Ryan walked into TFU's frat house, taking in all the hustle and bustle of party preparation. His group was apparently one of the first to make it back with their costumes, so he wasn't exactly sure what he should be doing at the moment.
He naturally gravitated to a corner in the main living room. It was out of the normal flow of traffic, but gave him a good view into the dining area, and he could usually hear what was going on in the kitchen. It was a nice spot to keep an eye on all the students and make sure no one got too rowdy.
Right now everyone mostly seemed focused on party prep. A few of them were stopping to congratulate each other on their costumes. It made Ryan feel a little self conscious with his plastic pipe.
He pulled out the prop, running it over in his hands. Now in the light of the frat house, he could see that... it didn't appear to be plastic after all? It actually had a convincing wood grain pattern in it. He ran his fingers along the pipe, tracing a well practiced grip. Ah, it as lacquered! That explained it. Man, they must get these surplus. A quick sniff confirmed that it honestly smelled like tobacco.
Ryan coughed, wiping his nose on his jacket's sleeve. Jeez, the jacket smelled like smoke too. Either that or he couldn't get the scent out of his nose now. He stretched a bit, his shoulders starting to fill out the large jacket. He wasn't sure why he was so worried about the sleeves earlier, they seemed fine. Ryan grinned, popping himself up on the wall with one of the elbow patches.
"Hey professor, where does the keg go?" A frat brother stopped in front of Ryan with a push cart. He tapped the large metal drum with a grin.
"You guys rented a keg?" Ryan stood up straight. "Halloween or not, don't overdo it tonight."
The frat bro rolled his eyes, "We know, we know." He cocked his head deeper into the house, "So where's it go?"
Ryan blinked, "I'm not sure. I didn't help with the setup tonight."
The keg pusher slumped his shoulders a bit, "Alright, I'll go check the kitchen." He propped the keg back, rolling it deeper into the house.
Ryan watched him go, idly sucking on the end of his pipe. He pulled out his phone, checking the time. There was still a good twenty minutes before the party really got started. Plenty of time to log into the school's eLearning platform and see if there were any messages.
"Yo Dr. Reed!" Another voice snapped him to attention. "Where do the snack trays go?"
O-kay, maybe this wasn't the best wall to learn against. He pocked his phone, looking up at-
"Woah there son, let me help you with one of those!" A frat boy named Clint was balancing two huge charcuterie boards, one in each hand. Ryan rushed forward to help.
"I got it, I got it." Clint reassured him, holding out one of the trays for Ryan.
"Still, better safe than sorry." Ryan said, "You don't want your charcuterie to become floor-cuterie."
Clint looked back at him, "What?" He started walking towards the dining room.
"You know, the cheese and cracker board? Charcuterie?" Ryan laughed, "Sorry, bad joke."
"I just think of them as a mega Lunchable." Clint shrugged, setting his board down with the rest of the snacks.
"Lunchables? Seriously?" Ryan laughed.
Clint nodded, "Yeah. They're these cheese and cracker snack things that were popular in the nineties."
Ryan stared, "I know what a-"
Clint patted him on the back, passing by him, "Look, I need to go help unload all the chips. Thanks for the help Dr. Reed."
Ryan watched him go, trying to figure out what just happened there. Was Clint even on the ride back with him from the store? Maybe he heard the joke from someone else.
Anyways, for now the dining room seemed to be a much more orderly spot to wait around. Ryan slunk over by the fireplace, trying to stay out of the students way.
As he stood there, the room's ornate mirror caught his eye. How some hooligan hadn't already thrown a football into it was beyond him. He walked over to it curiously, gazing at his reflection.
Oh wow, he could pull this look off more than he thought. Ryan ran his hand under his chin curiously, rubbing a sizable amount of stubble that had grown there. It looked like he'd forgotten to shave in at least a few days.
"Wow Ryan, your tenure's really showing." He muttered to himself.
Even the bags under his eyes seemed a bit darker. Maybe it was just the glasses? He fidgeted with the frames a bit. No... He definitely looked a bit more tired than usual. Maybe he had been getting a couple of bad night's sleep and was forgetting to shave in the morning? He really needed to start taking better care of himself.
Ryan slid the glasses back down onto his nose. The room suddenly snapped into sharper focus.
"What the frick...?" He raised and lowered the glasses a few times. These were supposed to just be cheap plastic lenses. Did they slip in a low-powered pair of reading glasses in with the costume or something?
He slid the glasses back down onto his nose. The room really did seem clearer like this... Maybe he should go get his eyes checked after tomorrow's classes. These glasses didn't seem to be giving him a head ache, but he probably shouldn't keep these things on too long. The prep seemed to be wrapping up, maybe he should go find Victor and the others.