A New Life [Nikolai]

Nikolai Malashonak

Literally every possible way for this to go wrong was flying through Paisley’s mind in that moment. What if this guy was a cruel, horrid person who immediately started attacking him? What if they had nothing in common? What if him sewing and baking annoyed the roommate? What if they were really an alien sent here from another planet with a mission to purge the world of all albinos and bring the earth into a new, socially cleansed future? What if…oh god… Paisley’s brows knitted with horror and concern. What if they didn’t eat gluten!?

The sound of a man’s voice nearly made the student jump ten feet, his cookbook flying off to the side and an unmanly squeak escaping his lips. Paisley stared tensely at the stranger for a few moments. At least they looked friendly enough, and their voice didn’t hold any hostility. Well…that was good enough for him. Quickly standing, Paisley reached out and shook his hand, “Hi there! I’m Paisley! I’m your roommate…well, that’s obvious isn’t it since I had a key to get in, haha! I promise I didn’t just break in or anything, no really, I swear I didn’t, this isn’t a robbery, hehe…heh…”

Shit. He always rambled when he was nervous. To try and get a moment to steady his nerves, the albino moved to retrieve his book, replacing it in its correct spot on the shelf before turning around, giving a nervous smile and laugh, “…Ah…I’m Paisley.” Had he already said that? Damn he was bad at socializing. This was why he kept to himself, not because he disliked the company of other people, but because he didn’t trust his own mouth to not embarrass him. The man rubbed his arm and gave another smile, “Ah…h-hopefully my stuff doesn’t…bug you…uh…”


AN: Ahhaaah let's write posts at 4AM, yeee...

Paisley looked highly relieved when his roommate reassured him that his choice in décor was acceptable, and he even gave a faint smile, feeling slightly more at ease. This guy seemed nice. Good, good, no scary evil roommates for him, then! The craftsman was tempted to do a happy little dance to celebrate, a temptation which he chose wisely to ignore. Fixing a few strands of soft, cloudy hair which had gotten messed up during his panic, Paisley gave another smile, this one much more confident and natural, “I’m glad! Ah…I can try not to sew when you’re home if the noise is distracting to you. Luckily I just got the newest model! So…it’s quieter than most…ah…”

Coughing awkwardly, the albino shifted and rubbed his arm, almost letting out a silence breaking whistle but interrupted, luckily, by more speech, “Y-yeah! It is, right. But, I mean…you deserve to feel comfortable too, don’t you? Since it’s both of ours, I may as well to my best to keep it home-y for you as well!” To end this, Paisley slapped his hands together softly and rocked back on his feet, gaze flicking to the kitchen as he remembered his burning question.

“You aren’t allergic to anything are you? I bake a lot, cook sometimes as well, I just want to make sure you can at least eat it because, well, it’ll go to waste otherwise, right? Haha, yeah, so like, any allergies let me know and I won’t put them in your food and kill you.” Wow, good job Paisley, you managed to sound like a complete psycho. Great. The student heaved a large sigh before perking back up and rubbing his neck, biting his lip, “Er…I can help you…set up or something…if you like…? We can...I dunno, set up rules and...stuff...?”

AN: Lmao I need to not stay up until 5 jfc ;-;

Nikolai Malashonak

The male’s silent nature was extremely intimidating to Paisley, and he shifted in place a little, awkwardly rubbing his arms and trying not to give an anxious whine. He did perk up when the student finally said something, but was completely thrown off guard when it came out in a language he was completely unfamiliar with. All Paisley had taken were two years of German in high school so he could go to a 4 year college, but honestly he had averaged a D for both years so as far as other languages went Paisley was not the brightest.

Nevertheless, Nikolai explained himself quickly and Paisley’s smile returned, “Great! I mean…not like I need you to be laid back…but I mean…uh, yeah, so if you want to decorate your side I don’t mind what you do, um…” He chewed his lip anxiously, hoping the nervous tension would be over soon. The albino almost died from relief when Nikolai told him he was able to eat anything, and his smile widened into one of pure glee, “Oh awesome! Great! Fantastic! Ah…beispiel…” He murmured what he thought was the German equivalent of a pleased interjection. Really, he had just said ‘example’ really quietly.

The poor craftsman almost gave a heartbroken whine at the lack of conversation, feeling obnoxious for being the only one who was keeping this going. Paisley took a deep breath and rubbed the back of his leg with his foot, “Well…um…I guess…uh…let the other know before you bring people over? And…oh! If you want to bring any girls over…for...you know, things, um, you can just text me and I’ll take a night shift at the café so you can have alone time.” He offered an awkward smile, just assuming that Nikolai would be dating girls. He didn’t seem like the type to go after guys, but then again neither did he.

“O-or guys if that’s what you’re into or neither I mean why gender label right I mean you do you I mean not like I’m some ultra hetero frat guy not that there’s anything wrong with being ultra hetero I just uh I mean you can do what you like and stuff wow uh is it hot in here maybe I should open a window or make something cold to drink ahaha...haha…hah…” Paisley rambled out nervously, brows knitted together in a worried manner.

Nikolai Malashonak

Paisley wasn’t exactly unhappy with the male’s silence. I mean, come on, everyone was their own person, right? But he felt annoying when he was the only one who was talking, like Nikolai would rather him be silent as well and stop pestering him. These thoughts swam infectiously around Paisley’s head before he took a deep breath and shook his head. No, Nikolai probably didn’t think that, he was just being frantic and oversensitive, he just needed to take a moment to regain his sense of calm and confidence. He tilted his head at the words, rubbing his arm,

“Really? That’s a shame, you probably won’t be around much, huh? I was hoping we could, I dunno, hang out and stuff. But, I mean, working is all right too! Just uh…” Paisley trailed off, then straightened himself up and pointed a finger in an almost scolding manner, “Don’t you go working too hard! I can’t have you passing out from exhaustion in the middle of the floor! I’ll need to sweep.” The male’s voice has a slightly teasing tone in it, and he rubs his arm, puffing out his cheek and letting his pale red eyes flick away.

“Honestly you probably won’t have to worry either. Between work, school, and my complete lack of allure, I doubt I’ll be getting any guys’ phone numbers.” Laughing, Paisley almost let it go before he went rigid, eyes flying wide open and hands waving frantically in the air, “I-I-I-I meant girls’! I just slipped up, haha! Yeah I haha I’m not like…into guys, haha, hahaha haaa…” What a lie, what a blatant, obvious lie. From the way he was dressed to his more feminine nature to the fact that he was so desperately trying to cover it up, he was very clearly 100% not attracted to women. Of course, his roommate could be a raging homophobe, and Paisley did not want to get beaten up again because of that.

Trying to get over the stumble, Paisley plowed over that complete mess of words, “Hey! You should stop by the café sometime! I can give you a discount, and people say my coffees are pretty good. It’s also quiet, so you can go there to study if you don’t want to sit here and do it. I can be there to keep an eye on you and make sure you do your work.” Paisley grins and gives him a teasing wink before reaching into his bag and pulling out a Tupperware, which he holds out, “Cookies?”

AN: Sorry for that little wait, I got distracted by shiny things.