who could've thought i'd get you

5 | "unacceptable, try again"

synopsis: eddy struggles through a particularly gruelling aural skills class. brett doesn't know him but helps anyway.

*

"unacceptable. try again."

eddy gritted his teeth in the way one does when faced with an insurmountable obstacle. in this case, it was this fucking aural skills class. which was an obstacle that was—kinda laughable, really, when he stopped to think about it. he was never telling belle any of this.

the class wasn't supposed to be a hurdle in any way, not with what he imagined were passable aural skills and perfect pitch. imagine his frustration when the lessons proved monstrous for everyone involved and the professor deemed him inadequate in front of the class far too many times than was probably necessary. eddy ducked back into his seat and glared down at the music sheet spread open over his lap.

there had to be some way to—

"it's ti ti."

eddy blinked at the stranger seated beside him, a sudden intruder encroaching on his personal bubble. sharp eyes greeted him from behind black-framed glasses; the sight of them made something in his chest stop dead in its tracks. "sorry, what?"

"eighth notes; it's ti ti." the bespectacled man pointed towards the particular staff he was having trouble with. "ti-ka ti-ka is for semi-quavers."

"oh." it took eddy a few moments to realize that this was actually an attempt at helping him with the clapping, which was quite frankly embarrassing. "shit, you're right. thanks, uh," he trailed off, peering at the other curiously. eddy had no idea who on earth he was, but considering the helpful tip and maybe a little bit about the way the sunlight bounced off that short-cropped hair, he wouldn't be averse to making this stranger's acquaintance.

"brett." the man smiled. god, but it was a punch to the gut eddy was not expecting.

"eddy. hi." he waved a hand in the other's direction. "thanks again."

"no worries." brett slumped down further into his chair and shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. the motion caused his sleeves to brush against eddy's exposed forearm. "figured i'd help around and make friends that way."

well. that was a good sign, right? "maybe i can repay the favor later on, somehow," eddy told him. "i've got perfect pitch."

"good for you, mister hotshot," brett smirked. "i'll keep that in mind."

(it wasn't everyday you could meet your soulmate on a sultry thursday morning in uni classes, but brett and eddy, well—maybe they're just one of the lucky ones.)