Big Book Of Parvill One Shots

Man Hunt (S)

TW: Random!AU

How the hell had he gotten roped into this?

William Strife stared blankly at the half-piece of notebook paper in his hand, covered in Xephos' distinctive scrawl - he was the only other one who actually knew how to write in that language - and shook his head in disbelief.

A scavenger hunt. Jesus. They were in their third year of university, and for some godforsaken reason Xephos had decided to host a scavenger hunt.

Granted, it was probably close to Easter; Will had lost track of the date a long time ago. But still, he hadn't done a scavenger hunt for at least fifteen years and he had very little intention of doing one now.

"Oh, you're taking part too?" Someone leaned over him.

Will stumbled away and turned to look at the broad figure.

Kirin grinned down at him, a similar half-sheet of paper in one gigantic hand. He eased Will's list from his hand, studying the characters with genuine interest.

"I have no idea what this means," he said cheerfully, and handed the list back. "At any rate, it's a competition, no?"

Will glanced at Kirin for a moment, considering. "Yes," he said, "it is."

He spun around and stalked off, heading towards the psychology classroom to grab the first thing on his list.

Everything was surprisingly easy to find, considering he had an entire campus to search. All of the things Xephos had written on here could be found in Will's classes; and Will was on good terms with his teachers, making it an easy task to borrow an extra book or the poster with the human skeleton.

However, the last thing on his list was by no means easily available. Will turned an ungodly shade of green as he read it. How the ever-living hell was he supposed to find this? And if he found it, how was he supposed to turn it in at the end of this insane game?

He scanned his memory of the last three years on campus. Had he seen it anywhere? Anywhere? First year, no - second year, maybe there?

Dammit, he'd have to head for the library and check the school database. It would cost precious time, but Strife absolutely refused to lose.

After a frustrated ten minutes and two failed hacking attempts, he finally got kicked off of the computer by a furious librarian. When he tried to sneak into the room that held the school files, he got chased off by a woman he'd never seen before - he hoped she wasn't important - and reluctantly headed towards the dorms.

Will stopped two passersby, asking if they knew about the thing he was looking for - and both pointed him towards room 104, telling him he'd better hurry.

He knocked on the door, hearing the voice inside go quiet.

"Hello?" A man's voice, deep and irritated, answered him.

Will took this as an invitation. He let himself in, staring in surprise at the two already inside.

Kirin stared back in surprise, and laughed. "You, too?" Will ignored his words, more focused on the way his broad arms were casually slung around the shoulders of the particular thing he'd come to retrieve.

"So that's what you were doing in the library," Kirin said cheerfully, "when you were trying to get into the database."

"Maybe," Will said, suddenly defensive and not wanting to look away from his quarry.

The man in question looked up from his screen, spinning in his seat to face Will. "What's this all about? You interrupted my game."

"I'm sorry, Parvis," Kirin drawled from over Parv's shoulder, "but I need a favour in return for the one I gave you the other day."