Reality Is Stranger Than Fiction

Wanderer's Lullaby (Adriana Figueroa)

As Ford sleeps quietly in your arms, your mind wanders through past memories. You know you should be keeping watch, but Bill's power here was very limited (as far as you could tell) so you weren't entirely worried that you'd be jumped at any moment. So, for the first time in nearly thirty years, you reminisced.

When you'd first met Ford, he'd been a ball of nerves, coffee, and studying. It was a university study hall, and the quiet murmurers in the far back corner of the obnoxiously loud hall drew you over. You'd found an exhausted Ford, hunched over piles of books, scribbling frantic notes.

"Mind if I sit here?" you asked, gesturing to the spare seat.

He looks up with wide eyes, the same startled deer look he retains to this day.

"What? I - er - pardon, can you repeat that?"

"Can I sit here? I promise I won't be too much of a distraction, but this is the quietest place here," you explained, rubbing the back of your neck anxiously.

"Oh! Of course. Let me just -" he had scrambled to push a few books out of the way, clearing you a spot to sit.

"Thanks," you'd said as you sat down across from him.

He offered a small smile, and the two of you lost yourselves between margins and notes for the next three hours until you had to go to your next class. Well, he did at least. You caught yourself more than a few times staring at him. He was cute (that never really went away), in the way that an easily startled stray cat was.

"Thanks for the seat, man. I gotta get going," you stated as you quickly tucked away your books when your alarm had gone off.

"If you need a seat later, feel free. You're a pleasant company," he mumbled, not even looking up from his book.

"I'll keep it in mind," you hummed as you quickly dart from the study hall to dash down the halls.

That may have been the first time you'd crossed paths, but it certainly wasn't the last. The next time was in the dorm halls, you'd laughed and brushed it off, continuing on your way. The third was in the dorm common rooms. Apparently, the two of you shared the same division for dorms and you'd never noticed him quietly sitting there as you'd sat in the common room to avoid the "mostly" bug-free dorm room you'd been assigned to.

The reason you noticed him, was because he was sitting on the only clean couch that you'd scouted out weeks ago. You weren't too keen to sit on one of the mystery-stained chairs, so you walked up to him and tapped his legs.

He'd jumped.

"Sorry to startle you, but you're sitting on the only clean couch. Scoot over?" you requested, offering him a friendly smile as he stares up at you.

"I - er - yes. I didn't realize anyone else had noticed that this was -" he rambled as he moves his position so you can sit down as well.

"- The only non-mystery-stained couch?" you commented, sitting down happily with your book in your lap. Some light reading.

"Yes exactly. I was meaning to take a sample to the labs and figure out just what they are," he continued, a smile blossoming on his face.

"I wouldn't advise it. Not sure it's something one should know the answer to," you said, shaking your head. He gave that a contemplative look for a moment.

"I suppose you're correct. It's just, mysteries tend to increase my curiosity. The unknown needs to be classified and documented," he explained, shifting his book in his lap just enough so you could catch the title.