Who: Chase and Lennon Where: Chase's Room When: Afternoon
It was a conundrum. Chase had been wanting to get back to playing videogames, if nothing else but to escape the strange tension in the house that the box drop had caused, but that meant dragging a console into his room. That wouldn't have been a problem, had he been playing alone, but that meant having someone in his room to play with him. He could have simply gotten back onto the network, told Lennon he didn't actually want company.
The strangest part of it all was that he actually did.
He didn't really know where that had come from. After wandering over to Kiley's room during the box drop to install her door while she wasn't around, he'd returned to his own room to find the pieces of his new knob. It was a relief, but not quite for the reason one would have expected. He'd been worried about Kiley and her "dealings" over the network, but he knew she could take care of herself. Mostly. He'd cracked his door open just in case, sat down near the wall close to it and tried to read his book as he listened for any unusual sounds coming from the gym next door. It was probably weird. Probably some sort of stalking or spying that didn't entirely make him feel comfortable, but he'd done it anyway.
Everything just felt weird today, and in the midst of it all he recalled that he had a few projects to work on. The map was the most important, and the notes both he and Cecilia had collected over the past few days were strewn across his computer desk. He hadn't been in the mood for it. For a little while he just wanted to think about something else, something that didn't involve being stuck there with a bunch of people in wildly varying degrees of tension. And then he remembered Lennon. The small picture had felt a little therapeutic. Something silly and colorful. Something that would make someone else happy, he hoped. And apparently it had.
And now Lennon wanted to hang out.
And Chase hadn't said no.
He didn't really know Lennon outside of the few times they'd talked over the network, but he'd always seemed to be in pretty decent spirits. Today apparently wasn't an exception, and there was something strangely reassuring about that.
Removing the xbox one console from the game room hadn't been hard, and he stopped to glance up at one of the cameras on his way out, promising to return it again. As tempting as it was to simply take it and keep it in his own room, there were probably others who wanted to play it as well, and he wasn't about to divest someone of their own little joy. Not only because he didn't want to be an asshole, but he didn't want to be partially responsible for potentially tipping someone over the deep end. With everything that had happened today, who knew what everyone was capable of.
He installed the xbox one to the flat screen tv that sat under the ledge of his bed. Two controllers, and a handful of games including Diablo 3, just in case Lennon tried it and didn't like it. His room was entirely clean from the break in, though he continued to do his best to try not to think about it. Any valuables he might still have had were tucked away, out of sight, save for the book he'd been reading earlier, and his blanket, fresh and clean, draped over the bed in the raised nook. The only strange things in the room were the lack of a camera, and the lack of a door on his closet. The darkness in the smaller room there had been unsettling at first, as if he imagined some creature popping out. Like he was a fucking five year old.
He left the door open a crack so Lennon would know it was okay to just come in, and dropped onto the couch, ignoring the knot of tension that was growing in his stomach. Someone new was going to be in his room. Someone who wasn't Kiley. In his mind he kept repeating what she'd told him before. This place was an opportunity to be different than you normally were. Might as well give it a shot. That thought lasted a few more seconds before his face quirked. Should he have gotten drinks? Snacks? He had a few bottles of water and the food he'd gotten from the store yesterday, but that was his stash. Did he really want to break into it? He grunted as he stood up from the couch, dashing up the narrow steps to where his bed sat and shuffled around in the corner for a moment. He pulled out two bottles of water and a box of graham crackers, then drifted back down again, barefoot and clad only in his torn jeans and remaining white tank top.