into his pockets and looking annoyed. He rolled his eyes with a sigh, regarding Akira sidelong. "If you wanna help toss stale bread, that's your prerogative." Without waiting for a reply, he continued down the stairs to return to his car.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

Somewhat surprised that he seemed to have annoyed his new roommate, Akira's brows rose. What had been meant as a sort of playful teasing must have come off sounding more nosy or offensive than he'd thought. Guess he still didn't know how to play nice with his peers, female or male.

"Ever heard the saying, 'you can tell a lot about a person from their trash'?" he tried again, offering a small smile as he descended the stairs after Nate. "Hey, relax! I'm not going to horde away your stale bread and make a shrine for it like some stalker." He cocked his head. "At least not while you're watching."  

[Suudonym]

"Oh but that's the thing, I'm always watching," Nate replied over his shoulder, skipping over the final stair with a wide step. He moved towards the familiar silver car, the trunk and backseat doors still open, and began to root through the contents with an uncharacteristic silence.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

"Then you won't need to worry about me," he answered, pausing before the sedan. Despite his offer to help, he felt a little odd about going through someone else's car. Nate's unfamiliar demeanor wasn't helping matters. "But then I'd have to wonder who's the stalker."

Sticking his hands in his pockets, he hung back, his attempt at lightening the mood seemingly falling flat. "Look, Nate, if you're having second thoughts or misgivings about this, you can have the place to yourself for a while. I can just hang around with Taiji if you need some space and time to adjust."  

[Suudonym]

"Mmmmhmm, that's what I thought." He dropped a bag of items to be discarded at his feet and shut the side door emphatically, frowning. "Had a nice chat with Cory, huh?" he said, a sneer to his tone. "I bet he had all kinds of insight to share."