Chapter Text
Living with a new roommate was something he expected.
Finding out who the person is was not something he expected.
Tanner was slumped in his gaming chair, watching the highlights from the recent basketball game of his favorite team. I mean, he couldn’t believe that such an elite team would fumble an easy dunk!
Ring! He heard the sound through his headphones, but it must’ve been the score counter.
Ring! Again, Tanner heard, but nobody in the video earned a score yet. He slid off one ear of his headphones and peeked through the crack of his bedroom door to see if the ring was coming from the background.
Was that his new roommate?
Tanner leaped with joy from his chair. He has chatted with the new living partner through the apartment website. He seemed like a really funny dude. Tanner was so excited to get to know the person even more, but face to face. He would ask for the person’s name—he didn’t know it yet—he would find out the hobbies of the person, he would know all sorts of things! Tanner unlocked and twisted the knob of the front door just to see a familiar face of a shorter dude with a blonde buzzcut.
Julian?
He was smiling big while gripping onto his large, metallic purple suitcase while multiple cardboard boxes were next to him, stacked on top of one another.
But then Julian’s smile fell as soon as he made eye contact with Tanner.
“You’re my new roommate?” Julian raised an eyebrow and shouted.
Tanner was just as surprised as Julian. His friend. His co-worker. He remembered Julian always chatting about how he was in the process of moving to a new apartment and that he had been talking with his new roommate anonymously. But Tanner didn’t say a word. He was the communicative type, but he didn’t want to communicate things he thought weren’t necessary.
“Uh, yeah,” Tanner spoke, still kind of off guard about the current moment he was in.
In that moment, Julian came inside the apartment and started shaking Tanner’s body aggressively. Tanner basically just stood there awkwardly.
“Why didn’t you mention that I was going to be your new roommate?!” Julian shook Tanner even more and more.
“I didn’t know—”
“Every time we’re working together, you always hear me yappity yap yap about how I’ve been so excited to move into my new apartment, and not once did you mention that I was going to be your new roommie!” Julian ranted like a toddler throwing a tantrum. He juxtaposed each arm into exaggerated positions, expressing his frustration with Tanner.
“I was going to say, I didn’t know that you and I were going to be roommates,” Tanner sighed calmly while removing the other side of his headphones from his ear.
“Well, yeah, the chats we had didn’t show our names, but—but you could’ve connected the dots, but no, you did not!”
“My bad…” Tanner itched the back of his head in a way that fluffed his hair a bit.
Julian eventually stopped shaking Tanner and let go of his arms. He went back outside to roll his suitcase into the living area. The plastic but strong wheels glided along the wooden floor.
Tanner chuckled softly and leaned sideways to Julian. “I guess since we are roommates, we gotta share a bed…”
“Oh, shut it!” Julian interjected with a stammer. “I have my own room and bed, y’know.”
Tanner leaned in more and smirked at Julian’s flustered face. Julian used his hand to shoo him away.
This is not the time for jokes! Julian thought in his brain as he pursed his lips together. He left Tanner’s bubble to go to the entrance and carry boxes.
“I’ll help you,” Tanner said as he started walking over to the entrance. He bent down to lift the box over to Julian’s bedroom door.
Julian let out a sigh of relief as he swung his arms to the ground, letting gravity do all the work. “I’m glad we both have separate bathrooms.”
Tanner let out a small laugh and put the side of his fist in front of his own mouth. “You say that forgetting that you gotta clean your own bathroom.”
Julian rolled his eyes. He knew what Tanner was implying. He didn’t have the cleanest desk at work, unlike Tanner. In the whole company, Tanner would earn a reward for having the most clean workspace.
Tanner gasped more snickers and Julian lightly hit him on the shoulder with the back of his hand.
“J-Just like, let me finish moving my own items by myself,” Julian spit out.
Tanner thought of going back to his room, but he slowly began to walk to the main entrance. “You know I’m still gonna help. You’re my friend.”
Julian sighed for the millionth time. “Fine.”
.
.
.
The two men after about an hour finished taking the boxes inside. Some of the boxes were delivered and some were in Julian’s car, so there was a lot of walking up and down.
Tanner looked at his imaginary watch. “Y’know, it’s getting a bit late. I was planning to make steak.”
Julian rubbed his hands together then paused. “Wait, that means you were planning to make steak, even if I didn’t move in today. Who makes steak for one person?” Julian raised an eyebrow and put his hands on his hips.
“People who don’t give a damn. That’s who,” Tanner replied back while getting the necessary materials out to make the steak. He got out a wooden cutting board, a stove pan, seasoning, a baking tray, and obviously, the steak. He also took out a pot to boil pasta.
While the pasta was boiling, Tanner cooked the steak for about two to three minutes per side, then put the steak on the cutting board to season it, that way, the flavour wont taste burnt. When he finished seasoning, he put the meat on the baking pan, then into the oven for a few minutes. When it was done, he took it out and seared the steak back on the pan for a finishing touch.
Around the time Tanner finished plating the steak, the pasta was pretty much done boiling. He poured the water out, leaving a little bit in the pot, then he dumped the pasta sauce into the pot. He gracefully plated the pasta on each plate, adding extra cheese and cilantro for that extra, mwah!
He served the meal to Julian, who was already sitting at the dinning table. Tanner grabbed two silver forks and steak knives while Julian commented on the food.
“Wow, this looks amazing, Tanner! I never knew you could cook like this.” Julian shook his head in amazement.
Tanner tapped his chin and looked up, then back at Julian. “That last part sounded backhanded. Hm.”
Julian side-eyed Tanner. “You know your cooking is good.”
Tanner chuckled and sat down at the table, in front of Julian. “Thanks.”
Julian carefully sliced the steak and peeked inside as a glance. His excited face turned into concern quickly. “Tanner? What level did you cook this at?” Julian looked Tanner dead in the eyes.
“Medium. Why?”
Julian anguished into the chair, disappointed. “Why not well done? You could risk getting salmonella!” Julian whined.
“What?” Tanner batted his eyes at Julian. “What do you mean, salmonella? It’s E-coli. You can’t get salmonella from cow meat.”
“Oh, yes, you can!” Julian gripped on the edges of his seat. “Getting salmonella is the worst thing that could happen to you,” he scoffed.
“The worst thing that could happen to me is eating well done steak,” Tanner argued back. “That shit tastes like burnt toast!”
Julian gasped and placed his right palm on his heart like he just witnessed someone stab a loved one. “Do not diss on well done steaks! They are the tops!”
Tanner released the breath that was holding some of his anger through his mouth. “Just try the medium steak. It won’t kill you.”
“Did you at least use a food thermometer?”
“No—”
“Then how do you expect me to believe it’s cooked?!” Julian slammed his hands on the table, creating a thud.
They went quiet for a second before Tanner began speaking, but a doorbell ring was able to sneak its way in that second of silence. Both of the boys looked at the door, then back at each other.
“You get the door,” Julian commanded.
“No! I’m hungry!”
“Ugh, fine.” Julian got up from his seat and unlocked the door, turning the knob and pulling the door out. He saw a little boy sitting at the front of the door, but he couldn’t see the boy’s face.
“Um, hi?” Julian finally said.