Tweak

InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE."

Username: 
Password:    
Remember Me
  • Create Account
  • IJ Login
  • OpenID Login
Search by : 
  • View
    • Create Account
    • IJ Login
    • OpenID Login
  • Journal
    • Post
    • Edit Entries
    • Customize Journal
    • Comment Settings
    • Recent Comments
    • Manage Tags
  • Account
    • Manage Account
    • Viewing Options
    • Manage Profile
    • Manage Notifications
    • Manage Pictures
    • Manage Schools
    • Account Status
  • Friends
    • Edit Friends
    • Edit Custom Groups
    • Friends Filter
    • Nudge Friends
    • Invite
    • Create RSS Feed
  • Asylums
    • Post
    • Asylum Invitations
    • Manage Asylums
    • Create Asylum
  • Site
    • Support
    • Upgrade Account
    • FAQs
    • Search By Location
    • Search By Interest
    • Search Randomly

Rosario Ortiz ([info]reluciente) wrote in [info]nevermore_logs,
@ 2022-03-06 18:29:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:armaan khatri, rosario ortiz

WHO Rosario and Armaan
WHEN Sunday 6 March, afternoon
WHERE Lyra, Avery and Armaan’s apartment, Crown Heights
WHAT Meeting the roommate
WARNINGS Probably none

It was only a couple hours after Lyra took off, when the buzz of a text yanked her head out of her books and her mind out of the endocrine system, that Rosario made a grab for the phone plugged into the charger and discovered that it wasn’t hers.

It wasn’t a big deal, Lyra was always leaving her phone round here. Not like Rosario had to go far to return it. Except— gah, dammit, that wasn’t true anymore. Crown Heights wasn’t far far, it was only a twenty-five minute bus ride, not even two miles, but when you’d spent most of your life a couple staircases and a stretch of corridor apart, twenty-five minutes seemed like a trek.

Rosario sighed. Welp. Least it’d be a chance to check out Lyra’s new digs, she guessed. Unlike Jocelyn, she wasn’t worried about how they were splitting the rent (Avery was a condescending ass, but Rosario could grudgingly recognise that he always treated Lyra right) or who was doing the lion’s share of the cleaning (Lyra wasn’t gonna be running round picking up after no boys; no diss, but half the time she forgot to pick up after herself), but it’d be reassuring to know her bestie wasn’t breathing in black mould or something.

So a half hour and two buses later, that’s where she was: walking into a Crown Heights apartment block, triple-checking the address on her phone before she rapped on the door.

(Post a new comment)


[info]fallontheflame
2022-03-06 10:08 am UTC (link)
Armaan had one day officially off a week. On week days he balanced his time between his college studies, including his internship, and his part-time job at the bodega he had now worked at since he was seventeen. On Saturday he studied, put in nearly a full day at the bodega, and then it was family dinner night before sometimes he went out to a club to let off steam. Sunday was his rest day. Sunday was for recovering.

Sunday was for last night's eating leftover curry on the sofa while he watched Love is Blind season 2 on Netflix. He had just been screaming at the screen, "Deepti! That Shake idiot isn't worth your time!" when he heard a knock at the door. He shoved a bit of naan bread in his mouth and he jogged over to the door to open it. He made a questioning sound around the naan when he didn't recognise the person on the other side.

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]reluciente
2022-03-06 11:36 am UTC (link)
The guy who opened the door wasn't Avery, and he certainly wasn't Lyra. Rosario stared at him stupidly for a moment, while he blinked back with a similar look of bemusement. Around what was evidently a large mouthful of food, he made an unintelligible sound with a very distinct set of question marks at the end of it. Wrong door. But this was the address— unless there was a typo? Lyra could've flubbed the number and not noticed?

"I, uh," she began, and it was only belatedly, as her mouth formed around the apology, that she remembered, oh, duh, they have a roommate. "Sorry I— um, I'm Rosario, Lyra's friend? Is she around?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallontheflame
2022-03-06 11:40 am UTC (link)
Armaan made an 'Ah!' sound around his naan, and then he held up a finger to signal he needed a moment. After swallowing he said, "in hindsight, grabbing that last bite of naan while I answered the door was dumb. Hi, Rosario! Come in, come in. Lyra's not here, but I don't think she's far away. I'm Armaan, the housemate!" He stepped aside to let Rosario past. Lyra talked about Rosario a lot, so it was nice to place a face to the name. "Want some naan? Not the- I promise I have naan I didn't just bite from," he laughed.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]reluciente
2022-03-06 12:14 pm UTC (link)
Rosario felt kinda odd about making herself at home when Lyra very clearly wasn't, but the roommate – Armaan, right, she remembered now – had already opened the door wider and stepped back to wave her inside, like it was no big deal at all. She hovered awkwardly on the threshold. "Oh, uh— I mean, I don't wanna intrude, if you're busy? I can just, she left her phone at my place, I can just drop it off..."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallontheflame
2022-03-06 12:18 pm UTC (link)
"That's so kind of you to bring it back!" Armaan said with a smile. "And you're not interrupting anything. I was just shouting at my TV." He pointed to it where Love is Blind was paused. "Lyra says you're her best friend, yeah? I'm still getting to know her. Do you want something to drink?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]reluciente
2022-03-07 01:47 am UTC (link)
Rosario followed the gesture to the frozen image on the TV, then looked back at Armaan. He didn't seem like he was just being polite. Actually, he was smiling and chatting like they were already pals, which somehow left her feeling more awkward— at least if he'd been a jerk, she wouldn't feel obligated to cast about for small talk. But he wasn't, and maybe it'd be rude to make an excuse and bolt— she had told Lyra she was gonna make an actual effort. Well, technically she'd said that about Avery, but Avery was... ugh.

So she returned his smile, a little stiffly, and stepped through the door. "Uh, sure, whatever you're having. And yeah, we've been friends since we were kids, grew up in the same building. We're basically sisters, you know?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallontheflame
2022-03-07 01:50 am UTC (link)
Armaan went to the fridge to get Rosario some Coke and returned with a glass for her to take. Then he gestured her into the living room.

"I think of Avery like a little brother, though I haven't known him as long as you've known Lyra." Avery's real family was just so awful though, and Avery deserved people on his side. "So uh- What do you think about this marriage then?" he asked, wondering if Rosario was going to defend it, or jump in about how crazy their friends were.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]reluciente
2022-03-07 04:52 am UTC (link)
Rosario followed Armaan into the living room, casting a discreet eye about the place as she did so. It was a pretty small apartment, but scrupulously tidy. The scent of curry spices wafted from the plates on the coffee table.

His question gave her pause. What she thought about the marriage was that the two of them had been riding a high of victory and adrenaline and alcohol and had done something stupid-impulsive and she really, really, really hoped they weren't gonna regret it. But she wasn't gonna say that to Armaan two minutes into knowing him, especially when he'd just described Avery as being like a little brother. For all she knew, he might just turn around and repeat everything to Avery, and Avery thought she was a bitch as it was.

"It was, uh... fast," Rosario said diplomatically. "I mean, they are super into each other. Lyra cares about him a lot. But there was a definite... Vegas factor involved."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallontheflame
2022-03-07 07:44 am UTC (link)
Armaan pulled his arms up so he was sitting crosslegged on the sofa and he spread his hands out, "it was so fast! Don't get me wrong, the more I get to know Lyra, the more I adore her." It was true too, Armaan thought Lyra was a goddamn delight. Still. "But I- I just worry. I didn't even know they were dating. I walked in after a road trip with my family and found them making out in the kitchen."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]reluciente
2022-03-07 11:07 am UTC (link)
Rosario was watching Armaan's face, trying to suss out where he sat on the whole Vegas marriage situation when he simplified the matter enormously by telling her straight up.

And god, it was an unexpected relief to hear somebody saying out loud the words she'd been thinking all this time. She'd felt like such a killjoy when Lyra had announced it to everyone. Addy and Henry been all capslock-and-exclamation-points excitement, and if anybody else had been thinking this has disaster written all over it, they'd kept it firmly to themselves.

She felt her shoulders relax a fraction and she sank down onto the sofa, flashing a sympathetic look at Armaan. "Yeah, I feel you. Marriage is kinda..." A trailing pause, in which she discarded the words reckless and crazy and horrifically optimistic, before landing on, "...a huge thing to go rushing into. I want it to go great for them, but, um..." she gestured at herself with an index finger. "Child of divorce. So... yeah. I get worried."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallontheflame
2022-03-07 11:13 am UTC (link)
"My mother and bio dad split up too. She was so young and he was older and she rushed into it and- So yeah, I worry. I worry a lot. I was so blindsided I kept bringing up things like...do you even know where you both stand on kids, do you know each other's middle names, and they looked at me like I was the crazy one."

Armaan sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Oh my god, I am so sorry. You don't even know me and I'm ranting. Just- I haven't been able to talk about this to many people." He was going to leave Iestyn and Henry out of it, since they might not want it known they were concerned too. "I like both of them. I want them to be happy. But I am worried."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]reluciente
2022-03-08 04:17 am UTC (link)
Super young mom and an older dad, hoo boy did that sound familiar. (Rosario bet she had Armaan beat for skeevy age gaps, though.)

That wasn't the only thing she could relate to. Rosario found herself cracking a wry smile as Armaan described the same arguments she'd choked down and the familiar experience of being trapped between Lyra and Avery's affronted stares. "It's cool," she said. "Seriously, I'm with you. I mean— they been running at this all backwards. Getting married at the start of the relationship? Moving in together after the wedding?" She made an uncomfortable face.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallontheflame
2022-03-08 04:21 am UTC (link)
"At least that they told me about before it happened. I mean, like the day before, but still," Armaan shook his head. "I want it to work. I want them both to be so happy. And I'll do anything I can to help them. I just- I worry that they didn't build enough of a foundation for that to be the case. Which makes me feel so old," he laughed. "Does it make you feel old?! Why am I saying parent thing to my roommate?!"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]reluciente
2022-03-08 10:23 am UTC (link)
Rosario let out a quiet puff of a laugh, and a little more tension slipped away with it. "Oh my god, so old," she agreed. "You know what's worse? When I'm saying the parent things to my dad." She was thinking of her real dad: Marcos was as chronically disorganised as Chicky, and visiting his place Rosario always got itchy fingers just looking at the yet-to-be-paid bills lying possibly-forgotten beneath takeout menus that might still come in useful and junk mail that hadn't made it all the way to the bin and books that he'd been meaning to finish for the last six months. Every so often she'd try and prod him into setting reminders on his phone or gift him a wall calendar with a pointed remark about how useful they were to keep track of stuff, and he'd always smile at her fondly and thank her and agree to give it a shot. When she'd dropped round on Friday, the latest calendar had still been sitting on January.

She was thinking about Marcos, but as she said it an image of Apollo flashed in her mind: Apollo in the park, staring at her with an expression of utter perplexity, unable to comprehend a world in which he'd ever been in the wrong. The corner of her mouth puckered. "I dunno, eldest sister syndrome, I guess?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallontheflame
2022-03-08 10:30 am UTC (link)
"Hah!" Armaan huffed out and then he waved his hands around before she assumed it was a bad hah. "Same! My dad died- not my bio dad mind, I was seventeen but my sisters were nine and six. So boy do I get eldest sibling syndrome! I did a bit of parenting my mother as well. She's only sixteen years older than me, to be fair. Responsible Armaan, chasing after all of them. So at least you and I come by it honestly?!"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]reluciente
2022-03-08 12:34 pm UTC (link)
That got a 'hah' in return from Rosario, surprised and a little amused. "Dude," she shook her head, and the wry pucker curled into something closer to a real smile, "mine were straight outta high school when they had me. Two younger sisters, too."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallontheflame
2022-03-08 12:45 pm UTC (link)
Armaan grinned widely, "I think we might be the same person, Rosario. Quick, are you also gay and want to be a weatherperson? Because if so, then this is the strangest meeting I have ever had," he joked with her.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]reluciente
2022-03-09 04:02 am UTC (link)
It was weird how quickly Rosario found herself laughing with this virtual stranger. Or maybe not so weird; they did, apparently have a whole lot in common. (Including, unfortunately, an attraction to guys. Not that she had any time whatsoever to be thinking about boys right now, even boys with objectively attractive smiles who were unexpectedly easy to talk to, and oof, maybe he'd done her an unwitting favour dropping that piece of information now before she could start down a road to embarrassing herself.)

"Straight and a med student, no dice. You're doing meteorology?" she asked with a spark of interest. She'd almost taken an earth sciences elective back at CUNY; hadn't been able to fit it in, ultimately, in amongst the huge swathe of prerequisites for her double-major.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallontheflame
2022-03-09 04:09 am UTC (link)
"Oh med student!" Armaan grinned. "That's so cool! No, I'm actually just studying to be a weather reporter. Someone else can do the science and I'll make up the dumb weather puns while standing in a rain storm, telling people 'by the way it's raining'. I'm doing an internship now at a tiny local station and they're teaching me how to read all the equipment they have which is really awesome." He went a bit quieter before he added, "I might do the meteorology bit part time after I have a job. It just takes more years to finish and I already put off study to raise my sisters." He needed a full time job as soon as possible.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]reluciente
2022-03-09 09:34 am UTC (link)
Boy, did Rosario relate to that. "Kinda why I went for medicine," the admission slipped out of her. "I mean, I know you're s'posed to say 'I wanna save lives' and stuff, and yeah, that's important, but honestly? I want a job that means I can look after my sisters and parents and grandma, and this is a thing I'm good at." Except when you said that out loud, you risked people looking at you like you were some kind of vulture, like every other med student in the world was such a Mother Theresa, so usually she stuck with I wanna save lives and stuff. Crap, she hoped she hadn't read the vibe wrong and Armaan wasn't about to take it that way.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallontheflame
2022-03-09 12:37 pm UTC (link)
Rosario had not read the vibe wrong at all. "I mean- I guess I get what other people might be thinking there, but whose lives are more important than our family's? Sounds like that kind of thing comes from people who might not know the feeling of being unstable financially. When everything you work for is just to be stable. Don't get me wrong, saving lives and helping people is great, but it's that 'put your oxygen mask on yourself before helping others thing'. Where 'oxygen mask' means 'the ability to pay bills'."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]reluciente
2022-03-10 12:02 pm UTC (link)
"Exactly." God, it was a relief to talk to somebody else who actually got it. Apollo didn't have a clue; neither did Merlin. Talking about callings and paths opening to her, a couple of old rich white guys who'd probably never had to make a pay check stretch or worry about making rent. Merlin'd told her she was getting in her own way, like she didn't know exactly what way she was going! They were worse than her high school career counsellor and her bullshit motivational slogans. "All that 'follow your bliss' crap, it looks cute on paper, but what about their bliss?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallontheflame
2022-03-10 12:12 pm UTC (link)
"What about their next meal," Armaan added. He agreed wholeheartedly, and how fucking refreshing to talk to someone who understood. "After my dad died, all of a sudden there were four mouths to feed and my mother did laundry for a hotel. Which doesn't exactly pay much. His life insurance paid off his medical bills but that was it. She had to get two more jobs, and I quit school to raise my sisters. Had a part time job at bodega during the day. And that budget I wrote out every week accounted for every single goddamn penny. Try following your bliss with an empty stomach. I want my sisters' lives to be better than mine was. So I get you. Any one who doesn't just hasn't been through it."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]reluciente
2022-03-11 04:38 am UTC (link)
"Damn," Rosario nodded her understanding. Armaan had been through it alright. Her family had gone through some real tight times, 'specially those first few years after the split, but no matter what crap was flying at them, Ma and Abuela had always managed to keep the girls fed and clothed and in school. Ma had never got the option of going to college; like Armaan, she wanted her daughters to have the opportunities she'd never been given. "They lucky they have you. We had my abuela; she and Lyra's grandma used to tag-team it, one took the kids when the other one was working. How we got to be friends."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallontheflame
2022-03-11 04:50 am UTC (link)
"I'm lucky I have them," Armaan said, because when he thought of his family, he felt like the luckiest man alive. If only they knew everything about him-

"That sounds really nice. All my friends dropped me after I suddenly wasn't fun any more. They were going to parties and getting drunk and I was reading stories at bedtime and helping with math homework," he chuckled. He didn't say any of it bitterly, because he wasn't bitter about it. He wouldn't trade helping raise his sisters for anything. It wasn't what he had planned, but that time he had had with them was so precious.

"Don't get me wrong, the aunties pitched in! Most of them had kids even younger than my sisters though, so it wasn't easy for them."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]reluciente
2022-03-13 06:02 am UTC (link)
Hey, at least the aunties'd had a valid excuse. Rosario's uncles still scarcely acknowledged their brother's kids existed. (Her uncles were also jerks, so, you know, swings and roundabouts.) But her dad's family was way too messy a topic to get into (went for both dad, now she thought of it), so instead she asked, "How old are your sisters now?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallontheflame
2022-03-13 08:34 am UTC (link)
Ah, his sisters, a topic he could literally talk about all day long! "Sixteen and nineteen," Armaan grinned brightly. His entire face lit up when he talked about them. "They're amazing. My favourite people in the whole wide world. They've been bossing me around since they were born, the both of them. And I couldn't love it more. What about you, how old are yours?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]reluciente
2022-03-14 06:01 am UTC (link)
Rosario quirked a small grin. "Ooh, almost a match. Sixteen and twenty. Camino's an apprentice hairdresser, Chicky's still in school. They're both real creative." Rosario didn't have an artistic bone in her body. It was tempting – in an ugly, paranoid way – to imagine it as yet another telltale sign she'd missed, that she wasn't fully a part of the family. Rationally, it was probably just a sign that she took after their mom. "Got all three of us at home, plus my mom and abuela. It can be kinda chaotic."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallontheflame
2022-03-14 09:55 am UTC (link)
"We really are so similar," Armaan chuckled. "I'm glad you came over today! And yeah, my house was chaotic too. Chaotic, but the best. I only moved out because I could finally attend college, and Arya - the nineteen year old, though she was seventeen at the time, announced that if I moved out that meant she could have her own room," he laughed. "But it got to the point where they didn't need me looking over their shoulders to keep them safe every second, so it worked out well." Sure he was always on the verge of complete financial disaster, but he managed okay!

(Reply to this) (Parent)

Home | Site Map | Manage Account | TOS | Privacy | Support | FAQs