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“How dare you!”
“Roman, audience immersion is not worth it.”
“And what, pray tell, would you know about what an audience needs?!”
“I know the audience doesn’t need the artist to go to prison.”
“Logan! I demand answers! Specifics! Details! Art requires a canvas, a medium. Something for the audience to see, hear, touch. Something to grapple with, to fill their senses and intellect, to-”
“I am not going to help you write and publish recipes for explosive materials.”
“It’s not a recipe! It’s a novella delving into the actions of people when pushed to the brink by circumstance! An intimate examination of the veneer and soul of humanity within us! A-”
“It’s a concise story on how to make a bomb with cleaning materials, and it’s going to get you arrested.”
“The narrative requires accuracy! Please Logan?”
“No! Our internet history is already suspect enough as it is!”
“I had a project on Arthurian legends! How was I supposed to know I’d get in trouble for streaming Monty Python and the Holy Grail?!”
“Wait WHAT?! I was talking about the time you researched narcotics for use in interrogation. When did you use the uni wi-fi for illegal downlo-”
“What is the point of a chemistry degree if you don’t do anything with it?!”
“Well what is the point of a fine arts degree if what you produce is neither fine, nor art?!”
“… Logan…”
“Roman, I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I-”
“… I’m going to bed.”
“Roman, that came out wrong. Roman?”
“'Night Logan.”
*door slams*
“Roman?”
~~~
“Logan Croft?”
“Yes?”
“You need to report to campus security. Their office is Administration Building, Level three, Room 318. Before 4pm today, please.”
“I have labs until 4:30-”
“Before 4pm.”
“… Of course.”
~~~
“…”
“Um. Hi Logan.”
“What did you do?”
“Well, turns out you may have had a point about narrative accuracy and suspension of disbelief.”
“What. Did you do.”
“Used uni wi-fi to view a copy of The Anarcist’s Cookbook?”
“Roman. That’s illegal. Actually illegal.”
“Nope! It’s illegal to own a copy. I’ve haven’t downloaded it, so technically I don’t actually own it. I checked!”
“Oh my god.”
“And I dunno what the fuss is all about anyway. The book isn’t that bad. It’s mostly about gardening, and how to turn a bicycle into a record player, and how t-”
“Roman, please stop talking.”
“Oh. Right.”
“What are you doing with campus security? Are you actually being arrested?”
“Um. Not quite? I told them it was a big misunderstanding, and that my roommate with a flawless student record who also knows my every move would vouch for me?”
“…”
“Please Logan. I promise to find other stuff to write about. And I swear I’ll listen next time.”
“Fiiiiiine. Yes officer, I can swear to the fact that my roommate is a well-intentioned idiot doing a fictional writing course,”
“Hey!”
“And that he has absolutely no plans to carry out any form of mayhem,”
“Thanks Loga-”
“because the one time he watched The Dark Knight he cried, and I had to teach him how to light the stove.”
“That’s… true.”
“You’re welcome.”
~~~
“So you’re in the clear?”
“They’ll do some monitoring, but yeah, pretty much.”
“Well. Good.”
“Thanks Specs. For bailing me out, even after I ignored you.”
“Roman?”
“Hmm?”
“I shouldn’t have said that. About your degree. I think the stories you create are amazing. And I know you work very hard on them. It was a heated moment, and I was cruel. So, I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry about pulling you out of labs. I know you hate missing class.”
“That is appreciated. Shall we head home?”
“We shall. Oh! How about a movie night?”
“My pick.”
“Ugh! I guess that’s fair.”
“V for Vendetta?”
“No!”
“We could marathon Firefly?”
“Logan!”
“A Clockwork Orange?”
“Are you just trying to get me arrested again?”
“… Maybe.”