Chapter Text
Delta sighed as they checked their phone, adjusting the strap of their bag. Since Friday, it has felt like one thing after another. Moving in and meeting the two people they’d be rooming with. Orientation. Finding where her classes would be. It was overwhelming, and not to mention that she had an 8 AM calculus course followed by this strange honors course she’d somehow agreed to join.
The syllabus that was uploaded on Canvas had explained it would be an intense semester-long study of musical technique, theory, and learning string instruments. All three of these sounded like nightmares, and useless. What did a string instrument have to do with mechanical engineering? Especially since they had no interest in building or designing instruments. They were already plotting how to get someone to count this as a general education class that she hadn’t finished through AP credits. But for now, she’d have to get through the next 16 weeks in this strange class.
—
She stepped through the windowed door after glancing at the room number. On hearing “Oh, you must be Delphine, glad you could join us,” they nearly screamed and dropped their phone.
Standing at the front of the room was a remarkably tall man with a white-ish bobbed haircut. He had tilted his head, leaning on a podium idly as he watched her. This had to be Dr. Asano, the instructor of this mysterious and useless class. He seemed calm in this space, as if he had belonged here from birth. But there was a coiled intensity about him, as if he was waiting for a moment of needing to fight that hadn’t come when expected.
A beat passed before they realized the head tilt was in expectancy of them replying. The clock behind the man showed they were five minutes late, and Delta winced slightly. Of course they have to be late on the first day. Of everything that could happen, it just had to be them being tardy.
“Sorry, Dr. Asano, my calc class is on the far side of the science block, and running isn’t a thing I can necessarily do, so… Also, it’s Delta,” they rambled as they took the last chair next to a dark-haired kid that seemed to buzz with anxiety, and a girl who seemed as uninterested as they were. Theo, and Poppy, her roommates. Interesting to find them here.
“Do your best to be punctual in the future, our class time relies on all of you being here. Now, let’s begin.” Dr. Asano turned back to the board, and began to write.
—
By the end of one hour, Delta wanted to bang their head off the music stand in front of them. Everything swirled in weird lines and sounds, and they wanted to walk out, but still had a half hour left. Basic respect kept them firmly in her seat, though. It was a breath of air when Dr. Asano finally set the marker down.
“You all look tired. How about we take a break? Ten minutes and then we’ll keep going.”
Oh, fuck yes. Delta got up and immediately left to go stretch, ignoring the scoff Poppy shared with the group. It was what they expected. What they did not expect was to hear footsteps following them, and then the quiet voice of Theo; “Um, Delta? Are… Are you okay?”
“Fine,” she sighed, rolling the stiffness from their shoulders before dropping her upper body to hang like a rag doll and let gravity stretch their spine. “What do you think so far? I feel it’s going to be boring.”
“Oh, I don’t know, I think it might be fun! Plus we get to make our own instruments, which will be a cool project.”
“Mm, if you say so. Poppy seemed less than thrilled when it came to that, I wonder if she–”
As if one cue, the high voice of the trio’s final member piped up. “If I'll do what, Delphine? I can’t believe you decided to be late on the first day. How disrespectful, honestly.” Poppy huffed, tossing her ponytail over her shoulder. “Besides. Some of us actually care about doing well.”
Theo stepped back, as if they sensed the shortening fuse of Delta’s temper as she straightened up. It was through time alone that they didn’t break and swing, instead pushing past the girl to get back into the classroom.
The other two, Basil and Cain, had stayed in the room to chat with Dr. Asano. He’d sat in a chair near them, and looked up as the door ended up swinging too far and hitting the wall. His brow rose, but he glanced at the clock and sighed as he stood. “We’ll continue this chat another time. Let’s get back to the lesson.”
—
The moment the lesson was over and Dr. Asano dismissed the group, Delta was up and putting their chair and music stand away. The others were doing the same, starting some idle conversation as they packed up, none of which she cared to engage in. She’d have been ready to run out the door to get back to the dorm if it weren’t for the perfectly polished dress shoes stopping beside their bag. Which they should have expected, but it still earned a soft sigh.
“Delta, if you have a moment?”
The options… To say yes meant they’d be here and likely lectured. To say no would mean they couldn’t dawdle in the future. It was easier to say yes, and deal with how annoyed and hungry she’d be later.
“Of course, Dr. Asano.”
Poppy made an “ooo” sound, Cain glancing at her with a frown but walking beside Basil still. Theo was frowning as he watched Delta fidget with their bag. They’d stop to make sure that she was okay, and took her immediate shooing motion as a yes.
Dr. Asano had waited for the door to close before speaking. “So, is five minutes after when I should continue to expect you? Or will you need some extra time occasionally?”
“I’m… I’m sorry?”
“Your braces, and the fact you can’t run. I assumed you would need the time to get here, and I can make some assignments for the others to handle while we wait for you. It’s no business of mine why you need the time.” He shrugged, tilting his head again. Delta was starting to think it was a nervous habit.
“Oh, um… I mean, yeah, unless the weather is bad I can walk here that fast. But I can get my scooter from home or something, it’s fine, you don’t have to–”
Dr. Asano held up a hand. “Please, I don’t mind starting class a little later. If it will make things easier for you, then that'll be the plan moving forward. Agreed? Good. Now, run along. I can see your friend’s shadow still in the hall.”
The shadow, thankfully, was Theo.
—
“So, did anyone assign you work today? I had a few, and one class has these worksheets we do everyday, and… What are you looking at?”
Theo had been walking with Delta after they got dinner in the dining hall together. It was still good weather, so they’d taken a scenic route around campus. The sun was setting, and up on a hill near the dorm building had a good view of it. She’d stopped for a moment to watch a flock of birds fly along the horizon, a sight they weren’t entirely unfamiliar with. But it was still an oddity. The city had pigeons, mostly.
“Huh? Oh, just admiring the sunset, I should send a picture to my moms.”
“Oh! I should send one to my mom too, good idea!” They scrambled to pull their phone out, the screen protector undamaged, unlike hers. The lock screen was a picture of them with an Indian woman in a blue sari and a white man in a suit, presumably Theo’s parents. It was endearing.
Delta nodded, taking a picture to send home later. They’d keep walking after Theo’s phone was safely in their pocket, and get back to the dorm soon enough.
—
Poppy, for better or worse, wasn’t there when they got back. Delta had heard the shower at the end of their hall running, and seeing her gone caused them to consider the faint music that had accompanied it was from her. It didn't matter, though, because Theo had somehow convinced them to sit in Delta’s bed to work on any assignments or planner set up.
The conversation was nice. They didn’t stop Theo’s chatter when they felt their watch buzz with the alert to take their medications. But Theo did stall when she casually loaded her flush with the liquid medication mix and pulled her shirt up to push it through her G-tube.
“Oh, should I look away? Or…”
“We live together, I don’t care if you look at my stomach, Theo.”
“W-well yeah, but… You have…”
They stopped and paled slightly when Delta looked up with a frown.
“A feeding tube? Yeah. I’ve had it for a while. So what?”
With her amazing timing, Poppy came in. She was humming as she dried her hair, and Delta rolled their eyes as they flushed their tube with saline.
“Oh my god, what’s that,” Poppy drawled, wanting to make the room uncomfortable, surely. “Are you some kind of new age cyborg freak who can’t eat?”
“For your information, Miruku,” Delta said flatly, looking up at her, “plenty of people have feeding tubes. It doesn’t make them cyborgs or whatever you want to think.”
“Mmm, yeah, but that wasn’t my question? I asked if you are some robo-freak, Delphine.”
They took a deep breath to remind themself of patience and wanting to not get in trouble. “It’s from an accident. And my name is Delta.”
Before she could say anything else, they got off their bed. “I’m going to go shower. Don’t wait for me to sleep…”