His Muse

Roommate concerns & other romantic things

Copyright © 2018. All Rights Reserved

After Nic had some cherry juice and washed up for the night, he was out cold. He'd never fallen asleep so fast in his life. It was a religious experience—like his soul transcended from his body for nearly ten hours and came back feeling brand new. It was incredible. It was exhilarating. He felt like he should celebrate or something, and so in the morning when he woke up, he was alive enough to actually do something. He went out and bought a box of donuts for himself and some of the people in their hall. Leo came with him to distribute them, and at almost every door the guys answered with, "Hey Dad—thanks."

When the doors closed, Leo would mutter, "They planned this, didn't they?"

"Yeah. I didn't get in on it since it'd be weird—we room together and all," Nic confessed, knocking on the door to one of the girls' rooms. It was noon, so everyone should have been up anyways. The names on the door read Flo Klein and Nora Murray—two freshmen who frequented their dinner table.

The girl who opened the door, Flo, had her heavy ginger hair wrapped up in a bun, and greeted them with a cheery, "Hey Nic, Dad—whatchya got there?" They could hear her roommate giggling from the back of the room, and Leo scowled a little. "Ooh, not much of a morning person, huh?" she jested.

"Why are you all calling me 'Dad'? It freaks me out," Leo muttered.

Nic popped open the donut box, and soon two more donuts were gone. "Don't take it personally," the girl told Leo as she bit down onto the donut. Mid-chew, she added, "Besides, it's kinda kinky, Daddy."

"Holy shit, I'm going to murder whoever started this," Leo growled under his breath, red in the face from both embarrassment and raw, unadulterated anger. "I bet it was Wes. He's had it out for me since Day One of Welcome Week."

Flo rose her eyebrows, still smirking diabolically as she turned away, saying, "Bye Leo... Nic..." and shut the door.

"I, personally, find it hilarious," Nic said, "and totally worth it."

They came to Sav's single room next, and upon knocking on the door, they heard a thump followed by a very colorful, "Fuck!" Leo visibly winced from beside Nic, and when the door finally creaked open, he asked, "Are... you okay?"

"Now's... not the greatest time," she winced, expression pained as she turned to head back inside. Nic took that as the opportunity to follow, and nudged the door open with his foot before entering the premises.

Her room was dark, all except for her laptop, which was now on the ground along with a tangle of blankets. A strip of light dipped out from between the curtains over her desk, and glowed over the ceiling. She stooped down to pick up the blankets with a grunt, and wrapped herself up before snuggling down onto her beanbag. "Are you feeling all right?" Nic asked. "I got donuts, you want one?"

"Hell yeah. Any cream-filled or chocolate ones?" she asked, squinting at him as he propped open the box top and picked one out for her. She reached a hand out of her cocoon to take it.

"Is it the sushi from last night?" Leo asked, and added to Nic, "We got malted milkshakes with your mom afterwards. You missed out."

"Damn, what a shame," he laughed, only to be interrupted by Sav groaning.

"Leave. I don't want to talk to boys today," she moaned, turning over and closing her eyes, glasses pushed against her forehead. "You mock me."

Nic got the hint before Leo. "Yeah, we'll leave you be. C'mon buddy, let's go." He tugged on Leo's arm to drag him out of the room as if he was making a beeline away from a war zone. Leo, stubborn as ever, dug his feet into the ground.