Music ♩=♪=♫=♬

[Tally Cat]

1. Have you ever played an instrument before? If yes, what instrument did you play?~
I play the piano and sing. In h In middle school I played the clarinet for a while so I guess I'm pretty good at that.

2. Given the choice between brass, percussion, string and woodwind instruments, which is your favorite and why?~
I suppose string instruments. The piano is really one of my favourites, and so is the violin.

3. What genres of music do you enjoy listening to and who (if any) are your favorite artists?~
Classic rock. Some classical music is good. I like the oldies.

4. How many different types of instruments can you name?~
I'm not sure if you're asking for the classifications or the instrument names themselves but I imagine I could name quite a few of either.

5. Do you have any questions or concerns regarding this class?~
I just hope it's okay if I sit at the piano during class!


Julie wrote and gazed at Kaien while he played the violin. She was impressed and smiled at the soothing sound of the bow against the strings. Standing up, she placed the paper on the teacher's desk and gazed around the room, waiting for new instructions and not terribly worried about the idea of creating her own song at some point. It kind of sounded fun and she was convinced that this teacher actually intended to impart some knowledge to the students instead of just preparing them for tests.

[Shani]

Kenny briefly looked over all of the questions before writing his answers. Like a few of the other students, he, too, wondered what was meant by 'types' of instruments, but presumed it wasn't asking about all of them individually.

~1. Have you ever played an instrument before? If yes, what instrument did you play?~
I have played both the piano and the recorder, but haven't touched either in a few years.

~2. Given the choice between brass, percussion, string and woodwind instruments, which is your favorite and why?~
Wind instruments. Particularly the clarinet, because of its large range.

~3. What genres of music do you enjoy listening to and who (if any) are your favorite artists?~
I listen to whatever everyone else listens to. I guess I like some classical music, and jazz.

~4. How many different types of instruments can you name?~
Brass and woodwind, which are types of wind instruments; lutes, harps, and zithers, which are types of string instruments; pitched and unpitched percussion; and keyboards.

~5. Do you have any questions or concerns regarding this class?~
None.

Turning in his questionnaire at the teacher's desk, he stopped to listen to Kaien's playing, giving him a round of applause when he was done. There were so many talented students in this class - far more talented than him. But what he lacked in talent, he made up for in diligence. Looking at the selection of instruments, he gently picked up his favorite, and returned to his seat.

[Riana]

Miriam had admittedly never played any serious instruments, just the small sort of keyboards that parents would sometimes get for their kids. Hopefully, her lack of experince didn't make her any less valuable as a music student. The one boy's performance and the attention that he was getting for it was already enough to make her feel invalidated. She was already putting down on the paper that her favorite type of instrument was a string instrument, and particularly the harp, when she remembered how ridiculous that answer would look and quickly crossed it out, writing instead that she'll be happy with the teacher's choice of instrument for her. For favorite music genre she put down Celtic, that was easy enough. Listing the different types of instruments was also a piece of cake. The real difficulty came in returning the paper to the teacher's desk. The mouse did so hurriedly while hunching over and avoiding making eye contact with any of the other students on the long way down from the very back of the class all the way to the front.

---

Max couldn't concentrate on the questions very easily. Nevertheless, they tried.
'Ugh, why, hormones?!'
Rolling their eyes, the civet filled out the form very minimally, even skipping over some of the questions. For preferred instrument, they put down that they'll take whatever's left in the trolley, and under questions or concerns, they simply wrote: 'Create a garden between my ears!'

[Nykel]

Casey, having completed hers well in advance, practically flew across the classroom and slapped it down on the desk. "FINALLY!" There's another orange blur and she's at the instruments, poking and prodding. One catches her eye, the electric guitar, and she snatches it. She's ooh-ing and ahh-ing and... wait. The 'coon was there too. She fixes him a good hard look, up and down, then back at the guitar. She makes her choice at that moment and practically shoves it into his chest for him to grab. "You'd probably be WAY better at this, you've got that whole metal-lookin'-thing going on." She backs up, holding her hands out with her fingers forming a letterbox and getting him in frame, one eye closed and tongue out. "Yeeeeeah, perfect!"

She spins and almost blindly snags a trombone. "Hmmmmm..." She holds it to her lips and blows, slowly pulling the slide towards her. It starts off low and ends in a squeak at the end. "...rusty fart tube. PERFECT!" She holds it over her head and rushes back to her seat, practically glowing.

To be perfectly honest, no matter what instrument she grabbed, the class was probably in trouble.

[kepora]

Alex looked at Robert from the corner of his eye, shooting him a small glare that said "what?!" for him. He shook his head and returned to looking at the cart - only to blink as the guitar was gone. he then noticed Casey had somehow ended up right by him and snatched it up in that small window of time. How...? He blinks, staring back at her as she eyed him over, and opened his mouth to say something - only to have the guitar pushed into his hands. "You can't avoid it, idiot. Everyone's gonna know now. Dumbass." He shook his head a bit, then stared at her again as she-...what the hell is she doing? The fuck is this girl's deal? But then her comments came. ...what? Was she serious, or just fucking with him? "She knows. She's known all along. She'll tell the others." Alex winces a bit, but then watches her again - putting on a forced smirk, but really just...feeling conflicted. Still, he was holding a guitar now, and it. actually felt kind of...good, really. He looks at where he held the neck, hesitating before trying to imitate what he'd seen in videos and album covers and the likes, how they held it. "You look like an idiot now. You're an idiot." "...Erm...thanks?" He says as he looks back at Casey - and is quickly interrupted by the noise she made right next to his head. "Motherfuc-! ...nnngh..." He says, wincing and stomping his right foot as he reached up to rub the offended right ear. At least it shut them up for a bit!

---

Kaien smiles and giggles a bit, bowing to those who approved of his impromptu performance. He didn't hear anyone else requesting the violin, so he held on to it for now. Plus, Kaien felt it might be safer with him than some of the more...excitable members of the class. He watched Kenny pick a clarinet, and then Casey pick up the-

That poor, poor trombone. Kaien resisted the reflex to cringe, though he swore that he knew now what having a part of your soul dying felt like. He composed himself, though, and kept his smile on, though deep down he was hurting. "...It's...actually a-...nevermind." He says, holding up the bow-wielding hand. He really hoped that Mr. Walters was as good as he was hoping, else this was going to be a long, loooong class...

[Humus]

As Mister Walters stood aside to lean against his desk, he quietly studied his new students as they filled out their questionnaires and one-by-one began moving to the front of the room to hand them in. The big-eared fennec fox left the slowly growing pile undisturbed while Kaien, the first boy to finish, helped himself quite happily to the violin. He quickly extracted it from its protective case and, after a quick tuning, began playing a familiar piece by Johan Pachelbel. The teacher found himself enraptured by the boy's skillful use of the instrument.

Next to approach him was the scruffy, skinny raccoon, who tossed his somewhat rumpled questionnaire on the desk before standing before the guitars like he was struggling to decide what to pick. Walters watched Alex through his peripherals for a few moments as he reached a paw out, then retracted it. Was he nervous or just looking to cause trouble? Whatever the case, he kept an eye on the potential miscreant. Mostly he worried for his instruments, but he'd made his choice in that regard. He continued to observe passively as Robert came up next to deposit his questionnaire, but when the boy inevitably returned to his seat empty-handed, the teacher interjected.

"What's the matter, Robert? Didn't find an instrument you like?" he asked.

Just as Julie had emerged from behind the piano to hand in her questionnaire, the teacher's query snapped Kaien out of his musical trance. He began to apologize and offer the violin to someone else, but Mister Walters held up his paws reassuringly and said, "Now, now, that's alright. If I'm to choose who should wield my grandfather's violin, I couldn't think of a more appropriate soul. You'll do very well in this class, Kaien."

By now, Kenny had turned in his questionnaire, and was applauding Kaien's performance, but he proceeded to quickly acquire an instrument of his own and returned to his seat. After him came perhaps the shiest of the whole group, all the way from the back of the class with head down and shoulders hunched like a protective shell, but before she could even cross half the distance, Casey raced past her, nearly throwing the little mouse off her feet. In fact, she barged straight towards the teacher's desk with such enthusiasm that even Mister Walters stumbled to one side, to avoid the would-be collision. Instead, the speedy girl came to a stop and slapped down her paper, then took off for the instruments.

"Wh-whoa there, little lady!" Ben stammered, awkwardly adjusting his suspenders and the collar of his dress-shirt.

The energetic students were both a blessing and a curse. Capable of applying themselves to just about anything, but almost never the thing you wanted them to be doing. And it seemed this young squirrel would be no exception, as she went straight for the guitar. She snatched it up and Mister Walters tensed physically with dread, watching her eye the raccoon for what seemed like forever before, to his relief, handing it off. Or rather, shoving it into the scrawny boy's chest with the excuse that he looked more suited to the instrument. Benjamin agreed, but not because he preferred Alex or his punk attire. He only suspected the teen might damage the guitar, but he knew students like Casey couldn't help themselves. Which was why the trombone she ultimately chose wasn't new. It wasn't a relic like his violin either, though. So it was expensive, but not as expensive.

It worked just as well as any though, which Casey promptly tested with a loud, obnoxious note that interrupted the entire class. Much to the squirrel's obvious satisfaction. Before she could run off to her seat with her prize though, Mister Walters tugged on the slide of the instrument to hold her back for a second, and to get her attention.

"Hold on just a moment, Miss. I should remind all of you to take good care of your instruments this semester. It's vitally important, as the state of your instrument accounts for 10% of your grade. That could mean the difference between a passing or failing grade for some of you. So please, take it to heart. Too often I've had to repair instruments out of my own pocket. This is all we've got left to work with. Let's try to appreciate it, okay?"

After he'd addressed the class, Miriam finally reached the front of the room, trying her best to avoid eye contact. Despite her efforts to go unnoticed though, Mister Walters intercepted her by placing a paw gently on her shoulder. He kept his voice down, so as not to draw the attention of the entire class, and asked, "Are you alright? Miriam, isn't it? Do you know what instrument you'd like to play?"

[azirik]

Robert raised a brow at Alex's glare then snickered and shook his head and looked around the room as the other students found instruments that caught their fancy. He watched as each of his fellow students picked a instrument and returned to their seats looking over what they picked. Robert's ears went back as the sudden and some what low and ending up as a squeak from Casey and her new found friend the trombone made their pairing known to the class, and any with keen hearing who heard the squeak.
Hearing mister Walters say his name Robert looked to the teacher, and with a slight shrug and a smirk he tried to play it off as no big deal that there was nothing that caught his attention.

"Naaa. . . I play bass guitar. . . .Anything with more then four strings confuses the shit out of . . . . . "

Robert froze realizing he just said shit in class and while speaking to the teacher, he dropped his head

"Fuck!"

he then face palms himself as he realized he on top of the first blunder he just dropped a F bomb as well. He just sat there now face down and waiting for the teacher to say the magic sentence that carried detention in it. 
Robert couldn't beleave how bad this day had suddenly spiraled out of control.

[Nykel]

The little spaz yelps when she's brought to a halt. SUDDEN DECELERATION! She stares up at Mister Walters with a mix of confusion and slight annoyance, but it quickly melts away when she processes what he's saying. "Oh yeah, I'll treat it like my own kid!" When her arm is freed and she makes it back to her seat, she lowers it into her lap and pets it like a cat. "Rusty baaaaby..." Of course, her reverence of the instrument is abruptly cut short when the large wolf busts out the F-word. Oh no. No no no. He seemed cool, now he's gonna get singled out as 'that kid', isn't he? He's gonna get that reputation for ending up in detention on the first day, the rumors are going to fly, he'll end up as some kind of loner, and it's never going to go away...

Now see, here's the thing. Casey's always been the center of attention. For good or for bad, she draws attention to herself like a magnet. She's this tiny little spazzoid, but mostly harmless, and while she may not care about her appearance she knows others do. And... well... she also tends to fly to conclusions and jump the gun just a bit...

"Oi, cunt!" The accent was out in full force. "Why d'fuck ye fuckin' say fuck in scoil? Fuck's sake..." This coming from the fluffy critter with the puffed-up cheeks and the trombone almost too big for her.

[azirik]

Roberts head popped up and he looked at Casey with ears up and a brow perked with a completely shocked and yet confused look on his face. He knew he goofed up and feeling relaxed he said the wrong thing at the wrong moment. He glanced at the teacher then back at puffed cheeks and trying to understand why she would draw so much attention on herself with such a out burst of F-bombs.
Robert gave a small smirk and looked back towards the teacher and gave a slight smile, that kinda looked more like a wolf getting caught stealing. But ether way all he could do was wait for the hammer to fall.

"Well here we go." he said under his breath.

[Humus]

Up until now, Mister Walters had been laid back and relatively casual with his students, not easily phased by their rebellious attitudes and vastly varying personalities, but when he heard such a litany of swears shoot up from the class with the same ability to stun as a fireworks display, the fennec fox's smile vanished. A pair of big bushy brows sank down over his eyes as the teacher's focus shifted suddenly and sharply from the little mouse to the big-mouthed sailor in back. Casey Muime O'Neill. He didn't know exactly why that name came to mind so readily, but it seemed fitting for such a troublemaker. She'd effectively silenced the entire room with her uninspired string of curses. Clearly her influence had come from the boy who she was likely covering for. Robert Gardner. Another name he'd unfortunately have to commit to memory, it seemed.

A shame, really. The wolf clearly hadn't intended to curse in front of the whole class, but thanks to Casey he didn't look at all sorry for his outburst. Ben had really hoped he wouldn't be forced to hand out detention slips on day one, but some things just couldn't be helped. Actually, it was probably best it happened today instead of tomorrow. Better to identify problem students early on, and deal with them as necessary. Nonethless, he still wasn't happy about this development, letting out a tense sigh as he reflexively rubbed the bridge of his snout in otherwise silent vexation.

When he looked up, he pinned both guilty students to their chairs with an authoritative glare. "Casey. Robert. Step outside with me, please."

Standing up straight, Mister Walters stepped down from the front of the room and walked to the door, opening it and ushering the two out into the hallway, where a more private discussion could be had. "Swiftly, now," he warned.

[Nykel]

Casey stands up from her chair, still cradling the trombone carefully. She seemed unconcerned, her expression one of sheer determination. "I'm bringing the fart tube" she says, gently rubbing her rusty baby. Regardless of the teacher's reaction to this, she held her head high and strode past Robert and Mister Walters to the door, and just as swiftly outside into the hall as soon as the door was opened. She stopped in the middle of the hall and spun in place, waiting for the other two. Oh, she's been here before. It ain't her first rodeo!

[kepora]

Kaien just...stares in mild disbelief at the duo, his face having fallen flat. Was Casey 'special', or just really thst dense? ...at least she couldn't abuse that poor trombone anymore now. Silver lining and all that. Still, he felt bad for Robert; he really didn't deserve to get in trouble. Hell, most shows don't even censor the word 'shit' anymore.

...oh well. Nothing he could do about it. With a light shrug, he peruses the cart and even mills about the room. If there was a synthesizer anywhere in here - even an old one; ESPECIALLY an old one - he could make some real magic happen!

---

While he was still ready to verbally assault the obnoxious red squirrel - the desire only strengthened by Casey's tail practically slapping him in the face as she jumped from her chair - he also couldn't help but feel a little respect for her maintaining some sense of dignity through the ordeal, the way she carried herself. Though, of course, his eyes drifting lower as she struts out, even leaning over to the side a bit to try and get a look at her rear. Of which she seemed to not have much of. Oh well. He rolls his eyes and looks down at the guitar,  hesitating for a bit before plucking a few strings and making sure it was tuned. 

[azirik]

Robert watched as Casey stood up and marched out the door with the trombone in a way that seemed a tad bit strange. He then stood up and with a shrug walked towards the door, and making eye contact with mister Walters. As he headed towards the door he noticed the the raccoon kid Alex rather blatantly eye up Casey's butt, he snickered and followed Casey out into the hall.

Out in the hall he turned and stood almost next to Casey but left enough room for the trombone and her tail. As this wasn't a first for him, he kinda knew what was to come next and knew his mother was going to chew his ass up and down a few times for this, and on the first day even.

Robert thought for a moment and chuckled just before Mister Walters stepped out.

[Riana]

Miri let out a soft gasp when the teacher suddenly addressed her and touched her shoulder. She was not expecting to have a discourse with him all of a sudden. She smiled shyly and nibbled her lip nervously, but finally nodded - to answer that she was alright, that her name was indeed Miriam, and that she did know what instrument she wanted to play. At least one of those things was true. But was she really alright? Has she ever been alright in the first place?

Luckily, the mouse was saved from having to converse further by the string of curses that echoed throughout the classroom, grabbing the teacher's attention. When the guilty students were escorted out into the hallway, Miriam took this chance to furtively steal back into her seat.

[Tally Cat]

Julie fingered the trinket around her neck and smirked.

Getting in trouble on the first day? That's the worst. Except I don't even think swearing is that bad. It's not literally hurting anyone.

She giggled quietly, covering her mouth, and gazed at the door. Then she looked back at the rest of the class, small as it was. Especially now. A thought occurred to her. They couldn't possibly give all of them detention, could they? I mean a whole class? Or at least if they did they could go in solidarity.

"Alright, class," she spoke up, her voice cracking slightly as she hadn't spoken much in a while, and certainly not as loud. "We're going to protect our fellow students from their solitary doom. We must also swear, to draw the attention of the authorities, and join our classmates. A form of protest which insists that we all do the same thing in hopes that they cannot arrest all of us," she articulated, her face feeling hot with embarrassment the entire time. "Who will join me?!" she called out in a dramatic way, holding one hand-paw on her chest and another into the air.