1x1 with sonder_

[exempt]

Aspen Trepner
Her features morphed into shock as the door was flung open, but really, what else had she been expecting? She was silent for a few moments, her gaze moving over his figure with her own otherwise frozen. He was fine...by the looks of his dampened hair and face, he'd likely just been showering. Snapping out of it, she backed up a step, tugging on the leash as she did so. Bandit seemed somewhat less motivated to rush inside his apartment, but was now trying to rush to Daniel and investigate. "I-I'm sorry," she mumbled, stuttering slightly in a rare moment of bewilderment. He'd rushed to get away from her, and here she was bothering him at his door not a few minutes later. He probably thought she was incredibly clingy, which Aspen would disagree.

"I thought...I thought maybe something was..." she kept trailing off, unsure how to word it. Something had just seemed so incredibly off, and yet she had no reasoning for this but an obsessive dog and an uncomfortable vibe. Daniel was fine though, standing right there in front of her. She shook her head, backing up once more. "I'm sorry about your door, it won't won't happen again." Her words were rushed, as were her actions to get out of there. She pulled Bandit back, grabbing him around the chest and heaving him up. She could hardly hold him, but luckily the breeds he was mixed with gave him a slightly smaller stature. After once last nervous glance back at Daniel and his apartment, she quickly turned and made her way back to her own door, shutting it behind her as soon as the two of them were inside.

[mewsters]

The boy tilted his head to the right,"Are you o-" he began," N-nevermind, see.. you later." he muttered as Aspen disappeared into her apartment down the hall. He stood in the doorway for what seemed like an eternity and stared at her door as if she'd suddenly walk out of it. After a moment he blinked, looked down the other side of the hall and backed into his own apartment. He ran a hand through his thick, curly hair and let out a deep sigh, switching his attention to the bloody bathroom. Daniel let out a loud groan, he didn't have a mop or anything to clean with. The only thing he had was a roll of paper towels that was left there by the people before, and a sink. He sighed and grabbed the single roll from underneath the kitchen sink, wet a few, and made his way to the small bathroom. He got down on his hands and knees and started scrubbing at the smeared stains, his stomach churning at the coppery smell. Finally, the trash can was full of red paper towels and the bathroom reeked of the coppery odor, but there was no blood in sight. He cracked open the windows in the main living area, hoping it'd air the apartment out.

Daniel looked down at his air mattress and sighed, it had finally completely deflated itself. He hooked it up and watched as it slowly began to inflate again, thinking about the events of the evening. He was worried about Aspen, she looked really confused and worried. Should he go visit her? See if she's okay? No. He shouldn't. He should just leave her alone and if she wants to ask questions, he'd let her come to him. He huffed and checked the time on his phone. It was now 7:30. "Geez, I thought it'd be later." he muttered tiredly and yawned, rubbing his eyes. He wondered what Aspen was doing and what kind of dog she had. It looked like a pitbull, stocky and full of muscle but also really loving. He liked the dog and all, but it didn't seem to like him too much. The boy hoped Aspen wouldn't get the wrong idea of him by the way her dog behaved around him.

[exempt]

Aspen Trepner
She set the canine down with a heavy breath, even the effort to quickly walk down the hall and through the apartment door with such a dog in her arms leaving her tired. As soon as he was put down, Bandit turned and sniffed at the door, pushing against it, but seemed to know better than to scratch it. That, or he'd just grown less interested in the entire situation now that it wasn't right in front of his snout. Aspen huffed in annoyance and embarrassment, giving a small shake of her head as she turned on her heels to inspect the room in front of her. Her roommate seemed to have began the process of cleaning up the mess, but hadn't made it through very much. Various trash was half-stuffed inside trash bags, but even more was still laying around on the ground. She closed her eyes for just a moment and took a deep breath, then grabbed a bottle of water and retreated to her room.

-- skip like...a few days? ---

Aspen had partially been avoiding Daniel since the incident with his door, avoiding her usual lingering around the apartment building. Instead of sitting out in the hall or on the steps, she was quick to leave and find elsewhere to loiter. It was probably a silly thing for her to do, but she was incredibly worried that she would find some other way to mess things up and make a fool of herself. After walking out from her apartment door and shooing Bandit back in as he attempted to follow her, she gently shut and locked the door behind her. Neither of her two roommates were there, though she wasn't quite sure where they'd run off to. She didn't care enough to text or call. Shoving the small set of keys in her bag, she turned and began down the hall.

[mewsters]

A few days had gone by since Daniel shifted and was on edge because of it. He was terrified that it'd happen randomly again, and next time he probably wouldn't be lucky enough to get back to his apartment. In other news, all of the furniture had come in finally and his apartment didn't look as barren. It was weird getting used to, having stuff and being able to actually watch television and cook things. The boy was now sat on his new couch, a pastel blue scratch and dent piece that was half priced at the furniture store, with his hair curly hair pushed out of his face by a black headband. He wore a pair of worn jeans and a graphic tee for an old business that he'd found at the thrift store nearby. Daniel let out a sigh and turned his head to look out the window that overlooked the street below. He hadn't seen or heard anything from Aspen since her dog had tried breaking down his door and it made him a bit sad. He didn't know if she was embarrassed about the ordeal or if he'd done something wrong.

Daniel blew the loose strands of hair that fell out of the headband out of his face and slowly got to his feet. He let out a yawn and looked around the apartment. He was very bored and very lonely, and also a bit hungry. He decided to head back to the little cafe Aspen and him had went to to grab something to eat and hopefully run into her. He pulled on a black jacket and slipped on a pair of beat up sneakers before walking out of the apartment, locking it, and turning to see who else was in the hall. His eyes widened when he spotted Aspen, who looked like she'd just left. He shifted his eyes to the ground awkwardly, then back up to her as he cleared his throat. "Uh, hey! H-how're you?" he stammered, voice cracking a bit and laced with concern. He hoped he wouldn't scare her, he was just curious as to why she'd been acting strange.

[exempt]

Aspen Trepner
She was just about to round the corner towards the elevator when Aspen heard a familiar voice, the same one she had intentionally been trying to go without. A pang of guilt hit her, though she reassured herself that she really didn't owe anything to someone she had just met not even a week prior. She had enjoyed his company up until the last time they'd ran into each other. She froze for just a moment, then turned to face him, giving a slight, polite smile. It was forced, concealing the spike of anxiety that the simple interaction brought, but was mostly believable. "Oh, ah, hey! I've been okay I guess, the same as usual." She tugged down the sleeve of her black sweater, messing with the hem of it. She was silent for only a moment before speaking up once more, not quite allowing enough time for him to reply. "What have you been up to? Heading out somewhere I assume?" She began towards the elevator again, her pace slower than before as she waited for him to follow.

[mewsters]

"That's good," he said, scratching the back of his head. "I haven't seen you around very much these past few days, so I'm glad to see you're doing well." he gave a small grin. Daniel caught up to her as she slowed her pace and noted how anxious she was. He could practically smell it on her, plus the way she picked at the hem of her shirt and the way she strung her words together made it obvious. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything to her and waited until she was out of the building to leave. He internally sighed as they both made their way into the elevator. "I-I've been doing alright, I guess. I finally got all the furniture into my place so it doesn't look deserted anymore. It was starting to drive me a little crazy." he gave a short laugh before continuing. "And I was just going out to eat and to just get out of the apartment." he smiled, trying to lighten the mood and make her less anxious.

[exempt]

Aspen Trepner
She gave a slow nod at his first comment, turning and heading into the elevator. "I guess we just haven't been on the same schedule." She lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug, the initial shock from seeing him dissipating. Aspen pressed the button for the bottom floor, then turned her attention back to him, leaning against the wall next to the panel. As she listened to the rest of his reply, her gaze shifted over to the closing doors. "Finally, no more waking up flat on the floor." she teased, referring to his few days on a blow-up mattress. The corners of her lips curved up as she looked back to him once more. "Feeling cooped up? You don't even have any annoying roommates to deal with. Where ya' going to eat?" The elevator jarred to a stop, emitting a high-pitched ding as its doors began to open. Aspen made her way around the couple that had been waiting and into the main lobby.

[mewsters]

Daniel gave a short nod,"Yeah, I guess not." he muttered, looking at the floor of the elevator as she hit the button for the bottom floor. He glanced up at her comment and grinned,"Yeah, you got that right. I haven't slept this good in a long time." he giggled, resting his back against the wall. He set his elbows on the metal railing and blew the few strands out of his face again, the headband he wore was not doing a good job holding his crazy hair away from his face. "And yeah, I don't, but I felt like I was gonna go crazy if I watched one more soap opera." he winced, thinking back to the awful drama filled shows and how at least one person died or got their heart broken every other episode. "Anyways, I was thinking of going back to the cafe we ate at the first full day I was here. The coffee I make just isn't as good." he said, another grin slipping onto his face as he followed Aspen out of the elevator, accidentally bumping into one of the people entering. "Ah, I'm sorry!" he said, the grin faltering slightly. The person gave him a dirty look as more people shuffled in and the doors closed, leaving Daniel feeling bad and slightly annoyed. He let out a sigh and continued after Aspen,"I said sorry, didn't I? I thought 'sorry' resolved all problems." he said with a snort as they made their way out of the apartment complex.