My Roommate is a Wizard

[BookKnight]

The clock on the wall quietly chirped three in the morning. The sensors in the clock's inner workings warned it to keep quiet. Presumably, people were asleep at three in the morning, and therefore would be very annoyed if it rang out as loudly as it would at three in the afternoon. Nothing stirred in the apartment. The kitchen sink dripped once, the sound of the droplet hitting the short stack of plates with a plop amplified by the sheer silence.

The front door opened with a rattle and a creak. A dog trotted inside, claws clicking on the hardwood floor as it came through the entryway and made his way around the kitchen peninsula to where his bowl of water sat on the floor. He lapped noisily at the water, pushing the bowl directly into the walkway and leaving a trail of splashed water in his wake. Meanwhile, back at the front door, a figure worked his way inside with much rustling and thumps as he tried to bring in an awkward-sized box. After some muttering and finagling, he finally got the box inside and used his hip to nudge the front door shut and locked. Then he carried the box through the apartment to the far back room. Box and person disappeared inside the room. A moment later, the person reappeared and closed the door. Yawning, he crossed the hall to the other bedroom. The dog trotted after him, ducking into the bedroom just before the door closed. A moment later, the door to the first room eased open an inch. The latch hadn't fully caught, meaning the door was loose. Something nosed it fully open, and a thing made its way slowly and carefully out into the rest of the apartment.

The clock continued to tick along, heedless of the activity inside the apartment. Four in the morning. Five. The clock cheerfully chirped six in the morning at a moderate level. Sunlight drifted through the windows, brightening up the space. A tiny little dragon climbed up onto the kitchen counter, wings flailing. It turned and hissed down at the new, strange creature watching it from the floor. The unknown creature moved forward, and the dragon scrambled upward, worming its way inside the cupboard where the coffee cups resided and to safety. The dragon climbed into a coffee cup and curled up, sniffing hungrily as it waited for one of the people living in the apartment to waken and deal with this new foe.

 

[Marguerite]

Lea closed her book and set tidily on the nightstand. She was showered and in her pajamas already. She grabbed her purple phone and looked at the texts and emails she hadn’t read yet. She responded when it was necessary and then plugged her phone in and set it on top of the book on the nightstand. The only light on at the moment was the one on the stand. She always slept with the window blinds open. She liked to look at the planes and moon throughout the night. She never slept well. When she woke up several times a night she would glance out the window and take silent and momentary solace in the little lights in the sky.

Lea leaned over and turned the light off, leaving her in the silky and heavy darkness. She hated the quiet. So she grabbed the little white remote next to her and turned on the noise maker. Rain was a beautiful thing to listen to as she fell asleep. And fall asleep she did, until about three in the morning.

It was an unintentional and unconscious wake up time. Every morning she woke up at the same time. She rolled over and looked out the window. A single plane was in view, with it’s red light blinking. She started trying to anticipate each blink, and that was when she heard rustling from the front of the apartment.

She knew it was her roommate, whom she wasn’t sure how to respond to yet. His appearance alone was enough to unnerve her, but she also found him fascinating. Although, she had the noise maker on, she could still hear him coming in. It was hard to explain, but she was also glad Elk was home. It gave her a strange sense of security knowing she wasn’t alone.

Lea fell back to sleep rather quickly and awoke with a start at five thirty. Work called her at eight and there was no way she would able to head to work without ample time to get ready. She hated being rushed and having no time to get ready and situated. Sighing gently, Lea got up and put her hair in a messy bun before opening her bedroom door.

She padded to the kitchen quietly in her pajama shorts and tank top to match with purple and white. Quietly, she started the coffee pot and pick a French Vanilla pod. She slid it into its place and closed the top. Before pushing the middle button, she opened the cupboard to retrieve a coffee cup.

As she did so, that tiny little dragon popped its head out and made a little noise. Lea’s eyes went wide and she screamed, dropping the coffee cup onto the counter. It shattered into a millions pieces. Lea cut the top of her hand slightly on the shattered ceramic. However, she didn’t dare move. She and the dragon were eye to eye, and Lea was frozen as to what to do next.

 

[BookKnight]

The tiny green head was barely bigger than the end of a finger, but its expressions were clear as it hissed at Lea, its head bobbing on a thin, serpentine neck. Pale pink-ish wings rose and fluttered aggressively as it tried to make its minute form look bigger than it really was. Tiny fangs glistened in its maw, but worryingly, it was not looking at Lea. Its attention was on something behind Lea.

A small, rabbit-like creature hopped around the end of the counter and stood staring at Lea with beady eyes. Its nose twitched, and a pair of white wings fluttered curiously. It stood up on its back legs and yawned, revealing a pair of vampiric fangs before they disappeared into its adorable mouth once again. It hopped closer, blocking Lea's escape as it studied her. The wolpertinger launched itself toward Lea.

A sudden scrambling of paws and a loud bark. Mug, the dog, appeared seemingly out of nowhere and caught the wolpertinger's rabbit-like tail, stopping it short. The rabbit flopped on the floor, squealing horrendously as Mug put a paw on its back to hold it still. Sharp teeth gnashed at the dog's leg but couldn't reach.

"By all the bark in the Emerald Forest, what on earth is going on here?" Elk sailed into the room, wrapped up in a purple robe that looked suspiciously like it might match Lea's pajamas. It did not fit well at all, but it covered all that needed to be covered. His red and white hair stood out around his sharp, pale features in a wild halo as dark eyes peered around the room in annoyed confusion.