[March 15th afternoonish, junior dorm]

[smallgayjew]

David hadn't had much to move into his room, really. Most of his things had to fit into what luggage he could take on the plane with him, though he'd had a few boxes shipped ahead. He'd taken a break from moving in to look around the school a bit, and when he came back he decided it was probably best to get things unpacked as much as he could before there were too many things going on for him to concentrate on it.

So there's a small, English boy digging through boxes in his room with the door open, iPod cycling through Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall as he sings along.

Comments

[borntolose]

The big guy standing in the doorway is obviously some sort of menial staff ... unless someone's dad has unkempt long hair and wears Stooges t-shirts and ratty jeans. He's grimacing a little at the music, but what could you do? Kids these days liked a lot of shite.

"Oi. Was supposed to come and get some boxes from the new kids," he said, his words dripping with his thick Bristolian accent.

[smallgayjew]

David nearly fell into the nearly empty box he was unpacking at the unexpected voice from the doorway. He managed to right himself after a moment, though, and smiled faintly at the man.

"Oh! Um...ta. I've a few that could go."

[borntolose]

Eddie crossed his arms over his big chest and just raised an eyebrow, as if to say, So where are they, kid? What comes out of his mouth, though, is, "Yorkshire, yeah?"

[smallgayjew]

David frowned a bit. He'd worked rather hard to hide that accent, and though he knew he hadn't quite managed it, he doesn't particularly like having it pointed out.

He nodded, though. "Bristol?"

[borntolose]

"Not for a hundred fucking years." It wasn't that David was all that interesting looking - in fact, he was the kind of kid that Eddie would usually avoid. Kind of effeminate looking, obviously shit taste in music, likely a brain. And from money, if his parents could afford to send him here. But there were still parts of the big ex-con that missed the UK, and made him linger in the doorway.

"You're a long way from home."

[smallgayjew]

All true except the bit about being from money, yes. David moved to find the boxes he'd finished with already and break them down so Eddie could take them.

"And you don't look like you're quite a hundred yet," he quipped, smiling a bit, almost blushing.

[borntolose]

"It's the bloody face cream I use every night," Eddie said, grumbled, actually. He was joking. It was something his wife had done, and that was about as much as he knew about anti-aging remedies - they were shit women slopped on their face before sleeping. But it was kind of hard to tell, at least until he grinned, showing off a mouthful of crooked teeth that only the British dental system could have produced.

[smallgayjew]

David ventured a quick smirk. "Yes, you look the face cream sort."

Not that he knew much about face cream either. His mum firmly believed in accepting aging with grace.

[borntolose]

"Yeah, and how would you know?" Eddie asked, snorting, but still looking amused as he sauntered in, and started breaking down some of the empty boxes David had set aside, too, his movements casually efficient.

[smallgayjew]

"How d'you think I keep my youthful complexion?"

He wasn't usually so free with someone he'd just met, and certainly not with someone like Eddie, but...well, Eddie reminded him of home. It put him more at his ease than he'd been since he left Sheffield.

[perfectshade]

So the thing was, upper floors were for the upperclassmen, right? But the dorm had been fairly quiet so far, and well. Ross had taken to wandering the halls, trying to see if there was anyone he could talk to-- and get to know, maybe-- before classes started.

The music caught his attention first. It wasn't the sort of music you'd hear a lot these days-- or at least, it wasn't the sort of music Ross would expect anyone but, like, someone's grandparents to listen to. He knocked on the open door and leaned against the doorjamb in what he hoped was a cool manner.

"Hey, how's it going? Just moving in?"

[smallgayjew]

David quite often listened to the sort of music someone's grandparents might listen to. He looked up at the knock and smiled.

"Oh, hullo. Er, yes." His voice was fairly quiet, clearly English. He put down the books he was unpacking and offered his hand. "I'm David."

[perfectshade]

Ross was possibly a bit on the eager side of things (shaking hands like a proper adult, wow!) and it probably showed in his handshake as much as his voice.

"I'm Ross! Nice to meet you, David. I'm moving in downstairs, but it's been kinda slow and I'm taking a break. Are you from England-- or, like-- the UK?"

[smallgayjew]

David laughed a bit at the enthusiasm. "Nice to meet you as well. And yes to both. I'm from Sheffield." Not that he expected Ross to have any idea where that was.

"What about you?"

[perfectshade]

Yeah, no. Definitely no idea where Sheffield was. Though to be fair, Ross also couldn't really tell you where London was and didn't have a good concept of geography in general.

"Um, Bloomington, Indiana. It's pretty close, only like..." He paused to think. How long had the drive been? "Four or five hours away, I think. How'd you pick North Feldman? I can't really imagine moving to a whole different country for high school."

[smallgayjew]

David's eyes widened at the thought of four or five hours' drive being 'pretty close.'

"Oh, er...well, international experience is quite good for admissions. And the school has quite a good reputation."

[perfectshade]

He'd meant something more along the lines of close in comparison to England, but...

"I know, it's just that it's a long way to go from home. You know?"

[smallgayjew]

He shrugged, though, yes, he did feel rather far away from anything and everything that was familiar.

"I suppose it is. But it was here or Australia." He spoke French fairly well, but he still didn't think he was up to finishing school in France.

[perfectshade]

"Wow, Australia." Color Ross impressed. "You really would've gone there? I read that their seasons are all flipped, because they're in the southern hemisphere-- but I've never actually been there myself, so..."

[chibisensei]

There was really no need for any of the teachers to be going through the dorms (not if it wasn't the floor they supervised, anyway), but that didn't stop Naoshi. Heck, likely the new students wouldn't even be able to tell he was a teacher, anyway: he was young-faced and quite short, and more likely to be taken for a freshman, if it had to be admitted....

But there was nothing to stop Naoshi, either, and that was how his investigative wanderings eventually brought him to the Junior dorm, and he was yet another to notice the very distinctive music and voice pleasantly singing along with it.

He peeked into that room with a grin for all the boxes being unpacked, and laughed pleasedly. "You seem to be settling in well!"

[smallgayjew]

David glanced up when he heard the voice, blushing a bit to have been caught singing. "Oh, um...yes, I suppose. I'm just trying to get things organized before my roommate arrives," he said, voice fairly soft and English accent very obvious.

He moved toward the door, holding out his hand. "I'm David, by the way."

[chibisensei]

"Welcome to North Feldman, David!" Naoshi answered brightly, boisterous by contrast and with an entirely local American Midwest accent. That proffered hand was taken and met with a firm, warm handshake that Naoshi pumped merrily before releasing.

"You can call me Mr. Day. I'm the Space Science teacher and supervise the Freshman dorm. The Astronomy Club, too—but you sound more like a Glee Club candidate, am I right?"

[smallgayjew]

Well, now he was a bit embarrassed for not having realized the man was a teacher. He blushes slightly, but he tries to play it off like he hadn't made that mistake.

"It's...nice to meet you, Mr. Day." He blushed a bit more at the Glee Club comment. "I was thinking of joining it, yes."

Definitely not astronomy. Science is not his forte.

[chibisensei]

Naoshi didn't even catch the blunder. It was subtle, unlike the numerous 'what do you mean you're a teacher?!' and similar he'd gotten in the past, so it escaped his notice.

He nodded pleasedly at David's answer, though. "Nn, good! I think you should, you sound like you'd fit right in!" A beat, and then he did the double-take of a person realizing they said something unintentionally punny, and laughed. "Literally!

[smallgayjew]

David laughed a bit nervously. It was definitely going to take him some time to get used to the staff here.

"Literally fit right in?"