Student Founders AU
@reirukazu look what I found! I thought I deleted the file by accident ages ago.
So this AU came up in one of many random Founders-related conversations and it amuses me so thought I’d share it. Let me know if you’d like to see more.
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Helga opened the door to find Godric doing push-ups in the hallway. She shook her head and closed the door, easing her shoes off with a relieved sigh. Having to wear smart shoes on ward rounds was killing her feet. Godric twisted round and grinned.
“Hey,” he panted. “How did it go?”
Helga smiled at him. “All my cannulas are signed off. How are you doing?”
“That’s great!” He glanced back at the revision cards strewn across the floor in front of him. “Getting there.” Helga raised an eyebrow and he gave a breathless laugh. “It’s actually easier to concentrate this way.”
Helga shook her head again, and carefully stepped over him to make her way through to the kitchen.
Rowena too was engrossed in revision, though she at least was sitting at the table. Her eyes were flickering between her laptop screen and the piles of equation-covered notes surrounding her faster than seemed possible, but she looked up as Helga entered.
“I heard,” she said, with a smile. “Congratulations. Is that you all done then?”
Helga pulled a face. “I wish. All my competencies are signed off, but I’ve still got the uni exams to get through.”
Rowena reached across to squeeze her hand. “You’ll be fine, Helga. The January ones went well, didn’t they?”
“If by well you mean top of the year, then yes,” Salazar called from the kitchen.
Helga laughed and leaned round the door to wave at him. Salazar, despite pouring boiling water into a pan with one hand, stirring a bubbling pot with the other, and reading the enormous book propped up on the spice rack, spared the attention to smile at her.
“Somehow, I don’t think you’re going to have any problems,” he told her.
Helga looked at him and shook her head. How he could pay absolutely no attention to what he was doing and still be the best cook in the house was a mystery she would never solve. “Thank you, but we’ll see.” She squinted at the book, then promptly gave up when she realised it was all Greek to her. Literally. “I thought you’d had that exam.”
“I have,” said Salazar, with a shrug. “I like this chapter.”
Helga had to laugh. Salazar smirked, and turned back to his cooking. “Do you mind grabbing Godric? This is nearly done, and he’s not sitting at the table unless he’s had a shower.”
“Hey!” Godric yelled, but a moment later they heard the pounding of his feet on the stairs, and the ancient pipes groaned as the shower turned on.
“Thank you,” Rowena called.
“That means you have to clear your stuff as well,” Salazar told her.
“At least half of this is yours!”
“I’ll get it,” said Helga, before Salazar could escalate the discussion. He shot her a quick smile, and she moved back through to the kitchen and started gathering up the piles of notes. She was careful to keep the pages of Salazar’s slanting writing separate from Rowena’s equations, the last thing either of them needed was to get distracted trying to work out what the other was working on. Ordinarily it was fun to watch Rowena try to remember her grammar school Latin, or Salazar attempt to puzzle through advanced mathematics using online guides, but not in the middle of exam season.
Rowena was setting her laptop carefully on top of her books when Godric bounced back into the room. Helga immediately realised what was going to happen, and only just managed to hide her grin when Godric caught their friend up into a surprise hug.
“Let go of me!”
It would probably have gone better if he had at least attempted to dry his hair, but judging from the sparkle in Godric’s green eyes everything had gone exactly according to plan. He set her down though, and darted through to the kitchen, ruffling Helga’s hair as he passed.
“Is it ready - Ow!”
“How many times, no sneaking pasta before it’s done!”
Helga smoothed her hair flat and exchanged a look with Rowena. Her friend let out a stream of Cantonese that Helga wasn’t sure she wanted to understand, and slumped back into a chair. “I can’t wait for these exams to be over.”
Helga hummed in acknowledgement, then blushed as her own stomach rumbled. It had been a long time since her rushed lunch. It was a well known fact in the hospital that students didn’t need proper meals.
Fortunately, between her running around the ward all day and Godric’s hyperactivity, Salazar was well used to their respective appetites and adjusted his portion sizes accordingly. Ten minutes later, Helga was halfway through her pasta, and feeling much less likely to fall asleep on her feet. Salazar accepted their compliments with his usual awkward shrug, but he looked as content as he ever did and that was good enough.
As usual, Godric was the first to finish. He sat quietly for a minute, ankle tapping against the table leg, before a slow smile spread across his face.
“So,” he said cheerfully, “who’s coming to training tonight?”
Everyone else suddenly became very interested in their food. Godric rolled his eyes. “Come on, guys. You’ll get out of practice. And you all need to relax.”
“First, explain to us how getting thrown about the mats for an hour counts as relaxing,” Salazar shot back. “And second,” he continued, before Godric could do so, “you know that none of us have time right now.”
“Not all of us have to pass physical fitness requirements for our chosen careers,” Rowena added tartly.
Godric looked so crestfallen that Helga had to speak up. “But we will start coming again after exams finish.” She glanced at Rowena and Salazar, and received two slightly reluctant nods.
“I am so glad we live with a med student,” Salazar muttered under his breath.
Helga smiled and turned back to her food. To say her friends were odd would be putting it lightly, but she wouldn’t have them any other way.
