The Roof | Afternoon | Sunday | July 11

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

It felt like a day to get out of his room. Really, everyday felt like that but today more than others. He was getting that restless, walls closing in feeling that he tended to get every few months. It'd put him into a bad mood (though he hadn't gotten out of that from a few days ago) and made him snappy and irritable.

That, naturally, brought him to the roof and had him sprawled out on the edge of the roof, cigarette stuck between his lips, earbuds in his ears playing some raucously loud, and hand tucked underneath his head. It was warm and he'd probably get some sun but he wasn't one to burn. Benefit of coming from the Midwest where you either got sun or you moved.

At least he'd foregone walking along the ledge of the roof and probably causing a panic in a few people that didn't know him. He was being safe by contrast. Laying on the roof's ledge meant he'd have to roll over to fall instead of missing a step and falling. Completely safer.

[Roof's open. Summer is too long.]

Comments

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"Nice to know you've got your optimism." About as much as Effy herself had. So... yeah, not a huge amount at all. "It's very encouraging." Ah, sarcasm.

"Should bottle and sell it."

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"Whatever," he said, rolling his eyes at her and turning his attention to his cigarette since she was just poking at his attitude and he was trying not to yell at her.

"If you're going to stand here and lecture me on shit you don't do, you can save your fucking breath," Alex said. "I'm not in the mood."

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

Effy rolled her eyes right back at him. "I'm not going to lecture." Like she'd even be any good at that, what with her not liking to talk much at all. "I don't lecture."

"I'm just here. If you don't want me here, I'll go."

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"Effy, I don't know what you want me to do. I told you what was wrong. I'm sorry, you can't say anything that's going to help me right now. No one can," he said, angrily flicking that cigarette over the roof and then slumping down until his head was in hands.

Maybe he'd just stay there for awhile, feeling like his head was going to explode and that he couldn't do any fucking thing right. He didn't want her to go but he had no idea what to do.

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

Nothing like this was going to get fixed overnight, or with a few stupid words. It just wasn't.

What he hadn't done, was tell her to fuck off and let him be. Sensible enough, today, to take that as a reason to reach out. That she could do. The touch of her fingers to his temple and trailing back behind his ear was about as much reassurance she could offer.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

Alex, for his part, didn't move away. He hadn't exactly been expecting a touch but he didn't move away once she'd touched him. He closed his eyes, instead, and tried to force every single thing out of his head save for how her fingers felt.

It didn't...quite work but the effort was there and he stopped feeling like jumping off the roof might be the best thing he'd ever done.

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"Got class tomorrow?" she asked, a little out of the blue, and spread her fingers across the back of his neck.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

He nodded just a bit, still not moving much. "One. It's later in the afternoon and easy. Still a Monday class. Still sucks."

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"Mm." She had one herself. Suck was right, as interesting as she found it. Talk of the inane, one way to keep his mind occupied. "What is it?" Next up: getting him as drunk as possible. But she might as well find out if it was a class he needed to be functionally alert for in the meantime.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"Adventure Games," he said and scoffed at even saying the name. "We did trust falls last class. It's basically a physical education class full of games. Not too bad. I can do that shit in my sleep."

Or, well, he could make it look pretty damn good even if he didn't do it correctly. Handy talent.

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"Energetic." But if he could do it in his sleep, he could probably do it with a hangover. "So. If I suggested getting monumentally trashed tonight..." If she thought she'd make it through a morning class, she was sure he could handle his.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"Let's fucking go," Alex said immediately, straightening up and focusing his bleary eyes on her. "Come on, I need a good night of drinking. It's either that or moping and I did that last night."

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

Keeping variety. Very important. Ignore the fact that getting as fucked up as possible was her solution to anything rough to deal with.

Effy dropped her hand from his neck, reaching for his hand instead to pull him with her when she moved away from the roof edge.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

He got his fingers entwined with hers and followed her away from the roof's edge. Alcohol wasn't going to solve everything but it sure as shit would mute it. He liked that idea right now.

Liked it a lot.