comeoutwrong | Room 323 [Saturday, Morning]

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Room 323 [Saturday, Morning]

One of those benefits of being roommate-less, always gonna be there was no one to kick out when it came to the end of the night and, as planned, she didn't leave alone.

And still wasn't alone. Lying up against someone else, face turned into their chest, wasn't a bad way to wake up after all that. Enough so, that unless someone gave her a very good reason, she wouldn't be moving in any way other than a subtle shift closer.

It was not cuddling, no.

[[for that one that's there already, and a weetiny!]]

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"Lots of things are weird," he told her, quieting down a bit now that he seemingly had all her attention on him. "All you gotta do is make 'em not weird. Adjust and stuff. Nothing stays weird forever."

It was child logic but it was fairly intelligent child logic. The boy could read books when he wanted to.

Joshua leaned back some, using her hands as the anchor to keep him upright. It was a fun game.

"Besides, we're not weird," he told her smartly. "Everyone else is really goddamn weird. Duh."

Right, Alex spent the time between getting out of bed and finding a pair of pants, listening to that and repressing a shiver at how weirdly familiar it sounded.

"All right, decent," he finally said, dropping onto the edge of her bed and getting back to staring and rubbed his head. Oh wait, he had an idea and he was already standing back up.

"I'll go get those Pop Tarts." And leave her alone with their kid for a few minutes. Master plan. "Right? Good."

...

"What do you mean 'good'?" Don't think she hadn't noticed the downside here. "You are not fucking off and leaving me to deal with this." Being theirs made it-- him, Alex's problem too, and leaving her alone with him didn't count.

Joshua sighed and shook his head, all too familiar with the barbs back and forth like this. It was almost comforting since he knew they weren't exactly his parents but they were closest he had at the moment and the familiarity was nice to see.

"Oh, bitch bitch bitch," he intoned dryly, shaking his head. "I don't need food that bad, Dad. Don't run away. You always say only chickenshits do that and you're not one of them."

Well, he hoped this version of his dad wasn't one of them. "And don't make it sound like its such a chore to deal with me, Mom. I'm not that bad."

"I was going to get breakfast, I wasn't fucking off and leaving you to deal with anything," Alex told her, unable not to argue despite the words from the kid. Still, he did drop back down onto the edge of the bed.

"Seems to like you anyway," Alex pointed out, smiling a bit because the kid was clinging to her hands. "Maybe he's like his dad. Got a thing for accents and all. I give good genes, it looks like."

The kid wasn't bad looking.

"Half mine," she felt compelled to point out. Her genes were perfectly good too, thanks... The fact this kid was hers was still a terrifying prospect, though. But she was finding it a little difficult to come up with a better explanation for the familiarity.

"... It's not a chore." She just didn't have the first idea how this was supposed to go. "What we supposed to do to entertain you, anyway?"

"Do you have anything fun in here?" Joshua asked, finally letting go of her hands so he could root around her room, digging through drawers and in her closet.

He was her son, he could go look through her stuff. That's what he thought, at least. "You should keep more of Dad's things here."

Ha ha ha, enjoy that one Mom and Dad. Joshua wasn't even trying to cause freakouts. He was just idly chattering while he was half inside her closet, looking through her things.

Alex was back to rubbing his eyes and even rolling his shoulders some to work out the stress that was building. Nothing like meeting some kid that was yours but wasn't yours with a middle name like that to make you tense.

"She's got a lot of fun stuff in here," he said, almost smug. Some of that stuff just probably wasn't meant for kids. "And she won't let me keep my things in here."

Well no, it just wasn't something they talked about but if he could put it on her, he would.

Effy wandered closer to Alex, still keeping her eye on the kid rifling through her closet. Just in case.

"Got plenty of his own space," she told Joshua, watching his search carefully, and hoping he stuck to that cupboard. Safe... ish there from finding too much of the alcohol, drugs, condoms and the like she kept about. He'd likely be stuck with clothes, more clothes, boots, a stuffed animal, the odd book...

Joshua didn't quite hear that, too focused on his search through her closet. Finding clothes and shoes was a bit boring but there had to be something in there that he could entertain himself with. Fun things always got buried in the backs of closets.

Or so he thought. To better help his search, he actually started tossing things over his shoulder and out of the closet so he could see better. Messy, messy kid. At least he was quiet for the moment? Small blessing.

Right well, this was fucking weird. Even if he'd firmly placed this in the 'fucking island, goddammit' category in his mind, it was still weird. Alex didn't really know what the island was thinking, giving the two of them a kid somewhere. How hadn't they killed each other?

And the middle name was still catching him. That was just too coincidental. Also, sappy. Alex shook his head and turned his attention away from the impossible child to Effy when she wandered closer.

"Plenty of my own space? Gonna make the kid sad," he said, teasing for the hell of it before gesturing to the spot beside him. "Fuck, I need a cigarette. Maybe fifty of them. Thought I'd left this parenting shit behind."

Edited 2010-04-11 14:11 (UTC)

Effy rolled her eyes at that first comment before she dropped down on the bed beside Alex and let out a short breath. "Not exactly something I'm used to."

No, that was a big fat no.

"I was the baby of the family." Always the little sister, or youngest cousin, or... whatever else, and not that kid friendly to boot.

"Boring boring boring boring," Joshua started ticking off as he tossed various pieces of clothing and other odds and ends out of the closet, moving further inside as he did. "God, this place is so damn boring. Real home's much better."

He was mostly just talking to himself and, considering the words were muffled, it wasn't like anyone could hear him anyway,

"I was the -- " He trailed off again, shaking his head and reaching backwards for the cigarettes he'd left on the table beside her bed so he could get started on that smoking.

The kid was far enough away to not get hit with the secondhand smoke, he decided. So, he lit one, took a few puffs and offered it to her. Figured she could use it too maybe even more than him.

"I didn't have a family," he finally said, lying smoothly. "You've got one up on me. Should be the expert on this, Effy."

"You have a family," Effy argued. She'd met his mum. Not wanting to think about it all that often didn't mean it didn't exist.

"And looking after my brother does not count as experience." He was eighteen when she had to do all that, not eight.

"My mother's a headcase, my father's a miserable sack of shit," he said, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes. "No one took care of me. You have no idea. That's not a family."

Alex glanced over at the kid burrowing his way into her closet and let out a breath.

"Want me to take him downstairs or something?" he offered, keeping his whole experience under wraps. Probably more qualified than her, even. "I can figure out something for him to do."

Effy huffed a little amusement of her own along with a stream of smoke, slowly putting a little of that shell-shocked initial reaction behind her.

"Think you can handle our combined genes?"

"Not like there's much of a choice, is there?" he asked, shrugging and getting off the bed to collect the rest of his clothes up before trying to pull Joshua out of the closet.

"Just come find me at some point today or tomorrow," he said, eyes on the kid and not her. "I'll deal with it."

Effy nodded, only a little hesitantly, adding a, "Right. I will," promise when she remembered that since he wasn't looking that gesture alone wouldn't tell him much.

He was being... surprisingly accepting of this, really. All things considered.

The quicker he accepted it, the quicker he could forget a few things that were starting to eat at him again. It was unhealthy logic but it was his. Now that he'd gotten Joshua up and moving, he gave her a brief wave before following him out the door.

"Enjoy the quiet," he said as he passed her. Joshua yelled his own version of goodbye before they were out of earshot.

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Room 323 [Saturday, Morning]

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