All right

[maderr]

To make up for no Kidnapped tonight and because I'm tired of being "meh" when this has mostly been a good day.

Wasn't going to post it 'til I was finished, but I'd be curious to see initial reactions. We've often wondered what these guys would be like grown up, I'm toying around with one possibility. This story is also the reason I'm not further ahead in Kidnapped, but I'm holding steady so I figure that's okay. /rambling

'Tis a fanfic for my darling sister rykaine, playing with two characters of whom we've always been fond. Hmm...let's see...I don't do this fanfic thing often so what do I need...

Crossover, AU, the boys I'm borrowing are the rightful property of Bill Amend and Bill Watterson. No harm or offense is intended, I'm merely playing with them for a short while.

P.S. Sorry for the rather abrupt end - it is a WIP
P.P.S. I am not sorry for maligning Theta Chi.



"Assholes," Jason muttered as he watched threee frat boys wreck the snow sculptures in front of the art building. Well, he assumed they were frat boys. One wore a hoody with the Theta Chi letters on it, and to the best of his knowledge fraternity types didn't generally hang around with none fraternity types.

The elaborate snowmen they were currently destroying had started to appear right after the first real snow of the season - two whole feet! - and he'd been utterly captivated by them. His own snowmen had never been half so cool growing up. Because these weren't just snowmen, they were masterpieces. It sucked major that he'd never been able to catch the artist at work.

And now, coming back late from his student-teaching job in the computer lab, he was witness to the destruction of the sculptures by Stupid Drunken Frat Boys. It wasn't right - whoever had been making them obviously cared a lot. You didn't do stuff like that with snow just for kicks.

"That'll teach him," one of the guys said to his brothers, who laughed and drunkenly agreed with him. He shoved the head off a lovingly made female, then set to work destroying her body. Various props were knocked off and lost in the snow.

Jason bit his lip, "Hey!"

Three heads swiveled to look at him, "What do you want, geek?"

Jason fought not to roll his eyes. Honestly, did they think that was an insult? Well, they were greek boys. "What do you think you're doing?"

"None of your damn business. Fucking get lost."

Whatever Jason might have said next, never got said. From inside the art building a figure came dashing out, a blur of black as he launched himself at the nearest vandal. "Get away, get away!" But the slender man was no match for the heavier builds and greater strength - not to mention numbers - of the three.

"Fuck this," Jason muttered. "Should've done it to begin with." Reaching into his dark green parka, he whipped out his cell phone and flipped it open, cycling through the saved numbers for campus security. A couple of minutes later he flipped it closed, "Hey, meat-for-brains!" Three heads turned to look at him. "You've got two minutes before security arrives to bust your asses."

"What the fuck ever--" but even as the apparent leader spoke, the headlights of a familiar SUV appeared on the road. The three jerks scrambled, leaving their victim cursing in the snow.

Shoving his phone back in his pocket, Jason dashed toward the unfortunate young man. "Hey, man. Are you okay?"

Instead of answering, the other man fumbled in the snow to regain his footing. Jason gripped his arm and helped him up. On his head, the guy's black watch cap had been knocked askew. He righted it, then began looking around in the snow.

Jason frowned, confused, until he spotted the black scarf and mittens lying amidst the white. He retrieved them and handed them over, just as two men in campus security jackets approached them. "Who called?"

"That'd be me," Jason replied.

"What's going on?"

The unknown man in black remained stubbornly mute, as Jason set about explaining what had happened.

One of the security officers looked at the young man, "These were your snowmen?"

"…Yeah," the young man spoke at last. "Final project."

"Any idea why they might've done this?"

"I pissed them off in class earlier today."

Neither officer seemed terribly surprised, "You know who they were then? I think we have a pretty good idea anyway. The three from Theta Chi, right? At least this time you got a witness."

The young man nodded, and added the professor and class.

"All right. We'll look into." The officer winked, "Figures it'd be you again, Calvin. Now both of you get back to your rooms, it's too cold and too late to be wandering around outside. And be careful."

"Yes, sir." Jason and Calvin responded.

Calving immediately turned back toward the art building, "I left my books and stuff inside," he explained. "Let me get them and I'll head back."

"I'll go with you," Jason said.

The officers hesitated, then nodded and made their way back to their car. "Make it quick, don't linger."

Inside, the two young men stamped their boots and shook off what snow had accumulated on their jackets. Then Calvin surprised Jason by unzipping his black ski jacket and hanging it up along with his mittens, scarf and watch cap.

Jason's mind was torn between "What is he doing?" and "Whoa, damn"

He settled on the 'Whoa, damn.'

Calvin was hot. His hair wasn't the definite yellow that Jason's was, but a wheaty, dirty blonde - and messy as all get out. Most likely the brief fight in the snow and the watch cap had disheveled it. Jason thought it would be a shame if he ever neatened it - it looked good messy.

He was skinny as anything. Suddenly Jason felt positively overweight, even though he knew he wasn't. The black jeans seemed barely capable of staying on the guy's hips, and even though he wore a red t-shirt over a long-sleeved black T you still could see the shape of his chest. His lips were turned down in a strange sort of pouty frown, and he had one of those faces girls described as "boyish and cute" that sent them into giggles whenever he smiled.

Though it didn't look like Calvin smiled a whole lot. Jason wasn’t sure how he knew that, but he felt pretty positive that was the case.

With his own yellow-blonde hair neatly combed, and wearing jeans and a college sweatshirt that were both too big for him, Jason felt every inch his geeky self next to the amazing art student - at least he assumed he was an art student. Which reminded him, "So you're the one who made those sculptures?" He discarded his own winter gear as he spoke, then followed Calvin down the hall to the elevators.

Calvin looked at him, as if confused by the question. "Yeah."

"They're awesome."

For reply, Calvin just shrugged.

Jason frowned. "Hey - shouldn't you get those looked at? Don't they hurt?" he indicated the bruises already discoloring Calvin's face - one high on his left cheek, and another near his jaw. He reached out to stop him, startled when Calving jerked roughly away.

"I'm fine," Calvin said sullenly.

"Man, you were just pummeled by three guys. I seriously doubt you're okay."

"Eh. They couldn't really get a good hit in what with the snow and ice and all. Plus I've got lots of practice blocking and dodging." Calvin frowned, "Why are you following me?"

"Because I wanted to ask you about the sculptures. That and I seriously doubt the three blockheads have gone home like good little boys."

Calvin nodded, mashing the elevator button. "They're probably waiting at the end of the block. They always hide behind the bushes there, because you can't see anyone who's behind them and that's where I have to walk to get home."

"Those guys really don't like you, do they?"

They stepped onto the elevator as it chimed and opened. Calvin hit the button for the third floor, "They're morons." The ghost of a smug smile flitted across Calvin's lips, "They don't like when I point that out in class. Especially since they can never quite figure out how I do it without actually saying the word moron."

Jason grinned, "That's great. What in the heck are they doing in your art classes anyway? A project like that, you're what? A senior?"

"Junior. And I'm not in the class - I help teach it. It's an intro class so there are always tons of non-majors taking it for general credit. The prof was out sick today so..." Calvin shrugged.

"So they thought they could get away with bugging you more than usual. I see."

Calvin stared at him a moment, and Jason blinked at how intense and focused his brown eyes were. Like they saw everything. Jason hoped that wasn't true, because he was pretty sure Calvin wouldn't like the direction of his thoughts. He stepped off the elevator as it chimed and opend, long legs carrying him rapidly down the hallway to the classroom where he'd apparently left his things.

Jason stood watching him a moment, distracted by the view, then scrambled to catch up. "So how long did the sculptures take you? How do you do it? Will you be able to fix them?"

Calvin paused in packing up his books to stare at him again. Jason fought not to squirm - that gaze was really something. "Do you really like them?"

"Hell yeah! I used to try to make snowmen like that all the time as a kid." Jason grinned, "But I was never much of an artist. Computer geek through and through."

"They're not that hard to make," Calvin said. "It just takes a long time, especially if the snow isn't quite right. I was really lucky that the first snow fall was perfect. Of course now those asses have completely ruined it." He raked a hand through his already messy hair. He moved to the windows that overlooked the front of the building, looking almost sad as he stared down at the ruins of his project.

"Will it take you long to repair them?"

"The way they went about it, I'll just have to finish the destruction and start all over. They won't look the same if I just fix them." Calving banged his lightly over and over against the glass. "Bastards."

Jason made sympathetic noises, recalling all too well the frustration he felt whenever Paige had decided it would be amusing to topple something of his creations. Of course generally he'd asked for it by putting something vile in her dresser or feeding her sweater to Quincy, but it had been depressing all the same.

Calvin seemed disinclined to continue speaking, silently mourning his ruined sculptures. Jason let his gaze wander idly over the room - he'd never really been in the art building beyond attending the occasional lecture held in the large lecture hall on the ground floor.

Several paintings lined the far wall, from bizarre abstract works he rolled his eyes at to some tragic lake thing obviously painted by a girl, a few still life pieces - and he almost missed the one shoved into the corner.

Jason knew enough about paintings to realize this one still needed some shading and detail work, though at a glance it would probably appear done to most people. It was oddly cute, admist all the more "serious" subjects being done by the rest of the art students.

It was an outdoor scene, a closeup of the trunk of a large tree, the ends of a rope ladder trailing down to end next to a beat up little red wagon; clearly whoever had owned it had used it well. Sitting in the wagon was a worn and obviously well-loved stuffed tiger. Jason tilted his head, studying it. Someone's childhood memory? It seemed kind of sad - and like it was missing something. Perhaps the owner of the wagon and tiger. He looked for and didn't find a name anywhere. Not that he would know the artist anyway.

Reluctantly he turned away from the painting, figuring he'd ignored Calvin long enough - and nearly collided with the other man. "Gah! Warn a guy when you sneak up behind him."

Calvin just looked at him and let the comment pass. "Like that one?"

"Yeah, it's awesome. Reminds me of when my friend Marcus and I used to play outside all the time during the summer. Though my mom killed me whenever I tore my toys up like that."

"My mom never really noticed what I did to the wagon," Calvin replied. "Me and Hobbes used to go riding down hills in the forest all the time. I guess she figured it was part and parcel of living where we did."

"Hobbes?"

"Oh," Calvin's cheeks turned pink, as he realized what he'd said. "The tiger - his name is Hobbes."

Jason blinked, "You painted that?" He grinned, "Wow. What else have you done?"

"Umm..." Calvin seemed at a loss for words. "Not much," he said quietly, almost bashfully. "Why do you care?"

"Uh...I just think it's neat and all. I used to do this kind of stuff all the time as a kid. But I was never very good at it. Computers and stuff are more my thing. I always kinda wished I'd been a better artist."

Calvin shrugged, "My dad thinks I should've gone into the sciences. He says I won't get very far doing artsy stuff. But my dad is kinda old-fashioned about that sort of thing."

"My parents are kind of the opposite. Well, my mom anyway. She's a writer; she gets this confused look on her face whenever I try to talk about my classes. But she thinks it's neat that I understand it. My dad just looks lost and says he has to meet someone for golf." Jason grinned, "And of course my brother and sister just make fun of me. But I always get revenge."

"You have siblings?"

"Yeah - one brother, one sister. My mom says dad makes four children for her to take care of."

That surprised a laugh out of Calvin, and Jason's mind momentarily shut down. Smiles on Calvin were lethal to his brain functions.

"My mom mutters stuff like that about my dad occasionally. I think she's happier now that we're both out of the house a lot."

"I know my mom is relieved we're all starting to lead our own lives now. I'm the last one to go."

"I'm an only child, so I'm the only one they had to get rid of." Calvin abruptly turned and headed toward the desk, grabbing something from a drawer before striding to the window. Jason realized he'd grabbed a pair of binoculars.

"What are those for?"

Calvin adjusted the view, twisting so that he could look down the street. "Seeing if the meatheads are still there."

"Are they?"

"Yeah, and they look pretty cozy. I think they've figured out that I just hang around until they're gone or I get bored waiting. It's getting to be a contest, really."

Jason's brows lifted at that, "What's the longest you've waited here?"

Calving lowered the binoculars and looked at him, "During the summer I usually get stuck up here until about two or three. Once they waited until four."

"AM?" Jason asked, stunned.

"Yeah," Calvin's look said 'duh.'

"Why don't you just take a different route?"

Calvin shrugged, "There is no different route. I live in that house where they hide in the bushes. And there's no real back way, it's up against the wall of another building. I have to go by those bushes to get home, and they jump every single time."

"So you're just going to stay here all night?" Jason asked, dumbfounded.

Comments

[goofyrobo.livejournal.com]

So I win the prize since I knew who these characters were just by you mentioning the creators names.

Plus I'm old because I remember when those two comics started.

[rykaine.livejournal.com]

I'd've known them by the creator's names, except I knew what was coming from the preceding paragraph. Mark it down to knowing my sister too well I suppose.

I think we must own every Calvin & Hobbes anthology and most of Fox Trot. It'd've been real sad if I couldn't place them by the creators.