The Laundry Room, Thursday Morning

[genesishero]

Evan had kind of given up on trying to figure out where he was supposed to be living, these days. Last weekend, it had apparently been Karina's room. From there, he'd wound up in a hallway, a supply closet, the garden on the roof, and a common room. Today, Evan's room listing had changed yet again

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[justbeingbay]

It was Dominic's day off and the pile of laundry at the foot of his bed seemed about to evolve into sentient life, so off to the laundry room he went. (Whatever bizarre vortex had dropped him into Bay's room been thoughtful enough to send his dirty socks along. Thanks, island.)

"Hey, Evan," he said casually as he dumped dark stuff into one machine and white stuff into another. "Reading anything good today?"

[genesishero]

"Mostly just things I've read before," Evan replied, giving... the guy... a bit of a smile. It was a slightly confused one as he tried to place the face, sure, but it was still a smile. "Sholeh gave me one of my favorite books for my birthday, so I'm working my way through that while I wait for my laundry."

And, you know, since he was kind of moved in, here, and all.

What was his life.

[justbeingbay]

"See, and I was just going to goof around on my phone for an hour," Dom admitted. "You're using the time way better."

He gave a wobbly smile when he recognized Evan's expression. (He'd been dealing with a lot of those lately.) "Is that an 'I have no idea who this guy is' look?"

[genesishero]

"Kind of," Evan admitted, chewing on his lip for a moment. "But... I don't get out much aside from classes, so I don't know many people, you know?"

Okay, so there were classes, and his two jobs (though he had no idea what was up with the Book Haven, these days), and he walked his dog every morning and then did training out on the beach, and he was on the student council, and...

... He was mostly trying to make this guy feel better, admittedly.

[pulseof_life]

Yeul wandered into the laundry room with the same casual serenity that she wandered into everything.

She smiled upon seeing Evan, and then tilted her head slightly at the realization that all of his belongings were also in the room as well. "Hello Evan," she said lightly. "Have you moved into this room? I suppose it would be convenient for laundry, but it is not very private."

The fact that he liked privacy and this was public was the most confusing part of this to Yeul. Still, if he was happy...

[genesishero]

"Yeah, I don't know what's up," Evan sighed, frowning down at his toes. "I was in someone else's room, kind of, on Saturday, and since then I've been all over the place."

But Ozzy seemed okay with most of it, so...

"Have you noticed things being kind of weird, lately? At all?"

[pulseof_life]

"Perhaps the island is just broadening your horizons," she suggested easily. "I hope it is not too inconvenient for you."

She thought about his question. "There have been many reports of people hearing voices," she said thoughtfully. "Or things going missing. I am here, actually, because one of my bracelets has disappeared. I thought it might be here, since I did laundry yesterday."

Yeul didn't sound concerned about the loss of her bracelet... but she'd gone looking for it, which was fairly unusual in and of itself.

[genesishero]

Evan nodded a little, looking thoughtful.

"I've heard... some of the voices," he admitted, softly. "But I haven't just outright lost anything. So far the easiest way to find my stuff has been to check out the room assignment list. Would you like help finding your bracelet?"

[wildandbrave]

Cosette didn't quite have the hang of this laundry thing yet, but she wasn't about to let that stop her. Scott's lesson in using her phone to look things up had come in handy once again; she'd read up on just about everything she could find on the subject of doing laundry in the 21st century and could already tell you the kind of care different fabrics required and color-appropriate temperatures. Well, she could tell you that in theory; she had yet to put it into practice. (Yes, for the first few weeks of school she had absolutely been that person who took her laundry home to her father's on weekends.)

She was free of classes on Thursdays, so this morning she ventured down to the laundry room with a basket full of clothes and a determined expression.

"Ah," she said upon spotting Evan and his things. "Hello! I didn't realize you lived here."

As of three days ago, she had a very clear memory of having the room to herself.

[genesishero]

"Neither did I, until this morning," Evan sighed, burying his chin in his hands. "Hey, Cosette. I think the office staff is being kind of weird."

Kind of! A little weird.

"Ever have one of those weeks?"

[wildandbrave]

"Certainly, but not the same kind as you seem to be having," Cosette said mildly. She moved away a bit, just enough to set her laundry basket down on a free machine and come back over to lean against another machine and give him a sympathetic look. "Do you mean to say they moved you here without so much as telling you until now?"

[genesishero]

"Every day for... days and days now," Evan sighed, shaking his head. "I don't even know why. I would be totally fine with staying in here, though, even if I get... no more privacy again, ever. At least I get first dibs on the washing machines."