Koschei raised an eyebrow as the Vortisaur landed by his side, creating a whole cloud of dust as it did. Theta let himself slide from the creature's back and gave it a pat on the head, to which it answered by a sound that was a strange mix of purring and giggling before taking off. Well, that was certainly not discrete. Of course, Theta had mastered the art of riding Vortisaurs ages ago and couldn't help but showing off, but there really was a time and a place to do such a thing. Namely : not when they were trying to meet in secret.
- Sorry I'm late, chuckled Theta, letting himself fall on the ground. I got distracted by the sky.
- When don't you ? Theta, I thought we were supposed to be discrete.
- We were, but then we got busted, so I figured I could come by airway instead of walking all the way up here. I brought dinner, by the way... But I think the Vortisaur ate it.
He winced, showing the metal box he carried with him that was apparently bitten by the creature. Koschei sighed and took the box from him, putting it away, before staring at him above his glasses with the most deadly glare he could conjure.
- Busted ? What happened ? And who knows ?
- Drax and Mortimus, which means the whole Academy, since these two wouldn't know how to shut up even if their lives depended on it. And considering how you're staring at me right now, their lives do depend on it and they should be writing their will as of now, and so should I. But you didn't ask me what they know exactly.
Koschei's stare became even more intense, which only made Theta chuckle. He grabbed the box and tried to rescue a piece of sandwich, apparently indifferent to the fact that a Vortisaur had chewed on it first.
- Well, I told them that the reason why we were so often together in the library at unholy hours was because we were forming a band. I hope you know how to play the drums.
- The drums... ? I bloody hate you. Couldn't you tell them we were working ?
- I tried, they wouldn't believe me.
Theta shrugged and took a bite off his sandwich. It was really no big deal, they just had to make this band real. Why not ? It could be amusing. Of course, he didn't know how to play perigosto, not as a musical instrument anyway, but he could learn. He still had his old perigosto stick, the one he used to play with when he was a child – the one he still played with, despite the mockery of his peers. Of course, he was far too old to enjoy these games, that was the usual theory. But then again, if he could only do what was appropriate for a Gallifreyan of his age, he would die of boredom in a week.
Koschei let out a huge sigh and rubbed his eyes, seemingly trying to decide how to react. The idea of having a band didn't appear to please him much, for some reason that Theta couldn't explain. It was nothing, just music and good friends, what could possibly go wrong ? He hadn't even mentioned the « our songs are political » part. He didn't want to know how Koschei would react to that.
There was a long moment of awkward silence before Koschei finally decided to speak again, in a very tired voice.
- So... that means that we can't work at the library at night anymore ?
- We'll practice instead. Drax and Mort are joining and it will be fun. Less working, more songwriting !
- Great...
He didn't seem very enthusiastic. As a matter of fact, he was getting up and gathering his things, getting ready to go. When Theta tried to call him, the only thing replying to him was silence.
Well, that was too good to last anyway.
He still did not understand Koschei's reaction but at least, starting rehearsals with the Hot Five – who were incidentally three – was doing wonders for his mood. Drax and Mortimus were fun, cheerful, and very glad to have an excuse not to work. Their musical talent was almost non-existant, none of them could actually play the instrument they chose, but it was amusing regardless and for once, Theta could play with his perigosto without being called a child or something even more insulting.
They were in need of a singer. For now, Theta was the one singing, because the two others decided that he would take the role of the leader, being by far the one with the more charisma, but the results weren't very... pleasant. At best, it sounded like someone was dragging a metal pot on the floor. It was still better than what the two others could do, which was quite frightening in itself.
As for Koschei, they hadn't seen him since the day he learnt about the Hot Five and Theta had to pretend he was unhappy with some artistical decision he made. It was not even a lie, which made it perfectly believable. Drax and Mortimus didn't ask any further question and instead, came up with a lot of lyrics that were all more ridiculous than the others. They were idiotic, scandalous and surprisingly easy to sing, which was a good way to start practicing. Theta would kill his own voice by howling the lyrics on a very, very false tone, making his friends deaf and happy. They lost count of how many times they were thrown out of the library, to the point that they had to find another place to rehearse, which came in the form of an empty classroom.
Theta started hanging out with Drax and Mortimus more often, spending every class with them, pretending to study with them. They used to be extremely close but the whole story with Koschei drew them apart and Theta found himself rather pleased of this new situation. It had been good while it lasted but in the end, he wasn't even sad to have lost his friend once again. He wouldn't have had time for him anyway, Hot Five was taking all of his spare time. Maybe it was very puerile of him but everytime he met Koschei in a corridor, he would be overly affectionate with Drax and Mortimus, going so far as to pat their shoulders and laugh for no reason at all.
Soon enough, Koschei almost disappeared. They never met him outside of class, the rest of the time he spent either in his bedroom or in the library, studying hard and pretending not to see the three idiots fooling around with their silly songs and their complete lack of talent.
They played this game for quite a while, Koschei looking all high and mighty and buried in his books, Theta apparently enjoying his two new best friends more than his old one. They tried to make it last as long as possible, out of hurt and pride, to the point that even Drax and Mortimus could see that something was odd. As the glares Koschei and Theta exchanged became more and more furious, they decided to act. They didn't quite understand what was going on between their two friends but seeing Koschei lose his temper all the time during Deca meetings and Theta snarl back at him for whatever reason was getting on their nerves too much for them to stay quiet.
Their plan was simple, brilliant and completely stupid at the same time. They both found stupid pretexts to cancel a Hot Five meeting and sent a message to both of their friends, inviting them for some silly reason in the auditorium. It was completely ridiculous and neither Drax nor Mortimus expected it to work – but at least it was amusing. Plotting together brought them so much closer that they almost wished that Theta would go back to spend every waking hour with Koschei to let them just have moments to themselves.
- Do you think it'll work ? asked Drax, nomming on a slice of pie and looking curiously around him – of course, they never got out much and this idea of going to a restaurant while their plan went was quite out of the ordinary.
- No idea, answered Mortimus. But a night off the band and with whipped cream and plotting is my vision of perfection. Besides, those two definitely need to talk. No idea what about, but I'm really hoping that it will tone down their yelling.
Drax chuckled and took another huge bite of his pie. This was by far the best food he had ever had – the Academy's canteen was not exactly renowned for its quality.
- Remember the other day when Koschei simply lost it because Theta was doodling ? Theta always doodles. He never pays attention to class, especially when it's Kos giving them.
- Yeah, but he was drawing Magnus, I think. And you know how Koschei hates Magnus.
- I'm not sure about that. They have... chemistry.
Drax moved his fingers in the air, seemingly to illustrate his words. When a hand slammed the table in front of him, his grin suddenly disappeared and he squeaked out of surprise.
- Who has chemistry, Drax ? asked Koschei in his usual polite and serious tone.
- Uh... eh... I mean...
- Whatever. You two really are imbeciles and you should really learn to mind your own business.
And suddenly, a bright smile illuminated his face before he left, leaving Drax and Mortimus completely perplexed.
