Forums » General Roleplay » Students vs Burglars [18+]

Aaron picked the box and headed upstairs behind Sandra.

"It is so nice from you to help. Sometimes I get exhausted when im climbing up here. Do you know are there any free rooms on lower floors? It would be sooo nice to have shorter distance, you know.."

Sandra was talking really fast. She vanished to the stairs with Aaron and her voice echoed from the walls making it difficult to understand any longer. Meg and Danny could hear her babbling something all the way to the top.

Aaron meanwhile got very little space to say anything. She sounded like a nice person, but Aaron did start to wonder, was is such a good idea afterall to aid a "damsel in distress". 4 floors up with a box was a long climb. Matthew would have done it without breaking a sweat, but Aaron was not nearly as athletic. He left the box next to Sandra's door, said brief farewell, and headed back down.

Meg offered to take the box from the new girl and Aaron quickly stepped in and offered to carry it instead. "I'll be around in a bit," Danny told Meg. "I need to get inside and check my new place out."

He inserted the key into the lock and a moment later was looking at the interior of his new home. It resembled a typical hotel room, only slightly bigger, but of course, had no furniture which probably was the two characteristics that distinguished an apartment and a hotel room. Danny dragged his suitcases in first and a moment later retrieved his bass guitar and laptop. The only other difference between his new place and a hotel room was there was a kitchenette. Of course, only an extended-stay type hotel room would have such amenities.

Danny set about investigating. The kitchen contained a stove, oven, microwave, refrigerator, and dishwasher as was expected. There was a small pantry closet for storing larger dry foods and cabinets and drawers above and below the sink area. Everything seemed pretty typical.

There was an empty bay for a washer and dryer, luxuries Danny couldn't afford. That area would work for additional storage. Danny would have to wash his clothes onsite using the apartment's laundry facility or find a laundromat nearby. A sliding glass door led to a small patio just big enough for a chair or two should Danny want one protected by a 4-foot high railing.

The place had been freshly cleaned and he could still smell the carpet shampoo. Obviously, everything had been given a good thorough cleaning prior to his arrival. Danny pushed open the door to the bedroom. It was, of course, empty as well. Danny made a mental note of the things he would need to order including a bed, a nightstand, and a computer desk. He could worry about furniture for the living room later. After all, he tended to watch movies and videos on his laptop so there was no reason to have a big screen tv. He hadn't brought any of his gaming consoles with him, so he'd just stick to playing online games using his computer.

Speaking of, he noticed the cable modem sitting on the floor connected to the wall outlet. The LEDs were flashing indicating that it was on and the service was working. The apartment had taken care of getting the internet set up as he had requested. The apartment finder service had made arrangements with the leasing office to have the technician from the cable company come in and set it up. He'd prepaid for everything so all he needed to do was set the wireless network up on his laptop with the wi-fi and he'd be good to go.

Besides the door he had entered from the living room, there were two other doors in the bedroom. The first led to a small storage closet and the other was for the bathroom. It contained a bathtub, sink, and toilet. After completing his brief, self-guided tour, Danny grabbed his laptop bag, sat on the floor, and began setting up his Amazon Prime account so he could order some essentials after he got set up online. He'd have to sit on the floor until he got a desk and chair.

Once online, Danny made a note of his immediate needs including a sleeping bag or inflatable mattress so he'd have somewhere to sleep for the night, a bath towel, and a few other things. He wondered if Meg would mind running him up to the closest Target or Walmart to help him get the things he couldn't wait on for delivery. After about 30 minutes of getting the essentials in place, he decided to go next door and find out if she was home. He hoped she had her own car. If not, maybe he could ask Aaron or he'd just call an Uber.

About half an hour later, Meg heard a knock at her door and found Danny outside. Aaron had helped Sandra carry her box to the top floor. Apparently, she was looking for attention because Meg could have easily dealt with the package herself. She had gone back into her apartment figuring Danny needed some time to settle in. She assumed she'd run into Aaron later.

"Hey," Meg said as she opened the door.

"What's up," Danny returned.

"So, happy with your new accommodations," Meg asked.

Danny nodded. "Yup and the management took care of making arrangements letting the cable guy in so I had working internet when I got here."

"Yeah, I figured someone was about to move in. I saw a guy from Frontier working next door a couple of days ago," Meg confirmed.

"Cool. So, I hate to bug you and I don't know if you have your own car or anything, but I really need to pick up a few things. Since I just arrived and don't know the layout of the town...," Danny began and trailed off.

"You're wondering if your awesome next-door neighbor who does actually happen to have a car could run you to the store," Meg finished.

Danny nodded, obviously a bit awkwardly.

"I mean, yeah, if you don't mind and aren't busy. I just need to get a few things like an air mattress so I have something to sleep on and a few other necessities that I can't be sure that Amazon wouldn't deliver before bedtime," Danny explained. "Generally, I pretty much order everything off Amazon if it's not edible. Then I usually use Uber or DoorDash."

"Oh, I suppose I can help you out this once," She teased. She grabbed her car keys. "Any particular preference? Target? Wally World... Bed, Bath and Beyond?"

"Whatever's close," Danny replied.

"Okay, I can show you around the area, too, if you'd like," Meg offered.

"Uh, yeah! That would be great," Danny said quickly.

Meg lead the way as they headed out of her apartment. She paused to lock her door.

OOC: If you want Matthew, Aaron or anyone else to join, they can encounter Danny and the Meg as they leave.

As Meg and Danny were about to leave, Matthew came down jogging with his bicycle helmet on.

"Oh hi Meg! Just bumped into Aaron. He looked like a mess, and was not much on the mood to talk. Im heading to downtown. As I visited library this morning, I forgot to remove my quick lock bike lamp. Somebody stole it. Fortunately they did not remove any more valuable parts. Its a little nuisance, but a good reminder to take even the insignificant parts along as I go. So now, I gotta go buy new one."

He looked and smiled to Danny.
"New face around here?"

"Yeah, Aaron had an unfortunate accident at work when a customer did something stupid with some spray foam," Meg replied. "I'm sorry about the headlight on your bike. That really sucks! I hate thieves!

"Oh yeah," Meg said quickly. "This is Danny Logan. He literally just moved in next door to me."

She turned to face Danny. "I just met Aaron along with Matthew yesterday" Meg explained before turning back to Aaron. "Matt was helping some chick named Sandra carry her box to her apartment on the upper floor. I hadn't met her before either. We spoke to him just before she came along and he told us about his mishap. Anyway, Danny just got here and his apartment is completely empty. We're gonna run to the store so he can get a few necessities to tide him over tonight. You're welcome to come with us. We'll probably just go to Target or Walmart. I may also show him around the area since he's new in town and just came from out of state."

"Nice to meet you, Danny". Matthew said and turned to Meg. " yea, I can hop along. Is quite a ride to the store, so Im in." Matthew gave a bit puzzled look to Meg.

"Umm, Sandra with a box? That must have happened to Aaron, not to me. I know Sandra. She is.. a bit of a honey trap. She is sugar dating some older dudes, but she does not hesitate to make all her neighbours to do her bidding as well. She is good in persuation. She is not mean, but.. kinda lazy. So if you want to avoid getting stuck to some weird scenario, just smile, and tell that you are busy. I have lived here bit longer, so I know her quirks." Matthew said.

"Nice to meet you, Danny". Matthew said and turned to Meg. " yea, I can hop along. Is quite a ride to the store, so Im in." Matthew gave a bit puzzled look to Meg.

"Umm, Sandra with a box? That must have happened to Aaron, not to me. I know Sandra. She is.. a bit of a honey trap. She is sugar dating some older dudes, but she does not hesitate to make all her neighbours to do her bidding as well. She is good in persuation. She is not mean, but.. kinda lazy. So if you want to avoid getting stuck to some weird scenario, just smile, and tell that you are busy. I have lived here bit longer, so I know her quirks." Matthew said.

"I think the word you're looking for is manipulative," Danny replied. "Good to meet you, too. Normally, I order things online but given it's already the afternoon, I don't know if my stuff would show up before the evening. I brought a blanket, but I don't have anything to sleep on and no pillows. I figured I'd get that stuff once I arrived. I'll just get an air mattress and a compressor and the things that can get me through tonight. I don't tend to leave my place a lot. I live off deliveries."

"You sound a bit... reclusive," Meg remarked.

Danny nodded. "Well, my friend Dani back home would do stuff with me. We'd get out and just explore. We would ride the busses around and sometimes hop the light rail. There was a lot to see and do in Portland. I'd go with her just for a change of scenery. Otherwise, I was working and taking classes online," Danny explained. "So what do you guys do besides school? Are you a student, too, Matt?"

"Yea, Im studying as well. I should have graduated, but there happened.. number of things. Im working with Bachelor's degree on Phys Ed. I hope this would be my last year. I was running low with my money, so I started doing delivery jobs." Matthew explained.

"Chances are, if you order lots of stuff, I will be knocking your door more frequently than any other door." He laughed.

"But for other activities I do lot of sports and search some science stuff online. Recently I found some debates between christian and muslim science claims. That is really fascinating stuff, but there is lot of weird things there as well. Today I found a muslim claim that there is some kind on energy field center in Mecca, and muslims connect to this energy field by stiking their heads to the ground as they pray. And I was like 'whaaaat?' I dont know was the publisher of the video a real scholar, or just some troll. Well, I suppose people can claim just about anything online."

"That's true. It's hard to tell anymore what's real and what isn't. I spend quite a bit of time listening to podcasts and researching conspiracy theory and supernatural stuff. I follow George Norray's Coast to Coast AM at nights sometimes. I also listen to Alex Jones' Info Wars. He's a total nutjob. There is a podcast called Knowledge Fight that debunks all the stuff he claims. I also listen to one called Qanon Anonymous about that weird group of people that believe JFK is going to come back or some crap. Pretty wild stuff. I've also been teaching myself to play bass guitar, but never been in a band or performed live. Meg mentioned she was in a band and played guitar."

"Yeah," Meg replied. "I'm one half of a band called a Week From Wednesday. I'm sort of the Art Garfunkle or John Oates of the group. We have a gig at a local coffee shop next. You guys should come."

Meg led the way to her car. The parking lot was across the street and down about a block from the apartment complex. As they got to the sidewalk, just passed Meg's apartment they passed a bus stop sign. It was the typical blue and white picture representing a bus. Below it were the letters "SDRT" and the number 43 beneath it. There was no shelter or bench, just the sign in the ground indicating the bus stopped there.

"What's a suh-dart," Danny asked pointing at the sign and sounding out the random letters.

"Squirrel Den Rapid Transit, or S.D.R.T. for short," Meg replied rolling her eyes. She picked up on the fact that Danny was being a smart ass. "It goes to campus, but then you can transfer to other routes. There is a train station not far that you can take into the bigger city."

Danny nodded. Meg led the group to a small, boxy-looking grey Kia Soul.

"Wow, you drive a giant rollerskate," Danny remarked.

Meg shrugged. "At least it's paid for and it beats having to take the bus," Meg remarked. She clicked the remote and the doors unlocked.

"I have a green VW beetle back home. It hasn't run in a while," Danny explained. "I decided to use the money I was saving to fix it up to try going to school here. Back home, Dani and I got around using the bus system pretty much. It's not so bad, honestly."

"Well, the good news is between the buses and Uber, you can get pretty much anywhere you need to go around the clock," Meg replied. "So, uh, does Target work for you on getting your stuff? I can show you where a few places are and we can swing by the university so you can see the campus if you want while we're out."

"Sure, works for me," Danny said with a shrug. "Matt, you good with a quick tour around town? I'm sure you've already seen the place."

"No problem". Matthew said.
"Some social activity is refreshing. I have a drivers license, but I made a decision that I want to save some cost by doing my primary transportation with bicycle. Also, I have really bad experiences with used cars. My last car got some kind of engine failure. It lots 80% of its power all the sudden, smoked me inside like a overcooked chicken, and finally cost ridiculous amount of money to repair. Two days after that, something blew up again, so I decided to scrap the whole junk. After that I have not owned a car. Speaking of cars and conspiracy theories Danny, are you familiar with flat earthers, black hebrew isrealites and sovereign citizens?" Matthew asked. He had found number of strage stuff as digging through christian and muslim communities. Sometimes youtube suggested videos that had led him into 4-hour rabbits holes and finally getting lost into "black hole of youtube"

"Flat Earthers, yes. It started out as a joke when the Flat Earth Society was formed. Unfortunately, the joke got lost somewhere along the way and people began to take it seriously and actually defend the idea and get offended and try to argue if you attempt to debunk it. That's one of the more boring conspiracy theories honestly. The Qanon people are fascinating and the fact that thousands really do believe Donald Trump won the election two years ago. It's crazy," Danny explained. "Our society is in a sad state when people refute facts and common sense. Maybe that's why I'm not religious. I completely agree with you about spending hours going down rabbit holes on YouTube and listening to podcasts, though."

"Since im studying human body and its functions, I seek rational answers and logic. What fascinates me in some religions is that there are some scientific facst and very deep thought along with the weird or controversial stuff. Also, some things point out some fundamental problems in our society. I dont practice any religions, but some of my findings have got me thinking some really deep stuff. How could jews know such detailed hygiene and nutritions laws? Scientifically, that was clearly ahead of its time. Also, existence of life. How is fine tuning possible, and how nothing created everything? That should be scientifically impossible. Kinda like putting a nuke under garbage pile, and after detonation, there appears google server. How can chaos create order, while that should violate second law of thermodynamics? And yet, the whole society teaches that in schools. Even bigger problem is subjective morality. Whatever person decides is true, while ignoring the facs, saying there are no absolutes. "Do what ever makes you happy", is their mantra. To one its demonstartions, to one its storming the capitol hill, to one its robbing banks at gunpoint. So, this kind of stuff are the kind of gems im looking for." Matthew explained.

He looked at Meg and Danny, wondering did he speak too much. He felt that he might have interesting discussions with Danny in the future, but was unsure if the feeling was mutal.

"The whole 'alternative facts' thing, as the political right calls it is indeed fascinating. That's perhaps why I'm so interested in right-wing conspiracy," Danny agreed. "All you have to do is point at something now, yell 'fake news' at it, and it immediately becomes untrue. What a world we live in! Fox News did to our parents what they feared MTV was going to do back in the 1980s to the Gen-Xers. You know, legend says the 'M' stood for Music and they actually just played music videos all day before they became a reality channel in the 90s. Man, I wish I was alive in that decade!"

Danny glanced at Meg who seemed completely lost and bored. Clearly, he had a connection with Matthew but Meg wasn't into conspiracy, science or religious discussions.

"So, uh, about that tour," Danny pressed turning to her.

"Oh yeah," Meg replied as if she had tuned the guys out. She turned onto another street. One of the city busses was stopped picking up passengers at a corner bus stop.

"So that's the bus service so you know what they look like," Meg explained pointing.

"Ah, so that's what that big brick-like vehicle is for," Danny replied. "I take it I don't want to get on the big yellow ones with the smaller people."

Meg rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm.

"By the way, the trip to the store is free. But there is a $50 per passenger charge for the return trip."

"Guess I'd best learn the bus system then," Danny mused. "Route 43 was the one that went by our apartment complex?"

Meg drove around pointing out the college campus that spanned several blocks. She showed a few popular restaurants and coffee shops nearby and a comic book store as well as a few of the local bars and fast food places.

They finally pulled into the parking lot at Target. Meg found a parking spot and got out. "Here we are," She announced. There were several other stores in the shopping center besides Target, which took the majority of the space being the anchor store.

As the three were heading to the shops, Matthew made some plans what alse he would need. He was also a bit concern about their return trip. He did appreciate the assistance to get to the store, but he had a feeling there might be some bad blood with the newcomers. As a tactical move, he decided to get something for Meg as well. They might have to deal with each other in the future, so it would be a waste to let one bikelamp tour while being too loudmouth ruin everything. He would seek for a moment when Meg would be bit further from Danny, to ask what she needed.

Danny hopped out Meg's Kia after she parked. "Ah, Target," He proclaimed, stating the obvious. "One of Dani's favorite places. We'd go into window shop and she's inevitably come out with at least 2 bags of stuff."

"Girls love Target, what can I say," Meg replied.

"Okay, so we need to go over near the bicycles for Matthew's headlight, Danny needs something to sleep on. Air mattresses would probably be near sporting goods. I'd imagine that would probably be near the camping stuff. You'll probably need a small air pump, so that's probably going to be in the automotive section. Do you have sheets and a blanket?"

Danny nodded. "Well, the blanket. I'll need sheets and a couple of pillows. We can stop by the linen section. It wouldn't hurt to grab a few snacks, too," he mused.

"Let's just circle the whole store," Meg suggested. "I'm assuming you didn't make a list before we left?"

"Negative. Planning was the other Dani's thing. I just sort of wing it," Danny replied.

"Oh, let's stop by the Starbucks in the snack area," Meg suggested.

"Sure, I can spot you," Danny offered. "You did play chauffer after all."

The trio began making their way towards the entrance of the store.

OOC: Also, there is no bad blood between anyone. I'm not clear how that conclusion was reached.

Matthew had not been in Target fow a while. Since he had settled down long time ago, he had all of his things primarily in order. As they moved forward calmly chatting alonge the shelves, he concluded that perhaps the situation at the car had not been so bad afterall. He also decided that he would at least try to pay the drinks for everyone as a gesture of grattitude for Meg.

"Danny, do you have dished and dining tools? Also, you would need to complete the set with washing detergent for dishes and the official currency of the Covid time.. toiletpaper. Lets take the smaller version, or alse we need to rent a trailer to get back."

The group stopped at the snack bar first. Meg got a cup of Starbucks. Danny opted for a soda from the fountain. From there, they grabbed a cart and made their way through the store.

"Danny, do you have dished and dining tools? Also, you would need to complete the set with washing detergent for dishes and the official currency of the Covid time.. toiletpaper. Lets take the smaller version, or alse we need to rent a trailer to get back."

"Yeah, good point. I mostly do delivery and take out and they tend to give you plastic utensils. I'm debating if I should just get a package of plastic forks, knives, and spoons or splurge and get silverware," he mused.

"All that trash is bad for the environment! Get some utensils and a basic set of plates and bowls and maybe a set of drinking glasses," Meg urged.

Danny nodded. "Sure, why not? I'll get some dish detergent for the dishwasher, too," he said. "TP and paper towels are definitely a must."

"What about a bath towel, shampoo, soap, toothpaste and stuff like that," Meg pressed.

"Shower stuff and a towel? Yeah. I need that. I have a toothbrush and toothpaste," he confirmed. "Uh, let's see... sleeping stuff. Yeah, I'll that air mattress and a pump to blow it up. some sheets, a couple of blankets, and a pillow..."

"What about furniture," Meg asked. "I mean we're here unless you want to get nicer stuff than Target. We could always go to Bed, Bath and Beyond or Ikea if you want."

"Eh, let's see. I can always order stuff and have it delivered later. I will need a desk and chair," Danny said.

"You should get a trash can! Two at least. One in the kitchen and one for the bathroom if nothing else," Meg suggested.

"Sure," Danny replied nodding. "Let's stick to the little stuff so we don't need a trailer like Matt said. Oh! We need to go by the bicycle stuff. He needs a new headlight for his bike!"

"Sounds like a plan". Matt said. "Meg should pay attention on how much stuff we can buy. You do know the capacity of you trunk, right? Oh, and for your information, Danny, Aaron can propably borrow you some tools or assist you on assembling new furnitures. Just keep in mind, that the only exeption is Ikea. He told me that he will rather play whack-a-mole with wasp nests than assemble an ikea furniture. He has a desk from Ikea, and he hates it."