Oliver sat in the dining hall on campus, absently chewing on his early lunch as he thought about his plans for the week. He didn't regret spending so much time with Polina, especially when she needed him, but doing so had put him behind on homework and drastically reduced how many credits he earned. He knew he wanted to get things back on track, he just needed to organize and make a schedule.
The thump of someone dropping into the seat next to him startled Oliver out of his thoughts. Looking up, he saw the grinning face of Tyrone peering down at him. “Hey Sweet Tea. How's it going?”
“You know me, man. It's all good.” Starting in on his own food, Tyrone gave Oliver a concerned look. “What about you man? When I sat down, you looked like your mind was off in space. You ain't usually that distracted.”
Giving his friend a reassuring smile, Oliver shrugged it off. “I'm good man. Just trying to figure out how to catch up on stuff with my job and homework. Nothing I can't handle.”
Tyrone's concern disappeared as he grinned at his friend. “Yeah, you can handle a little homework. How'd you get behind though? Getting ready for the party this weekend?” A look of confusion crossed Oliver's face, surprising Tyrone. “Damn man, you forgot about the party and you're behind on shit? Is everything ok? What happened?”
Seeing the worry on his friend's face, Oliver was quick to reassure him. “I'm all right man. My girlfriend was dealing with some pretty bad stuff, so I spent a couple days helping her out. She's ok now, it was just rough there for a bit.”
“As long as everything is cool, man.” Tyrone's smile quickly returned, patting Oliver on the back. “And you got a new girl? Hell yeah man. Tell me about her.”
Just from chatting for a bit, it was clear to Tyrone how much Oliver cared about his girlfriend. He smiled slightly, glad to see his friend was happy.
Oliver had three objectives for the week, and just enough time to do it all. Maybe.
First, he needed to catch up on homework, as school was still a high priority for him. Second, earn more credits. That one was a much lower priority; As much as he wanted to keep improving his attributes and make money, it wasn't a time sensitive as classes could be. And third... Figure out a Halloween costume for the party.
While it would be nice to have one and really get into the spirit of the party, it wasn't all that important.
With a rough outline of what he needed to do, he decided to start with a few quick commissions just to get things rolling. Grabbing his truck, he hit a few stores in quick succession, grabbing things for his go-to commissions. Food and first aid kits for Siege Supplies- he was a little surprised at first that it was still available, but realized they probably wouldn't take it down until the siege was through or they ran out of credits. Some paper for another scribe, though this one was a bit stingy and only offered 1 credits per 3 pages. Looking at the posts again, he swung into the local crafts store as he spotted a couple that would be easy to accomplish together. He had even seen one of them before, though this would be the first time completing it.
* Sew Unfortunate – I am a tailor by trade. Bandits have disrupted trade from the Helma Province, resulting in a shortage of cloth. I am offering 10 credits per yard of cloth so I may continue my trade. (Repeatable)
* Tools of my Trade – Leather working has been good lately, but I'm in need of some tools and supplies. Some are hard to get, and others... Well, there's some other problems that mean I can't get them. 7 credits for each ounce of Beeswax. 15 credits for each stitching needle. May as well get as much of those as I can. And some of my tools are wearing out. Pear shaders, veiner, beveler, hole punch... 100 credits each.
Oliver was amused that the woman working at the craft store didn't even bat an eye at him asking for 50 yards of cloth. Sticking mainly to natural fibers, he selected a a couple of different colors, with one that was covered in a pattern of small hearts simply because it made him smile- and he hoped the tailor would appreciate a little variety. There wasn't much to the leather working section, but it covered what he wanted to grab. Pack of the needles, several ounces of beeswax, a basic kit that had most of the tools listed (plus a few the poster didn't ask for, but Oliver looked at it as a small bonus for them), and a nice rotary punch that he thought would be rather convenient for them.
He took a minute to wonder at the differences in profit for some items. The beeswax earned the fewest credits, yet an ounce of it cost him more than a pack of ten stitching needles. And the tools had a massive return compared to their cost. Was it simply a matter of supply and demand? Or were there production variables that affected it? Or some other factor he had no idea about?
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Quickly shaking off the idle thoughts, he headed home and sent off the completed commissions. He smiled at earning almost 2000 credits for such a quick bit of work, but didn't let himself dwell on it for long. It wasn't enough for him to do much with other than increasing Luck or Spirit by one, so he held on to the credits for now. Besides, he still had homework to do.
Oliver never understood why so many classes assigned mountains of reading or equations for homework. Sure, the intention was to help the student assimilate and internalize the lessons, to help them remember them... But, unless it was a part of their major, most just chose to forget it as soon as the semester ended. He wished he could forget it as easily, but too often he found things just stuck in his mind, even when he had no real use for it. Though, perhaps that was his higher Intelligence attribute at play.
Shaking off the distracting thoughts, he focused on getting through the homework. It didn't matter if he never used any of it past the semester, as long as he passed the classes.
Closing in on midnight, Oliver pushed his books aside. After several hours he still wasn't caught up, but felt like he had made good progress. Now, for a few minutes to relax and brainstorm Halloween costumes before bed...
Oliver always loved the Music Department's building. It wasn't the biggest or newest building on campus, and it's central location on campus made it difficult to get in or out through the passing mobs of students. But he felt comfortable there, especially in the foyer. It was a huge, open room that stretched along two sides of the building. Massive floor-to-ceiling windows towered thirty feet hall all the way around, allowing the warm morning light to fall across the carpeted floor and benches where students met to study or hangout. In one corner sat a baby grand piano, meticulously tuned and maintained by the department, for the students to practice on- and often the music students would just congregate around while they talked with one of them tinkling away on the keys.
Much like Oliver found himself doing.
He knew he could practice just as easily on his keyboard at him, and with fewer distractions. But, as convenient as that was, it just didn't have the same depth or resonant sound. It lacked the charm and character of a real piano.
So, in a moment of whimsy, he found himself sitting at the piano with his eyes closed, the sun shining across his face as his fingers danced across the keys. Playing whatever song popped into his head at a given moment, he lost track of time. He heard soft footsteps approaching as a shadow stretched up and across him. He kept on playing quietly even as he opened his to see who it was.
“Hey Dave. How's it going? You finish that jazz piece for your composition class?”
Dave was practically a fixture of the music department; it was nearly impossible to spend any time in the building without seeing him. A year younger then Oliver, he was already working towards a Masters in Music Education. Despite that, and his incredible talent, he was always a very down to earth and approachable person. Though that made sense, seeing as his goal was to be a high school band director, Oliver reminded himself.
“I'm doing great Oli. Still working out some of the sax licks, but it's almost there.” Dave smiled brightly as he leaned against the wall nearby. “You practicing for the party? Sounds like you've got a nice rounded set. You know someone's going to try and throw you a curve ball; think you can handle some drunk guy jokingly requesting Free Bird or Master of Puppets?”
Oliver chuckled for a second before hammering away at the keys, and Dave laughed with him at the sound of him playing Master of Puppets. “I actually watched a video just the other night of someone playing it on piano. It looked cool, so...” Oliver shrugged as his playing tapered off.
Dave clapped him on the shoulder enthusiastically. “Awesome man! I've got you set for nine to ten, if that's cool. Jen will be with you for the first half hour, then me for the second half.”
“Yeah, that's...” Oliver trailed off as someone on the walkway outside caught his eye. Carl, heading down the path, turned his head as he passed and their eyes met. Despite having two black eyes and some fading bruises, he gave Oliver a nasty smirk before walking away. Oliver's attention shifted to the person following right behind. His youthful features, jeans and t-shirt fit in perfectly on campus, but something about him set Oliver on edge. Watching the man walk away, it suddenly clicked in Oliver's mind- his eyes. Hard eyes constantly roamed across the crowd, never lingering in one spot for long but always watching. It looked like Carl's dad had gotten him a bodyguard, one that had seen trouble and violence before. Maybe ex-military?
“Carl still causing trouble Oli? Word had already got around about the last couple of parties...”
Oliver pushed the thoughts aside for later, turning his gaze back to his friend who was looking on with concern. “Nothing I can't handle man, though it looks like him getting his ass beat didn't have the effect I was hoping for. I'll have to keep my eyes open, especially if he tries to sick his guard dog on me.” Shrugging his shoulders, he rattled off a quick ditty and smiled. “Anyway, it sounds like you've got everything set for the party. I'm looking forward to it.”
Dave clapped him on the back with a grin. “Awesome man! And don't worry about him trying anything at the party. Some of the football team decided to do a group costume as old school mobsters, they're handling security for the night.” Dave lowered his voice and leaned in, as though sharing a secret. “I'm going as Elton John from The Kingsman movie, that outfit is wild! What about you?”
Oliver just gave him an enigmatic smile as he started playing again, making his friend laugh.
The week seemed to fly by, Oliver's days packed full trying to catch up on everything he had neglected. Class, homework, commissions, putting together a Halloween costume... and a few side preparations for emergencies.