College AU! - Small Group RP - Closed

Noah glanced back at the area with the tents, then gave a small nod. He had watched them all retreat in that direction one by one, and though he hadn’t seen them leave, it was possible they had gone somewhere without coming near the campfire. His nod turned into a shrug halfway, but he doubted Ronan would notice.
“I think so. They all walked that way, but maybe they went somewhere else. They can’t be far, though, cause they didn’t have the car or anything, and Juuzou’s been with me, so nobody could have stolen the motorcycle.” He hesitated at that, then glanced back at Juuzou.
“Can we build a motorcycle ramp and see how high we can jump on your bike before you have to give it back?”

Newt looked up at the sound of footsteps coming nearer, only to realize that Juuzou had made it much closer than he had expected based on the sound. It seemed he was awfully light on his feet. It was sort of impressive – if Newt could run like that, he would put less stress on the leg he had injured back in high school. Maybe he would ask Juuzou to give him a few pointers. He gave a small smile and raised a hand in greeting, though it didn’t appear as though either Ronan or Noah had followed. He could hear Noah’s voice, excited as he spoke to Ronan about the fireworks. And about other things too, it seemed. There was no question that Newt had only been taken along because he was there. Noah was the boy who really should have gone. At least he didn’t seem upset that Newt had taken his place.
“Well… I hope you think it’s fun,” Newt told Sal, pulling his attention back towards the other boy. “I guess we’ll have to see.”
He looked up at Zuko, considering his words, then gave a small nod.
“I can’t speak for Ronan, but… yeah. Sure.”

Zuko forced himself to breathe out once more. He wasn’t going to get very far if he couldn’t even breathe. At least Sal was reassuring. He knew that Sal wasn’t the expert on the right thing to say, and using him as such would be incredibly toxic, but it felt… unusual (and pleasant) to have someone in his corner. Someone who was going to assume that he meant the best unless he said something absolutely egregious and explicit. He also had a feeling that Sal wouldn’t sugarcoat things. If something Zuko said was offensive, then he would tell him. He might miss something, and he might not be right all the time, but… Zuko trusted his opinion. And if Sal was wrong, then it was Zuko who had said the offensive thing in the first place, and therefore the blame rested on Zuko’s shoulders alone. Probably. Sometimes it was easier to lash out and blame the people around him. He was going to do his best not to blame Sal unfairly.
“Thank you,” he managed, trying to keep the relief out of his tone. He needed them to see the apology as genuine. It was genuine, of course, but he didn’t want them to think it was entirely out of obligation.

Noah grinned, giving Juuzou an enthusiastic nod. “My dad taught me!” he exclaimed, though he failed to mention that he had never built a ramp without his dad and his technical expertise. He couldn’t imagine it would be too terribly difficult. It might just be… mildly hard. He didn’t know where they would do it or how, but he had a feeling they would work it out. He wanted to try to do a jump on a motorcycle, especially if Juuzou actually knew how to do one. Content with the answer, Noah turned back to Ronan, hoping the other boy wouldn’t mention that it had also been at least eight years since he had last thought about building a ramp. There were a million reasons it was a bad idea. The one reason it wasn’t was overwhelming, though: it would be fun.

Zuko glanced at Sal for a long moment, then at Newt. He had things to say to both of them, but he didn’t want to have to go through the apology twice. He also didn’t want to wait too long – he was nervous, and he wasn’t used to apologizing for anything. At least… not the things he actually needed to apologize for. He had apologized to Ozai plenty of times while growing up for things that hadn’t been his fault. This was… different. This was him taking responsibility for something he had unmistakably done wrong. And he was very aware that if he didn’t do this right, he’d just be digging himself a hole.
With one last look at Sal, Zuko moved forward in the direction Newt had come from. Whether he wanted to or not, he was going toa hve to face Ronan. Hopefully, Newt and Sal would follow, and they could get this over with. And Zuko could find out if he had made his roommates hate him for the rest of the year. If this went poorly… he might need to fill out a reassignment request.

Newt shrugged, meeting Zuko’s gaze for a moment before the other boy began moving in the direction Ronan had been in. He glanced at Sal, waiting to see if he would say anything. Sal seemed more mature than some of the others, and he seemed to be on speaking terms with Zuko now, which was a good thing. Especially since Sal had been the first one to call him out. Whatever had happened, it seemed the air was cleared. Either way, it didn’t seem to Newt that he really needed[/I Zuko to apologize, but he wanted to see what the other boy planned on saying. And he figured a conversation might be enough to clear the air so they could all comfortably live with each other for the next year.

Noah could tell there was tension as easily as Sal could, though he didn’t know what to do about it. He wasn’t as good at navigating it as Sal seemed to be, and if it really came down to it… he would pick Ronan’s side nine times out of ten unless he was absolutely certain that the “other” side was right. In this case, though… he wanted to back up his friend. Truthfully, he hoped it wouldn’t come down to that. He didn’t know Zuko, but he liked a lot of their new roommates, and he didn’t want there to be any tension between them.
“Yes!” He exclaimed, relieved as Sal made an observation about the marshmallows. The boy left Ronan’s side to grab the back of marshmallows, holding them high above his head and beaming at Sal. He didn’t want to take away from anything going on, but… marshmallows and other sweets seemed to break down tension. His expression faltered as Zuko failed to reply, though Newt seemed to be a little more interested. Good. As long as they were thinking about sweets, nobody was fighting.

Zuko didn’t know how much longer he could wait before he just… combusted. Okay, so maybe that was a little bit overdramatic. He didn’t think he was going to actually die if he didn’t say what he wanted to say, but… Newt and Ronan were both right here, and he needed to get it out of his system. He needed to apologize and stop the guilt from weighing on him. Of course… he couldn’t be absolved of it just by apologizing, but he was learning. The more he learned, the more he tried to fix his mistake… the less guilty he had to feel. Guilt was a strange emotion to Zuko. He wasn’t sure he had ever felt it like this before.
“Ronan,” he said after a moment, not bothering to cast a look at Sal this time. If he said something out of line, he hoped Sal would either cut in or tell him afterwards. He didn’t need to be looking back at Sal every five seconds to make sure he was doing it right. He wasn’t a tiny child.
“I was wondering… if I could talk to you about what happened. And… apologize.” He searched Ronan’s gaze, trying to look past the harshness in his blank expression.

Zuko glanced at Noah and Sal, grateful that they were trying to break up the tension. He knew it wasn’t that simple. The tension was there because Zuko had messed up, and nothing any of them did was going to make much of a difference until Zuko solved this himself. He knew that if he handled this poorly, his roommates may not like him very much. That was… fine. He was used to being more on his own than other people. Azula’s friends had never been his friends, even though he’d been roped into playing with them when he was little. Lu Ten had been his friend, before he had passed away… but Zuko knew that his cousin hadn’t been a friend in a traditional sense. He had spent time with him out of family obligation, even if he had enjoyed it. He had watched Zuko grow up, so he had known how Zuko acted. He knew when Zuko wasn’t the best with words.
Distantly, Zuko wondered what Uncle Iroh would say. He could call him, in theory. He could ask him how he would handle this situation, but… he breathed out. He had to handle this on his own this time.
Ronan didn’t seem to want to listen, but he hadn’t actually… said anything implying that. And Newt had said he was fine hearing Zuko out.
“I wanted… to apologize,” he began carefully, the words still tasting strange. “I… spoke without thinking. I didn’t understand, but that’s…” he glanced at Sal, then took in another grounding breath. “That’s no excuse. I’m sorry for the implication I made. I’m sorry for the way it made you all feel. I’m going to try to learn and do better.”

Newt watched Zuko, arms crossed as he apologized. He knew it had been a misunderstanding, but that hadn’t made it any easier. It hadn’t been meant maliciously, but it had still been a harmful statement. He was willing to accept the apology, but he doubted he would be as forgiving as some of the other boys were. How many of them had experienced homophobia before? Clearly, Zuko had some internalized beliefs. He may have been trying, but maybe trying wasn’t good enough. But it was good enough for now. If it happened again… well, they would cross that bridge when he got to it. He opened his mouth to say something, then heard Ronan’s voice cut through the tense silence. Newt’s gaze flickered from Zuko to Ronan, then back to Zuko again.
“Sure, man,” Newt said quietly to Zuko, “I get it. If… you ever have a question about gay shit, my door is open.” He breathed out, then moved back towards Ronan, ready to go and grab the fireworks.

Zuko froze, eyes narrowing just a little bit. That wasn’t the response he had been expecting. From Ronan, anyway. From Newt it had been… colder than Sal’s, but still probably nicer than he had deserved. He glanced at Sal, cocking his head towards Ronan as though to ask the other boy what he made of the exchange. It was… confusing. And frustrating. Ronan had no obligation to accept the apology, of course, but… he could at least have acknowledged that it had happened, right? Maybe this was his way of clearing the air, though… for now, Zuko was going to assume that he wasn’t included in the fireworks. That seemed the safer assumption. Unless he was explicitly told he was allowed to join, it seemed likely that the activity wasn’t supposed to include him if Ronan was upset with him. He hadn’t responded to the apology, which probably meant he was upset.

Zuko wanted to be frustrated, but… he didn’t think he had any right to be. Sal seemed about as confused as Zuko was, which… wasn’t a good sign. It meant that Zuko hadn’t just misunderstood this. It was confusing. Ronan hadn’t given a clear answer. Zuko wanted to yell at him to just… give some sort of answer, even if it was an unfavorable one, but he wasn’t sure that was what he actually wanted. If he couldn’t figure out how to navigate living with these boys, it was going to be a painful year for all of them. Zuko had spent his entire life tiptoeing around Azula and his father. It was aggravating to have to tiptoe around Ronan, too.
Fine. If that was how Ronan wanted to do this… Zuko grit his teeth, looking away from Sal. Ronan wasn’t going to give him another chance, and Zuko wasn’t going to push it. He had done what he could to fix it. The ball was in Ronan’s court, and Ronan was stubbornly refusing to send it back.
Still fairly certain that he wasn’t included in the festivities, Zuko turned and began to stalk back to the tents. It was humiliating to have to leave, but if that was what it took to not start an all out fight… it was what Zuko would do.

Newt watched the way Ronan cleared off the area, noting the tension he held as he kicked the sticks and various debris away. Part of him wanted to say something to him, but he didn’t think that would be very productive. If Ronan wasn’t going to accept the apology, that was fine. It was up to him whether he did or not, and Newt wasn’t going to tell him what he had to do. Still… he hoped the tension didn’t last the whole year. Hopefully, they’d be able to have a conversation about it at some point. Newt wasn’t exactly holding his breath.
After a few moments, Newt joined Ronan, picking up and removing some of the larger rocks and sticks. They didn’t want to set off the fireworks on uneven ground, and they most certainly didn’t want to start a fire.

Zuko tensed, turning on Varian with furrowed brows and a flaring temper. And then the boy’s words hit him and he paused, expression melting into confusion and eventually something like gratitude. He breathed out, turning back around and beginning to walk at a more Varian-friendly pace. He didn’t quite look at his roommate, uncertain exactly what to say. Was he walking away because he thought he had already been rejected, or because he was afraid he was going to be? It was hard to tell, but Varian was following him, and… and it felt an awful lot like someone had taken his side. Not that there were necessarily sides to take, but… it was nice to have someone walking beside him to make sure he wasn’t missing out.
“I don’t think I’d be very welcome at fireworks,” Zuko managed after a moment, giving a shrug that was meant to imply he didn’t care. He did care. He didn’t expect Ronan to forgive him, but… it would have been nice to be given the benefit of the doubt. It would have been nice to be able to set off fireworks with the others like he hadn’t actually done anything wrong. He knew it wasn’t that simple, though.

Zuko turned just enough to glance behind him, searching the clearing the others had begun to set up in before he glanced back at Varian. He didn’t know how to describe it, but he got the distinct feeling that he wasn’t welcome. Nobody had said anything explicitly, and everyone else had told him it was okay, but…
“Ronan bought the fireworks.” It wasn’t necessarily the truth, but it was close enough that Zuko felt comfortable saying it. If Newt had been the one to buy the fireworks, then he likely would have been the one to mention them. “He clearly doesn’t forgive me, and… and I don’t want to make things tense when you guys should be having fun, okay? I… I messed things up. Turns out I can’t fix it.” He took in a deep breath, then continued back in the direction he had been going. “You shouldn’t ruin your evening. Go set off some of the fireworks. I’ll… watch from here or something.”

Nico could have taken the stairs. He knew he probably should have, but he had to come up from the basement and his backpack was heavy. He couldn’t help but be grateful for the Mist… he didn’t really want people questioning why he carried around a sword in his backpack. He had no idea what other people saw it as, but nobody had commented on it, so he thought they probably something normal. If they saw anything at all. The Mist worked in mysterious ways.
The point was that using the stairs was possible and probably preferable, but Nico was tired. He hadn’t slept much at all the night before, and he had spent most of the morning patrolling to make sure there were no monsters around. He didn’t know if they were going to find him here, but better safe than sorry. He didn’t want anyone near hm dying because he wasn’t careful about making sure there weren’t monsters around. Besides, he didn’t really want to get kicked out. It was better to handle monster attacks around the edges of campus where he had the upper hand, not in his room where he could easily destroy things.
The why of why he ened up in the elevator was less important than the fact that he was in the elevator. It was less important than the fact that he was now no longer in the elevator alone. Nico stepped to the side to make room for the person entering the elevator, his breath catching in his throat at the sight of someone all too familiar. Oh.

Nico didn’t actually want to turn into shadow, but he had to admit that it had never been as tempting as it was right at that moment. He didn’t want to face Kelsier. He didn’t want to look him in the eyes and know that the Kelsier in front of him was never going to be the Kelsier he had come to love and view as a father. This Kelsier… this Kelsier was a stranger, even if he bore the same face, even if he wore the same smile. They were never going to be close. This… this must have been who Kelsier was in this version of the world. Which meant that there was probably another version of Nico on Scadrial. Or maybe not. It was hard to keep track of the difference between worlds and dimensions. If they were from the same dimension but not the same world, would there be a version of them on each world? It was easier to think about that than it was to face the fact that he was sharing an elevator with Kelsier. It was only a little bit bigger than the room where they had first met… Nico looked away, one finger tracing the scar across his cheek.
“Most professors prefer it when their students call them by their last names. And when their students acknowledge they have a PhD.” Nico tried to keep his tone carefully neutral, but it may have unwittingly slipped into something a little bit chillier.

Nico blinked, somewhat surprised by Kelsier’s response. It had only been three years since he had last seen him, but… three years was a long time. Three years was long enough to forget details. It was enough to forget that Kelsier was usually much better at first impressions than he had been the day Nico had first met him. It was long enough to forget that Kelsier was friendly as a rule unless you were an awful person. Nico forced himself to breathe. He wasn’t being treated specially, and in a way, that… hurt. He was seventeen years old. He didn’t need his dad anymore, no matter how badly he wanted him. He’d been just fine without Kelsier for the last three years. All he needed to do was get through this physics class and he would never have to be haunted by him again.
“Okay, so… Doctor Kelsier?” Nico asked, gaze flicking up to meet Kelsier’s for just a moment before they returned to the floor and he pulled his arms in tighter around him.
“Thanks,” he whispered, doing his best not to flinch at the mention of it. Kelsier could see the sword, which suddenly made this all so much more complicated. “If campus security asks I don’t have a sword, and if I did I would never stab anyone with it.”

Nico couldn’t afford to call Kelsier what he actually wanted to call him. That would lead to too many questions. That… well, it wouldn’t be ideal. Nico pushed the thought away, doing his best to cement Kelsier in his head as Dr. Kelsier. First name, and the slightest sign of respect. No ‘dad.’ Never again could he call Kelsier dad. Part of him thought he resented the Mistborn for making him promise to go back to Earth and go to college as soon as he’d had the chance. He shouldn’t have promised. He should have just… stayed with Kelsier. He may have died, but that was okay. He could stay in the in between Kelsier had found, right?
“Dr. Kelsier it is,” Nico murmured, giving a small shrug.
He turned his attention back to the sword, half tempted to pick it up and give Kelsier a sort of demonstration. He resisted the urge. He had no need to show off in front of him anymore.
“It’s cool?” Nico suggested, giving a small shrug. “I don’t know. It’s nice to have around, though.”
If Nico was about to say more, he was stopped in his tracks by the terrible sound of the elevator creaking, then a large snap as the tether broke and the elevator fell for a few feet. Nico stumbled forward, trying to keep his balance. Trying not to imagine falling to his death.

There was a reason Nico didn’t like heights. He had a feeling that this might be Zeus messing with the him, noticing the familiar face of the man who had threatened to fight him once, but… Nico pushed the thought away, doing his best not to draw the attention of the god in case it hadn’t been his fault. He shuddered, eyes wide as he looked up at Kelsier. He didn’t like the idea of being unarmed, but as far as Kelsier knew, Nico didn’t actually know how to use the sword. As far as Kelsier was aware, it was just decorative.
There was no time to get into the fact that Nico had fallen while holding onto the sword more times than he could count. There was no time to regale Kelsier with stories of how well trained he was with it, that even if he fell here, he wasn’t likely to stab himself. His goal was to put as much distance between himself and Kelsier as possible, both here in the elevator and metaphorically. This was not his Kelsier. He couldn’t afford to pretend it was, and that meant being as far away from him as possible except when in class. Obediently, Nico unsheathed the weapon and stabbed it into the ground, wedging it so that none of the sharp edge was visible. It killed him to do it – he would need to resharpen it later, but it was better than trying to explain things to Kelsier.
“Has… this ever happened to you before?” he asked, clinging almost desperately to the handrail behind him. He was trying his best not to show that he was scared.

Nico didn’t know what had happened or why they had started falling, but things like that happened to him all the time. He would be doing something normal, and then it was as though the sky itself fell around him. Of course, that was because he was a demigod and usually the target of some mythological beast or another. It didn’t usually happen to him when there were other people around, though. Had something cut the elevator cord? It seemed that whatever had happened, the health button had been hijacked as well. Thinking of it as a hijacking had a certain connotation, though, and Nico wasn’t sure it was entirely accurate. All he was certain of was that the elevator had been fine moments before, but it was now no longer fine. Would it continue to hold their weight? How much movement would cause it to fall?
There were very few things Nico liked less than being trapped in a metal container. Having someone else with him in said metal container was one of them. He may have trusted Kelsier implicitly, but that, somehow, made this worse. This Kelsier wasn’t his Kelsier. He had no idea what this man would do. Was he as ruthless as the Kelsier Nico had known? Nico could no longer hide behind being a child. He may have only been seventeen, but he looked his age more now than he had when he was younger. If Kelsier decided that only one of them could get out, if he decided that Nico didn’t deserve to get out… that sort of selfishness wasn’t like Kelsier. Still, Nico couldn’t bank on getting out of his situation, especially if Kelsier decided he didn’t much like him.
“So we have to wait until someone tries to use the elevator,” Nico replied after a moment, hugging his arms to his chest and trying not to feel like a scared fourteen year old anymore. He had been through much worse than this before.