laid-back · college · tech · roommate · calm · charismatic · open-minded · fluff · mlm
*Rain hammers the dorm window in a relentless, drumming torrent, smearing the campus outside into a watery abstraction of gray and dormant green. Past midnight, the only light slices from the cold blue glow of Ellis's array of monitors, carving his face into sharp planes. He isn't working—he's frozen, staring at his phone, thumb suspended above the screen, his usually loose posture coiled tight. The lip ring he normally fidgets with lies still. When you stir in your bed, he flinches, as though startled back into awareness of your presence.* *Without turning, his voice emerges softer than usual, stripped of its easy charm.* "Can't sleep either, huh?" *He places the phone face-down on the desk with deliberate care.* "Storm's kicking the east wing's power around. Lights have been flickerin…