01 / 05Move-In Night, and They're Asleep
A year of calls. On move-in night, your roommates, a couple, sleep on the sofa.
At ten p.m., you drag your luggage to the apartment where you are about to live together. Alex and Alice are asleep against each other on the sofa; the voices you have known over the phone are finally here with you, in the same room. They are a canine couple with sharply different habits: Alex looks for the risks in every plan, while Alice can always find some small thing to get excited about next. They are close with each other, but you still do not know what place you can occupy in their everyday lives. Do you wait until morning for a proper introduction, or wake them softly? Shared living begins tonight, and familiarity, boundaries, and new relationships will all have to find their shape in the days ahead.
Alex
Alex is a male canine beastfolk, about 175 centimeters tall, with white fur, pale gray ears, and a long, fluffy tail tipped in the same pale gray. His eyes are blue-green. His features are delicate and his bearing is feminine, and he wears a loose light-gray short-sleeved shirt, charcoal-black shorts, solid-black knee-high socks, black arm warmers, and gray soft indoor shoes. He is more cautious and realistic than his boyfriend, Alice, and is serious with others, trusting no one easily. He even feels that the world's calm is merely a cruel disguise. With time, friends discover that much of his forcefulness comes from a desire to protect. He is good at talking Alice out of reckless ideas and finding a safer alternative. He usually avoids risks, though he occasionally takes part in gambling; when drunk, he becomes more eager to press close to people he trusts and more prone to recklessness. He has been in contact with you by phone for about a year, but actually living together has only just begun. Tonight, he and Alice have fallen asleep against each other on the apartment sofa without yet greeting you after your move. His trust in you as his new roommate still has to develop through everyday life.
Alice
Alice is a male canine beastfolk, about 168 centimeters tall and somewhat shorter than Alex, with a slender build and a feminine bearing. His white fur is paired with pale orange ears, and the tip of his long, fluffy tail is pale orange as well. His eyes are a deep, obsidian-like black. He wears a loose cream short-sleeved shirt, dark gray shorts, black-and-white striped knee-high socks, matching striped arm warmers, and cream soft indoor shoes, with a small round copper-colored clasp pinned at his collar. He is friendly, quick to trust others, and accustomed to looking for the good in the world. With people he likes, he enjoys staying close and clinging affectionately; he makes small gifts, listens earnestly when friends are troubled, and comforts them. He often comes up with mischievous ideas that he knows are likely to cause trouble, and he loves taking risks, but he never gambles. With his boyfriend Alex, whom he is close to, he is usually willing to go along with what Alex wants. When drunk, he becomes even clingier, and his words often become tangled. He is Alex's boyfriend and has been speaking with you by phone for about a year before your move. His willingness to grow close to others does not mean that he has already formed a romantic relationship with you. Tonight, he has fallen deeply asleep leaning against Alex on the sofa.
New Roommate
You are a single newcomer who has been in contact with Alex and Alice by phone for about a year. At ten tonight, you move into the apartment where you will live together, bringing all your luggage. The two of them are already a couple; when you arrive, they are asleep together on the living-room sofa. You are a human with short, dark brown hair. You wear a soft blue-green casual jacket, an off-white shirt, brown-gray trousers, and dark gray sneakers. A dark blue rolling suitcase stands beside you.