"That's your roommate?"
"Yeah…"
"Does he… move?"
"Yeaaaaah…"
"I mean he didn't even look when I came in and he's, like, not—"
"I'm pretty sure he can hear you, Al."
"HE MOVED HOLY CRAP!"
"I apologize for my rudeness! It was a significant part of the game… it's nice to make your acquaintance, Alfred."
"Riiight, uh, ditto. I guess." Alfred cast a desperate glance to his brother.
Who fortunately understood what it meant. "Kiku, Alfred. Alfred, Kiku."
He knew his brother's cleaning habits, but Kiku seemed to be a mess… in the sense that he wasn't. Alfred couldn't really figure it out. His desk was absolutely covered with brightly-colored toys and dolls and magazines, but it was spotless of any trash, and everything was pretty much in an exact place. Weird as hell.
He'd had a hand out for a handshake, but took it back once it seemed obvious that Kiku wasn't going to stand away from his laptop. Which was… covered in stickers. Okay, whatever.
"You a freshman too?"
Kiku shook his head. "Sophomore… because I'm a transfer student."
"Uhh, okay, great…"
Suddenly, Kiku stuck both his hands out in thumbs-ups. "Everyone! Let's have a good year!"
xxxxxxxxxx
They decided to leave Kiku to his game, sitting instead on a bench outside Matt's dorm. There was a bit of a breeze, but it was still pretty hot out, so the heat was blowing into their faces. Fortunately, they'd sat down in a shaded area.
Matt wiped a tiny sheen of sweat from his forehead, then sighed happily. "We're finally here, yeah?"
"Ugh," Al whined. "Don't tell me you're gonna get all sappy too?"
That earned him a light punch to the shoulder. "Shut up, Al. This is a big deal. Look…"
"Maaaatt, c'mon—"
"No. Alfred. Promise me you're going to take this seriously, okay? Don't just skip class and go to frat parties all the time. Be mature."
"I will."
Matt smiled. "Good."
"Don't worry, Mom."
That got him a second punch. Not quite so light.
xxxxxxxxxx
Al got back to his room later that night, after wandering around campus for curiosity's sake. He managed to chat up a few people on the buses and such; if anything, at least he definitely had Matt beat out in the social-life department. He'd bet right now that all his professors'll love him.
He opened the door, immediately by Taurus, who was sitting on his own bed reading—a... what?
"Isn't that a textbook?"
"Oh! Yeah. I thought I would start early, you know?"
Alfred blinked, flopping onto his bed. He left the door open. "Classes aren't for, like, four days…"
Taurus just nodded. "Yeah. Early. I mean, I don't have anything else to do—"
"Go out, T! Go meet people, they're everywhere! There's gotta be a party somewhere!"
"I've never really been into that sort of thing…"
"Ugh. Everyone around me is so weird. I better meet somebody fun eventually."
Taurus sighed and closed his textbook, thank God. Maybe Al could teach his roomie some sense. He guessed he could deal with having a crazy nerd sitting in his room, studying at all hours of the day, but if he could avoid it he'd rather.
It's not that he hated learning, he wouldn't have applied to college if he did, but… he wasn't really fond at all of the idea of doing it all the time. He understood doing homework and reviewing for whatever was going to be in the next class, but reading a textbook before classes had even started up? Crazy talk.
Taurus scooted forward to sit on the edge of his bed, then spoke up. "By the way, Alfred? Have you seen some… er, really tall blond guy hanging around here?"
"Eh? No, why?"
"…nothing. No reason!"