Disclaimer: As always, all the characters in the Go Get A Roomie web-comic are owned by the lovely Chloe, and not I.

Anything But Me

"Darlin', with that face, you'd turn anything on," Roomie said behind her, and Lillian immediately frowned, her previous tech-induced euphoria all but forgotten.

That had not been one of the Roomie Voices she knew. It wasn't the high-pitched, bubbly voice of excitement, or the slightly lower-pitched, sultry toes of seduction. It didn't have the alternating pitches of teasing, neither the steady, quiet sound of when she was...blank.

This new voice was somber, grave. It was sad, and wistful, and Lillian did not like it one bit.

Lillian turned, not knowing exactly what to expect from this new voice, but she was not very surprised by Roomie's slightly downcast gaze, and the small smile on her face. Lillian knew that the woman did not ever smile anything other than a big smile, and it hurt her inside to see the first real expression of sadness coming from someone usually so happy.

She opened her mouth to speak, but just as quick as it had appeared, it was gone, replaced by some sort of emotional mask that was completely indistinguishable from the way she normally looked. Her smile was wider, her eyes were twinkling, and she seemed to generally make things around her sharper, more defined, and definitely more colourful.

"Now let's go turn that baby on!" She exclaimed, grinning brightly as she started to walk, taking a hurt and confused Lillian with her by the arm.

Stepping inside her own house, Lillian wondered just what had happened during their walk back. She distinctively remembered planning her words carefully, so that she wouldn't scare or hurt the woman away, but somehow Roomie had started talking to her about all the 'Wondrously amazing' things her computer could do, and her attention got completely sucked into the discussion.

She had never realized before, but Roomie could be outright scary with her ability to talk her way out- and into- things.

She turned back and closed the door, hearing Roomie's humming growing fainter as the hippie walked into her bedroom, probably to...do something with her lap top. Lillian stared blankly at the door as she realized she didn't know the first thing about computers.

Lillian walked into her room, deciding that she would ask Roomie for instructions after she inquired about her downcast mood from earlier, when the sight that greeted her had her eyes ticking. There, right next to her bed, was Roomie, slowly twirling to an unheard ballad with her lap top in hands. She noticed that, and the bright, blue light coming from her new typing machine with a strange sort of medical detachment.

"...What are you doing."

"Lazy Tyke!" She exclaimed, sounding as if her presence was completely unexpected in her very own room. "I'm having fun!" She said brightly, and to further cement her point, she pressed a key with far more enthusiasm than the act required.

Beep!

Both girls turned their attention to the small computer- Lillian because it beeped, and Roomie because she had no idea why it beeped. She pressed the same key, this time seeming to be curious, and Lillian watched as a small, fascinated smile grew on the girl's face.

"LT," she said, clearly excited.

"What."

"LT!"

"...What?"

"Do you know what time it is, LT?"

Lillian brought a hand to her face at that.

"Don't tell me-" She began, before being interrupted by a Roomie shaking her laptop high above her head, as if it was some sort of mystical prize.

"It's adventure time!" Said Roomie, laughing at her own reference, completely ignoring Lillian's groans and ticking eyes.

"I'm going to sleep now," Lillian said with a sense of finality, her mind temporarily forgetting about the real issue at hand. She gave Roomie a glance, and added with a softer voice, "Wake me up when it's done?"

"Sure, Li'l Tyke! Sweet Dreams!" Roomie answered, placing the lap top on the floor to help tuck Lillian to bed, much to the black-haired girl's protests.

Sleep came almost instantly, despite the beeping and the typing noises.

Lillian frowned openly as she soared through the lilac skies of her dreamscape. Freed from the frivolities of her rational mind, she could clearly see and understand how Roomie played to her interests and used her own, unique brand of insanity to effortlessly deflect and completely obliterate her attempts of finding out what was wrong. It would've been impressive if it wasn't so frustrating.

She sped up, trying to get to her destination quickly, whatever it may be. As it turned out, her destination was an immense computer screen that replayed that scene in the computer store indefinitely.

"You'd turn anything on," she kept on hearing, and every single time the voice wrenched violently at something inside of her. Had she been awake, her mind would be rationalizing the hell out of her feelings, and she'd probably come to the conclusion that she had grown so used to seeing Roomie happy that it was very confusing for her to be even remotely sad.

She was, however, dreaming, and the only thing she knew for sure was that she wanted to make that sad, sad voice disappear, no matter what. The scenes stopped playing, and frozen in it was Roomie, down-cast eyes and small smile readily apparent.

"Anything but me," the frozen Roomie seemed to say.

Lillian awoke with a start, her throat still caught up in groaning. She realized with a start that she was panting, and by the stinging of her left eye, probably sweating, as well.

The Lazy Tyke quietly moved from the bed, taking in her surrounding. The dream hadn't lasted long- at least not to her perspective, but it seemed it was already night time. A quick glance to her watch told her she had slept for eight sound hours.

She sighed, not really expecting Roomie to have lasted that long without going off somewhere. She took a step away from the bed and froze, being proven completely wrong.

There, laying on the floor and curled around the still-open laptop, was Roomie. She was lightly snoring, which probably meant that she had been sleeping for quite some time. That thought made Lillian feel guilty.

She moved closer to the sleeping hippie, as silently as she could, and stopped for a moment to observe Roomie in a way she never could, before. Her sleeping face, she decided, was weird. It displayed none of the usually strong emotions. She was...expressionless, and Lillian decided she far preferred Roomie to be smiling.

'Anything but me,' she heard in her mind, and her gaze softened. She couldn't possibly understand how, but she realized that, even surrounded with as many people as the usually-drunk girl was, Roomie was still very much lonely. And Lillian could certainly sympathize with that- it was exactly how she felt before meeting her bright, overtly-excited and seemingly all-loving friend.

Silently, Lillian bent down to pick Roomie up in her arms like a bride, and her eyebrows rose at just how light Roomie was. The woman in question stirred, and half-opened one eye at her.

"Wha- Li'ian?"

"Yes. I'm... I'm going to put you in bed, now. You fell asleep."

"...sorr'," she mumbled, nuzzling against the crook of Lillian's neck. She felt a strong shudder, and grew stiff at the sudden touch, but forced herself to continue. She gently lowered Roomie in the bed with her, and covered her, finishing with a kiss to Roomie's forehead- something that brought a wiggle of the hippie's nose and a seemingly happy, although incoherent, mumble.

After hesitating for a few moments, she decided to just join Roomie, and took the spot next to the sleeping woman, careful not to rouse her from sleep any more than she needed. As soon as she was settled, she felt a pair of small, strong arms hugging her and pulling her close to a very warm Roomie, who smiled contently in her sleep.

The sight warmed Lillian's heart to no end.

"'ove yu...", the golden-haired woman muttered, and with that she fell asleep, leaving behind a blushing, smiling Lillian that was quickly lured into sleep herself by Roomie's breathing.

Much later, a very confused Roomie woke up to a sight she would never quite forget: A smiling Lillian sleeping with her face very close to Roomie's, her disheveled hair haphazardly covering the entirety of her pillow, and, what was perhaps most perplexing, they were hugging.

She tried to move away from the decidedly good embrace, thinking that she herself had somehow initiated it, but when Lillian made small sounds of protest, holding her tighter, Roomie felt a smile growing on her face.

And just like that, with a hug and a smile, she wasn't sad anymore.

Author's Note: It was digging through my Disqus messages that I re-discovered this bit. It was done as a short story for the '458: Turn it On' Go Get A Roomie page. (That's what you put in the ID when trying to find it.)

I finally decided it was about time I posted it here, what with the severe lack of other Go Get A Roomie fanfiction. This is a very old one, and some of the stuff I used was kinda debunked the very next page. Still, it was something I enjoyed writing, and, after discovering it who knows how many years later, something I enjoy reading again.

More noticeable, this version contains some corrections, particularly some pointed by Malkavian Logic in the original page. Hope you all enjoy it!