Music ♩=♪=♫=♬

[Humus]

As he watched the two budding delinquents exit his classroom, Mister Walters gave each of them a hard stare, like he was trying to pry into their souls and read their hearts rather than their expressions. But the fact of it was, the fennec fox wasn't eager to punish them on day one. Certainly not over something as simple as swearing. He'd been their age once, after all, so he was quite familiar with the hijinks of youth. And that sort of behavior had hardly changed in the intervening years between his own education and now. Cursing and rebelling against authority figures came hand-in-hand with these students; and that spirit of defiance was the same today as it was back in his day.

Still, Casey had knowingly disrupted his class, and had no qualms about facing punishment. That alone was enough to tick the teacher off, but he was never one to judge a book solely by its cover. Even if that book looked for all the world like it was scrawled by an unhinged author. No, though the squirrel was obviously hyper-active and clearly lacked a sufficient filter between her brain and her mouth, she wasn't inherently a bad student. And even now, as he stepped outside the music room and closed the door behind him to stand before both students, he was hesitant to hand out punishments.

Just looking at their expressions he could tell they expected the hammer to come down hard. And honestly, Mister Walters had every intention in mind to do so, if for no other reason than to show he wouldn't allow unsavory behavior in his class-room. However, it was clear even to the fennec fox that at least one of these troublemakers saw detention as a badge of honor. And as a result, Ben reconsidered his decision. He didn't let on to that fact however, as he eyed Casey and Robert.

"Now... I can tell you both already know just how out of line you were. So while we're reflecting, would you care to explain yourselves? It has barely been twenty minutes into the school year, on a brand new day in a brand new school, and already the two of you are looking at a pink-slip and calls home to your parents. And I can assure you, that's not how you want to start off your high-school experiences. You may take this as your one opportunity to decide how you want to be seen in the eyes of your peers. Robert?" He prompted the boy to go first with direct eye contact and his undivided attention.

[azirik]

Robert glanced at Mister Walters as he stared at them, this made Robert look away at something else. Roberts avoiding the teachers stare moved his gaze to one side and with a raised brow Robert found the squirrels small butt in the line of sight. With a perked ear he made a mental note on the rather small but toned butt. He then nodded to himself as he remembered Casey was rather in warp speed at all times from what he had seen. The sudden saying of his name brought this thinking to a quick end.

" What ?! "

Robert quickly replied as he snapped back to the now, he then blinked and meet Mister Walters gaze and his mind spun out of control as the first thing he honed in on was the fennec large ears. The first thing he thought of was .~Wow those are some big ass ears~ he then looked rather worried for a moment, but seeing no reaction Robert felt safe that was not said out loud. With this in mind Robert snickered and then shrugged, as he was pretty sure detention was going to be on his list of things to do.

"It just happened. . . . I forget myself sometimes, I realized what I said after I already said it and. . . well the other was a inside voice that was. . . . well more outside. Not like I wanted to be out here on my first day, at a new school."

He then gave a half shrug and smirk with a ear perked up and one half tilted and a faint hope it was a acceptable reply.

[kepora]

"Oh shut the fuck up." Was all Alex had to say to Julie's idea, looking down at the guitar with a scowl born of both concentration and mild annoyance. Well...in a sense, he'd joined in. But perhaps not in the way the cat had hoped. He continued to tune the guitar to the best of his abilities - but it was quickly becoming apparent that the teen was growing increasingly frustrated. Even more so when a string breaks, causing him to jump back and drop it; thankfully it was on his lap, so it just fell onto his thighs and the desktop, the raccoon kind of wishing it had broken. Piece of shit. He sets it back on the rack, raising an eyebrow at the blue-haired classmate.

Kaien had been perusing the teacher's wares, initially feeling a pang of disappointment as he moved about the room. Black plastic catches the corner of his eye, though - the blue-haired teen quickly turning his body to jog over in that direction. A wide grin spreads across his face as he pulls it free, laying it on a table as he looks it over. He looks around a bit, feeling he may be overstepping his bounds...ah, what the hell? Mr. Walters seemed to be the type to like those who took initiative. Plus the sound of music might get his attention and save the hides of the two outside. He grabs the power adapter and goes to plug it in, cracking his knuckles and testing a few keys...only to cringe at the sound. Yikes! Who was playing this thing last, Gene Belcher? He sighs, looking at the various knobs and sliders. He began to adjust the old, not-so-high-end synthesizer - hoping to get something half decent out of it. A quick search on his phone to find it's specs, though, and he was soon in business! he runs his fingers across the keys once he had it set - nodding in approval. He sets up a couple of presets, then starts playing. First a synthesized drum line. A simple one, but one that'd be decent enough - setting it on one track to make it a loop. He then toggled it to another preset, and began to play another tune in a sharper 'electric piano' mode - overlaying it on the baseline. He then put it back to the start, switching it to the third preset as he tried his best to play a song by ear...

[Humus]

Though his expression remained purposely neutral, Mister Walters was secretly grateful he'd picked Robert first. Not just because the boy confirmed his theory that the outburst had been unintentional, but also, being forced to wait was having an effect on the squirrel. While the wolf was explaining himself, the girl seemed to be struggling to stand still. Her energy appeared to be boundless, but she clearly had little control over her own compulsions. And he suspected she too would prove his assumptions were correct. Just as soon as it was her turn.

"I see," Benjamin stated finally, after a moment of silent rumination. The fact he believed Robert's story though, was kept hidden as his gaze and focus turned to Casey next. She was practically dancing from one foot to the other now, like this was some sort of gameshow and she knew the answer to the bonus question. Mister Walters wasn't looking forward to hearing her excuse, but he had to give her a chance. "And you, Casey?"

The question came just as the familiar rhythm of a synthesizer began to pump out beats from within the classroom. His large ears perked up in response, but he wasn't ready to let the distress show on his face. He could only guess what his remaining students were doing unsupervised, but he imagined the worst. Too much longer out here, dealing with these two, and he might lose control of the situation.

[Nykel]

Oh yeah, no joke. Casey started off calm, started to twitch, and by the time Mister Walters turned to her she was hopping back and forth like she had to run to the bathroom. She still had that trombone in a firm grasp however, it wasn't going anywhere.

"WhenhesaiditIpanickedcusIknowwhatitsliketobethatkidsoIjustsaidthefirstthingthatcameintomyheadcusImalreadythatkidsoeverybodywouldtalkaboutmeinsteadofhimandhecouldstillmakefriendsandstuff!" DEEP BREATH! "He's not gonna get detention, right? He didn't do it on purpose."

She had those big watery eyes, and even a bit of a lip tremble. She was pulling out ALL the get-out-of-jail cards! She leaned slightly to look past the teacher curiously when her brain registered music, but then quickly snapped back to 'pity' mode when she remembered where she was.

[Tally Cat]

"Suck my dick, Thorne-in-Everyone's-Side," Julie said in an uncharacteristically unfiltered moment, loud enough for the class to hear but not for someone outside the likely sound-proof door. She just stared at him for a few seconds instead of panicking, though, and just sighed. "'No' would have done fine, but I guess something is already up your ass on the first day of school," she added and turned away. When Kaien started getting his music together, she listened keenly to it, picking out the different parts and wondering how she could play them on the piano. Despite her being marginally distracted by those thoughts, most of her mind was plagued with worries, irritation, and depression. She sank back into her chair and rubbed her temples with her fingers.

[azirik]

Roberts left ear perked up as his right sank, eye brows raised as he watched and listened to Casey's meglawordadon. When she paused and took a deep breath he blinked and was ready for the next mega power word to explode from this small girl. As she took her deep breath Robert glanced at her chest and for the life of him could not see how she could hold so much air in such a small frame.
When Casey asked if he was not getting detention, he smiled then looked at Mister Walters and awaited to teachers final say on this matter.

[kepora]

"Pfah. Thanks for letting everyone know you've got one." Alex retorts at Julie's response. "Also, I wasn't joking. Please, shut the hell u-" He blinks, brow furrowed as his ear twitches - hitting his right temple with his wrist and rubbing his ear at the jarring noise. Then more sounds. he blinks, turning to look over his shoulder at Kaien again as the Thylacine began toying with that damned synthesizer - muttering curses for making him think he was hearing things again. "...Gone from real instruments to fake shit." He grumbles, not wanting to make a big deal and have to admit that some of his favorites used synthesizers too; he just needed something to bitch about right now. Something did genuinely seem to be bothering him, though - though he was obviously not the type to talk about it.

Kaien continues with the piece, eyes lidded as he started to get more comfortable - quickly learning the layout of this model of synthesizer, getting into the swing of things. He bobbed his head gently and gradually swayed side to side, playing through the tune. He opens his eyes as he wraps it up, and quickly gets to work toying with it further. He whips out his phone again, looking up a manual on this particular model to see what all it could do. He raises his eyebrows as the machine turned out to be more capable than he gave it credit for. Inspiration hit, and he grins. Kaien could practically see the notes and hear them in the wave type needed, quickly turning dials and pushing sliders, occasionally hitting keys as he used the manual to really unlock what this machine could do! "Alright, now we're in business..."

[Humus]

Mister Walters did his best not to show an inkling of the mirth which had bubbled up inside him upon listening to the squirrel's rapid-fire excuse, which shot out of her mouth like a sound cannon straight into the large, fuzzy recepticals on his head, but in disguising one emotion, he displayed another. His smile was scrunched up into a scowl as the fennec fox stood back and stuck a finger in one of his ringing ears. He hadn't quite expected her to be that loud, but it was his own fault for leaning in so close. At the very least, he did manage to catch the jist of her reasoning, and it was quite in line with his expectations. So she hadn't done it out of malice, which was lucky for her, as that was Ben's deciding factor.

However, he couldn't just let her go with a warning. Not only would that show a manner of weakness that teenagers instinctively preyed upon, but it wouldn't settle another issue that was still on his mind. The girl's impulsive nature had to be treated carefully, however, she still needed to understand disipline, and the reality that certain actions had specific consequences. So that it might deter such actions. And he knew one way to test her willingness to cooperate.

"No, he won't be getting detention, Casey," Walters finally said after another lengthy pause, his gaze shifting from one student to the other. "I believe him when he says it was an accident. As such, I'll only give you a warning this time, Robert; to keep that kind of language outside of my classroom from now on. That goes for both of you, however Casey, you fully intended to say what you did; altruistic reasons aside. And for that, I'm afraid I'm going to have to apply some restrictions to you during class until you show me you can be responsible. For starters, I'll be confiscating your instrument for the week."

This in itself was part of his test, as he could see just how tightly the squirrel was clinging to her precious trombone. The teacher put a paw on it to grab it, waiting for her to relinquish ownership and spare herself further 'restrictions'.

[Nykel]

"I... um..." She glances down to the instrument, then back up at her teacher. "I... still get to use it though, right? Cus I picked it? So someone else can't just take it?" The squirrel hesitates for just a moment, then sighs and lets him take it from her, rubing her now-empty arms nervously. "I guess I kinda deserve that, since..."

"Waaaaait." She scrunches up her face, then fixes Mister Walters with a determined stare. "This is music class though. We're gonna be learning how to play things with our instruments, and I bet we're gonna do band stuff later. So like... sure, you could have me do textbook work or something, but without my trombone-" Wait, did she just call it... "-I'm gonna be behind and learning the basics while the rest of the class is moving on to other stuff. That doesn't make much sense. I understand what I did but... how does crippling my learning fix it?"

Those piercing green eyes almost seem to be boring into him, analyzing him.

[azirik]

Robert stood silent as he watched Mister Walters pass down his punishment on Casey. Robert was half expecting Casey to faint at the command to give up her trombone, but when she willingly handed it over Robert raised a brow and thought to himself ...that was too easy....maybe it hasn't set in yet. With Casey's sudden Waaaaait brought back renewed hope for the exchange to go on like some kind of verbal tennis match.

As Robert listened to Casey's return fire at Mister Walters talking of her beloved trombone, he was beginning to enjoy this more and more and after hearing hear full cascade of the down side of stealing her band future and how it could hamper her chances to learn with the other students along with how it would cripple her.

Robert smirked and looked to Mister Walters for the return broadside........

[Humus]

If there was anything Mister Walters was good at, it was hiding just how nervous he was. When it came to disciplinary matters and dealing with students, there was always that necessary tension. A power struggle that he was expected to maintain or be overrun. These teenagers were clever, and often looking for the upperhand, so that they might get away with unsavory behavior. Though that didn't automatically make them bad students of course. He actually respected that sort of opportunistic tenacity. It reflected a strength of character that, if nurtured correctly, would ensure a brighter future for someone like Casey.

She was certainly smarter than he gave her credit for, judging from her comeback to his discipline. But frankly, he was just grateful that she'd given up the instrument. That was test one after all. And she passed. For all her natural defiance, she could accept a punishment and do as she was asked. Even if her next step was to immediately question the logic of that authority. Baby steps.

The fennec fox chuckled lightly as he tucked the trombone under one arm, "I have no intention of holding you back, Casey. This week is all music theory. The only benefit you gain from having your instrument, is the opportunity to practice in your spare time. Which you can still have, provided you continue to show me that you can be responsible. And you're doing pretty well, so far. Keep it up and you might even get your, um... 'fart tube' back as early as tomorrow. But until then, I expect you to return to class and refrain from interrupting until the bell rings in... about ten minutes. Think you can manage?"

Shifting the instrument from one arm to the other, Mister Walters opened the door to the class and waved for the students to rejoin their peers. As outwardly calm as he appeared to be, Ben was still sweating bullets. He was half-expecting another rebuttal, and thus aimed to end the conversation before she could continue questioning him. More importantly he wanted to get back into the classroom, to make sure chaos hadn't ensued in his absence.

[Nykel]

"Oh! Well, if it's just theory stuff, then I guess that makes sense." She shuffles in place for a moment, then just as he opens the door: "Hey, wait a minute! You can't use that name! That's our name!"

She doesn't continue down that line of thought however and scoots past him and Robert back into the classroom, a blur of orange fur. She stops in the middle of the room, raises her finger, is about to say something... then puffs out her cheeks, slumps, and trudges back to her chair.

[azirik]

Robert watched Casey walk back into the classroom and he then followed and headed to his seat. When Casey stopped in the middle of the room and then raised her finger, then it looked as if she was about to say something. Robert paused watching her then quickly looked back at Mister Walters then back at Casey with the though of. Ohhh shit! But when all she did was puff out her cheeks, slumps, and then returns to her chair.
Robert sits in his chair ready to get this day over with.

[Tally Cat]

Julie watched the door open with ears pricked up in curiousity. She smiled as she saw the two students enter not looking too miserable. Casey looked upset that her lovely instrument had been taken from her, but altogether Julie thought it was logical not to assume that they'd been given detention or anything like that. She gave a sigh of relief, as that meant that her revolution would be unnecessary. For now. She giggled a little.

"Everything okay, Rob?" Julie whispered to Robert, who was sitting near her again. "I'm guessing you guys didn't get detention or anything," she continued.