[March 15th afternoonish, junior dorm]

[smallgayjew]

David hadn't had much to move into his room, really. Most of his things had to fit into what luggage he could take on the plane with him, though he'd had a few boxes shipped ahead. He'd taken a break from moving in to look around the school a bit, and when he came back he decided it was probably best to get things unpacked as much as he could before there were too many things going on for him to concentrate on it.

So there's a small, English boy digging through boxes in his room with the door open, iPod cycling through Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall as he sings along.

Comments

[perfectshade]

"I mean, I guess?" Ross shrugged. (With a little mental "whoops" for forgetting to mention he was a freshman-- but also a little mental dance of glee because that totally meant he didn't come off like a freshman, right?)

"But I just got done with, you know, thinking about getting in here. It seems kind of early, I dunno, maybe I'll start thinking about it once I've actually had a day of classes, 'cause yeah, I'm just starting my first year."

[smallgayjew]

David was hardly one to judge people for looking young. He probably looked more like a freshman than a junior himself. He'd been a very late bloomer.

He nodded at Ross's answer. "Fair enough, I suppose. And you have got some time, at least."

[perfectshade]

"Yeah. So... where are you applying? Or like, where do you want to go?"

The idea of it, the way David had framed high school as a time to think about university, stuck in Ross's mind. He didn't really want to think about it, but maybe hearing David's choices could point him in the right direction. Or something.

[smallgayjew]

"Oxford," David answered immediately.

It wasn't that he wouldn't apply anywhere else. It was just that if he got in, he wouldn't consider trying for anywhere else.

[perfectshade]

Ross grins. He only wishes he could be so sure about his plans for the future, but hey, in two years, he might be.

"You know what you're going to study?"

[smallgayjew]

"History, most likely. It's my best subject.

"Or maybe literature."

What he was going to do after university, he really had no idea.

[perfectshade]

"Well, neither of those are really my thing, but it sounds cool." And he really does mean it.

[smallgayjew]

David laughed softly, shaking his head. "Does it really?"

He'd never been accused of being cool before.

[perfectshade]

"Yeah! I mean, those are the subjects you like, right? So you'd be studying what you like at the college you want to go to, that sounds pretty cool to me," he explained, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. Duh.

[smallgayjew]

"Oh, I see." He smiled a bit sheepishly. "I think it'd be cool as well. Only, I didn't expect anyone else to."

[perfectshade]

Ross gave a half-shrug. "It kinda... boils down to doing what you really want and screw what anyone else thinks, right? I think that'd be cool to everyone."

[smallgayjew]

"I suppose that's one way to look at it."

That was not at all what David was doing. Not that he didn't enjoy those things, but he very much cared what other people thought.

[perfectshade]

"Well, that's the way to look at it to make it sound... like, widely appealing. Put a cool spin on it, you know? Although I think it's cool regardless," he admitted.

[smallgayjew]

"Why does my education need to be widely appealing?" David asked, genuinely curious.

[perfectshade]

"It doesn't, I'm just saying. If you put the right spin on it, you can make people think just about anything's cool." And with that, the conversation was starting to take an uncomfortably personal direction, so-- "Anyway, how do you like America so far?"

[smallgayjew]

"I hardly know as yet. I've only just arrived."

This was him being diplomatic. He wasn't at all sure that he liked America just yet.

[perfectshade]

"But you're a jun-- Did you transfer? You should go to Chicago sometime, it's a big city and probably a more... like, representative experience than just staying on campus."

Because boarding school in a small town really was a rather limited view-- and possibly a bit skewed, given some of the teachers around here.

[smallgayjew]

"I likely will at some point, though I think I'd like to get used to North Feldman first."

It felt a bit like a whole other world.

[perfectshade]

"I guess. You might not have as much time once school starts, though."

Then again, Ross was the kind of kid who always wanted to walk around and map everything out with his own wanderings, so his idea of how much time it would take to explore Chicago might not be accurate.

[smallgayjew]

"Not quite as much, no, but there's always the holidays."

David was much the same, but he was far more focused on school than on sightseeing at the moment.

[perfectshade]

He shrugged. "I'm gonna be on my way home by then. But hey, whatever works."

[smallgayjew]

David shrugged. It wasn't likely he'd be making it home for many holidays. International travel was quite expensive.

"But you live fairly close, you said. Could you go from home as well?"

[perfectshade]

"Well, yeah, I have been, I went on a school trip once in fifth grade. But it's still like, five hours when the traffic is good. I mean, it's close compared to England or the coast or something, but it's still a bit of a drive."

[smallgayjew]

"Well, yes," David said, nodding. He'd thought it sounded like a long ways when Ross had said it before. It just hadn't exactly seemed as though Ross thought that. "I suppose that would be quite a long trip."

[perfectshade]

"Yeah. Closer than like, England, but yeah. Anyway, um. Should I let you get back to your unpacking?" Because they had been talking for a while and Ross wasn't sure if David wanted some time to settle in in peace and quiet without a freshman chattering at him-- or something.