I hear words go past me backwards.

The subtle shifting had Alex stretching a bit, not awake, but not so asleep that he was dead weight. Moving towards warmth was going to be something he did no matter what and he knew there was something warm right next to him.

So, of course he was clinging to her, all tangled up and content. Not that he'd admit that out loud. That'd be sappy and they were not. At all. Ever.

Shut up.

From:

Exactly.

And since it was just the two of them, and they'd never admit it to anyone (possibly not even each other) it would never get out. Made it totally okay to murmur indistinctly in appreciation and enjoy waking up slowly. Nothing to get up for, nowhere to go. Couldn't actually complain.

From:

She did get a little talky in her sleep sometimes, didn't she? He couldn't really decipher anything besides noise so he just sighed and held her a little tighter.

He'd probably end up awake first (and he could already feel himself going that way) but it was nice to do this for now. Do something that he wouldn't really do if he realized. He liked it. Secretly.

From:

Lucky for Effy really, she didn't talk clearly. Might say something more revealing than she'd like while her guard was down.

This was probably one of the worst times for that, given he was more alert and might actually remember it all.

From:

When there was no answer to the knock on what appeared to be his dad's door, Joshua had gone up one floor, already bothered by that, and started rapping solidly on Effy's door.

If someone didn't answer soon enough, he'd start kicking it. And then screaming. It always seemed to work for him.

From:

"What the fuck?" Alex mumbled, starting a bit and trying to figure out if that'd been dream or actually real. When the knocking continued, he guessed real.

"Effy," he said sleepily, trying to jostle her awake lightly since she was half lying on him and it was her room. "You got an early morning visitor. Make them go the hell away."

From:

"Don't get those," Effy mumbled, still clinging to Alex for the time being. Regular visitors were rare enough, early in the morning were even less likely.

So her tactic was... ignore it. Yeah.

From:

All right, he'd done the polite thing (and that was exceedingly rare) so now he was going to start kicking. The boots (would you expect any less?) he was wearing made those kicks seem louder and sharper than they would be normally.

He didn't much like being ignored, you see. Really loved his attention. And if he wasn't getting it, he was going to be a pissy little boy.

From:

"Yeah, you're getting one now," he told her, squinting at the louder noise and then looking back down at her. "Maybe it's your parents, come for a surprise visit."

His laugh was a little sleepy but it was still laugh. He could manage to be an ass even early.

From:

God, it better fucking not be, and Effy sighed deeply as she made a move to extricate herself. Pity they hadn't been in his room. Really she had no leg to stand on trying to get him to answer her door.

"Shit." She was going to have to get up. Whoever that was? Noisy.

From:

Joshua pressed his ear to the door, listening for any sounds that he was being heard. He could hear movement so that was something at least. Instead of screaming, he kept up the kicking and added in some banging with one small fist.

He wasn't going to be deterred or ignored, apparently. He wanted that door to get opened.

From:

"Just make them go away," he told her, giving some sleepy advice and moving his arms and legs so she could get out of the bed a little easier. "And come back."

Of course, he was already closing his eyes again, settling back into that doze so his advice was a little smug. She was probably used to that.

From:

Pretty well used to that, yeah. Enough just to mutter under her breath as she forced herself out of bed and into the search for clothes.

She wasn't about to open that door as she was. Not that dozy. "Yeah, I'll be there," assured whoever was there.

From:

"Well, hurry," said the voice from the other side of the door. Come on, he liked getting what he wanted and he couldn't very well get it when he couldn't even see his parents.

Joshua started actually pulling at the knob now, trying to force his way into the room a little quicker since Effy was moving slowly.

"I haven't got all day," he muttered, kicking the door for good measure. "God."

From:

Alex was proving himself no help, rolling onto his stomach and sort of stealing her pillow since it was still warm from her and he could press his face into it and keep dozing.

Real big help, he was.

From:

Yeah, big fucking help. Especially since she couldn't find a damn shirt, and was going to end up stealing his in a minute.

It took a moment longer for the voice itself to filter through and register as young. Really, really young. That was enough to spur her to just grab whatever was closest to throw on to open the door.

From:

"It's about damn time," Joshua said, peering up at Effy with big eyes and looking a little miffed that he'd been kept waiting so long.

Without waiting for an invitation, he shouldered his way into the room because he wast meant to be there and he was bored just knocking.

"Think you could've kept me waiting any longer, Mom?" he asked, making a face. "It was like forever, God."

From:

Alex really wished he'd been paying more attention especially at the first utterance of the word 'Mom' because he was sure the reaction would be great.

Instead, he was stretching a bit on the bed, trying to block out the noise and maybe make it go away with the power of his mind.

From:

Yeah, he'd probably sad to have missed the supreme 'what the fuck?' look.

"... What?"

See how she left off the 'the fuck?' part out loud. Wasn't that good of her?

From:

"What part didn't you hear?" Joshua asked, sighing frustratedly. "I didn't stutter. Anyway, I'm here now. I want to do something."

Pushy pushy.

"Where's Dad?" Well, he answered his own question when he glanced at the bed. "Still sleeping? Wake him up."

From:

"You really kind of suck at making people go away," Alex said, not moving at all but deciding to let that sentiment be known since it was true and he could hear the two voices and all.

From:

Effy couldn't quite suppress the eyeroll at that comment. "You're such a help." It was easier to focus on that, than the kid calling her 'mom'.

"Think you're a bit lost," Effy directed at the kid. Lost, and really confused, because she was no-one's mom, thanks. Didn't really think she ever would be.

From:

"Oh, get off it," Joshua said, matching Effy's eyeroll with one of his own. "You know I'm your kid. I'd hug you and shit but that's gross."

Ew, hugging.

"I'm not lost. You should get Dad -- " he said, pointing to the bed, " -- up so we can do something that isn't boring. Twister. We could play Twister and I could kick your asses."

Mostly because he cheated like crazy.

From:

Well, it wasn't like Alex could stay asleep forever and now he was coming round, rolling over and sitting up, still looking dazed but somewhat alert.

"What the fuck's the kid doing here?" he asked, glancing at Effy. "You got another brother or something?"

From: