[JOB] A Reserved Admirer [Hoss & Lumine]

by **Hoss** Sun Aug 19, 2012 5:30 pm

His shoulders were pressed hard against the side of the brick building, a cigarette between his lips as he lit up and took that first drag. As he inhaled his eyes shut and he let it take over. There was nothing, and I mean nothing, like the first smoke of the day. Never mind the fact that he was getting paid a good amount of cash for such an easy task but here he was actually managing to enjoy it a little. The Western District was always somewhere he enjoyed going to because it was a nice change of pace from the south after all.

Looking down at the scribbled notes he read them carefully. There was a description of her complete with a picture sent to his shitty cell phone, a normal time for her to show up at the University as well as the address of said University. Hoss thought this would be particularly easy because he already dressed like a University student and was around that age still.

"Who knows, H. Maybe, just maybe, you'll enroll here and do something with your life. You could be an astronaut." He had no fucking clue why he was being so sarcastic toward himself. He had always been really good at school but he had a bad attitude and didn't get along with teachers. He loved reading though, he could read for hours on his own and get lost in a library if he was left to his own devices. He remembered the last time he was at school was his senior year just before he dropped out to live on his own, he had skipped classes to spend the entire day reading in the library. He was caught of course, but after dropping out an hour later he returned to the library and took a little souvenir.

He stole his hat right off the old male librarian.

That's when he saw her, the girl, Lumine.

He outed his smoke before making his way over to her, "Hey!" He began jogging to catch up with wherever the hell she was heading. "Hey, can you help me out for a second?"

by **Lumine** Tue Aug 21, 2012 10:47 pm

One day after the Lancaster incident, Lumine was back in her small office at the university where she worked. The paperwork for her research proposal was mounted on her desk like some sort of tower, each one containing some set of rules, guidelines, ethical propositions, forms for funding and whatever level of bureaucratic work that the university imposed on its students. The only problem now was the fact that Lumine wanted just a little bit of money for the project. That alone had driven up the amount of work by a significant amount. Lumine sighed and laid her head on the desk, leaving a slight red mark on her forehead as she thought of what exactly to do at this point. The program was worth it, but the work, good god the work.

Lumine was almost sure there was a whole tree sitting on her desk. And on top of that, Solstice. What exactly had she gotten herself into? An actual gang? It wasn't generally her style to join a group, but they had promised things that were hard to refuse, and even she could admit, the effect was far reaching through the city. They did things others couldn't do, some good, and others questionable. One could certainly hope however, that her own perspective would change with time as they explained their actions.

Lumi didn't believe anyone was evil for the sake of being evil. Including herself.

Finally done with her own thoughts Lumi's stomach grumbled lightly, indicating a need for sustenance at the time. Not in the mood for cafeteria food however, she sought food on the outskirts of the campus, where gyros and sushi remained in good taste. Pulling on her coat and walking out, Lumine made a beeline for the nearest sources of food.

"Hey!"

Slightly surprised, Lumine stopped and turned around. Apparently the exclamation had been for her.

"Eh?"

"Hey, can you help me out for a second?"

"I think so? What do you need?"

Huh. Interesting fellow. Out of all the people around, she was the one who had to be picked of all things. Strange, but not unheard of.

by **Hoss** Tue Aug 21, 2012 11:32 pm

So here it was, game time. Never mind the fact that he had no idea what this girl was like but now he was going to have to essentially talk to her about what she would and wouldn't like from some admirer. She was kind of cute though, no wonder this person had a thing for her. Hell, he might even carry a torch for her if it was going to be worth while. Not to mention the bright green. So she was a harbinger. Great, just great. He was essentially stalking someone who probably had some scary ability.

"Actually, I had a lot of questions..." He said as he scratched at the base of his neck nervously. "I mean, about the University. I don't really want to talk to one of the counsellors or career types, I'd much rather ask someone who experiences the University sort of day by day without much bias. Professor, student, something other than administration you know? Just to see if it's all worth it."

He dropped the hand down to his bag, grasping the strap and keeping his arm to it as he tried to bring this little proposition in for a landing. "So if you had the time, I would treat you to lunch. I promise it won't be too much poking and prodding, just trying to get an idea of University life and whether or not the formal education is really worth all the trouble."

He didn't believe it was for a second. Paying people so that other people could tell you what they knew. It seemed so limited. Books on the other hand were much less expensive and were amassed information sources for what several people knew, edited throughout the centuries as new knowledge gave birth to new views on the world and scientific discoveries.

"You can even pick the place."

Not like I'm paying with real credits anyway.

by **Lumine** Wed Aug 22, 2012 12:11 am

Lumine just kind of stared at the man as he went through his talk. Normally, Lumine would be slightly wary of someone suddenly asking her questions, but the man was in fact, a harbinger. The unnatural red in his eyes confirmed that much, unless he was wearing contacts of course. But that sort of instance was one in a million. Lumine had one of the students in a class she assisted for actually do that. It was a strange feeling. People generally distanced themselves from harbingers, not mingled with them.

Lumi thought about her answer for a moment, then responded positively, as there was food in the deal for her.

"I can never say no to free food. Come on, I know a great Thai place."

Lumine nodded and started walking. The small building was only about a five minute walk, not particularly far at all. The food was also exceptional, when you had a waiter that didn't hate you. They were always great the first time, but when one of her friends had left a small tip, they remembered by spicing up the next meal to nuclear levels. It was never good for business, but it WAS comedy gold. The two were seated quite quickly, followed by receiving quick appetizers.

"I'm Lumine. To whom do I owe the pleasure of lunch anyways?"

by **Hoss** Thu Aug 23, 2012 11:56 pm

Never say no to food. Look at that, he already figured something out about this girl. He could tell her secret admirer that she liked food and even where from. She chose the place which meant she obviously liked it so much that when food came free she preferred it from there. He joined her walking next to her with one arm resting atop his messenger bag and his other with a thumb hooking inside his pocket.

As they seemed to find the place he kept his eye on the environment. It didn't seem too spendy, which was pretty relaxing for him. He had a bit of money but he was going to definitely be asking for more pay from the guy who gave him this job. He'd call it an expense in equipment and strategy. It was true enough, besides he was technically feeding the girl he liked so it was in the guy's interest to pay for the meal this way, right?

When she spoke up he was surprised that she gave him her real name, it was kind of touching and brought on a response that he wasn't intending for. "Harvey, Harvey McCray."

Smooth. He would normally never use his real name but two seconds of pure honesty hit him there. Might as well go ahead and just be straight up with her. The honesty always helped with the lies anyhow. "I uh, I haven't been in school for awhile I guess. I dropped out senior year. My grades were near 4.0 except for one or two classes where I skipped because of teachers. I guess I just want to know how different University is from, say, public school. You know, for starters."

He held a curious look as he poked at some of the appetizers, "I've also never had Thai... looks good though." He watched and waited to see what she tried first, he'd probably just carbon copy her order for the most part once the servers made their way back, right down to the drink. At least that way if he didn't like something he could fork it over to her.

by **Lumine** Fri Aug 24, 2012 8:39 am

"Most universities won't take you without a high school diploma, although they do have entrance exams in lieu of graduating."

May as well get that little tidbit out of the way. Harvey seemed like a reasonable gentleman to start off, and if he didn't finish school, and went somewhere else instead, it made sense that he wouldn't know much about the system. The city was also a variable in their higher than average young harbinger population, which would make the transition even stranger for him should he choose to pursue higher learning. He reported his grades as very high, but of course, teachers were capable of ruining that really quick if they were given the proper motivation. Eventually, their waitress came back with a small notepad.

"Crab rangoon please. Thanks. You'll like it. Just go easy on the sauce when it gets here, it can get spicy."

Lumine picked up a couple of the appetizers, dipped and munched on them while she thought her answer through. It wasn't long before she had one.

"Well...for one, you're accountable for everything you do. You won't ever have a professor yelling at you for missing a day, or missing homework. You just take the hit and that's that. Not to say they don't care, but you know, when you're lecturing 100+ people, attendance is the last thing on their mind."

Lumine often took advantage of that. She was ahead in her classes enough that she could afford the occasional day out or what not. Her interview with Riley for example had been scheduled on a time that she had class. She had simply picked up the lecture slides and the recording, and listened afterward. Honestly, if someone wanted to, they would never have to actually attend a lecture. It was quite a convenient setup actually...Lumine needless to say, got a fair few number of off days.

"Teachers I'm assuming didn't take kindly to being a harbinger?"

by **Hoss** Sat Aug 25, 2012 1:16 am

The first statement may have been true except that it was easy enough for him to go to University. Not just a placement entry exam but also the continuing education programs he had seen advertised for some. Granted most of those were community college level he could still do that and then work toward Uni if he really wanted to. Still, it was probably one of those opening lines where they were making sure you didn't have hopes set high without any real facts.

"Yeah I'll have the Crab Rangoon also," He said. Go easy on the sauce because it can get spicy? Okay. He wasn't really against spicy food so that was good at least. He didn't normally seek it out or anything but it was a nice change of pace from the usual. Some part of him was always sort of a meat and potatoes sort of guy when it came to day to day eating so this would definitely be a learning experience for him in more ways than one.

"That's good," he noted toward the fact that you didn't get yelled at for missing stuff. It meant that if he wanted to walk in and not give a shit he could. Then again, most of the time when he didn't do his homework at school it was because home life had gotten a bit distracting. He'd go to do an assignment and it'd just be too loud or get interrupted too often so he would immerse himself in a novel. Sometimes he'd immerse in a school book and come to class able to pass any test the teacher wanted to hand out without a single assignment to show for it. Most of them just thought he was cheating using his powers somehow.

Speaking of his powers, it seemed she had gotten onto the topic of his, or at least the fact he was a Harbinger. "It didn't help any, but I don't think it was the only reason they didn't take kind to me. I have issues with a false sense of power. In my school teachers seemed to take advantage of the fact that they decided your grades. It was as if they were somehow made so much higher than everyone else simply because they were teaching us. I guess I was the only one who saw it as it was. They were providing a service, guaranteed by the government. Taxes went to make sure I was given an education and they were paid to provide it. At least, that was my view then. Not sure I care enough to have a view on it now."

He leaned back gently, "Just... I'll talk to someone at a bar every now and then, a girl or a guy who mentions college courses they are taking and how their professors are their friends almost. Most kids like that in school were the brown nosers but I know a brown noser when I see one and these weren't brown nosers. They were the same sort of kids in the smoking dugout at school paying me a dollar a cigarette."

He took a long sip of water. He was feeling a bit thirsty and while water didn't help wash down spice that well the sauce he was dipping into felt a little milder afterward.

by **Lumine** Sun Aug 26, 2012 6:12 am

"Yeah, picking your own days to go in works wonders. Of course there's always exams, labs and whatnot that you probably should attend in order to get your grade though. Miss one of those, and your entire year can go bad. I've gotten relatively lucky with my classes, and I'll be well on my way out soon...at least out of classes. I've got a research gig now. Decent money and what not."

Lumine's good mood meant that she was willing to talk much more than usual. And in her mind, much more was probably to the point of annoyance for Harvey. Sure, he had asked a question, but a simple question often meant only a simple answer was needed. Lumine had done well in school. Sure, she wasn't perfect, but often, the faculty regarded absolutely perfect performance out of academics as a failing elsewhere. People that didn't participate in other activities, people that didn't have jobs, that didn't have real world experience. Lumine had no job, but her skill set often took her places, some more dangerous than others.

She drank a sip of water while listening to Harvey for a minute. Harbinger abilities often interfered with the normal learning process. Lumine herself was never scrutinized as her own skills were registered to be non-invasive to her education, but others often found it more difficult. Special methods of coping however were generally easy to come by. University professors were often willing to go out of the way to help as well for some strange reason.

"In high school? Yeah. Underpaid, dealing with a handful of rowdy students generally made things difficult for everyone at the same time. I'm pretty sure others noticed, but didn't bother doing anything about it...you've got that point right on the money though. University courses are far more simple. I've never really theorized why, but even if the professor is bad at teaching, they try to help if you ask them nicely."

by **Hoss** Sun Aug 26, 2012 4:37 pm

Research? So this anonymous person was digging on a researcher? Some people had strange tastes, maybe they worked at the University? Either way it told him more about her at least. Maybe she'd like research grants more than say, a coffee machine. Then again, maybe her coffee machine was broken and she liked espresso. Still though there was some regurgitated basics. So you should go to exams and labs or else your grade would go down....

Spoiler:

Basics aside after a bit of conversation she seemed to summarize the good information. It was simple, instructors helped if you asked and everything was pretty much based off of your work and not your attendance. Attitude didn't seem to be something that would even come into play by the way she was describing it.

"Assignments themselves were never that hard for me. I mean distractions came often but, living on my own I don't have that problem," He did think the commute was a bit much though. "Is there any sort of financial aid at the moment? I mean, I could probably swing tuition costs with a payment plan if I had to but if there's any sort of aid that'd make things a lot simpler for me."

The food had seemed to arrive as identical plates were set in front of them. Harvey looked down at the dumplings and sauces and wondered if it would taste as good as he had hoped it might. He had always liked crab, so this should have been good. "Moment of truth," he said as he dipped it into what looked like a spicier sauce before taking a bite. It had been good but she was right. That sauce was spicy. The dumpling was still pretty piping hot as well, causing Harvey to have to open his mouth slightly and take in sharp breaths to bring down the heat. He managed to mumble, "Ish good."

by **Lumine** Sun Aug 26, 2012 11:30 pm

The assignments were never particularly hard for anyone, it was simply the effort that someone had to put into them. If your Google-fu was strong, you could actually axe out a single research paper in one night. One long night, but still, it was certainly possible. Distractions were always around. Lumine herself was distracted by the requirements of good food, proper lighting in her office and of course, a plentiful supply of good coffee and a soundtrack to go with it all. That done, if there was something good on the internet, her efforts would all be for nothing.

"You're a harbinger. There's always financial aid. It's why some people will hate you so much if you attend."

The school was harbinger friendly, as they were immensely rare. Two thousand in a city of one million. The problem with being a rarity was that although many people feared harbingers, a few others were actually jealous of their abilities. The school gave out money in the name of diversity...although having near supernatural powers was not quite an accepted thing as of yet.

Finally, plates arrived with the rangoon, which as always, looked appetizing, and even more so since it wasn't on her own dime.

"I told you it would be delicious. If you want, I can talk to admissions and get you papers if you want. I'm sure they'd take you pretty quickly."

by **Hoss** Mon Aug 27, 2012 12:36 am

"Harbinger financial aid?" That sounded like some sort of oxymoronic statement. As if they were below others in terms of special treatment rather than above. It did make it easier that he wouldn't have to make copies of bills and find some way of laundering them to get real money that stays together on a molecular level after ten minutes. "Not bad."

The food had been swallowed down by this point, leaving his throat with a bit of a burn and his mouth with a bit of a tingle. She would know that this was fact as well considering she was a Harbinger and probably went through this process herself. "You know what though, considering all I've gone through for being what I am I guess I am do with a little bit of special benefits like that. I'm glad there's financial aid for people like us."

Mostly because I'm getting the benefits!

"So yeah, that would be great of you, Lumine." He just had one or two other questions.

Nothing to do with college though.

"How about this, I'll give you my number or something, if you could talk and get some of the paperwork, maybe we could meet up again for coffee or something. My treat. I should understand the papers and all that myself but I've got to admit you've got me interested in whatever it is you're researching, not that I would need a reason to ask you out on coffee date anyway."

He grinned over as he munched on more Rangoon, it had cooled down a bit and it allowed for him to better appreciate the flavours. He used a little less sauce on this one too so that it didn't overwhelm the crab flavour. It was pretty damned good.

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