slow progress

[keep_busy]

Eventually Annie goes home for the day. Her mother lives a long but doable walk from campus, but Annie makes the trip by tricycle for speed and safety, or bus when the ice is too bad to allow riding. This is a trike day.

She tells her mother as straightforwardly as she can what has happened.

Her mother wants to meet the boy, but accepts that this should probably wait until the situation with Zevaia changes one way or another.

A few hours after Annie gets home, she gets a call from the Dean's office. There are results in; she can go hear them at the office. Apparently they're not supposed to release them over the phone for some obscure reason of policy.

Coat goes back on Annie, Annie goes back on trike, trike goes back on campus.

Comments

[touchedinthehead]

"If you'd like me to let go, I will, I'm just - I really, really want you to be safe."

[keep_busy]

"If the knife wanders onto campus you have my permission to pick me up and lock me in a closet."

[touchedinthehead]

"Thank you." He pauses. ".... If it were to randomly wander onto campus and - and get you, can I - the necklace, I'm - I don't want you to be forced or - but I - do you prefer that over -" He makes a little unhappy sound and curls around her more. "What do I do in that situation?"

[keep_busy]

"I would rather be necklaced than cut."

[touchedinthehead]

"Okay," he whimpers, obviously rather distressed. "But I don't want either option. Okay? I will go with locking you in a closet before any of those options and - and I don't know, I would rather grab teleportation than let the knife near you."

[keep_busy]

"I understand."

Hug.

[touchedinthehead]

Hug. Extra snuggly hug.

"I need to make the knife go away," he growls, a little desperately.

[keep_busy]

"Yes. I know. The only thing you can do right now is wait for the dean." Hug.

[touchedinthehead]

He nods, a little. "They should have - multiple people touched with the harp, it's not efficient."

[keep_busy]

"It's not, but they want a monopoly on identification."

[touchedinthehead]

Aldaras quietly mutters some very impolite obscenities about them and their stupid power games getting people killed.

[keep_busy]

"I'm not sure if they're really turning away a lot of volunteers at the door," Annie points out quietly.

[touchedinthehead]

"Probably not," he sighs. "Ugh."

[keep_busy]

"The side effect isn't strictly unpleasant, but I don't think he has time to do anything but eat and work, when he's awake. If he were more efficient - if I thought I could get ahold of the damn thing without having to give the university all my privacy and undying loyalty and complete control over my care - if artifacts needing identification turned up often enough that he had a backlog - then I'd consider it. But none of those things are true."

[touchedinthehead]

"Same here. I'm just - upset. Sorry, I'm mildly taking it out on you..."

[keep_busy]

"It's okay."

[touchedinthehead]

He looks down at her, moves a hand to adjust a lock of her hair, but abruptly stops midway there. Aldaras makes a complicated face, and then touches her cheek with a thumb and carefully pulls out of the protective snuggles.

"Still, sorry. The - extreme reaction to you being - not safe caught me by surprise. I knew it was important to keep you safe but I hadn't though about what would happen if you weren't." He shudders, a bit.

[keep_busy]

"Well - don't dwell on it? It doesn't seem helpful."

[touchedinthehead]

"Yeah," he agrees. "Lesson learned."

[keep_busy]

Annie takes his hand and squeezes it.

[touchedinthehead]

He smiles a little at her. "Thanks."

[keep_busy]

"You're welcome."

[touchedinthehead]

Oh look. It's the return of the adoring gaze. What a surprise.

[keep_busy]

Annie giggles.

[touchedinthehead]

"I'm doing it again, aren't I?" he snorts.