"RIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGG!" The tiny device on the nightstand vibrated aggressively, demanding his attention like a starving cat,
Roman let out a tired groan and buried his face in the pillow, silently praying for the alarm to shut off on it's own,
But it didn't.
He sighed and rolled over, wincing as he stretched out his arm to turn the device towards himself,
"It's just six, I still have some time" He whispered in a low voice as he fumbled with the alarm, trying to turn it off from the control panel at the back,
It didn't shut off,
"Worst timing ever" He grumbled as he realized that the alarm was finally broken, after many years of being slapped, hit and thrown across the room.
"Come on, go off" He begged the clock as he tried different buttons and dials on the back of the device,
Roman's left eye twitched in anger and his hand tightened to throw it across the room one last time to silence it forever,
Deciding against it, he lay down on the bed again,
He shut his eyes as he let out a long breath, staring at the ceiling while waiting for the alarm to sing it's last song.
Dawn had not broken yet, what weirdo wakes up earlier than the sun on a Saturday morning, anyways?
Just five more minutes.
He said to himself as he tried to ignore the sounds and go back to sleep,
However, the alarm disagreed and blared again to prove its point, each cycle seemingly getting louder and more relentless than the last.
"Fuck this" He grunted as his hand came crashing down on the device, immediately silencing it as the room settled into serenity,
But the damage was already done,
He was fully awake now and there was no going back.
For a moment, he just lay there, blinking up at the plain sterile ceiling of his dorm.
The thin walls let in the distant sound of the morning commuters and hover-taxis starting their days outside.
And, just then, he felt the slight coldness in the air,
It was the kind that made getting out of his cozy bed seem like a punishment.
He had so much to do, yet so little energy to start it with,
After glaring at the ceiling a little longer, Roman finally sat up in the bed, only to continue spacing out with his hands in his laps,
His brain was working overtime as he tried to process everything that was happening in his life,
Strings of information crossed his mind as he carried out his daily routine of searching for his purpose,
One stood out to him,
"Last night happened, It wasn't a dream"
The reality in the words of his subconscious did the trick to jolt him awake as his eyes momentarily widened,
And he swung his legs over the side of the bed, before rubbing away the remnants of sleep from his eyes,
His gaze drifted over the cluttered desk and the narrow closet that barely fit his clothes in the cramped single-room unit.
"Ethan?" He whispered, realizing the absence of his roommate's infuriating snoring,
The room was silent and the bed looked empty from where he was perched,
When he thought about it, he didn't remember seeing Ethan after returning from Lisa's place,
That could mean two things,
He could be in another dorm playing fantasy sports,
Or slumped in front of an electronic after playing fantasy sports in another dorm room.
Roman stood, rolling his shoulders and turning his neck from side to side before trudging to the sink.
He turned the faucet on and splashed ice-cold water onto his face.
The prickling sensation snapped his senses into focus, chasing away the last traces of sleep.
And he brushed his teeth in silence, watching his exhausted reflection in the mirror.
After this, breakfast was quick,
A protein bar and half a bottle of water snatched up from the old mini-fridge.
Not great, but not terrible either.
As he wasn't much of a morning eater.
The rays of the sun peeked from behind the blinds just as he tossed the empty wrapper and bottle into the trashcan,
He sighed as he walked over to the window and pressed the button that slowly rolled in the curtains to give the room a natural lighting,
Coughing into the back of his hand, he set a timer on his watch and placed it down on the table carefully.
Roman dropped to the floor and started doing pushups,
With each ascension, he felt his muscles wake up with each slow, controlled movement.
The repetition was mindless and almost mechanical,
Left, right, up, down.
Over and over again, untill his mind went blank,
He focused on the pain in his muscles and kept going,
That was the point of exercise,
It kept his thoughts from drifting too far.
And by the time he moved onto crunches, a familiar knot had already started forming in his chest.
It wasn't working anymore,
He was thinking again,
He grumbled out a string of curses as he sat up and wiped the sweat off his face with a towel,
Charlie and Damien were still acting weird.
And he had a generally bad feeling about today's meeting.
Even though this new tension had been there for just a day, the strange,
The awkward pauses.
The way Charlie's jokes seemed just a little more forced.
The way Damien wouldn't quite meet her eyes sometimes.
It wasn't the first time they'd fought before, so why did this feel so different,
Roman was certain,
Something had definitely happened. But he had no idea what.
He exhaled sharply and rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling.
"I'm sure I'm just imagining it, I'm probably stressed" He assured himself,
But he knew he wasn't.
Deciding he'd had enough, he got off the floor and grabbed some clean clothes before stepping into the tiny bathroom.
A scalding shower was the last part of his routine.
Steam curled around him as the water pounded against his skin, nearly too hot but just shy of unbearable.
He let himself linger under the spray, forehead resting against the tile as his mind wouldn't let it go.
Charlie and Damien were the first people he became close to when the new world was launched.
They were like family to him,
And Roman wouldn't forgive himself if anything in his control destroyed their bond.
The hot water had transformed into something cooler, leaving his ivory skin shining under the stream of light,
His eyes snapped open as he heard the buzzing of his phone for the first time that morning,
After carefully shutting off the water, he reached for his towel, and stepped out of the bathroom,
He walked to the nightstand where his phone was charging and removed it from the charging pad before checking the message,
It was a message from Charlie; "We're still on for today, yeah?"
Roman contemplated on it for a short while,
He didn't really want to go,
But he had to, for the sake of friendship.
"Relax, I'll be there" He frowned as he replied her message,
"SWEET, Don't be late" came her immediate response to his text.
He tossed the phone onto his bed and ran a towel through his damp hair.
So much for a quiet morning.
After slipping on a casual T-shirt and jeans, he ordered a Lyft as he packed up his bag, hoping that he would be able to get some homework done there.
He tracked the driver as he spent his free time clearing his side of the room,
And when the car was near, Roman swung his bag over his shoulder, left the room and locked the door behind him,
As soon as he got out of the building, a sleek hover-car pulled up in front of him and the driver's window rolled down,
"Roman Crest?"
"That's me" He mumbled as he checked the model of the car to see if it matched the information on the app before getting into it,
After, Roman slid into his seat, confirming the location with the driver before the car ascended and took off.
By the time he walked into Charlie's home, Damien was already there,
And any tension he thought was between them before had vanished into thin air,
Like Deja vu.
Soon, the three of them settled into Charlie's couch, their conversations flowing like it always had,
Easy and effortless, just like breathing.
"So tell me," Charlie smirked cheekily as she folded her arms.
"Are you two ever gonna stop being emotionally constipated and date each other, or am I gonna have to arrange it myself?"
Roman choked on his drink. "Excuse me?"
Damien barely looked up from his seat, where he was lazily flipping through a magazine.
"Hilarious. Truly. You should quit engineering and become a comedian."
"I'm serious." Charlie leaned forward, grinning.
"The tension? The long, meaningful glances? The fact that you both refuse to acknowledge it? It's painful to watch."
Roman shot her a flat look. "I do not remember updating my sexual preferences."
"Unless you're updating it for me?" He added as he cocked up and eyebrow at her,
"Well, since you won't get with Lisa, you gotta get with someone, ey?" She shrugged as she sipped on her synthetic drink,
"Who says I like Lisa, we're just people attending the same university, nothing's going on between us"
At this, Damien raised his head up from the magazine while Charlotte stared at him with a raised eyebrow,
Neither of them buying his lie for a second,
"Yeah, cause we're all blind enough to not see the way you eyefuck eachother in public" Damien mumbled,
"That's so true, let's not forget that Rome even undresses her with his eyes everytime she walks by" Charlie giggled,
"I do not-"
"Yes, you do, there's so much sexual tension between you two" Charlie cut in,
"Charlie, we're just friends, nothing will ever-"
"Sure big guy, believe that if it helps you sleep at night" She shrugged,
"I hate you" Roman deadpanned.
"No, you don't."
"I do. Deeply."
Charlie just cackled and threw a pillow at him in response.
He caught it, sighing as he glanced at Damien.
"Say something," Roman muttered.
Damien lowered the magazine, raising an eyebrow as he looked between them pensively, "She's annoying."
"Thank you," Roman smiled.
"Wow. THIS is what betrayal feels like." Charlie gasped dramatically.
"You had it coming," Damien said as he tossed the magazine aside.
"But seriously, how's the project going?" Roman asked,
"Which of them?" Charlie answeredas a small frown threatened to make it's way to her face,
"The one you wouldn't shut up about last week?"
"Oh, the new energy core design?" Charlie giggled as her face immediately lit up.
Roman nodded,
"Yeah, turns out, the entire system's inefficient as hell. I had to reroute the output flow manually twice, because some idiot in the research team forgot to account for-"
Roman tuned her out halfway through, watching as she launched into a ridiculously detailed rant about engineering failures, complete with dramatic hand gestures.
Damien nudged him with his elbow. "You getting any of this?"
"Not a damn word."
Charlie flicked a bottle cap at them. "You two are hopeless."
"Correct," Roman said with a deadpan.
She rolled her eyes but smiled anyway. "I hate you both."
"No, you don't," Damien and Roman said at the same time.
Charlie groaned, flopping back onto the couch.
Moments like this were what made everything fell normal,
And Roman almost forgot why he'd been worried in the first place.
"You know, sometimes I think you two were created in a lab somewhere. One designed for maximum grumpiness, the other for emotional repression." Charlie mumbled as she flapped her legs around.
"And you were made in what? A factory for excessive enthusiasm?" Roman scoffed
"Obviously," she said. "I was the premium model, limited edition."
"You mean defective." Damien snorted, kicking his feet up onto the coffee table.
Charlie gasped as she clutched her pearls.
"How dare you. I am a delight."
Roman just shook his head, glancing around the apartment.
It looked a bit different from last time,
He couldn't put his finger on it, but something had changed and the chill that ran down his spine confirmed it.
He was about to ask her something when his gaze landed on the glass case in the corner.
"The hell is that?" he muttered as he stood up from the couch
Charlie twisted around and turned her head to see what he was interested in.
The second she saw what he was walking towards, her entire face changed.
She sat up fast,
"Hey, Don't touch that!"