NOVPUB"...I'll have you know that this is a very strange request, Mr. Saint. Even taking evolved students into consideration."
Malachi shuffled his feet back and forth awkwardly.
As he stood within his professor's office, he was painfully aware of the shocked look that the TA was giving him from the corner of the room.
His professor sighed as if the day was already getting to him. He folded his fingers over his portly stomach as he stared up at his egregiously tall student.
"Tell me... why in god's name would you want me to give you all of your coursework for the semester early?"
"Would you believe it if I said I was just trying to be an overachiever?"
"..." Malachi's professor just stared at him and blinked.
"Alright, full transparency then.." Malachi conceded.
He took the liberty of sitting down in the chair in front of his professor's desk.
"Thing is... I'm getting married in two days. Not only that, but we're planning to leave the country for a while on a bit of a mission trip. Dunno when we'll be back, so.."
Malachi's professor still didn't look fully convinced.
"Mr. Saint, super smarts wouldn't happen to be on the list of powers you're in possession of, would they?"
"I literally locked my keys in the car coming into class..."
"Well, why do you drive when you can teleport and fly?"
The answer was relaxation and car sex. But Malachi wasn't sure if he could convince his professor to see either of those as worthwhile reasons.
"...See? Not smart." Malachi shrugged.
His professor continued to stare at him blankly for a few more moments before he finally cracked a small smile and shook his head.
"You're a busy man, huh, Mr. Saint?"
"...Kinda." Malachi smiled wryly.
He watched his professor unlock a file cabinet and start pulling out manila folders. "I'm only doing this because you're a good student. If you paid even a modicum less attention in class, I wouldn't even consider it."
A wave of relief washed through Malachi's chest like a river. "Thanks, professor. I promise I won't let you-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Save the speech, kid, but listen to this- you're a little young to be feeling like you have to solve all of the world's problems and your own all at once. Taking a break won't kill you, but even if it could... can you even die anyway?"
Malachi was surprised to hear his professor suddenly give him that kind of advice. He didn't really think that his professor cared that much about anything other than grade point averages.
As his professor handed him a stack of papers thicker than Anna, he did hid best to offer him some reassurance.
"I appreciate the thought, but I promise that I'm alright. Great power and great responsibility go hand in hand, y'know?"
His professor looked like he didn't understand that reference. Before this moment, Malachi didn't even know that there were people like that still living.
-
"Tell me something, babe."
"Hm?" 𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝒃.𝙘𝒐𝒎
"Are we insane?
"Over each other?"
"No, well, yes." Anna shook her head. "But we just walked into all of four classes and asked for assloads of homework. That's gotta qualify us for some kind of special decal for the car."
Malachi's lips curled into a faint smile.
Anna had been complaining about their classes for the entire car ride. Double and triple majoring meant that the two now had more paper between them than an office supply store. The amount of books they had to read and pre-recorded lectures was also something to cry about.
"This is unbelievable..." Anna rubbed her temples. "In high school I barely graduated. I was on academic probation my first year of college! What'd I think I was doing double majoring in anything!?"
Anna reclined her seat all the way back so that she could lie down and curl up into a ball. "I've decided I'm going to forefit my life as an Evolved and live out my days as a rabbit."
"A rabbit...?" Malachi barely held in a snicker.
"You're damn right a rabbit. I'm going to eat, shit, and fuck without ever having another complicated thought again for the rest of my life!"
Malachi chuckled as he decided to make a detour from their usual route home. "Look, I know it's a lot but you have to remember that we don't have to do that work all at once. We have a whole semester."
Anna's expression lightened, but it still possessed a noticeable tension.
"Babe… I'm only half joking. I really think that I might've made a mistake because I..."
'Was trying to keep up with you.' Anna dared not voice the rest of her thought out loud. Her tendency to get easily embarrassed was something inherited from her mother.
Malachi reached over and placed his hand on top of Anna's thigh.
She slowly unfolded her body and interlocked her fingers with his own.
"I know school ain't been easy for you lately." Mal began. "But I really think you should know that everyone sees how hard you've been working and you still have all of our support. If you need help, just tell one of us. Ain't like you don't have a lot to choose from."
The car rolled to a stop at a red light.
Malachi briefly leaned over the seat and planted a small kiss on top of Anna's forehead. "And you don't have to do anything to try to keep up with me. No matter where you're going, I'll be right next to you all the same."
Anna found herself smiling even though she tried her damndest not to. "...Does that mean that if I ask you to-"
"Nah, I can't do your work for you. Nice try though."
"What if I asked really nicely?"
"You remember I am also in college, yea?"
"Damn. Totally slipped my- Get down!"
Anna suddenly wrapped her arms around Malachi's neck and wrapped them both in her enlarged wings.
She threw out her hand and caught a traffic light that was soaring towards their window.
Anna just barely managed to catch it before it could smash into the window. But before she could even manage to figure out where it came from, a building exploded on the street ahead.
