The Hangout

I walk in and am instantly greeted by friends from the couches in the living room, but I know someone is missing. I'm hit on the back of the shoulder by a black and white sword made out of foam, pipe, and duct tape, and I fall in mock pain, but am laughing too hard to really be "hurt" for long. Everybody laughs along with me, and I get up and walk the rest of the way in and sit in the comfy white couch next to my boyfriend and his computer, Sarah.

"What movie should we watch?" My boyfriend's roommate usually asks. His blue eyes twinkle as he thinks of good movies in his mind that the others may enjoy. He sits in his computer chair with his chin resting on the couch next to his desk. It's a typical look from him, and I can't help but smile just a little bit.

"Well, I'm kind of hungry." That response usually comes from me or my boyfriend, and it takes forever to finally get out of the house to actually go somewhere to eat something. When we finally do leave to eat, we either have Taco Bell, Chinese or McDonalds, and then we go straight back to the house.

Occasionally, we'll mess around with the swords that are placed "randomly" throughout the house. There are plenty of weapons hanging on the walls, and they range from small knives to big swords to a pair of practice nun-chucks. I have even added myself as a collector with a knife that has wolves on it along with the American flag. We haven't figured out where to put it yet, but it's there.

Along with the real weapons, there are a fair share of boffers, which are those weapons made of foam, pipe, and duct tape mentioned previously. Those are the more interesting ones, because you can pretty much do anything when making those. My boyfriend's roommate created a green double ended sword that I can't even begin to describe, while one of my friends has created at least two staffs. We even have boffer guns lying around. It's a lot of fun to see what's been made of duct tape recently by the crew.

It seems like my boyfriend's house is the most popular place to be among my friends. It's the place that boffing now takes place (for now) and the place our tabletop role-playing occurs. It is also the place where people feel comfortable being themselves and asking for advice and actually listening. It is a good Christian environment, and there's a certain peace there that you don't get everywhere. We all have a certain connection that feels like family, and this house is the perfect home for it.

I sit on the couch and grab my laptop and pull up a word document. There's a couple on the couch, my boyfriend's roommate is playing a video game, and my boyfriend is doing his homework. I know I have enough peace in myself from this environment that I can do my homework with no problems. I love it here. It may be predictable, but it's still my favorite place to be.