Title: At Your Mercy
Author: Watoshimi Kairou
Fandom: Hollywood U: Rising Stars
Characters: Thomas Hunt / Main Character
Rating: Warning
Status: Complete
Summary: As her professor, he was always the one with the advantage. But now… oh, how the tables have turned.
Disclaimer: I do not own Hollywood U: Rising Stars or any of its characters.
At Your Mercy
[2] Boundaries
"I was not aware that you had enough money to throw around for trivial things like this," Hunt sneered. "I thought the only reason you can actually afford the tuition is because of your benefactor." He paused. "They didn't give you the money for this, did they?" Professor Hunt looked worried at the possibility. Jane couldn't blame him though, it was a rather horrifying thought; if her benefactor could support her and then some, exactly how much money could they afford and why would they want her to win Hunt?
She considered lying to him—just to mess with his head—but instead she said, "No, Profes—Thomas, the money didn't come from my benefactor."
He cringed again. "Stop calling me that."
"Oh, dear professor," she cooed with a wide grin, feeling quiet evil. "I don't think you have much of a choice."
Hunt shuddered visibly at "dear professor". His eyes darted to the direction of the door leading into the dean's office. All he wanted right now was to get called in, go over the damn rules, and get the entire thing over with. The upcoming week could not go by fast enough. "I am going to kill you," he vowed, muttering underneath his breath.
Jane rolled her eyes, choosing instead to stay silent. So dramatic, she thought.
Finally, the office door opened and some random student Jane didn't recognize stepped out with a female actress she forgot the name of. "I'm so excited," the student was gushing. "I've been such a big fan of yours and I can't wait to see the inside scope of how you work!"
Hunt turned towards her and glared. As much as he hated the idea of a student shadowing him while he worked, Jane bet he preferred that to the plans she had cooked up for his ass. Ignoring him, she watched as the student turned and noticed her presence.
"Oh," she said. She flashed Hunt a warily smile, "Good luck, Professor."
Refusing to look Hunt in the eye—she was sure he was trying to make her drop dead with his glares—Jane got up to her feet and stretched. "All right," she chirped. "Come along, Professor, it's our turn now."
"Brilliant," he intoned dryly.
They made their way into the well-lit office of Robert Ackermann, the university dean—or, as Thomas would rather refer to as: the buffoon that came up with that sad excuse of a fundraiser. He glared at him the moment he stepped into the room but Robert was doing his best to avoid his gaze, looking everywhere but at him.
"So!" Robert said brightly. Too brightly. He was nervous.
He better be, Thomas thought.
"So," Robert tried again, clearing his throat. "Congratulations on your... winning, Jane."
"Thank you," she said pleasantly.
Thomas almost reeled backwards in shock. He did not know that she had it in her to be so polite around authority figures. The more you knew...
"Please," the dean said, waving to the seats in front of his desk. "Have a seat. Both of you." He waited until they were both seated before he turned his complete attention to the young woman in front of him. Clasping his hands together, he attempted to look as professional as possibly, pretending that he was unaffected by Thomas' glare. "Now, Jane, while I am aware that we advertised the auction as a "servitude" of sorts, I feel I must emphasis that the main point of this is to give students a chance to shadow an adult that they admire."
Jane pursed her lips. Exactly what kind of reputation did they have around campus and what the hell did they think she was going to do to him? "Sir," she said slowly. "I assure you that I will treat Professor Hunt with all the respect he deserves." Next to her, Hunt snorted in disbelief but she ignored him. Besides, it wasn't like she was lying. After the shit he put her through, she had a whole lot of respect to show him.
Shooting her a look of disbelief, Robert sighed and pulled out a sheet of paper. "This here is a list of basic rules, I'm sure you are already aware of what is appropriate and what is not."
Jane nodded.
"Now," the dean said, flipping the sheet over and pointing to a specific section. "Please take a good look at the last rule." He looked up at the professor for the first time since the duo had stepped into his office. "You too, Thomas. This applies to you too."
They leaned over, reading the handwritten rule that must have been added after the other rules above it had been printed.
Do not kill each other.
"You're kidding me," Jane muttered underneath her breath. "What the hell do think I'm going to do to him?"
"Why do I have to obey the rule?" Hunt questioned quietly. "I'm the victim."
Jane shook her head slightly before looked back up at the dean. "You did receive the money right? It was transferred over wire."
"Yes," he confirmed. "It's been accepted."
She raised an eyebrow. "You accepted it already?" she asked. "So you're completely fine with all the terms?"
Hunt and Ackermann both froze. "Terms?" Ackermann asked. "What terms?"
"Before you could accept the money, you had to check the box that stated you have read and agree with the terms given in an attached file."
"What?" Ackermann squeaked.
"What?" Hunt repeated. "What do you mean 'what', you accepted something without reading the terms?!" His glare was practically lethal at this point. Jane felt for him; it was his life, well-being, and dignity on the line after all.
Sighing, Jane attempted to wave off their worries with a pleasant smile. "It's nothing to worry about, really. All it states is that since the auction was advertised as one for "servitude", my prize—" her grin widened as she glanced in Hunt's direction, "—should 'serve' me—pardon my lack of a better word. All orders obviously must be within reason. Any disobedience on orders deemed 'within reason' will null the agreement and the university will be required to pay me triple the amount of what I paid when I obtained Professor Hunt."
Ackermann opened his mouth, squeaked, and then closed it again while Hunt was looking at her as if he had never seen her before. "Triple?" Ackermann breathed, horrified, Oh, why hadn't he asked his lawyers to accept all wire transfers?
"Only if Professor Hunt disobeys me," Jane assured him. She turned and smiled at the man in question. "And it's not going to happen, is it, Professor?"
"Of course not," he grunted out in a low, dark voice, hard eyes darting from Jane to Ackermann as if he was not sure who he wanted to glare at. It was obvious to him that someone other than Jane was behind the terms she had just stated, Jane couldn't have come up with the terms by herself, not if she was so easily tricked by Anders Stone. The most worrying fact, Thomas realized, was that Jane appeared to be very well acquainted with someone with the money and the experience to pull something like this off.
Jane grinned brightly, excited for the upcoming week. "Then it's settled then?"
"Yes," Ackermann agreed hesitantly.
Resisting the urge to just squeal in delight, Jane forced down her excitement and stood up as calmly as she could. "Come along, Tommy Boy, I have so much in store for you."
"Go easy on him," the dean pleaded. "He's delicate."
Both Jane and Thomas ignored him and instead, communicated silently with each other through glares and smug looks. "Now that you must obey my every wish and desire," Jane finally said in a bright tone as they made their way towards the doorway. "I think you can begin by calling me miss, or ma'am." Her eyes lit up at her next thought, "I'm also partial to Your Royal Highness."
"I. Am. Going. To. Kill. You," Hunt growled out, enouncing each word carefully.
"No killing!" the dean called out after them.
In case you guys didn't already realize, this is mostly a crack story. Little research has been done before writing this.