Work Text:
°°°
Looking for roommate in Tastyville
$240 a week, shared bills
Male preferred
DM for more info
°°°
“...Really? THAT is your ad?”
Chuck frowned, moving his phone away. “What, is it bad?”
“You don't even have any photos of your apartment up!” Utah shook her head in disapproval. “No wonder you've been complaining about nobody responding. There's nothing there to even look at!”
“It's not that bad!” Chuck turned to his other friend across from him. “Right?”
Hacky Zak looked up from his ice cream. “...I mean, it's pretty bare. And you put it on the sketchiest site imaginable.”
He sighed, placing his phone back on the booth table. “Whatever. Someone's gotta respond at some point.”
Chuck didn’t want to admit it, but his friends were probably right. For the past three weeks, Chuck had been looking for a new roommate. He had been pretty lonely since his last roommate moved out, and he thought it would be nice to have someone new around the apartment. Plus, now that he was paying more rent than usual, his bank was starting to struggle a bit. But he had received no responses since he started asking. It had, admittedly, damaged his pride.
“Don't worry Chuck,” Utah reached out and patted the top of Chuck’s hand. “We’ll help you write a new ad.”
“Well, Utah will.”
“...Thanks Zak.”
Chuck picked at his ice cream.
“Thanks, but I'll pass on that. I'm pretty sure I can handle it mysel-”
Bzz!
Chuck's phone suddenly went off. He switched it on.
Craigslist- New message from: Taylor
“No way.”
Utah looked up. “What?”
Chuck grinned back at his friend. “Someone responded.”
“What?!” Her response was one of excitement and curiosity. “Seriously?”
“The gift of prophecy strikes again with you Utah.” Hacky Zak chuckled. Utah ignored him.
“Who is it?”
“Chill out, I haven't even opened it yet!”
“C'mon Chuck, you can't just leave us hanging now,” Hacky Zak leaned over the table to try and get a look at the phone. “Show us the message.”
“Give me a second, geez!” Chuck pushed his friend back into his seat. While Hacky Zak and Utah started chatting about who messaged (and why someone would even message) Chuck, the man immediately opened it up.
>Hey, are you still looking for a roommate?
He couldn't really determine anything about the person from that message. Clicking on their profile proved futile as well; all Chuck got was that it was a guy living in Tastyville. Even his profile picture was just a generic photo from the site.
Chuck decided to message back.
>Yeah, the room’s still free.
>I'm interested in moving in. I work at the stadium, so I can pay the rent pretty easily.
“Nice, you actually found a roommate with that ad.”
“Stop peeking over my phone!” Chuck’s cheeks went red from embarrassment as he pushed Hacky Zak away.
“A roommate? Really?” Utah got up from across the booth and ran over to Chuck’s seat. “Let me see!”
“Alright fine.” Chuck placed the phone on the table and turned it for his friends to look at. While Hacky Zak’s expression didn't change, Utah went from excitement to concern.
“...Chuck, this seems really suspicious.”
Chuck frowned. “What do you mean?”
“No profile photo, no full name, and clicking on his profile gives nothing,” Utah raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn't be agreeing to this if I were you.”
“Relax Utah,” Hacky Zak said. “Hey, he said he works at the stadium. What's the name of the hot dog lady there?”
Chuck thought for a moment “...Peggy? I think that's her name.”
“Yeah, her. Maybe she knows who this Taylor guy is.”
The phone buzzed with another message.
>I can move in asap, just give me a date and I'll be there.
“Chuck,” Utah watched as her friend grabbed his phone to respond. “Don't.”
Chuck ignored her.
>I'm free every day this week :]
“...Say Utah, are you free this weekend?”
---
“Do you even know anything about this guy Chuck?”
Chuck sat on the couch with his friend, flipping aimlessly through the TV channels.
“Zak said he saw him at the hot dog stand yesterday. Apparently he seemed really chill.”
“Zak thinks everyone is chill. I wouldn't really take his word too seriously.”
Chuck finally settled on a random reality show. He sighed. Him and Utah had spent the entire day cleaning the apartment up, getting it ready for Chuck’s new roommate. It was nearly 6pm, and his new roommate still hadn’t shown up. He was exhausted, and he really didn't need Utah antagonising him further.
“Thanks again for coming over Utah. I thought he’d be here by now.”
“Not a problem!” Utah replied. “Although, this guy not showing up is kind of a red flag, don’t you think?”
“It’s whatever,” Chuck flopped back against the couch, trying to divert his attention to the show. “Either he shows up or he doesn’t.”
Despite his attempts however, Chuck’s mind wasn't on the trash reality show currently playing. Although Utah had stopped pestering him about the objectively horrible decision to have someone move in who he had never met, Chuck knew she had had a point. Ever since she had originally bought it up, Chuck had been so anxious about who was moving in. That was partially why he had invited her over. At least he had a witness if this guy decided to harvest his organs or some creepy shit like that.
At least Zak’s met him once. That was the only thing that calmed him a bit. Hacky Zak had given him a pretty basic description- apparently Taylor was around Chuck’s age, seemed to be nice enough, and was ‘decently attractive’, whatever that meant. He hoped Hacky Zak’s opinions were accurate, because Chuck wasn't sure what he'd do if they weren't.
Chuck was so distracted by his thoughts that he didn't hear the knock at the door.
“I’ll get it!” Utah jumped up from the couch and ran towards the door. Still deep in thought, Chuck didn't get up from the couch for a few moments. By the time he did, Utah was already talking to whoever had shown up.
“-Yes, this is the right apartment! I don't live here, I’m just helping Chuck with the move.”
Chuck didn't hear the response, because he was now distracted by the very handsome new roommate standing at the door.
Zak had definitely lowballed Taylor’s appearance, because the man standing there was more than just ‘decent’. He was shorter than Chuck, with dark skin that seemed surprisingly well-cared for (you don't see that around much in men, Chuck thought to himself). He had short black locs styled up, giving him the appearance of being taller than he actually was. He was absolutely stunning, and Chuck’s previous thoughts had immediately been wiped by the sight of him.
Luckily, Chuck picked himself up before Taylor and Utah noticed him gawking. He walked towards the door, catching the attention of both of them.
“Uh, hey,” Chuck awkwardly butted into the conversation and held his hand out. “I’m Chuck. I'm guessing that you’re Taylor.”
“That's me,” Taylor shook his hand. “Sorry for running a bit late, had to do some overtime at work.” As they shook hands, Chuck noticed the silicone bracelet around Taylor’s wrist. It was coloured blue, purple and pink.
Nice.
“So, uh, where's all your stuff?” Chuck peeked around Taylor’s shoulder. It seemed like all he had brought was a very full suitcase. He stepped aside to let Taylor into the apartment.
“It's still at my old place,” Taylor stepped inside. “I’m heading back there tomorrow to pick everything up. Where’s the bedroom?”
“On the right there,” Chuck pointed out a door just past the TV. “My room is next to yours. Bathroom is over here,” Chuck pointed to a door across the room. “And you can see the kitchen from here.”
“Thanks- hey, is that a GameCube?”
Chuck looked at the console sitting next to his TV. “Yeah. One of my friends gave it to me a few months ago.
“No way!” Taylor’s face lit up. “I had one as a kid, I'm always kicking myself over getting rid of it.”
Chuck noticed Utah going to sit on the couch, before immediately turning his attention back to Taylor. His heart was racing rapidly.
“Do you have any more consoles? Or just that one?” Taylor asked before Chuck could even respond to the previous statement.
“Just that one. I don't really play a lot of games.”
“Well yeah, that's because he's a sore loser.” Utah called out from the couch. Chuck spun around, going red in the face.
“No I'm not!”
“That's not what your Mario Party scores say.” There was a mischievous twinkle in Utah's eye that only made Chuck more embarrassed. If Taylor wasn't here, Chuck would've probably killed Utah right then and there.
Taylor, to Chuck’s relief, just laughed at the situation. Chuck turned to look back at him. He hoped his face wasn't as burnt as it was feeling.
“Well, uh, we can probably play it once you've unpacked then. I've got a couple of games on there. And don't listen to Utah. I promise I’m not that much of a sore loser.”
“Sweet,” Taylor grinned, which only made Chuck’s heart race faster. “Let me unpack everything quickly and I’ll come out and play. You better have Mario Kart on there.”
“Uh, sure.” Chuck watched as Taylor went to his room. His eyes lingered on the door for a moment, before he decided to sit down on the couch next to Utah.
“You're very good at keeping your cool.” Utah snickered as she scrolled through her phone.
“Shut up!” Chuck hissed back at her quietly. He eyed Taylor’s bedroom door before looking down at his feet. Now that Taylor was gone, he could feel the embarrassment growing on his face. “Why the hell would you even say that?!”
“‘Cause it's funny watching you try to be cool.”
Chuck sighed and buried himself into the couch, hands covering his face.
At least this roommate situation ended up better than expected.