lifetothefullest | [IC Inbox]

God, Lance, that's the saddest thing I've ever heard.

[She's still smiling, though.]

How many years were you in college, anyway?

I did say they were depressing.

[As for the question--]

About eight years. Two for my bachelor's degree, two for the master's, and then just under a combined four for the two doctorates.

[ Seriously? ]

That seems really fast. You must've just worked nonstop.

Really fast but also way too long.

I was able to have a lot of classes waved for the bachelor's, and the doctorates required separate research and dissertations but could be built on the same master's, which I completed in a normal length of time. So it sounds more difficult than it was.

[Although all of that said, Washington is right; he pretty much worked nonstop, because he was very motivated to succeed. It wasn't necessarily a good thing, though.]

It's a long time to spend in college, but having not attended high school it kind of balanced out.

Did you actually enjoy doing it, though?

[That... is a good question, actually. Kyna just waits for the answer.]

[Yeah, that's... A question, which Lance has to decide for several seconds how he wants to answer.]

I was not exactly that person that studies for fun, so as far as a lot of the classwork went, no. But keeping the end result and goal in mind made it worth doing, so it's not like I hated it, and the doctorates were also a lot more interesting which is why I did two of them.

[So, basically, he enjoyed research and writing papers, but coursework was a means to an end more than anything else.]

You were really sure, then. About what you wanted to do with your life?

I can't imagine that.

[ He was never given a choice. ]

Yeah, me either. Especially not at fourteen.

[Kyna is still pretty directionless, oops. Congrats on being the most together person in the room, Lance.]

[Lance just nods at that, because yes, he was really sure. But his situation was strange, and a mix of a whole bunch of different things coming together, and absolutely not normal or anything that should be considered close to such.]

I was just a weird kid; it's not wrong to take longer to decide, and honestly it's probably a better idea to wait anyway. More life experience and that sort of thing, and sometimes you don't even know that what you want to do exists at first.

[Some fields are a lot more obscure than others, after all.]

It sounds kinda nice, though. Knowing.

Kyna asked me once what I'd do if I weren't a soldier, and I still can't answer that.

[ Which might be a little much to admit to Lance, but it's the truth. ]

[Kyna shakes her head a little at Lance.]

Now you sound like my brother.

[And as for Wash, well... To be fair, it doesn't sound like he has much of a choice where he's from, anyway.]

Well, your brother's right, then.

[He offers the response with a small grin of amusement, although he looks at Washington more seriously.]

I have a friend who was in the military for a long time, and he wasn't sure what he was going to do afterward himself. It's pretty common for soldiers to have that problem.

[So it's nothing strange, or anything Lance is going to judge him for.]

[ Wash's expression shifts to something almost confused. ]

Afterward?

[Whoops.]

Um... It doesn't sound like retiring or leaving the military is a thing where Wash is from.

Ah.

[Great, another one of those dimensions.]

Well, there's an 'afterward' here, in this place. Options for professions are a little more limited, but it sounds like any choices are more than you might've had otherwise.

You mean in Hadriel?

I guess I did have a lot of down time, before the Null attacked....

[Kyna nudges Wash gently.]

You should try something new. Maybe it'll be fun.

[Lance nods, both in affirmation to the question and in agreement with Kyna.]

There are so many people here with different skills that there are a lot of opportunities to learn different fields or trades, especially since many have said they're willing to teach. Trial and error's always an option too.

[ Huh. He's willing to try something else, but doesn't know what he'd be good at. Even in the military he'd never specialized, never settled on anything. ]

...I wouldn't really know where to start.

[She can't really teach him magic right now, so that's out.]

Um... What do you like to do?

[It's a good question, and Lance just lets Kyna take over for the moment, especially since he had a similar conversation with her just recently.]

[ It's an excellent question, but one he doesn't have an answer to these days. He hasn't even had hobbies for like. A decade. So an awkward silence falls, Wash actually starting to look a little distressed before he redirects his gaze to his lap. He honestly can't come up with anything that isn't related to being a soldier. ]

[Kyna leans into Wash again, frowning slightly.]

Hey, you don't have to answer now. You can just... think about it.

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