so special

@thedeanrichardson

Her smile turning softer at the mention of his little brother, Quinn had forgotten all about their drinks by now. There was something so charming about him when he wasn’t in full fuckboy mode, it made her want to try and see more of that side of him. “That sounds adorable and very noble, I’m sure the tigers would appreciate the help,” she said. “I can always snap you as many pictures as you’d like, but the truth is, even though I photograph amazingly -- I’m still so much prettier in person, don’t you think? Plus, if you actually text me every now and then, you might get to do more than just look,” she raised her eyebrows slightly, letting her words hang in the air for a second. “You can also get to hear my voice, I mean.”

"Sounds like you need to join some clubs or do something fun, all that thinking is gonna get you wrinkles,” Quinn joked, laughing softly, though she found it rather cute how into her stuff she was. “I -- well, I run? I’m on the track team, running’s like, my other thing, it clears my head when I’m too blocked to write and all that. And I shop, that’s like, my number one hobby,” she added, chuckling at herself, a little embarrassed at how shallow that sounded in comparison.

“Sounds about right, there’s not much of a point in doing things just for money when you could be doing things you enjoy for money,” Quinn grinned, though she figured being a youtuber was drastically different from her alternative career path, but she wasn’t gonna go into meaningless details right now. “I mean, the more time you put into it, the better you’ll get at it, the more money you’ll make -- and all while doing something you like? Sounds like the perfect plan,” she added, shrugging slightly. Sitting down across from him, her laptop forgotten in favor of the pretty boy, she leaned a bit closer, compliments like some magnet that drew her in easily. “If you wanted to see more of my beautiful face, you could, you know? You just need to make good use of that phone of yours and hit me up every now and then.”

Nodding as he talked, tracing her name on the cup mindlessly, Quinn had a good feeling she knew who Walter meant, but she hoped he’d tell her about that himself, at some point. “Oh, not much,” she said, shrugging her shoulders as she lifted her cup and took a tiny sip. It was a relief to know Dean hadn’t told him anything, since she’d shared a bit more than she usually would about Michael, but then again, maybe it was worrying that he hadn’t, since they were such good friends and all that. “He didn’t seem to be having a great time, and I was -- I felt he needed some company, so I did my thing and talked until his ears were burning, you know how I can be when I’m trying to cheer someone up,” she laughed, hiding her mouth behind her cup. “He looked a little sad, though, I’m not sure I was of much help.”

“Oh no, please, it was nice to hear,” Quinn grinned, taking a sip of her drink. “It was definitely more interesting than what my class would have been, so that’s a win for me.” Stirring her coffee, she let her attention wander for a second, realizing she hadn’t worked at all and it had been quite a while, but she didn’t think she could find it in her to get back to working anyway. “So, what else do you do, besides studying and trying to understand people? Any fun hobbies, or does philosophy take up all your time?”

@wallllter

Glancing back at the counter, Quinn let out a breath, trying to calm herself down and remember she could actually live without coffee, she just hated things going wrong when it was so out of her control. “Ah, that sounds like a lot of work,” she sighed sympathetically as she glanced at her computer, praying it had locked the screen by itself after leaving it idle for this long. “Yeah, just -- got some assignment for the class I’m skipping, figured if I get it done early I might be forgiven for, like, not showing up to class, though I’m sure the teacher would rather see my beautiful face than have to read my stuff.”

“See, if you would just prioritize resting over taking notes you can totally get from someone else later, you wouldn’t be this grumpy,” Quinn said, narrowing her eyes at him. Clearly she wasn’t the one who needed a sugar kick here. “Everyone naps here, just look around, there’s a reason they keep it this cozy, but please don’t let me keep you if you have classes to go fall asleep at.” Sipping at her coffee, she stared back at him, mirroring his forced smile. “Lovely running into you, Sterling, truly.”

Though it felt a bit like a repeat from listening to Walter in his first years getting all excited about things Quinn couldn’t possibly stay tuned in long enough to understand, Kat waving her hands around while she talked with sparkly eyes was certainly more attractive to pay attention to. “That sounds -- tricky,” she laughed, eyes crinkling. “I feel like it would give me a headache to even think about it, and I’d probably end up questioning a lot of what I do, like, doesn’t it make you end up wondering why you do everything you do? If you’re doing it because it’s the right thing, or because there’s a benefit, or because you just got up feeling like it this morning?”

“Jesus, it’s way too early for this,” Quinn let out a shaky laugh, trying to keep herself composed. She had no idea where this girl had come from but it felt like she’d emerged from some bad dream, seeing straight through her and calling her out in ways that were frankly uncomfortable. All she’d wanted was a sugary drink and to get some writing done. “Everyone’s fake sometimes, it’s necessary for like, keeping things civil, or getting things you want? God, I don’t know, I can’t get deep without having even had my coffee, you’ll understand.”

Bursting into laughter as she followed her outside the place, Quinn gave an embarrassed look around them, hoping no one could hear their conversation. “No, jesus, that doesn’t happen -- also, I wear sports bras that keep my nipples safe, so you don’t have to worry about them,” she said once she’d caught her breath. “I take good care of my boobs, they get me places and all that, so I owe them that much.”

“Oh, philosophy, that sounds like something for smart people,” Quinn smiled, eyes sparkling as she leaned on the table to get closer to the girl. “My brother’s majoring in that too, maybe you’ve seen him around, Walter?” she mentioned, though she figured he was probably as lowkey as he could in class. “Tell me about it though, I feel like I’ve been talking for hours, I wanna see you get super into Plato or whatever -- what got you into it?”

“Do you have to bring dicks into every conversation,” Quinn sighed, dropping the fry and staring at it with distaste. “Fine, but only for fries, I can’t handle that many calories right after the weekend,” she nodded, pushing the plate away to keep the temptation of trying to find one that was less soggy as far as possible. “There’s only so much running I can do in this weather without freezing my fingers off, you know.”

Feeling that comment about sweet things being fake hit a little too close to home, Quinn had to make an effort so that the smile on her face wouldn’t falter. Clearly this girl needed some help, she could already envision herself giving him a make over and teaching her how to do her hair, which looked so pretty in its wild state but could look a thousand times better if she would just put some effort into it. “Again, that strongly depends on your choices, doesn’t it,” Quinn said through her fakest smile yet. “Life doesn’t need to be harsh to be real, silly, lots of people have good, happy lives, and it doesn’t mean they’re fake, obviously.” 

Nodding as she felt Kat really understood what she was trying to convey, Quinn mixed the cream in her coffee, having a sip and deciding it needed some more sugar. “You’re entirely right -- I’ve been writing since I was a baby, and honestly? It feels kinda lame when some dude comes try to correct me on things that I feel they think are wrong because they don’t get them,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “I do like the literature classes, because reading what other people have written is probably the best way to learn and like, get inspired. Especially when we get to discuss them and you see how other people interpret the same thing, it really helps you learn that when people read your stuff, they’re probably gonna get different things from it than what you intended to put into it -- does that make sense? I feel like I’m ranting too much, I’m sorry.”

“Everything could be fun for a drinking game, I’d try to find one less... redneck-y, you know,” she said, arching her eyebrows at her as she reluctantly grabbed another fry. “You already are a sensual young whatever, you don’t need to get pneumonia to prove it,” she laughed, waving a fry at her, careful not to get ketchup on her expensive jacket. “These fries are so cold, I can’t believe I’m eating them just so you don’t have to, I’m such a good friend.”