Bang the Doldrums (Captainsparklez/Jordan Maron X Reader)

Trials (Fusion) and Tribulations

It's been about half a year since you packed up and moved to East Hollywood. Your job is great and your apartment is shitty, but it's affordable enough and that's what matters. After a year-long pity party and moving back in with your parents as a result of your ex-fiance having multiple affairs, you feel like things are finally going right. You snagged a job offer as an assistant scriptwriter at Paramount Pictures of all places. That same day you fished around for hours on Craigslist from your parents' house in Arizona. All you wanted was a decent apartment that you could pay for on your new salary and a roommate that wouldn't end up on the nightly local newscast.

You found Diany after some intensive research. The online ad read, 'Pretty crappy place, and I yell while playing video games, but I cook a lot and you can't beat the price.' You were skeptical at first, but she was one of few women looking for a roommate who didn't have any pets and lived somewhere semi-affordable.

She's a character, but she helped you move in all of your junk and had a delicious quiche warming in the oven for when you got unpacked, so she made a great first impression. Of course, she spent a few hours after dinner screaming in her room at an intense match of Among Us, but that was a small price to pay for a normal-enough roommate.

She's also always trying to invite you places, but up until now, you've always had an excuse to stay home, from onboarding at your job to late-night deadline crunches. Today, though, she brings up the fact that you've been bragging for a whole week that you finally have a free weekend, and intend on spending it in your pajamas with a party-sized bag of Doritos and an eighth of California's finest bud.

"C'mon, you have NO plans this weekend, just come to this thing with me. You literally have no friends, you need to meet people."

"You're my friend," you tell her, looking up from the laptop in your lap.

"I'm your roommate, we have to be friends. Why won't you come? If you hate it you can just Uber back home, I'll even pay for it," she argues.

"I don't want to go to a swanky, snobby Hollywood party," you roll your eyes, "I just wanna chill on my first weekend off in months."

"It's not a 'swanky Hollywood party.' First of all, it's in Los Angeles. Second of all, it's just my sweaty gamer friends. No one's snobby, you'll probably get along with everyone there."

You huff out a breath and stare down at your laptop, debating with yourself. How bad could it actually be? You like Diany, and if they get along with her, surely you'll like her friends too. Still, being social isn't exactly relaxing to you, and you're in need of some mental repose.

"You promise no one's gonna judge me for being there?"

"Of course not! The more the merrier. A lot of my friends ask about you, they think 'my roommate' is all in my head, at this point."

"And I can go home if I hate it?"

"At any point. I swear. I'll even make up a crazy excuse for you."

You reach your hand out to Diany and she shakes it, letting out an excited, high-pitched screech.

"But you HAVE to pick out my outfit, I don't want to look out of place."

That Saturday you guys make a trip to the liquor store then get dressed for the party. Diany decides to drive, she's not a big drinker anyway and the Uber surge prices on weekends are beyond unreasonable.

She parks on the street in front of a house with tons of cars in the driveway, and your nerves start to bubble up. You realize you haven't been to a large gathering in almost two years, since before the threat of Covid existed. Diany must sense this because she doesn't turn the car off right away.