“It’s – it’s so,” she paused dropping her blush metallic bag on the floor with a resounding sound,” fucking boring.” The light that entered from the glass wall bounced off the clean white walls and the marble floor shone with the a light golden hue. If one observed closely there were thin golden veins running across from it.
The tall boy scooped up the bag his cousin threw down arbitrarily before walking over to the closet. Covered by a rather narrow door, wedged between the washroom and the VPod, that filled over one fourth of the room. He unhurriedly opened it, checking out the fabric of the university issued uniforms that hung stiffly. He rubbed it between his fingers, a very small furrow developing between his brow. A budding dissatisfaction seemed to have shaken through the frost of his demeanor. He sighed before shoving the light bag into the closet and shutting it with a bang.
He turned to his cousin, a gentle smile painted on his lips as he nodded. “It’s not bad.”
The girl could only roll her eyes before throwing herself onto the bed only to wince at its density. "Even the bed is shit." Not even the new version synthCrystal installed above her head, mimicking the sky outside, could pull back the frown brewing on her face.
The boy did not comment on her dissatisfaction. It wasn't like he was all too happy with the arrangement himself. He turned to the full body mirror that shone from within the open bathroom. He turned his head to the left before pulling off the dark purple ribbon he'd used to hold up his low pony tail. As his long black hair fell on his shoulder, he watched his cousin slam her legs against the bed, trying to push herself off of it. In any other time, maybe he would have laughed at her. Teased her for how precious she looked.
Watching her throw punches at the bed with such vigor reminded him to keep his mouth shut. Today is not the day. "Well, I would not say it's bad, Day.”
"If it isn't bad, what is it?"
He had to think about it. It was shit, they both knew it, but he was older. "Well, I'd say it was lazy."
"Sure, it takes a lazy eye to make a place this expensive, and 'premium' feel so dated."
He couldn't help himself. Fuck.
Ceski threw his head back as he guffawed. "Lazy eye," he repeated, nearly doubling over at the mention.
Day's purple eyes slid to the side, a small grin climbed it's way to her lips as she watched her neat cousin double over with just two words. "Anyway, we both know it's rather tasteless. Let's not argue over semantics."
Caching his breath the boy could only smooth his collar, trying to remove the wrinkles his laughter made with the warmth of his palm. "It's opulent enough for this star system."
“Eh," the girl interjects lazily," Price does not beget good taste.”
The boy looked back at his reflection, brows matching the wrinkles of this dark shirt. “Tsk.” There were wrinkles on his shoulders. He felt like ripping his hair out at the thought of being caught dead in a wrinkled shirt.
She looked at the frustration coating her cousin's eyes as he picked and preened, “Let’s go shopping.”
“Now?”
“Yeah. I don't think I can handle being here and not having it redone -- today.”
“Well,” he gave up trying to smooth out his shirt,” it’s still early. We can probably do it after we stop by my dorm room.”
Day jumped up off the bed, landing quite nimbly on the floor next to it. “Bet?"
"On what? I'm not going to be your opponent if you bet on something stupid like," he paused trying to come up with the most outlandish thing his cousin could come up with to bet on," whether I can actually smooth out my shirt."
"Yeah, no, it seems impossible." Ugh, she just said that to rile you up. She just said that to rile you up. She just --
"What's the bet?"
"I guarantee you it will look the same: expensive, sterile and,” she shuddered overdramatically,” lifeless.”
"Didn't they say that each room was special and individual?"
"Yeah, but what's your guarantee that it would be special and individual?"
She got me there. I hate it when she does. "Fine," he shook his head trying to give his hair that swoosh he liked," what are we betting?"
"Linked up."
He felt like screaming. He should have known it would have been like this. She was always the type to do something like this, especially if her background was a dull, sterile and lazily assembled room. She doesn't suffer kindly from aesthetic damages. Do I have to catch the interior designer so she spares me? Are they still alive?
"Well?"
"...Okay."
"Yay!" She jumped up, her dress ballooning.
He liked seeing her smile. It was much better than the brooding, the dissatisfaction and, most especially, the anger.
“For this room, I think we need to get you some plants,” pulling up the holo-screen to type up a shopping list,” to add a feeling of home.” Even if he has to link it up, it's much cheaper for him than to suffer cleaning up after a mess she'd made because she was bored, unhappy, or angry.
All dorm buildings were hulking brick monstrosities made to mimic Pre-historic Terran Style found on plant based filos. It had a slanted roof made to look like the curved scales of a Lilcan fish and bright bell-shaped windows framed by thick strips of cubed plaster. This was typical Argan taste, ostentatious and, in Day's opinion, pretty pointless. The façade may mimic an era before men traversed the stars but it lacked the warmth, history, and sincerity of those creations. It was a hollow recreation made for a simple reason - to boast about things no one even wants to compare to.
The men's dorms, past the hedge fence separating the dorm complexes, was made up of a trio of such buildings mirroring the ladies' dorms. Unlike the lady's dorms though, these buildings lacked the gene-enhanced flora blooming in front of it. Instead, there were tall trees scattered along the path, each exactly 8.63455 meters from each other.
Ceski thought it looked too artificial to be called a forest. Day could not help nodding along to his remarks as they crossed the paved path to the brick building with a large red banner covering half it's doorway. Keeping a brisk pace, it took them but a few minutes to get to the assigned dorm room, hesitating at the door.
"Are we going to sit here all day? I still want to eat, you know."
"Didn't you like take a suprevil?"
"Mouths are born to eat and doors are meant to be opened," Day answered dryly before rushing forward to push the door open.
"Tsk."
"Hahahahahahaha"
"Shut up."
"Hahahahahahaha"
"God, why are you so childish."
Day breathed in deeply, finally slowing down from her guffaws. She gripped onto her cousin's shirt, surreptitiously wrinkling it as she tried to unfold her body. Her purple eyes crescents as she smiled up at him. "You have too much faith in other people, cousin."
Ceski wore a bland smile as he placed his hand on her arm, trying to assist her before dropping his dark embroidered bag on the bed. Making sure his little cousin was upright, he strode forward to press on the all-too-familiar dense bed.
Finding a dark chair in the corner, Day sat atop it as she tapped on her holo-screen, updating the shopping list they had earlier written and cross referencing it to the catalogs from stores close to their campus.
"We might need to redo both rooms completely."
"Can we do that?"
"Did you check bathrooms?"
She wasn't listening to him anymore. Ceski sat on the bed, crossing his legs. Seems like we're re-doing our rooms, then.
"When can we move in?"
"Tomorrow. We can stay in a hotel for a night."
"Oh," he arbitrarily replied," I'd like to have a separate shower and bath."
"Okay, check your messages."
"This looks good. Gosh, why did we come to this retro-scape academy.” Cesi mimicked the tone she used earlier while he leaned against his arm, drawing his other palm over his nose. Day chuckled at her cousin’s dramatics. She adored how he always matched her energy and made her laugh. This was really the blessing of family. Though, she sometimes wished her cousin would be honest to himself. To her, he is definitely more high maintenance that she was.
A knock from the slightly ajar doorway broke their quiet giggles. The two pairs of purple eyes met, both flexing their fists.
A thin boy with a shock of curly silver hair popped in. “Hello,” he smiled,” I’m in 835-B!”
Ceski quickly pasted on an easy smile. “Hello,” he stood up to shake their hand,” my name is Chechko A’lve, 835-C.”
835-B took a few steps into the room, their full frame in sight. The boy had olive toned skin and a mop of silver curls on his head. His large overalls, splashed with a variety of unknown stains, over their white shirt made them seem very approachable.
“Oh,” Day said,” are you from the mechanical engineering department?”
“Wah,” the boy beamed, surprised,” how did you know?”
Day pointed her pink tipped finger at a very distinct green and orange splash on his knee.
“Are you also in the mecha engineering department?”
Ceski scoffed. “She isn’t the type to use her hands. Just look at those nails.” His own trimmed and polished fingers pointed to his cousin's hands while he returned to his spot on the bed.
Squatting down between the two, the silver haired boy examined the long and sparkly finger tips. The cousins exchanged smiles as they watched the boy regard Day's nails with confusion and fascination.
"How do you even do things with those on?"
"I just do them," Day could not help wiggle them proudly.
"I don't think you can, though. They're like growing an extra stiff finger on top of your already existing fingers."
"Improved reach."
The boy's eyebrows began to furrow at the assertion. The hands he was observing looked like they would be soft and smell really nice. "I doubt you could do much of anything at all."
"Well, baby wasn't born to use her hands."
"Why do you even have hands, then?" Ceski could not help but interrupt his cousin before she launched into one of her 'baby-is-me' talks. No person should ever have to sit through it the first time they met her. He could not, in good conscience, watch this seemingly innocent boy get corrupted by her fluffy pink logic.
His cousin's smile grew in size. She raised both hands into a claw like posture before declaring, To do this." She pounced.
"GODDAMNIT, YOU BITCH."
835-B looked on in horror as the girl in the pink dress lunged at the elegant boy on the bed and proceeded to poke at his sides with her sharp nails. Despite how frightening the loud sounds coming out of the boy were, he could not help but smile. These two, he mused, seemed to have a very good relationship.
"FUCK, I GIVE. I GIVE."
"Good." Day got off her cousin shaking her dress back into place before pulling at a lopsided piggy tail. For good measure, she kicked her wheezing cousin's leg before turning to the grinning boy who'd watched her dominate her cousin through biological triggers.
She smiled, reaching out a hand to help the huddled boy up," My name's Adia. And you?"
