The College Experience (TDP AU)

1: Beginnings

    Tiadrin sat on the bus, airpods in, listening to music. In two days it would be her first day of college at SGU—her local college, and also the best in all of Xadia. The Silvergrove was known for its importance for learning and school. She was bobbing her head to the music, thinking about what the campus would be like. The song was "FANCY" by Twice, her favorite song, and she hummed along, sad she couldn't start yelling the lyrics she knew so well.

    She was completely zoned out with her eyes closed when she got a tap on the shoulder that scared her half to death. Tiadrin quickly reached over to take one airpod out and looked over to her left. "Oh—sorry, hi...! Was I disturbing you? Sorry..." she repsonded sheepishly to the man sitting next to her.

    "Not at all! Just wanted to ask what you were listening to. It sounds so familiar," he replied. He was a tall Moonshadow elf with shoulder length white mullet-like hair, lots of light blue designs on his face, and dark skin. He had soft, brown eyes that made him look ten times more kind and soft.

    Tiadrin looked like she knew she messed up and smiled to herself. "Just 'FANCY' by Twice. I'm actually a giant K-pop fan." The man laughed. "Hey, I actually like K-pop too! My name's Ethari by the way." He paused. "Which dorm building will you be living in?"

    She thought for a second. "The new one near the fountain memorial. On the third floor. And I'm Tiadrin." He burst into a grin. "No way, me too! I guess that's just the building and floor that was most available." They both laughed. "So, you're a K-pop fan?" Tiadrin asked him. "Yep!" he said, and grabbed his bag and showed it to her, which had quite a lot of pins on it. There were many different ones which consisted of K-pop groups, members, and logos. He also had one of the Moon primal sign and one of the gay pride flag.

    "Woah...that's a lot," she said. "Hey, do you wanna exchange numbers and dorm room numbers and stuff? We should definitely get together sometime!" she exclaimed. "And y'know, people always say I'm the best at romance—and noticing everything. Maybe I could even get you a boyfriend," Tiadrin added, leaning in with a smirk. Ethari blushed. "Oh, of course, you saw my pin. Well, Ms. Keen-Eyed, I'd love to be friends," and he handed her his phone while she handed him hers.

    Without looking up, Tiadrin asked, "So, what's your type anyway?" Ethari had never really thought about it before nor said it outloud, so he attempted an answer. "Well...I don't know, someone tall, like my height. And strong. Maybe someone with long hair?" Tiadrin shrugged. "Ok, we'll work with that," and handed the phone back to him.

    Soon enough, they had arrived. It was a giant campus with different dorm buildings spread out and a huge school. There were banners everywhere on light posts that read "Silvergrove University" with different pictures of classes and activities. As all the students knew before they arrived, the SGU's mascot was a Shadowpaw, with two statues of them at the entrance pathway and banners near the field which said "Home of the Shadowpaws." Sounds like they really want you to know it, right?

    The bus stopped and all the students started filing out. There were many other buses next to it that had also come with many people on board. Tiadrin's face was lit up with joy as she stared at the building while standing outside next to the statues. Suitcase in hand, she reached into her pocket, pulled out her phone, and took a selfie infront of the school. Ethari ran up to her and shouted, "Hey, um, Tiadrin, I'm not really used to this place...wanna do dinner together? Town is a ten minute walk away." She smiled. "Sure! C'mon, let's go walk to our dorms."

*Later*

    Tiadrin sat on the couch scrolling through her phone. When is my dorm mate gonna get here? It's been an hour. And I'm extremely impatient. All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door, and it opened. A man, a Moonshadow elf with short white hair, a long braid in front, and purple eyeliner markings, walked in with his belongings in hand.

    "Hello, I'm uh—your dorm mate! I'm Lain, nice to meet you." Tiadrin stared and swore she felt heat suddenly radiating all over her body. He looks kinda fine...keep it together, Tia. "Hi...I'm Tiadrin. Let me help you with those." She reached over to grab one of his bags and took it to their room. "I have a dinner date with a friend, Ethari, who I met on the bus here. He's super cool, and I thought maybe you'd want to come? Y'know, get to know each other better and everything." He smiled and replied, "Sure thing."

    Meanwhile, in Ethari's room, his dorm mate came on the same bus as Lain. Ethari was fixing his desk decorations when he heard the door opening. He ran to see who was there and was greeted by a tall Moonshadow elf with bright turquoise eyes, pale skin, long, white tied back hair, and lots of purple markings on his nose bridge and arms. Ethari tried not to think about how he told Tiadrin this was "his type", but his heart was racing. This man was BEAUTIFUL.

    "I'm Runaan. You must be?" "Ethari. I'm Ethari." He stood awkwardly for a second. "Well...here, I'll help you with those. Um, I'm going out for dinner with a new friend tonight. Would you be interested in joining us?" As much as Runaan didn't want to answer or just straight up did not want to talk, he couldn't deny that Ethari was pretty cute. At the same time, he wasn't really sure or comfortable with the idea of liking men. "Hmm...alright. Get me when it's time to go," Runaan sighed. Ethari grinned and took some of the luggage into the room.

Note: I wrote this from 1 A.M. to 2:30 A.M. last night while listening to music, and at the start I was listening to my very short K-pop playlist. I was listening to a couple of songs because I only have a few on that old playlist, and I ended up deciding Tiadrin was a K-pop fan, so I experimented with a couple different songs she might like. I chose "FANCY" because Twice has a vibe, and "The Feels", the song I had listened to before, was good but just wasn't it. Anyway there's a good backstory for you.