summer had never been teddy’s priority. even when he was much younger: while most kids counted down until the days of sun burning your back and ice cream dripping down your chin, teddy’s routine hardly changed, except more boredom was added into the mix. with all the most academic of extracurriculars suspended from june ‘till august — chemistry club in elementary school, student council in middle school, both once he was in eden in the tail end of high school, among many others — he spent most of his time bored & alone. now he had sawyer at least, though his activity options were now severely limited again by … well, his anxieties surrounding being dead.
so being a teaching assistant it was. bachelor’s under his belt and professors liking the fact that he was consistently ( arguably, anal-retentively ) on time and serious about his work, it was easy enough to get a job for the first-half of the summer semester. not half bad for a stipend and unlimited dining swipes. and credit, not that he needed it — full course load might as well be teddy’s middle name. it’s the second benefit that sits him where he is now. he can’t eat still, at least not food — though he’s been starving to the point of discomfort for days now. being around it is rough, the aroma of things he used to enjoy having seemingly taunting him. but it is the quietest building, the once rowdy noises of mealtimes at summer considerably quiet under the hum of summer heat — at least compared to the student center, still holding plenty of events.
he’s shocked up from a paper he’s looking through by a familiar voice, and his stomach, still rumbling, sinks. it’s not that he doesn’t like professor spellman — in fact, he was one of teddy’s favorites … but he is sitting silently in a dining hall with no food in front of him, in the middle of the summer. though explanation is quick — i’m working, true. i’m not hungry and am very much still alive, lie — it still ties a knot in his stomach. “ oh ! uh — hi p-professor. school’s … g-going great. ” fingers move to fiddle with red pen. “ i’m sh-shadowing at the high school. or … was. they j-just let out for summer. ”
richmond is never very social. in fact, he often finds himself avoiding people, as if to minimize all interactions. he was a lonely man, but lonely was what he preferred. he doesn’t know why he’s initiated conversation with the former student ━ maybe it was because, out of all the students he’d had that semester, teddy had been his favorite. always engaged, and a very bright student ━ always asking the exact questions richmond wanted his students to ask.
“ my apologies, if i startled you. it wasn’t my intention. ” he says with a small smile. not often that he gives one of those out ━ lips, curled in genuine humor and kindness, almost change how he looks completely. stoicism gone, for a moment. “ congratulations are in order, then. are you doing anything in the interim ? ” he quickly realizes that this may end up being a longer conversation than he’d intended, and chicken salad in hand is slowly growing warmer. “ mind if i join you ? ” he questions, gesturing towards former student’s table. he quickly notices lack of food, and another apology comes quickly. “ oh, you’re working. my apologies, then. ” he steps back, preparing to seat himself at another empty table ━ after all, there are plenty around.
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