(probably bumping into each when they exit their apartments?)
Collin sat down next to their sister and leaned against her arm. Akko tilted her head to the right to make room for Collin to rest their head on her shoulder. "Sooooo, what are you playing, Akko?" Collin asked their sister, who was clearly named Akko. "Nothing fancy, just some Minecraft. Thanks for hooking up the Xbox by the way," Akko replied, focusing on the TV screen. "No prob. You got room for another player?" Just as Collin asked that question, Akko handed them a second controller. "Hell yeah!" Akko exclaimed, her mood shifting from neutral to overjoyed within seconds. Collin got the second controller set up and the two of them just played a few different multiplayer games for a couple of hours. Eventually, Colling got up from the couch and stretched their arms out. "I'm gonna go get us something to eat. What do you wanna eat?" Collin asked the other, and Akko shrugged. "McDonald's it is," they said, and headed out of the apartment, locking the door behind them.
(Alright aha)
Christ, I haven't any food at all in here… Rem sighed softly as he looked into his barren cupboards. I really need to get some groceries… but I can't afford them right now, so I guess fast food will have to do. He grabbed his keys and headed out of his apartment so he could walk to the nearest fast food place. As he was walking out, he noticed Collin coming out of their apartment as well. Oh, I saw them in the coffee shop! "Hello!" He waved to them, smiling brightly. It seemed like he didn't feel awkward at all talking to new people. He was pretty new to the apartment complex, but he thought Collin might recognize him from the Cafe, at least.
Collin looked over at Rem, immediately recognizing him and awkwardly waving back. "Oh, uhh, hello–" Collin replied, seeming to almost stumble on their words. They rubbed their left arm against their right, now doing their best to avoid eye contact. They hadn't been expecting a familiar face to be here, let alone another person, and they began to panic a little. They were now silent, and they didn't move from their spot either; almost as if they were frozen. They looked at Rem again and smiled a bit weakly at them, not knowing what else to do in that moment. No, Collin, you're making it worse! they thought, looking away and shaking their head slightly so that it wasn't clear that they were actually shaking their head. You got this… I think, they thought once more.
"Are you okay?" Rem asked curiously, obviously clueless as to what was going on in Collin's head. "If I'm bothering you, I can go, I just… remembered you from the Cafe, and I was surprised to see you here!" He laughed softly. "Small world, huh? I figured I'd say hello. I didn't know we lived so close to each other. I only moved in here recently, though, so I'm sure you've been here longer than I have…" He rambled on, fidgeting a bit with his hands. I'm probably annoying them… I shouldn't just leave, though. That would be weird. And probably rude.
"I'm fine, just- not used to being taken up in a conversation, I guess," Collin replied, laughing nervously. "You're not a bother, in fact, this is kind of… nice, to say the least- most people don't bother conversating with me, and I don't bother conversating with others- Wait.. you just moved here? That's interesting! Me and my sister have been living in this state for a while, and we just recently moved into this apartment complex, since we turned 18 just last week," they added, starting to ramble. I hope I'm not being annoying by talking so much, they thought to themselves. That would suck… This is the first conversation I've had with someone besides my sister. They started fiddling with their thumbs, still a bit nervous.
Rem nodded a bit, his smile returning when Collin started talking back. "I moved here pretty soon after I turned eighteen too! I'm from England, if you couldn't tell from the accent." He laughed softly and ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm hoping I'll be able to find my older brother here as well. He ran away from home years ago, when I was six years old. Haven't seen him in twelve years! Hah… I hope he's doing alright, you know? I-I mean, I've got six older siblings, but he's the only one who ran off. I saw the other five pretty regularly since we were living together and all."
Collin began to grow less nervous as the conversation kept going. "That's neat! And yeah, I could definitely tell," they replied, smiling once more, but this time more genuinely. "I get what you mean by that. I myself only have one sibling, but if she were gone, I'd wanna go look for her too, so that's totally rational. I hope the search for your brother goes well," they added, the look of anxiety that had been on their face now fading, furthermore being replaced with a calmer look. By this point, they seemed much less nervous- At least, compared to a second ago.
"Thanks. I'm sure he's okay… I mean, my family has a lot of survival skills, so I'm betting he found a way to get by. He was thirteen when he left, after all, so he should be fine." Rem shrugged a bit. "He should be about twenty five now, so he's probably got a job and a life here now. I wonder if he still looks like himself…?" He hummed thoughtfully for a few seconds.
"That's good, I suppose. As for looks… I think that'd depend on what kind of lifestyle he's been keeping for the past few years, I think? I know that lifestyles can drastically affect one's appearance, but I dunno," Collin said, followed by a shrug. "But even so, I'm sure he should be doing fine, given what you've said so far." They laughed nervously again, not really knowing how else to respond.
Rem nodded and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Right, yeah. If I ever do find him, it'll be weird to see him as an adult." He laughed softly. "Since I only think of him as being like, thirteen." He was quiet for a moment. "Sorry, I probably shouldn't be bothering you with my personal problems. I mean, I haven't even told you my name." He laughed again, a bit more awkwardly this time. "I'm Rem, by the way. And you're Collin, right? That's what you asked me to write on your cup, anyway."
"It's fine, I don't mind, frankly." Collin rubbed their arm again, chuckling a bit. "And yeah, that's my name. Anyway, it's nice to meet you," they said, hesitantly reaching their hand out as if to ask for a handshake. Now it was more clear that they had been telling the truth that they hadn't been taken up in a conversation before now, and that they were still a tad nervous, even after supposedly having warmed up to the other.
"Nice to meet you too!" Rem shook Collin's hand when it was offered to him, his smile easily returning. He seemed to be a pretty optimistic person, so it wasn't difficult to get him feeling chipper again whenever he faltered for a moment. "Where are you heading off to?" He asked curiously. "I was just going to get food… either from the closest place or from the grocery store. Whichever is easier to walk to."
(i'm gonna have to go soon, so if i stop replying, that's why- just wanted to give you a heads up jsjsksn)
"I was actually gonna get some food too, though I'm probably just gonna go to the nearest McDonald's," Collin replied. "Assuming I can even get there by foot after walking down all the stairs, haha," they added, followed by a quick chuckle. "And after that… Well, I dunno actually." They rubbed the back of their head and broke eye contact for a second, then looked right back at Rem, not wanting to seem like they were trying to avoid the conversation as a whole.
(Np aha)
Rem nodded a bit and stuck his thumbs in his pockets. "That sounds like fun. Um… I'll see you around, then!" He waved and smiled as he walked off, heading down the stairs so he could walk to the nearest food place. Blimey, I'm a lot more awkward than I thought I was… why was it so hard to talk to them after a bit?
Collin nodded and began making their way to the stairs, then realized that would make for more conversation. They headed to the elevator in the hallway and pushed a button, waiting for the door to open. 'I wonder why I got THAT nervous around him… My anxiety isn't usually that bad, so why did it get worse now of all times?' they thought as they continued waiting for the elevator door to open. Once it opened, they walked in and pushed one of the buttons next to the door, and backed up, watching the door close. They turned on their phone and scrolled through images as they had done in the cafe.
Rem was gone by the time Collin managed to get down to the lobby, having already headed out the door to walk and get some food. He yawned a bit too himself as he walked, unable to keep himself from thinking more about Collin. He was curious about them for sure. He hadn't gotten to have a proper conversation in a while, after all, so he couldn't help but want to know more.
Collin finally got to the lobby and headed straight for the door. Once they opened it, they stood still for a moment, thinking to themselves. Suddenly, a car honked in the distance, causing Collin to snap back into reality. "Huh- Oh, right, food," they muttered to themselves, walking towards their destination… which, of course, was McDonald's. Collin knew that they and their sister had been eating fast-food for the past few days, but Collin - at this point -didn't know what else to get. They weren't the best cook, and neither was their sister, so they basically had to resort to whatever their money could afford.
Rem managed to get himself some food and started walking back to the apartment complex with the bag tucked casually under one arm. He ran his fingers through his hair with his free hand as he walked, thinking a bit more. No matter what he thought about, his mind always seemed to end up back at Collin for some reason. I'm sure they're just fresh in my mind because I talked to them earlier… He shook his head a bit as he unlocked his door and headed back inside.
