persona_uni | (no subject)

a. A day in the life

Welcome to yet another day at Vanderhall University. The sun is up, the trees are green, and it’s a little cold but not all that bad. Go to class, or don’t! It’s your day, to do as you want on this perfectly normal college campus that has nothing wrong with it. Clearly.

b. When the clock strikes twelve...

It’s college. Almost no one is in bed by 10, 11, or even midnight. Currently it’s 11:59, and many students (and non-students) are out and about. Some are at the library, working on late night projects or cramming for a test (or several). Some are probably a little, or more than a little, drunk, wandering around with friends or alone. A few might be in their dorms, watching Netflix or just trolling the internet.

But then the clock strikes midnight...

...and suddenly, everything changes.

That computer you were working on, or that phone midtext? Shuts off. It looks like it’s died, but looking around... no technology around is working. Worse, any people you were talking to, or who were even nearby, are now replaced by coffins according to their height. The moon hangs pale and large in the sky, and the entire world is cast in an eerie green light.

Anyone who’s left awake will have maybe a few minutes to take in their surroundings and panic as a result before something else appears. No matter where they are, they will attract creatures like nothing they will have seen before. Even though they’re completely foreign, anyone with a work sense of self-preservation will have their instincts screaming one thing at them.

Run.

[ooc: The game is open! Please feel free to make a top level for one or both prompts; tag around and have fun!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Alec’s lips crack up into an almost-smile at the comment, before he catches himself. He doesn’t need this man to make him happy, he doesn’t want to be happy.

Besides, his follow-up is like a dose of cold water. Of course. Not that Alec could have expected it to go any differently. He’s done nothing but make a nuisance of himself.

“Is that a no to the watch or a kiss? Because I know which one is the better deal.”

"Both." He can't help but want to draw out that half smile again. He finds himself hoping that they are nearly there, because his self-control is waning.

"Though I'm curious to hear your opinion. Given my lowly employment, I'm guessing it's the watch. I could sell it and buy a nice cravat, or a silver dinner set."

Oh. Alec is decidedly not supposed to find himself being charmed, and he’s going to do his best to ignore that, which means clamping down on another half smile, summoning his arrogance instead.

“But the kiss could open up an entirely different world of possibilities.” And he hadn’t actually meant for that to sound as sexual as he realizes it does, as soon as it’s out of his mouth. He’s just going to trip over his own feet for a moment, awkward and fumbling.

Alec acts both older than and exactly his age, and Richard is reminded of the latter in this moment. He remembers himself at eighteen, mature in many ways but still all awkward laughs and red-tipped ears whenever he tried to flirt.

"You're saying I could be in for two watches?" He glances at Alec, a not-so-innocent gleam in his eye. "Tempting, but I'm not quite so poor I need to sell my body." His tone makes it clear that he doesn't really think that's what Alec was implying.

“Nor am I quite so desperate that I need to buy it.” Alec’s words, at least, are still smooth, with the casual arrogance that might come from wealth but doesn’t, not really.

“Although how quickly you leap from an innocent kiss to something more sordid. Perhaps it would stop there, at least until the next time we meet.” That should be an easier sell, shouldn’t it be?

"Perhaps," Richard repeats, his eyebrow raising to show his doubt. Alec has proven his forwardness, and Richard knows his own disposition (and his weakness for voices, he will not think about what that silky voice would sound like strained and wanting).

"I'm afraid the answer is still no."

“You’re missing out.” Alec isn’t going to push the issue any further, not right now, although a part of him wants to, wants for Richard to show him something other than this polite sort of interest in Alec’s continued existence.

Richard certainly isn't going to continue that thread of conversation himself. It's a dangerous one, which has already pushed him to a place where he is thinking about things he should not be thinking about.

Instead, he brings the conversation back to a less pleasant topic. "I forgot to mention. This... may happen every night, now." He can't be sure, this may not be the same as Japan. But better to expect it than be blindsided.

“So I might die all the same.” There’s something almost comforting about that, like the world sliding back into making sense. He’s been granted a postponement, but nothing more.

Alec sounds just as comfortable with this topic than the other one, or maybe even more so. Richard may have done what he felt was necessary for tonight, but Alec isn’t done. Isn't actually saved.

Richard grimaces at the blunt but not unexpected response. "I know you don't fight, but... hiding seemed to work tonight."

He should protect Alec. It's not emotional, he tells himself, it's logical. If he can, with minimal effort, protect another person from the monsters then he should. Before he can pull himself together and assess whether his logic is in any way sound the words fall from his mouth. "When it comes again, stay in your room. I'll find you and take you somewhere safe."

God. What draws him to Alec, when he's known him all of an hour? This isn't the kind of thing Richard does.

Alec turns away, studying the door to his apartment.

"Until you get bored, sure." He's certain it will happen, rather surprised that it hasn't already, but he won't deny Richard this, not if he's quite so set on it. "Or until I do."

Until he gets bored of what - Richard? Living? He doesn't ask.

"Alright. I'll see you... tonight then." He makes a mental note of the location of Alec's room.