Dan wasn't one for physical activity or spending time with other people. Those were things that were both annoying and occasionally dangerous for them. So he didn't. He spent a lot of his time in the library or in his room. Being outside and interacting with people was their kryptonite so they didn't do it often but, sometimes it was nice out, like the way the sun was shining right now, the fall breeze warm and his sweater blocking any chill from his bones.

Dan sat under one of the trees on campus, his headphones in and his eyes trained on the textbook on his lap. He had a fair bit of reading to do for class the next day so he let the soothing sounds of Good Charlotte tell him about robbing the one-percenters mansions. The sun was warm and the tree above them was dropping leaves at a pretty steady rate so every so often one would fall onto their open book.

A body next to him had Dan confused, but taking a sip from his coffee, he noticed it was Gabby, the girl who he'd apparently saved in Math the other day.

"Hi," She said, her voice airy but strong. She confused him. Not only because she'd stayed with them through a cataplexy attack but also because she was sitting with them now. "You mind if I join you?"

Dan nodded a bit. It didn't matter to him as long as she didn't try to make a big deal out of anything. He wasn't someone who did big deals.

She pulled a sketchbook out of her tote bag and started to sketch in it. Dan wasn't one to pay attention to anything that didn't immediately catch their eye, but she did, so he watched as her deft hands manipulated the pencil on the paper. The markings that were left were quickly smudged artistically by her thumb. Dan was sure it was weird to be watching so closely, but as Gabby looked up and noticed him staring, she just smiled and tilted the sketchbook towards him.

Taking shape on the page was a man in a loose-fitting dress shirt, the pants were not entirely formed yet but Dan could see the sketch of them on the page.

"It's for my fashion design class," Gabby said, her eyes on the paper, not glancing at Dan in the slightest. "I have to design a unisex line with proof of concept–"

"Proof of concept?" Dan asked. "I assume it means something different for fashion than it does with engineering."

Gabby shrugged. Her long hair fell, perfectly curled, around her shoulders. "I mean, it basically means I have to make the dresses."

"So it is the same thing." Dan nodded, his headphones still piping music into their ears. He could tune it out, though. It wasn't hard, especially for someone like Dan who had been doing it their whole life.

"If you say so," Gabby said, her hand moving, the pants becoming real on the page. "Basically, I have to have all of that by finals. And it's a lot. Making things."

Dan nodded. It was hard to make things. Using their hands to create something in the real world instead of the imagination. It was something they did pretty well but Dan still found it hard. It felt like Gabby was waiting for him to respond. "Yeah."

"It's a lot on top of whatever the heck is going on in Math, I don't get any of that."

"I should have tested out ages ago," Dan said. Simply the truth. He could have tested out, even sleeping through some of the classes. Math was easy, and Dan had been doing it since birth.

Gabby cocked her head, putting the pencil down and turning to Dan, her eyebrow raised. "Wait, really?"

"Oh yeah," Dan said, crossing his legs and looking towards her, not really at her but sort of continuing to pretend they are. "I'm still in it because it's an easy A."

"You don't seem like someone who sticks with something just for the grade."

"Well, I'm tired." It was the truth. He was tired and this class was less work. It was less work than anything else he'd been doing in college. So he stuck with it just so he could get the grade and the credit and be done with it.

Gabby nodded. She was making a face that Dan didn't recognise, her eyebrows stiff-looking and her eyes a bit distant. It seemed like maybe she was thinking, or maybe just somewhere else in her head. It was a headspace Dan was familiar with, but he'd never seen his own face when it happened.

"College is tiring."

"Yeah."

Gabby went back to her sketchbook, her body moving slightly but still facing Dan. It was strange, definitely not something he was familiar with. He looked back at his textbook, not able to concentrate on it for some reason. It was strange, but a lot of the things that happened with Gabby were strange, so Dan decided to stop questioning it.

They flipped the page in their textbook. Eyes on the page but occasionally glancing at what Gabby was sketching, her hands were light and the pencil marks were carefully done. It reminded Dan of some of the technical sketches he had to do for his theoretical engineering class.

It was familiar in a way, though his were often more technical and specific, with rulers and compasses, he had to be specific. Hers were freer and open, illustrating the way the fabric flowed.

The sun beat down on them, the shade keeping enough of it out of their eyes that they could see what they were working on. Dan looked over at Gabby's sketchbook and paused slowly, his eyes connecting with... their own eyes. Gabby had sketched his profile, but his curly hair and headphones were distinct.

Gabby looked up at them, making quick eye contact and then smiling sheepishly. "Oh, sorry, I should have asked."

"It's fine," Dan said, looking back down at his paper. He was not entirely sure what he was feeling about it, but he knew that they were feeling something about it. He was feeling something about the long-haired woman sitting next to him, her eyes flicking up at him and moving back to the paper.

She was studying his features.