In Which Sev Meets His Housemates

April 1, 1184

It was Sunday--so technically, the spring term started tomorrow. But most of the new students were moving in today, and Sev's new housemates were not exceptions.

He'd briefly met Landus, who'd shown up that morning with his brother and his sister-in-law and his adorable little niece. Landus seemed like a good sort--maybe a little quiet, but Sev was quiet too, and that was hardly an undesirable quality in a housemate anyway. He'd helped Landus and Neilor move Landus's things into one of the empty bedrooms, then the family had left and Landus had asked Sev for directions to a few of the buildings noted on schedule, not keen on being lost and late on the first day of classes.

The right thing to do would have been to accompany Landus as he went to explore, just in case he got disoriented or forgot something or Sev had misremembered, but he did have an essay to work on; his classes were only half over, after all, thanks to the staggered semesters. That, and he was curious enough that he didn't want to miss the arrival of the other two newcomers.

Though one of them, at least, he doubted he would have missed. "See, Orrick? This fellow's not so rude as to complain about my singing!"

The young man on the couch rolled his eyes as his brother smirked Sev's way. If the seated one was Orrick, then the other was Senwick. Sev supposed he ought to have known that, having grown up well within walking distance of the pair of them--never mind their family connections to the Kemorins, who in turn were connected to Sev's family through his sister--but Sev had spent most of his youth helping his no-longer-young father, and this particular branch of the Wythleit family had not had the easiest of childhoods and seemed to keep to themselves.

Though Sev now suspected that Senwick, at least, would have preferred otherwise. "Your singing sounded fine." That got a laugh out of the him, though his sterner twin was less amused. "Though, I don't understand why you're singing into your hand."

"See? I told you people would question that." Orrick sighed, no doubt not wanting to answer but not trusting Senwick to do a better job of it. But even if he was serious... Sev knew cruel, knew brotherly hostility, and this wasn't it. Orrick did care. Maybe Orrick was what Congren could have been if their mother hadn't died. "Forgive him. He's convinced that one day, people will sing into their fists."

"Filthy lies! One day, people will sing into noise-amplifying devices that they hold in their fists!" Senwick turned his hand so that Sev could see the side of it; sure enough, it wasn't fully clenched, but instead left a hole just large enough to grip a slender object. "I'm thinking something to do with metal wires and some sort of artificial lightning--maybe from some kind of acidic mixture. But all in a casing, of course," he added, as if that was the most pressing question the whole idea raised.

Orrick groaned. "He's such a child. Our father and stepmother tell us they'll cover our fees entirely, and he takes that generosity and means to train as a bard."

"At least I have plans. You pretty much looked at the options and said 'Psychology sounds interesting'. What the hell even is psychology, anyway?"

"Something with more practical applications than music, maybe?"

Senwick's response to that was a loud appearance of his tongue. Frowning, Orrick turned to Sev. "You're Severin, right? What are you studying?"

"You can call me Sev." He shut the library door and Orrick nodded to the free bench. Not wanting to seem too aloof, he took it. "I'm majoring in Economics."

"Economics?" Senwick let his arm droop to his side, but a musical lilt clung to his voice all the same. Orrick may have thought his career choice frivolous, but in these few minutes of knowing him, Sev didn't think he could see Senwick as anything but a bard. "That sounds about as fun as falling off a cliff into a river of piranhas. Let me guess: your father made you take it?"

"Well... yes. But I'm actually enjoying it." Not that Senwick looked any less impressed. Orrick, at least, managed a polite false-interest. "Plus, if my father can apply what I learn to his ranch's business, then we'll hopefully make enough money to put all my little sisters through university."

Orrick smiled--for real this time. "Now, that's a noble goal. See, Senwick? We should both study something with earning potential. If we can pay our parents back, then they won't have to worry too much about where they'll get the money to send our little siblings."

"Yes, because there's every chance in the world that Raia's children won't get to attend the university where she's the chancellor."

"They'll still have tuition fees. We do."

"They also have a grandfather who's the university's top patron. I think their fees are as good as paid." Senwick took his twin's silence as a victory, but Orrick still didn't look convinced. Maybe that was how one dealt with Senwick? Let him have the last word, and he'd eventually drop it? He didn't seem the type to hold a grudge...

But now that he was living with these two, and would be for a while, Sev supposed it was only a matter of time before he knew for sure.

"So, do you mind helping me haul in my instruments from the front hall? I'll teach you how to play one of them if you do."

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