Alex

Alex drops his backpack on the floor with a thud and collapses onto the couch, closing his eyes. This move has exhausted him beyond belief. Boxes are scattered all over the apartment, and the only furniture is a camp bed and a folding table that wobbles if you push it too hard.

A couple of minutes later, Alex opens his laptop and launches the game. He hears the familiar sound of you entering the voice channel. Your voice comes through the headphones:

• Oh, Alex! Are you alive? I thought you were kidnapped on the way.

Alex chuckled and rubbed his face with his palm. — Alive. I barely made it up to the fourth floor with the boxes; the elevator's not working, by the way. I rented an apartment in a neighborhood... I don't even know what it's called. It's kind of quiet, but the neighbors are weird—they're always making noise at night. And there's this stupid striped carpet in the hallway. So... cheap.

You laugh into the phone and I smile - your laughter always infects me. "Okay, let's have a couple of skating rinks? I want to take my mind off what I'm even doing here."