Doreen & Callie (Backdated to April 3rd)

[x-squirrel.livejournal.com]

Doreen meets her roommate and things don't exactly get off to a great start. ((Backdated to 3rd of April, due to illness/internet issues. x__x))

Monkey Joe was curled up in the drawer Doreen had set aside for her socks and underwear and sleeping peacefully. She kept that drawer open a crack so he could get out when he wanted to, but right now the squirrel was curled up in between some of her socks.

She couldn’t blame him for sleeping. They had both gone mad with boredom on the bus and now it was all unpacking and other un-fun things. The orientation had been interesting, the parts of it she was able to pay attention to. Like when they helped her make up her class schedule. And when they had told her she was going to have a roommate. Dori was so happy about that she couldn’t put it into words.

True, she was used to having her own room back home but on reflection she had so few friends that she fervently hoped the girl would be her friend.

While Monkey Joe slept, Dori had music playing on her little player for her iPod and was dancing to OK Go while putting some of her old action and display figures on her desk. Right now, she was trying to figure out what the best place for The Joker was.

Classes were over, but that didn't mean that Callie could relax. A trip back to her room to collect what books she hadn't required the use of in class, and then on to the library to complete what homework she could before the show that night. Then home, do some more homework before passing out only to get up the next day and do it all again (well minus the classes of course).

Of course books weren't the only reason for her little detour. Callie had heard rumor that her new roommate had finally arrived. She didn't really know much about this new girl except that her name was Doreen, she was from California, and she was younger than Callie. Oh, and something about a tail, but living in the mansion meant that she had become adjusted to a variety of physical mutations, so that was no big.

As she neared her suite, Callie could hear the wafting of familiar power pop coming from inside. She didn't think that Inez or Tat were big fans of this genre, but she could be wrong. If it wasn't them that meant that she and her new roommate had some common ground. Callie's pace quickened as she reached her room and spotted the younger girl (with a tail!) who she could see was already settling in.

"Doreen," she asked stepping through the threshold and into the room they now shared. "Right?"

Doreen turned around, holding her Joker figure in her hand and grinned, “Yeah, that’s me! Hi! You’re Callie right? I hope you don’t mind having a room mate. It’s nice to meet you! You can call me Dori if you want,” she said, walking right up to the other girl and smiling, her tail even managed to look happy and friendly. The girl’s pink skin didn’t faze her at all. (After all, Doreen had a tail, why would skin colors bother her?)

After moving her Joker figure to her left hand she held out a clawed hand for Callie to shake if she wanted. “Oh, and I hope you don’t mind the music. I can turn it down if you don’t like it.”

"Oh it's no problem," Callie assured her with a bright smile and a handshake. Goodness this girl was hyper, but that was okay. She seemed nice enough, so hopefully the two of them would get along fine. "It's nice to meet you too. And yeah, I'm Callie."

Glancing about the room, Callie could already tell that they were probably as different as oil and water. Callie's decor consisted mostly of some potted plants, some pictures of flowers (and one of Audrey Hepburn), and black and white prints from places she had lived and visited, while Doreen's side seemed to be focused more on movie posters and action figures. It was different, but it was nice having someone ( and their belongings) to fill out the room. Ever since Cessily left it felt a little empty.

"Do you need any help?" Studying could be delayed a few minutes, she would just wake up earlier the next day, no biggie.

“Sure!” Doreen chirped happily. “I’m trying to figure out where to put all of these. I brought them all with, well, as many as I could fit in my suitcase. I’ll need help with the movie posters later. One of them is autographed. Dad got it for me a few years back. He knows some pretty awesome people,” Doreen said brightly. Her tone belayed all the things that were happening now with her parents.

“Gee, it must seem like an awful lot of stuff. I think I brought more of my collection things than clothes…” she mused, but she really didn’t have many clothes.

"Well Zanne, she does a lot of the maintenance work along with Kyle, mentioned something about a bookcase to me, so if you don't have room we could see if we can bring it up?" Callie gingerly picked up one of the action figures and placed it on top of Doreen's dresser. One of the drawers was open, so she made sure to gently close it; this way she wouldn't run into it later. "Right here okay?"

“Oh no!” Doreen moved over, “Don’t close that, he won’t be able to get out and then he’ll be all upset!” she said, opening the drawer. Monkey Joe’s head popped out, the action as small as it was apparently enough to wake the squirrel.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! She didn’t know you were there!” Doreen said, picking him up and giving him a hug.

"EEP!"

The sight of the squirrel's head popping out of the drawer was unexpected enough to cause Callie to recoil and jump back. She watched silently as her new roommate proceeded to pick up and hug the squirrel. "Doreen. You probably shouldn't do that, squirrels are wild animals, he could bite you. Come on, let's put him outside where he'll be happy."

“He won’t bite,” Doreen said baffled. And then realized Callie likely didn’t know. She didn’t think Mom had mentioned her friend. Doreen had just taken him along because he went everywhere with her. “This is Monkey Joe. He’s my best friend. He won’t bite you unless I tell him to, and I’d never ever tell him to do that.”

This squirrel was a pet? How was that even possible? Squirrels were dirty and mean and belonged outside. No one had told her there was going to be a squirrel. She didn't want a squirrel in her room messing up her stuff and pooping and peeing everywhere. It was unsanitary. Jean-Paul's rats at least had a cage, but this vermin didn't seem to have a cage in sight. And those eyes, those beady little eyes staring at her just because. In the wild squirrels were fine, but not here, not in her room. No no no.

Callie felt her skin begin to itch, and when she looked down she could see raised bumps beginning to appear on her arm. This was not happening. She had to get out of there. "Hey I need to go do homework. Um, welcome to the school and I'll see you around. Later."

Abandoning the books on her desk, Callie turned on her heel and walked away.

“Um… okay,” Doreen said, as Monkey Joe crawled up to her shoulder and curled up, making sleeping noises. She hoped Callie wasn’t mad at her. Monkey Joe clicked a few more times at her and Doreen’s mind flipped into squirrel, [No, I don’t think the Pink One is mad at you.]

That was weird though. Like she had run away. Frowning, Doreen put Monkey Joe on her pillow where the squirrel could sleep a bit better and out in the open and put a stuffed toy next to him. She still had a lot of unpacking to do.