Scribble scribble, scratch, erase, scribble...

Darcy is taking notes like there's no tomorrow. He's even written down pauses in the professor's lecture. He's trying, he really is,... but obviously he's not trying enough, or he'd be doing better than barely passing the course. Sometimes people simply can't do a class, don't understand. That, or they're not trying. Darcy's... sort of in the middle.
It doesn't help that he can be something of a party animal,...
or that he's out until all hours of the night.
Or that he turned in his last essay a day late - which wasn't actually his fault. The computer he'd been using crashed and ate half of it.

It probably also doesn't help that Alexander rarely pauses in his lectures. Or that he is very demanding as a teacher. Or...

Well, Alexander only helps when you come right to him and ask for help.

Otherwise, you get to struggle on your own.

However, turning in a paper a day late never helps either.

He finishes his lecture a bit before normal, and leans on the podium.

"I finally have all the papers." He looks directly at Darcy. "Thank you, Michanine."

Darcy glances up from his furious note-taking and gives him a long look that's at once guilty, and saying 'if I didn't know you out of class, I would so give you a snide reply'.

Then he looks back down at his notes, all scrawled in blue pen. Not pencil. Darcy likes permanence in things like notes.

Alexander's gaze sweeps over the rest of the class.

"I hope this does not set the tone for the rest of the semester."

And there's actually more, but it involves more detail than I really want to know about Alexander's class.

I think he mentions grades.

Including Darcy's.

Privacy? What privacy?

Darcy again looks up from his notes, with a shocked expression on his face. He flushes, and directs a glare at Alexander with his yellow eyes narrowed almost to slits. He didn't mind if the professor stated he was doing poorly, but, come on, not everyone needed to know just how close he was to failing.

Frankly, Alexander is used to glares from students.

A few girls are sniffling. He mentioned their grades too, you see.

After a bit more of the sorts of things that have given him a reputation as one of the hardest professors at Keaton, he glances at the clock.

"See you Wednesday."

Giving an audible sigh, Darcy stands, pushing his chair back and noisily gathering up notes in that blustery way he has when he's irked.

He's probably going to go try and comfort some of the sniffling girls after class.
What? He's not an opportunist...
Really, he's not!

Alexander gathers up his notes and things, and glances at Darcy.

"Why was your paper late, Michanine?"

He is actually curious, although he won't make any changes to the grade it gets. Policy is policy.

"The computer died part of the way through," Darcy says grumpily, stuffing his books and papers messily into his bag. Usually he's slightly neater about putting things away, but only slightly. "I didn't get to save part of it, so it was gone when it restarted."
And there was much swearing at that, by the way.

"Mhmm."

Alexander shrugs.

"I see."

Still no excuse.

He understands rules on lateness. He accepts those. But...

"You didn't 'ave to announce my mark to the class," Darcy remarks, sounding disgruntled. "It wasn't necessary."

"No, I didn't have to."

He lifts an eyebrow.

"So?"

"So I'd rather you didn't do it again," is Darcy's curt reply.

He swings his knapsack over his shoulder and turns to leave.

"Turn your papers in on time and I won't."

Pause.

"Assuming they're better than this one."

He hasn't even read it.

Darcy glances over his shoulder, glaring in a rather creepy kind of way. It's more of a penetrating look than a glare, but there's a hint of animal ferocity to it.

"Not my fault the computer shorted out," he growls.

"I don't care."

He's just a bit heartless.

Just a teeny, tiny, itsy, bitsy bit.

Really.

His answering glare is one of his 'punch through brick wall' glares.

"I noticed," Darcy replies, returning the glare, though with less punching-through-brick-wallness. He hadn't expected Alexander to go easy on him because of anything that may have happened out of class (that wouldn't be fair), but he hadn't expected this either.
Alexander was being an ass.

I think you forgot the 'hole.'

"Mm. Don't you have another class?"

"No."
He doesn't have class for another hour, but he doesn't want to spend it snipping back and forth with Alexander.

"See you Wednesday," he says, walking out and adding under his breath, "Unfortunately."