Sollux sat down at the last table, which was up next to a window, and pulled out his laptop. Usually he could study just fine in his dorm room or the library, but today he'd needed a change, and the little cafe would do just fine. He took a sip of his coffee and started typing.
He'd lost track of time other than in drink refills, but long enough later that the sun had gone down and the streetlights had turned on, something outside his schoolwork caught his attention. He looked around, trying to figure out what he'd noticed, until the young woman standing next to the other side of the table repeated herself. "Do you mind if I sit here?"
Sollux stared for just a second until his brain caught up. "What? Oh. No, go ahead."
The young woman smiled. "Thanks!" She set down a tray of food. It smelled good enough to arouse a vivid sense of hunger in Sollux, and his stomach growled.
"Sorry. I, uh, don't think I ate dinner." He looked at the clock on his laptop. 8:30 PM.
She laughed warmly. "It's okay. If you want to go get something to eat, go ahead." Looking around, she added, "I won't let anyone take your spot."
Sollux smiled gratefully. "I will, thanks."
When he returned, she had a tablet and a collection of binders out. "I hope you don't mind," she said. "I'm trying to keep it contained."
Sollux shook his head. "It's fine." Sitting down, he paused. "What's your name? I didn't think to ask."
She smiled. "Feferi. What's yours?"
"Sollux. It's kind of pseudo-Latin for 'sunlight'."
Feferi paused. "Mine's kind of like a species of cuttlefish, but mostly my parents just liked the way it sounded." She laughed. "They're not that into cuttlefish!"
Sollux took a bite of his sandwich. "So what are you majoring in? Marine biology? Not many people know that much about cuttlefish."
"Actually, yeah," she said. Sollux noticed, a bit late, that the bright turquoise binder next to him had Marine Biology scrawled on the spine. "You?"
"Computer science."
"Sounds interesting," Feferi said, and it looked like she meant it.
"Yeah. This is an essay about World War Two, though. Probably the last one I'll ever need to write, thank God." Sollux looked over at what she was doing. "What are you working on?"
"Studying for a test on Tuesday. After that I have calculus homework." She grimaced. "It's not that I don't understand the concepts, but it's a pain in the ass."
With that, they returned to their work for a while. Finally, Sollux looked up from his work. "What's your roommate like?"
Feferi also looked up. "What? Oh. She's a zoology major. She really likes cats. And she's cheerful all the time, so we get along pretty well."
Sollux nodded. "Mine's an electrical engineer. It's technically the same major as CS, not sure why. He's really quiet. I've never seen him sleep, I'm not sure he does, he just sits there. Sometimes I wake up and he's watching me." He paused. "He's not as creepy as that sounds."
Feferi giggled. "I hope not!"
"He's actually a pretty nice guy. He wants to be a roboticist, so he spends a lot of time working on robots and shit. We don't really talk much." Sollux shrugged. "It's okay."
Feferi nodded. "Nepeta wants to work in a zoo. I kind of want to be a politician, but marine biology is a good backup plan."
Something that had been niggling at the back of Sollux's mind finally clicked. "Wait, where are you going to college?"
"Newtown." Feferi looked confused. "I assumed you, too…."
"Nah. MassTech."
Feferi looked amused. "Oops. That does make sense, though," she said contemplatively. "I was wondering why you'd come here for a computer science degree."
"And I don't even think we have a marine biology degree," Sollux said.
Feferi laughed. "I don't think you do either."
They talked off-and-on until the cafe closed for the night. "Do you come here often?" Feferi asked as they packed up to leave.
"Not really," Sollux said. "Do you?"
"Most Thursdays." She smiled. "I liked talking to you. I hope you come back here!"
"I'll try to be here next Thursday," he offered.
"Sounds good!" She smiled and picked her backpack up to leave. "See you then!"