Chapter Text
Alex looked down at Desiderio, his eyes wide and unsure. He could feel his breath begin to quicken as he reread the letter clenched tightly in his hand. The invoice was exactly the opposite of what he had hoped and prayed for. The ending balance stated his scholarships and loans would not be enough to cover tuition and board. He would have to make a choice.
He gave the financial aid attendant a desperate look. “There has to be more that you can do? I thought everything was going to be covered? The numbers I had said everything was going to be covered.” Alex couldn’t help the panic in his tone. Des leaned heavy on his leg, trying and failing to offer some comfort as he shared his other halves’ fear.
The man behind the counter coughed apathetically, dislodging his robin daemon from his shoulder briefly. The bird fluttered irately for a moment before settling again, pecking her human’s ear with reproach. The man ignored her, giving Alex a pitying look.
“The letter in your file says that tuition is fully covered, and it is.” The man’s eyes flicked to the computer that sat in the corner of his workstation. “That includes classes, fees, clinic, with access to the gym and dining halls.”
Alex bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from yelling in frustration. This was not the plan. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go.
Alex’s continued silence made the man sigh with irritation. “Is there going to be a problem?”
He shook his head. “No. Of course not.” Alex gathered the papers from the counter, plastering on a fake smile. “Everything’s great.”
The man looked back at Alex critically, noting his ill-fitting clothing with disdain. “Right.”
Alex stood there frozen, trying to unstick his legs from the ground. His breath was stuck somewhere between his heart and throat. Suffocating him. One thing was for sure: he wanted to punch this asshole in the face. He knew the people of New York would be uncaring, but God. He looked down at Des, unable to shield his feelings from the daemon.
Des sat on his haunches, fur standing up in agitation as he felt his other halves’ stress. His voice was low, barely above a whisper. “We came this far, Alexandre. We didn’t come all the way to quit now.” He nuzzled Alex’s knee, green eyes trying to reassure the teen that things would be okay if they believed it.
Alex shook his head. For once in his life his brain had stopped spinning with ideas. It was stuck on the number at the bottom of the paper. He was seventeen and knew no one. How were they going to make it in New York City if they didn’t have a place to live? How were they supposed to accomplish all the things they had dreamed of if they had to sleep on the streets to afford school? The thoughts kept swirling in his brain, choking him with anxiety. They had come so far, and yet they were once again fucked over.
A clearing of the throat had Alex’s head snapping up from Des, meeting the man’s eyes from across the counter. “If there is nothing else you need assistance with…” He trailed off, attempting to be polite as he looked down his nose and spoke.
Alex nodded sharply, grabbing his papers and practically running out of the office, Des close on his heels.
They turned down halls randomly until Alex couldn’t handle walking anymore. He collapsed against the nearest door, twisting the handle, surprised that it was unlocked. He stumbled in, pushing it shut as Des slipped in. He slumped against the door, sliding down until he was sitting with his legs spread out before him.
He sucked in a stuttering breath, giving Des a wild-eyed look. “I don’t know what we’re going to do,” he admitted, hating how his voice slipped into the Caribbean accent he and Des had worked so hard to shed. Alex ran a hand over his soft fur, trying to ground himself.
Des took that as an invitation to crawl into Alex’s lap, something he shouldn’t have been able to do since he settled. The Iberian lynx wasn’t the largest cat in the world, but Alex was small. Nonetheless, the young man held his daemon close to his chest, burying his face into his fur.
Des made a low purring sound, careful not to draw any attention. They were hidden in a back room, away from everyone, but the daemon didn’t want to take any chances. He did what he could to comfort Alex, nuzzling into the side of his face. “We’ll figure this out. We always do.”
Alex breathed deeply, accepting the comfort gratefully. Desiderio was right. They were smart. They were clever. If anybody could figure out how to navigate the streets of New York City and get a college education it would be them.
“Okay,” Alex said, his resolve beating back the nausea-inducing anxiety. He moved to stand up, Des hopping off his lap in a quick motion. “We can do this.” He gave his daemon a look of determination. “We’re going to do this.”
Des nodded in agreement, giving Alex a feral grin, canines glinting in the low light of the room. “We are gonna knock them dead. King’s College won’t know what hit them.”
Daemons tended to settle into their final form based on region. A person wouldn’t have a polar bear daemon in the Serengeti desert, or a whale daemon in the middle of Russia. People who lived in the city had daemons that tended to be smaller; the more rural the bigger and more various the forms became, but there were trends.
People who held positions of authority and power tended to have predators. The fierceness varied and there were always exceptions. The more fierce your daemon, the more powerful you were seen. A daemon settled into the form that reflected a person’s innermost self. It was the easiest way to judge a person, though the public’s assumptions were not always accurate or fair.
When Desiderio settled, Alex was sixteen. A bit later than the other kids who lived in Nevis, but not too surprising. Most daemons settled into their final form during puberty, but there were other ways. If a person experienced a life-changing event, this could also reveal their daemon’s final form. Living through such things stole away the last dredges of childhood innocence that allowed daemons to flit from shape to shape.
Alex wasn’t liked on the island for a few reasons. The immediate assumption would be it was because he didn’t know when to shut his mouth. However, the dislike went deeper. It was based on vague religious grounds. The superstitions of Nevis were strong and when Alex was born with a daemon of the same sex, he and his mother were immediately cast away. Their very presence was thought to bring misfortune and bad luck to everyone around them.
If Alex was having a bad night, he would think back to these moments where he and his mother had been shunned. She would have to go to the next town over to get work. They couldn’t risk moving to the next town, for fear that the same thing would happen there.
Alex knew the whole thing was stupid. He knew that. But that didn’t mean the thoughts didn’t haunt him at night when he and Des were lying alone in the dark.
It wasn’t until Alex and his mom got sick that he began to contemplate the possible truth behind the silly superstitions. Desiderio was curled against his body in the form of a shivering mutt as Alex transitioned from shivering to sweating. These transitions were interrupted by wheezing breaths and weak coughs. His mother lay nearby, her own daemon, Aljero, a red fox with a beautiful crimson coat, in a similar state.
When his mother took her last shuddering breath, Aljero met Alex’s gaze from across the room, his bright brown eyes imprinting in Alex’s fever-hazed mind as he suddenly erupted into golden dust. Desiderio had let out a heartbroken wail, a cry that Alex had unknowingly echoed as he passed out from the stress of sickness.
The next time he woke up Des was on his chest, and it was easy to see everything was different. The shivering mutt had disappeared. Sadness weighed heavy on their soul, and when Des blinked his bright green eyes at Alex, he knew. Des had settled and the world was a lot darker.
They walked around campus aimlessly, Alex’s mind running over different scenarios to make everything work.
“We could get a job?” Des suggested, keeping his voice low, only speaking when they were out of earshot of another student and his daemon. They had only been in America for a week but the strategies that helped them survive in Nevis were hard to break. The hateful looks they’d receive once someone realized Des wasn’t female hadn’t happened in New York, but they weren’t taking any chances.
Alex shook his head. “We can’t do that. If we work then we’re not eligible for some of the awards we got.” He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, running a hand through his hair. “Do you really think we can do this?”
Desiderio nodded. “Of course we can. We can do anything,” he said confidently, his ears pointed up and eyes alight with determination.
Alex sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He looked up at the sky; it was clear without a trace of clouds. The world continued to turn and go on even as Alex felt like his life was crashing around him. This was gonna be a long year. If nothing else, Alex was sure of that.
“Yo! Watch out!” a loud female voice yelled.
Alex looked away from the sky in confusion only to be hit squarely in the face. The object that hit him wasn’t hard, but the surprise of the attack had him falling onto his ass. Des jumped out of the way, barely managing not being stepped on.
Alex blinked dazedly at the sky. “Can we even be surprised that this happened?” he asked Des resignedly.
There was a high pitched giggle. “Well, I told you to watch out.”
Des nuzzled Alex’s face in concern before hissing at the air with annoyance, his ears pinned backwards. “You should watch where you were throwing stuff.” His tone was anything but quiet, his low voice easily revealing his gender.
Alex sat up carefully, making sure nothing was actually hurt before squinting in the direction that Des was glaring. Above them was a small bat, furry in the face with big round eyes. Alex cocked his head curiously, wondering where her human was.
“You said you had it, Nymeria. Why can’t you just accept the fact that you’re small?” a gruff voice said, walking to Alex’s side. “You’ve been settled for years. It shouldn’t be that hard to realize you can’t fly with things that are bigger than you.” The large man gave his daemon an unimpressed look, shifting a bulging bag of art supplies to his other arm.
She made an annoyed squeak before flying closer and landing in his hair. “I’ll have you know that I could have carried the yarn the rest of the way if I wanted to.” She settled on top of his head, looking down his forehead sternly. “I just thought it would be better to make a friend,” she finished, her eyes twinkling.
The large man let out a laugh before turning his attention to Alex and Des, who were watching the pair with matching expressions of confusion.
“Sorry about that,” the man said, extending a hand towards Alex. “My name’s Hercules Mulligan.”
Alex took the offered hand, letting out a puff of air as he was effortlessly lifted to his feet.
“And you met Nymeria,” he said with exasperation as she swatted him on the head with her wing for not introducing her first.
Alex swayed for a second before finding solid footing. He released Hercules’ hand and gave the man a friendly smile. “Alexander Hamilton.” He took a step back towards his daemon. “This is Desiderio. Des for short.”
The feline gave Nymeria a dark look before moving back towards the main path, giving Alex an easy escape from the conversation.
Alex gave Hercules a fleeting smile as he went to follow his daemon. They had so much to figure it out; this conversation was wasting what little time they had left. “It was nice meeting you--”
“Hey, no, wait a second!” Hercules called out in distress. He ran over to where Nymeria had dropped the small ball of yarn and pushed it into his already full bag. “Can me and Nymeria take you out to lunch?”
Alex gave Hercules a confused look. “Why would you wanna do that?”
Hercules gave him a sheepish grin. “To apologize for this one’s behavior,” he said, pointing to where his daemon was perched.
She let out a sigh, giving Alex an imploring look. “C’mon, I didn’t drop a yarn ball on your face for nothing.”
Des growled low in his throat, voice quiet enough for Hercules not to hear. “I knew you did it on purpose.” He turned towards her, narrowing his eyes.
Nymeria rolled her eyes. “Calm down, pussycat, there’s no need to get your panties in a twist.”
Alex snorted out a laugh at Des’ outraged face. He ran a hand down his daemon’s back, soothing the raised hackles before turning to Hercules. “I appreciate it but--”
Hercules shook his head, nearly dislodging Nymeria. “No, man, no buts; the least I can do is buy you food.”
Alex opened his mouth to protest again but Des stepped on his foot. He gave his daemon a confused look but he just twitched his nose, refusing to say anything about his sudden change of heart.
“Yeah…” Alex said, hesitantly, turning back towards Hercules. “If you’re sure…”
Hercules smiled widely, clapping Alex on the back with one hand, making him stumble forward with the force. “‘Course I’m sure. Wouldn’t have insisted if I wasn’t. Now c’mon, I know a little coffee shop tucked away a few blocks from here.”
Alex nodded, falling in step beside Hercules, Des at his side. He threw a curious look at his daemon, before being swept up into the small talk Hercules was attempting to engage him in.
“Why did you want lunch with them all of a sudden? I thought you didn’t like Nymeria,” Alex asked as he stretched out on top of the scratchy motel blanket. Des was lying closeby, his head resting on Alex’s chest.
He kept his eyes closed, his whiskers twitching with annoyance. “She is grating on the nerves,” he admitted, “but the dining halls don’t open till Friday,” Des shared with a hint of worry. “Despite your belief that you can go without food, you need to eat,” he said sternly, opening one eye.
Alex pulled his whiskers playfully. “So we went for the free food?”
Des’ nose twitched, his eye closing once more as he sighed. “We have to save money, right?”
Alex’s playfulness disappeared. “You’re right.” He rubbed a hand over Des’ head, sucking in a deep breath.
He sat up, dislodging his daemon who grumbled unhappily, and grabbed his beat up laptop from one of the duffle bags. Pulling it into his lap, he turned it on and waited patiently for the system to boot up.
Des yawned, his teeth gleaming in the low light of the room. “What are you doing?” he asked with interest.
The boy shrugged. “Well, if we’re gonna do this, we gotta figure out the logistics.”
“Logistics?” the daemon asked, knowing Alex thought better out loud.
“Logistics,” Alex agreed. The laptop finally turned on and he quickly clicked onto the Internet. “We can’t stay in this place forever.”
Des made a noise of agreement. “We have just enough money to stay for one more night if we push it.”
Alex nodded. “Right. Classes begin Monday but all of the facilities open this Friday.” He stopped typing on his laptop for a moment, reaching down into his bag and pulling out a notebook and pen. He pulled the cap off with his teeth and began to scribble in it with one hand while continuing to scroll with the other.
Des rolled over and placed his head on his paws, looking up at Alex expectantly.
“So starting Monday we’re essentially homeless,” Des mumbled, unable to keep the wariness out of his voice. “It’s hard to believe we made it this far just to be stuck in this situation.”
Alex shrugged, writing something down in his notebook before looking over at Des. “We can do this,” he said confidently. “In fact,” he paused, reading over his notes with a grin, “I don’t see why nobody else has done this.”
Des snorted, batting Alex’s leg with his paw. “Done what? Chosen to be homeless while attending school?”
The boy shot him a wry grin. “Exactly.”
Alex’s plan wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty damn close.
“The first thing we have to do is find a place to stash our stuff,” Alex told Des with a twisted frown as he looked at the two large bags on the floor. There was no way he would be able to carry everything around on his back all day without it looking suspicious.
“And where are we going to do that?” Des questioned curiously as Alex dumped out the contents of the bags on the bed. The boy began sorting through clothes and books, throwing each into their own pile.
“We can rent a locker at the gym,” Alex replied, holding a book with faded leather binding close to his face before putting it down gently into a third pile.
Des continued to watch the boy. “Rent?” he asked hesitantly.
Alex nodded, continuing to sort through his things. “Yeah. For ten bucks we can rent a locker for the whole semester.” He sighed, placing the majority of his books in a separate pile, looking at them morosely.
The daemon watched Alex closely, trying to figure out the cause of his distress. His eyes widened with realization. “Alexandre, you can’t get rid of those!”
Alex caressed the bindings of the book reverently before turning his attention to Des with a sad smile. “We gotta make this work.”
Des stood on the bed, walking over to Alex, his eyes burning brightly. “Those survived with us. How can you throw them away?”
Alex took a step away from the daemon, staring harshly at the dirty carpeted floor. “We gotta make this work,” he repeated, his hands clenching into fists.
Des sighed, jumping to his hind legs and resting his paws on Alex’s shoulders.
The boy looked up, eyes watery, and gave the daemon an unhappy grimace.
Des made a low noise in his throat before nuzzling Alex’s cheek. “You’re right. They’re just books.”
Alex reached forward and gripped Des’ fur tightly.
The daemon sighed, “We have the memories anyway; nothing can take those away,” he reassured, pulling back and pressing their foreheads together.
“Right,” Alex agreed, stepping away and beginning to fold his clothes tightly into one bag. There were a few moments of silence before Alex continued his train of thought. “So we can fit one bag in the locker,” he mumbled, sighing with relief when he got them all to fit with extra room. He slipped the few books he had put to the side carefully into the bag. These were the ones that were the most precious: the last gift he had received from his mother before she passed away.
“Then what?” Des prompted after settling back onto the bed.
Alex zipped the duffle bag cautiously, not wanting to snag any clothes or pages. They couldn’t afford food or a place to sleep, let alone new clothes.
“Alex?” Des asked again, ears flicking in annoyance at being ignored.
Alex plastered a fake smile on his face. “Then we get to work.”
It was the first day of classes and Alex wasn’t ashamed to say that he was a bit nervous. He pulled his hair into a bun as he hopped out of the gym shower. Des was perched on a nearby bench, dozing lightly as he waited for Alex to finish.
This was the first day of the rest of their lives. He knew it was cliche but he couldn’t bring himself to care. So far, being homeless at King's College had been easy. Alex wouldn’t want to give credit where it wasn’t due, but he was certain that he and Des could win a trophy for surviving against the odds. If Alex were to rank his talents, he would say his quick wit and inability to die would be tied for first place.
“What’s so funny?” Des asked as Alex made his way to their locker. The boy tugged out a fresh pair of clothes and his backpack before giving Des a wild smile.
“I was just thinking,” he tugged a T-shirt over his head, “that we are talented in both the art of words, and,” he pulled on a pair of boxers, “not dying.”
Des let out a chuckle. “So we’re like cockroaches?” he mused.
Alex snorted, pulling on his nicest pair of jeans and throwing Des a pompous look. “We’re the wittiest roaches in all the land.”
The daemon shook his head fondly, heading out of the room with Alex close on his heel. Today was going to be a good day; he could feel it in his bones.
Walking to their first class, Alex couldn’t help the extra energy that thrummed under his skin. It was finally happening. They were finally here. They were going to start classes and begin their rise to the top despite all the drawbacks. His eyes scanned over the busy walkway. The campus was alive with students.
“I can’t believe how many people are here,” Des whispered, falling back into the precaution of keeping his gender hidden.
Alex didn’t say anything, just nodded in agreement as they barely made it out of the way of a girl and her goat daemon. Des rolled his eyes at the angry snort that the goat threw their way.
It wasn’t long before they arrived to the classroom. It had more likeness to an auditorium, as there were enough seats for at least two hundred people, but Alex didn’t let that stop him from taking a seat at the front. mHe was here to learn, not hide in the back and play on his phone. Alex grimaced at the thought, looking around at his fellow early classmates.
The majority of them were on their phones. Alex hadn’t seen the point in getting one, though Des had fought him on the matter. Des had said it was a matter of safety but Alex had argued that there wasn’t anybody to call and it would be a waste of money. Fortunately they hadn’t made the investment before learning about their financial situation. Des wouldn’t admit to being wrong, but Alex saw him watching the other occupants of the room carefully.
“Don’t start with me, Alex,” Des whispered impishly, crawling under the table with a scowl. “You still don’t have a way to talk to Hercules and his annoying bratty bat of a daemon without a phone.”
Alex rolled his eyes. “It’s not like he really wanted to be friends anyway. He just felt bad ‘cause Nymeria hit me in the face and pissed you off.”
Some quiet mumbling from under the table assured Alex that he hadn’t won the argument but wasn’t going to hear anymore about it for the time being. He glanced at his watch, a worn old thing that had a fraying leather strap, a hand-me-down with so much history that Alex couldn’t even begin to fathom its original owner. Only a few minutes remained before class was supposed to begin and the professor had yet to make an appearance.
Alex sighed, taking out a notebook and a pen from his bookbag. He flipped it to the first clean page and jotted down the date. Another glance at his watch showed that there were only two minutes left til class started. He bit his lip, watching the door closely, fingers tapping out a silent beat as his nerves got the better of him. How was he supposed to get better and accomplish everything he sought out to if the professors didn’t even show up for class? How could he get them out of their current situation if there was no way to climb the social ladder? How was he expected to get a full night’s sleep when he and Des had to camp out in the library under the guise of studying?
He winced at the sharp feeling of claws sinking into his flesh through the material of his pants. Bright green eyes looked up at him from under the desk. Alex knew he was panicking--he knew that. He sucked in a breath and Des released him, sitting heavily on top of his feet as a reminder that Alex wasn’t alone.
“Hello, everyone.” A booming voice resonated from the front of the room, causing Alex to snap forward in attention. The professor had finally arrived. He was an imposing man who stood over six feet tall; by his side was his wolf daemon, her fur as dark as night with eyes to match. She stood proudly with her head easily reaching the professors thigh. It made a daunting image.
The man strode over to the board, writing his name before turning towards the class.“My name is George Washington.” He smiled warmly, gesturing to his daemon. “This is Ava.” She showed her teeth in a semblance of a smile, causing the students with smaller daemons to shuffle uncomfortably in their seats. “Welcome to Constitutional Law.”
Below, Des’ nose twitched with amusement; he had used that trick many times back on the islands when the local kids became too rough. Their rat and bird daemons would hide or take flight at the sight of his sharp teeth.
“Now,” Washington said with a clap of his hands, “can anyone tell me what do I mean when I say ‘constitutional law’?” His eyes scanned the room. There wasn’t an empty seat, yet no hands were raised. He made eye contact with several students who nervously dropped his gaze as soon as it was focused on them.
Alex was practically shaking with restraint. He knew this. Both he and Des knew this. One of the perks of camping in the library was having complete access to all the books all night. The two hour restrictions on textbooks placed in the daytime were easily brushed aside when reading at two a.m. They couldn’t afford the textbooks anyway. The fact that they were available to check out was something that Alex had not been aware of until that night.
This was something that he and Des had read about their first night, when the library had taken on a stronger-than-silent air. The stillness made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, and he had been unable to calm his nerves and sleep in one of the hidden alcoves that he and Des had discovered earlier that evening. Always one to be productive in times of distress, Alex had roused his daemon out of his doze and together they’d searched high and low for the relevant text for this class.
Of course, Alex tended to be over-prepared when it came to academia. So he’d not only read the assigned reading for the first two weeks--taking vigorous notes while his daemon slept at his side--he’d also cross-referenced the facts he’d found with a few older volumes just to see how the rules and interpretations of the law had changed over the few years of new editions.
That had taken most of his night; in fact, the readings had gotten him through the good part of the early morning. It wasn’t until he’d slumped over the text, asleep, that Des had pushed him to one of the lounge chairs in the area. He’d curled up sleepily, legs thrown over the side of the chair with Des climbing on his stomach. The daemon was a welcome weight; the library was chilly despite the sweatshirt that he had thrown on, and the daemon radiated heat. With Des at his side he’d managed to doze lightly for a few hours. He had never fallen asleep completely, but the lack of rest was nothing new.
Alex didn’t sleep well. That was just how he was. His brain was always on, whirring with information and facts that kept him awake and forced him to write. He could go weeks like this, barely catching enough sleep to function before he crashed hard. Des always tried to get him to nap but it was normally a battle that Alex won, til he slept for fourteen hours straight and had to deal with an irate daemon saying, “I told you so.”
But the tiredness had not settled into his bones--not when he was so excited at the professor's questioning. He knew the answer. He knew more than just the answer; he could probably give the whole lecture himself if Professor Washington asked him to. But he held his tongue and he waited. Why? He couldn’t say.
Alex watched carefully as Washington scanned the front row, meeting the man’s eyes and practically vibrating in his seat. The professor paused in his circulation around the room. His wolf daemon noticed and followed his line of sight. She cocked her head to the side, throwing Washington an interested look. Alex gripped his pen tightly as their gazes settled on his person.
“What’s your name, son?” Washington said loudly, causing the uneasy shuffling in the room to halt when they realized they weren’t going to be the ones put on the spot.
Alex’s eyes widened as Professor Washington took a step closer, raising an eyebrow at his silence. The moment stretched on for a second too long, and whispers began to break out around the classroom as Alex sat frozen in his seat.
“Alexandre," Des hissed nervously from under the table.
At his daemon’s words, Alex came back to himself and shook his head to get rid of the lingering cobwebs. It seemed that the lack of sleep had gotten to him a little bit, though he would never admit it.
“Your name?” the professor prompted again, his lips quirked in an amused half-smile.
Alex took a deep breath, regaining his wits, and spoke clearly and carefully. “Alexander Hamilton, sir.”
Washington nodded. “Alright, Mr. Hamilton, can you enlighten your classmates on the definition of constitutional law?” He threw the room a reprimanding look. “It seems that not everyone was able to make time for the assigned reading.” He turned his attention back to Alex, who had stood up to answer the question.
Alex sucked in another deep breath before opening his mouth and allowing the waterfall of words that he had kept at bay, loose. They rushed forward, twisting and crashing over each other, creating a path for his opinion to take form. He used statistics and examples he had read about in both the textbook and his research. He saw Professor Washington smile, his eyes sparking with interest as Alex continued to speak. Finally the last trickle of words came to a halt, and Alex sat back down, panting from speaking so much in such a short time span.
The room was silent. Alex could feel his face heating up. He prayed that his darker complexion hid the blush. Washington cleared his throat, turning to the board and writing key words from Alex’s long explanation. He turned to face the class who continued to stare at him blankly. “I suggest you all write this down, seeing as it is the foundation of this whole class.”
Alex bit his lip to hide the smile that was fighting to emerge on his face, before turning to his notebook to scribble down what Washington had on the board. Alex could feel vibrations coming from under the table; Des was pleased too if the silent purring was anything to go by.
At the end of class, Alex was pushing his notebook into his bag slowly. He still couldn’t believe that they were here. He shot Des a grin as the daemon sat on the stairs, watching Alex with bright eyes. They had made the right decision. The feeling of pride that Alex felt in his stomach was second to none.
He practically skipped to Des and the daemon rolled his eyes fondly, silently agreeing with Alex’s self-assessment.
Alex smiled smugly. “I told you all that reading was a good idea.”
Des looked towards the heavens for guidance; his boy was ridiculous. He ignored Alex’s giggle, staying silent in the half-empty classroom. He wasn’t taking any chances in ruining their first real day at King’s College by someone being a bigot.
“Mr. Hamilton.” Alex froze, looking up from Des to Professor Washington.
Des nudged his knee, reminding him to respond.
Alex cleared his throat. “Sir?” The confidence from earlier left him completely. The classroom had emptied, leaving them alone with their professor and his imposing daemon. Having their focus in this setting made Alex’s palms sweat.
“That was quite impressive,” Washington continued, as if there hadn’t been an awkward pause. “Have you taken a similar course?”
Alex knew he hadn’t meant the question rudely, but it rubbed him the wrong way. He couldn’t help his glare, his voice was steady as he replied. “No. I’ve never taken a class like this one, Professor.”
Washington's daemon barked a laugh, causing the attention to focus on her. “We meant no offense, pup, you’re very knowledgeable for someone who hasn’t taken this kind of course before,” she reassured with amusement.
Alex felt himself relax, a sheepish smile gracing his features at the daemon’s words.
Washington cleared his throat. “Yes, quite right. As Ava said, not many students come to this course with a grasp on the subject beforehand.”
Alex could feel his face heat up. He looked down at Des, who was looking back innocently. Alex could feel himself wishing they could switch positions, he being the silent one. Instead he was left hoping the earth would suddenly open wide and just swallow him whole. He threw a dirty look at his daemon for good measure before turning back to Washington.
“Um…” he started, not sure what to say. “I read it. The other night. In the library.” Alex wanted to wince at his stunted sentences but Washington nodded, clearly impressed.
“Well, I expect the same level of excellence throughout the semester,” the professor declared. He turned towards Ava, raising an eyebrow in question.
She cocked her head at Des. “Are you always silent?”
Des was the calm one out of the two of them; Alex knew he wouldn’t take her bait. The lynx just smiled with his teeth at the large wolf.
She huffed a laugh before shaking her head and turning to her human. “If you’re ready, next class is across campus.” Washington nodded, grabbing his satchel and making his way towards the door.
He paused in the entryway, giving Alex another unreadable look, before speaking confidently. “Have a good week, Mr. Hamilton. We’ll be interested to see how your first semester at King’s College progresses.” With that, he slipped out the door, leaving Alex standing there with wide eyes.
“That was unexpected,” Des said unnecessarily.
Alex shook his head with confusion, pulling his backpack up high on his shoulders before dropping the straps and letting the bag settle on his back. “Well,” he paused, cocking his head to the side in disbelief of what had just happened. “I guess we should go to our next class.”
Des made an unhappy noise in the back of his throat. “What time is it?”
Alex stopped in the doorway, looking back at his daemon questioningly. He glanced at his watch. “It’s a little past eleven, why?”
Des rolled his eyes, catching up to Alex and shooting him a hard look. “You need to eat.”
Alex sighed. “But-”
“No.” Des cut him off. “What we’re doing already has a lot of potential risks, we need to control the stuff we can,” he stated sternly. Alex slumped his shoulders, changing course towards the dining hall. Des let out a sigh at his dramatics. “You gotta eat, Alex.” He butted his head against the boy’s thigh. “If you pass out in the middle of class, people are gonna ask questions we can’t answer.”
Alex gave Des a pleading look as they left the building and stepped outside. “I know, but we could go after-”
“Excuse me?” a voice interrupted, causing Alex to spin around quickly. Leaning nonchalantly against the wall was man. He regarded Alex coolly before casually walking over. He held out a hand, smiling pleasantly. “Aaron Burr.”
Alex looked at the man cautiously, hesitatingly holding out his own hand. “Alexander Hamilton.” He scanned Burr’s face, trying to figure out what he wanted. He was uncomfortably aware that Aaron’s daemon couldn’t be seen. That could mean a lot of things, most likely that he had a small daemon that was hidden away for safety. Alex waited for the man to continue, appreciative of Des as he leaned heavily on his leg.
Aaron cleared his throat, a look of apprehension appearing on his face before gesturing to the inside of his sleeve. A triangular head popped out, accompanied by a forked tongue and golden eyes. “This is Ahonui.” The snake nodded once before disappearing out of sight.
Alex didn’t comment on the disappearing act; he knew what it felt like to be judged on things you couldn’t control. A snake daemon was a form that was controversial where he came from. On one hand it could mean intelligence and on the other hand it could stand for something much darker.
Alex gestured to his own daemon. “This is Des.” He glanced at his watch; they really had to get going if they were going to be able to get to class on time and eat. “Is there something I can help you with or…?”
Burr shook his head. “No, I just noticed in class you had a lot to say.” He gave Alex a small grin. “It’s your first year at King’s, right?”
Alex felt his face heat up shamefully. The way Aaron assumed he was a freshman rubbed him the wrong way. He knew he was small, but Alex had a lifetime’s worth of experience. Just because he was enthusiastic about finally being able to claw his way to success shouldn’t have painted him as some naive kid.
Burr noticed his unease and gave him another smile, pleased that he had been correct in his assumption before frowning slightly in realization. “How were you accepted into Washington’s class? I had to fight the admissions board and get special permission from Washington himself to take this class as a sophomore.” He gave Alex a searching look.
Alex shrugged, trying to ignore the spike of pride that he felt at Burr’s jealous tone. Alex had fought hard to get accepted into King’s. The admissions board were happy to accept him despite his age, intrigued by both his test scores and his story. It was rough going, and even though he had been granted the ‘full ride’ Alex was still proud. His life for the past year and a half had been anything but smooth sailing. The pain of losing his mother among the other misfortunes that occurred before coming to the states still ached if he thought about it too long.
“I got lucky, I guess,” Alex settled on saying, not wanting to give anything away. He offered a fake smile of his own to Aaron, who reciprocated with false warmness.
“Sure,” Aaron agreed. “We all get lucky sometimes, I suppose.” He gave Alex another searching look. “Can I offer you some advice?”
There was a moment of silence before Alex nodded in agreement, curious despite himself.
“Talk less,” Aaron said, the smile dropping from his face. “The people around here aren’t keen on newbies, especially ones that get special privileges.”
Alex bit his lip hard, barely keeping the angry words at bay.
Aaron continued on. “Keep your head down. Otherwise you’ll get attention that you don’t want,” he warned.
Alex frowned. “Are you threatening me?” he asked with disbelief.
Aaron shook his head. “Of course not, just giving you some advice.” He began to walk away, but paused, turning back to a scowling Alex. “And Hamilton?”
Alex glared. “What?” he said defensively.
Aaron plastered a grin on his face. “Smile more.”
Alex watched with a frown as the man continued on his way, leaving him frozen in the middle of the sidewalk.
After the uncomfortable meeting with Aaron Burr and Ahonui, Alex wasn’t ashamed to admit that he was glad to be on the other side of campus. Something about the two made his skin crawl. Des hadn’t said anything but the look he had given Alex as they made their way to the dining hall was enough.
Alex let out a loud breath, unable to stay silent even if Des wouldn’t talk back. “I just don’t understand where he gets off talking to us like that.” He crossed his arms, gripping the sides of his shirt, trying to keep a semblance of calm. It wouldn’t be good to get into a fight on the first day of classes.
Des flicked an ear in his direction in silent agreement. Alex took that as cue to continue venting his frustrations.
“Like, he doesn’t even know us.” Alex shook his head with thinly veiled disgust. “‘Talk less, smile more.’” He paused, nose scrunched up as if he had smelt something nasty as he pushed open the doors to the dining hall. “If we ever see Aaron Burr again it’ll be too soon,” he finished, scanning the room quickly. There were a lot more students here than there had been this weekend. He knew that would be the case since classes were now in session, but seeing them all in one place was unsettling. A loud voice caught his attention, causing him to lose his train of thought.
“C’mon, you gotta share. It’s not fair that you get all the good stuff while I have to sit here and watch,” a daemon complained, reaching over a student with his paws and trying to take a fork out of the boy’s hand. The boy in question rolled his eyes, pushing his otter daemon away from his food, mumbling something that caused the daemon to huff in annoyance.
Alex couldn’t help but stare. This boy had a male daemon. He shot a glance at Des, whose eyes were sweeping the room cautiously. Nobody seemed to be bothered that the boy’s daemon was male or showing him any disdain.
The boy at the table felt the heat of his gaze as he met Alex’s eyes across the room. He tensed, body coiled for action. “You got a problem?” the boy sneered, his eyes tracing the length of Alex’s body, sizing him up.
“Jack,” his daemon said quietly, whiskers twitching nervously as they became the focus of the room. “Quit it. There ain’t no reason to pick a fight.”
Jack ignored his daemon, baring his teeth at Alex who continued to stare, unable to get his thoughts in order to respond. “Nothing to say? You stupid or something?”
That got a reaction. Alex’s eyes flashed with heat. “I’m not stupid,” he growled.
Des had been watching silently beside Alex, stepped in front of his human, ears back and claws digging into the ground, ready to fight. He had been in enough skirmishes with Alex to have a strategy. He knew Alex hadn’t intended to start a fight but Des wasn’t afraid to finish it. He glared at the daemon perched on the table, fur standing on end.