Second First Impressions

Ruthie’s evening ritual is interrupted by a knock from her new neighbor, Teddy, who needs help with the hot water. After she dresses and lets him in, he admires the wallpaper in her living room. After she shows him how to activate their shared water unit, he enters her bedroom uninvited, comments on a teddy bear, and admits he has no basic supplies. She denies his request for her Wi-Fi password.

The cottages share a thin wall. While Ruthie takes her bath, she and Teddy begin a conversation through it. He tells her he is lonely and reveals that he was kicked out of his tattoo studio until he can afford to buy his share. He also confesses he’s never lived completely on his own before. Feeling sympathetic, Ruthie offers to bring him dinner and a new toothbrush. Though touched, he declines.

The following morning, Ruthie finds Teddy drawing in the shared courtyard. She trades him a coffee for one of his sketches, and he confesses that he accidentally stepped on an endangered tortoise. Ruthie, who has her own system for tracking the creatures, examines the animal, revealing her past ambition to become a veterinarian.

Together, they name the tortoise TJ, for Teddy Junior, and Ruthie numbers its shell “50” for tracking.