Chapter Text
Autumn set foot down on NSU with something between terror and excitement swirling in her gut. She had come so far, and yet she had no clue where she was going. She didn't even have all her classes figured out yet, she was emailing her admissions counselor trying to figure out whether it was better to take botany or astronomy for her science credit. The astronomy professor had better reviews on RateMyProfessor but she personally found botany more interesting. She also needed to decide if she was taking a humanities course or if she would save that for another course. Then she needs to apply for jobs.
It was a lot. But she didn't need to worry about that now though. Right now she needs to get all moved in and to meet Juniper, her roommate who she's been texting for a little while now.
She sends a text off to Juniper and heads to orientation. She grabs her id, fills out the papers, and does all the other orientation tasks. Once she's finally free, she's got a lanyard around her neck and a school sweater tied around her waist. She goes back to the car, grabs her suitcase, and starts rolling up to her dorm. Silvertail Hall it was called. It was largely a freshman dorm, although there was some upperclassmen.
The place is jam packed, with a massive line for the elevator, so she starts lugging her suitcase up the stairs. However she seriously underestimated the awkwardness of the task. While she was decently strong, the suitcase was big and packed with items. The normal handle was broken, so she had fully extended the extendable handle and was trying to pull it up the stairs that was not working.
There's probably a more efficient way to do this, but Autumn realizes that after she's used way too much effort to get up to the second floor.
"Do you need some help?"
She looks to the unfamiliar voice and sees a smiling wolf with yellow fur and a university t shirt and skinny jeans, around his wrist is a bracelet made of several Alpheep on a chain.
"Oh yes, thank you. The handle broke when I was lifting it into the car and I didn't realize how difficult it would be to drag up the stairs." She rambles, the excitement and nervousness getting to her. This is the first student she's talked to who's not part of the Student Association.
"No worries, I love meeting new people! My name's Logan Greyson."
"My name's Autumn. Nice bracelet by the way."
"Oh thank you, it's-"
A rambunctious murder of crows comes down the chairs, yelling and laughing to each other, their hands holding coffee and those free water bottles they were giving out at orientation. Once they're out of the way, Logan says "We probably should get moving. What floor are you on?"
"I'm on the third floor."
"Oh I'm on that floor too! Alright let's get going!"
He collapses the extended handle and slides one paw underneath it and the other around it and lifts up, and they start walking up the stairs together. She belatedly realizes that she should've done that, but it's too late now.
"I'm glad you liked my bracelet. It's from my dad's Alpheep farm. We live on the outskirts of Grimshire and farm some of the best quality wool in the province. A local artist named Willow makes some merch for the store, and this is one of the pieces."
"Oh nice! I'm not from Grimshire. My dad runs a farming equipment store, but we also have a small orchard and farm."
They reach the third floor and he opens the door for her and gestures while bowing his head slightly "After you my lady."
"My knight in shining armor." She puts a paw to her chest, fluttering her lashes at him.
The two laugh, and she enters the floor. It's packed to the brim with people moving back and forth and chatting to each other or carrying boxes. Along the walls are various cheap university themed decorations and motivational posters, as well as several papers stuck to the wall with move-in information. She sees the lounge, with the stained coffee table, bean bags, and mini fridge. The hallways are a double square shape, where you turn right or left, then go up or down. She looks at the room numbers, and then gestures to the right. Logan extends the handle of the suitcase and starts pulling along it behind him as he follows her to her room.
"So what's your major?" She asks him.
"Oh I'm a theater major with an art minor. I'm a bit of a dilettante if I don't say so myself, I like a little bit of all the arts. Also I'm a sophomore."
"Oh nice! I haven't decided my major yet, I'm still figuring things out. And I'm a freshman, in case that wasn't obvious."
She makes her turn and as she gets closer she starts to hear loud music.
Logan perks up "My room is right here! I'll have to introduce you to my roommate T-"
The door that Logan was looking at bursts open, releasing the sounds of the loud music and cursing upon the unsuspecting people in the hallway. A small rodent is shoved to the ground by a tall wolf who then proceeds to dump what is presumably spoiled milk over the rodent's fur. The wolf laughs, tosses the carton on the ground, and then goes back inside, slamming the door on the poor pathetic creature blocking the hallway. The people look down at him with something between pity and disgust, but the rodent just yells at them.
Then he sees Autumn. The mouse stares up at her, sharply inhaling as a blush comes to his face. She slowly sees his eyes dilate as he stares at her in awe, the milk sinking deeper into his fur and the stench wafting up to her nose.
"Do you need some help?" Autumn asks him.
He reels back, seemingly snapping out of his trance "Stay away from me peasant!"
"Hey! Her name is Autumn and she's a lovely woman, you should be nicer to her." He turns to Autumn "By the way this is Gustavo, he's one of my roommates. That wolf was Greyfang, he's another one of my roommates."
"My condolences." Autumn puts a hand to her chest.
Gustavo continues to jiggle the doorknob, then starts banging on the door. Greyfang howls with laughter from the other side.
Logan rustles through his pockets "Gustavo I have-"
Gustavo's head whips around and he yells "Shut up!" Then he turns back to the door and kicks it "Let me in you bug eater!"
Greyfang yells something back, and although Autumn can't hear exactly what he says, she can tell from context clues it probably wasn't nice.
"I could open the door for you." Logan says.
"Well then why didn't you say anything?!" Gustavo gestures with exasperation.
"Actually he tried to." Autumn responds.
Gustavo snatches the keys out of Logan's hand and shoves it into the keyhole. Before he even gets a chance to turn it though, the door flies open. Greyfang holds a keychain and a wallet up high. Gustavo panics, and starts squealing as he jumps up, far too short to grab what's presumably his things.
"Hey give that back!" Logan says
"Yeah, what he said!" Autumn says.
Gustavo may not be pleasant to be around, but this is just cruel.
Greyfang ignores the two of them, looks Gustavo dead in the eye and yells "Fetch!" And throws his things down the hallway. Gustavo bolts after the items, almost tripping and then collides into a rabbit with his shoulder before he grabs the items off the ground. Greyfang briskly makes his exit before Gustavo runs back into the dorm and slams the door shut behind him.
"Well that was something." Autumn says.
Wait, she knows that rabbit. That's Juniper, her new roommate.
"Did he just-?" Juniper says.
"Hi June!" Autumn yells.
The two approach each other and shake hands. Juniper is a rabbit with large ears, and brown fur with matches of black, grey, and dark brown all over. She was a little oddly shaped, but she was very pretty and Autumn found herself just a little jealous. If they were at her hometown she would be swarmed with admirers.
"It's so good to finally meet you!" Juniper says.
"I saw your post, I was so glad to hear you got in okay. Did you move in alright?"
"Yeah I finally got all my boxes moved in. I'm so excited!"
"I know right! It's so amazing that we're finally here! Oh by the way this is Logan, he helped me drag my luggage up the stairs."
He waves "Nice to meet you. I presume you are her roommate?"
"Oh yes, my name's Juniper. We started talking a few weeks ago."
They shake hands "I'm so sorry my roommate crashed into you, I'll try and get him to apologies."
"Wait, Gustavo is your roommate?" Juniper looks to Logan with a surprised expression.
He nods.
"You don't have to apologies for him." Juniper crosses her arms. "He doesn't strike me as a great person, he called me a filthy peasant because I bumped into him."
"He did what? I'll talk to him about that."
"Maybe I should talk to him. He got all brushy when he saw me." She jokes.
"You can do that once we get your stuff inside." Juniper rolls her eyes
The three go inside the the dorm. It's empty, save for a couch and a few boxes. It's a pretty simple layout, you enter into the kitchen and living room, ahead is the shared bathroom, and a closet. On the sides are the two bedrooms, and they go into the left one. Juniper's bed has already been claimed, so Logan puts the suitcase on the other lofted bed.
"Alright let's go grab the rest of your stuff!" Logan says.
The group starts to head out and Autumn pokes her head in the right bedroom and sees it's empty. They were supposed to bring the tv and some tables and chairs.
"The other two haven't moved in yet. Rose texted me and said they got delayed."
Together the three of them carry Autumn's boxes up in no time. Logan tells Juniper what he told her about himself. Juniper similarly relays how she's a freshman with an undeclared major (but who wanted something to do with botany).
After they're done moving Autumn's stuff in (not unpacking though, that's for the evening) they go for a walk around campus and order some coffee. And it really hits Autumn that she's here. It feels to real and terrifying in a way that she can't describe, like she's on the edge of a hole looking downward. She doesn't know what's to come, but she feels hopeful. Besides it's too late to back out now.