010. A (nerd) human in paradise

After the photo was uploaded, Raphaēl found himself annoyed. How long was this box called a phone going to ding.

Voicing his concerns the prince couldn't help but laugh. He took his phone and quickly adjusted his settings along with notifications and put on do not disturb. "It stopped!" The human exclaimed.

The merman couldn't decide whether he enjoyed seeing the grandpa before him discover technology, or dreaded it. On one hand his frustration entertained him and on the other he now had a portable notebook at all times not needing a pencil.

"Could you tell me more about how to write?" He'd ask and was listening intently with such a serious gaze. Something about how he would be able to learn so much from others.

He wrote down about mermen, vampires, his roommate's habits and divided his writing into different folders and studies. His thoroughness despite just discovering this phone was nearly frightening.

He was a natural, so much so he wrote down until his battery died, and it was time for lunch. Axul didn't complain as seeing the happy human wasn't too bad with his dopey smile. He also did not notice whenever he found himself carrying another bag, two hands with ten bags upped to fifteen total.

He looked so sad when his battery died, too. "Did I kill it?" He asked frantic, to more concerned about whether his writing was saved as he had priorities.

But now they set their phones aside as they went for lunch, a variety of options. "Let's go for seafood!" It was not a suggestion but their official lunch as the iridescent prince guided him to a place on campus that served a large array of sea creatures he had never heard of.

"Hmm…" the small pink haired boy hummed while looking at the menu. He had wanted seafood but did not actually know of what. Squid? Maybe.

He unwrapped a piece of candy from his pouch and ate it, his tongue rolling and sucking on the candy for a few minutes while now lost in thought. He knew he told himself to behave while on land, but he did not tell himself to enjoy it.

The time out he spent was fun or at least enough for him to not feel annoyed by any entity around him. Normally people would fear him or bow to his feet/tail fin, as they should. But playing this character wasn't too bad.

It wasn't like he was faking this. True, he normally did not like being near people, but the human entertained him perhaps by his dense nature and so did the thought of causing mayhem amongst the dorms.

He spent the whole day working hard to fix the boy's looks to arouse a certain response… He couldn't wait to relish in it.

"No?" The ravennette asked as the candy in the peach eyed boy's mouth was crunched very loud, by his sharp teeth as he zoned in. Just how king had he been talking?

He looked a little confused. Was the candy so good that he forgot to think for a bit, he thought. Shaking the thoughts aside the taller boy chose not to question any of it. He was just hungry.

He woke up at nearly six am, and now it was nearly two in the afternoon after everything, and he did a lot of heavy work. Though nothing compared to farming in the village, carrying water, hunting.

"The fish and chips sounded good, but maybe this?" He pointed to something he could not pronounce seafood carbonara but read the ingredients and the contents sounded good.

He did not know what some of that was, but he was not picky at all after being raised a hiding human.

The smaller boy perked up with a giggle. "Ah, it seems like you to not care. I'll get some squid!" He announced making him confused but decided not to push.

He had come to term with the sea prince insulting him and others whether he meant it or not. Raised as a sea general it must just be second nature.

He'd love to know more about his title, he thought. The iridescent prince and sea general, as all princes were raised under that command. The princesses handled the people while the princes safely ensured no one ever found their city.

He wondered what his roommate did. If he was correct mermen barely fought as they were secure. The title was likely for show.

As the two boys thought completely opposite things they soon had ordered their lunch and begun talking. "Really? So we do have to buy paper… help me?" The prince asked with a wink and clasped his hands together.

With a mental sigh the ravennette put on his best customer service smile. "You didn't buy the materials?" He questioned only for the topic to change.

At least they would buy supplies next. "Your eyes are pretty… A light green. That reminds me what electives did you choose?" The topic switched over and over, until they finally settled down on school classes.

VIA was not a school of luxury in name. It was one in practice. Over a hundred electives and clubs people had to join along with a multitude of activities. It was encouraged to actually join multiple and alternate days.

As a first year they did not require a club. Second years are required one, third years are required two, and fourth years are required one. The school insists on friendship and new sportsmanship amongst club.

This also applied to electives. A schedule, and B schedule. Every other week there would be an alternation of classes and primary focus. Monday and Thursday classes of the same subjects with Tuesday and Friday being similar as Wednesday is the same each week.

The school had over a hundred courses. Not to mention the majors. First years were free to explore and had ten electives. Meanwhile second years can either begin their majors or still explore options with five electives. Third years were required a major and had four electives, and same with the last. Fourth years were expected to graduate with a major, and if started as a second year have the opportunity of around five to ten electives, depending on what they studied along with schedules.

Fourth years needed electives regarding their major and free space to mingle and get to know the younger students. Third years were more focused on studies while second years were a mix as first years mainly got used to a new environment with friends.

He had a selected list of electives, each student needing to pick nearly twenty. Just in case one fails or there wasn't room. Some lecturers were famous, oh how he wished to meet them personally.

"My first choices are as follows. Starting with archery, sociology, economics, creative writing, then philosophy for my A block," he explained as there were two hours of electives a day unless Wednesday. "Then for the others they are Track, they picked a backup option as I originally chose a gym course elective, home economics, business marketing, seminar, and psychology." he explained.

He needed electives which kept him fit for work at the village, hence why he originally wanted aerobics but did track, and archery for hunting. He had chosen sociology, philosophy, and psychology for obvious reasons. He also wished to do seminar for his language course but was recommended to start out easier… and to that he said he would make seminar his elective. He wasn't too sure on his major.

"Hmm, then my elective will be archery and economics!" The prince declared. They seemed least boring to him.

The ravenette couldn't help it. "Hah?" He practically shouted. Weren't electives submitted a month ago? And how can he decide as a casual comment?

Tilting his head to the side he could almost see the smaller boy's bulb go off in his head. "Well I'm prince and future king. Plus my big brother and the other haven't done their's! Did you really think that the deadline was real?" He joked. The green eye's of his wanted to die and let all the light leave after hearing him ask if a deadline really meant a due date set.

He was definitely having trouble doing his homework. He could feel the all-nighters. "I'll do swimming, or archery when you do it, sewing, foreign language with mermen, photography" he described his a block as the first thoughts came to mind. "home economics, art history, music or whatever, drama, and photo media"

He truthfully had no clue what those were, but didn't need to ask as their food arrived and a tangent ensued about how cool photography and media would be, considering his club

The young prince decided on yearbook and perhaps swim, nothing he chose. The human preferred to have taken archery, and gardening. No club for horticulture, but he figured it would be close to his village's labour

The fields could never be forgotten. He wondered how his family fared while he studied at school leaving their village to lack manpower for the time being

Finally when finishing the two set off for the school supplies store where the green eyed boy practically ran around, feeling completely at home looking through every product within sight or near. "Look at all of the material!" The sea creature could almost see drool and had to pry him.

"Calm down, this isn't paradise." He scolded with a sigh and a shrug letting his roommate explore as long as he did so in moderation.