The Alternia Dance Band
"So are you staying in residence somewhere? I know your brother stays on campus, so I would assume that you'd be in the same sort of situation," Tavros takes a moment to register your inquiry as he looks around the grand entrance to the main building of Mobius University.
"Oh, uh, yeah. I'm staying with my, err, friend," he finally says to you. Rufioh wasn't kidding when he said this kid is painfully shy. You continue to show him around a bit, but it turns out Tavros remembered most of the tour he received with everyone else a month ago. You decide to go back to Tavros' dorm room when he remembers that his "friend" still probably hasn't risen from bed. You swear almost everyone you meet has some kind of chronic sleeping problem. Maybe that's just university life. Tavros seems a bit nervous about going back to his room with you by his side.
"I could wait outside if you want," you say to him as you approach the building your new friend is housed at.
"What? Why would you do that?"
"Uh, well you seem a bit nervous."
Tavros stares blankly back at you before letting out a small laugh, "Oh I suppose I'm always… nervous. It's okay, I just hope Gamzee is at least somewhat decent…" Tavros tries to hide a bit of a blush but you catch it. Ohhh. Now you think you get it. Well, this is nothing foreign to you. Rose and Kanaya are very much a thing and you've always had your suspicions about Dirk and Jake. You're now at Tavros' door; he gives a light knock to it, but is interrupted midway when it swings wide open. A dark-skinned man, similar to Tavros is standing in the frame. The skin tone is a bit different compared though, somewhat lighter. He's significantly taller than you and Tavros and has a dopey grin on his face.
"Tav! Bro I woke up not ten minutes ago and I just couldn't find a motherfucker. Where you been?" Gamzee eyes you after posing his question to his best bro. Gamzee straightens a bit and becomes more… defensive.
"Who's this?"
"Gamz, this is John. He's a friend of Rufioh and he's uh, showing me around the campus," Tavros defends your being there. Gamzee alleviates pretty quickly and is back to the relaxed man you saw a moment ago.
You decide you can now appropriately speak, "Hello Gamzee, it's nice to meet you. Are you ready for the day? Second period starts in about fifteen minutes."
"Yeah Gamzee, do you know where you're going?" Tavros asks. Gamzee goes wide-eyed for a second and then turns on his heel to head back into the room. He comes back with a schedule.
"Let's see… oh shit yeah! Kanaya told me about this one I've got with her. Motherfuckin' tapestry," Gamzee's face lights up knowing he's got a class with a friend. You didn't know that Kanaya was friends with this guy. You really don't actually know much about anybody outside your close-knit group of family and friends… Yet, they all seem to get out a lot more than you, don't they? That's something that will definitely need to change this year.
"And Tavros has auto mechanics, which is in the same building. So I'll take you both there!"
You, Tavros, and Gamzee begin the trek to the mechanical arts building after the lanky boy got himself dressed. You arrived there early to get the two boys settled into their separate classes, and so you would have enough time to dart over to the English department of the campus. You wave goodbye to Tavros after dropping him off at auto mechanics, apparently with two boys he already knows. You didn't have time to introduce yourself to them, but you're sure you'll see them around later anyway.
Now that you're in a not-so-stimulating environment of English Literature and Composition you get to think about the prospects of this project your father and Jane were talking about. Seriously why didn't he talk to you first? That's gonna irk you for a while. Anyway, this is totally exciting! Shit, you should probably write down that author's name. Writing should be about free expression, why must you pine for the approval of this professor so you can get a descent mark? Okay, back to band stuff. So cool.
Right now, the grey area is the financing. It probably won't be difficult to pool together the money, but well, will Jake and Jade be willing? You guys obviously need a fair chunk of their inheritance since they got the most. You'd definitely poor in all of yours just to get this going. Well, maybe not all, but a lot within reason. It's your dream to one day conduct an orchestra of some sort, so getting to start off with some kind of big band in university would be wicked awesome. Oh shit, was that on the summer reading list? You're gonna need to SparkNotes that tonight.
Period two over, now off to music theory. Finally, something you could maybe actually bear to sit through. You're more interested in abstract theory, not the whole science behind it all. It's all useful and you're paying for it, you suppose. After making the quick sprint to the fine arts building, you climb the stairs to the classroom floor. Below are all the wide open spaces for hands-on courses. You arrive at the class and survey your fellow classmates. You knew Jane would be here, and it looks like she's already made a new friend. Or is that an old friend you just never knew about?
"Oh look, there's my twin brother now. John, come over here and meet Calliope!" Jane beckons to you once she notices you entering the classroom. You walk over to join the conversation.
"Hi there, what're you guys talking about?"
"We were discussing the similarities between ourselves. You two are twins that are very into music, and well, you'll see when my brother shows up that we too enjoy musical performance," Calliope explains to you.
"Although, he is a fair bit more brash than most… I'm guessing you're pleasant and mannered like your sister," she continues.
"Unless Jane told you otherwise, I'd have to agree with that statement," you say. Just then, there's a loud slam of the door opening, and Calliope sighing and burying her head in her hands.
"Here he is…," she mutters into the palms of her hands.
"Callie! Where the fuck are you?"
"Over here, Caliborn," she reluctantly answers. You already don't like this guy, immediately acting so rude in class and… speaking that way to his sister is just absolutely crass!
"I came to this university. For what? To learn about how my bassoon works? I blow air into it! Simple!" Caliborn complains to his sister.
"If you want your undergrad, you're gonna have to take a few required courses, all right? Now please, could you be a bit more… mild? You're in public."
"Oh fuck off with that, bitch. Who the Hell are these guys?" Caliborn points towards you and your sister.
"This is Jane. She's training to become a vocal conductor. This is her brother, erm…," Callie begins to introduce you but seems stuck on the name.
You stare at Caliborn with a repulsive look on your face, "John." You don't want to bother with explaining to this guy who you are and what you want to be. The less he seems to know about you, the better.
"Right. I don't care," Caliborn replies and goes off to a corner to sit down. Luckily his spiel is done when the professor enters to begin class. You pull up a chair with your sister and Calliope and intently listen to the introductory lecture. You glance over at Caliborn a few times during the hour, and every time it looks like he's just… drawing in a notepad. You pity Calliope for having to live with this monster.
After class ends it's time for lunch. So far you like hanging out with Callie, but Caliborn always seems to trail behind with her. For someone who seems to hate everyone he can't really separate from a crowd he knows for too long. You meet everyone at the usual spot for lunch. Looks like the friend group is going to get bigger whether you want it to or not. You really do think it'll be good to expand on your social circle.
Seated at the table are the usual people: yourself, Jane, Jade, Dave, Roxy, Jake, and Dirk. Apparently Rose and Kanaya are off on a lunch date. Cute. There are some new faces among the group today, a few you've already met today: Calliope and Caliborn, Tavros, Gamzee, and those two boys from auto mechanics where you dropped Tavros off. You nudge Tavros, who jumps a little at the sudden contact, and ask him to introduce you to them. See, you've got no problem with meeting new people, you just won't stop talking to them! A moment later you've become acquainted with the Zahhak brothers: Equius and Horrus. You think that Chinese boy next to Roxy is the "big nerd" she and Jade always go on about. Sollux is his name? Something like that.
You overhear Caliborn chatting at Dirk, "Wow, those are some real cool guy shades. You must be the coolest kid at this lame table."
"Uh, sure," Dirk ignores Caliborn and continues his conversation with Jake on their third period engineering class material.
"Haha. Yeah." This is a sudden and weird side of Caliborn. He seems kind of… flustered? You suppose Dirk is, objectively speaking, an attractive man, but from the hour you spent in Caliborn's presence he doesn't really seem like the type to get schoolboy crushes so easily.
Jane sends you another text. It asks you to break off from the group a few minutes after she does and meet her in the library to discuss the "big secret project!" She gets up a moment later and heads towards the exit of the meal hall. You have a quick talk with Tavros to make sure he still knows what he's doing for the rest of the day, and then excuse yourself from the table. Just as you walk out the entrance doors, you get a call from Jane.
"Hey, I'm on my way."
"Stop right there and go back! Get Jake and Jade for me. I think we need to include them in this now. See you soon bro!"
You turn around and head back to the table to round up your cousins.