Room 43// An Inanimate Insanity College AU

2- First Class, and not the Airplane Kind

hey! sorry in advance for the sporadic updates; I'm posting these as i write them, so updates could be really fast or take months. it all depends on my motivation, although I'm hoping to get at least one chapter done every couple of days. we'll see how it goes!

another small PSA: some chapters may be shorter or longer than others. trying to keep them in the 4000 word area, but some might be shorter than that. sorry!!

uhh yeah that's about it. enjoy 😊

The morning is crisp and fresh, a cold and sharp autumnal day. Paintbrush brings their jacket closer around their shoulders, every breath turning to a plume of fog in front of their face. They're walking to the first class of the semester, and the cold hasn't let up despite it being 5 minutes to noon.

They're headed to the arts building, a map of the campus in their jacket pocket. They have a backpack on their shoulders, but the map is more easily accessible from their front pocket.

"Paintbrush?" A voice says behind them, one that is quite familiar. Paintbrush turns around to face Marshmallow, a friend of Paintbrush's from high school. Most likely their closest friend, as a matter of fact.

A wide smile hung off Paintbrush's lips as they took Marshmallow in, the first familiar face they'd seen since getting to the campus. "Hey Marsh! How are you?" They asked, continuing their walk with Marshmallow in step with them.

"I'm alright! There's a lot of people here, though, I didn't really expect it," Marshmallow said, laughing nervously. "I got a dorm with Apple and Bow, though, so at least there's some people I actually know about."

"Oh yeah? I got three kids from different schools."

Marshmallow winced. "That'd be tough, I'll bet. Especially since you're... you get it. Have you told them about that, yet?" she asked, and although she didn't state exactly what, Paintbrush knew exactly what she was talking about.

"No, I haven't told them about being non-binary. I'm sort of hoping they'll figure it out on their own, but for now I don't know what they think I am." Paintbrush brought a hand to the back of their neck, rubbing it. They probably should tell their dormmates about that; they definitely didn't seem like they would be intolerant. But it was just a hard subject to breach.

Marshmallow seemed to think for a moment before just shrugging. "Well, take your time. I'm sure your roommates are lovely; I'll have to come and visit sometime."

Paintbrush laughed. "How do you know my roommates aren't the worst people imaginable, hmm? They could be absolutely terrible for all you know," they said.

"Because if they were you would've spent this entire time yelling about it," Marshmallow responded blankly, trying to stifle a smile before bursting out laughing, Paintbrush following after her.

"I guess so. By the by, who's your third roommate? You've just said that you're rooming with Apple and Bow," Paintbrush asked, falling back into step and catching their breath. Just a couple of minutes ago they'd been in a bad mood, but Marshmallow could always fix that for them. She was great, a brilliant and caring friend.

"Oh! Uh, apparently there was an odd number of students, so we got the room with just three people in it instead of four!" Marshmallow replied. "I guess someone must've pulled out?"

Paintbrush shrugged, squinting their eyes closed as the wind blew into their face. "I thought we'd have just three people- me, Test Tube and Fan- but some new girl showed up right this morning. Through the window."

Marshmallow just stared at them in shock, mouth slightly agape. "Through the window? Aren't the dormitories on the second floor?"

Paintbrush hummed in affirmation, nodding their head. "Yup. I don't know how I'm going to survive rooming with someone like that," they said, rolling their eyes in annoyance just thinking about the encounter that morning. That Lightbulb girl... they don't want to be rude, but their personalities... didn't mesh, to put it lightly.