College AU! - Small Group RP - Closed

L wasn’t sure what to expect from Orpheus’ new room, since Xichen was living there, too. He wasn’t against Xichen by any means, but he didn’t know him and he was paranoid, so his immediate thought was all the things that could go wrong.
He also had the oddest feeling that Xichen didn’t like him. He wasn’t sure what had tipped him off…but their conversation had been rather short. He frowned a little. Orpheus might know.
Still, Orpheus was apparently dealing with strangely nimble cannibals, so L didn’t want to stress him out any more than absolutely necessary. He was here to help Orpheus after a long day. He wasn’t going to make things harder.
He approached the door, head tilted slightly. Was it locked?
He tried it. It was locked.
Was Orpheus not inside? He wasn’t as careful as L to always lock his doors, but that didn’t mean he never did it. There was a percentage there, but L wasn’t paying attention to it.
He paused, then carefully knocked. He could always break in, but there was no harm in trying this first.

Orpheus hadn’t expected this when he’d signed up to be an RA. Kids sneaking in alcohol and other drugs? Sure. Kids getting homesick and needing a place to go for a night as they struggled with being away from home for the first time? Yeah. He had spent plenty of time over the summer preparing for everything he could think of that could make these kids' lives easier their first semester. He hadn’t planned on them sneaking in through their windows or talking about dismemberment or cannibalism. He believed that most of them (Myrnin was questionable) had good intentions. Hange had been sweet when he’d gone in to check their room, and though Orpheus wasn’t quite sure the conversation about topics to avoid was really a ‘rule’ (as Orpheus well knew, rules were made to be broken, and he’d rather not have Hange wanting to break this one if it meant other people ended up uncomfortable), he thought they probably meant the best.
He was looking forward to L coming over, though. He didn’t know how comfortable L would be stopping by when Xichen was there, but for now they (mostly) had the dorms to themselves.
He was about to text L when he heard the knock, and very carefully opened the door. His smile immediately widened as he recognized L, and he pulled him all the way into the room a few moments later, wrapping him in a hug and letting the door close behind him.

Lan Xichen turned the flashers on on his car, then popped the trunk. He checked his phone screen, but didn't see too many new messages. It would be fine. He was going to get his stuff moved in, and he and Orpheus would manage this. He unloaded a roller suitcase with some clothes inside and his instrument case containing his xiao flute. He closed the trunk but left the flashers on so he wouldn't get towed for parking along the sidewalk nearest to the door. He swiped his keycard along the entrance to the building, then headed up to the fourth floor and keyed into his room.

"Hey," He greeted Orpheus with a smile as he stepped inside. "Well, it looks like the building's still standing."

Nico wasn’t going to ask questions. Asking questions was basically an invitation for Sal to ask him questions, and though he knew there would be questions if they ended up living together, he found that he didn’t really want to answer any right now. He didn’t know Sal. He didn’t know if they were going to be friends or even get along. He wanted to – he wanted making friends to come easy to him, but it was difficult. He thought he and Sal were off to a good start though, at least. Sal already knew about the nightmares and the no touching. Those were some of the big things. As long as he was okay with that… then they’d at least get along. And if Sal’s attitude in the group chat was any indication… they would be fine. Maybe not best friends, but at least fine.
“Hey,” he said in return, looking at the ground instead of meeting Sal’s eyes. He started to swing, very gently gaining speed and height. Sal probably hadn’t intended for them to start swinging, but it was easier than making conversation. Nico sighed… he really needed to get better at meeting people if he was going to succeed here.
“Nice to meet you too,” he added after a moment, finally looking over at Sal. The smile he gave was genuine, though, even if it was hard to see with the back and forth motion of the swings.
They weren’t too close together, at least in Nico’s opinion. There were a couple feet of space between them, and that was enough for Nico. He didn’t think Sal was going to reach over and try to touch him, at least.
“The group chat was kind of crazy tonight,” he commented with a small shrug, letting his gaze drift towards the sky. He slowed to a stop, eyes widening.
“You can see the stars from here,” he whispered in awe, staring up. “I mean… I’ve seen the stars before, but it’s been a long time since I lived this close to them…”

Orpheus looked up as he heard the unmistakable sound of the door unlocking. Thank goodness – he wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be able to hold down the fort without Xichen.
“Everyone’s alive,” he confirmed with a small smile, then stood up to help grab the instrument case from his friend. “Most people haven’t moved in yet, I think. We’ve got Juuzou and Touka and Hange, of course, and I think Noah and Ronan might have snuck in last night? But there are still plenty of people to welcome and check in.” he gave a wide smile, then gestured to part of the floor he had commandeered for nametag making. “I thought we could do them in the shapes of musical instruments. And if they don’t like them, then… well, we’ll have to redo them with something else. But since at least three of them play…”


Maybe one day L would get to meet the residents. If he visited half as often as Orpheus wanted him to, it would be almost unavoidable. But Orpheus didn’t really know how much he could tell L about them. There were some things that were more or less private, but anything they shared in the group chat was probably fair game. Including Myrnin’s potentially cannibalistic tendencies. He shook his head of the thought. He wasn’t going to ruin his time with L by worrying about whether he was doing a good job or not – he hadn’t even been there a day, and there was a whole semester ahead of them. If he was failing now, perhaps he’d start doing better as time went on.
“Hello,” he replied softly, pulling back and intertwining his hand with L’s. “I’ve missed you.” It hadn’t been that long, really, but… any time was too much time. Or maybe that was just Orpheus’ heart talking.
He couldn’t help the small smile that spread over his lips at the feeling of L against him.
“I’m sure it will get better,” he murmured after a moment, glancing down at their hands and then lifting his gaze to meet L’s. “How was your day?” he added after a moment, searching L’s gaze. “I started looking through what you wanted me to for those cases… it’s pretty tedious, like you said. I think I might’ve found something, though?”

Nico wasn’t sure what the difference was between a mask and a prosthetic face, but Sal had called it a prosthetic, so that was what Nico was going to try to refer to it as. He owed Sal that much respect, at least. He was grateful that Sal didn’t seem to mind the swinging. It made it a little bit more difficult to talk, but it was easier to talk without having to look at Sal anyway. It wasn’t a personal thing, it was just that… Nico was bad at talking to people. The prosthetic actually probably made it easier, he wouldn’t have to spend as much time worrying about what Sal’s facial expressions meant.
He breathed out, letting the feeling of the wind through his hair take over. There was nothing to worry about. He was just… meeting the person he was going to live with for the next several months. No pressure.
“I don’t know,” Nico shrugged, looking at Sal as he swung past him. “Some people seemed a little antagonistic, especially towards the RAs. I don’t really blame them, but… yeah I feel bad for the RAs too.” Not as bad as he was going to feel if he ever got scared and froze the entire floor without meaning to, but still. He knew he was going to be a handful. He was just trying to make a good first impression so maybe it wouldn’t be as big a deal when he was.
It was easier to look at the stars. Easier to focus on something that had been there forever and would continue to be there for a very, very long time. There was nothing he could say to upset them. Nothing he could do that would make them stop shining. He could upset Sal pretty easily, though. He didn’t want to do that.
“I hope so,” he said after a long moment, tearing his gaze down from the stars to look at Sal. “The way onto the roof is probably blocked, but I’m good at finding a way.” He wasn’t going to be as flagrant about his rule breaking as some of the others, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to break any rules at all. That wouldn’t be any fun. Not that he usually broke rules for fun, it was just… the few things he enjoyed doing weren’t always permitted by the rules. “If you don’t mind,” he added after a moment. Sal might not be okay with breaking rules. If that was the case, he would have to respect that. Even if it would make rooming with him a little bit harder.

Based on what Orpheus had learned about most of the kids on floor 4, questioning wouldn’t exactly be welcome. Maybe if they were to meet L Orpheus would have to make sure it happened slowly and that they knew what they were getting into. But… Orpheus didn’t think L was nearly as bad at meeting new people as he thought he was. After all, he had made a good enough impression on Orpheus. Orpheus smiled at the thought, remembering the early days with L. Remembering how they had become friends, how they had spent far too long circling each other without ever saying how they felt… and then how things had felt right when they had finally admitted the truth. Or… when Orpheus hadn’t censored his lyrics as well as he should have. He hadn’t really meant the song to be a confession, but he found he was glad it had been.
“Not impossible,” Orpheus replied with a small laugh. “I get the feeling a lot of these kids don’t like authority. Which… I relate to, but as their authority figure it’s sort of unfortunate.” He frowned a little bit at the thought, then shook his head again and turned the whole of his attention towards L. “I don’t know if I want their respect as much as I want them to know that they can talk to me, if they need. College is hard, and I just want to be in their corner.” Not that any of them seemed to have accepted that yet. “At least three of them are well on their way to receiving breaking and entering charges.” If they found out Orpheus’ boyfriend was a detective… well, then they’d keep doing what they were doing, but there was no way Orpheus would be in the know. They could easily get hurt that way… but he wasn’t worrying about that now.
“You know you can complain to me about it if you want,” he said quietly, squeezing L’s hand as he led him to his computer. “But I looked through the sightings you sent me. I think… if the ones that I think are credible are, that you might be able to trace him. I started putting together the route he might’ve gone, but… you’d probably be better at telling if I’m right than I am.”

“I mean… I get it,” Nico replied with a soft shrug. “They probably didn’t anticipate having students that aren’t a lot like them, and they were getting overwhelmed about it. If I were the sort of person who liked pushing other people’s buttons I would have had a field day. I get the sense a lot of people think they’re adults by now and they don’t need any rules or any help. I guess… I sort of feel the same way. I’ve been through enough that I don’t need people telling me what to do or how to live my life. I’m just not going to be mean to them because of it.” He knew his life was fundamentally different from most people’s. He knew most people hadn’t been living on their own since they were ten, figuring out how to survive and fend for themselves. He had gone to camp for part of that time so he hadn’t really needed to worry about food, but he’d still been the boss of himself. There had been Chiron to worry about, but Chiron tended to be pretty lax about rules, and he had reached an agreement with the cleaning harpies. He was far better equipped to live on his own than he figured most people here were, but he had signed up for the traditional college experience, including dorms and roommates and, yes, RAs.
“I know they want to help,” he added after a moment, but once everything’s established, the best thing for them to do is probably just host their events and inspect our rooms when they have to and then let us do our own thing.” His tone wasn’t exactly critical, but he didn’t think that was what Orpheus and Xichen were going to do. He could be wrong, of course, but he found he didn’t really want them butting into his life any more than they needed to. They didn’t’ know anything about him. Nobody here did.
“Hm?” His eyes widened a little as he processed what Sal was saying. He wasn’t offended or weirded out, it was… well, it was sweet.
“Thanks, Sal,” he said after a long moment, turning so he could see him a little better. “I don’t think that will happen. I’ve… spent a lot of time living on my own though, so I might not always be the best roommate. Just… tell me if I’m doing anything you don’t like. And if I ever make you uncomfortable… same goes.” Was that good enough? He shifted a little uncomfortably, trying to figure out what to say next.
“Do you sleep in your prosthetic?” Nico asked suddenly, searching Sal’s gaze. “Just ‘cause… I know you said you don’t like people seeing you without it, but I can’t imagine it would be very comfortable to sleep with, but if you don’t maybe… I could help you put up a curtain or something around your bed so that… so that you wouldn’t have to worry about it. Or… something.”

What Orpheus didn’t say was that plenty of the residents seemed strange enough on their own. L’s brand of strange didn’t seem like it would be a surprise except perhaps to the more criminally minded. It seemed, at least, that they weren’t likely to be the type of criminals L went after. Except maybe Myrnin. Orpheus still hoped he was joking about the eating people thing. It made his stomach crawl a little. He’d have plenty of time to figure that out, though, and if people on the floor started getting anemic… maybe he’d have to call in L to investigate, even if he didn’t like the idea of doing that.
“Authority poisons people,” Orpheus murmured softly, thumb gently tracing a pattern over the back of L’s hand. “I’m only going to have authority for a short time, though, so hopefully it won’t have time to do that.” His expression turned into something of a smile. He had taken the position not because he wanted power, but because he wanted to make the student experience better. Because he knew what it was like to be alone and struggling, and he didn’t want any of his freshmen to go through that without at least knowing that there was someone willing to help.
“Are you suggesting I help the residents break the law?” Orpheus asked, a small smile spreading across his face. “I’ve already asked Kelsier to show them how to break in without breaking the screen. At least that will limit the property damage. Not that… they know I’ve done that. They’re probably still mad at Xichen and I for telling them it’s probably not a good idea to climb in through the windows instead of using the doors.” He was rambling. He didn’t do that very often, just when he was stressed about something. And he was.
“Anyway,” he declared, pushing the thought away, “the residents are a problem for tomorrow.”
His gaze tracked L’s as the detective looked through his work. It wasn’t necessarily easy work, but it was a nice break from the type of work he had to do for school. He’d gotten almost halfway decent at tracking sightings and other tedious tasks.
“Huh?” Well… that he hadn’t expected. “No, I… well, if I did it wasn’t intentional. Not intentional, but… probably good, right?” He had noticed something odd about a couple of the sightings, but he hadn’t paid it much mind. He had just connected them in the way that made the most sense to him.

L | Room 4C | strider

They’d have to be impressively criminally minded to be someone L would go after...though he knew better than most that even very young people could be very dangerous. And with cannibalism a possibility, he couldn’t be too sure he wouldn’t end up here for a less pleasant reason. It hadn’t happened yet, though, and he was doing his best not to jump to any conclusions
“Authority is power, and all power poisons people,” he replied, glancing at Orpheus. “But I can’t imagine that happening to you. No, I don’t think you have to worry about that.”
At least Orpheus seemed to want to do this, even if the first day had been a little hard. Orpheus was genuinely trying to help, not control anyone. He was trying to be there as someone who could help, that was all. L hoped the residents saw that sooner rather than later.
He tilted his head a moment later, and the sort of mischievous smile only Orpheus could really get out of him slid over his features. “I’m only pointing out that if they’re criminals, they’ll be more trusting of a fellow lawbreaker than anyone who could safely turn them in. And as kids, they naturally have a problem with adults and authorities in general. So...if they’re both criminals and kids...they’ll trust someone who’s similar to to them more than someone who both could and probably would stop them. Criminals trust criminals, generally, since once you break the law you have selfish reasons not to get authorities involved. That’s why deals exist.”
He was definitely overthinking this, but...it was a problem and those tended to suck him in no matter how small, it seemed.
Either way, he concentrated on the findings instead.
“Yes...yes, this is very good,” he confirmed, glancing up to smile at Orpheus. “One large case is much better than four smaller ones, and this is an excellent clue. I can use this.”
It had been tedious work, he knew. And he’d only given it because Orpheus had offered, but...sometimes Orpheus saw things he didn’t. Their minds worked incredibly differently, after all.
“It makes me consider where the robbery could be connected somehow…” he mused, pursing his lips a little. “I don’t see how, but I can’t reasonably discount anything just yet.”

Sal | Park | strider

Sal knew they weren’t friends. He knew they might never be friends. He wasn’t even completely sure Nico wanted that to be on the table, he was just...trying his best to be friendly and not make anyone uncomfortable. He hoped he was doing okay with that so far.
He wasn’t that worried about Nico’s nightmares...mostly because he had his own to worry about. Nico couldn’t keep someone up when that someone wasn’t likely to be asleep in the first place. Sal planned to leave Nico alone as much as he possibly could, though, even if they both happened to be up at the same time. Not that he wouldn’t offer hot chocolate or warm milk when the time struck, but if Nico would rather they ignore each other, Sal would do he very best to respect that.
He gave a small nod. Nico was right...there hadn’t been any real confrontation. And if there was, Sal could handle it. He just didn’t like to, that was all.
Of all the people there so far, Nico and Newt, and maybe? Noah? Possibly? Seemed friendliest. He wasn’t sure about a few of them, Myrnin and Ronan and Zuko mainly. Although he couldn’t really hold Zuko’s desire for privacy about his reasons over his head. Sal might have felt the same if he’d ever had any, but...prosthetic on your face. It was a little obvious. There was no being discreet for Sal Fisher.
“I’d take partiers over cannibals, personally.” He sighed, swinging a little. “Had a cannibal run in at my old school. It wasn’t fun. I’m just hoping Myrnin has a unique sense of humor…”
He swung silently for a moment, contemplating the chances of running into two unrelated cannibals before you hit twenty. They didn’t seem good. But, then, since when did the odds favor him?
“Will do,” he shook the thoughts firmly away and looked at Nico, nodding a little. “If they poke into your stuff, just let me know and I’ll talk to them.”
He looked at the sky again, letting the swing slow to a stop. He loved the stars...he always felt like he could sit and stare at them forever. He didn’t know the stories...didn’t even know their names. He just knew they were beautiful.
“Hm? Oh...I guess.” He murmured sheepishly, not looking at Nico. The stars held his gaze. “I just figured Zuko must have a reason and if I don’t know what it is, then how can I saw mine is better? I mean I wish he felt comfortable telling us but I get that he might not be ready to share it with a bunch of people he doesn’t know.”
He considered that Zuko might be doing something illegal or otherwise nefarious. It seemed...possible. As long as he wasn’t hurting anyone, Sal was inclined to leave it alone.
“Thanks, man.” He said quietly, glancing at Nico. “Same here.”

Nico wasn’t sure what he wanted out of this arrangement. Just ignoring each other seemed, on the surface, like a good plan, but that wasn’t going to work if Sal kept up like he was now. Nico wasn’t often swayed by a friendly smile, because there was very rarely any understanding behind it. People who insisted on being nice all the time claimed that they could understand, but they really never could. Sal, though… Sal seemed to understand. He couldn’t understand all of it, of course, because he’d probably never been part of two wars, but… whatever he had been through, he had the scars to prove it. Nico was grateful that he was able to hide most of his scars. They covered almost every inch of his body, but he’d been pretty good about protecting his face. As long as he kept covered up, nobody would ever see his scars. Not that he knew for sure that there were scars under Sal’s prosthetic, but… he had been specific about calling it a prosthetic, not a mask. Prosthetics were used to make up for some part of the body that didn’t work the way it should, or one that had been damaged. Nobody was that self-conscious about their face that they would wear something over it at all times unless they had scars to hide. Not that Nico was going to ask.
“I don’t know,” Nico replied, a hint of a smile touching his expression. “Cannibals you can fight. Drunk people you just have to tolerate.” He let the words hang in the air for a moment before the smile disappeared and he shrugged. “I’m joking. Although you probably couldn’t pay me enough to go to a party. Too many people. Too loud.” Perfect place to be ambushed. He didn’t say that last part out loud – the less Sal knew about Nico’s past, the better. He might be fine with the nightmare-prone touch averse boy he was meeting now, but if he knew how much of Nico’s life had been spent fighting? How familiar he was with monsters that ate people, even if those monsters weren’t other people? No, that was all best kept a secret. There was a reason Nico had learned how to hide his sword in shadows. He couldn’t really be seen with a sword on a college campus, but he didn’t feel safe without it accessible.
“Sorry to hear you’ve dealt with cannibals before,” he added after a moment, letting himself swing just a little bit higher. Was that response appropriate? Too casual? It was hard to gauge what was normal for people to deal with, but he didn’t think cannibals was at the top of that list.
Nico couldn’t imagine not knowing the stars. Not knowing their names and their stories, not knowing how they differed now from several thousand years ago.
“I get not wanting to tell people,” Nico replied with a small shrug, “but I think it was rude how he did it. I mean… I didn’t really want to tell everyone I have nightmares, but… I guess they’ll all find out at some point.”
He was starting to feel a little bit comfortable around Sal. Or… at least feel that maybe he could feel comfortable around him someday.

Sal | Park | strider

Sal made an effort to be nice, but he was hardly that way all the time. He tried to treat people with kindness not because he understood what they’d been through, but because he didn’t. Because they could never understand what he’d been through, and he could never understand what they’d been through. He thought you never really knew anyone, deep down.
So you gave them the benefit of the doubt.
There was no hiding his scars. No avoiding the double takes for Sal. He was used to it, and though it made him uncomfortable at times he couldn’t hold it against anyone, not really. Who else wore a prosthetic face, after all?
He called it a prosthetic for a reason, and he corrected people who called it a mask, because it wasn’t a mask. Masks covered your face. This was his face.
He knew there were plenty of people who were curious about what was under his prosthetic, but that didn’t mean they were ever going to find out. He wore it for a reason.
He gave a quiet laugh. “Oh, you can fight drunk people,” he assured Nico, shaking his head a little. “It’s just a bad idea. And they tend to fight each other, anyway, so…” he trailed off, not quite wanting to finish that thought.
“I don’t mind parties,” he said thoughtfully instead. “I mean...small parties. With people I know. Which is not what you meant, is it?”
He considered. “I don’t hate hate them,” he decided after a moment. “But I’d rather be somewhere else. I don’t drink and I don’t eat in public, and I would rather hang with people I know, y’know? The music isn’t bad, though. And if the host has a cat, I’ll go.”
He didn’t know Nico’s past. And Nico didn’t know his. And he had no idea how this was going to go, only that he liked Nico so far and hoped he was making a good impression.
He shrugged a little. The cannibal situation was in the past and dealt with, as far as Sal was concerned. It was far from normal, but then, Sal was used to that.
He didn’t know why he’d never learned about the stars. He liked them. He’d just...never actually studied them. Maybe he would, now that he could see them better, now that he had a roof he could (probably illegally) hang out on.
He glanced at Nico again. “I guess so,” he answered, nodding a little. “Him and Ronan and Myrnin are the ones who make me the most nervous, but I haven’t met them in person yet, so…” he shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m just glad it worked out the way it did.”
He, too, was beginning to feel at ease. Not completely, that would take a little longer, but Nico seemed a potential friend, and Sal couldn’t help hoping it worked out.

There was a lot about Sal that Nico didn’t know yet. A lot that he was bound to learn over the course of living with him, things that weren’t particularly important now, when they were just getting to know each other. Maybe one day Nico would know the thoughts running through Sal’s head. Maybe one day Sal would know the things running through Nico’s. Maybe not, though. Maybe they would be the sorts of roommates that just managed to coexist without hating each other. Frankly… that was all Nico was willing to hope for. He wasn’t easy to be friends with. He could be abrasive, he didn’t like touch, he was easily frightened by things that normal people weren’t… there were any number of reasons to avoid being his friend, and that was before he even thought about the things that had kept a lot of people from Camp away from him. He wasn’t normal. He was beginning to get the feeling Sal wasn’t normal either, but… he pushed the thought away. Either they were going to get along, or they weren’t. There was no use overthinking it before they’d even really started getting to know each other. Even though being known was… frightening. He’d get used to it eventually. Because as scary as it was, it was also very, very rewarding.
“Ethically you probably shouldn’t fight drunk people,” Nico amended, the ghost of a smile touching his face. “They’ve probably not done as much to warrant it as cannibals have. And it wouldn’t exactly be a fair fight.” He stared at the ground for a moment, realizing too late that not everyone had the same experience fighting as he did. Beating a drunk person for him would be easy. It might not be, for everyone.
“I’ve never been to a party like that,” Nico admitted, turning his head to get a better look at Sal. “I’ve never really experienced parties. I sort of just assumed they were all the big loud get drunk kind. Not that I’ve been to one of those, either, but… you see them all the time in movies and stuff.” He didn’t know if he drank. He’d never tried it, but he was fairly certain he didn’t want to. He needed his reflexes as sharp as they could be, especially since he was still walking monster bait. He shouldn’t have survived to seventeen, but here he was. And he wasn’t about to let the people near him get hurt because a monster went after Nico when he wasn’t fit to defend himself.
“I don’t know what to think about anyone,” Nico admitted after a moment, not looking away from the sky. “Juuzou seems… like a lot. But maybe that’s just over text. I mean so far you’ve been pretty accurate to how you seem over text. That just… might not be the case for anyone else. And I guess… sometimes people don’t turn out to be who you thought they were on first meeting. It’ll probably take us a while to actually get a feel for anyone.”