birdwithoutasong | College AU meme [open]

College AU meme [open]

Pick one of my characters and I'll toss a college au scenario at you! I've got some rough descriptions below.

Alec: prickly as can be, likes to pick verbal fights with people stronger than him to show he's smarter, not really concerned with his own safety. Double major in mathematics and astronomy.
Annabel: cheery but socially awkward, prone to babbling. Kind of the mad scientist type. Major in biomedical engineering.
I-No: the bitchiest mean girl, she's loyal when she considers her loyalty earned but she's capricious and enjoys causing others pain. Major in business.
Ky: incredibly earnest, religious, repressed. Army ROTC participation and major in political science
Nyxnissa: practical and prone to arguing with people in a way to try to get them upset, although she doesn't really enjoy that, just can't help herself. Major in mechanical engineering.
Sol: grouchy, not very talkative, lazy but really smart. Major in physics.
Valentine: much more interested in drinking and partying than college classes, in fact pretends to be less smart than he is. Audacious and outrageous. Major in LGBT studies, as much to piss off his conservative father as anything else. Minor in business, because otherwise his father won't pay for college.

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"The contest itself was less important than finding food material, anyway." This about getting a project done, after all, and they're a little bit closer with Naoto kind of wanting to shoot Alec. She considers this a success.

“We should go through the rest of the books in a similar manner then, I think. Perhaps it would be a good idea for us to look into it separately, and then reconvene once we’ve done the bulk of that work.” Alec might be in a fine mood now, but he is getting bored.

They've actually gotten a decent amount of work done, so Naoto nods. "That sounds fine. Maybe Tuesday?" They have a class between now and then, so maybe they'll get something from the teacher as well. ...Unlikely, but.

"Sure," he agrees.

But for all that he has agreed, he's not in the library on Tuesday. He'd been in class on Monday, but at the time they're supposed to meet he's lying in the hospital, patched up and waiting for the counselor that he's been told he must speak to before release.

Naoto's a little surprised that he doesn't show up, but she figures the progress they had made was just too good to be true and therefore began working towards finishing it on her own.

That is, until she was down at the station and heard of a student from her university that had been taken to the hospital for a suicide attempt, and the name, and... the fact that no one had visited him.

...She's going to have to do the right thing, isn't she?

Which is why late Wednesday evening, Alec will have a visitor. Naoto doesn't bring anything, because she doesn't know him well enough for that, but she will be there.

‘Doing the right thing’ is very frequently an excuse for being super nosy into things that people know better than to be involved in. This is no different, and Alec is at this point mostly just pissed that he’s not yet been released.

Physically, he’s fine, or close enough, mentally he’s bored, and emotionally, well. That doesn’t matter, not really.

Bright green eyes narrow as soon as he sees who it is, but he raises a hand, bandaged at the wrist, to wave dismissively at Naoto.

“I didn’t have a chance to do the rest of the readings.”

Naoto sighs. Yes, she's expecting nothing really positive from this encounter, and yet here she is. Part of it is curiosity, but mostly she's wondering why she didn't suspect something like this. And it just seems... wrong that no one would come see him.

"I think given the situation, that's understandable," she replies dryly. She knows some of the staff here. They certainly wouldn't be so lax with him.

Alec has very little patience for himself, and even less in times like now. It’s not a triumph of strength that has led to him still being here, to be lying in this hospital bed.

“Yes, I know, I’m useless. So why shouldn’t I be lying around being even more useless?” His voice is heavy with sarcasm, but he has no obligation to be nice. He didn't ask for visitors, didn't expect a single one.

Naoto is... not very good at this kind of thing. She can talk people down in intense situations, but comfort in the aftermath is a little harder for her to grab on to. Especially with someone so prickly as Alec.

"You are the only one who's saying such a thing," is what she opts for, though she knows that really, that's all that matters, "Is the counselor just busy, or have you not wanted to speak with one?" Yes, she knows the reason you haven't been discharged.

Not the only one, Alec could tell her, but it really doesn’t matter. Even if he were, he’s the only one it takes.

Alec frowns at the mention of the counselor, but he’s not looking away. Instead his eyes latch onto Naoto’s, less earnest and more playing the intimidation factor as much as he can.

“I don’t have anything to say to them, but it doesn’t matter anyway. If I won’t stop feeling this, then they should just focus on the fact that I’m too much of coward to actually follow through with anything.”

Naoto is not at all intimidated by the stare. She has faced down much more frightening people than Alec. Which... may become obvious in a moment.

She opens her mouth to say something, but the door opens, a nurse coming in to check on Alex but stopping when she sees Naoto. "Oh, detective! I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were in here..."

Naoto shakes her head, offering the woman a small, polite smile. "It's alright. I shouldn't get in the way of your work." Hopefully she'll have good new about getting Alec to a counselor. Which he clearly needs.

Alec flinches, and he hopes even as he does it that Naoto doesn’t notice, that he’ll put it down to the sudden interruption of the nurse if he does. By the time that his full attention turns back to Alec, he’s composed again.

“Detective,” he drawls, sarcastic. “I had no idea I was in such dignified company. I’ll have to ask your forgiveness all the more for taking up your time. Feel free to get on with your duties.”

Naoto really should have guessed that Alec would have a problem with law enforcement... he may not have any record, but it's written all over his personality that he likely has an issue with authority. Police usually counts.

And she's just going to give him the most deadpan look ever right now. Why did she think this was a good idea? "There's really no need for that," she says, "And if you want to be discharged, I'm going to tell you they won't budge on letting you out without see a counselor."

Alec snorts. He could talk to a counselor, but it’s just a hoop for him to jump through, and he doesn’t perform tricks for treats, or even for release. Not yet.

“Oh, yes, pardon me. Just send them right in and I’ll be sure to explain how I didn’t mean to, my hand just slipped and I promise to be more careful in the future.” What a waste of everyone’s time and energy.

Naoto is, unfortunately, aware that if Alec doesn't want help, then no kind of help is going to work. Which leaves them all in a rather unfortunate state here, especially since Alec doesn't seem to particularly like endearing himself to people.

She's no counselor herself, but it's not hard to see that the boy could very easily relapse, is likely to do so sooner rather than later. "Why, exactly, are you so resistant to getting help?" she asks. Naoto somewhat doubts she'll get an answer, but maybe it'll at least get him to think about it. Maybe. She can hope.

“Because I don’t need it.” Alec’s voice is slow and a little overly loud, like he’s talking to someone stupid. He’s a waste of people’s time and their resources, but that’s not even the worst of it. “Because I'm too much of a coward to follow through, so what does it even matter if I want to, if I try?” He shrugs, eyes still fixed on Naoto.

“Now why don’t you run along and apply those detective skills of yours to a crime a little more worthy of your skills?”

Naoto does not appreciate being talked to like a fool, and even though she knows he's doing it to get a rise out of her it is starting to get very trying to keep her tone level with him. "The fact that you're miserable enough to try suggests that you do, no matter what your results are. No one can force you to accept help, not really, but it's something you should at least think about on your own. That's the last I will say on it." She doubts she can do anything more, if she's done anything at all.

Alec really does like getting the last word, so for all that it seems like it would be easy to get Naoto to leave at this point by simply not saying anything further, it’s not exactly easy for him to do. Besides, he wants to make sure that he doesn’t think they’re friends, doesn’t think he should drop by again or indeed bring up the topic. “You’ve met me, so you can’t actually think that my desire is unwarranted.”

Naoto glances back at him, an eyebrow raised. ...She can not say with total honesty that she doesn't think there are some people who deserve death. But that doesn't mean she finds Alec, annoying as he is, to be one of them. "I don't believe you have the right to decide what I think for me."

That's more than self-righteous enough to raise Alec's ire, and he fixes Naoto with a withering glare. "Clearly not everything that one can think is permitted or okay."

Maybe she's a little self-righteous. But she's not budging on it. "Certainly not. After all... we all have our demons, don't we?" ...She's faced hers in a more literal sense, but. Well. She can understand how daunting the prospect is.

There's a hell of a lot that Alec could say to that. Like the fact that it's not really right or just or even moral to make anyone face their demons, not when they don't want to, not when they're terrified. But for all that he likes throwing his weakness in people's faces, it can't be like that. That's making himself too vulnerable.

"Don't pretend you understand me," is what he snaps instead.

"I wouldn't dream of it." And Naoto means it. Those demons make up more of a person than many people would want to admit... and she doesn't know what Alec's are. But, since he quite clearly doesn't want any more to do with her, she'll head out of the room unless he stops her.

She'll see what she can do about getting him released.

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College AU meme [open]

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