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 Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2019 1:43 pm
There was something about walking up the stairs to his second-story apartment that suddenly made any single unresolved thought Nataniel might have had during the day come crashing back with a vengeance, and he could never understand the psychology as to why. Sure, this apartment in particular was linked to an impending countdown wherein which he knew he couldn’t live here forever, couldn’t go to school here forever, and couldn’t continue to rely solely on the financial aid of said school to meet his needs. This apartment wasn’t ‘home’ in the same sense that a home should make you feel secure and stable. It was just a waypoint, and at the end of the day, seeing it and walking into it couldn’t be anything more than a reminder of that.
Maybe he did understand the psychology of it.
He turned his key in the lock and stepped into the living space, kicked off his shoes, dropped his bag, and knocked the door shut again with his heel, all in the singular rhythm of someone who’s done it every day.
Every day for almost five years. Maybe not this apartment specifically, but one just like it. His parents would wonder how he could still possibly not have enough credit hours for whatever degree he liked with all the classes he took, even over the summer! But Nat knew full good and well that actually having any such thing would put an end to this lifestyle almost immediately. Having that degree would mean needing a job and a new place not affiliated with the school and the responsibility to maintain himself with minimal support.
Admittedly, he didn’t think he needed much support now, but neither was he so foolish as to think he was in it alone. The apartment, even, wasn’t just solely his.
“Gabriel?” Nat called down the hallway as he walked by and toward the kitchen. “Are you home?” Of course Gab happened to be four years his junior, socially likeable, and because of that probably well-more prepared to take on the same struggles Nat dealt with now, except in a more timely fashion.
Maybe he would’ve wondered why the ridiculous ‘roommate survey’ undertaken by the school had managed to match them together, but it actually seemed pretty self-explanatory. Nataniel’s roommate the year prior had graduated (as Nat likely should have), leaving him without one at a time when new, way younger students were coming in. Gab wasn’t fresh out of high school. He wasn’t overbearingly rambunctious in his socialness. He liked animals. Nataniel was twenty-four years old, entirely asocial, and had a pet of his own.
That was probably as close to a ‘match’ as he was going to get. And frankly, though it had only been about five months, it seemed to be going well enough to him.
He selected one of his Clear brand flavored waters from the fridge and headed back into the living room, where he slid down to the floor with his back leaning against the couch. “Hey, did you have dinner plans?”
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Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2019 7:59 am
It had been around six months that he had been living with Nat. It had been a small surprise when he had been paired with someone a few years his Senior, but he figured everyone took college at their own pace. He certainly didn’t believe that Nat was some slacker or anything of the sort. It was quickly apparent that he was no party goer either, he spent most of his time in the apartment, on his computer, or taking care of a rather adorable chinchilla. The first few weeks were maybe a bit awkward on his part as he tried to figure how to appropriately handle his new roomie. Was he the type that just prefered to be left alone? Could they shop together for things they both needed? Exactly how much cohabitation did he want?
In the end all the energy he wasted lost in his own thoughts had been just that, a waste. Nat might not have been the most sociable of individuals, but he was more than easy to deal with on a roommate level. That was all Gabriel really needed from him. He wasn’t hard to get along with either and in fact he enjoyed his company. He was a nice calming presence to have around. Everyone needed that something in their life to help them focus, Nat had been that for him.
Gabriel hadn’t been home for long himself when he heard the door open and close again. He was in his room, changing into some relaxing sweats to lounge around in. They were accompanied by some comfy slippers and a simple v-neck had been hiding under a button-up, now discarded on his floor.
“Yeah, I’m here.” He voice rang out from his room and he made his way down the hall and into their living space. All the while he was working on retying his hair as neatly as possibly without the help of a comb or mirror. He flopped down on the couch at the opposite end from where Nat was, folding his legs up.
“Dinner? Hmm.” Gab was living on a pretty tight budget, so as much as he wouldn’t mind going out for food, he usually settled for cooking in the apartment. A moment of considering what he had in the fridge, if Nat would be joining that ruled out a few things. “I could make some wontons. I have some veggies that I need to cook up before they go bad. And some eggs.” Since rooming with Nat, he’d had to adjust a few family recipes to include his vegetarian roomie, but honestly he liked the challenge and it did help him to save money. All of which he appreciated.
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Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2019 4:24 am
Nataniel could never be entirely sure what his roommate’s plans might be. It was likely true that he could simply ask, and Gabriel might tell him without second thought, but neither did Nat believe it was expressly his business to know. Gab was easily the more outgoing between them, and if he wanted to be out and about in the afternoons, Nat didn’t expect it was his place to question why or where or for how long. Curious or not, he didn’t even want to begin to look like he was trying to police his roomy’s actions.
So it wouldn’t have come as a surprise to him one way or the other, if the younger man had already made plans for the evening. And if he had, Nataniel would’ve been perfectly content making a bowl of canned soup and a sandwich. Since that wasn’t the case, though-
“That sounds nice,” Nat hummed softly as he twisted the cap of his water bottle and took a sip. “I can handle the eggs, if you want to work on the wontons. Just give me a little bit to settle in before we get started.” Though he was far from a kitchen whiz, himself, Nataniel was more than capable of following simple recipes and instructions. He did have to know how to prepare at least a few things in order to manage his somewhat special diet and still keep up with his body’s rather high protein needs. Eggs of all shades were probably one of the few things he considered himself quite adept at.
He propped an arm up along the couch cushion behind him and sighed. “I keep forgetting about this semester-long project one of my professors assigned. I have blown it off and blown it off, and now she wants to meet with everyone for a progress check. I have nothing to show her, but at the same time, it is a bit difficult to take her too seriously. She is very near to my own age.” Another sip of his drink, and he cast a look from the corner of his eye at the other man.
“What about you? Anything interesting happening in your classes?” Nataniel knew what the question sounded like when someone posed it to him. It sounded like he was being harped at, and consistently he wanted to tell his parents to just leave him alone about it.
But at the same time he couldn’t pass off the feeling that it ought to be more natural for him and Gabriel to talk about it. They were both in school and dealing with this nonsense simultaneously, so, hopefully it didn’t sound so much like ‘harping’ when it came from him...
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Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 5:45 am
“I could use some time to chill before we get started as well.”Fresh out of class he needed a few moments of rest before diving into something else. As he relaxed into the back of the couch he let out a little sigh. It’s not that his classes were hard, it was more like he really needed to figure out what he wanted to do in school. There were only so many general classes he had to take.
“Semester long projects are the worst. I have a bad habit of putting them off as well. Just set yourself a deadline for certain tasks and give that to your professor. It’s probably more then some of the other students have at this point.” If he just showed that he had a plan for whatever the project was, certainly that would be enough to make her happy. Especially if she was just now checking in on a project of that size.
He glanced over when his roomie asked about his classes and let out another sigh and sunk further back into the couch. “Nothing much really. I’m more stressed about declaring a major. If I put it off any longer I’ll graduate late.” Not that graduating late was a bad thing, on average people took more than four years to earn their degree these days. It was more he didn’t want to hear the nagging that would come along with it from his mother.
“I’ve taken pretty much all the gen. ed. stuff that everyone needs and a few intro classes for things I might like.” He ran his hair through his ponytail for a moment and then settled it back on the arm of the couch.
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Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 7:26 am
Really, Nataniel almost wished he cared more about his classes, but it was a difficult and daunting task when he wasn’t taking them for fun or knowledge or because he was prepared to use them as a stepping stone toward his future. It was just an obligation and a means to making himself appear ‘self sufficient.’ Even if his parents could and would supply anything he might ask for, living under the university’s supervision somehow seemed… more adult than that? Granted, it was a ridiculous thought. Nat knew it was, but living here and going to school was a familiar routine so easy to fall into…
He didn’t think it merited mentioning to this sweet youth that absurd, unnecessary projects felt too much like a chore to take seriously, and if it weren’t for his precious grades needing to be kept up in order to maintain any scholarships, Nataniel probably would blow every single bit of this off. None of it was interesting. None of it was fun. None of it helped him, and he felt like the same was probably true for Gabriel.
But it wasn’t worth mentioning.
“It is strange, is it not?” Nataniel murmured quietly. “How everything feels like it must be the most important decision you could possibly make in your entire life… But really, there is no guarantee of anything. There is little reason to stress about it. Pick something that sounds interesting. Maybe you even prefer a job in a different field, but as long as it seems like it is worth your time, give it a try. If it is nothing of interest, you can switch later. There is no rule against that.”
Not that he had a major himself, either, and Nat had been at it much longer than Gabriel had… But nothing sounded interesting to him. Nothing felt worth his time. That, and… perhaps a bit that he didn’t want to progress, when he was comfortable and content where he was.
“I finished almost all of my gen ed stuff years ago. Every single semester, I get an email from the school telling me how many credit hours I have and that I should apply for graduation to just get the stupid general degree, and every semester I ignore it. Now I just take whatever my mouse lands on when I register. During the fall semester there was an absurd Halloween Studies class. I am reasonably certain it was a hoax.”
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Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2020 8:42 am
The biggest problem Gabriel found himself in was his interest in a lot of different things. He was reasonably good at photoshop, design, decor, fashion. He loved his volunteer work at the animal shelter. He enjoyed helping other people study, so he might like to become a teacher. The only real thing he knew was that he didn't want to take after either of his parents career wise. He saw how, even though his mother had stable hours, much her job could stress her out at times. And he didn't like how much his father's job required him to travel, with hours all over the place.
"You're right. I should just write down some ideas on a piece of paper and blindly throw a dart at it or something. Hopefully my mother would understand I'd rather find something I can enjoy for the rest of....forever, rather than Graduate in 4 short years." Was four years even really enough to prepare you for being a single, independent adult? Sometimes he worried it wasn't enough. He liked his life the way it was now. Sure, he had homework, papers, and projects due all the time. But in-between all the school bits, were the making friends and the freedom to do what you wanted, when you wanted.
He laughed a bit at the idea of a Halloween Studies class. "Well, hopefully the class was at least an easy 'A', right? Maybe I'll give that a try next time. Just to see what happens."
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Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2020 9:42 am
"Or six. Or eight," Nataniel hummed softly, tracing a finger around the cap of his water bottle as he gazed thoughtfully down at the floor. He'd already been in college six years, himself, and the finish line still seemed... distant. An eventual goal, but not one so important that he needed to relentlessly pursue it now. He only barely even wanted to consider what life would be like after school...
And he could relate strongly to a slightly overbearing mother. Mikali was no less opinionated than Nataniel was, himself, with the drawback being that their opinions typically differed quite profoundly.
He wondered if Gabriel's situation was very similar to his, at all. "Does your mother have some path she expects you to follow? What does she think you will do, after you graduate?" At least in that regard, Nataniel's didn't want anything too specific, she just wanted results in whatever Nat chose to do with himself. He just didn't feel pressured to rush and even less pressure to meet Mikali's ridiculous standards.
"Perhaps you could give it a try in the fall?" He offered. "It did have some interesting aspects to it, objectively." He leaned back more fully against the couch, tipping his head to try and catch Gabriel's expression. "Is there anything you are particularly interested in?"
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2020 2:07 pm
"You know, in the beginning four years seemed like a lot. But not anymore." Gabriel had always been a little bit nervous about continuing his education outside of High School. It wasn't that he was bad at studying, in fact he definitely excelled there, but he never really had a clear career path laid out for himself. Kids always knew what they wanted to be when they grew up, but he always focused more on what was right in front of him.
"I know she'd be really happy if I followed in her footsteps and went into Psychology. But that requires a lot of schooling to really make a solid career out of. Honestly, I think she just wants me to do something where I can make a comfortable living. Be on the same level as her earnings wise. Whatever that course may be." In a way, she did have really big expectations for him. She didn't want him to just settle for anything and earn an average paycheck.
"What I enjoy? Well, my family remodeled a large portion of our house ourselves when I was younger. I had a lot of fun working on it with my Dad. That's always sort of stuck with me. I love animals. I volunteer as often as I can at the shelter. Jogging, hiking, really anything outdoors..." If he wanted to go into something like interior design or architecture though, you had to be pretty good at it to earn decent money. Being a Vet would also require a lot of education and he wasn't sure he could handle all the sadness of having to put a beloved pet down. Maybe he could earn some degree and than be some blogger, hiking all over the world. That could be fun, but again very potentially not lucrative at all.
If his Mom had drilled one thing into his head, it was that earning your keep was fairly important. Possibly not the best thing to imbue into your children.
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Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2020 9:54 am
'Four years seemed like a lot...' Nataniel's lashes flit shut and he leaned his head back to rest against the couch. He remembered being eighteen and feeling a quiet, private thrill at the thought of living on his own for the first time, of managing his own schedule and finances. It was pleasing... and terrifying to take that first necessary step. But acceptable. Acceptable because he'd known he had time to acclimate. There was time to adjust to adulthood while still under the university's supervision.
Where was his time now?
"It goes quickly," he agreed softly. It was hard to acknowledge that he was past the time most people would consider it 'normal' to still be staying in campus housing, but what else was he supposed to do with himself? The world after college was large and daunting, truly unmanageable for one young man to tackle alone...
His lashes flicked open, and Nataniel regarded the ceiling quietly as Gabriel spoke. The younger man had to be almost twenty now- still a few years to go, but with enough time spent here that Nat wondered if he'd ever taken the opportunity to speak with one of their career advisors. Being that Nataniel found himself not particularly passionate about anything, it had seemed a waste of time to speak to one, himself, but Gabriel seemed to enjoy so many things.
"Would you stay in Destiny City, do you think?" He asked lightly. "I can hardly imagine going anywhere else. I... am not especially fond of change."
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