Catch a Tiger by the Tail ((MorMor; Consulting Criminal + crackedshot))

Prompt--
Wanted: One Physics tutor
Because my feckin' professor said I had to get one otherwise I'd flunk out, and she said the forums were "the place to go" (who even says that anymore?) to look for one. Probably have to be a genius to get me to pass, though what are the chances. Still, figured I'd try after all the old bat put me through. The name's Charlie Moran, majoring in mechanical engineering. Room 311 of the Baker Dorm if ya want.

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Charlie Moran let her head tip back, staring at the ceiling with a frown. It was Friday after class but instead of getting to play football or even fucking sleep, she was on her fucking laptop putting out an ad for a fucking Physics tutor. She didn't want one, but Professor Stanton had put her foot down -- pass Physics, or flunk out. And hell if Charlie wanted to get sent back home. No-fucking-nope.

With a heavy sigh, she leaned forward, fingers poised over her keyboard. The advertisement was short and blunt, and left her dorm details at the end. One moment's hesitation, then the click of the enter button.

It was stupid, really. Fucking humiliating. But anything was better than being sent back home.

Jim Moriarty was not known to be what you would call, 'a great helper'. In fact, he was quite the opposite. He was not the best student; intelligent, yes, but obedient? No, certainly not. He was a trouble maker, and therefore it cost him detention. The teachers thought it would help discipline him, but it didn't; it just made him hate them more and cause more havoc.

Mr. Smith, his Biology teacher, thought him a handful, and because of the man, Jim found himself browsing the school's forums. "If you don't want to get suspended, you'll make up for it by helping someone out of favour." he had told him. Curse the man. Jim's strength was not one where he had to help. There was quite a lot of ads, though none that interested him.

Refreshing the page, a number of recent posts came up. Most people were desperate and had put up numerous ads, although one in particular caught his attention. Jim clicked on it and read over it quickly, a smirk playing at the corners of his lips. It was brief and simple, one in need of a Physics tutor. Dull, but he might as well. Charlie Moran; he had heard the name and it was that that interested him. She was quite popular among the football team and other sports, apparently.

His fingers hovered over his laptop keys before Jim began typing and sent off a reply: I can help. When and where do you wish to meet up? He kept himself anonymous on purpose, amused by the thought of what she would think when she found the student that the majority of people hated and avoided at her door. Might be a 'welcoming' surprise, he told himself.

_______

-JM ♥

Charlie had had about enough of refreshing (so far, no takers, but that was no surprise) when on the last try before giving up the ghost and heading for bed, her ad caught a reply. Anonymous, too, what fun. The message was short, revealing nothing of who might be applying -- and if Charlie had learned anything, it was not to trust, and especially not things like this. Frowning at her screen, she hesitated before typing.

I'm desperate, but not that desperate. Name yourself and I'll name the date, o anonymous one.

One click, then send. Part of her was really finding this an exercise in futility (and wouldn't her English professor be proud of that word), but the better part was still repeating the mantra of I don't want to go home. Hopefully someone would be feckless (or arrogant) enough to reply. And besides, it was her. Charlie Moran. Football player extraordinaire, light of everyone's lives with her stick-em-up attitude. Surely someone would want to help... right?

[[ooc -- so my email didn't register that I'd gotten a reply to this, otherwise I'd have sent mine much earlier. Really sorry!! --CM]]

[[Don't worry about it. It's fine, dear.]]

After the reply had been sent, Jim resumed to carry on with writing up revision notes for maths, hoping to finish sooner rather than later. Exams never had bothered him, as he never did much else other than essays, homework, and revision. Jim was not great at socialising, and somehow always managed to have people avoid him, though he usually found it the other way around. In that case, they were either looking to provoke him to anger or beat the shit out of him. There was something about Jim's nature that made others want to punch him.

A few minutes passed and he refreshed the page, catching the sight of a reply. He had never spoken to her, but Jim had heard the likes of Charlie Moran. Some thought of her as a bully; Jim did not feel intimidated anyhow. She did not yet know it was him who had replied, and surely she would not drive him away if he were the only one to offer help, despite how tempted she may be in that area.

James.
His response was short and simple; no surname, just the first. She had asked for a name, and Jim had given her one. Now she was to return it with a date, as 'promised'.

_______

-JM ♥

Charlie took her time getting ready for bed, trying to delay her return to her laptop to see if her mystery applicant had responded. Part of her was intrigued by the anonymous applicant, and part of her was relieved that she even had an applicant, though if pressed she'd admit to neither. When she got fed up dawdling by her closet, she returned to her desk and refreshed the page.

The reply was one word: James.
Well that was helpful.

Slightly frustrated by the lack of forthcoming information, Charlie sighed but acquiesced nonetheless. He was snarky, this James, she'd give him that, if a bit literal.

Ha, ha, funny. I've got practice most days after class but I get back to my dorm room by 5, 6 at the latest. And there are weekends, too.

It was a few moments after she'd hit enter that she realized she hadn't specified a place in that last reply, and her advertisement had given her dorm room -- she had, essentially, invited a boy to her room. And not just any boy, but an unknown one -- James. James who, perhaps? Someone in her year, someone from higher up? A friend or a completely unknown quantity? Suddenly very interested, Charlie pulled the laptop onto her lap, settling into a comfortable position on the bed to wait for the next reply. Hopefully he wouldn't be a nutter, at least (though knowing her luck...).

What Charlie would not know about the single word James, was which James the anonymous (in this case, Jim) was talking about. Jim doubted she would expect him of all people, if she had even heard some of the rumours or knew who he was to begin with. He was rather 'friendly' with a few of her football team mates, which was not awfully reassuring to be honest. She was likely the same as the rest of them.

She was quite quick replying, and Jim assumed she had her laptop handy just as he did at the present moment. Well, he was multitasking, but was also doing a fair amount of research as well for another matter that did not involve any class projects.

Does tomorrow work for you?

How it would go on their first encounter, Jim was not sure and nor was he particularly looking forward to the prospect. He did not know what Charlie Moran's reaction might be to the sight of her new Physics tutor, but on the bright side for her, she was getting someone who knew what they were bloody talking about. May she ungrateful and not listen, she would not be worth his time by all means. Jim was no teacher, but his patience was genuinely terrible.

_______

-JM ♥

The little notification popped up in her email to tell her she had a reply to her ad. Quelling the urge to check it right away, Charlie idly browsed through a few slides for next week's exam (if "clicked next without seeing anything" could count as "idly browsing", that is) and declined a few invites to parties before going back to the thread. Tomorrow? Tomorrow was Friday and they didn't have football practice, what with the coach going away for the weekend.

Decisions, decisions.

Fine.
It took a surprising amount of effort and resolve to send off that one word reply, but Charlie really was getting rather desperate and a tutor was a tutor. And it wasn't as if she couldn't handle herself; she could get rid of this "James" if he proved incompetent or otherwise idiotic. The post went through, and Charlie had to laugh at herself. Here was a new low to hit, it seemed: she had to stop herself from immediately refreshing the page.

Whether his reply had simply been unnoticed, ignored, or it had just not gone through somehow, Jim found the other's response taking a considerable amount of time. It was one question, that needed a small yes or no. There it was with the patience; he could not tolerate with tedious things such as the likes of waiting anxiously for a reply. Why he wanted one so badly was beyond him.

Jim briefly skimmed over a number of other topics on the school's website to distract himself and occupy his time, often finding himself reading through different threads out of curiosity. Nothing interested him, however, and he soon flicked back to his small arrangements with Charlie Moran. When her reply finally popped up, his fingers darted out across the keys to send a response:

Excellent.

Charlie's one worded reply was met with one of Jim's own, his thoughts moving to what she would require help with. He would not have covered the topic, as he was younger, but Jim was good in all areas of science. Whether she would warm to him, or keep a cold shoulder, he did not care. He would find her dorm (or whatever location she preferred for that matter) tomorrow after his classes finished, and then he could see for himself what she was like, instead of what he had heard.

_______

-JM ♥

James's one-word reply came through a few moments after she'd sent hers, and Charlie let out a sigh of relief -- and apprehension. Without any forthcoming information she could only hope this James wasn't a weirdo (or worse, some crazy stalker), but he was willing to help so she'd take it. She debated replying for a few seconds before deciding to at least get few words in before bed, just to be polite.

Thanks. Baker Dorm, then. I get out at 3.

She sent, then immediately closed her laptop to stop from waiting for a reply. She needed to sleep, and hanging around waiting was getting embarrassing. She could check his reply tomorrow before leaving for class, just to make sure this "James" was really coming. For now, it was time for bed.

Closing his maths textbook and putting the numerous amount of notes out of the way, Jim could not help but let out an exhausted yawn. He ought to be a little easier on himself, considering his exams would not be long coming up. And how he hated it sometimes. The lack of sleep and long nights was not doing him any good, and if truth be told, he was starting to receive dark, visible rings under his eyes as evidence.

Sending his last reply of the night, Jim typed quickly: I'll meet you shortly after three then.

Yawning again, Jim turned his laptop off and pushed it to the side, sorting out a couple of his books for tomorrow and then kicking off his shoes before finding his way to the bed. Whether or not Charlie would be pleased about his help, he would just have to go and find out for himself.

_______

-JM ♥

The next morning, Charlie got all the way to brushing her teeth before the temptation got too much and she opened her laptop, toothbrush still in her mouth. The reply was simple enough; hopefully "shortly after" gave her enough time to kick stuff under her bed and get herself into some modicum of presentability. She finished getting ready, packed her bags, and paused with her hand on the doorknob. Leaving meant getting through class, and at the end of class waited her meeting with the mystery "James", whoever he was.

Charlie leaned forward, thunking her forehead against the woodwork. Christ, when had she gotten so melodramatic?

Wrenching open the door, she took a deep breath and shook her head. It was Physics tutoring, and hell if she didn't feel like she owed Stanton after all the stress she'd probably put the poor old lady through. It was just so she could pass the damn course. So whoever the fuck James was, he had better have his shit together.

There. That was a better line of thought.

As per usual, Jim woke early without the need of an alarm clock and was not long getting up and sorted. He never bothered to check the school forum page, as he doubted he had received a reply after Charlie had went offline the night before. Fixing himself in the bathroom and once completely washed and dressed, he grabbed his books and left for first class without a second thought of having to be a tutor later.

Each class went agonisingly slow for Jim, but perhaps it was only because he was not in the mood to learn today. Even his free periods were more boring than usual and he never bothered to progress much with any projects or studying.

When the last class, maths, came and went, Jim had almost forgotten at that point that he was meant to go and find Charlie Moran's dorm. Room 311. He remembered from the advertisement. Leaving for his own dorm first, Jim left his books back. He doubted he would need his own Physics textbook, considering Charlie would be studying a different topic.

Again, he left his dorm and ventured upstairs and along the correct corridor. He managed to find room 311 surprisingly quick, and half-hoping by this point that she was not there, gave the door two curt knocks and waited impatiently for someone, or no one, to answer.

_______

-JM ♥

Charlie made it through class mostly through sheer resistance from thwacking her head onto her desk, and mentally reciting the number of periods to go. Lessons were mind-numbing, and she wasn't even sure if they were necessary -- pity she was still just under being a minor, else she'd simply have opted out and crashed her own way through life. But she made it through somehow, with the last period clocking out early, giving her time to emphatically not run back to her dorm and not frantically attempt to make it look presentable. She'd managed to pile most of her clothes haphazardly on one corner of the hastily-made bed, and kick most of her sports equipment under the bed, by the time the knock came, and she looked around the room with a sharp exhale and resignation. This was as good as the James kid was gonna get.

"You the tutor?" she asked as she opened the door. She spoke without looking, still in the act of surveying the room to make sure she actually even had her Physics things with her, and so she was still half-turned to her visitor. When she finally did turn and look, Charlie stopped short. There on the threshold of her dorm room was none other than James Moriarty, resident school "freak". She'd never had much of an interaction with the kid, but she'd seen him get beaten up and over (and never with too much pity on her part). To say she was caught off-guard was an understatement.

Jim could not recall ever having any form of an encounter with the likes of Charlie Moran, but he was both looking forward to and dreading it. Hopefully she would not treat him like the majority of her team-mates and half the school. Saying he was not liked could easily be classified as an understatement. In his own opinion, Jim never gave them much bother unless he back-stabbed them, but other than that, he was generally quiet when passing them in the corridor. There was just something about him that made him 'punchable'.

So when Charlie did open her door, Jim had to take a step back just to get a proper glimpse of her face. She was much taller than he had first pictured. He felt almost intimidated by the height difference. Though she did seem to be more interested in her room than Jim and took a moment to look at him directly. And there it was - the surprise he had expected. Then again, not everyone would suspect one of the most hated people in uni to show up at their door.

When she said nothing, Jim gave her that sort of look that said 'well?' without having to speak. "Are you just going to stand there gaping at me without inviting me in, or will I have to do it for myself?" Without awaiting an answer, he strode past her and into the dorm as if he owned the place, taking a good look around him before settling on the edge of her half-heartedly made bed, hiding his satisfied smirk when she looked even more taken aback by his intrusion.

_______

-JM ♥

"Well excuse you," Charlie snapped back, once she'd recovered herself enough to speak (which was fairly quickly, really, given how surprised she'd initially been). She close her door and turned to James -- well, Jim, actually, that was what she'd heard him called -- frowning, hands on her hips. "Am I supposed to believe you're my Physics tutor? You're a year under me, aren't you?" She wasn't sure, actually -- he did seem younger, but maybe that was because she had an inch or two on him. She did know he was smart, though, which put a point in his favor for being her potential tutor. If he was. For all she knew, this could just be a practical joke.

Jim barely acknowledged what Charlie said as he had moved past her to then seat himself on the bed. That could have easily earned a slap. He might as well make himself comfortable though, depending on how long she wished to be tutored on her Physics. He doubted the work would be too advanced for him, as Jim did usually tend to find his subjects easy enough.

"If I were not here to be your Physics tutor, I would not have bothered coming at all," he answered, studying her carefully. She still looked slightly unconvinced. Too bad; either take the offer, or kick him out now. Her choice. "Year under, yes." He confirmed. Charlie had not yet attempted to punch him, so, so far so good. It wouldn't mean Jim was not awaiting it when he either insulted her or said the wrong thing, but knowing himself better than anyone, that was to be expected.

_______

- JM