try a little tenderness

        ‘  nope !  it’s  totally  fine  .   i  don’t  have  anyone  meeting  up  with  me  anyways  .  ’    not  that  she  ever  really  does  .   it’s  like  ,   she  has  friends  ,   yes  .   a  boyfriend  ,   even!  but  sometimes  she  just  finds  herself  alone  ,   and  lonely  ,   and  finds  herself  distracting  herself  with  meaningless  things  .    ‘  i  can  see  that  ,  for  sure  .   seems  kinda  lonely  ,   though  .  ’    she  has  enough  of  that  during  the  summer  .    ‘  yeah !  oh  gosh  ,   really ?  ’    cue  a  giggle  ,   she  covers  her  mouth  just  so  .    ‘  hope  she  hasn’t  found  mine .  ’

             her roommates were definitely interesting but she wasn’t one to complain , they mostly kept to herself and it wasn’t like she was bringing in people anymore.  it was more of less quiet in their room which she didn’t mind all that much.  however , the quiet also bothered her and she decided to explore the mainly empty halls.  she was definitely feeling the effects of not being able to leave gallagher’s walls.                her head violently turned as she heard a loud crash , she was going to let it go because it was none of her business.  it definitely wasn’t her business and that’s why she should go and investigate.  she opened the door to see micah standing there , bleeding.  eyes scanned the room looking at the metal cover for the vent then his forehead , it almost caused her to roll her eyes.  “ please tell me you’re not queasy , “ she spoke as she walked in and closed the door.  she knew all the classrooms kept a first aid so she made her way towards that.  “ any reason or — you just wanted to explore the school on a more intimate level ? “

              he blinked at her. did she read minds? “i’m actually super bad with...” he gestured at his own head, “usually, anyway.” he wiped his head roughly with his sleeve, swallowing thickly. “when i was like eleven another guy hit his head on the tarmac and there was loads of blood and he was FINE but i fainted –” he paused. “actually maybe i should sit down.” he crossed to the table he’d been working on and leant against it, wiping blindly at his head again. 

“If what you mean by glamorous parties you mean ones filled with bureaucrats and other old farts where I had to wear shoes that pinched my feet and had to sneak drinks away from the bar,” Lou answered. Having a parent in government wasn’t all what most people thought it was cracked up to be. One of the reasons that she had decided to attend Gallagher was to escape the scrutiny of it all and to be able to live without her actions being tied to her mother. “Exactly! Another reason I go by Lou instead.”

Micah laughed - she created quite the picture. “Okay, doesn’t sound super fun at all,” he conceded, teasingly adding, “that has absolutely killed the romance of my vision of your life now... in my mind it was like the party scenes from Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby film, lots of fireworks and confetti and people in the pool and stuff.” He took another swig of his beer, for the sake of politeness. “Lou is also really good. Do you know what your name means? Mine means ‘he who is like the Lord’, which is... probably why I have a self-esteem issue. Lot to live up to there.”

Even if he told her not to worry, she couldn’t just stop. Not when he was hurt and bleeding. “That was a lame joke.” She rolled her eyes but still smiled softly. Keeping the tissue in place, Sunny wished that she had a band-aid or something to give the other. “I don’t think I’m an angel, I’m just doing something that a regular person would’ve done.”

“I mean... it’s only my own dumb fault, so REALLY – I appreciate the help.” He really meant it, people round here had so much to do and no reason to stop to help. “You’d think, this being my second year and everything I’d be doing a bit better than this by now. Probably causing more problems than solving them.” 

“It does make you sound a tad paranoid,” she agreed, looking up at the vent and back to him with a wary look on her face. She laughed softly, her face softening and her arms crossing over her chest. “The vents would have definitely collapsed. I’m not sure they’ve updated them in a while,” she warned, in case he were to try again. “Is someone out to get you? Should I be worried I’m this close to you?” she asked.

She softened and he immediately relaxed a little too. She didn’t seem to think he was completely crazy, and he wouldn’t have blamed her if she did. “Not sure what a was really planning on doing up there,” he admitted, “probably would have just stuck my head in, had a bit of a look around.” He had to laugh at the idea of anyone being out to get HIM. “God no – sorry, it’s quite funny to think about there being a price on my head. I don’t really attract danger, or trouble... just too nosy for my own good.”

it feels like it’s never ending bullshit at this school. if it’s not one thing, then it’s another, the air constantly thick with tension of untold things. it feels like marlowe’s on the outside, looking in, but the windows are just constantly fogged up. her and her friends are trapped in a place that’s not even entirely safe and yet all they’ve gotten for it is the basic ability to call her family. it’s the noise that draws her in at first, because right now, she’s just trying to do her psych work in a quiet spot. she doubles back, stopping when she hears the crash, and pokes her head into the room where she finds a bleeding gallagher student caught in some sort of act. “the fuck are you doing?” she asks, her eyes drifting up to the wound on his head. “uh. you got a little something– right–,” she gestures up. “maybe we should get you a bandaid or something.”

              “ how do you teach yourself ? “  she asks, glancing up at him. delilah doesn’t bother to get out of his personal space, because well, personal space isn’t something she BELIEVESin.    “ only if you don’t do it right, “   the brunette shrugs, arms folding over her chest.  if she had art like that, she’d sell it in a heartbeat.   “ can i buy something of yours ? “

“good question,” he hadn’t really thought about it, “it’s a lot of looking –  at the light, the colours, the shapes, that kind of thing. but that’s no good without the research. people in the past used different materials to now, they look completely different, work differently. you have to have the right materials. monet... he used oils, so that’s quite easy, but never browns, and definitely not black. that would be a dead giveaway...” he paused. “sorry i’m being boring. if you wanted a painting though i would just give it to you, don’t be silly.”

                   jo walks into the room with just enough time to watch the boy SLAM the cover against the head, causing him to go crashing down.   “ JESUS, “ she hisses, as if it affects her in any way.   “ that was smooth as shit.  do you need some help ? “

               micah wiped at his head with his sleeve, clearly embarrassed to have been caught by jo. “oh – no, no. thank you. i wouldn’t want to waste your time, i bet you were headed somewhere...” he bent to pick up the grate awkwardly, unsure how to convince her he had this under control.

Sunny was on her way back to her dorm, ready to call her siblings like usual. It was meant to be a chill day until she heard a loud crash from one of the empty classrooms. Concern took over as she went inside said classroom and was shocked to see someone on the ground, bleeding. “Oh God, are you okay? What happened?” The first year asked, going straight to Micah as she opened her bag. Inside was usually a few tissues. Finding some, the she went ahead to press them up against the other’s forehead.

“Oh – hey, it’s okay don’t worry,” he insisted. She looked as shocked as he felt. God, he felt terrible – imagine walking into a room and having to see someone bleeding. He’d probably just faint if that was him. “The grate fell on my head,” he explained, pointing to the offending item, “it didn’t feel... GREAT.” He offered her a grin as if a joke and a smile alone would be proof it was all okay. He let her pat at him with her tissues. “Thank you so much, I really appreciate it. You’re an angel - really.”

tilly was not a nosy person (which begged the question of what she was doing at a place like gallagher to begin with) but there was a difference between nosy and concerned. and she was definitely concerned when she heard a loud clattering from inside a seemingly empty classroom. without hesitation, she opened the door, her eyes darting back and forth between the man, the vent, the fallen cover on the floor. it seemed clear what had happened, she only questioned why.

she could see the cut before he touched it, but it took a moment for her to spring to action. tilly started searching through the classroom cupboards, looking for a first aid kit. “um…don’t touch it,” she said, cringing at the state of her bedside manner. after finding the kit, she went to the conveniently placed classroom sink and washed her hands. she opened the kit and pulled out the package of gauze. “it’s not that bad, but even a minor head wound bleeds a lot and i’m guessing you’d like it to stop.”

tilly headed for the cupboards and micah was confused. what could she be looking for? surveillance equipment? he frowned but it scrunched up the cut and made it hurt more. maybe the vent hit him harder than he thought... he sat himself down on the chair he’d just been stood on carefully. by now tilly was washing her hands and he finally understood what was going on. “oh – you don’t have to waste your time doing that,” he insisted, “really! i’m sure it is fine. were you in a rush? i don’t want to make you late for anything.” he knew he was rambling. “yeah, i kind of hate blood so if you could get it to stop that would be brilliant.”

elliot didn’t like to think of herself as nosy. she preferred the terms curious or inquisitive or spying. but you didn’t have to be a spy to hear the loud clamor of metal hitting something hard and falling to the ground. she swung open the door to the classroom where the noise seemed to have come from just in time to see someone jump down from a conspicuously placed chair.

“right. nothing to see except for the blood gushing from your forehead,” she responded, pulling a tee shirt out of her gym bag and offering it to him. “i don’t carry gauze or bandaids or anything around, but this is clean.” elliot looked around for the source of the noise, her eyes quickly falling on the metal grate before looking back up at the vent it seemed to have been covering. “well? did you overhear anything good?”

he considered the shirt from her gym bag, but declined politely. “i wouldn’t want to mess up your clothes,” he insisted, “blood stains, right?” he wafted his bloody hand around slightly, before just resolving to use his own sleeve. he was wearing black after all, should be fine. 

he glanced up at the vent when she did, feeling a bit ridiculous for ever looking into it. he didn’t know what he actually expected to find. “didn’t get that far...” he admitted, “actually think i might have just been being a bit paranoid.”

– ALLIE HEARS THE CRASH IN THE CLASSROOM AND IMMEDIATELY DECIDES TO INVESTIGATE ( the fact that there’s a price on her head doesn’t deter her, stupidly enough ! ) and she follows the source of the noise to see where micah is looking EXTREMELY suspicious. allie eyes the vent that the chair is underneath suspiciously, but unfortunately, she doesn’t have a damn clue – she’s about to open her mouth to ask what the heck he’s looking for when she notices the BLOOD on his forehead.

“ oh my god, ” she rushes forth, “ are you okay ? ” allie is not at all squeamish about blood, a fear she’s long grown out of since becoming a health sciences major at georgetown. “ at least let me help you clean up, ” allie insists – because THEN she can question him.

micah thinks he might be a little in shock, because he can only really blink at allie, glancing down at the blood on his fingertips. he’s not the best with this kind of thing – he’s always been squeamish – and maybe it is just the blow to the head, but he’s feeling a little light-headed. allie, who he seems to remember is definitely a georgetown student,  is one of the absolute last people he’d hoped would find him looking so suspicious.

Rowan had just finished a heavy work out and had been looking forward to taking a long and hot shower when she heard the incredibly loud banging noise in a classroom that she had been passing by. Her first thought was to ignore it, as it wasn’t exactly her problem, but her curiosity got the better of her and she found herself turning and opened the door, coming inside to find a rather guilty-looking student with blood on his forehead.

She couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, smirking lightly as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Why don’t you get down from the chair and you’ll look a little less suspicious,” she told him, rolling her eyes as she started over to the other side of the room where the other was. “What the hell were you doing that you smacked your head with a grate?” she asked, looking down at the grate and back up to him. “Please don’t tell me you were going to try and get into the vent. We’re a spy school! We have better tactics than that!”

He hopped down from the chair sharpish, grinning sheepishly as she looked between the him and the grate. He felt a bit ridiculous now. “Well, I thought I could hear something coming from up there,” he gestured to the vent, “which I realise now makes me sound literally insane.” He considered the size of the vent for a minute and shrugged. “Cliche move, I guess, I’m not a Covert Operations type of guy... as you probably guessed.” 

– THE LOOK ON THIS GUY’S FACE MAKES IT ALL WORTH IT. she’s got to stifle her own laughter to keep from cracking up. she pauses, looking at the machine like she’s considering her options, finally deciding on a bag of m&ms. “ chocolate, ” she explains, like that should make it all make sense. “ besides, all the money that donors put into funding this fuckin’ place…you’ll have a new one by tomorrow. ” 

he was standing unsteadily on a plastic chair, hovering on his tiptoes when he managed to pry the metal grate away from the opening. the cover sprung from the wall with surprising force, hitting micah’s brow first, and then bouncing from the chair and hitting the ground with a resounding crash. 

it clearly caused enough of a commotion to alert whoever was passing in the corridor, because the classroom door was opening almost quicker than micah could jump down from the chair, trying to look less guilty than he felt.  “oh, hi... nothing to see here–” he pressed his fingertips to his forehead, spotting a small amount of blood. “ah, CRAP.”  @gallagherstart​