William G. Rupture University, St. Louis, Friday afternoon

[thatsamilkshake]

Whatever an Interdisciplinary Core Curriculum meant in the eyes of the faculty, in reality, according to Francine's student-mentor -- which was like a Fandom High Big Sibling only involved less cookies, sadly -- it meant "Stupid History-Literature-Social-Studies Class They Stick All The Freshmen Into No Matter What Their Major Is So You Can Have One More Semester Of Jocks and Geeks Sitting Side By Side And Making Each Other Miserable Before You're Free To Hide In Your Own Department For The Rest Of Your Life."

The course catalog called it "World Cultures 101." Possibly because it saved printing space.

Francine called it her last class of the week in her first week of classes, and was kind of hoping she could keep her streak of Woohoo, No Homework Yet going strong and proud, so as she took a seat, she was paying more attention to the syllabus she'd picked up off the professor's desk than anyone sitting near her.

If it sounds like that was going to be a mistake, it's probably because you've met this narrative before.

[OOC: for NPC shenanigans courtesy bitch_prince, but also open for texts.]

Comments

[dirtylily.livejournal.com]

God, this was dumb. Freddie hadn't even been listening, really, but check out the title: of course it was going to be dumb. Who cared, right?

So obviously, once he'd taken his seat, he'd decided to pursue more important endeavours, like trying to get a peek at the ass of the chick in front of him. Or doodle bush in his textbook (hee hee). Or get a look at the boobs sitting down next t--

"FRANCINE?!"

No amount of annoyed looks was going to cut the volume there.

[thatsamilkshake]

"WhatwhereIdidn'tdoit!" That pretty much covered everything, right? Except for the completely unsubtle look down to make sure some or all of her clothing hadn't disappeared, because that was the kind of thing that usually resulted in her name being shouted that way.

Wait, that voice was familiar. Which it shouldn't be because she knew like three people here so far and none of them were boys.

Eyes off the thankfully-present clothes, eyes to the desk at her right-- "Freddie Femur?"

[dirtylily.livejournal.com]

"Francine Peters!"

At least three frustrated students - most of them looking a little too old to still be in class - used some form of the sound 'shhhh' in Freddie's general direction, but he was not to be detained. "It really is you! Man, you got--" Significant flick of the eyes. "--big!"

[thatsamilkshake]

"Um. I... thanks?" For what may or may not have been a compliment, and left Francine cringing half in apology to the other students and half because... yeah. "What're you doing here?"

Fun girl from convention line showing up in halfway across the country: cool. Classmate from Puncture High showing up halfway across the country.... um.

And by "classmate" we mean "guy whose misplaced foot on school-play night two years ago resulted in one toga in a puddle on the stage, and a hundred people who knew what color underwear Francine had been wearing that night and the fact that you can't wear a bra with a toga."

[dirtylily.livejournal.com]

And wasn't that a day Freddie was remembering fondly right around now? Three guesses whose boobs would be gracing Freddie's textbook in crude felt-tip for the forseeable future? Oh yeah.

"Going for the whole college experience," Freddie said, with a loftiness that really didn't work for him, like, at all. "Books, babes and booze! What else would anyone be doing around here?"

There was a counter-inquiry in there... somewhere.

[thatsamilkshake]

"Oh, um. Same here? I guess?" Also the whole Not Being In Houston Or Anywhere Near Anyone I Went To Any High School That Wasn't Fandom With Even If They Have A Brand New Goatee That's Kind Of Cute, but Francine was only half succeeding at that one, apparently.

"Minus the booze and the, um." Complicated. Awkward. Mumblemumbleflail. "What're you majoring in?"

[dirtylily.livejournal.com]

"Pre-law," said Freddie, with the kind of gun-pointy hand-gesture that should have been made illegal in the late 80s. "I'm going to be putting bad guys away, if youknowwhattimean."

... Yes.

"...Wait, did you say 'the same'?" Francine. Boobs. Hello.

[thatsamilkshake]

"About the college experience?" Law, really? That was kind of... serious and even admirable for the Freddie she remembered. "Not so much the booze, though." Not that she wouldn't ever, but after Fandom, college kegger parties didn't hold a lot of mystery.

No, she wasn't saying anything about babes. She wasn't in the market for any, after all.

[dirtylily.livejournal.com]

But the babes!

Okay, so maybe Freddie's imagination was running overtime for no reason. Still. Being in a boob sandwich--

Well anyway.

"You'll get over that," he said, waving it off. "Have you even checked out any of the on-campus parties? Man, Francine Peters-- I should be showing you around!"

For absolutely no ulterior motives whatsoever.

[thatsamilkshake]

"Well, no. We've been kind of busy unpacking..." Two years worth of stuff.

[dirtylily.livejournal.com]

"That's no excuse!"

Again with the background hushing. And the not caring.

"You wanna spend the best years of your life hiding away in a dorm room? I think not!"

Hyperbole was nobody's friend, Freddie.

[thatsamilkshake]

"I...guess not?" The phrase What are you getting yourself into, Peters should have been coursing through her brain, but mostly all she had was wow, this is weird...

She almost felt to old to be in college, after some of the things they'd been through. "I don't know if Katchoo will be very big on parties, though."

[dirtylily.livejournal.com]

"Eh, bring her anyw-- did you say Katchoo?"

There was now a ten-headed Greek chorus behind him admonishing him on his volume. And one angry Professor.

Freddie didn't notice. "As in Choovanski?!"

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine noticed. And blenched, mouthing sorry at the professor.

"Freddie, shhhhhhh. Yes, as in Choovanski. We live together."

Good luck with the boob sandwich, Fred.

[dirtylily.livejournal.com]

"Live together?!" Yes, Freddie. Live together. "But that girl is crazy!"

Yes. That was going to score you points, Femur.

[thatsamilkshake]

Big points, yes. Heap big points.

"She is not."

Even if that wasn't entirely true.

[dirtylily.livejournal.com]

"Oh please! You remember what she was like in high schAAAAAH."

Someone had finally found it in them to kick Freddie, in lieu of any response to more subtle cues.

"Jesus!"

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine was just going to crawl under her desk now. "Freddie, SHUSH!"

Because that was totally quiet.

"Of course I remember what she was like in high school; I just spent the last two years of it with her. She's not crazy." Not in the way he meant it.

[dirtylily.livejournal.com]

"Oh, please. You saw what she looked like," Freddie hissed, reaching down to rub his poor ankle. "How she acted. I'd be worried, if I were you!"

[thatsamilkshake]

"Worried about what?"

[dirtylily.livejournal.com]

"That she might... y'know... do something."

[thatsamilkshake]

"...Like what?"

It was not Francine's fault that her thoughts tended to run towards 'stab someone who annoyed her with a pen' or 'make an impassioned speech to the chair of the Art Department about how his personal collection was full of sexist, misogynistic crap and get herself kicked out of school.'

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Boooooooooored!

AND.

In the play!

Yes, Dinah was amusing herself during her Shakespeare class. She already knew this stuff.

[thatsamilkshake]

Beep!

...Crap. Francine quickly switched her phone over to silent light-up mode, then grinned widely when two more texts popped in.

//Yay play! And yay, we're caught up! Time-weirdness when we got here and phone was wacky.//

Followed quickly by:



//Was in UR Middle Ages not texting U//

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

A:SLKDFJDLKJG!dlcvikud

ZOMG!

Dinah might have squeaked in the middle of the professor's explanation of the significance of gender-bending in The Forest of Arden, then had to slump down to type back frantically.

Glad UR Back that looks *awesome*

[thatsamilkshake]

It had to be said:

//ARTHUR'S DAD MARRIED A TROLL.//

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Okay, now Dinah had to go out in the hall or completely disrupt class with either horrified choking or total laughter.

nO Way! LIkEe FOSSE??


Arthur must've had a cow. A herd of cows. A stampede.

[thatsamilkshake]

//WAY GROSSER.//

Then, because she felt guilty:

//TELL NO ONE.//

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

COME ON! Not even Tony? 'Cause let's face it, he'd find that hilarious... OK. No telling. POOR ARTHUR.

WDYD? WD Merlin D? This was magic, obviously. So Merlin must've done *something*. Right?

...unless he *made* Arthur's dad marry a troll.

[thatsamilkshake]

Under any other circumstances than how it actually went down, Francine might have gotten a kick out of that idea.

//She had a spell and looked human but M broke it. AND UTHER WAS STILL IN LOVE WITH HER. Pendrag0ns & lovespells, WTH.//

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

EWWWWWWWWWWW! Magnets for ICK.

Ugh ugh ugh ugh. That was just... if anything could make Dinah actually feel sorry for Arthur's dad, that might almost be it.

Why would a troll want to marry the King anyway? Ugh.

[thatsamilkshake]

//Think she wanted to kill him and steal throne. M&A broke the lovespell tho. We fake-killed A & that made his dad cry.//

Thus showing that he wasn't a complete word-she-learned-from-Katchoo, just most of one.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Awwwwwwwwwwww.

Okay. Maybe Arthur's dad *did* care, then. It was good that some of Arthur's loyalty and devotion were returned. If not enough.

Crazy Camelot. Fun except 4 trolls?

[thatsamilkshake]

Crapcrapcrap, the professor was looking at her. What had the question been? Glancing helplessly at Freddie proved, well, helpless, since he was too busy doodling something inside the cover of his book.

The girl sitting behind her, however, whispered, "He asked what's the furthest we've been out of this country."

And had randomly decided to pick on Francine? ...Just because she might have possibly looked like she wasn't paying attention? Great.

"Uh. Antarctica, I guess?" The professor gave her a skeptical look, and she shrugged. What? Not like she was going to say The planet Arrakis or, well. Camelot, a thousand years ago. "My last high school had some weird field trips."

Blink... blink.... aaaand... moving on. Whew.

//Kind of? Could live there if it didn't feel like breathing with a pillow over my head.//

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah was back in her class now, looking attentive. And rapidly tapping away without looking down.

fkSJ IYE Vxj wrong wait.

Glad ur back, then. Guys are OK though? Katchoo didn't stab any1?

[thatsamilkshake]

//A wouldn't let her have a sword. We were maids. Wouldn't go w/the outfit.//

No, that wasn't why A wouldn't let her have a sword. Even Francine knew that.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

He is v.v. smart sometimes.

Sometimes, Arthur! Just. Sometimes. Heh.

Did U meet Gaius? & Gwen? ... I would be a bad maid.

Katchoo hit anyone?

Well, she didn't have a sword, right?

[thatsamilkshake]

//Met both Gs! Gaius is rly old and has funny eyebrows. Gwen's pretty & kind of nervous.//

By which she meant kind of a dork, and Francine should know.

//K almost hit some drunk lord guy but A stopped her. Or him. W/E. Nobdoy got hit.//

//...Nobody.//

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Henry the Fifth," Dinah said aloud, in response to her professor demanding to know which Shakespearean role she identified with. At the woman's inquiring look, Dinah said a little defensively, "He's determined, he doubts himself sometimes, but he's got a plan, and he takes care of his people." At the stare of a guy across the row, she mouthed, What?

STupd drunk lord guy. Good thing no stocks no dungeons though!

miss sword practice w/A. Not the same here. Glad U guys are home now.