Sunday, May 4, 2008
Who: Jason and Daigo When: Afternoon Where: Their room, E5 What: New roommates meet and greet!
Jason was finally getting settled into his room, though he didn't realize he had brought quite as much as he had. Of course, moving from an apartment with two roommates, he had quite a collection of belongings, and he had yet to find a storage bin. Checking the labels of some of the boxes, he shoved them under his bed for the time being. No sense wasting good closet space when the floor would do.
Reaching out to another box, one marked with "Electronics" in bold black ink, he opened the flaps and pulled out the cords for his laptop. Clothes and trinkets could be unpacked later. The laptop was a necessity for a business major. It took him a moment to find all the appropriate jacks, but in five minutes his computer was on and running smoothly. The door swung open just as he finished pulling out the last of the cords to tuck into his desk. "Oh, hi there!"
Daigo had been on his way back from talking with one of his professors when he remembered he had a roommate. The school had told him he would be getting one, but it had not been on the top of the pile of things to think about. Now that he was heading back he realized he probably should talk to the guy. He had been on his way out earlier when Jason had come in, so they didn't talk. Now would be nice, he supposed. Though it had been so long since he'd had a roommate that was not a girlfriend.
Trying not to look at this negatively the shapeshifter pushed aside the actuality of not being able to have wild sex with Katie any time soon. At least not in his own bed. Shame that was.
Pushing open the door he gave a smile at Jason when he looked up. "Hey," he said warmly. "Welcome to the room!"
Jason set down his computer and smiled, reaching out a hand to his roommate. "Thanks. I know I passed by you earlier, but you looked busy so I didn't think to introduce myself. Jason." He figured that Daigo already knew who he was, but it was still nice to tell the man himself. "So um," he glanced around at the boxes still on the floor. "Sorry about the mess. I'm not usually like this."
He figured that Daigo may not be completely comfortable with someone barging into the room near the end of the year. Hell, if Jason had had his own room for most of a year and suddenly got stuck with a roommate, he'd be a little upset too. If he ever found out about Daigo needing the room for, ahem, entertainment purposes, he'd make himself scarce for the night, some way or other.
Taking Jason's hand, kindly if not a bit firmly (Daigo made it a point to show confidence no matter what he was doing) he gave a nod of his head. "Daigo. Pleased to meet you." Habit. Sometimes he forgot that American's were as formal as his natural culture of Japan, though there were other days were he was far too loose. Perhaps he just couldn't win. Haha.
"It's fine, don't worry about it, huh? You're moving in. It's always a mess." He gave a shake of his head and passed his hand through the air. Strangely, as he smiled his eyes blinked from brown to green. This was why he had returned to TJS. He had been here before, with a roommate, and then left when he had personally felt like he had overcome his problem. But it had gotten worse when he was away from Katie, as if she were what drove his powers insane. As it turned out she was only one of the reasons because he found he was very attached and attracted to her. But she was not the singular reason...so he had to stay and not work at the company.
"How're you doing with the transition? I've seen some rough spots around here."
Jason worked at collapsing the box he'd left on the desk and picked up another, perfectly happy to unpack and chat at the same time. "Thanks, Daigo. I'll try to get the worst of it done with today. As for the transition? It's not so bad, I don't think. At least, not as hard as it was for me to leave my pack when I went to college."
Glancing up, he noticed the eye color change and was curious about it, but thought it'd be rude to ask. "As I got here only a few hours ago, I'm not so sure what to say about the rest, y'know? What can you tell me about the school?" Finishing putting the items in the various drawers of the desk, he picked up the next box. Clothes, which meant the dresser, so he wound his way around the mess on the floor to continue his work.
Oh, did Daigo remember graduating from college. It wasn't that long ago for him, after all. But it was a bittersweet memory. Many of the friend's he made still talked to him, but few didn't. He had lost contact--though this Facebook thing was beginning to catch on. Maybe he'd consider one? He had a Myspace to listen to music his friends in Japan put up--those guys just never gave up on dreams of being rock stars.
"The school? Well...there's a lot to keep up with. I don't follow most of it. A lot of it is very...high school-y. I'm not a fan." Daigo put his messenger bag down on his bed. It was a neat leather bag containing his laptop and binders for class. His schedule was pretty full considering he didn't need any of the main courses they offered. He took as many classes as he could to get out of the room. How boring it was to have gone through all of education and be stuck back at square one. "A lot of drama goes around. I'd stay away from it if I were you!"
Jason chuckled as he tucked his jeans neatly into the drawer and shoved it closed. "That's good to know, and I'll do my best to stay out of it."
College was going to be a sore spot for him for the next little while, especially since he was supposed to graduate next month. He told the officials that there was a major family emergency, and he needed the bereavement leave, which bought him time, but unless he finished the four courses he was taking, he wouldn't graduate next month. And God, did he want to have that diploma in hand. Maybe he could talk to Adora and see what she could suggest? As it was, he wasn't signed up for any of the main courses, but a fair amount of the ones he needed to take to control himself. At least it would keep him busy.
Leaving his bag on the bed, Daigo took up residence at his desk. It was adorned with a magazine station which held Forbes, BusinessWeek, Fortune, and Conde Nast Portfolio magazine--all of which were the most recent issues. His older issues were stacked neatly into boxes he had under the bed hidden behind a suitcase shoved below after he returned from Hawaii after the holidays.
"Not to be nosy or anything," mused the Japanese "student" as he got comfortable in his chair, loosing the black and silver tie around his neck. "But you wanna tell me about yourself? I tried not to look at your things when I changed books earlier." He laughed.
Jason had noticed the magazines on one of his trips hauling boxes from his car, and his fingers itched to page through them, but he was polite enough to not touch what wasn't his. Maybe at some point, he'd ask Daigo if he could flip through the issues.
"Ah well, I happen to be a mixed blood. A dhampir hybrid of sorts." He left the explanation at that, not really certain just how much information Daigo wanted. Daigo seemed pretty cool, and it would suck if his first possible friend at this place thought him a freak like some of his pack did.
A dhampir hybrid of sorts? Daigo reflected upon that before giving a nod with simultaneous tilt of his head. Honestly, he had no idea what that "really" meant other than he was a mixed breed, like Jason had already said. That couldn't have been a bad thing, and even if it was Daigo wouldn't look at it that way. Here he was, shapeshifter, in love with a demon girl. Their children would be screwed to hell.
Assuming they had children. No. Daigo didn't think that way.
Not all of the time.
"That's...cool?" he sounded questioning but still gave a smile. "I have no idea what that is. I've never heard of a...da-hamper." The word sounded strange on his tongue and, despite the fact that he did well to cover up the fact that English was not his first language, he butchered this word horribly.
Jason chuckled and turned around, bracing himself against the edge of the desk and crossing his feet at the ankles. "Say it like 'damn pier' but faster and it might prove easier." He took a moment to gather his thoughts, organizing what it was he'd learned about himself over the years.
"Traditionally," he started. "A dhampir is made when a child is born half human and half vampire. My mother was actually lycan. Werecoyote. So I'm half vamp and half lycan."
"Oh." Giving a nod he mulled that over for a few seconds. "Neat." Then he cracked a grin, brushing back some of his short, dark brown hair. "So you're not allergic to animals, right?" Daigo may as well warn the kid now that he had a favorite past-time of hanging around the room as some kind of animal, typically a large cat such as a panther or tiger. Though if Jason did not like this, he would have no problem stopping. Daigo was very kind by nature, and fun loving. He knew when to be respectful and tried to do so if he could.
Jason shook his head, able to relax a bit more since Daigo didn't scream "Freak" and dash from the room in a panic. "Nah, I'm not allergic to animals. Though keep in mind I'm canine by nature. Only allergies I have are silver and holy items." It was still damned annoying, finding women who wore crosses on their necks while making out. Crazy inconvenient.
Keep in mind he was canine by nature? This sounded kind of funny. Daigo tipped back his chair on the hind legs. "So you wouldn't mind if I lounged around as some animal or another? I don't know why but I like to do it. I mean, why not right?" He gave a shrug. "If you can do it, why not?"
Jason shrugged. It was habit for him to tell people he didn't like cats, and at least here he could mention why. His reminder was more a shaded apology if he came across a cat and started growling. "Fair enough to me. So if you see a coyote, don't freak out. And if I see a," Jason took a moment to pause. "Okay, so what are you? That didn't come with the welcome packet," he teased.
Decidedly, Daigo chose not to scare his new roommate and possible friend. "I'm a shapeshifter," he said, remaining the same. A year ago he had met a guy who had royally ticked him off and he shifted in front of the man to look just like him. Scared the guy into quitting the company--which was great because Daigo got his promotion not long after. "I can be pretty much anyone or anything, within a size limit. I cannot turn into a whale of actual size. But I could be a tiny whale."
Jason nodded and smiled. "Cool. So if I happen to see a twin I never knew about around, I can ask you about it." If Daigo had shifted in front of him, he probably wouldn't have been freaked out. After all, he was used to seeing bodies contort into new forms on a monthly basis, but the consideration was appreciated.
I wouldn't turn into you unless...well, I don't know why. I don't really like turning into other people." There was a shake of his head as he looked disgusted. "You learn things about people you'd rather not." He closed his eyes, like he was pushing away a bad memory, then opened his eyes again and looked down at his desk. Where was his laptop? He pat the spot before him and then remembered he had left it in his bag. Getting to his feet he pulled the silver Macbook from it's sheath and set it on the desk. "I prefer animals."
Jason nodded, and shifted to reach for another box of clothes. "Fair enough." Opening the box, he found it was a lot of his shirts, so he scouted around until he found the box with hangers. Pulling out a stack, he strode with them and the box to the closet. "So what sort of animals do you prefer?"
Grinning, it was almost like a feline. "Cats," he replied. "Though dogs aren't so bad. But I think the school is used to seeing a panther wandering around." Daigo chuckled once more as he opened the laptop and tapped in his password. If Jason could see from where he was, the internet that opened was in Japanese--as was everything on the laptop. All except the keys and basic functions such as File and Edit. Those were all still in English.
"Now, you can't change at will, correct?"
Jason noticed the laptop as he turned to glance at Daigo. "Well, at least now that I'm warned, I'll try to avoid growling at any panthers I see." He turned to slide a couple shirts onto hangers and fit them onto the rod. "Actually, one of the bonuses you could say of being a dhampir is that I can shift at will. And a lot faster and easier than a typical lycan."
"Really? Well, that's good, right?" Daigo was interested, though he only glanced back at Jason a moment. His e-mail was already filled with messages from his boss and various other persons of the car company he worked at. They let him do some work while at school, so he could continue to get pay. It was very nice of his boss, really. But this time around he didn't get nearly as much.
"I never had any problems with changing," he said. "I get stuck sometimes, but it doesn't hurt or anything."
Jason nodded his head. He never really considered it good or bad, since he didn't often get a chance to shift outside the full moon, but he did feel relatively comfortable as a coyote rather than a human. "I don't think I've ever gotten stuck before."
"Probably for the best. It's not exactly something I want." Daigo chuckled to himself as he then sighed and began muttering to himself about a fiscal year and how the people in the office had no idea what they were talking about. Occasionally he swore, but not loudly. It was then he shook his head.
"I'm sorry. I'm being rude."
Jason shook his head. "No you're fine. I can understand if you're busy. Besides," he turned away from the closet for a moment with a grin on his face. "We're roommates. That doesn't mean you have to pay attention to me all the time." He turned back to hang up the last shirt before collapsing the box. "Did you know you switch between English and Japanese, I think it is?"
Grinning, Daigo looked toward Jason for a few moments. "That's true, but I could at least welcome you for five minutes!" he minimized his emails to read later. "I've been told, but I don't notice. Sorry." He sighed contently, leaning back in the chair again. "Were you in school before coming here?"
Jason chuckled and tossed the collapsed box onto the others on his desk chair. Since that was taken, he made his way over to the bed to sit for awhile. "Five minutes is nothing when we've time enough to get to know each other, but I appreciate it all the same." Stretching out on the bed, careful to keep his shoes off it, he leaned back on his hands. "Yeah I was. Boston College. I got in on a football scholarship and decided to major in business. I'm supposed to graduate next month, but I'm not exactly sure how that's supposed to happen right now."
Brightening, Daigo turned round in his seat. "I graduated from BC!" he said, grinning, though it wavered and fell a moment later. "I'm sure they'll be able to work with you. I never had much problem doing what I wanted at the school." He was a little disappointed for Jason. Not able to graduate with a month left to go? Damn. He shook his head. "They'll figure something out for you."
Jason grinned and quickly sat up on the bed. "You're kidding? Wow, when'd you graduate?" At the mention of getting someone to work with him, he continued, "Yeah, that's what I'm hoping. I told them that there was a family emergency, so I'm on bereavement leave, but I really don't want to have to retake four classes."
Oh, now he was going to sound old. Not that thirty-two was old by any means, but if this kid was only graduating just now that meant he had to be, what, about twenty-four? Daigo rolled his eyes as he counted back the years. "Ah...got out of there eight years ago?"
Jason was actually 22, and was more than a little frustrated that graduation now seemed so far off. "Eight years ago? That's not so long." Of course, Jason had been fourteen at the time Daigo got his degree, but that wasn't worth mentioning.
Fourteen?! Daigo may as well have had a child by now! Ugh. He was getting old. Time was running short! Internally he groaned. "Eight years is a long time when you've done so much and nothing with your life," he was smiling, though. "At least I got a job."
Jason nodded. "Very true. There's a fair amount of adults that just sit on their duffs collecting unemployment checks or letting others taking care of them. At least you're being proactive."
"Proactive enough to sell thousands of cars a year." He sounded proud of his as he rocked on his chair legs.
Jason's brows rose. "Oh really? Impressive. How'd you get into that line of work?" Part of him was intrigued that his roommate was a car salesman, but something told him that he wasn't the stereotypical type to sell a piece of junk for a ridiculous price.
"I had an internship at a local car company. We didn't sell cars to individuals as we did sell them to other companies and businesses. After I graduated I was asked to stay on as a full-time associate where I was put into an assistants position for a while. Then he quit, so I got the job. I'm kind of like the bully because any difficult sales go through me. I'm...good at persuasion?"
Chuckling, Jason laid back on the bed again. "Ah, gotcha. Getting that internship was a lucky break. And if you're that good at persuasion, I think I'll just watch my step around here." He spoke with a smile and laughter in his voice, teasing his new roomie.
"In example," said Daigo, teasing back. "I think you should get me that last can of soda in the fridge." Pointing a finger at the mini fridge. "You know you want to. In fact, I believe you want to do it so much that you'll get one for yourself, too."
Jason grinned at the game and turned his head to eye the fridge longingly. "Ah soda." Arching a brow at Daigo, he asked, "If it's the last can you're wanting, how am I to have one as well?" Aha, there was a flaw in the man's logic!
Putting his hands behind his head, Daigo let his head hang back and his eyes look to the ceiling. "I only said the one in the fridge was the last can. I never said it was the last can of all of the cans."
Jason nodded. "Very true. But as I'm not a fan of warm soda, I've really no incentive to get up then, have I?" He liked Daigo. The man could take a joke and send one right back, plus being a business major at BC just made him all the more endearing.
Thinking about it, he waved his hand at the door. "You could get one from the machine down the hall? Or ask the kid over to freeze it up real quick."
Jason laughed. "You must really be wanting that soda, but I'm not feeling like going through all that effort. Besides, no sense paying for a soda if there's one here."
Laughing as well, Daigo rolled his eyes--which changed color from green to blue to brown--before getting up to his feet. "'cause you're new, I'll give you the cold one. But next time, you owe me." Grabbing a Cola from the fridge he tossed it up to Jason and then cracked open the new box, putting those in the fridge. He kept the last one for himself.
Jason grinned, catching the soda one handed and tapping on the top to keep it from spewing out. Just in case, he opened it away from himself and his computer. Luckily, nothing came out except a pleasant psst. "Aha, so you're not all that persuasive. But sure, next soda's yours."
"Plenty persuasive!" replied Daigo. "This is me being nice!"
Jason chuckled and sipped his Coke. "Sure sure. I'll believe it when I see it. Though good luck working that charm on me."