inspired by the prompt by swag-canada on tumblr (p fitting for lwd tbh): monster/ghost and student who's too tired to give a fuck that they're being haunted au

to be honest, i never thought i'd be writing lwd dasey fanfic (i didn't even ship it as a kid), but here i am. and i actually didn't want to do a paranormal/fantasy au when i was looking for au prompts, but that prompt was so dasey i could not help myself.

also, this takes place in college, but since it's already paranormal/fantasy, i decided to include a lot of the characters from their high school since it's au and i can basically do whatever ;)

this is the first otp fic i've written in awhile, especially with all canon characters, so please go easy on me. i'm not exactly new to this, but i'm definitely rusty.

it'd be cool if you left some critique, though! either way, enjoy!

princess

The whole mess starts at about two weeks before midterms.

And she just wants to stress that, okay? Two weeks. That's pretty much no time at all. If anything, it's the minimum amount of time you're supposed to spend studying. Everyone knows that. Everyone sane, anyway.

Unfortunately, her happy-go-lucky, slacker roommate is not someone she'd be quick to call sane. Case in point: like she said, it's two weeks to midterms, fifteen to three AM, and her roommate is not even home yet. While she appreciates the peace and quiet, she's also dreading her eventual return. It's not that she hates her, per se; it's only that, well, she's not exactly a quiet person, and she is at the height of concentration.

But, well, she wants to be an accommodating roommate. She does want to. She's always known that the road to success is riddled with hard-to-deal with people, and she's used to overcoming obstacles; it's a key part of who she is, the old McDonald resilience her mother has always been proud of.

But also… hasn't worse has come to worst? She swears she's about to snap. Wait, no; "snap" is a little harsh. She's not about to snap, she's only about to… overcome this obstacle in a different way. After all, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, right? She's been the accommodating roommate, and look how that worked out.

So, really, she doesn't have a choice. She has to expand her horizons, and if those horizons have to expand to include freaking out on her roommate, well, so be it.

But she's getting ahead of herself.

It's two weeks to midterms, on a Friday night – or Saturday morning, depending on how you want to look at it – and she's up studying, as she always is; after all, you can't be over-prepared. And, she swears, a second before she's on the verge of an academic epiphany, the doorknob starts to jiggle, eventually turns, and her roommate walks – stumbles - in, loudly and nonchalantly greeting her, "Hi, Case!" without even bothering with an apology.

And that's when Casey McDonald decides to expand her horizons.

Before she even realizes it, she's already unleashed every bit of her pent of frustration, and she hasn't spared a detail, simply let the vitriol flow from her mouth to the room.

It's almost therapeutic, really. She feels like she should regret it, but she can't; she's not the one at fault, anyway. When her roommate takes responsibility for her actions and promises not to do them anymore, maybe she'll feel bad. But it won't happen, anyway.

It doesn't happen.

What does happen is this: her roommate walks up to her, pats her on the back patronizingly, and asks her with a laugh in her voice, "Are you okay? I know it's two weeks before midterms, but you need to calm down! It's a weekend. Weekends are for taking breaks, dummy!" With that, as if no harsh words were spoken between them, she strolls into the bathroom, leaving Casey dumbfounded.

But… try as she might, she doesn't hate her roommate; it's a pointless exercise, like hating the ocean for making waves. This sort of thing is simply in her roommate's nature; there isn't anything that can be done about it.

What she does hate, though, is living with her. After all, if you can't stand the ocean, you can live in the desert.

So, staring at the bathroom door, she makes a decision: she's going to expand her horizons all the way to a different room.

And that is how it all begins.

"This isn't going to happen. Stay with Kendra. Roommates are supposed to handle this kind of thing on their own."

She narrows her eyes at her resident director, skeptical of his claim. She corrects him. "Are you sure about that? Because I'm pretty sure the resident director is supposed to handle arguments between residents." She flashes him a smug grin.

He sighs and leans back in his chair. "Look, Casey, small things like this, they're not part of the job description. I can't let you switch rooms; I do that once, then everyone wants it! I don't have time for that," he tries to reason with her.

"This isn't a 'small thing'!" she shoots back, offended. "This is my life! If I stay with Kendra, I fail midterms! I fail finals! And do you know what happens when I fail midterms and finals? I fail college! And when I fail college, that's it! I'm homeless. I'm homeless, and then I die! Is that what you want?" At the end of her question, she takes a deep breath. She hadn't meant to go off like that, but all she did was speak the truth. And, if it overwhelmed him enough to say yes, she's okay with it.

She watches as his eyebrows furrow and a frown forms on his lips. "Casey? Casey, you need to calm down. I can promise that won't happen whether you get a new room or not…. But," he continues, hesitance in his voice, "I just can't magically make you a new room." He pauses and looks at her, probably looking for a sign of concession, but she holds her ground, keeping her determined stare fixated on him. He sighs. "Find someone to take your place, and… I'll consider it."

She smiles, clutching imminent victory in her hands. "Really? Thanks, Paul! I'll be back!" She rises from her seat and jets out of the room.

The metaphorical desert, here she comes!

Okay, so maybe the metaphorical desert will have to wait?

For some reason, no one wants to take her place. She honestly can't tell why; it's not like everyone hates Kendra. Maybe they were afraid of pissing off their current roommates? Even then, though, it really shouldn't be this hard.

Like, she's spoken with her best friend, and even she won't do it. Maybe she shouldn't be surprised Emily doesn't want to take her place, considering how much complaining she's heard about Kendra, but she's her best friend. She's pretty sure this is the kind of thing best friends do for each other.

She'd tried telling Emily that, but she apparently didn't agree.

She's not about to give up, though. So what if she hasn't even come close to convincing even one person that it maybe was a good idea to switch rooms with her? She's Casey McDonald! What would her mom say if she gave up now?

Well, her mom would probably consider the entire endeavor trite and tell her to deal with Kendra, but, well. Her mom not being there is one of the benefits of being at college, so…

Anyway, she's digressing. The point is, there's still one person left that she can ask, and even if she's the last person she's asking to switch rooms with her just because she thought she probably wouldn't be able to sway her, she still can ask her. Even if her room is really great and one-person.

Last ditch as it is, it's her only option.

She strides down the hallway, emanating confidence.

And then she knocks on the door and waits a second.

No answer.

She knocks harder.

Is she out?

No, not two weeks to midterms. She knocks harder.

Suddenly, the door flew open, and a girl is standing in front of her. She's blonde, skinny, and unmistakably pretty; her lips are pink and her face is round, giving her an air of sweetness. However, despite her attractiveness, there's something clearly off with her: her hair is frazzled, bags are clearly visible under her eyes, and her cheeks are pale. Even though it's already the late afternoon, she looks like she's just gotten out of bed – and like maybe in that bed was an angry tiger mauling her.

"Hi, I don't know if you know me. I'm Casey," she introduces herself, holding out her hand to shake. She bites her lip. "Um… are you okay?"

She flashes her a polite smile, which is nice, but does nothing to distract from her state of mess. "Sally. And yeah, I'm fine. It's just… been a long night. Do you need something from me?"

"O-Oh!" Casey says, remembering why she's there. She straightens her posture and lifts her chin, preparing herself to make the hard sale. "Yes, um, so I've been having problems with my roommate recently and I was wondering-"

Before she can get to the benefit of her room, Sally's eyes light up, and she cuts her off. Maybe it's rude, but Casey's honestly thankful for it; she doesn't even like the room herself. She can't make the hard sale!

"Do you want this room?" Sally asks her, sounding… disbelieving?

At Sally's reaction, she fumbles with her words, losing her sales pitch and breaking eye contact. Sally obviously isn't in peak condition, and making the hard sale is pretty much taking advantage of her sorry state. And apparently Sally realizes it, too. "I mean, only if-"

"Oh my God, it's yours, you can have it," Sally cut her off again, this time radiating happiness. Her eyes crinkle, and Casey swears she's giving off a faint glow. Her expression reads like she's spent the last forty years wandering the desert and Casey's just given her water. Which, she guesses, goes pretty well with the whole desert-ocean metaphor she's got going on, but that's neither here nor there.

What is here, however, is: why is she so happy? "Are you serious?"

Suddenly, Kendra walking into her room at four in the morning flashes in her mind… Kendra blasting music and watching movies while she's clearly studying… Kendra not listening to anything she says… Kendra...

She remembers what she thought about taking advantage of Sally and looks at her guiltily; she can't let Sally walk blindly into having Kendra for a roommate in good conscience. "I feel like I should warn you-"

"Oh, no, no, no. No need. Do you need me to sign something? Go with you somewhere? I-"

Wait… Sally doesn't care? Does she really prefer anything to her own room? Casey's not about to complain, but she is curious. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you so excited about this? What's wrong with your room?"

"Um… nothing?" Sally tries, a hesitant grin on her face.

Casey shakes her head and laughs. "Oh, no, I am definitely switching with you; I can't live in that room anymore. I'm just… curious, I guess. And I want to be prepared," she clarifies.

"Oh!" Sally realizes, relief evident in her voice. "Um, sorry for trying to lie to you; I just won't be able to stand another day living there. The reason I need to get out so bad is, well… that room is kind of… terrifying?"

"What do you mean?" How is she even supposed to take that? "Terrifying"? What does the room do, make noises at night?

"I'd explain, but you seem levelheaded, and I don't want to sound crazy. Let's just go officialize this room trade, huh?" Sally asks with forced peppiness.

Sally's still skirting the topic, but Casey does appreciate her go-getter attitude and the fact that's she ready to make the exchange right now. And, well, she doesn't care that much. She'll find out eventually, anyway.

"You're moving out? Why didn't you say anything?" Kendra asks when she sees her packing, a pout on her lips. "I thought you liked me!"

She sighs, but she does feel a little guilty. Only Kendra would be oblivious enough to not realize she'd want to move out after being yelled at by her multiple times. "I do like you, and I did tell you I wanted to move out, you know. It's not personal, it's just, your habits are… not ideal, and you know, you never listen when I ask you to stop doing things!"

"So? We're still friends! And I thought you were joking!"

She probably did think she was joking; Kendra never really seemed all there when she was talking to her. It'd be just like her to tune her out, anyway.

Twangs of guilt pull at her again. Despite all the not listening she does, Kendra really does like having her as a roommate, doesn't she? Even after she'd yelled at her so many times, too. It's sweet, but Casey's already gone so far, and she's pretty sure if she cancels on Sally she'll have a breakdown. And, of course, grades.

Casey opens her mouth to tell her as much, but she's interrupted by a knock on the door. Emily, probably; she'd told her to come by and help her pack. Kendra turns her head at the distraction and opens the door, not even asking who it is.

"Emily!" she greets her. They'd been acquainted multiple times, on account of Kendra inviting herself to their chick flick nights. She wasn't bad company, but the whole inviting herself thing was a very Kendra-esque move. "You're just in time to tell Casey that she's being crazy. Did you know she wanted to move out? It's like we're not even friends!"

Emily looks at Kendra quizzically. "You really didn't see this coming at all?"

Kendra looks like she's about to speak, but Casey cuts her off.

"Look, Kendra. We are friends," she says. "I'm not moving because I don't like you; I'm moving because I don't like living with you." She considers going into the desert-ocean metaphor, but decides against it. "Think about it. If I move out, you can watch movies whenever you want and play music whenever you want and come home whenever you won't and I won't be annoyed, and you won't be lectured. It's better for everybody."

"You know, Casey… that is a good point," Kendra concedes. She pauses a second, thinking. "But then, where are you going to go?"

"Yeah, Case. Who finally gave you the room? Did Sandra give in?" Emily asks.

"Oh, that's the best part! You'll never guess who gave it to me: Sally! I get a room all to myself," Casey brags, mentally congratulating herself.

A smug smile is still on her face when she realizes both of them hadn't commented on her good fortune.

"Um, what's wrong?" she asks them, turning away from her suitcase.

Emily shares a… knowing(?) look with Kendra, and then begins to speak. "You mean Sally from the end of the hall?" she asks Casey, sounding... concerned?

"Not like there's any other… Why?"

Kendra grins at her, excited. "You mean you didn't know? That room is, like, super haunted!" Lowering her voice, she continues, "I heard someone died there, like a decade ago."

Casey laughs. "Are you guys serious? How did someone die in a college dorm room? What, did they over-study?" she asks, knowing the idea is ridiculous in and of itself.

Kendra pouts. "You know, the only reason you think that's crazy is because you would've died from over-studying by now if that was a thing."

Casey doesn't reply to that, mostly because she can't; even she has to admit the validity of Kendra's point. "Well, either way, there's no such thing as ghosts. I thought this was college, not elementary school. Don't be crazy."

The ghost thing is about the weirdest thing she's heard at Queen's; for one thing, like she said, it's college, and also, it's a top college. How has the rumor even prevailed enough to get to her?

Well, yeah, Kendra believing in ghosts isn't much of a stretch, but… she doesn't have words for it. The concept is ridiculous.

It's while she's thinking this that she catches Emily's eye, and notices her… solemn expression? She realizes Emily hasn't reacted to anything she's Kendra's said so far. Don't tell her… "Wait, do you believe this stuff, Em?"

Emily shrugs. "Well, why do you think Sally always looks like such a mess?"

That is a good point. The memory of Sally calling the room "terrifying" flashes in her mind, but she can't bring herself to entertain that idea for more than a second. "I don't know, because she's a college student? There's no such thing as ghosts, guys."

"I don't know, Casey," Emily replies skeptically, as if she has a right to be skeptical… Who is it that was seriously considering the idea of a ghost haunting a college dorm room? "I've heard a lot about this ghost, and it's spread way too far for just a dumb joke. Just… I'm not going to visit you in your room, okay?"

"Em!" she cries, the betrayal stinging. Two betrayals in one day, huh… First the room, now this…

"Me too," Kendra chimes in. "I don't want to take my chances on a ghost, either. You can come back here any time, though!"

As she unpacks her bag, Casey hums to herself.

Emily had walked her to her room, but she left before Casey even opened the door, calling Casey the white person in a horror movie and saying that she wasn't about to be starting any stereotypes about black people. Casey thought it was a joke, but she was awfully deadpan about it when she did it… She still doesn't know if she was being serious.

The worst thing was, Emily always seemed so levelheaded, and now… ghosts? Where did that even come from?

Well, everyone has their quirk. And well, maybe irrational fear of ghosts is a widespread entire college kind of quirk.

But please, the room terrifying? That's a joke.

White walls, a queen bed, a desk, a dresser, a mirror, a bathroom. The room is fine. A little ratty, but she'll get used to it. Maybe she can even fix it up and make it more home-y after midterms.

Wait! Midterms!

Dammit, she wasted so much time!

Tossing aside the rest of her unpacked suitcase, she pulls out all her coursebooks and starts studying.

Everything else has to wait, ghosts included.

(And maybe personal hygiene, but she doesn't have a roommate, anyway.)