deck | early evening | sunday | june 28

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

Alex hadn't hung around the brunch too long. Just long enough to get some free food and coffee in him before making his way back towards the dorms. He'd contemplated going back to his room and just spending the rest of the day there being a bum but the weather was warm (but not overly hot) and Alex couldn't resist sitting out on the deck for awhile. He'd found himself liking this particular for the quiet and the view. It wasn't something he got to do that often, back home. Too much time spent doing other things that he wasn't going to dwell on. He'd had a nice weekend and he didn't want to go there.

Alex took a seat, kicked his feet up and opened a bottle of water (just water) that he'd snagged from the brunch. Considering he didn't have to go to classes tomorrow, Alex felt that the complete wasting of time by sitting around doing nothing (while still being interesting, thank you) was deserved.

[the deck is an open thing. lazy sunday is lazy.]

Comments

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"Maybe," Valentine shrugged. "I do know the future better than you. You'll have to wait and see."

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"Dangling crumbs in front of me," he said and shook his head slowly. "How am I supposed to sleep at night?"

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"Counting sheep?" Valentine offered. "A glass of warm milk? Valium?"

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"Boring, gross, and I would if I had some," he answered respectively. "That how you get to sleep at night?"

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"No, I just flick my OFF switch," Valentine said.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"You flick your OFF switch?" Alex repeated. "And that works?"

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," Valentine lied, because she couldn't help it. "Everyone's got those in the future."

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"...uh huh." There was some disbelief evident in his voice. "Where's yours at?"

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"Why would I tell you?" Valentine asked. "You might try to flick it off when I'm not paying attention."

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"Because you want to satisfy my natural curiosity and I don't think you really have one," Alex said. "It's not nice to lie, Valentine."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

There had to be some sort of nerve or something that, with the right amount of pressure, would cut out consciousness, right? So it wasn't completely a lie.

"It's not nice to accuse other people of lying, either, Alex."

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"You don't have a stupid OFF switch," he scoffed and shook his head. "You're not a flashlight. You're trying to get the stupid country boy to believe you."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"So you admit that you're stupid," Valentine noted, because, not only could she not help it, but because it continued to allow her to utterly avoid giving any straight answers.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"You're kind of irritating," he said mildly and without any real heat behind it. "No, I don't admit that I'm stupid. I was using the typical stereotype given to guys where I'm from."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

There was a light of pride in the smile that followed Alex's first comment, although, really, it wasn't a surprise to her at all. Just as either of her brothers and they'd agree.

"To use," she asked, "as a convenient way to set up lower expectations?"

Well, that was what she did.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"I don't think you expected much of me in the first place," he said, shrugging a shoulder and not seeming to care all that much. Wasn't a surprise to him even if it wasn't true. "When someone has low expectations of me, it's always really fucking fun to exceed them."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

Valentine grinned a little. That was at least one thing that Alex got wrong. If she didn't expect much of him, she wouldn't have bothered with him, no matter what she said or how she acted.

"But there's not as much a challenge in it," she pointed out, "unless the challenge is getting the most fun out of exceeding them as possible."

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"I make it a point to enjoy myself as I prove people wrong," he assured her. "Maybe not your typical version of fun but it works for me. And I know I can exceed expectations people have of me. I don't even consider them a challenge. Just typical routine obstacles."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

And Valentine knew exactly where he was coming from, too, because it was exactly the thing she strove for, too.

She just didn't even tell people about it. She felt that sort of set things back a little.

"Until people start raising their expectations, anyway."

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"Screw that person and keep doing your thing," Alex said easily. "If they've got nothing better to do than try and test you, they really need a fucking life. Impressing people is for talent shows."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"And have you ever done one of those? With one of those jigs you mentioned?"

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"Five beers and the promise of something nice in the future, remember?" he reminded her. "No, I haven't. I'm not a talent show kind of guy if it doesn't show."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"Hey," Valentine shrugged, "I didn't want to assume on that and then have you exceed my expectations one day."

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"Exceeding expectations for that one would be me even getting on a stage," he confessed. "Not going to happen. But hey, I'd gladly sit in the audience and clap for you."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"Awww," Valentine said, "thanks! Now I can't wait to show you my tap-dancing skills. Everyone tap-dances in the future, you know."