Finding

(38) Degree Choices

One year became two and so forth.

All three of Tord's friends had now graduated from high school and they were now talking about their career options. Edd was saying that he'd want to take Digital Illustration and Animation; Matt was supposed to take Architecture since he'd inherit his parents' firm and there was Tom.

Back in his original timeline, Tord remembered how the Tom and Edd weren't able to go to College or University due to their financial situations. That out of the four of them only he and Matt were able to get their Bachelor degrees.

It wasn't a surprise that the cola addict would take Digital Illustration and Animation (or DIA) since the man was pretty good at in his old timeline. Matt wasn't also surprising since he also took Architecture previously. But what Tord wondered now was about Tom. What would the Brit take in this life?

Turning his eyes to the said man, the raven could notice how Tom was quiet and avoiding Edd and Matt's jabs. He'd only grunt at their words or throw a word or two before slumping back to his silent musings.

Which in turn made Tord all the more curious. He was curious about what decision would the brunet take and whether that decision would be of great help to him the long run. After all, there were only a few more years before he ends up living with the guys and his own preparations for war needed to coincide with his plans and what he currently had.

"Hey, Tord! What degree are you about to take?" Matt questioned as he draped an arm over his shoulders.

Leaning his body at the ginger, he declared with a smile, "I'm not going to take anything, Matt."

"What!? I can't believe that you're not going to Uni. with how smart you are," Edd blurted as he put down the cola can that he was drinking from.

Snorting at their assumptions, Tord could feel how the eyeless brunet was now watching him. Tom had his full attention on him and that made him smile teasingly at them.

"You already pointed it out that I'm smart, Edd. I don't need to pick a degree since I already have a few. I mean, what do you think did I exactly do in America?

I studied there for a few years to get an Academic acceleration and receive both my high school diploma and Bachelor's degree. Finished high school in one year and attended University the next four years. I graduated at the top of my class with the highest honors just to finish a quadruple major that felt like fucking hell."

"What the fuck!?" Edd and Matt shouted in disbelief while Tom simply looked at Tord with a questioning look.

Shaking his head, the raven simply left Edd's room and went towards the garden of the Gold estate. After all, Tord knew that Tom would soon follow him so he went at a sedate pace as he admired how the arrangement of the area was made.

And not a few moments later, a familiar voice asked out, "If you already finished your studies in the U.S then why did you decide to 'attend' high school with us, Commie?"

Not bothering to look at the eyeless Brit, the raven admitted, "Can't I just want to spend time with my friends, Jehovah?

I mean, I know that I was terrible to leave without even saying goodbye to you guys. That, and I haven't called, E-mailed or contacted you during those years that I was gone. Nevertheless, that doesn't mean that I haven't missed the three of you nor did it mean that I stopped caring about you."

"But, wasn't 'it' boring staying with us all these years?"

"Hmm...If you were talking about the classes, teachers and the rest of the students then yes it was. That being said, hanging out with the gang made things fun and entertaining for me," turning his green gem like eyes to look into Tom's dark voids, Tord continued, "Besides that, I missed you a lot so enduring a couple of years staying in the same classes as you wasn't that bad."

"You—You missed me!?" Tom stammered as he blushed which got the raven chuckling.

"Yeah, I did, Jehovah.

That matter aside, I can't understand why you call me Commie when I'm nowhere even near of being a Communist."

"You wear a lot of red and you wore that shirt with the hammer and sickle symbol during the camping trip our class had last year."

Frowning at the Brit's reasoning, Tord sighed and explained with an exhausted tone, "I'm not a Communist, Tom. Just because I like wearing red doesn't make me a follower of such twisted ideals. That, and the shirt that I wore wasn't even mine. You do know that it belonged to one of our upper classmen who was nice enough to let me borrow their clothes since Matt and Edd decided it was funny to throw my luggage into the lake."

The shame that came to Tom's face was quite rather apparent. It seemed like the eyeless teen was starting to realize his mistake so Tord took pity on the male and decided that he might as well let Tom call him that nickname again since Thomas did that too in his own timeline.

"Look, it's fine if you want to call me 'Commie.' But as an exchange, you have to tell me what kind of course you're going to take for College. I mean, Edd and Matt had been gushing about their chosen paths for a couple of months now. You're the only one left who haven't said anything."

"...."

"Tom?"

"My mom and the rest of my relatives want me to take Business Management so I can help Edd when he inherits the company. After all, with Edd taking DIA they said it would be great if someone from the family knows how to run the company." The brunet complained as he now paced around the garden while he fetched his flask from his blue hoodie's pocket.

Tord blinked his eyes as he processed the brunet's words. Edd's parents and Tom's mom wanted to make Tom choose a career path that he didn't even want!? The thought of such angered him so and for some reason the raven felt his magic stir uncontrollably beneath his skin.

His magic hadn't been this uncontrollable since Thomas died and now it was wanting to act out again for the sake of Tom. It wanted to lash out at the fact that Tom was unhappy with such a decision being made for him.

Swallowing back the anger that he felt, Tord forced his magic to calm down and reached out for the teen's hand that wasn't holding unto a flask. He reached out and not moments later Tom held it as he stood in front of the quiet raven.

"I know that my mom thinks that we should be grateful for what his elder brother's family was doing for us. That said, it isn't like she's not pulling her own weight at her job.

She's the head of the PR department of Golden Sun Food Corp., she works more hours than the rest of the employees and she's hardly even there when I need her. She's already giving as much as she could to the family company and yet she also wants me to dedicate myself to that kind of work."

"And you don't like that kind of work, don't you, Tom?"

"No, I don't."

"Then what career path do you want to take? Maybe I can help you?

I mean, you do know about my family. My father might be able to persuade your mom to let you decide things on your own."

"I don't know, Tord. I don't know." Tom murmured as he pulled the raven into an embrace and whispered to him what he truly wanted.