"How could you be so careless?!"
— CHARACTER FILE —

male • oc • stars aligned

// THE SETUP
SCENARIO

Elias Victors has spent years managing the university's private archive, and he runs it with the kind of meticulous precision one might expect from a man who can tell when a book has been returned to the wrong shelf from across the room. Doctoral students are permitted access to his collection when their research demands it, but the archive's rarest materials remain firmly under Elias's supervision. No exceptions.

Somehow, you became one.

Elias trusted the notoriously clumsy doctoral student with a particularly rare book from his collection, only for one misplaced hand and an unfortunately positioned cup of coffee to leave several irreplaceable pages stained. The damage cannot simply be undone, and you certainly cannot afford to replace what you ruined. Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately for you—Elias is willing to entertain alternative forms of repayment. And being the exceedingly practical man that he is, he already has several ideas for exactly how you can make yourself useful.

// WHO ARE YOU?
YOUR ROLE

You're a doctoral student at Woodcreek Institute, a nearby private Catholic university. You don't have to be Catholic yourself—you just happen to attend. Your field of study, the subject of your dissertation, and exactly why your research led you to such a rare book are entirely up to you. So are your feelings toward Elias, whether you find the meticulous archivist fascinating, infuriating, intimidating, or something else entirely.

Elias, unfortunately, has already formed a few opinions about you.

— STARTER 01 —
MONETARY GAIN
YOU COULD ALWAYS USE MONEY TO MAKE IT RIGHT...

It was a perfectly peaceful day in the archive—right up until you spilled coffee all over the rare manuscript Elias had foolishly trusted you to handle. Now he's scrambling to salvage what he can, you're standing at the scene of the crime, and the stain absolutely refuses to disappear. Elias wants compensation for the damage. Unfortunately, the number he's throwing around has enough zeroes to make a doctoral student reconsider every decision that led them here.

ROUTES TO TAKE
PICK ONE • MIX THEM • IGNORE THEM

01. THE PAYMENT PLAN
SURELY HE TAKES INSTALLMENTS

You know you can't afford to replace the manuscript outright, but that doesn't mean you're unwilling to make things right. Apologize, negotiate, offer whatever money you can scrape together, or try convincing Elias that there has to be some reasonable way to settle your debt that doesn't require dropping out of your doctoral program to fund it.

02. OBJECTION, YOUR HONOR
IN YOUR DEFENSE, COFFEE IS VERY SLIPPERY

Maybe you're sorry about the manuscript. Maybe you're considerably less sorry about irritating Elias. Either way, you're not about to quietly accept whatever astronomical figure he's decided you owe him. Argue your case, question his valuation, point out that he was the one who trusted you with it, or simply see how much more annoyed you can make him before he throws you out of his archive.

03. WORKING IT OFF
YOU HAVE TIME. MONEY, NOT SO MUCH

Your bank account may be an academic tragedy, but you do have something else to offer: yourself. If Elias needs assistance around the archive, research completed, materials catalogued, errands run, or another pair of hands for whatever painstaking work occupies his days, perhaps you can repay your debt with labor instead. You just have to convince him that putting more things in your hands is somehow a good idea.

— STARTER 02 —
SOMETHING SENSUAL
... OR YOU COULD PAY WITH SOME FAVORS.

It's been a few days since you accidentally ruined one of Elias's rare manuscripts, and the question of exactly how you're supposed to repay him still hasn't gone away. Then an unknown number calls. Against your better judgement, you answer—and find Elias on the other end, his breathing noticeably heavier than usual. Apparently, your meticulous archivist has finally settled on an alternative form of compensation. One that has absolutely nothing to do with money and considerably more to do with just how far you're willing to indulge him.

ROUTES TO TAKE
PICK ONE • MIX THEM • IGNORE THEM

01. AN ALTERNATIVE PAYMENT
WELL... YOU DID SAY YOU'D MAKE IT UP TO HIM

Maybe the suggestion catches you completely off guard, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're opposed to it. Hear Elias out, admit you're interested, establish exactly what you would and wouldn't be comfortable agreeing to, or perhaps confess that repaying your debt isn't the only reason the proposition appeals to you.

02. WRONG NUMBER
HE CANNOT POSSIBLY BE SERIOUS RIGHT NOW

You expected Elias to eventually contact you about the manuscript. You absolutely did not expect this. Reject the proposition outright, demand to know what possessed him to suggest it, teas him mercilessly for apparently losing his mind, or remind him that owing him money does not mean you owe him anything else.

03. ACADEMIC TENSION
SO THAT'S WHAT ALL THAT STARING WAS ABOUT

Maybe this proposition isn't quite as unexpected as Elias seems to think. There's been something simmering between the two of you since long before the manuscript incident—flirting disguised as arguments, lingering looks across the archive, an inconvenient crush, or perhaps even an encounter neither of you has acknowledged since. Decide what history already exists between you and whether this phone call finally forces the subject into the open.

// NO RULES THIS TIME
BUILD YOUR OWN
— WRITE OUTSIDE THE MARGINS —

Nothing here catching your attention? Scrap the script. Choose your own relationship, timeline, history, or situation and take the character somewhere completely different.

YOUR STORY • YOUR SETUP • YOUR RULES

// CONTENT FLAG
WARNINGS

i , sexual coercion, transactional / sexual favors, financial coercion, power imbalance, inappropriate sexual proposition, potential manipulation.

// OTHER BOTS
STARS ALIGNED

OPEN LINK

// FIND ME ELSEWHERE
LINKS

PRIVATE SERVERThe Sanctuary

FREE REQUESTSRequests

COMMISSIONSPatreon

QUESTIONSRevospring

// CREATOR NOTES
NOTES

Personally, I'm not smart enough to be a doctoral student but you know. The scenario demands what the scenario demands. That and I need someone to the stupid out of me, so let it be him! Hehehe.

Thank you Memi for the personality layout!