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With the admittedly strange (but not necessarily bad strange) dinner-and-movie night he’d spent with his prospective room-mates, Björn and Nischal, over, Colin had fallen into a busy pattern of dancing, trying to figure out which job - or jobs - would suit him best, teaching classes at his old Studio (he needed to make money, even if he insisted it was a stop-gap and that he wouldn’t be working there long term) and packing. Naturally he’d had no hesitation when it came to reconnecting more intimately with Björn that night, though they had both grown and changed and the big blond had made it abundantly clear that he didn’t expect anything.

For the most part, things went smoothly…except for the part where Colin had come in for a kiss at the same time the big blond had and ended up nearly biting Björn’s chin (and goatee) with his nose in the other man’s mouth. That had been..awkward. But also good, because they’d been able to laugh about it, drain away tension that Colin hadn’t even realized was there. In that moment, straddling Björn’s hips with his face pressed against one muscular shoulder so he could feel the laughter rumbling through his lover as surely as Björn must have felt his, Colin felt himself relax.

“Oops.” He’d run his fingers through Björn’s hair enough to make it stick out, pieces coming loose from the neat braid the man kept it in and press a kiss to the hollow at the base of his throat, smiling. “Guess we’re a little out of practice, huh?”

After the initial fumbling, things had gone a bit smoother, with both of them rediscovering what worked for the other, what didn’t and how they moved best together. Happy and satiated, Colin had eventually fallen asleep in the shelter of Björn’s strong arms, snugged against the long stretch of his side like he’d always belonged there.

He’d made breakfast in the morning, whistling cheerfully while he worked with whatever was on hand; Colin had to leave fairly early but he’d made certain he’d have the time to do breakfast with Björn. They invited Nischal but the youth didn’t seem interested in leaving his room for some reason - Colin still made him a plate and put it in the fridge anyway, maybe he didn’t want it right then but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t want it later, right?

Colin left with a kiss and a promise to text Björn with a rough itinerary as to when he’d be moving in. Unfortunately it took a bit longer than he would have liked, mostly because his great uncle died and they all had to attend the funeral - which was sad as all funerals tend to be, but Colin didn’t know him well enough to be overly hurt by his passing. When he finally got all of his stuff packed he borrowed the dance studio’s pick-up truck and made a “date” with Björn to get everything moved on a day when neither of them had to be doing anything else. It ended up being a Thursday with blessedly clear skies and a nice breeze.

There wasn’t a great deal of stuff to be moved, but Colin did have quite the collection of Star Trek memorabilia, as well as his music, books and movies. Plus the various work-out and dance equipment he’d collected over the years…and, of course, shelving to put his media (and Star Trek) collection on. Mostly they would be lugging middling-sized boxes of media, bagged bedding and some nicely framed posters. Because he didn’t have a huge amount of possessions, it wouldn’t take very long for he and Björn to get his things moved in and sorted. Nischal helped some too, which was nice - Colin was still determined that he would befriend the young man. He seemed lonely and maybe even a little lost…things that he himself was familiar with.

His mother had also sent along a few “house warming” gifts, to go with the supply of Vegan-friendly food stuffs she’d sent along: A nice set of bedding (she’d asked Colin how big their shared bed was), a Swiffer Sweeper meant for wood, laminate or tile floors (boys need to be neat, dang it!), a spider plant (all homes should have at least one living plant…and they’d be hard pressed to kill a spider plant) and an extremely hideous but huge afghan that Miriam had picked out especially for them.

In the age-old and semi-sacred tradition of those moving, Colin supplied food and drink for his roommates. It might just have been pizza delivered locally, but it was pretty good. One pie with the sorts of things Björn (and perhaps Nischal) would like and another, smaller one that better suited Colin’s tastes, though he didn’t begrudge anyone a slice or two. He’d finish eating and head back out to return the borrowed vehicle, returning to his new “home” via bicycle; it was a good end to a good day as far as he was concerned.

And of course, there was the fun of Movie Night coming up - he was quite pleased that they’d all agreed on doing dinner and a movie as a sort of camaraderie-building exercise. They hadn’t gotten to do it as often as once a week, but that was mostly due to everyone being busy (or at least seeming to be busy, they never really knew if Nischal was in or not, which was kind of odd) - but this week was definitely on and it was the dark-haired youth’s turn to pick again.

Settling in completely, figuring out how to best live together peacefully and learning the rhythms of his house mates would take some time, but Colin was pretty adaptable and quite optimistic. He was fairly sure that the whole situation would all work out just fine in the end; it was mostly Nischal that he was concerned about, he was the biggest "unknown" in the equation. Björn he'd lived with before and while things had changed (and not only between them), sharing a bed and living space was still very familiar to him.

Brushing his teeth before bed that night, Colin couldn’t help smiling at himself in the mirror - ever the optimist, he already felt like he really belonged there, like he was home.