Ruby steps into his assigned dorm room, entering a decent sized space with two neatly prepared twin-sized beds and two table drawers, all on either side, making the room perfectly symmetrical. As he closes the door, he puts down his heavy stroller and duffel bag to look out the window, revealing the cityscape of Castelia.
The flocks of Swanna and Unfezant flying over the magnificence of Skyarrow Bridge made him feel relaxed and refreshed. He was waiting for such a long time for this opportunity. An opportunity that will allow him to live by himself, without having his parents telling him what to do, or maids and butlers to take care of him. He'll finally be able to prove to his dad that he is capable of taking care of himself.
Turning away from the captivating view, he begins to unpack, claiming the left side of the room, hoping his roommate wouldn't mind.
After an hour of unpacking and decorating, the door abruptly opens, revealing a golden-eyed teen, wearing a yellow and black hat backwards, with yellow goggles over them.
"Heya, the name's Gold," the teen cheekily smiles as he roughly carried his own duffel bag through the door. "I'm guessing you're my roommate," he reaches out his hand, offering a handshake.
"Yeah," Ruby nods, shaking Gold's hand, quite rapidly, and awkwardly.
Gold lifts an eyebrow at Ruby's failed attempt at a proper handshake, and smirks. "So, uh. You done or..."
Ruby flushes red in embarrassment and stops the aggressive handshake. "Sorry. My name is Ruby. It's nice to meet you, Gold."
"Nice to meet you too. First time I've ever met someone who can't do handshakes," Gold teases, chuckling. He turns away from the scowl being thrown his way and looks around their shared room, "This place looks sick. I guess you already chose your side of the room."
"Oh, sorry about that," Ruby scratches his neck, hoping Gold didn't mind. "Didn't know when you were arriving so I just decided."
Gold plops himself and his bag on the bed, across Ruby's. "It's cool, nothing to worry about." He lifts his head, staring at the already decorated portion of their shared room. His eyes widen as he notice all of the expensive items Ruby owns. "Whoa, so you're a rich boy, huh?"
"Uh, what? N-no I'm not."
Gold raises his eyebrows at him, sitting up from the bed, pointing at various objects on the other side of the room. "The limited edition Z-Strika 15 laptop, the newest Devon manufactured running shoes, the Primarina makeup box and sewing kit—dunno why you have that, but whatever—and you even have a full set of the cosplay pikachu dolls!" He quickly rushes across the room, grabbing the Pikachu Libre doll. "Dude, each one costs more than a freaking comet shard!"
Ruby snatches the pikachu doll from him, placing it back on the rack with care. "Alright, fine. My parents are rich, but it's not like I wanted all of this anyway, they just buy me stuff without asking."
"Yeah, but still. It's nice to be able to get stuff like that, except for the makeup box and sewing kit. Even your mom bought those for you?"
"Uh, y-yeah." He looks away, flushing. "I guess I should hide all this, huh? I didn't really want to attract too much attention."
"If you're trying to hide the fact that you're rich, you're not doing a good job at that." Gold chuckles, laying back down on his bed. "But I didn't say there's anything wrong with being rich. You can act like that all you like—I ain't judging—but if you don't want the entire university to know you're rolling in dough, you might want to tone it down. Especially those clothes. Those clothes screams Gucci." He turns away, taking a bit of rest while still wearing the same clothes he travelled with.
Ruby looks down at his own clothing with a pout, "But I like this outfit," he mutters under his breath.
-O-
The feeling of his phone vibrating through his pocket woke Gold up from his slumber. He pulls out the device and notice a message from his friend, Silver, which is why he decides to ignore the text and put down the phone. Waking up to the gloomy afternoon of his shared dorm room, isn't exactly what he expected his day was going to be, but the long ride to Castelia was no joke. Silver was most likely just checking up on him again, which he always does even though he acts indifferent towards him.
He sits up from his bed and looks around the room, noticing that he hasn't started unpacking. Deciding that it was now or never, he starts opening his bags, until he hears muffled voices outside.
"Yeah, and here's my room." The door opens, revealing Ruby, carrying two heavy boxes. "Thanks again for helping me out, Sapphire."
A faint glimpse of a girl wearing a blue bandana could be seen outside. "No problem, always glad to help a fellow girl in need," she says in a teasing tone.
Gold smiles as he sees his roommate sigh in annoyance.
"Alright, you can go now," says Ruby, closing the door on her face.
Sapphire's muffled shouts rang outside. "Hey! You can't treat a girl like that," she shouts.
"You're more of a barbarian, honestly."
"I heard that!"
"You were suppose to."
Gold lifts an eyebrow, amused at their quarreling. When the loud grunting and stomps faded away, signaling that the girl had left, he decides to make his presence known to his roommate. "She your girlfriend?" he asks, nonchalantly.
"What?" Ruby turns to him, startled. "No, ew! That brute will skin me alive. Besides, she's more of a sister to me than anything—an evil sister," he jokes, remembering the times when she would coax him to do dangerous stunts. Although he couldn't exactly fault her for wanting to do exciting things and take risks, especially since her parents are as overprotective and strict as his. He could see himself years back when he was like that too, but time goes on and it changes people.
"You sure? With the way you two act. You two seem like you're married." Gold insisted, a cheeky smirk on his face.
"Just because we argue a lot doesn't mean we're together. Why does everyone always think that."
"Chill, I was just teasing ya."
"Whatever," Ruby proceeds to open the boxes, bringing out a bunch of stylish clothing. He kept minding his own business until he noticed that Gold was still staring at him. "What?" He asks, rather uncomfortable.
"You were right," says Gold as he earns a confused expression from the other.
"Huh, what do you mean?" Ruby raises an eyebrow at him. Then, suddenly noticing the annoying cheeky smirk that is practically a trademark on Gold's features.
"You're not a rich boy. You're a wealthy lass," says the golden-eyed teen before he was bombarded by knitted cushions.