And They Were Roommates...

Chapter 7

Skeppy woke up feeling confused. He had no clue how long he had been asleep or what time it could possibly be due to the steady darkness that filled his room. He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, glancing over to see if he could find his phone in the darkness. He did not see his phone, but what he did see was Bad, who had fallen asleep beside him earlier. Skeppy's eyes widened as he remembered what he had said earlier. Had he said it? He wasn't sure.

He hoped he didn't screw anything up there, but couldn't be entirely sure. He slid out of the bed as quietly as possible, grabbing his phone from the table before leaving the room. It was nearly 7pm, so Skeppy knew he had slept for a long time, but he wasn't sure if it was long enough to make up for the loss of sleep he had been subjecting himself to. Sitting down on the couch, Skeppy debated his options. He could choose to stay home, go back to sleep, and pretend nothing happened, or he could go out and put his worries aside for a bit with Crimson.

Crimson. Yes, that's right, he had Crimson to talk to. By the time Skeppy made up his mind, he heard the creak of the bedroom door down the hall. Skeppy shifted uneasily on the couch as Bad left the bedroom. Skeppy heard another creak of a door before hearing the door shut. Bad went back into his own room. Skeppy quickly shuffled down the hall and grabbed his bag before tossing on his shoes and leaving the house as silently as he could.

He approached the office building right as the sun dipped below the horizon, unsure of whether Crimson would even be there yet. He switched his clothes before climbing carefully up the building. Skeppy glanced around to make sure nobody saw him, because what he was doing was probably not legal. He slid open the door to Bad's lair and stepped inside. The fading light from the sky cast shadows over the things Skeppy had not noticed before.

Skeppy spotted the beginnings of what might have been traps or snares to trick him, but had never been completed. He also noticed the few things that sat on the desk Crimson had. The box of Uno cards and Monopoly game were spread out along with various bags of snacks and other little things. There was a notebook with a cover that read: Evil Plans; Do Not Read. Skeppy wondered if Crimson was hiding somewhere in the office or if he just hadn't arrived yet.

He found his answer when the sound of a small jingling bell came from the far side of the room. Skeppy turned around to see the small white dog that followed Crimson around approaching him. The little dog looked up at him and yapped a loud noise which was quickly followed by "what is it, Rat?" The voice came from behind the door that exited the office space. He looked up to see a flash of something peek quickly out from behind the wall before ducking back in. "Oh..." The voice said. "Diamond, get out! You're early!"

"What? I'm not early, am I?" Skeppy asked.

"Yes, you're early! It's 7:30!" Crimson said, hiding behind the wall.

Skeppy sighed and loudly shut the door behind him as he stepped out onto the balcony. Part of him was curious to see what Crimson looked like before he was in his disguise, but Skeppy respected him enough to not look through the door. Several minutes passed as Skeppy stood out on the balcony, waiting for the sign that it was ok for him to open the door. The hues of the sunset had faded from the sky by the time he heard the tapping from the door behind him. Skeppy opened the door to find Crimson standing there, looking as he usually did.

"Finally, took you long enough," Skeppy teased.

"You shouldn't have shown up early!" Crimson pouted. "Don't you know how long it takes to get me looking like this?"

Skeppy glanced at his wrist, pretending to check an imaginary watch. "Hmm, I'd say probably 30 minutes?"

"It was a rhetorical question you muffinhead!" Crimson said with fake anger in his voice.