♡Despondency♡ (♡ ♥ College AU ♡ ♥)

♡Prologue♡
Shortly after obtaining his GED, Despondency had enrolled into Kuznetsov University with the help of his older brother, Sorrow. His brother had read the evaluations of the college and believed it would be an excellent place for him to begin his general studies. When Fall arrived, he assisted his younger brother in registering, and the two of them packed his belongings and drove off to the college, where Despondency was dropped off with his tour guide. Sometime during the tour, he ended up having one of his lethargic episodes and began taking a snooze standing up, which resulted in him becoming lost. Despondency didn't take long to seek assistance from a tall, young adult named Quilo. He assisted Despondency in returning to his guide, who was at the housing facility, where he was able to obtain his dorm keys from the woman. Quilo and Despondency shared their goodbyes shortly after, with a promise to reunite once again.

After the tour was completed, Despondency felt it was time to collect his belongings and retire for the night. He arrived at the dormitories with a few other students and was eventually able to locate his own room (B-10). When he opened the door, he was greeted by the same man he had met earlier in the day, Quilo. Pleasantries were exchanged, as well as polite introductions and light chit chat. The two's schedules were eventually shared, and to their surprise, they had all of their classes together.
--
Class 1 (8:15am - 9:15am) Literature - Mr. Pudding
Class 2 (9:30am - 11:00am) Medicine - Professor Báthory
Class 3 (11:15am - 12:15pm) Speech - Professor Puppet
Class 4 (12:45pm - 1:30pm) History - Sir. Aldridge
Class 5 (1:45pm - 2:30pm) Sociology - Ms. YaMomSmokeWeed
--
In Despondency's mind, they were a match made in heaven.  Well, platonically at least (For now.) The Tearbell was genuinely more than happy to have met a friend as kind as Quilo.

♡Day 1 - 8:00am♡
Despondency and Quilo got ready for the day and strolled together to their first class. Literature went rather well for the two; the professor was content with introductions and offered an outline of what would be covered in class, as well as a summary and an explanation of the grading system. What books and other resources are required for the lesson were also discussed.

♡9:30am♡
The next lesson was Medicine with Professor Báthory, and as Despondency entered the classroom he recognized a familiar figure in one of the chairs. It was Chu-Chu, a childhood friend he hadn't seen since middle school. With a few little differences here and there, she looked exactly the same as she did back then. In the seat beside her, a young lady with pink hair was sitting humbly having idle chit-chat with her. The two girls seemed to know each other from what the Tearbell could see. Despondency had no idea who she was though, but Quilo was gracious enough to introduce her as Lolly, one of Quilo's friends. When Despondency attempted to introduce Chu-Chu to Quilo, he seemed to already know who she was and that they had already befriended one another. With greetings and introductions out of the way, the four shared light conversation before the professor entered the room. Class began shortly after.

♡6:20pm♡
As a reward for surviving the first day of a new semester, the small group of friends opted to go out for dinner. A cute little burger joint close to campus was where they settled to eat. A share of giggles and praises lightened the booth as everyone (mainly Despondency) grew to know one another better. From the way Despondency would stare at Quilo and the gentle loving gestures he gave him, Chu-Chu seemed to pick up on Despondency's attraction to Quilo. She teased the Tearbell about it in her own inimitable way, leaving him a blushing mess. Unbeknownst to him, she was a little envious about it and hoped it was only a passing fancy that he was experiencing. Nothing too intimate. (wip)

~Time Skip~

♡Day 5 - 7:15am♡
When Despondency awoke the next morning, he sensed something wasn't quite right. He couldn't place his finger on it, but his room seemed a little emptier than usual. Despondency shrugged it off and went about his business as normal, getting ready for his first lecture. As he was packing his bag for the day, he found that his wallet, as well as his homework and pens, were missing. He assumed it was just a misalignment at first, but his lost possessions were nowhere to be found after a thorough search of the room. That was when he noticed that a few of his stuffed animals were missing, along with his dorm keys and even his bunny slippers! He went to confront Quilo about the missing articles in the hopes of getting a clue, but the Pouf gave no signs of knowing where they could be. Quilo mentioned that a few of his own things were missing as well. After moments of incessant pondering, the two came to the conclusion that a thief was in the dormitory last night. They looked around the dorm to see if anything else was missing, but everything was in place, much to their relief. They agreed to phone security as soon as they returned from their morning classes, in the hopes of getting everything in order and recovering their stolen belongings.

During second lecture, Quilo and Despondency kept the girls (Lolly and Chu) updated on the incident. The girls were taken aback by the occurrence and volunteered to contact security on their behalf, emphasizing that they wanted to help. The boys, grateful, left nothing but appreciation and a pledge to repay the favor. Classes went on as usual after that.

♡3:15pm♡
Lolly and Chu-Chu notified them both that they were unable to call security that afternoon. Something about them...being on vacation? The boys were oblivious by the peculiarity of that logic and resolved to take matters into their own hands. That's when they decided to become the detectives themselves, willing to search for clues around campus that would eventually lead them to the culprit. (wip)

♡9.30pm♡
Despondency was getting ready for bed later that night when he heard two voices outside his window. They both sounded oddly familiar, the lifeguard and the janitor, to be precise. As he listened intently, his ears twitched. He couldn't hear everything they said, but the words "steal" and "don't get caught." were clear as day. Despondency leapt from his bed and dashed into Quilo's room, timidly waking him up. (wip)