William is already gone by the time Henry wakes up. He takes it as a chance to finally breathe freely, as well as prepare himself for the start of his own classes. He has until next week to become acquainted with the town and his own schedule.
Henry spends most of his morning just walking around campus. It's not too big, which he's very thankful for, but it's pretty massive compared to New Harmony. It's a shock to see so many different people in one place. He's too used to familiar faces everywhere he goes. He's used to driving out thirty minutes just to get to the nearest grocery store.
And while it is overwhelming, it's also very convenient. You're saying he can drive just ten minutes and make it to a store that's walking distance from literally everything else in the city? It's great and Henry takes it upon himself to stock up on the food he knows they'll need. He also impulsively buys a minifridge from the local Deseret Industries -a thrift store.
It's only once he returns to his dorm, more than happy with his little adventure, that he remembers William's structure. The happy feeling fades a little as he brings his things up, but Henry shoves it away with a shrug. They're roommates and while he does respect William's need for organization, a minifridge will benefit them both. The dining hall is far away and as winter gets closer, they'll be less and less happy to trek out there for a trashy meal.
As Henry pushes the door open, he's glad to see the room empty. Or, at least void of his roommate. He sets up the minifridge behind the door, since it's the only spot left in the room other than under his bed. He plugs it in and stores all of the fridge-safe items there, then stacks the rest beside it.
"That doesn't look half bad." Henry smiles, quickly ignoring the constant hum the old thing makes.
It's just past noon when Henry starts pulling out his tools and the scraps from under his bed. He spends a good while just tinkering. There's a box of actual parts under his bed and he itches to start working on Fredbear again, but he can't weld anything in here. Maybe that's something else he can do today; find a place to use as a workshop. He'll have to carry most of his tools back and forth between them, so maybe he should look for somewhere close by? But where does he even start? There's no garage to use and he's not sure if he wants to rent out a storage unit for this alone. That could get pretty expensive-
The door opens and Henry looks up as William walks into the room. He looks absolutely exhausted at first, but as soon as he spots Henry, he straightens. His posture is back to normal and he neatly stacks his stuff on his desk. It's a little odd. He should be allowed to feel tired, especially in his own dorm room, but Henry doesn't make a comment.
He's about to turn back to his tinkering when he hears William speak. "What is that?" He sounds accusing and when Henry watches him again, he definitely looks that way too.
William's pointing to the fridge and Henry sinks a little. "Ah, that. Well, I thought it would be nice to store some food in here, so we don't always have to go out to eat. It'll save us the time and effort."
The man stares at the fridge for a full minute, his eyes narrowed and his foot tapping slightly as he processes it. Henry prepares to defend his fridge, not wanting to get rid of it so quickly, but then William turns away from it, going back to his own business. "It's fine, then. Loud, but that is to be expected."
Henry smiles to himself, just a little proud that he managed to avoid some kind of conflict. Maybe they'll get along easier than he thought. His mom did say that opposites attract and...well, they couldn't be more different.
"Oh, right!" Henry jumps up from his chair, suddenly realizing something. William eyes him questioningly, but he's ignored as Henry walks out of the dorm room and into the hall. He saw a payphone booth somewhere when he was out and forgot to call his parents! It shouldn't be far and maybe he can go back to the thrift store to get one for the dorm room too? There has to be a landline outlet somewhere?
Henry spots the booth and he runs up to it. It's not far, just two blocks from the building. He steps inside quickly and puts in the required amount of coins before dialing his parent's number. Hopefully they're available right now.
"Hello? Molly Emily speaking."
Henry smiles. "Hey, Mom."
"Oh, Henry!" Her voice goes quiet for a moment, but he can still just barely hear her call for his father. "I'm so happy to hear from you! You sure took your time to call!"
He chuckles nervously. "Sorry about that. It was pretty late when I got here and I still had to unpack everything so...um, anyway, I just wanted to say that I'm doing good."
"That's wonderful, Honey! How's the city? Oh, and tell me about your classes!"
"Mom, I haven't started my classes yet." He smiles when she makes a sound indicating that she now remembers that detail. "Um, it's pretty big compared to New Harmony. The bus is free, so I can use that if my car gets stuck. I'm still happy to have it, though. I'm probably gonna get really lost at some point." He's lucky he didn't today. Maybe he should find a map of the city or something.
"You'll learn the area quickly, don't worry. Just drive around plenty and you'll figure it out. Oh! what about your roommate? And your dorm! What's it all like?" Henry pauses at that. How exactly should he describe it? He's about to reply, but then his mother's voice comes through. "Hold that thought! I'm passing the phone to your father real fast!"
There's a bit of static, then Dad's voice rings in his ear. "Hey, Buddy! So, how is it? Pretty new, I'm guessing."
"Yeah, it is." He says instead of repeating what he said to Mom. It's taken the same way and he hears Dad hum softly.
"You know, I lived around that area for a while. Didn't go to college there, but it was pretty nice anyway. Lots of snow in the winter but the summer isn't so hot. I personally like the winters we get down South, but maybe you'll prefer it up there. You'll just have to see, I guess." Henry doesn't respond. He's already been told all of that before, when he got the acceptance letter. "So, how's your roommate? Is he a psycho killer or something?"
He hears Mom hit him and Dad starts laughing. Henry smiles, already missing them a lot, but he doesn't say that. Jen didn't miss them a day after she left. She only really called again three months after joining the military.
She got in big trouble for that too.
"He's fine, I guess." Henry cringes at his own comment, already seeing his parent's worry. "He's just different. He dresses up in suits and talks kinda weird. I think he's from Europe." Definitely from Europe. Henry might've never lived outside of New Harmony, but he's heard that kind of accent before on TV.
"Oh, that's so fun! Does he speak any exotic languages?" She makes a terrible impression of a French accent and Henry can't help but laugh.
"No, I think he's from England or something." His mom starts talking again, but not to him. Henry checks the time he has left on his call and realizes that it's almost over. "I'll call again some time soon, okay? I got more stuff to do, but I love you guys."
"We love you too, Buddy. Tell us if you need any kind of help, okay? We'll pile into the truck and drive right over. Just give us the word."
"That's not-"
The call ends and Henry pulls the receiver away from his ear. He should've said more but it's fine for now, he decides. He'll call often enough to keep them updated. He won't leave them alone like Jen.
After a moment, Henry gets an idea and he inserts a few more coins. He dials Jen's phone number this time and he waits as it starts ringing. He listens to three, four, five long rings, then the automated voice cuts in.
She doesn't pick up.
Henry puts the phone back and steps out of the booth, only a little disappointed. He expected it, but he wishes he didn't have to.
Nothing's really changed when Henry gets back to the dorm. Well, except for the fact his box of scraps and tools are gone. He looks around his desk, already feeling the irritation of the day affect his mood.
"Where did my tools go?" He asks William, trying his best to keep this civil.
William doesn't look at him. He stays seated at his desk, writing something down in a notebook. "It was creeping into my space, so I put it away."
Creeping into his space? It was just on Henry's desk! And sure, maybe he dropped some stuff on the floor, but it wasn't a lot! And he was just about to clean it up himself! But before Henry can say any of that, he takes a moment to calm himself. "So, where did you put it?" He's looks around his desk again, hoping to find it in plain sight.
"Under your bed, obviously."
Henry looks and just as he said, the box is there. When he pulls it out, he frowns at the mess it's become. His wires are tangled and none of his tools are well protected. He puts the box down on his desk again, intending to continue tinkering, but he stops when he finds something missing. "Where's my Allen key?" This time William does look back.
"Your what?"
"Allen key. It's a small wrench." He traces the outline in the air. "Where is it."
William turns back around, much to Henry's frustration. "I don't know. I didn't steal it, if that's what you're implying."
"I'm not saying that, but you did put my tools away, so you should know where it is."
"Well, I don't. Perhaps you simply aren't seeing it."
Henry closes his eyes and counts down slowly. Once he's done, he looks through the box again and he finds the wrench sitting at the bottom. He doesn't know how it got there, but now Henry feels bad for getting upset. He puts the box away, then sits on his bed, his eyes on William's back. "I'm sorry for getting upset, I just...can you please not touch my stuff? Ask me to move it and I will, but those tools are very expensive."
William sighs and turns again. "I accept your apology." And that's it. Then, "What are they for anyway? Do you build things?"
He isn't expecting the question and it takes him a moment to think of a good response. "I'm majoring in engineering. Robotics, mostly." He thinks back to Fredbear, who's nothing but a few metal poles at the moment. He wants to make something new out of him, something to make others happy.
"How old are you?" William asks, fully turned in his seat now. His head is slightly turned in interest and Henry thinks this is the first time he's seen a genuinely nice look on the man's face. "You don't look eighteen."
"Oh, um, I'm not. I'm turning twenty in November. Um...What about you? Are you eighteen?" He doesn't think so, but people can sometimes look older than they are. Jessica Wilson in his fourth grade class ended up taller than everyone else, though, they passed her up quickly the following year.
"I'm twenty-three, actually. I assume you're a Freshman as well, since this is a Freshman-only dormitory." It's not a question but Henry nods anyway. "If we're both just starting, then perhaps you should let me get my homework done, yes?" William's previous nice look fades into a mocking smile and he turns back around.
You're the one that started talking about my major, Henry thinks. He sighs and lays back in his bed, feeling tired already. He checks the clock and groans when it reads 3:00. He should find a workshop before tomorrow, so he doesn't end up missing his chance at a good deal. Then he'll just ride through the rest of the week, go to church on Sunday, and start classes like normal.
He just needs to live with William's snobbish personality until they're both too busy to interact.
"Oh right. I would like a full copy of your schedule so I can see exactly what the semester will look like. We will need a cleaning schedule as well as some budgeting rules when it comes to meals."
This is going to be impossible.
I'm trying to figure out if I want this to switch pov between both of them or stick with Henry. I want to write William's part, but at the same time, it could add to the story building! If people want to give feedback on that, they can. It may or may not affect the final decision. We'll see.