Kevin

Kevin has lived in the palace flophouse for the longest time out of everyone; about two and a half years now. He's in the third year of his Ph.D. in neuroscience at UBC, where he does experiments on fruit flies all day. He is twenty-seven. A friend of his is a drummer, and keeps a set in the basement that Kevin practices on. He's pretty good.
The first time I met him I was with my dad, in Vancouver for a few days looking for a place to live. The palace was the last place I saw, Kevin asked us to come over at ten o'clock the night before we left. He put water on to boil while he went over the basics, (rent, buses, beach) and threw some peas in before giving us a tour. My dad said afterward, you belong with these people.
Kevin is a good person to know, because in the morning he will knock on your door and shout your name until you wake up and go for coffee with him. He is a good person to know, because he is very casual about being hilarious, and because when he gets drunk he will fix things around the house, help you with your homework, put together your bike, demand that you pat him on the head, and fall asleep on your arm. When he cooks Chinese food or edamame, he will always offer you some. Kevin sometimes plays strange atmospheric music with snippets of zoologists' voices from the 50's and children spouting gibberish that somehow makes you feel like you're at sea. He will also insist on taking you out for a pint on your birthday even if it's a Tuesday and you're both tired and no one else will go. He is a good person to know.

Some choice quotes
In the alley on the way to Coco et Olive on a sunny day, with a scowl on his face:
It's so f***ing pleasant out. MAKES ME SO HAPPY.
After having people over the Thursday before Halloween, setting up a projector, and arranging the couches theatre-style in the living room, while getting himself a beer, with a smug look on his face:
These are the only spirits I believe in.
That same night, after watching Paranormal Activity, which was actually terrifying:
Didn't need dry sheets tonight anyhow.
At a pub hidden in an alleyway behind industrial buildings and called the Narrow for very literal reasons, (bar along one wall, tables along the other, and a space the size of the aisle of an airplane in between) after Paul asks if Stefano is coming:
I think so. ...He's so handsome.
(Paul: I hope he sits next to me.)