polyphonics | REALISTIC COLLEGE AU MEME, 2K17

REALISTIC COLLEGE AU MEME, 2K17

I. living conditions

01. my roommate’s boyfriend is staying over so can I please sleep on your floor
02. all our friends are drunk
03. we live in halls opposite one another and i keep seeing you change in the window please close your blinds
04. you’re the RA and you’re trying to bust me for having hermit crabs
05. you’re baking cookies in the communal kitchen at 3am and I’m angry but also really hungry
06. clearly we’re both really uncomfortable at this party
07. you peed on my car. you were drunk. I was in the car. there will be hell to pay.
08. my friend dragged me to this party and I just saw my ex quick make out with me
09. sorry my roommate puked on your shoes
10. my roommate borrowed your contraband hotpot and managed to set it on fire

II. chance meeting

01. it’s pouring and my final paper is in my backpack so I guess we’re stuck under this tiny awning together. do you think they’d deliver pizza here
02. waiting outside for pizza to be delivered but both of ours is super late
03. I know I keep coming to this [cookie/coffee/etc.] shop and for some reason it’s always your shift but don’t you dare judge me I need this for my sanity
04. I found your USB drive still in the computer (and potentially regret finding out what's on it)
05. you decked me in the head while you were playing frisbee golf
06. your school mailbox is right next to mine
07. what do you mean we’re under a tornado warning?

III. campus community

01. I’m really passionate about this cause and I will give you this flier if I have to shove it down your throat
02. it’s 3 am and I’m still in the library studying for finals and I’m losing my grip on reality and I think I just saw a ghost
03. we’re the only two people in this club. what is this club even for
04. humans vs zombies, all bets are off, friendships mean nothing
05. I thought I was the only one who liked the waffle station in the cafeteria
06. we’re studying in the library and there are two people very obviously fucking in the stacks and we keep sharing embarrassed glances
07. what are you doing at this table at the career fair
08. I saw you sneaking captain crunch and cutlery out of the dining hall
09. my computer crashed and you’re the student worker at the IT center
10. we’re both on athletic teams that aren’t as cool as the football team and they give us shit
11. you’re part of the guerrilla theater club on campus and crashed my class for a performance

IV. credit hour woes

01. hey I have to [photograph/draw blood/film/insert major here] someone for class, will you be my guinea pig
02. we’re the only people who ever talk in discussions it’s awful
03. group project
04. both of us turned up to the wrong room for this lecture and neither of us know where it's supposed to be
05. we’re both donating blood in the blood donation van in the quad to get out of the same class
06. wait, I actually have a competent lab partner?
07. waiting for office hours
08. we started racing up the three flights of stairs to class for some reason and we can’t stop
09. vicious battle over the only left handed desk in the room

V. limited resources

01. you keep using my preferred shower stall in the floor bathrooms when I’m trying to get ready for class
02. you keep parking in the space outside my student house you absolute asshole
03. you're the only person in the room when i break the printer and i'm panicking (so don't be a dick about it please)
04. neither of us bought the expensive textbook but there is only one copy in the library and it can’t leave the building
05. this awesome professor only has one TA slot and we’re rivals
06. you keep reserving the good study room in the corner of the library with the windows
07. I’ve been sitting in this seat all semester why did you decide to sit in it today
08. you’re REALLY GOOD at using the right search terms for the academic databases and I’m on a deadline
09. we’re always at the fitness center at the same time and end up competing on the treadmill
10. can I borrow a dryer sheet? I ran out and the ones in the vending machine give me a rash

MUSELIST

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ oh.

alisaie looks away for a moment, faint warmth rising up her neck and bleeding into her cheeks. she can't deny that a weekend away in the wilderness with him might be, um, enjoyable but oh my god she can't act like an idiot about it.

so she clears her throat and straightens her back. ]

I might be amenable to that.

[ Her response - or, okay, more her body language - is met with a blank look. Look, if she doesn't want to, he won't be offended. He might've become suddenly quite taken with the idea, but it's okay, he doesn't want to make it weird, they can be arcade buddies only -

Is she blushing?

...And then it dawns on him, as he replays his invitation back over in his mind. Wow, that. That probably sounded a lot like he was asking her out, didn't it?

...Was he asking her out? That's not immediately how he'd thought of it, but - she'd said yes, and -

He opens his mouth, but no words come out, and of course, that happens to be when the receptionist at the desk calls out "Next!"

Numbly, he stumbles towards the front desk, looking all too flushed for reasons that have nothing to do with his injury. ]

[ oh no, what does that face mean??

she can't read it, she doesn't understand it. alisaie is terrible with people as it stands, and she's certainly never had a crush before him, so she's really got no idea how to flirt, or how to tell if her interest is returned, or.. anything at all.

help her. she's drowning in social anxiety!!

but he's got to go before anyone can say anything at all, and alisaie looks normal when she watches him go but she's internally screaming, and once he's gone she sinks down heavily into a waiting room chair and sulks. maybe she should just.. go.. and not wait for him. escape is super tempting.. ]

[ For as long as it took for them to get through the line, checking in is mercifully quick, and the receptionist is directing Prompto down the hall to the doctor's office. That also leaves little time for Alisaie to deliberate about leaving, and before long, he's at her side again, cheeks still a bit pink. ]

Um - they're sending me right back. Did you want to...?

[ He doesn't want to assume one way or another. She could come with him, or go home now. She's already made this trip a whole lot better than it would have been on his own, even if he proooobably wouldn't be here if it weren't for her in the first place. ]

[ oh no he's coming back before she could escape.. it's too late now..

she flushes anew the moment he returns, her face hot from the neckline up, but she clears her throat before she looks up toward him again. let's not look like more a fool than we already do, alisaie.. ]

Do you - want me to?

[ nailed it. she's so smooth. ]

[ Oh, man...the the old "turn the question back on the other person" technique! Momentarily nonplussed, Prompto sputters. Of course he wants her to, but that's beside the point. She's already stayed with him much longer than she needed to, but he's not so ready to be out of her company yet.

But a nurse is waving him along, urging him to get a move on, and so he finally answers: ]

Y-yeah, I do, but don't - feel obligated, really -

[ Still facing her, he starts trailing after the annoyed nurse. ]

[ what a pair they make rn. embarrassing.

but.. he wants her to, and that's really all the motivation she needs. she's on her feet perhaps a little too quickly, and hurrying to catch up until she falls into step beside him. smiling. ]

Of course I am obligated. Given I'm the reason you're here at all, I have a duty to see to it that you are properly cared for.

[ He follows that up without thinking: ]

You can see to it that I'm properly cared for anytime!

[ ...

...Oh my god.

Prompto turns abruptly away and swats his hand against his forehead. Is he concussed? Well, no - he meant that to sound as flirtatious as it did. It's the fact that he said it at all that has him wondering if he's concussed.

But she won't have too much time to respond, because the nurse is ushering them into a room and urging Prompto to sit on the table. The doctor will be in in a moment, she tells them, and then the two of them are left alone in the room.

...He's still white as a ghost. ]

[ uuhhhhHHHHH

prompto goes white as a sheet, and conversely alisaie flushes a bright red that her damning fair complexion cannot hide. at least his back is to her, but that only helps for a few moments, because you can be sure that it hasn't worn off by the time they're in the room.

did he mean it how she thinks he means it?? i mean, not that she isn't amenable, that she wouldn't - err -

oh my god she doesn't know how to boys. so instead she clears her throat and tries not to act as if her face is on fire. ]

Does it.. hurt much?

[ gingerly, she lifts a hand to touch his cheek, around the bruising area. ]

[ Gee darnit, he'd just been remembering how to breathe again and then she goes and touches his face.

He freezes all over again, rigid, and she might think it's just the sensitive bruising on his cheek. But honestly, he forgets all about being hurt just then, instead singularly drawn into the warm touch of her fingertips on his skin.

He's so drawn into it, in fact, that he doesn't realize how he's leaning into her touch until a moment later, and he straightens bolt upright as if he's been shocked. ]

Um - oww...! It...sure stings!

[ It doesn't. But he needs to ascribe that reaction to something. God, he's a total mess right now. He's got to be concussed. ]

Buuut I mean - nothing a few painkillers and bandaids won't fix up, I'm sure!

[ gee darnit

she doesn't miss it when he leans into her touch, and if you thought she was red before she's an inferno now, and trying so hard to pretend she isn't. it's nice though, to feel that, to think that maybe..

the moment is brief though, and when he jerks straight she snaps her hand back down to her side and looks pointedly away. ]

Of course.

[ and thank god that the heavens are looking out for her because before she can say something utterly stupid the door is opening again. thank you for saving them from themselves, doc.. ]

[ They're both relieved when the doctor enters, Prompto grateful to have something like a face wound to distract him from the way he can still feel the lingering warmth of her fingers on his cheek. This is a really bad time to...be going through this. Especially as the doctor checks his vitals and remarks on Prompto's unusually high heartrate.

He chalks it up to nerves.

But it's not a long visit. The doctor swabs at Prompto's cut to disinfect it and gives it a simple bandage to heal, but it's not so bad as to need stitches, fortunately. There's also no sign of a concussion, shockingly enough, and satisfied with the state of him, the doctor sets them free.

He's uncharacteristically quiet as they start towards the exit. It's pretty late now, and he feels bad this is how she ended up spending her evening, but...

Hopefully she can still look him in the eye after this.

Finally, he speaks up, glancing at her cursorily and knitting his hands together. ]

Hey, uh...I...thanks. For sticking with me. I've always been a little jumpy around doctors.

[ Sure, that's all it was! ]

[ for as awkward as it is to be third-wheeling it here in the doctors' office (especially once it comes out that she was the one who.. inflicted this particular injury, whoops), it still helps to break the flustered loop they'd gotten themselves caught up in. alisaie is still delightfully nervous by the time they leave, her ears still warm, but at least she doesn't feel as if she's going to explode out of her skin anymore.

though she might soon enough. it never ends.. ]

Of course.

[ with both hands she pushes the door open and the cool evening air feels so good on her skin, blushing for a year isn't great for your body temp. ]

It's the least I could do.

[ and now they reach the awkward moment.. the goodbye that has to come. it's getting late, and alisaie has reading to catch up on, papers to revise, a hundred nerdy tasks to get to. still she hesitates though, and bites her lip, shifting her weight for a moment before finally summoning the courage to pull a red sharpie from the front pouch of her bag. ]

Here -

[ before she can chicken out, she snags prompto's left hand and holds it between them to quickly write her phone number onto his palm in a neat little script. ]

In case you want to.. um. The - the camping..

[ kill her ]

[ He's about to thank her yet again, to reassure her it was no big deal, when his tongue stops dead in his mouth, because Alisaie is reaching out to take his hand. Reaching out to take his hand, and writing into it.

The felt tip of the marker tickles his palm, and he can do nothing but stare at her hand as it quickly scribbles, and then drops away, leaving a fresh set of digits behind. And for a moment, he's too nonplussed to comprehend at all.

It's for the camping. ]

[ Oh my god.

She's giving him her number. Because she wants him to call her, presumably, to go camping.

This, at least, is what he's been able to glean from the exchange, which feels like an out-of-body experience and he's still just staring at those tiny red numbers in his palm. ]

[ Slowly and then all at once, a full grin curls up on his lips, an incredulous, breathless laugh escaping his lips. Oh my god, she gave him her number. He has the number of this extremely cute, extremely smart, extremely witty girl, and he feels wholly unworthy of it. But all the same he has it, and as he starts to stumble backwards, he curls his fist and lifts it to his chest.

BE STILL, HIS LITTLE TWITTERPATED HEART. ]

Right - right! I'll - I'll just - call you, then! About! That! [ A beat. ] Soon!

[ Hopefully that is sufficient, because he's dissolving into pleasant laughter once again. ]

[ for a moment she's sure she's Screwed Up. it's not as if alisaie has ever done this before. she's never gone on a date, never given anyone her phone number for the explicit reason of seeing them soon in a way she hopes is not entirely platonic. she's never even really. had a crush before. this is all horribly new, petrifying and embarrassing and god she's going to die right here, on the spot, rip, tell her family she loves them.

but then he's - he's smiling, smiling in that way that makes her heart flutter and her cheeks warm, all bright and warm and sunny, like he's lighting up the space around him. god why is he so cute.......

despite his positive reaction alisaie still looks away, too shy to look into his face. this girl, who will openly question her professors in front of the class, who will rebel against her parents, who will tell off anyone who dares harm the people she cares for. now she's shy. about a boy. this is the end.

she's smiling though, even if she can't meet his eye, her heart pounding against her ribs. ]

A-all right. Good.

[ she's smooth as heck. ]

I should.. get going, then. Reading. I've got reading to do.

[ It's something of a blessing that she can't meet his eyes, because he'd be completely unable to meet hers. Instead, this leaves him able to catch that smile on her lips, and it's really something else, isn't it? He - he shouldn't read too much into it. He really shouldn't. She's probably just...excited to go camping.

But even still, he keeps laughing like a fool as he raises a hand and waves to her. It's funny...the last thing he wants to do now is say goodbye to her, but doing so also brings such an unusual, exhilarating promise with it. That once he does so...

He can use this number on his hand to call her. ]

Yeah! No doubt. Uh - homework, am I right? [ Let them both die, tbh. ] Hey - take care! Uh - stay away from any more hockey pucks!

[ A pair of smooth criminals right here. ]

I'll see you soon!

[ But that part sounds far more sincere, and with that, he takes his leave. ]

Right. Goodnight, Prompto.

[ it isn't until he's actually turned his back that she's able to look up again, her eyes flitting toward his retreating figure, her heart still skipping against her ribs, light and airy and full. for the moment, she's not even worrying that he might not call, she's busy being in awe of herself for actually doing it. and also, you know, disgusted with herself for being disgusting about it. they suffer.

almost dazed, she watches him for a good ten seconds or so, pulling nervously at her own fingers before at last she turns away. if there's a lightness in her step as she walks quickly back to her dormitory she's absolutely ignoring it, and it isn't until she's safely behind closed doors that her heart begins to settle down to its rightful place.

time to not get some reading done, i guess. ]

[ She's not the only one with a spring in her step; Prompto veritably skips back to his dorm, not even pretending to do any homework, instead accosting his roommates as soon as he's through the door to regale them with the tale of his eventful evening. After a lengthy chat, some pronounced swooning, and questionable advice, Prompto settles on calling her the next morning.

Which he does, miraculously, and seeing as how they've made it out to the woods to camp is a testament to the fact that it couldn't have gone too badly. He's still one hundred percent out of his element here, but it's...not too bad, with her. As long as he doesn't think too much about how they're out in the middle of nowhere, miles from civilization and indoor plumbing, and thinks more about how he's out in the middle of nowhere with Alisaie, he's managing to have a pretty good time, actually.

Even if he's on his own right now, trying (keyword: trying) to start a fire because Alisaie went off to hunt. There's something pretty hot, admittedly, about her going off in the woods to catch an animal for dinner, but he still didn't want to see it. He'd probably just scare of the game or start crying while she traps a rabbit, and nobody needs that. Especially him. The idea is to not come off like a total dweeb.

How he hasn't so far is beyond him, but he really wants this to go well. It's sure a different experience from taking a girl out for a movie and popcorn - not that...he'd really know that, either - but Alisaie isn't like any other girl he's liked before. She's different in all the best ways, and...

Well. He's already decided he wants to see her again. Hopefully by the time this is over, she won't be so annoyed with him that she'll disagree.

He's waiting back at the campsite for her, nursing a tiny, smoking flame in the fire pit. ]

Yes, it lives! ...Kinda.

[ The fire leaves something to be desired. ]

[ it's all been a bit of a.. blur. or a rush, really. somehow she had not expected him to call at all, she'd been so clumsy with her pitiful advances, he was probably just.. too nice to tell her he wasn't interested. something like that. but he did call her, and she'd very nearly dropped her phone in her haste to answer it.

but they'd managed to fumble their way through planning this thing, and now here they are, and she could not be more thrilled. quietly. at least hiking their way to the site and setting up camp had kept them busy enough that she's only blushed maybe three times total, which is pretty good, considering their last encounter.

she's off on her own for now though, to check the snares she'd set earlier and hopefully bring them back some dinner, prompto left behind to tend the fire which is good, because she's sure he'd probably cry watching her kill a rabbit. that is, if there are any to kill at all, traps are generally hit or miss, but they're deep enough into the wilds, and it's the right time of the evening for them to be about, so she's pleased but unsurprised to find three fat bunbuns waiting for her, ready for the slaughter. alisaie makes quick work of snapping their necks and lashing their hind legs together before she's carrying them back to the campsite, triumphant.

to find that prompto has - uh. well. he's done acceptably, she supposes, though she can't help the smile that curls at the edges of her mouth. well prompto, you tried. ]

Add a bit more kindling.

[ she says, from behind him, dropping the rabbits at her feet to fetch the rack and a cast iron pot. ]

Go slowly, use the smaller twigs and branches first until it's a bit bigger, then you can toss on a log.

[ An attempt was made. But hey, at least he got something going! He grins up at her as she returns - and immediately blanches as she drops the rabbits at her feet. Well, he knew this was coming...and he'll be happily eating their little roasted bodies once they're all cooked up.

That still doesn't mean he wants to look into their dead eyes, though! ]

Iiiiii see your hunting was successful!

[ He's glad, really! Don't misinterpret the strain in his voice.

Prompto busies himself with adding more twigs to the tiny fire, letting it flare up a bit. ]

Man, you really weren't kidding, though! You really know your stuff, Alisaie.

[ she certainly doesn't miss that look. yeah, it was a good idea leaving him behind.. what a sweet, soft boy. maybe this trip will harden him up a bit.

probably not, but she can hope.

his proclamation has her flushing warm again (that didn't take long), and alisaie glances briefly toward her feet for a moment, trying and failing to suppress a smile. ]

It's.. experience, that's all. I've spent a lot of time out here, learning to do these things. You could easily pick it up on your own.

[ she has faith that air hockey isn't your only talent, prompto. while she works on the fire, alisaie sits on one of the logs that surround it, dragging the rabbits toward her and pulling a small, sharp knife from her pocket, the cast iron pot at her feet. ]

You said you've been hunting before, right?

[ or that he's at least shot a gun..... ]

[ Ah, there's the knife! He's just going to...stare at the fire. Or stare at her over the fire, so he doesn't have to see her hands making quick work of Mr. Fluffybuns and his family (may they rest in peace).

As he speaks, he continues to add wood to the fire, so it continues to build. Not a moment too soon, either - it's starting to get a bit chilly. ]

Well - sure. But, uh, my buddies do more of the actual hunting than I do. I'm just there to occasionally shoot things and look pretty.

[ Two more of his talents, on top of air hockey. ]

[ look away prompto, this is a messy process.. but alisaie works quickly. the sun is waning and she can feel the first nibbles of hunger gnawing at her belly; the faster the fluffybuns family is dressed and butchered, the better. alisaie's smile twists. ]

I see.

[ casually degloving these rabbits of their skin, one by one.. lopping off the heads and feets.. now at least you don't have to look at their dead eyes anymore?? ]

Still, that means you have the raw talent. I am good with traps and passable with a bow, but I've never learned how to shoot a gun.

[ wanna teach her... ]

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