If there were two things at college that Thomas hated, it was Alexander Hamilton and the local murder of ravens. To be fair to the birds, Thomas could at least recognise that he started it by throwing a rock at one in freshmen year, although he thought that the fact that they were still holding the grudge two years later was a little ridiculous.

Hamilton, on the other hand, had hated Thomas from the moment they first met. When Thomas sat next to him in political science Hamilton took one look at him, wrinkled his nose in disgust and moved to a different seat. When Thomas confronted him about it he had made a comment about a little birdy telling him that Thomas was an ass. Thomas still had no idea who had told Hamilton that, not because of the lack of people who would call Thomas an ass, more because, as far as Thomas could tell, Hamilton had no friends.

Except maybe the local murder of ravens. Which just gave Thomas more reason to hate both of them.

"Do you think that he can talk to them?" Thomas jokingly asks his friend James

"Hm?" James responds without looking up from his textbook,

"Hamilton and his stupid birds." he says stabbing his plastic fork in Hamilton's direction. They are out in the quad, eating lunch at a picnic table. Normally Thomas tries to avoid spending too much time in the quad, but James had insisted on having lunch outside today, claiming that the fresh air helped his cold. James finally looks up from his work.

Hamilton is sitting at a picnic table on the other side of the quad frantically typing on his laptop as two ravens pick at his lunch. Occasionally he pauses to take a bite from his lunch, as though he isn't sharing it with two large, filthy, carrion eating birds. James wrinkles his nose in disgust, Burr only spares a glance in Hamilton's direction.

"Well, with how much he talks about avian intelligence…" Burr trails off, the kind of non committal answer that one would expect from Burr. Although Thomas does pity him, the poor man is Alexander's roommate and had probably had to sit through far too many lectures on politics, economy, and how smart Alexander believes birds to be.

Thomas is distracted from glaring at Hamilton by the flash of a camera. The pair of crows fluttered up from the lunch table immediately and Hamilton's head snaps in the direction of the flash to snap at the photographer. Unfortunately for him the photographer has already realized his mistakes and is halfway across the courtyard by now. He should probably keep going, Hamilton might still chase him down. Meanwhile, the ravens have taken to circling lazily above the courtyard

"At least he's not as bad as Benjamin." James said. Thomas is not sure that he would agree that Benjamin Franklin, the unfortunate photographer, is necessary worse than Hamilton, but he is certainly crazier. He has been going on for a couple years now about the unusual behavior of the birds at the university, and he is willing to engage in some very strange behavior to collect evidence. Like, for instance, hiding in a bush and taking pictures of Hamilton sharing his lunch with said birds. And this isn't even the first time he's done that this month.

"I think I saw him fall out of a tree the other day." Thomas replies, watching warily as the two ravens perch in the branches over their table,

"Yeah, I heard that he's been putting up fishing wire in the trees to try to catch something." James says, and as much as Thomas would love seeing a raven get stuck in fishing wire, even he knows that that is a terrible idea

"If Hamilton doesn't kill him for that, Angelica will." Thomas notes, James hums in agreement. Angelica Schuyler was the president of the bird watching club and a certified badass, if there was anyone on campus to fear it would have been her.

Thomas stiffens as he feels something fall on his head. He jumps up from the bench immediately trying to get away from the ravens overhead but the damage is already done.

"Those little monsters shat on me again!" he shouted. he could feel the poop seeping through his hair, and worse he can see Hamilton laughing at him from across the courtyard.

"shit, I need a shower, cover for me in Lee's?" he says to James, James, the best friend a person could ask for, nods and wishes him good luck. Something he'll need when he explains to Lee why he was late for his class.

Thomas is lucky enough to have a suite dorm, meaning he has a kitchenette and a full bathroom that he only has to share with five other people. Thomas was also unlucky enough to share that suite with two of the worst people ever, Alexander Hamilton and George King.

Thomas entered the kitchen to find Samuel Seabury, King's roommate (boyfriend? Hired servant? whatever.) making pancakes and eggs at 12:30. That could only mean King had just woken, and when King woke up he hogged the bathroom for at least an hour. Thomas drops his bag in the middle of the floor and starts pounding on the bathroom door.

"George is in there right now." Seabury said, carrying on his tradition of being absolutely useless for anyone other that King. Thomas ignores him, carrying on his tradition of ignoring Seabury.

The door snaps open, revealing an annoyed looking King with his hair still in rollers and a green paste smeared on his face. His expression quickly morphs from annoyed to amused as he takes in Thomas,

"It pooped on you again?" he asks with a maniacal grin,

"Let me in King," Thomas demands, he has neither the time nor the patience for this, his class with Lee starts at one and James can only cover for so long. King on the other hand, has a free day in the middle of the week, something that he is always happy to brag about.

"Well I was about to get in the shower myself…" he says dramatically "but I could be persuaded to let you go first" King's parents are paying for all his expenses, another thing that he is happy to brag about, but he is always looking to extort spending money out of his fellow classmates.

"I have bird shit In My Hair, King." Thomas says,

"Yes I saw that." There is a silent battle of wills for a moment before Thomas finally caves and fishes ten dollars out of his pocket.

"All yours." King sings as he passes Thomas.

Thomas makes a quick stop in his dorm to grab his toiletries, which he stopped keeping in the bathroom after he realized someone was stealing them, although he is still unsure if it was King or Hamilton doing it. Then he showers and readies himself quickly, by the time he's ready to go it's 1:05 but if he walks quickly Thomas might be able to convince Lee not to give him an absence.

Thomas is halfway across campus when he hears a squack that could be either human or bird, a crack, strings snapping, and a thud. The source of the noise is seen almost as soon as it is heard as Hamilton crashes out of a tree, unconscious, tangled in fishing wire, and covered in a black feathered cloak.