Love in Shimmering Chartreuse
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Standing with his feet in a pile of slush, gazing up at the ivy-covered brick, Koda felt overwhelmingly underdressed. Glancing down at his attire, then up at a picturesque bay window, was a stark reminder he was entering another world. One in which he doubted he could ever belong. His only hope was that whomever he’d been paired to live with for the next year would be as uncomfortable and out of their element as he was. Maybe then they could bond over the mishaps that were sure to come.
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Even his father’s voice in the back of his mind, reminding him that he was more than the place he came from, couldn’t motivate him to move away from his truck. He glanced up at the beautiful house again and shook his head, wondering what the neighbors would think when they saw the faded grey and blue pick-up in the driveway. The 1978 Prospector had been his old man’s well before he was born and with a lot of TLC, they’d kept her steady and reliable. Still, the shine had dulled from her weathered paint job over the course of the last two winters, both unexpectedly harsh. He’d need to sand her down, prime her and apply a new coat before next winter hit.
With a sigh, he stared at the front door, wondering what in the world he’d gotten himself into. Never in a billion years had he expected to be chosen as one of the participants in the psychology department’s experiment in the social behavior of housemates.
Tugging the key from his pocket, he stood debating whether to grab something from the truck or check the place out first to see where he’d be going. In the end, he decided to grab his backpack and duffle bag to not waste the trip.
There was an actual welcome mat in front of the door, soft, he realized, once he’d pulled his shoes off before heading in. Plush blue-grey carpet welcomed him, the color stretching on as far as the eye could see. It practically shimmered beneath the bright floor to ceiling windows, and the living spaces, holy shit, talk about spacious. Good thing he’d taken off his shoes, the last thing he wanted to do was dirty the place up on his first day.
There was a huge bay window beside a kitchen filled with more stainless-steel appliances than Koda had ever seen in one place besides a store. Benches and a built-in table sat in a nook offering a picturesque view of the backyard with its awning-covered patio furniture, built-in grill, and hammocks. Grinning, he imagined laying in one with a sketchbook and animation pens; at least, when it was warmer anyway.
Heading right, he found a large bedroom with an in-suite bathroom. The space was about half the size of the trailer he’d grown up in. He checked the other hall, and found a smaller bathroom and beyond, another bedroom with built-in bookcases and a window with a view of the forest. It was smaller than the other one and tucked toward the back of the house in a spot that seemed quiet and isolated from the communal living space.
He knew a good chunk of the project involved interacting with his new housemate, getting to know one another and planning activities to do during their free time. There was a whole checklist of things they were supposed to accomplish together over the course of the year, on top of the daily journal they were required to keep. All that interaction was going to leave him frazzled. Being able to retreat here would be great for his mental health. Besides, it wasn’t like he was choosing the larger space. He doubted his new housemate would care if he claimed the room way down here.
Depositing his stuff beside the bed, he headed out to the truck to fetch the rest of his belongings, grateful the place was furnished. In the interest of time and cleanliness, he decided to just deposit everything inside the door, then move the truck into the garage and out of the way. It wasn’t as if he had much. His music collection, art desk and supplies, easel, clothes, movies, and books took up the bulk of it, along with his bedding, office chair, single serve coffee pot and portfolios. There was a box of artwork too, all from original pieces he’d designed and printed. Laptop, second monitor, camera, green screen, drawing tablet, they all went inside, along with his desk, which was still in the box from when he purchased it a week ago.
Once everything was inside, he opened the garage door and parked the truck to the left, shocked to see a door on the right side of the garage. Curious, he shut the garage door and tried his key in that lock, only to discover it led to the laundry room. He hadn’t even noticed it on his tour of the house. Grinning at the prospect of not having to bother with the laundromat for the next year, he headed through the house to start moving his things away from the door. In sock covered feet and being careful not to scuff the walls, he made short work of getting everything moved to the center of his bedroom before sitting down with a sigh.
Setting up a room was a bit out of his wheelhouse. With no clue where to begin, he faced the mess, feeling a little overwhelmed.
Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly as he let his eyes skim the space. Besides the bed and dresser, there were two end tables on either side of the bed, a large closet, and an open spot in front of the window. He carried the empty art desk there and set it down, then rolled the chair in front of it, figuring he could roll between desks if he parked the one for his computer in front of the other window. He placed his wooden chest of sheets, linens, towels, and washcloths at the foot of his bed before unloading his books, movies, and CDs into the bookcases, breaking down the boxes one at a time as he emptied them. He sat a lava lamp on each end table along with his Echo Dot and coffee pot. Nothing like being able to get the first pot of coffee started before he’d even gotten out of bed. Satisfied that he was off to a good start, he made his bed, placed a footlocker of records in the closet, then set up his record player and speakers on the dresser. From that point it was easy to set the easel between the art desk and the closet, then go ahead and get his clothes and art supplies unpacked along with his camera gear.
That left just his computer stuff, but first he’d need to get the desk built. Looking around, he decided to carry the flattened boxes out to the garage first to give himself some room to work.
He was settling down on the floor with the instructions in one hand and some old Buddy Guy on the stereo turntable when there was a knock on the door.
Kenji hadn’t thought his roommate had arrived yet, not having seen a vehicle in the driveway. He’d never considered checking the garage, but when soft guitar notes drifted up the hall, he’d quickly realized that he and his parents were not alone in the house. Determined to start off on the right foot he followed the music to the back of the house & knocked on the closed door that greeted him.
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“Yeah?” a voice called over the music. Kenji took that as an invitation to step inside. When the professor had told him he’d been selected and handed him the introduction packet, he’d said he would find out who his housemate was upon meeting them on moving in day and not before. A thought that had left Kenji a bit anxious. It was like being back in college again, only this time he wouldn’t be able to complain to student services to get a different roommate.
Wary crystalline blue eyes glowered up at him, framed by long blue and white hair, and Kenji was a bit surprised to s the colors stand out brightly against his pale skin. “Hey, I’m Kenji but you can call me Ken. Guess we’re going to be living together for the year.” Sticking his right hand out, Kenji waited expectantly as his housemate shrugged and completely ignored the hand that had been offered him. On top of it, those blue eyes darted away back to the project he’d been working on.
“And your name is?”
“Koda”
“Well, I’ll leave you be. I hope you’ll remember that this experiment is supposed to be about getting to know one another. Between you and me, you’re off to a bad start.” With that Kenji retreated back out the door, tense & flustered by the time he reached his parents in the living room. Of course his mother noticed. She noticed everything. With a sigh he realized that his father and sister had already started bringing stuff in, so he hurried to go help them, tossing out a “doubtful” over his shoulder in response to her question of if his new housemate was going to come out and meet them.
“You okay?” His sister asked, nudging him as he’d reached to gather a basket of clothes out of her truck, the street light gleaming off his metal prosthetic arm. “Are you having second thoughts.”
“A little, he isn’t the friendliest guy around.” Kenji grumbled as they headed in.
“And now you know it’s a he” she quipped. “Still can’t believe you’re doing this.”
“You and me both.”
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Upon seeking out the other bedroom, he was shocked to discover that Koda left him the larger room with the attached bathroom.
“Dang, this is nice” his sister remarked, nudging him out of the doorway so she could carry his books in, depositing them in the corner. “At least that’s one good point about doing this, and the kitchen is sweet, Mom and I checked it out while we were waiting for you. She’s probably in there now putting everything away.”
“I still can’t believe how much kitchen stuff she insisted I bring with me. I doubt I’ll use half of it, if the only one I’m cooking for is myself.”
“Who knows, maybe you won’t be.”
Smiling ruefully he turned and headed back out to their cars to finish bringing things in, pausing at the entryway to the kitchen to see his mother standing on a chair, arranging the cupboards. With a fond smile he turned his focus on getting his things unloading, wondering if it would have been easier to start this new adventure without his family around of course, getting all of his stuff here would have been way more difficult, unless he’d finally bitten the bullet & decided to start driving again.
He shuddered at the thought and made another trip. The last as it turned out. “If you were going to move out you certainly could have done much worse.” Kenji’s father remarked. “So, do we get to meet who you’ll be living with? I’m curious to see how this matching process turned out. I for one will be eager to read the journals if Professor Pierce manages to get his results published and I don’t see why he wouldn’t, this is a marvelous idea.”
“Yeah, its, something anyway” Kenji said with a sigh. “Not sure about you guys meeting Koda though. He doesn’t seem very interested in interacting.”
“Not everyone is as outgoing as you Kenji.” His father laughed. “I believe if you put your mind to it you could make befriend a porcupine if you put enough effort into it.”
“We might finally have the opportunity to find out” Kenji muttered.
“Don’t be that way, son, it’s a good thing you’re doing. It feels like you are finally willing to move forward from the academy. Why don’t you go and ask him to come out. Could be he’s just shy and needs a bit of encouragement.”
“All right. I’ll try but I don’t promise anything.” Kenji remarked, heading once more for the door at the end of the hall. Along the way he found the laundry room, pleased that he wouldn’t have to cart his things to his parents house to get them cleaned. Rapping on Koda’s door, he expected a verbal answer, not the sight of Koda in a t-shirt that read “My dragon can beat up your unicorn” He had fuzzy slippers on and a screwdriver in his hand.