-Not Alone Anymore- (Cat/Kara/Eric)

[Eric Bower]

Eric had been a workoutaholic for the past couple of months. he also trained and worked hard in school. He hadn't actually taken a breath to be himself, that is until Zac started to...drift in a different direction. He got caught up in girl (and some boy) drama and Eric respectfully stayed out of it, mostly because he didn't even understand all of what was going on.

Anyway, he'd cooled it with the working out, because he already looked amazing. He liked relaxing, still, and today happened to be one of those relaxing days. He had holed himself in his dorm with a bunch of snack food from the cafeteria (really enough for a bunch of people) and wrapped himself up with the comforter from his bed and enjoyed the movie channels on TV. It was a total, relax-only day.

So relaxed, in fact, he wasn't wearing pants but a pair of work out shorts and a tank top--what he wore to sleep. He stretched his arms over his head, and patted his stomach at the top of his stretch and then sagged against the cushions and flipped to another channel.

"Ooh. Fired Up." Zac introduced Eric to a lot of things, and that included those teenaged/young adult movies that Eric did not quite understand--he was fifteen after all.

(Meh, it is a bit on the crappy side.)

[Catherine Novella]

Cat followed Kara back to her room. She wasn’t aware that this was the co-ed dorms but it dawned on her when Kara was talking about how her roommate would not mind. How he would not mind. Cat quietly caught up to Kara. She was never really able to talk well with others; she was almost hiding behind her as it started to rain. Cat really did not want to get wet so she began to run but realized that she had no idea where she was going. She slowed down for Kara and gave her a look as if to say hurry up. She waited for Kara to catch up and soon enough they were at the dorms. Unfortunately they were sopping wet, but they had made it in time for curfew. As they entered the dorms Cat started to shiver. It was cold. She wanted to talk about something anything with Kara but words were failing her. She looked to Kara to see where they were going.

[Karashi Usaki]

Karashi walked to the dorms, and it suddenly started to rain. She frowned when she noticed how close Cat was to her. She didn’t think it would bother the little girl. She hugged the little girl as they made their way towards the dorm. Karashi hoped that Cat would be ok. She rarely got sick, but she didn’t know about Cat, and she would feel responsible if the small girl got sick. She hated feeling guilty about anything. It was the same way she was with feeling helpless. She hated both feelings with a passion.

When they got inside the dorm, Karashi turned to Cat. The girl was shivering, and she frowned. She wasn’t sure if this would help, but she wanted to do it anyway. Juggling her book, she took off her soaking wet jacket and put it around Cat. She smiled sheepishly. “I’m not sure if that helps, but it’s the thought that counts right?” She chuckled at her own joke, and then turned to the steps. “Ok then, follow me.” She began to climb the stairs. She only hoped that Cat was following her.

Words: 187
Muse: Eh.

[Catherine Novella]

Cat looked at Kara when she put her coat on her. “Thanks.” Cat followed Kara up the stairs. They stopped at the RA’s room and told her what was going on. The RA agreed to phone over to the girl’s dorm and let the RA over there know. Cat sighed in relief. As she followed Kara yet again through the dorm halls she was aware of all the different rooms. There were many more then in her own dorm. Though, Cat hadn’t really explored a lot, she found if she explored some place she would get lost, and getting lost meant that she would be late. Late was bad. Cat suddenly had the urge to give Kara a hug. “Thank you” cat said as she hugged the shorter girl.

[Karashi Usaki]

Karashi smiled at the girl. She stopped by the RA’s office and talked for a minute. After the matter of having Cat stay over was settled, she continued down the hallway. She had heard that she had a new roommate, but she didn’t know who it was. She hoped they were nice. She looked at the dorm room and smiled, then turned to the girl. She was suddenly hugged. She giggled and hugged the girl back. “You’re quiet welcome young one. Now, time for you to meet my roommate.”

She opened the door, and frowned. As usual, it was a mess. She sighed. Clothes were strewn over one half of the room, cans and bottles were everywhere on one half of the room, and the sheets on the bed were so disheveled that you couldn’t even tell it was a bed. She rolled her eyes. “Pardon my roommate for his mess. This is the usual.” She walked in, setting her book down on her neat desk. As usual, her side of the room was completely perfect. Not a thing was out of place, and everything looked clean. She sat down in the chair, and then smiled at the girl and gestured to the bed. “He should be back any time now.” She only hoped that he looked decent.

Words: 218
Muse: Eh

[Eric Bower]

Eric had watched the movie about halfway through when his bladder started to bully him. He tried to fight it, because he hated pausing movies, but he couldn't hold it and darted into the bathroom. He used the facility and while the toilet flushed, he washed his hands in the sink (hygiene was important!) before he scooted himself out of the dorm. He blinked in surprise to find not just his roommate, looking sour as usual, but also another girl. He rubbed his hand behind his head in embarrassment because he wasn't exactly in the proper attire to meet someone like this, ergo the embarrassment.

"Karashi," he nodded his head towards his roommate as he spoke. He hadn't really liked his roommate arrangement before he got moved into this one, so he hadn't complained with it had just been Karashi he was paired with, but he couldn't help but just get a mean vibe from her. He had with held telling that to Zac, however, because it was Zac's nature to be nosy. So mainly he just avoided being in the same room with her, but her friend was pretty cute, so he was willing to make an exception.

"Sup?" He turned towards the girl, "I'm Eric." He nodded his head like the smug little guy Zac turned him into.

[Catherine Novella]

When Kara opened the door Cat didn’t think it was as messy as Kara probably thought it was. She had been in messier places. She looked up at Kara and said “ Its not that messy, actually its kind of clean.” Cat was trying to figure out if it were ok to go in or not but she decided to wait until Kara was done and went in. Behind her, Cat heard someone walk up behind her and Kara. She turned around and was greeted by a boy who was not really dressed appropriately, quickly Cat hid behind Kara, a blush rising to her face. She looked out from behind Kara, realizing that he was talking to her. “Cat.” with that Cat nodded and hid behind Kara again. “Hi”.

[Karashi Usaki]

Karashi was waiting for Cat to walk in. She shrugged at the girl’s comment. Back home in Japan, her room had to be spotless, or else she would be grounded. It was the custom of all Japanese houses. Every house you went into, you had to take off your shoes, bow, and make sure everything was clean before you had guests over. To Karashi, even the slightest thing out of place was considered a mess. She shrugged again. “It’s custom in my country to keep everything spotless. If we didn’t, we would get in trouble.”

She suddenly heard a semi-deep voice behind them, and she turned around to see her roommate Eric standing behind them. She beamed and waved. “Hi Eric.” She was about to introduce Cat to him when he introduced himself first, and then she responded with her own name. Karashi dropped her hand and walked into the room, her shoes already off of her feet.

“Before either of you walk in, it would be great if you took your shoes off first.” She smiled at them, turning around and sitting on the bed. “Oh, by the way Eric, Cat is staying the night with us. Hope you don’t mind.” She did a hair flip and then smiled a cute smile at him. She actually liked having him as a roommate. “I’ve already talked to the RA so that’s all settled.” She giggled a little.

Words: 237
Muse: Ok

[Eric Bower]

Eric thought it was pretty freakin' awesome that his roommate was from a different country, like Japan, but her insistence on having everything spotlessly clean was a bit hard for him. He did keep his stuff neat and stuff, yes, but he also didn't like a mother figure harping on him about a tiny wrapper here or his shoes being anywhere but by the door. He was trying to keep it nice, for her sake and for his as well, but if he was willing to compromise, he thought that Karashi should be willing to too. Eric reclined on the couch when she asked them to take off their shoes, as Eric hadn't even put shoes on this morning--relaxing day, remember?

He grinned at the idea of Cat staying over, but she seemed pretty shy, especially when she jumped behind Kara to hide from him. "Does this mean we can stay up late, watching movies and talking about cute guys?" He put on a flamboyant voice, though Eric wasn't gay in the slightest--he had a bromance with Zac and a few of his classmates, yes, but that was different. He ruffled his hair as he grinned and made room for them on the couch. "I'm watching 'Fired Up' right now, I could start it over, for you guys. Ooh! And there is a bag of chips..." he picked it up and held it up for examination, "that I just opened! So if you want any..."

[Catherine Novella]

Cat felt Kara move, she moved with her. Cat looked at the girl that moved and noticed that she had taken her shoes off. In suit Cat did the same thing and walked over to her, when she heard Kara reply to Eric she spun around and faced him. “Pardon my intrusion.” Cat looked at Kara. It seems that she was more open in her own element. Cat smiled at Eric and Kara making her way into the room “Kara, I’m a bit wet and I don’t want to get anything else wet…Umm do you have any other dry things?” She heard Eric’s comment and laughed, he was funny to say the least. She looked at him. “ You don’t have to start it over or anything. I’m sure I’ll catch on halfway through.” Cat looked at Kara sitting on her bed. “Kara what do you want to do?”

[Karashi Usaki]

Karashi smiled at Eric. He always seemed flamboyant, but she didn’t mind. In fact, she liked it when he did that. It cheered her up when she was depressed and it made her laugh. She watched as he talked to Cat, and told them about the movie he had on. Karashi’s eyes lit up. “Ooh I love that movie! Start it over!” She had this movie back at home, and always watched it in Japanese. She had never seen the English version of it. “Put it in English,” she told Eric, not realizing what she was saying. She still wasn’t quite used to the terminology used in the United States.

She turned to Cat and frowned, thinking for a minute. She then smiled. “In that drawer over there you’ll find some pajamas. You can borrow mine for the night. They might be a bit big but you can snuggle in them to get warm. You can also take a shower in here too. If you want me to show you where it is I can, but you’ll have to wait. I’m going to do some laundry, and it’s near there, so you’ll have to wait for me.” She smiled at Cat. “Is that ok?” She stole the bag of chips from Eric and began to eat them.

Words: 216
Muse: Eh

[Eric Bower]

(FYI; the bathroom is in the actual dorm with them, it's not like a college dormy place. more like an apartment--minus the kitchen. So none of them would actually have to leave the dorm to use the toilet, or shower or whatever.)

Eric was a teenaged boy. He was a teenaged boy that spent a lot of his free time hanging around a boy that went by the name Zac LaRousse. When Cat mentioned she was wet, meaning her close. His face slid into his hand with a slap. He had to hold back a laugh and a pervy comment. It wasn't appropriate. It wasn't. He held his breath for a moment, and waited for the urge to pass. When his brain was out of the gutter, and he didn't talk himself into an early grave, he looked back up. Karashi was telling her about where her clothes were for her to change. Again, he strategically kept his mouth clamped shut.

"Of course it'll be in English, crazy." He wasn't lucky enough to be from a different country, hell, Vermont wasn't even very far from his home state. He didn't speak Spanish, or Japanese, or French or any of those other cool languages. "So that's one vote start over, one vote keep it going." He started it over, because hell, he could definitely sit through it again. It was funny. Eric frowned when she stole the bag of chips from him and folded his arms in a pout, only for a moment though, because he reached over and got himself a hand full out of the bag.

"Now hush, movie is starting!"

[Catherine Novella]

(( short.... sorry.))

Cat nodded to Kara and went to grab a pair of pajamas. She looked at Kara. She nodded slightly and went into the bathroom to change. She thought she heard laughter but was not sure. Cat Quickly changed and looked at Kara’ s pajamas. Wow. They were big. Laughing a bit cat eyed the laundry machine and figured, if she was here she might as well push it through. Once finished Cat walked out of the bathroom and sat down by Kara. Cat looked down as the movie started. She moved closer to Kara and sat down next to her. Deciding that her hair was to wet to just keep in a ponytail, silently she started to take it out and braid it. Once finished, she settled in to watch the movie.

[Karashi Usaki]

Karashi continued to munch on the chips, frowning at Eric’s comment, but then smiling as she watched Cat go over to her drawer and pick out a pair of pajamas. She knew that the girl would be engulfed in them, but she thought it would be cute, so she didn’t say anything. She waited for the girl to go into the bathroom and then turned to him. “She’s really shy, so please be nice. If you aren’t, you’ll meet my bad side, and that won’t be fun.” She was dead serious. She wanted this girl to be her friend, and she wasn’t about to take any chances that could ruin that opportunity.

She scooted over some for Cat and smiled when the girl scooted closer to her again. She watched the movie, but then watched the girl as she took out her wet ponytail and braided her hair. She frowned. The girl seemed to not know anything about taking care of her hair. “Here, let me help with your hair.” She untied the ponytail and ran her fingers through the girl’s sopping wet hair. She then ran to the bathroom and got a towel. She wrapped the girl’s hair up in it. “Now try not to move so much so it won’t fall out. Keep that in for about five minutes and then we’ll comb it out. It’ll dry faster that way. Then later on we can play with it. Is that ok?” She smiled, hoping the girl would agree.

Words: 250
Muse: Eh

[Eric Bower]

Eric kept to himself while Cat went to Karashi's room to get pajamas, and he twitched in surprise when Karashi threatened him. He had no intention of being anything but nice (his own weird form of it) to Cat because he could tell she was shy and she could respect that. He gave her a pointed look anyway and raised his hands up, "I'll be good!" He promised before he turned his attention back to the movie, and laughed at something that he thought was funny.

When Cat came back, he grinned in her direction, but he kept to his promise and said nothing else. After a while he just got into the movie and wasn't really aware of the two ladies on the couch with him, but when Karashi started talking to Cat, telling her what to do and all of that, Eric watched curiously. It was like an insider look at how girls functioned, and he felt like he should be taking notes. He couldn't help but snort.

"Can I get my hair braided?!" He asked with mock enthusiasm, and clasped his hands together in a begging motion. His hair, however, was much too short to braid, and he was just being silly, anyway.