Bobby was surprised, coming back from his morning run, to find that the door to his room was half open and there was the sound of movement inside.
For a moment he wondered if maybe Dorian had come back, and his back tensed, immediately on alert at the thought. There was a mixture of excitement and trepidation at the prospect, after all...he'd been gone for a while now. Everyone at school missed him...and at the end of the day, even Bobby was getting worried about him...
Fixing a smile on his face he pushed the door open and sauntered inside. No matter who it was, he'd be sure to greet them with a grin.
"Hey, what's all the hubbub, huh?" he chirped.
"Ah, good morning, Bobby," Piotr said. The tall and broad young russian man was holding a large cardboard box and Bobby quickly noticed that all of Dorian's things seemed to have been packed away in it, and in more boxes. That was a surprise. More than Dorian himself would have been, even. "I apologize for entering your room without permission."
Bobby walked over and sat on the edge of his bed, looking up at Piotr with a wave of his hand
The room was starting to look increasingly bare now that Dorian's things were being put away. Still, half of it had personality. Bobby's personality. There were the half-painted D&D figurines on the desk framed by his action movie posters. His sticker covered laptop set up near a small pile of comics that really should have been put on the nearby bookshelf-his small box of personal sports equipment-and numerous pictures of him with his friends on a corkboard (which lately had a few obvious blank spots for photos he'd shoved in the desk drawer).
"Nah, man. It's all good. Not like I got anything to hide. But uh, what's goin' on? Little early for spring cleaning, ain't it?"
"The professor asked me to put Dorian's things in storage," he explained, holding the large box under one arm and gesturing to the room. "I suspect he thinks you've had the room to yourself long enough."
Piotr chuckled lightly.
"Haha." Bobby laughed without much enthusiasm and rubbed his arm. "So he ain't coming back, huh? guess he's decided to fly the coop for good."
"We still haven't heard anything," Piotr explained, shaking his head. "But the professor says that should he return the situation will be worked out then."
"Ah… Well hey, cool, cool." He winked at Piotr, making an effort to seem more cheerful.. "Gonna move in with me then, big guy? Thought you already had a roomie."
"Indeed I do, as much as I am certain we would be excellent roommates. No, the professor says that our newest student will be moving in with you."
"Oh, hell yeah! Greggy?" Bobby grinned from ear to ear, without effort this time.. "I mean, he ain't no Piotr, but he'll be a blast to room with."
"I'm sure the professor will be glad you are pleased," Peter smiled. "If you see him, could you make certain he's aware of the situation?"
"yeah, I'll let him know. For sure." He leaned back on the bed "Can't believe it's been so long since Dorian left though, huh Petey?"
"It has been nearly two months now, I believe," he agreed, stacking a box by the door, and moving another.
Bobby hopped up, suddenly aware of all the work Piotr was doing.
"Lemme help ya with that." He moved to grab a box, peeking inside with a slightly weaker smile. "Hey, Petey...do you think I like, drove him off?"
Piotr's brow knit slightly.
"Drove him off? I am not certain what you mean."
"I dunno." Bobby muttered, carrying the box towards the door. "Nevermind, Petey. Don't worry about it."
Piotr sighed and set down his box with the others.
"Bobby, I do not think that you should blame yourself for Dorian's behavior."
"I mean, I don't! not..like, typically or nothin'." Bobby said, looking away. "Just every now and then."
He put the box down with the rest.
Piotr put a hand on Bobby's shoulder.
"I understand. It is not easy to have such a falling out. But to my mind, you did not do anything wrong, my friend."
"Thank's Petey." Bobby turned to look at Piotr over his shoulder, giving him a little smile "I appreciate it, you know?"
The big young man gave him a thumbs up.
"Please, don't be afraid to share your troubles with me, yes?"
"Same goes for you, big guy." Bobby punched his arm "Despite these noodly arms, I can hold my fair share of weighty troubles."
"Your arms are hardly noodles, Bobby. Some of us merely have an unfair advantage. Still, I take your meaning. I will not hesitate to share my troubles with you."
Bobby chuckled, brushing a lock of his hair over his ear with a nod.
"good man. and thanks. If anything comes up, I'll let you know."
000
After moving Dorian's things out of his room, Bobby had a training scheduled outside with some of the students, including Greg.
Bobby had taken to the track, like many of the other students, and took off jogging at a casual pace-just enough to catch up to Greg as he flashed him a lopsided smile.
"Hey there, Greggy. Want a little company from the Iceman?" He shot the fingerguns Greg's way with a wink.
"Wouldn't turn you out in the cold I guess." Greg chuckled, jogging at a fairly easy pace for now.
"Awww..." Bobby grinned, keeping pace with him. "You're gonna melt my frozen heart, man."
"I'll get a mop," he snorted. "So,, what's up?"
"Well, I heard you're gonna be getting an official room posting soon." Bobby told him with a grin. "Any idea who your roomie's gonna be?"
"Heard a rumor it might be a certain 'chill guy'."
Bobby grinned from ear to ear.
"You'd be right about that, man!" He punched his shoulder mid run. "We're gonna be roomies. They uh...they're moving Dorian's stuff out now." There was a slight falter to his smile.
"Oh, yeah? Didn't realize it was still here. ...Oh shit... I'm gonna have to get *my* stuff..."
"Yeah, you should probably do that before, like, I start moving my stuff into your side of the room." Bobby joked. "I can help you move in if ya want.'
"Wouldn't say no to that. Helping I mean. Keep your stuff on your own side," he told him good naturedly.
"you got it, big guy." Bobby chuckled "I'll help haul your stuff in later today, then. Got a lot?"
"Sounds great," he nodded. "Now I just gotta get it from the new house. ..."
'Morgan will probably be there…'
"Yeah, maybe after training? I'd offer to help, but I gotta help get Dorian's stuff into Storage, ya know?" Bobby mused. "So I'll just catch you when you're back."
"Yeah no worry," he nodded. "I... should probably go alone anyway. Morgan's not gonna be happy."
"Oof...she uh...she's still pissed about the other day, huh? You didn't...like...talk about it at school or nothin'?"
Greg made a face, and unconsciously started to jog a little faster.
"No, not really we've... I think she's been trying to avoid me, so I kinda did too."
Bobby picked up the pace to keep up with him, his hair falling in his face as he nodded.
"...Shit. sounds like the tour really uh, didn't sit well with her...a shame."
"Yeah," Greg sighed. "It was kind of a nightmare. ... I'm gonna ask her to come when I see her... but... I donno how well that'll go over."
"Hey, it's been a few days...maybe she cooled off." Bobby offered. "And like. you've seen what we're like here...maybe you can convince her? like...by telling her what we're really like."
"I'm hoping I can," he nodded. "I don't like the thought of her all alone in that big house, you know?"
"Yeah. that's gotta be real lonely." Bobby said with a small smile "Alienating, ya know?"
"Yeah...I know I wouldn't like it."
"I hope you manage to...like, fix things with her, man." Bobby said. "Like, it sucks when things leave off on a bad note with family. Trust me, I know."
"Yeah?" Greg cocked his head. "Sorry to hear that. Heh... you'll probably know how it went one way or another when I get back."
"I'll keep an ear out, man. And if there's anything I can do, lemme know alright?" Bobby smiled genuinely at Greg "and don't worry about it, I'm alright. I got a home here, ya know?"
Greg nodded. "Yeah. I'm hoping Morgan and me will have one too."