Munich, Germany, two months prior,
"I understand that you want to join the university and I really appreciate your enthusiasm, but we can't allow you to join. I'm sorry, but maybe you should try somewhere else?" A slim woman dressed in a black suit sat behind a large oak desk. On the opposite side of the desk sat upright a young blond boy, a pink scar across his face and an Iron Cross dangling from his neck.
"See, there isn't just 'somewhere' else, I've tried everywhere,"
"I'm sorry Erik, but I can't,"
"There must be something I can do to get in, please. I've got perfect test scores, I'm a brilliant tanksman; if you have me on your team, you will win,"
"That's the thing, Erik, I checked your results from Japan and I'm seeing victory after victory, even against other big schools,"
"Then what's the problem?" Erik leaned forward, leaning his elbows on his legs and eagerly awaiting the excuse the woman could think of.
"The university does not want a repeat of the last match you had in Japan. We know that that match is the reason why you left early and didn't wait for your graduation," the woman picked up some papers and neatly sorted them, "we also understand that it must have made some impact on you, having something like that happen to you."
"It won't happen again, it was a slip-up. As long as I'm fighting under a flag or a title, then my loyalty goes unwavered," sternly making his point, Erik proved his seriousness of the situation.
"One trial run, and if you can't do that then you won't be joining us. If you succeed, then we'll reconsider your application," the woman picked up a pen and wrote something down on a dayplanner laying beside her right elbow.
"Thank you, you won't regret it. I'll prove to you and the other instructors that I am a diligent student and tanker," Erik stood up from the chair and puffed out the ski cap he held in his hands.
"Erik?" The woman began, causing the blond boy to turn his attention to her, "we look forward to seeing the results of your aptitude test." She placed her pen down straight, lined up with the side of the planner. A large smile grew on his face, his pride steadily returning. Erik nodded, then promptly left the room. He closed the door behind him as he left, and the woman leaned back in her chair. She looked over her planner, reading some of the dates. She flipped some pages, reading events for the first semester.
Just like the Japanese schools, carriers will be set out to represent the universities. With the increased budget of the universities the capabilities were much higher, but the carriers would only be used for transportation rather than holding an entire town and university. Most of them would still have classrooms made while the students are going from point A to B, this would be so they wouldn't be behind on studies.
In her planner, the woman saw the first practice match against another German university, then after that they'd have a battle against a French university. This was just for the first semester, and nothing else had been planned as of yet. She, however, knew that with having the boy known as 'Erik Von Feuerstein' as a student in her university would be good for her victories, she felt it could end violently in some way or another.
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Cambridge, England, same time,
One of the hottest days of the year happened to be on the day of moving for Jason. The sweltering heat within the cabin of the truck brought Jason and his father to produce buckets of sweat, even with the fan on. Both of them wanted to make sure this was a one-way trip, so Jay borrowed a van from his workplace to transport all of his son's belongings.
"So, Cambridge, huh?" The attempt to start a conversation was made so they could try and forget the humidity, and Jay started it off with a starter that Jason happened to get used to recently.
"Aye, nae learnin' there, jus' teaching the students about tankery," Jason swiped his brow, a glistening film of sweat lined his fingertips.
"Ah, right. Where is it that yer living at then? If it's no' student accommodations then are you rentin' somewhere?" Jay talked sideways out of his mouth, focusing on the road ahead of him.
"Mm, yeah, some guy rented out a flat he owns, south Cambridge. It was originally a flat openin' fer students 'cause the last one jus' left, but I managed to get the room. Since I'm getting paid fer instructin' at Cambridge, I can afford the rent and he didn't mind me going fer it,"
"Sounds like you thought it through a lot,"
"Had tae, else I wouldnae found a decent place,"
"I'm impressed that you're taking this so seriously, proud o' ye,"
"Cheers, Dad," Jason gave his father a half smile and looked out the passenger window. The cabin became awkwardly silent, the conversation had clearly ended then. Getting to about a half-hours drive from Cambridge, Jay seemed to loosen up a bit like he was finally able to rest soon. The drive was long, almost 6 and a half hours long. Jason knew how long the drive was and offered to drive down so his dad wasn't as tired going back up, but he was stubborn and Jason was banished to the passengers seat.
"The kids you'll be teaching, they're the same age as you?"
"Yeah, or younger, or older, it's weird but the University saw my history with tank driving and commanding when I applied and knew of my media presence within Japan, so they happily took me on. Some veteran commanders from the Royal Armoured Corps are instructors too. There were a few commonwealth veterans too, amazing amounts of awards and medals. All of them were high ranks and had loads of medals. I was only person below the age of forty," Jason let out a small laugh, and his father chuckled along with him.
"Well, with how passionate you are of tankery and following your great-grandfathers footsteps, you'll go far in the world you're going into, I'm sure of it," Jay patted his son's knee and shot him a smile of how proud he was. It was a beaming smile, and Jason felt it.
"Thanks Dad, I won't let you down, I'll try my best for the family,"
"And fer yerself, son, not just fer the family," Jay raised his voice a little, not to intimidate or scare, but because Jason's mind was too family-oriented. Jason grimaced apologetically, nodding slowly.
"Of course, but I like to think I'm doing this for the name I fight under and my family. I'm not doing it just for myself, like some people I know..." Jason scratched the top of his head, his hand ruffling his short ginger locks even more than they already were. Jay tapped the GPS he was using, catching Jason's attention to it.
"We're almost there, should be down that road there," Jay pointed at a road that continued off to the right from a roundabout. They were stuck behind traffic and a few red stop lights. The Stevenson's were patiently waiting for the English traffic to speed up, but there was no hope in sight. Feeling like minutes had passed, the traffic moved and the van could follow the last couple of minutes of directions.
When they reached the block of flats, they were greeted by black steel fences that shone in the summer sun. The building itself was rather grand and stood at about six stories, made of red brick - proving the wealth that it held within. The car park had several expensive looking vehicles, ranging from BMW's to a single Bentley to a couple Range Rovers. Jason didn't take much time to note down all of them, but there were a few less expensive cars, most likely owned by students that lived there. The short steps that led up to the black doors of the building were a clean white, unsoiled by muddy shoes and boots and it perfectly contrasted the black fences, gate, and door of the premises.
The whole area that they were in looked as if it were cleaned daily, maybe even bi-daily. Jay found a spot near the entrance of the building, making sure to carefully watch where he was going when parking in fear of scraping a fancy car. Once he pulled up the parking brake, the two men unclipped their seatbelts and exited the vehicle. It was now time to unload Jason's stuff. Jay secretly hoped there was a lift available if the flat wasn't on the ground or first floor.
Jason pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialled the owner of the flat he was renting, just to let him know that he had arrived. Jay and Jason waited for the guy to appear, and a few minutes later someone opened the door to the building. A black-haired man dressed in brown chinos and a blue shirt walked down the steps. After setting his eyes on the red headed father and son, he grinned and waved his arm to them. They waved their hands in response.
"Ah, you must be Jason!" He gleefully exclaimed, "I'm Harry, welcome to Cambridge," the man extended his hand out to offer a handshake with a wide smile on his face. Jason noticed the wrinkles at his eyes and mouth, only just recognising the age of this man. Harry stood just an inch or two below Jason, which to any on-looker passing by would find humorous. Jay was a few inches taller than Jason, and considering that Jason is six foot, is slightly intimidating. Jason shook his hand, and then Harry shook Jay's hand. "Perfect timing, too, I just finished sorting stuff out upstairs so here you go, it's room 3B, third floor," Harry fished a set of keys out of his pocket and handed them to the younger man.
"Thank you for letting me rent your flat Harry, it's greatly appreciated,"
"Oh, no problems, I've rented that place out for about fifteen years to students who've come here. Had to kick one out though, he partied too hard and I got some noise complaints. There are rules, and I did send them to you via email, have you read them?" Harry stuffed his hands into his pockets, giving off an extremely relaxed vibe.
"Aye, I printed them off too,"
"Excellent, then I shan't remind you of them," Harry nodded to the two men, and his clear, precise speech didn't reek of posh twattiness that Jay expected. "Cheerio, lads. I'll check on you next week, I'll email you ok? And if you have any concerns, you have my contact info."
"Alright, thanks again, Harry."
"No problem, ta-ta now!" Harry waved the two goodbye and pulled out another set of keys. He pressed a button and a black BMW on the other end of the car park unlocked. Jason and Jay waved him off, then began unloading the van. Thankfully there wasn't much of Jason's own belongings, but there were boxes of furniture that were recently bought from a non-descript Swedish home store nearby.
The next hour or so was spent hauling long boxes around a staircase and moving smaller boxes up and down the lift. Once everything had been moved and a couple of coffees were consumed, it was time for Jay to go back home.
"Thanks Dad, I'll come back up in August for a weekend,"
"Your mother would prefer every weekend," Jay chuckled to himself as he opened the driver side door to the van. Jason grimaced, picturing himself spending hundreds of pounds just to go up and down the A1 every weekend. "Hey, Jason, stay safe alright? I don't want any more hospital notes to come through the post ok? It drives your mum up the wall, and I don't want a crazy lady rambling to herself again." Jay paused as he climbed in and started the ignition, "make us proud, Jason, I know you will. We'll support you every step of the way."
"I know you will, I appreciate that. I'll try my hardest, thank you again for helping me with moving,"
"Aye, well, it's good to see my wee man becoming a big man, getting far in the world. I'll call you when I get home ok?"
"Alright Dad, see you later," Jason stepped back from the van so Jay could close the door. His father gave him a quick salute and drove the van out of the car park. Jason watched the van leave, and the area went quiet. Only the distant traffic could be heard and the small chirps of birds in nearby trees. The red-headed boy twirled the keys around his right index finger as he went back inside. The lobby was small and only contained a small grey bin, the doors to the lift, and a dozen mailboxes. Old-fashioned, Jason thought, thinking about how Victorian-esque the building - and the area itself - looked. It was expected, as it was the city of Cambridge after all.
Jason, tired from the almost seven hour journey and all the hauling, was ready to hit the hay. He didn't consider the fact that there wasn't a bed waiting for him in his flat, nor a sleeping bag or a sofa he could instead.
"Bastard," Jason muttered under his breath, glaring at the large cardboard box that contained the bed he picked out himself. The mattress lay beside it, still wrapped in the plastic covering. Saying buggar to building the bed for now, Jason grabbed a utility knife off another box and sliced the plastic covering down the middle. He wasn't taking any shit right now, he was too tired for meticulously unwrapping the mattress the intended way. He pulled the plastic away and pulled the mattress over so it was laying flat on the floor.
The boots were quickly pulled off and the t-shirt was removed. Jason flopped onto the mattress and literally sunk into it. It was heaven. Or, close enough. Heaven was Darjeeling's thi- warm loving arms. The Scot fidgeted on the mattress and grabbed his phone, unlocking it and going onto Darjeeling's contact. He dialled her number and waited for her to pick up. The phone rang a couple of times before the girlfriend picked up.
"Hello Jason, are you all settled in now?" Her voice was music to his ears, and he felt even closer to falling asleep. It was dangerously soothing to hear her words through the phone.
"Mm, aye. Just got intae bed actually,"
"Bed? It's four in the afternoon? You must have worked quite hard, and I bet this heat didn't help either?"
"Nope, I'm dying over here," a smile spread on Jason's lips as he heard a light giggle come from the receiver.
"I bet you are, but please don't. How far away are you? I could come over and say hello,"
"Well, it's been two months since I last saw you so I doubt I'd say no. It's bloody hot though, you alright walking about in this heat?"
"Of course, this isn't as bad as some summers in Japan though. Summers in Japan average a few Celsius higher than Britain."
"That must suck," Jason sat up on his mattress, "if you are coming over could you buy me a- actually, I'll buy them myself tomorrow,"
"Hm? What is it?"
"I was gonna ask you if you could buy me some ciders on your way here but I could get them myself when I sort out my fridge-freezer tomorrow."
"It's alright, I'm sure tonight calls for a welcoming celebration doesn't it?"
"Are you sure? I wouldn't want you to force yourself to buy something like that."
"Don't be silly, send me your address and I'll be over soon,"
"I'll pop the kettle on too, shall I?"
"That'll be perfect, thank you. Do you have my tea already?"
"Aye, went for a shop before we left. Dad was pissing about so I got some time to go shopping."
"Thank you, and I didn't even need to bring my own. I love you, Jason."
"I love you too, Darj."
"Could you send me the address please? I'll just get ready and then I'll come over."
"Alright, no problem," Jason pulled a ripped sheet of paper off a box and texted Darjeeling the address of his flat, "there, take your time because I've still got a lot of stuff to unpack and unbox, for example the kettle and the mugs."
"I can help you with that, it's no problem."
"You sure?"
"Of course."
"Thank you, I'll need to repay you somehow."
"How about hugs and kisses? And tea, obviously."
"I'm perfectly fine with that, no problem."
"Splendid, I'll see you later Teddy-bear."
"Hah, see you later Sweetheart. Love you."
"Love you too, bye."
"Bye."
Darjeeling ended the call, and a permanent smile was etched onto Jason's face. He was inarguably happy, and was looking forward to seeing his gorgeous blonde girlfriend for the first time in two months. But before he could welcome her into his new home, he had to start with the unpacking and unboxing.
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Half an hour passed and Jason jumped at the sound of his doorbell. He pulled a cloth out of his pocket and wiped some of his sweat off his body, an attempt made in vain as the sweat was ready to return in buckets. Jason left his kitchen and walked to his hallway, opened the door, and was greeted with the cutest angel anyone could set their eyes on.
Dressed in a white dress that stopped just at the knees, showing off her long and smooth legs as well as her slender arms. Her hair was pinned up in her trademark french braid, perfected and no straying hair could be seen. On her left shoulder was a brown faux-leather handbag and in her hands in front of her was a shopping bag filled with all sorts of 'goodies'.
"Gorgeous..." was the only thing that Jason could utter, and it brought a cute expression to her face.
"Shush you," Darjeeling gushed, averting her eyes slightly.
"Come in, please. I managed to get the fan working," Jason widened the door and stepped to the side, letting Darjeeling walk in. She eyed the place like it was a palace, looking high and low, inspecting the flat that Jason had picked out.
"I resisted the urge to hug you because I probably smell right now, the heat can be cruel sometimes," Darjeeling let Jason lead her into the living room - or what Jason currently called the 'empty-box room'.
"Don't care, come here or I'll forever regret it," Jason stood in the middle of the room with his arms outstretched, physically ready for an uncomfortably hot hug. Darjeeling smiled and put down her bags, then hurriedly embraced her boyfriend.
"Did you put that aftershave on before I arrived?" Their arms twisted around each other, her head neatly fit the space under his chin and he now had somewhere to rest his chin.
"Maybe, maybe not, who knows," Jason shrugged, half-glad she noticed and half upset that she pointed it out.
"It smells nice," she nuzzled her head a little, feeling the heat coming from his body through the thin fabric of her dress as if she was pressed against a soft radiator.
"Thank you, you smell nice too," his nose was almost in her hair, which let him sniff the relaxing aroma of the shampoo and conditioner that she used.
"Liar, you're just being nice," she pinched his side softly, her smile only widening as his did too.
"My aftershave is being nice, I'm just stating facts," Jason began to gently sway their bodies, shifting his weight from leg to leg.
"Mhm, if you say so,"
"I do,"
They stood there for a little while longer, basking in the heartwarming embrace that they both undeniably missed. It was only until the heat finally became unbearable that they had to detach from each other.
"I'll pop the kettle on, the only chair I have so far is my desk chair and that camping chair. Don't ask me why I have it, I don't know the answer," Jason stepped out of the room for a second and then returned with a black chair on wheels. He rolled it over to Darjeeling and offered it to her with a bow and a flourish, and she gratefully accepted it with her own bow. If someone saw this, they'd either laugh or believe Darjeeling was royalty. In Jason's mind, it might as well have been the latter.
The tea was started and the first bottle of cider was cracked open. The couple start unboxing things together, sharing complaints about the heat every so often. Jason questioned the fact she was drinking tea in this heat, then realised she was a hardier person than he was. She is a woman of resolve and won't drink anything that isn't typically British. The only thing other than tea that came to her mind was English ale and water. Jason added that ale isn't the only typically British alcohol, then realised that her 'I don't drink alcohol' face was on so he dropped listing all the drinks he could think of.
Hours passed, and the flat was looking a lot more homely than it was earlier. The couple that made it so, were now shattered and were prepared for bed. It was about nine o'clock at night, they didn't really know but it felt late. The bed frame hadn't yet been made, but the mattress had a cover and a duvet on it, and it could fit two people. 'Perfect!' They said, but didn't think about how the duvet, even if it was thin as a blanket, wasn't going to be used because of the blistering heat.
In the dying sun, the fake breeze formed by the fan, and the semi-completion of homemaking, the couple changed into their sleepwear and retired for the day. Darjeeling didn't complain about staying over for the night, it was her idea in the first place for her to sleep over. They are adults, so there's nothing wrong with it. Nothing would have been done since it was too hot to take part in such 'activities', so adult things weren't even considered.
Dressed in only a pair of shorts, Jason, once again, flopped onto his mattress. Darjeeling sat beside him, letting her hair down then tying it into a loose bun. She was dressed in one of Jason's t-shirts, a blue that was close to the same pigment as the Scottish blue. The pair laid down, exhausted by the hot day, but their spirits weren't brought down by it, instead they were over-filled with joy as they finally got to spend some time together after being separated for so long.
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A/N: I feel like this chapter was necessary, I confused myself with the sudden time jump when I re-read the last chapter and realised a chapter that explained it a little bit was needed. Hope this clears stuff up a bit, also I wanted to add some much-needed cute shit between Darjeeling and Jason since it had been a while since we got some cute shit. Expect the next chapter kinda soon as well, I take back my previous statement in chapter 17 (or 18, I can't remember) about starting a new fic that was focused on their uni life. It would be much easier to just continue it on here.
P.S. Expect the next chapter to be kinda tense? It's gonna be epic.
Please leave a review! They're really appreciated and I love to read them! I always get excited when I see the review notifs :)
Thanks for reading this far, peace out dudes (and dudettes)
Kekled~
