Rose sat down next to her brother with a soft thump, trying to keep her drink from spilling on him. Dave scooted over, making room for her. He shook his head sadly, and took a sip from his own cup of apple juice. Dave wasn't very big on drinking, and actually volunteered to be the designated driver for people when Rose threw her parties.
"So sis, score with anybody yet?" Dave asked, smirking into his drink. Just by looking at Rose's expression he could tell what the answer was, and they both knew he was just asking to antagonize her.
Rose rolled her eyes anyway and took another much needed sip of her mountain dew and rum mixture. They had invited a few friends, who had invited a few friends, who had invited a few friends, and god dammit you get the picture. Now the sibling's tiny apartment was filled to the brim with other college students, flunkies, a few high schoolers, and Rose was pretty sure that she had seen her history teacher making his way around the kitchen. It was fun because there was always a new mix of kids, and potential hook ups, but they never knew exactly how many people would show up.
"No." Rose replied curtly. "I have not found anybody to 'score' with. Have you my dear brother?" She was only slightly buzzed, and could still talk circles around her brother if she needed to.
"Have an eye on the one with the cane." Dave pointed at a girl with bright orange hair and red glasses. The girl was laughing loudly at something John was saying, and rose wasn't exactly sure how she felt about her brother going after Terezi.
"Are you sure about that? She's in one of my law classes, and she's pretty ruthless. She's also blind." Rose paused, and took another sip of her drink. "Actually, that mean she may be the only one who will ever be able to love you. By all means, have at her."
Dave made a face at his sister and stood up. He headed across the room to the blind girl, his body swaying in time to the music. Rose closed her eyes for a moment, letting the party sink into her skin. Her head felt light and fuzzy. The music wasn't too loud (they'd gotten complaints from the neighbors before and after much experimenting found the perfect volume) and the laughter of her friends was enough to put Rose at ease. She could smell a perfumed smoke which meant Gamzee had brought his hooka in.
Rose polished off her drink and stood up with a slight sigh. She wasn't sure how much more mountain dew she had, and she really didn't want to switch to the cheap beer they had as a backup. Before she could make her way to the kitchen Rose heard a faint knock on the door. Without thinking of who it may be Rose set her empty cup down and headed for the front door.
"Hello, come in-" Rose started, before realizing she didn't recognize the girl in the doorway. She had her black hair in a neat pixie cut, a black turtle neck, and a red mini skirt. Her eyes were a deep shade of green, that stood out against her mocha skin. Rose felt a swoon coming on.
"Hello, I'm Kanaya." The girl said, holding her hand out. "I'm a friend of Vriska's from high school, and I just moved here."
Rose took her hand, shaking it a bit more excessively than she should have. "I have never liked Vriska as much as I do right now." Rose laughed lightly, stepping back and letting Kanaya come in. The back view was just as good as the front. Rose crossed her fingers.
Kanaya laughed as well. "Well, I'm no fan of hers either. We keep in touch, but things have just been awkward since we broke up." Rose silently thanked the horror terrors. "She told me about a party in this apartment, and I was hoping to make some new friends."
"I am more than happy to help you with that!" Rose said, starting to feel her buzz again. She reached out and took Kanaya's hand, feeling a rush of excitement when the other girl didn't pull away. Rose dragged her to the living room first, pointing to her friends and saying their names quickly.
"That's Karkat." Rose pointed at a dark haired boy in the back corner. "Tavros." The Hispanic boy in the wheelchair next to him. "Gamzee and Sollux." Two more boys, one of which was taking a long hit of a hooka.
"They seem nice." Kanaya said in a light tone, and Rose made a face at her.
"Come on, lets go to the kitchen." Rose snapped without meaning to, dragging Kanaya away. The new girl waved to the boys and followed Rose from the room. Once they were in the kitchen Rose carefully peeked around for her history professor. Dr. Scratch was one of her mom's friends, and so he came to chaperone the parties. Rose's mother had him wrapped around her finger, and it was rather strange. He wasn't in the room though, possibly fishing Eridan from the fish tank again, and so Rose walked in confidently.
"Hey sis, who's your friend?" John called when they walked into the room. Dave and Terezi looked up as well, though Terezi really didn't need to.
"She smells nice." Terezi cackled, quickly turning back to Dave. Rose instantly felt a pang of jealously. Her brother was hitting it off pretty well, but she sure wasn't. Rose mixed another drink for herself, and then a spare cup for Kanaya.
"I'm going to need more rum than that." Kanaya said as Rose started to pour. Rose smiled, and tipped the bottle all the way up. The blonde girl handed over the drink, and continued to show her around the spacious apartment.
"This is where I study on weekdays." Rose said happily, opening up the door to their office. There was a few bookcases, a desk, and Vriska making out with John on the floor.
"Cute." Kanaya said, pulling the door shut before her old fling could see her.
"Uh." Was all Rose could think to reply. She quickly moved on to the next room, the music growing fainter as she walked. She suddenly felt very light headed, and as she reached for the door knob she had to lean against the door to keep from falling over. Kanaya quickly reach forward, putting her hand on Rose's side so she wouldn't fall.
"Thanks." Rose said, blushing lightly, though she couldn't tell if it was because of the alcohol, or because of how close Kanaya was standing. The dark skinned girl gave her a concerned look, but didn't take her hand back. "No really, I'm fine." Rose assured her, feeling stupid when Kanya finally took a step back.
Rose pushed the door in and took a step into her room. She did a quick sweep, and was glad to find that no one had snuck in to kiss on her floor. Satisfied, rose turned and did a grand sweep of the room. It was pretty messy, with her college books, personal notebooks, and knitting supplies strewn about like a tornado had recently gone through the area. Still, it looked better than Dave's room. He tended to leave apple juice bottles everywhere.
"What are you studying?" Kanaya quiered, picking up a copy of Rose's grimdark tome.
"Oh don't mind that, I'm a satanist." Rose joked, reaching out for the book. Kanaya raised an eyebrow at her, but handed the great book over. "Oh come on, most people I know laugh at jokes that funny."
"Oh." Kanaya giggled, and took a long swig of her drink. "Well, I myself am studying fashion design." Rose glanced down at her belted black boots, her ruby red skirt, her shimmering sweater. She could believe Kanaya was a model, not a designer.
"I knit." Rose replied, nodding toward her yarn balls.
"That is not even close to being the same thing." Kanaya smiled without hesitating.
Rose burst into laughter, covering her mouth in an effort not to spew her drink everywhere. She deserved a gold star for trying, right? Rose sat down on the bed, patting the spot next to her seductively. Kanaya sat down, looking at the rest of the room.
"I study psychology." Rose said finally, setting her drink down on the bedside table. Kanaya polished of her cup, and handed it over to be set down as well. "I like knowing how people work. How they react, how they learn." Rose leaned very close to Kanaya. "How they love."
Before either of them knew what was going on, Rose closed the gap and their lips were touching. Rose smiled into her soft lips, her heart pounding louder than her head. Kayana looked surprised for a moment, but wrapped her arms around Rose, pulling the blonde closer. After a moment they pulled back, arms still lingering around each other.
"So." Kanaya said, smiling. "I live a few doors down. How often can I come over to study?"
"As often as you would prefer." Rose replied. "Heck, maybe we could actually take a look at the books when you come over."
Kanya giggled. She didn't need to worry about making friends in her new home. "I'd like that."