I never realized until recently how many good prompts Tumblr actually has.
Ash Ketchum stretched out on his bed, eyes lazily watching the two movie characters beat each other senseless on his T.V. screen. He hated how the only things on cable these days were reality shows and stupid, trashy movies that had no point other than to entertain the local beer-slogging rednecks.
He was just beginning to drift off to sleep when someone knocked rather hard on the wall behind his bed. His eyes snapped open, a mixture of annoyance and concern filling his mind. Occasional noises were of course to be expected in an apartment complex, but his neighbors usually kept pretty quiet, especially on week nights.
Figuring it was just someone bumping into the wall on accident - some of his neighbors had a tendency to drink - he turned off the T.V. and the light. Rolling over, he settled down into a sleeping position and closed his eyes.
Almost as if waiting for him to drift off, the bang came again. This time, it was a little higher up, as if its source were chasing something. Another bang came soon after it, and then a third. Every time, the bang was at some different part of the wall.
Ash bent his pillow over his head, thoroughly irritated now. He had to get up for work in five hours. He didn't have time for this crap.
Another bang. This time, he sat straight up in his bed. The knocks didn't sound that urgent. They were somewhat loud, but not loud enough to suggest that a fight was going on or something.
Which only meant that his neighbor - whoever they were, since he never kept track of who lived where - was either drunk or just trying to be obnoxious.
When the knock came again, Ash slammed his fist against the wall. At the top of his lungs, he shouted, "Hey! Knock it off over there! Some of us are trying to sleep!"
Only a few seconds later, someone in the apartment above his pounded on their floor, shouting about the same thing to Ash- just with more vulgarity.
Aggravated but relieved that the noise had seemed to stop, he settled back down to sleep.
About ten minutes later, he thought he heard a knock at his door.
"You're dreaming," he murmured to himself.
And yet, the knocking persisted, eventually bringing a drowsy Ash back to reality.
He sighed.
Throwing back the covers, he walked out of his bedroom and into the living room. Throwing on a jacket to cover his otherwise bare chest, he opened the door.
On the other side was a petite, red-haired girl who looked to be no older than eighteen or nineteen. The little thing was wearing nothing but a tank top and shorts, and was shivering like crazy.
Ash, however, took little time to notice or care. All he wanted to do was address whatever problem this girl had and go back to bed.
"What is it?" he asked, his exasperation clear.
"I'm sorry to bother you and I know this is really awkward because we've only talked like once and it's two in the morning and you're in your pajamas but there's a really big bug in my tub and I need help!" she spluttered, talking so fast he could barely understand her.
"Uh, sure?" Anything to get this girl out of his doorway.
Her face lit up. "Oh, thank you!" She grabbed his hand and practically dragged him out of his apartment. "Come on. I'm right next door."
Right next door.
He felt a flash of irritation as he realized that she was the one doing all of the banging. "It would be nice if you could maybe keep it down over here," he snapped as she led him inside.
She gave him a confused look, only for her eyes to widen as she realized what he was referring to. "Oh! That! I'm sorry. I was trying to squash that bug with a softball bat. I didn't mean to make all of that noise."
"Can't you just pick it up and flush it down the toilet?"
She gave him a disgusted look. "Ew, no! Don't you know how disgusting bugs are? I wouldn't touch that thing with a ten foot pole!"
He rolled his eyes. "Okay, whatever. Now which way is your bathroom?"
She pointed toward a nearby room. "There."
He nodded and went to take care of her insect intruder. Once he got in the bathroom, it took him a few moments to find the bug. He could see her looking over his shoulder in the mirror.
He finally found it: a tiny millipede.
Ash couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. "You're scared of that? It's a little millipede!"
She crossed her arms and huffed. "So? Bugs are bugs."
"From what you were describing, I was expecting a cockroach or something."
"Can you just get it out already? I'm getting on edge just thinking about it."
"Fine, fine," he muttered. As he got closer to the bug, he took some toilet paper off of the roll.
"Don't kill it!" she suddenly begged from behind.
He turned to face her. "What would you prefer me to do? Throw it a going away party and pay for it to fly to Cuba?"
"Don't mock me! I just don't like seeing things die."
"Then turn around, for Christ's sake!" he burst out. "I want to go back to bed already."
Once she had turned around, he approached the tub again. Within seconds, he had scooped the thing up and flushed it down the toilet.
"Is it over yet?" she asked quietly.
"Yep," he reported. "Now, before I leave, are there any more bugs that need to take a trip to the porcelain throne? I don't want to be disturbed by the likes of you again tonight."
She turned back around to face him. "'The likes of me'? That's kind of harsh."
"So?"
"So you should try to be nicer to people. Maybe then you'd actually have friends."
"I have friends!"
"Not from what I can tell. You never have anyone over to your apartment."
"And who are you? My mom?"
"I'm just giving you advice."
"Yes, well, thanks but no thanks. I can do just fine without your advice."
She shrugged. "Fine, then. Go on back to your apartment and sulk. I won't bug you again."
He pushed past her. "Thanks. I will."
He was almost out the door when she stopped him again.
"What do you think about pizza?"
Ash halted, turning only his head back toward her. "What?"
She covered her face with her hands, turning a slight shade of red. "Sorry, sorry! That was awkward. I was just... trying to see if you wanted to have lunch sometime."
He stared at her. "Lunch? Why?"
The little redhead looked away, clearly embarrassed. "Just... I just moved here, so I don't have many friends. And neither do you." Her eyes widened, and she covered her mouth again for a count of three. "I mean, not that I think you're a jerk, and that's why you don't have any friends! Don't take it the wrong way. I just... want to make friends."
He couldn't help but give her a small smile. "Okay. But only on one condition."
She gave him a surprised look, as if she'd been expecting him to just slam the door in her face and never speak to her again. "Really?"
"Really. I'll go have pizza or whatever with you sometime, but only if you promise to let me go to sleep."
She beamed at him. "Deal. Good night, um..."
"Ash. And good night to you, too." Feeling a bit devilish, he added, "Don't let the bed bugs bite."
The last thing he saw was her horrified expression as he shut the door.
Meh.