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slashing_lorneJeeze Louise! This took so friggen long, I'm sorry. I had to rewrite what I wrote when I added a few new scenes to make it fit. The next part will be out sooner, I promise. Also, I upgraded this to slash as Lorne is now grown up.
Title: Are You Afraid Of The Gloom?
Author: Lopaka Tanu
Disclaimer: I do not own StarGate or The Night Watch series.
Characters: Lorne, Daniel, McKay, Sarah Gardner.
Words: 4105/6601 so far.
Prompt: Lorne/author’s choice – AU – there’s a mass murderer loose in Atlantis! (which may just be a city and not an Ancient city)
Fandom: StarGate: Atlantis/SG-1.
Pairing: Evan/Daniel.
Rating: Teen
Warnings: Language, Smartass Lorne.
Summary: There is a war brooding in the shadows of our world. Mythical creatures haunt the twilight, a veil between our world and the unknown. From an early age, Lorne discovers that we are not alone.
Author's Note: An AU based upon the Night Watch/Day Watch series, books and movies.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Part 1 ~!~ Part 2: 1991 - Belief Is Trading One Fine Mess For Another.
"One cannot see the truth in front of them if they do not open their eyes!" The slamming of the course book against his desk punctuated the professor's sentence.
Having seen it coming, Evan was one of the few people who didn't act like he'd been shot. Though, hearing the slam did set his heart to racing.
The kid in the seat next to him was not so fortunate.
Head shooting up from the desk, he left his glasses behind next to the drops of drool. He moved so fast, that his chair shot backwards to the desks behind them. To stop himself, he reached out a foot to catch on the desk. That turned out to be a big mistake. The guy barely had time to blink before his ass hit the ground and his chair kept going.
Snorting, Evan kept his eyes focused straight ahead. This gave him the view of not one, but four other students having the same reaction. That meant half the class was now on the floor.
Self satisfied smirk in place, the professor adjusted his glasses. "Well, serves you right."
The entire class went still. Evan found himself transfixed by the man's gaze, a sinking feeling started in his gut.
Almost as if he knew the effect he had, their professor crossed his arms and looked down his nose at them, literally. "If you find my class so boring, you are all free to leave at any time. Of course, that means you won't be passing all your required courses to achieve your various degrees. Not that you'd actually care about that, since, after all, I'm just wasting your precious time." Every word dripped with malevolent disdain.
The urge to bang his head against the desk was strong with Evan. How the guy could sound so smug at the cost of others put him up there with Bond villains in evil. It wasn't until the man snorted and turned to face the whiteboard that he found the ability to exhale.
In fact, the entire class seemed to relax at the same time.
Feeling something brush his thigh, Evan's vision snapped to the offending source. To his surprise, he found the questing hand of his neighbor reaching out under their desk. He frowned in confusion. "What are you doing?" Voice barely above a whisper, he cast a quick glance to make sure Professor McKay hadn't heard.
The man was still facing the whiteboard with a marker in hand.
"I lost my glasses during the..." the student finished with a quick flip of his hand. The tips of his ears pinked with embarrassment. "Without them I can't see two inches in front of my face."
That sounded reasonable. Still, he didn't know how it explained the hand caressing his leg. Canting his chin a little to face the other, he cleared his throat. "Yeah, that's real great, but I can reasonably say that they didn't land in my lap."
This had the effect of darkening the teen's ears until they burned bright red. "Sorry about that. Like I said, I'm nearly blind without them." His hand slid away from Evan's chair and over the desk. "Ah ha!" Jerking it out, he held them aloft. "Got them."
Evan winced at the volume of the guy's voice. There was no way the professor hadn't heard that.
"How nice for you. You've also gotten the class a three page paper of exposition on theoretical magics among the upper Egyptians, second dynasty." Without missing a single loop in his writing, Professor McKay cast their sentence. "Due Monday, that's three days away for you stoners. Have a lovely weekend." The course bell on his desk rang the moment he finished speaking.
Groaning, he dropped his chin to his chest. Life certainly sucked.
"My name's Daniel, by the way."
Taking a break from his moment of self pity, Evan looked up at the guy. With his glasses on, he was almost indistinguishable from the rest of their peers. God, he was surrounded by nerds.
Hand out, Daniel's smile was bright. His cheeks were colored now along with his ears. "At least let me help you study for the midterms as payback for, you know, the paper."
Evan studied him for a moment longer. "What's your GPA in this class?" He was lean, on this side of gaunt, but his broad shoulders and strong hips promised a bigger man when he filled them out. When his eyes landed on the extended hand, he took in the long fingers and large hands, a tiny tremor ran through him.
Daniel's entire face was bright red by the time Evan accepted the handshake. "It's a little over passing."
Those long fingers swallowed his own in a powerful grip. Closing his eyes, Evan shuddered.
~~~~~~~~~~
Rubbing at his forehead, Evan fought the urge to bang his head against the stack of thick books. It was impossible to find all the answers. Three months into this semester and they'd barely scratched the basic curriculum. Advanced classes were out of the question until graduate school. By the time he actually qualified for a position in the field, he should just be old enough to collect social security.
With a groan, he dropped his nose to the already half-filled legal tablet. He was probably smudging his hard written notes, but he didn't care at this point. There was only so much help they would be on the midterms. It wasn't like the instructor would allow him to use them any ways. On top of that, he still had that friggen paper to do.
God, he hated that arrogant jerk. McKay acted like everyone should have a memory like an IBM. According to him, if they didn't have the entire course memorized, they weren't worthy of his time. Using anything other than your own brain on the test was cheating.
This wasn't highschool!
Besides, he'd seen the prick using his own notes in a lecture many times. How was that not cheating according to his own definition?
Turning his head to rest on an ear, he faced his new best friend. Eyes clenching shut, he tried to will away the pending headache. "Tell me again, why is 'Practical Theorem on Mystical Arts' a required course in cultural anthropology?"
"Because, you're specializing in the evolution of tribal customs and practices into modern day societies with a minor in psychology and classical languages." Voice muted behind the stacks, Daniel almost sounded as if he was reciting lines by rote. That was because it wasn't the first time in the past two days he had to remind Evan. "You're supposed to be copying down those notes for the both of us, not complaining. That's what study buddies are for, after all."
"This isn't the studying I had hoped for." Evan groaned. "Remind me again why I put up with you?" Frowning, he kept his head on the yellowed paper.
For his part, Daniel only snorted in amusement. "Because you signed up for the same course I did and you need my assistance to pass." Pulling off another tome from the ancient shelf, his face became visible through the others. "And, before you ask, because you're lazy and already knew the basics of the subjects thanks to your liberal arts childhood."
"You know," raising his head, Evan scowled at Daniel through the gap, "they warned me about elitist, know-it-alls like you."
That was when he was reminded they weren't here alone.
"Careful, darling, your roots are showing." Yawning, the third member of their quartet plopped her pile of books on the table next to them. When she opened them, her bloodshot blue eyes stared directly at his own. "That kind of attitude is more indicative of an alcoholic, low income background with shades of perennial, paternal physical abuse."
"Sarah," Daniel warned. Arms full, he made his way towards their table with the next set of texts for them to pour over.
Seeing this, Evan groaned. This was getting worse by the minute. "Guys, how much more of this until we're done?"
Sarah looked over at Daniel in question. "What does he mean?"
Shrugging, Daniel raised an eyebrow at Evan.
"That's it, I'm joining the military." With an overemphasized push back from the table, he stood up. "My father always wanted an air force officer in the family, maybe a naval commander." He ignored their amused snorts and grabbed his coat from the back of his chair. After dramatically tying the belt around his waist, he stared them down. "I'm going for tea and donuts. Anyone want something?"
~~~~~~~~~~
Two-freaking-a.m. What sick freak created this ungodly hour?
Thankfully, this was a college town and there were plenty of niche places that catered to the wild hours they kept. Unfortunately, he was coming from the public library, not the one on campus. Thus it wasn't easy to locate them.
Also, there was almost a conspiracy to keep them hidden from the general public though. He supposed that was to part of the draw. Figuring out how to find them made people feel rewarded, almost special. At the best of times, he could understand the allure.
Right now, he was sick of it. It was late and he was hungry, god damn it! So, it was to some relief he found a neon sign at the end of the block. Even from here, he could hear it hum in the lonesome night.
Evan shook his head in dismay. Hanging around Daniel was seriously screwing with his vernacular. Even his thoughts were plotting against him.
Before he knew it, he was standing outside an all-night diner. Ancient neon lights hummed inside so loud they practically screamed at him. A waitress in a pink apron carried a pot of coffee between the few occupied tables, her hair in a bun. Grinning at how typically cliched this shit was, Evan grabbed the door and pushed it open.
Checkerboard tiles covered the walls all the way to the ceiling. Above, blue tiles the color of the ocean at sunset gave it a feeling of a vast universe. Finding himself staring at them, Evan groaned in pain from lack of sleep. He had definitely been hitting the no-doze too hard. Soon as mid-terms were over, he was sleeping for a week.
The cracking of her gum drew his attention to the ancient waitress.
She stood at the counter with a pad and pencil. Her grin was pasted on along with half a gallon of makeup. "What can I get you, hon? Bottomless coffee and danish is buck, fifty."
He almost groaned at that. She was only playing the part, he knew. The idiots he could see on the periphery of his vision liked it that way. Sighing, he strolled up to the counter. "I'll take a tea, strong and hot. We're going to need seven coffees, black and sweet. A box of your unhealthiest donuts with enough frosting to kill a hummingbird would be greatly appreciated." He threw in a smile for her free of charge. "To go."
Raising an eyebrow, she quickly wrote down his order. When he returned the gesture, she snorted and walked off towards the register. "That's going to be a minute or two, and twelve, eighty-five."
"Done and a four dollar tip if you make the coffee scalding. I've got six blocks between it and the three vultures that thrive on it." Grinning, he thumped out a rhythm on the counter.
"Seven coffees for three?" She shook her head and went about getting the order.
He understood the urge. He didn't have the heart to tell her four of those were for Daniel alone. If it was wet and black, the doctoral student would suck it down. The inappropriate connotations of that thought had him giggling.
"It's not the first time I had to pick some fucker's skin off the ground." The man's voice shuddered with obvious revulsion. "But, I swear to god, it gets harder every time."
Hearing the words sent a chill down his spine. They came from off to his left, but sounded almost in his ear. Man, he really hated when the pre-med students hung out. Those morbid bastards always brought the party down.
"The only thing that gets harder is my dick every time I put a bullet in another of those bitches heads." The speaker broke out into throat scraping laughter. "Get it, Kowalski?"
A strong wave of dizziness nearly caused Evan's knees to buckle. It had nothing to do with the man's words, but they didn't help. He had to close his eyes to keep from throwing up as the world spun. Swallowing down his stomach, he leaned heavily against the counter. When he opened his eyes, the world around him seemed duller.
The air felt thick as he drew in a breath. The slow pounding of his own heartbeat filled his ears. Almost as if through water, he could hear the two voices speaking. Their rapid fire speech escalated, but he couldn't make out the words. There was too much noise around him drowning them out.
"All right, you two, knock it off." A third voice cut through the dull roar in his ears. "For cryin' out loud, I'm trying to enjoy my breakfast. Nice, cold cereal. Nothin' better."
"Better than hot, runny puss in an empty eye socket."
"Okay, that does it."
"Ahem!"
The clearing of throat a jarred Evan back to reality. The malaise was instantly gone. His sudden feeling of well being left him feeling shaky. Jerking his head up, he realized he had been leaning his arms against the counter, head sagging between them. Every muscle in the back of his neck screamed from the overuse. Wincing, he glanced across the counter and found the waitress with two bags, staring at him in question.
She shook one bag gently. "Your order. Donuts here." Raising the other bag above the other, she set it gently on the counter for him. "Don't shake this unless you like wearing piping hot coffee."
He licked his lips and reached for them. "And tea?" The promised seventeen dollars was in his hand.
"And tea." Taking the money, she set the donuts on the counter. "Pleasure doing business with you."
Warmth rose up in his cheeks. He knew they were going to be delicious donuts. When buying them sounded like an illegal transaction, it was a good sign. Hell, in the campus community, they practically were thanks to the health nuts. If Jane Fonda, Richard Simmons, or Juicy Jay ever showed their faces, he'd kick them all square in the vaginas.
Clutching the bags to his chest, he smiled one last time at her. As he turned for the door, he couldn't help a quick glance about. There were no other students about. What few people in the diner he saw were mostly elderly. There was a couple in the corner barely keeping their eyes open. Other than that, he was alone.
Shivering, he pushed the fact that he might have been hallucinating out of his mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jaw slack, Evan couldn't but help watch Daniel as he slowly downed his second cup. The steady bob of his adam's apple was almost hypnotic. Feeling his cheeks burn, he lowered his gaze back to the text in front of him. "How far back should I go on this? I don't think denarians were mentioned."
Daniel shrugged by way of answer. His throaty groans were almost loud enough to fill the upper floor of the library.
It was becoming a desperate situation for Evan. Closing his eyes barely helped so long as there was an auditory component. Hearing Sarah chuckle behind him galled him enough that he went back to work. Picking up his pen, he began to trace the symbols for a Roman bath token. One never knew what might be needed.
As he bent his head to calculate the curvature for an accurate drawing, the back of his head began to itch. Reaching up, he scratched at the offending follicles until they stopped. After a quick crack of his neck, he went to work again. Once more, the itch started up. This time, he smacked the back of his hair just in case it was a bug.
Pain flared from the stung flesh throughout his entire head, making him wince. Hissing between his teeth, he moaned softly. That had been stupid.
A familiar throat scratching cackle reached his ears like a soft echo. He had heard it so recently that he could remember every nuance of it.
The hair on the back of his neck stood up. Shivering, he kept his eyes on the work in front of him. It was an effort to put it from his mind even as he felt the tingling start again.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Hearing the scrape of chalk across the blackboard drew Evan's attention across the lecture hall. He had tried to ignore the professor's passive-aggressive tactics to no avail. Whatever had managed to piss off their professor today apparently wasn't going away. Which was why he had brought in a rolling blackboard instead of using the traditional dry-erase whiteboard.
Evan's head hurt. He knew entirely too much about the bitchy tactics of the man.
"How many of you can name the seven planes of higher awareness?" Professor McKay's words caught the entire class unaware. "What about the spiritual principles of shamanic transformation?" At their sudden stillness, the man snorted. "Just as I thought. None of you have even cracked the texts I assigned you at the beginning of the term have you?"
Staring hard at the man's back didn't instantly make him explode into flames. Obviously he hadn't reached one of the purported planes. Evan sometimes wished any of it was real. Just a little magic would do a world of good. The voodoo doll he kept in the bottom of his bag never worked, though.
Scratching out a quick sentence in indecipherable scrawl, McKay set the chalk down. "The first person who can tell me what this says and the intent of the statement earns a passing grade for the day." After dusting off his fingers, the man spun to face the class. His smug squint shined through the thick glasses he wore. "Considering your limited intellects, that means all of you will have to work for it today."
So what else was new? Evan was under no illusion about his chances of even getting an average in this course.
Beside him, Daniel snorted. Catching Evan's eye, the other man rolled his.
At least he wasn't alone.
Hands clasped before him, the professor peered at them all. After a full minute, he clapped them. "Times up. It's the standard argument for the existence of good verses evil. Can anyone tell me why this is relevant?" All he received were more blank stares.
Evan didn't understand what the man wanted. It should have been perfectly clear that no one understood a word he said. Bored and tired of this, Evan raised his hand.
The professor's gaze zeroed in on him in an instant. "Please, Mr. Lorne, do share with us your particular insight. I'm sure it's fascinating."
"There's no difference. Since they exist in all of us, the belief in good verses evil is irrelevant." The more he spoke, the ruddier the professor's face grew. This only compelled him onwards. "No person can be entirely good or evil. As there are no limits to the actions of a human being, neither can truly be applied. To that effect, it can also be argued there's no difference between right and wrong..."
"Enough!" Face now almost purple, the man's clenched fists were held at the ready to take a swing. "You...you little bas..." He cut himself off with a slicing gesture.
Eyebrows now in his hairline, Evan felt his heart pounding. What the hell had he just done? He wanted to pass this class, not have the professor throttle him.
Raising one crooked finger, McKay pointed at the door. "Get out of my class this instant!" His hand shook from the barely restrained rage.
And there ended his chance at getting the degree he needed. Climbing to his feet, he glanced over at Daniel. He found the guy wouldn't even meet his gaze.
The twitch of Daniel's lips told a story of their own.
Sighing, Evan shook his head. There would be no support here. Gathering his bag, he snapped up his books and marched through the desks. He ignored the rest of the class and jerked open the door. At least he wouldn't have to take the midterms.
~~~~~~~~~~
It wasn't the end of the world. At least, that's what his father had told him.
Dumping the last drawer from his dresser, Evan wasn't so sure about any of it. The box was filled to spilling, so it was good this was the last one. He glanced over at the stripped bed and sighed wistfully. Beside it were boxes stacked three high and a full set of luggage. The furniture would remain when the old man came to pick him up.
Three years of his life down the drain. He couldn't friggen believe it. What the hell had happened? Ten weeks ago, he had been on top of the world. This semester, damn. He couldn't figure it out.
Scratching at his head, he glanced about the desk. He hadn't missed anything. Even the rubberbands from years of bulk mail deliveries were stuffed in one of the myriad of boxes. For some reason, he had felt that he would need them later. It didn't make sense, but he had wanted to bring them along.
A knock at the door startled him out of the moment. Glancing at his watch, Evan realized the moment had actually ben about ten minutes. Frowning, he exhaled through his nose and rubbed at his wrist. "Come in!"
He looked over at the door opening to find a familiar set of glasses peaking through the crack. Warmth colored his cheeks and he smiled.
Pushing open the door enough that he could get in, Daniel used a single finger to push up his glasses. "I came by to check on you." His gaze took in the whole of the dormroom and his eyebrows raised. "You're really leaving?"
The urge to duck his head had Evan rolling his eyes. He scratched at an itch on the back of his scalp. "Yeah, it's not, really, working, you know?"
"I kinda gathered that." Now standing in the doorway, Daniel had his arms crossed. "I guess I was hoping you would have stuck it out."
"Me too." Evan snorted. He wasn't really sure why. "I told my dad about McKay and he about had a conniption." This time he laughed for an obvious reason to both of them. "So, we, by that I mean he, decided I should come home for a while."
Nodding, Daniel barely managed not to look disappointed. His frown eventually won out. "I don't suppose there's any way I can change your mind?" Meeting Evan's stare, he held it with one of his own.
His heart paused for a moment. Swallowing, Evan started to feel light headed. For some reason, he had the urge to be completely honest. "I don't feel comfortable here." Once the words had left his mouth, he recognized the truth in them. "There's something changed. Professor McKay's only part of it. I'm not sure I can describe it, but, I don't feel safe here anymore."
Daniel sighed. "So you're really leaving." Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the room.
A little confused, Evan watched the other man reach for the door. "Yes. My father's on his way. He should be here by tonight sometime..." he trailed off with another swallow.
"You know, the other day, I really didn't need help to find my glasses." Closing the door behind him, Daniel gave him a sad smile.
His mouth grew dry and he had to swallow to wet it. Evan nodded out of a lack of any other response.
That seemed to be the signal the other man was waiting for. Crossing the room, Daniel reached up for his collar. "Funny. I sat next to you for three months. When I finally work up the courage to make a move, you leave."
"Yeah, life sucks." He reached for Daniel the moment he came within reach. "Thankfully, so do I." Daniel's laugh almost spoiled the moment. Then he was kissing the man and it no longer mattered.
TBC
Title: Are You Afraid Of The Gloom?
Author: Lopaka Tanu
Disclaimer: I do not own StarGate or The Night Watch series.
Characters: Lorne, Daniel, McKay, Sarah Gardner.
Words: 4105/6601 so far.
Prompt: Lorne/author’s choice – AU – there’s a mass murderer loose in Atlantis! (which may just be a city and not an Ancient city)
Fandom: StarGate: Atlantis/SG-1.
Pairing: Evan/Daniel.
Rating: Teen
Warnings: Language, Smartass Lorne.
Summary: There is a war brooding in the shadows of our world. Mythical creatures haunt the twilight, a veil between our world and the unknown. From an early age, Lorne discovers that we are not alone.
Author's Note: An AU based upon the Night Watch/Day Watch series, books and movies.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Part 1 ~!~ Part 2: 1991 - Belief Is Trading One Fine Mess For Another.
"One cannot see the truth in front of them if they do not open their eyes!" The slamming of the course book against his desk punctuated the professor's sentence.
Having seen it coming, Evan was one of the few people who didn't act like he'd been shot. Though, hearing the slam did set his heart to racing.
The kid in the seat next to him was not so fortunate.
Head shooting up from the desk, he left his glasses behind next to the drops of drool. He moved so fast, that his chair shot backwards to the desks behind them. To stop himself, he reached out a foot to catch on the desk. That turned out to be a big mistake. The guy barely had time to blink before his ass hit the ground and his chair kept going.
Snorting, Evan kept his eyes focused straight ahead. This gave him the view of not one, but four other students having the same reaction. That meant half the class was now on the floor.
Self satisfied smirk in place, the professor adjusted his glasses. "Well, serves you right."
The entire class went still. Evan found himself transfixed by the man's gaze, a sinking feeling started in his gut.
Almost as if he knew the effect he had, their professor crossed his arms and looked down his nose at them, literally. "If you find my class so boring, you are all free to leave at any time. Of course, that means you won't be passing all your required courses to achieve your various degrees. Not that you'd actually care about that, since, after all, I'm just wasting your precious time." Every word dripped with malevolent disdain.
The urge to bang his head against the desk was strong with Evan. How the guy could sound so smug at the cost of others put him up there with Bond villains in evil. It wasn't until the man snorted and turned to face the whiteboard that he found the ability to exhale.
In fact, the entire class seemed to relax at the same time.
Feeling something brush his thigh, Evan's vision snapped to the offending source. To his surprise, he found the questing hand of his neighbor reaching out under their desk. He frowned in confusion. "What are you doing?" Voice barely above a whisper, he cast a quick glance to make sure Professor McKay hadn't heard.
The man was still facing the whiteboard with a marker in hand.
"I lost my glasses during the..." the student finished with a quick flip of his hand. The tips of his ears pinked with embarrassment. "Without them I can't see two inches in front of my face."
That sounded reasonable. Still, he didn't know how it explained the hand caressing his leg. Canting his chin a little to face the other, he cleared his throat. "Yeah, that's real great, but I can reasonably say that they didn't land in my lap."
This had the effect of darkening the teen's ears until they burned bright red. "Sorry about that. Like I said, I'm nearly blind without them." His hand slid away from Evan's chair and over the desk. "Ah ha!" Jerking it out, he held them aloft. "Got them."
Evan winced at the volume of the guy's voice. There was no way the professor hadn't heard that.
"How nice for you. You've also gotten the class a three page paper of exposition on theoretical magics among the upper Egyptians, second dynasty." Without missing a single loop in his writing, Professor McKay cast their sentence. "Due Monday, that's three days away for you stoners. Have a lovely weekend." The course bell on his desk rang the moment he finished speaking.
Groaning, he dropped his chin to his chest. Life certainly sucked.
"My name's Daniel, by the way."
Taking a break from his moment of self pity, Evan looked up at the guy. With his glasses on, he was almost indistinguishable from the rest of their peers. God, he was surrounded by nerds.
Hand out, Daniel's smile was bright. His cheeks were colored now along with his ears. "At least let me help you study for the midterms as payback for, you know, the paper."
Evan studied him for a moment longer. "What's your GPA in this class?" He was lean, on this side of gaunt, but his broad shoulders and strong hips promised a bigger man when he filled them out. When his eyes landed on the extended hand, he took in the long fingers and large hands, a tiny tremor ran through him.
Daniel's entire face was bright red by the time Evan accepted the handshake. "It's a little over passing."
Those long fingers swallowed his own in a powerful grip. Closing his eyes, Evan shuddered.
~~~~~~~~~~
Rubbing at his forehead, Evan fought the urge to bang his head against the stack of thick books. It was impossible to find all the answers. Three months into this semester and they'd barely scratched the basic curriculum. Advanced classes were out of the question until graduate school. By the time he actually qualified for a position in the field, he should just be old enough to collect social security.
With a groan, he dropped his nose to the already half-filled legal tablet. He was probably smudging his hard written notes, but he didn't care at this point. There was only so much help they would be on the midterms. It wasn't like the instructor would allow him to use them any ways. On top of that, he still had that friggen paper to do.
God, he hated that arrogant jerk. McKay acted like everyone should have a memory like an IBM. According to him, if they didn't have the entire course memorized, they weren't worthy of his time. Using anything other than your own brain on the test was cheating.
This wasn't highschool!
Besides, he'd seen the prick using his own notes in a lecture many times. How was that not cheating according to his own definition?
Turning his head to rest on an ear, he faced his new best friend. Eyes clenching shut, he tried to will away the pending headache. "Tell me again, why is 'Practical Theorem on Mystical Arts' a required course in cultural anthropology?"
"Because, you're specializing in the evolution of tribal customs and practices into modern day societies with a minor in psychology and classical languages." Voice muted behind the stacks, Daniel almost sounded as if he was reciting lines by rote. That was because it wasn't the first time in the past two days he had to remind Evan. "You're supposed to be copying down those notes for the both of us, not complaining. That's what study buddies are for, after all."
"This isn't the studying I had hoped for." Evan groaned. "Remind me again why I put up with you?" Frowning, he kept his head on the yellowed paper.
For his part, Daniel only snorted in amusement. "Because you signed up for the same course I did and you need my assistance to pass." Pulling off another tome from the ancient shelf, his face became visible through the others. "And, before you ask, because you're lazy and already knew the basics of the subjects thanks to your liberal arts childhood."
"You know," raising his head, Evan scowled at Daniel through the gap, "they warned me about elitist, know-it-alls like you."
That was when he was reminded they weren't here alone.
"Careful, darling, your roots are showing." Yawning, the third member of their quartet plopped her pile of books on the table next to them. When she opened them, her bloodshot blue eyes stared directly at his own. "That kind of attitude is more indicative of an alcoholic, low income background with shades of perennial, paternal physical abuse."
"Sarah," Daniel warned. Arms full, he made his way towards their table with the next set of texts for them to pour over.
Seeing this, Evan groaned. This was getting worse by the minute. "Guys, how much more of this until we're done?"
Sarah looked over at Daniel in question. "What does he mean?"
Shrugging, Daniel raised an eyebrow at Evan.
"That's it, I'm joining the military." With an overemphasized push back from the table, he stood up. "My father always wanted an air force officer in the family, maybe a naval commander." He ignored their amused snorts and grabbed his coat from the back of his chair. After dramatically tying the belt around his waist, he stared them down. "I'm going for tea and donuts. Anyone want something?"
~~~~~~~~~~
Two-freaking-a.m. What sick freak created this ungodly hour?
Thankfully, this was a college town and there were plenty of niche places that catered to the wild hours they kept. Unfortunately, he was coming from the public library, not the one on campus. Thus it wasn't easy to locate them.
Also, there was almost a conspiracy to keep them hidden from the general public though. He supposed that was to part of the draw. Figuring out how to find them made people feel rewarded, almost special. At the best of times, he could understand the allure.
Right now, he was sick of it. It was late and he was hungry, god damn it! So, it was to some relief he found a neon sign at the end of the block. Even from here, he could hear it hum in the lonesome night.
Evan shook his head in dismay. Hanging around Daniel was seriously screwing with his vernacular. Even his thoughts were plotting against him.
Before he knew it, he was standing outside an all-night diner. Ancient neon lights hummed inside so loud they practically screamed at him. A waitress in a pink apron carried a pot of coffee between the few occupied tables, her hair in a bun. Grinning at how typically cliched this shit was, Evan grabbed the door and pushed it open.
Checkerboard tiles covered the walls all the way to the ceiling. Above, blue tiles the color of the ocean at sunset gave it a feeling of a vast universe. Finding himself staring at them, Evan groaned in pain from lack of sleep. He had definitely been hitting the no-doze too hard. Soon as mid-terms were over, he was sleeping for a week.
The cracking of her gum drew his attention to the ancient waitress.
She stood at the counter with a pad and pencil. Her grin was pasted on along with half a gallon of makeup. "What can I get you, hon? Bottomless coffee and danish is buck, fifty."
He almost groaned at that. She was only playing the part, he knew. The idiots he could see on the periphery of his vision liked it that way. Sighing, he strolled up to the counter. "I'll take a tea, strong and hot. We're going to need seven coffees, black and sweet. A box of your unhealthiest donuts with enough frosting to kill a hummingbird would be greatly appreciated." He threw in a smile for her free of charge. "To go."
Raising an eyebrow, she quickly wrote down his order. When he returned the gesture, she snorted and walked off towards the register. "That's going to be a minute or two, and twelve, eighty-five."
"Done and a four dollar tip if you make the coffee scalding. I've got six blocks between it and the three vultures that thrive on it." Grinning, he thumped out a rhythm on the counter.
"Seven coffees for three?" She shook her head and went about getting the order.
He understood the urge. He didn't have the heart to tell her four of those were for Daniel alone. If it was wet and black, the doctoral student would suck it down. The inappropriate connotations of that thought had him giggling.
"It's not the first time I had to pick some fucker's skin off the ground." The man's voice shuddered with obvious revulsion. "But, I swear to god, it gets harder every time."
Hearing the words sent a chill down his spine. They came from off to his left, but sounded almost in his ear. Man, he really hated when the pre-med students hung out. Those morbid bastards always brought the party down.
"The only thing that gets harder is my dick every time I put a bullet in another of those bitches heads." The speaker broke out into throat scraping laughter. "Get it, Kowalski?"
A strong wave of dizziness nearly caused Evan's knees to buckle. It had nothing to do with the man's words, but they didn't help. He had to close his eyes to keep from throwing up as the world spun. Swallowing down his stomach, he leaned heavily against the counter. When he opened his eyes, the world around him seemed duller.
The air felt thick as he drew in a breath. The slow pounding of his own heartbeat filled his ears. Almost as if through water, he could hear the two voices speaking. Their rapid fire speech escalated, but he couldn't make out the words. There was too much noise around him drowning them out.
"All right, you two, knock it off." A third voice cut through the dull roar in his ears. "For cryin' out loud, I'm trying to enjoy my breakfast. Nice, cold cereal. Nothin' better."
"Better than hot, runny puss in an empty eye socket."
"Okay, that does it."
"Ahem!"
The clearing of throat a jarred Evan back to reality. The malaise was instantly gone. His sudden feeling of well being left him feeling shaky. Jerking his head up, he realized he had been leaning his arms against the counter, head sagging between them. Every muscle in the back of his neck screamed from the overuse. Wincing, he glanced across the counter and found the waitress with two bags, staring at him in question.
She shook one bag gently. "Your order. Donuts here." Raising the other bag above the other, she set it gently on the counter for him. "Don't shake this unless you like wearing piping hot coffee."
He licked his lips and reached for them. "And tea?" The promised seventeen dollars was in his hand.
"And tea." Taking the money, she set the donuts on the counter. "Pleasure doing business with you."
Warmth rose up in his cheeks. He knew they were going to be delicious donuts. When buying them sounded like an illegal transaction, it was a good sign. Hell, in the campus community, they practically were thanks to the health nuts. If Jane Fonda, Richard Simmons, or Juicy Jay ever showed their faces, he'd kick them all square in the vaginas.
Clutching the bags to his chest, he smiled one last time at her. As he turned for the door, he couldn't help a quick glance about. There were no other students about. What few people in the diner he saw were mostly elderly. There was a couple in the corner barely keeping their eyes open. Other than that, he was alone.
Shivering, he pushed the fact that he might have been hallucinating out of his mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jaw slack, Evan couldn't but help watch Daniel as he slowly downed his second cup. The steady bob of his adam's apple was almost hypnotic. Feeling his cheeks burn, he lowered his gaze back to the text in front of him. "How far back should I go on this? I don't think denarians were mentioned."
Daniel shrugged by way of answer. His throaty groans were almost loud enough to fill the upper floor of the library.
It was becoming a desperate situation for Evan. Closing his eyes barely helped so long as there was an auditory component. Hearing Sarah chuckle behind him galled him enough that he went back to work. Picking up his pen, he began to trace the symbols for a Roman bath token. One never knew what might be needed.
As he bent his head to calculate the curvature for an accurate drawing, the back of his head began to itch. Reaching up, he scratched at the offending follicles until they stopped. After a quick crack of his neck, he went to work again. Once more, the itch started up. This time, he smacked the back of his hair just in case it was a bug.
Pain flared from the stung flesh throughout his entire head, making him wince. Hissing between his teeth, he moaned softly. That had been stupid.
A familiar throat scratching cackle reached his ears like a soft echo. He had heard it so recently that he could remember every nuance of it.
The hair on the back of his neck stood up. Shivering, he kept his eyes on the work in front of him. It was an effort to put it from his mind even as he felt the tingling start again.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Hearing the scrape of chalk across the blackboard drew Evan's attention across the lecture hall. He had tried to ignore the professor's passive-aggressive tactics to no avail. Whatever had managed to piss off their professor today apparently wasn't going away. Which was why he had brought in a rolling blackboard instead of using the traditional dry-erase whiteboard.
Evan's head hurt. He knew entirely too much about the bitchy tactics of the man.
"How many of you can name the seven planes of higher awareness?" Professor McKay's words caught the entire class unaware. "What about the spiritual principles of shamanic transformation?" At their sudden stillness, the man snorted. "Just as I thought. None of you have even cracked the texts I assigned you at the beginning of the term have you?"
Staring hard at the man's back didn't instantly make him explode into flames. Obviously he hadn't reached one of the purported planes. Evan sometimes wished any of it was real. Just a little magic would do a world of good. The voodoo doll he kept in the bottom of his bag never worked, though.
Scratching out a quick sentence in indecipherable scrawl, McKay set the chalk down. "The first person who can tell me what this says and the intent of the statement earns a passing grade for the day." After dusting off his fingers, the man spun to face the class. His smug squint shined through the thick glasses he wore. "Considering your limited intellects, that means all of you will have to work for it today."
So what else was new? Evan was under no illusion about his chances of even getting an average in this course.
Beside him, Daniel snorted. Catching Evan's eye, the other man rolled his.
At least he wasn't alone.
Hands clasped before him, the professor peered at them all. After a full minute, he clapped them. "Times up. It's the standard argument for the existence of good verses evil. Can anyone tell me why this is relevant?" All he received were more blank stares.
Evan didn't understand what the man wanted. It should have been perfectly clear that no one understood a word he said. Bored and tired of this, Evan raised his hand.
The professor's gaze zeroed in on him in an instant. "Please, Mr. Lorne, do share with us your particular insight. I'm sure it's fascinating."
"There's no difference. Since they exist in all of us, the belief in good verses evil is irrelevant." The more he spoke, the ruddier the professor's face grew. This only compelled him onwards. "No person can be entirely good or evil. As there are no limits to the actions of a human being, neither can truly be applied. To that effect, it can also be argued there's no difference between right and wrong..."
"Enough!" Face now almost purple, the man's clenched fists were held at the ready to take a swing. "You...you little bas..." He cut himself off with a slicing gesture.
Eyebrows now in his hairline, Evan felt his heart pounding. What the hell had he just done? He wanted to pass this class, not have the professor throttle him.
Raising one crooked finger, McKay pointed at the door. "Get out of my class this instant!" His hand shook from the barely restrained rage.
And there ended his chance at getting the degree he needed. Climbing to his feet, he glanced over at Daniel. He found the guy wouldn't even meet his gaze.
The twitch of Daniel's lips told a story of their own.
Sighing, Evan shook his head. There would be no support here. Gathering his bag, he snapped up his books and marched through the desks. He ignored the rest of the class and jerked open the door. At least he wouldn't have to take the midterms.
~~~~~~~~~~
It wasn't the end of the world. At least, that's what his father had told him.
Dumping the last drawer from his dresser, Evan wasn't so sure about any of it. The box was filled to spilling, so it was good this was the last one. He glanced over at the stripped bed and sighed wistfully. Beside it were boxes stacked three high and a full set of luggage. The furniture would remain when the old man came to pick him up.
Three years of his life down the drain. He couldn't friggen believe it. What the hell had happened? Ten weeks ago, he had been on top of the world. This semester, damn. He couldn't figure it out.
Scratching at his head, he glanced about the desk. He hadn't missed anything. Even the rubberbands from years of bulk mail deliveries were stuffed in one of the myriad of boxes. For some reason, he had felt that he would need them later. It didn't make sense, but he had wanted to bring them along.
A knock at the door startled him out of the moment. Glancing at his watch, Evan realized the moment had actually ben about ten minutes. Frowning, he exhaled through his nose and rubbed at his wrist. "Come in!"
He looked over at the door opening to find a familiar set of glasses peaking through the crack. Warmth colored his cheeks and he smiled.
Pushing open the door enough that he could get in, Daniel used a single finger to push up his glasses. "I came by to check on you." His gaze took in the whole of the dormroom and his eyebrows raised. "You're really leaving?"
The urge to duck his head had Evan rolling his eyes. He scratched at an itch on the back of his scalp. "Yeah, it's not, really, working, you know?"
"I kinda gathered that." Now standing in the doorway, Daniel had his arms crossed. "I guess I was hoping you would have stuck it out."
"Me too." Evan snorted. He wasn't really sure why. "I told my dad about McKay and he about had a conniption." This time he laughed for an obvious reason to both of them. "So, we, by that I mean he, decided I should come home for a while."
Nodding, Daniel barely managed not to look disappointed. His frown eventually won out. "I don't suppose there's any way I can change your mind?" Meeting Evan's stare, he held it with one of his own.
His heart paused for a moment. Swallowing, Evan started to feel light headed. For some reason, he had the urge to be completely honest. "I don't feel comfortable here." Once the words had left his mouth, he recognized the truth in them. "There's something changed. Professor McKay's only part of it. I'm not sure I can describe it, but, I don't feel safe here anymore."
Daniel sighed. "So you're really leaving." Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the room.
A little confused, Evan watched the other man reach for the door. "Yes. My father's on his way. He should be here by tonight sometime..." he trailed off with another swallow.
"You know, the other day, I really didn't need help to find my glasses." Closing the door behind him, Daniel gave him a sad smile.
His mouth grew dry and he had to swallow to wet it. Evan nodded out of a lack of any other response.
That seemed to be the signal the other man was waiting for. Crossing the room, Daniel reached up for his collar. "Funny. I sat next to you for three months. When I finally work up the courage to make a move, you leave."
"Yeah, life sucks." He reached for Daniel the moment he came within reach. "Thankfully, so do I." Daniel's laugh almost spoiled the moment. Then he was kissing the man and it no longer mattered.
TBC
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Date: 2011-09-28 08:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-30 08:51 am (UTC)