Who: Quentin Coldwater and John Watson When: Recently Where: UCI What: Random Encounter Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete
Quentin Coldwater was a tall, skinny guy who wore a lot of black. His long, black hair was scraggly, and tucked behind his ears. He was reading intently in his seat at the cafe on campus between classes. He liked coming here, even though he’d already been interrupted twice by students who wanted to talk to him about his classes. Actually, maybe that’s why he liked coming here. He liked to feel like he belonged.
Though, he did look more like a mature, goth student than a professor.
John found that he liked this cafe because it seemed to be one of the few on campus with decent coffee, better tea, and good food for a quick bite. The campus had been easy to settle into, thank goodness, and John made sure to say hello to students he recognized as he saw them. He was very keen on building acquaintanceships.
So when he saw a man that he vaguely recognized, John figured he should at least go introduce himself. Or something of that ilk. Tea in hand, he walked over, and cleared his throat politely.
Quentin looked up from his paperwork at the sound of someone clearing his throat. He raised his eyebrows and sat up a little. The man standing there with a hot drink in hand looked familiar. Another faculty member? He couldn’t quite place the face with a name.
“Hello.” Q said, trying not to be as awkward as he felt.
John felt immensely awkward. He was a social creature, but sometimes he overstepped his bounds. “Sorry,” he said, trying a slight smile, “I didn’t mean to interrupt. Uh - I’m John. Watson. I’m a bit new on the faculty here but we’ve not properly been introduced, and I like to try and get to know my colleagues if I can.”
Q was a bit relieved that it was another faculty member and not a mature student. That made him a little less embarrassed about the awkwardness. He set his paperwork down and reached a hand up for the other man to shake. “Nice to properly meet you, John. I’m Quentin. --Coldwater. Religious studies department. I’ve only been here since the fall.” He was trying to do the same thing--build those acquaintanceships. It didn’t always come naturally to Q.
Well, that was a relief indeed. John’s smile became more relaxed and he shook the other man’s hand with a firm grasp. “Likewise. I’m in the medical faculty. Trauma surgery, I just came here in January so I guess you’ve got a bit up on me. Do you like it here?”
“I do.” Quentin said, motioning for John to take a seat opposite him. He cleared space on the small table, settling back down in his own chair once more. “Though, we’ve had a few problems with some recent crime in the area. Graffiti and the like. My office is pretty barren, so I wasn’t hit hard. Some of the other professors in my department had their offices trashed, though, when some hooligans broke in.”
Yes, Quentin had just used the word ‘hooligan.’
“Yeah,” John agreed, sitting and taking a sip of tea, “it’s been affecting my lectures. Fortunately I’ve had nothing vandalised, but people seem wary to go out when there’s a mass of crimes happening. I’m going to have to adjust my curves to try and give everyone fair chances to pass.”