He did not know who exactly had decided that the Deca should go to the graduation party as a group but no one was complaining, including himself. It meant having a perfect excuse to spend the evening with his friends and more importantly, with Koschei.
Just like the others, he had put some effort into his clothing, which was quite unusual and apparently appreciated by his friends. Millenia had paid him a compliment and Vansell was teasing him on how fancy he looked, Ushas ignored him as superbly as she could and Koschei kept on glancing towards him, a lot of reactions he enjoyed more than he should have. For once, he was not the guy they tolerated because he was nice, though a bit daft, he was really part of the group and for some reason, he liked it.
The music was good, the drinks were pleasant, Koschei was smiling and standing close to him, he had passed his exams (admittedly on the second try but still), nothing was going to spoil the night. As far as he knew, they had all passed. Rallon, Ushas and Vansell had already got their Rassilon Imprimatur, they had nearly completed their course while the others had just reached the rank of Junior Time Lords, but they partied with the others as though they had were just as satisfied as the others.
Theta could not wait. Once he would have the symbiotic nucleus, he would be able to fly a TT capsule and to finally leave this dreadful place... Of course, he knew he would have to wait a little while longer. Things had changed since he made his plans to leave Gallifrey : there was someone he did not want to leave behind.
He observed the party, a smirk on his face. There was a lot of dancing and laughing, an unusual sight in the Academy, and he smiled even wider when he saw Rallon and Millenia holding hands and staring at each other as if nothing else in the world mattered. It was an adorable sight, though maybe a little painful. Koschei would never hold his hand in public. He would deem it indecent.
He shruged the thought off and danced his way to the middle of the room. For once, dancing was socially acceptable and he enjoyed it. Closing his eyes, he absorbed the music, let it flow through him, simply glad of his success and decided to leave all of his troubles behind – but then a hand tugged his sleeve.
He opened his eyes to glance at Drax, surprised to see him with a long face that was totally out of place in such a celebration. He let his friend drag him away from the crowd, where the music was less overwhelming, a bit concerned by this unexpected attitude. After all, Drax was one of his best friends, a silly, smiling man, always light-hearted, always ready for a prank, especially if it involved getting two of his friends to make peace, and in a very tight relationship with food. Seeing him brooding was quite unusual.
Before Theta could even ask what was wrong, Drax sighed and showed him his exams results. He did not need to say more for the truth was quite obvious : he lied to the rest of the group. He had failed. It was not a huge failure, he had a pass rate of 48% when he should have reached 51 to be granted the rank of Junior Time Lord – and Theta had accomplished exactly that rate, not one point more – but it was still a failure.
- You can retake the exams, you know, he whispered, trying to cheer his friend up. True, that means another year stuck in this Academy, but you can do it. You're good.
- Not that good. I don't understand a thing about temporal theory. I'm not made for that – I'm not built to be a Time Lord.
- Don't be ridiculous.
But despite his desire to keep his friend close, he knew it was true. Drax was good with his hands but the whole theory escaped his grasp, however hard he tried and no matter how much time Koschei spent trying to explain. He did his best and his best was not good enough, a feeling Theta knew a little too well and hated more than he would admit. He wished he could have hugged his friend but that was totally inappropriate, that was a human gesture and they were not human. Not one bit.
- I'm leaving, Thete. I thought you should know, since... since you're my best friend.
- But how ? You cannot fly a capsule. You don't have the Imprimatur.
- I'll just hide in a ship that's leaving soon. They're going to Earth, I think. I'll need your help, Thete. Can you help me ?
- Of course. You're my friend.
And even though that was a terrible indecency, he squeezed his friend's hand to show him his support. Drax's surprise was amusing and though he had not touched him for a long time, he could feel the gratefulness, the relief... and the sting of fear.
- You shouldn't have done that, Thete, he chuckled while glancing over Theta's shoulder. Koschei is staring at me so murderously I think I'm already dying.
Drax chuckled and walked away to enjoy the party, leaving Theta blushing and uncertain of what just happened. A shiver ran through his spine and he knew Koschei was still staring, which was at the same time thrilling and frightening. He shook the feeling off and walked to the buffet, deciding that a drink would have the wonderful effect of making him comfortable again. For some reason, the last few seconds had made him nervous and the idea of losing Drax forever was not helping at all – however, he would try to help his friend as much as possible. It was somehow amusing not to be the first one to leave when he was the one who had planned it for ages but he was not jealous, merely... disappointed. Would Drax have offered him to come along, he would probably have accepted. Besides, that meant the end of the Hot Five, which was a shame... since Koschei had agreed to join the band, their musical talent had greatly improved.
- Penny for your thoughts, whispered Koschei in his ear, making him jump out of surprise. He had not heard his friend approaching and certainly did not expect him to stand so close to him.
- No particular thoughts, he chuckled in reply. I'm just enjoying the night. And you ?
- You were talking with Drax and seemed a little... preoccupied.
- Well, he was not feeling very well, and I am concerned about him, that's all. Shall we dance, my dear ?
The offer seemed to wipe away the weird atmosphere between them and they were laughing as they started to dance, careful not to touch each other more than appropriate. It was fun and entertaining and Theta forgot about Drax's departure and Koschei's apparent jealousy in a matter of seconds. A smile brightened Koschei's features, Theta found himself wanting to kiss this smile more than anything in the universe – but that thought was not appropriate for the moment and he tried to forget it.
Still, they were close, a little too close, and this smile was intoxicating...
But these desires shattered when a scream covered the music. The crowd was trying to run from a certain part of the room, cries of panic started to resonate and Theta had to cling to Koschei not to lose him. They did not need to think about what they were doing, they moved forward without questioning whose thought it was, struggling against the stream to go and see what created such a mess.
The creature was huge and after the first seconds of total incomprehension, they finally recognized it for what it was – a rat, but a rat the size of a sheep, with sharp teeth and red eyes. It was obviously scared of everything and its attacks were merely attempts to defend itself, however, it was dangerous enough to have already bitten a few students. Blood dripped on the floor.
A few brave ones circled the thing, though they could not really figure out a way to get rid of it. They kept on shooing it away from them, calling at each other, frightened and unsure of what to do. This could not last forever there would come a moment when the rat would be so pissed off that it would attack the students, however afraid it was.
Theta felt a burst of anger coming from Koschei and was not really surprised to see him run to get a weapon of some sort. Something had to be done and if that meant killing the creature, Koschei would obviously not mind Theta, however, wanted to believe there were other options. The animal was scared and lost, it did not want to end up here and did not deserve to be killed for crashing the graduation party.
When he saw the look in Koschei's eyes, he knew he should dismiss the idea to reason with him. The smile he had enjoyed so much a few minutes earlier was gone and replaced by a cold expression full of anger and determination. He had found a poker near one of the room's fireplaces, he was holding it just like he would a sword and his intents were crystal clear.
- It's not its fault ! Theta exclaimed, following Koschei back to the crowd and the creature. It's just alone and scared, you cannot kill it only because they're afraid of it !
- It's one of Ushas' experiment, his friend roared in reply. It has to die. It's a threat to everyone and an unwanted disorder – I'm going to fix that.
The tone of his voice was dreadful but Theta did not flinch – he had seen much scarier. He grabbed his friend's wrist and forced him to face him, frowning in anger.
- If it is someone's fault, it's Ushas', not this creature's. I'm not going to let you kill it.
- And how do you plan to keep me from doing anything ?
- You should probably not sound that cocky. You, of all people, should know how far I can go. Now drop that thing ! There won't be any murder tonight !
Koschei was obviously willing to fight back, to get rid of Theta's grip and run to the crowd, but something stopped him. For some reason, his face went back to a more natural expression, he stiffened a bit and let go of the poker, without looking at his friend in the eyes. That was unexpected but most certainly welcome. Theta thought that despite his anger, he had come to his senses, maybe for the sake of their friendship – but when he noticed the dreadful silence surrounding them, he understood how mistaken he was. It was simply too late.
He looked back at the crowd gathered around the animal and saw how lost they all looked, how surprised they seemed to see the creature lying on the ground, bathing in its own blood. A pale guy bent over to throw up, immediately rescued by the girl next to him who took his arm and made him walk away.
- What happened ? Theta asked before he noticed Ushas' presence, standing close to the corpse, her face locked in an expression of disdain.
- It was a failure, she replied in a frozen voice. Obviously.
- And that's why you killed it.
- Well, I saved everyone from being attacked by a dangerous animal. Are you gonna blame me for that, Theta ? Are you gonna be that much of a hypocrite ?
The others were staring at them, silent and probably wondering what was happening. Most of the conversation was silent – Theta knew that she was referring to her burnt lab, that she had no doubt he was the one who destroyed it, and that she was about to take some kind of revenge. Koschei stepped forward but he grabbed his friend's arm to keep him from standing between Ushas and himself he walked to her, entering the circle. The dead rat was lying at their feet, already surrounded by a decaying smell that did not seem to bother either of them.
- If you had behaved in the first place, nothing would have happened, Theta growled, staring at her. So yes, I will blame you for what happened tonight. And do not think that our « friendship » will keep me from reporting you.
- And who would believe you ? You are the most messed up creature of this planet. I am the perfect student.
- There are plenty of witnesses here who just heard you admit this thing was one of your failures.
- But none of them would dare to speak against me.
Her gaze wandered around the room and the students around looked down, all of them scared and uneased by the whole scene. One of them initiated a move to leave the room but Ushas' stare nailed him on his feet. Still, Theta was quite sure of himself – and even more when Koschei's hand slipped in his.
Ushas finally seemed surprised, she stared at their hands with an expression of sheer disgust and backed off a few steps, just as if she had been hit in the stomach.
- Is that so, she whispered. The two of you... Really ?
- Really, stated Koschei, and we already discussed it, Ushas. If you think no one is going to stand up against you, think again. You have to face the consequences of your actions.
Theta would never admit it out loud but hearing his friend take his side was quite arousing – which was a totally inappropriate thought in such circumstances, though he did not really care about that... more about the fact that Koschei would know that. Physical contact was pleasant but could have its disadvantages.
The surprised look Koschei gave him almost made him blush and it took him a few seconds before he could actually focus on the conversation again. Ushas looked at the whole scene as if she was staring at something so repulsive she could barely handle it and well, that was a small victory of some sort. As for the other students, they did not seem to care about the two men holding hands, which was understandable – their attention was more drawn by the corpse on the floor. No one could blame them for that.
- We will report you to Borusa. You could either come with us and apologize, try to make your fate a little better, or just brood in your corner and wait for the sentence. Which one will you choose ?
- Well, I will leave you to your shenanigans with Borusa. Because unlike you, Theta Sigma, I still have my pride, she replied, her eyes burning with anger. For a start, I am no one's whore.
If she had not said this while staring at Koschei, things could have gone smoothly – or maybe not. Whether she implied that he was doing unholy deeds with Borusa to avoid being expelled or that he used his charms to get his friend to stand up for him, it was still a terrible insult. He could have let it go, her opinion did not really matter to him, but Koschei obviously couldn't.
And when his friend's fist crashed into Ushas' face, Theta knew that this was going to be an even bigger mess than he thought.