A soft snort left the newly turned Hunter's nose at the sheer idea of utilizing those fines as napkins. If what the rumors of the Ark were to be believed, it was the exact sort of place that might do just that. He could hardly help the small simper upon his features at the notion of it though, for now, he hardly pressed her on the topic of the Ark, her employer's fines, or whatever happened to those pages he had delivered. Alistair, after all, was hardly oblivious of the sarcastic facade she so employed at the very mention of the Ark, as if it's absence still bothered her enough to retreat behind her own internal walls. It was easy to let that conversation shift to their shared living space. He was, admittedly, surprised to find just how close the pair had lived to one another without their paths intersecting and yet, with her explanation, perhaps he shouldn't have been. Alistair, after all, had yet to take up the Hunter mantle, the man instead at least pretending to pick up his once mortal life to the best of his ability. His daily life still largely consisting of being away from his apartment for work before he returned later in the evening to devote himself entirely to those side art projects that crossed his fancy.
It was that very artbook that had seemingly captured Carolina's attention, her inquiry to see it was met with an almost reluctant relinquishing of the treasurer book. He watched, for several moments as Carolina inspected his drawing, though it hardly lasted long before the boy leaned back and into the sand with Carolina at his side. He hardly expected her to want the drawing. After all, it was hardly completed, much less a poor representation of what he was truly capable of. His offer to give it to her was met with a staunch refusal, her reasoning only further served to farmer the entirety of his attention towards her. The depth of her comment had caught the boy of guard and now he regarded her in an almost new light. Alistair watched as Carolina's head tilted to the side, that small simper on her lips hardly went unnoticed. She would have made a lovely portrait, at that very moment. He pushed such thoughts from his mind as his gaze turned towards the ocean in front of him, his eyes tracing the rolling waves. It was easy enough to turn her words against her. She, after all, was the only one who would truly be able to appreciate it in the way it should be. There were several moments of poised silence, his gaze slowly shifting to eye her from his periphery. Vaguely, he was aware of her gaze upon him and yet, eventually, she capitulated. "You're welcome." He uttered softly in response, letting the vibrance of his eyes turn back towards her for a brief moment.
He watched as she flipped further back into the notebook, exploring the depths of those drawings and, to a lesser extent, his mind in turn. A soft breath left his lips, though Alistair remained silent until Carolina inquired after a particular piece she'd found. He shifted to his elbows, glancing over the urbanscape quickly. Effortlessly, he identified the place, Alistair remembering much of the day that had led up to the moment inside the courtyard. His very mention of Yale, however, seemed to intrigue her, much less those degrees under his name. Her glimpse of surprise was hardly new, even if Alistair rarely spoke of his college life. A small smirk crossed his features at her idle comment of those peculiar pairings and briefly, his shoulder lifted in a vague shrug. "Yale was nice....I had some....decent classes and some were a complete waste of my time." It was like that, he was sure, with all degrees and yet that talk of college had Alistair inquiring after her own education.
He watched as she offered him a small simper though even he was aware of that small hint of...something else within the far corners of her features. There was clearly a story there, hidden behind her words but Alistair was not one terribly keen on prying. A soft chuckle left his lips, a rare glimpse of playfulness fluttering upon the man's features. "Carolina, I do think that makes us rivals." He commented lightly, referring to that age old strife between the two universities.