Room 323 [Tuesday, Evening]

[comeoutwrong]

Looked like it was threatening rain outside, so Effy was staying in for once. Every girl needed a night off sometimes, even if they were few and far between for this one. She'd been out and got things done during the day, and to her, that should count for something.

So between the odd text to Tony (whose evening was going far more interestingly than hers), she was flopped back on the bed, holding the book she was reading up over her. She'd even got into it enough her hot chocolate had gone cold. That was actually kind of rare.

[[Door is cracked, but the post can be open!]]

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[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

Alex grinned a little, dropping his eyes down but letting his fingers wander to the back of her neck, brushing back and forth slowly.

"So what if I do give a shit?" he asked, looking back at her. "Doesn't seem like a bad thing to give a shit about."

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

Effy shrugged, smiling a touch more herself. "Not going to complain." She may go into denial about certain things, but she wasn't dumb enough to object to that one.

"I give a shit about you too." Because she was taking that as some admission, yeah.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

Truthful admissions all around tonight, it seemed. And, even though it wasn't 'I care' exactly, it was pretty damn close considering the two people admitting things. Alex wouldn't complain either.

"Yeah?" The fingers on her neck turned into just his thumb, dragging up and down along her skin, dipping below her shirt and taking on an overall lazy stroke. "You picked a prick to give a shit about."

Not like he hadn't done the same thing, though.

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"Really?" Oh yeah. Both bloody difficult when they put their minds to it. "Damn." Not trying to take it back so far at least, which was positive.

"Have to try working around that." And try to resist the urge to lean a little more into his hand. That too.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"That sounds like you'd be saying something's too hard for you to handle," Alex teased, half smiling. "Something's too hard for you."

Alex cupped his hand against the back of her neck, tapping his fingers there briefly before sliding them up into her hair again and pressing gently but firmly there.

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

Effy breathed a little huff of amusement, and shook her head. "Believe me, I've dealt with worse." Crowds she ran in sometimes back home in Bristol could be much worse. "You're the fluffy one."

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"I'm not fluffy," he protested immediately, making a face but keeping his hand moving. His fingers wandered back down and his thumb brushed behind her ear lightly.

"Got a long list of people who could vouch for that," he told her, shrugging. "I can't see you tolerating someone fluffy for more than hour anyway."

And considering they were well past that, he decided he could not be fluffy.

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"My best mate's fluffy," she argued easily. There was no way Pandora as anything else. The girl carried around lollipops and had a rucksack Effy was fairly sure was designed for a ten year old.

Admittedly, Panda had followed her around and insisted they had to be friends for months before Effy gave in on that point.

And it was done with much eyerolling.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"I'm not fucking fluffy," he said, trying not to laugh at the absurdity of her claim. He was not fluffy. "How the hell did you end up with a fluffy bestie, anyway?"

See, he could be curious. She'd mentioned her friend a few times but he'd just gotten distracted before he could ask about her almost every time before. Now, he wasn't distracted and his thumb was back against her neck, drawing a line up and down the length.

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"Our art teacher told her I'd look after her," she replied. "Followed me around ever since." Panda could resemble a limpet in that way, and Effy had tried to resist, but who could ignore the 'I don't have any friends, and you don't have any friends! Isn't that great?' logic.

Eventually Effy got used to her talkative shadow, and then got attached. As you do.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"I don't do that," he pointed out even if he did find himself in her room more often than not. That was not following her around. "Sounds like fluffy works for her, though."

Hey, they'd ended up friends, right? Something was working there.

"I'm not fluffy," he said even if he did have a fluffy side. "You know I'm not."

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

Effy grinned a little, lifting her hand to brush his cheek with her fingers. Almost like she was testing for that cutesy fuzziness. "Right. Silly me. Course you're not." But he was fun to tease.

"Anyway, Panda's... kind of endearing in her way." And ditzy as anything, which was always entertaining.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"I'm not," he agreed, nodding and resisting the urge to lean into that hand of hers. He was not cutesy or fuzzy (unless she took that literally) and he was now resisting the urge to lean into her hand so he wouldn't look fluffy. "I'm a lot of things but fluffy isn't one of them. Silly you."

He just had his moments. "You've mentioned her to me before. Besides your brother, she's the one other name I know. I wouldn't think you'd do that if she wasn't important."

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"Not big on having a million BFF's to handle." Hey, that was an improvement on 'I don't have friends', which had been her stance until Pandora yanked her out of it.

"Give me low maintenance any day." Effort when it came to friendships was not something she did much of.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

Alex kept his mouth shut on the fact that she made an effort for him from time to time. She probably knew it and he didn't feel the need to aggravate that nerve.

"Better things to do, right?" he asked, finally stilling his hand but keeping it lightly pressed against the back of her neck. No need to move just yet. "I'm pretty low maintenance. Don't wanna handle me?"

Sometimes. Sometimes, he was low maintenance. Besides, he was being more cheeky than anything else. Sure, there was a side of seriousness but he was smirking too.

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"If it was that horrible I'd have quit already," she pointed out.

He was not that low maintenance. Not really. But at least he didn't expect her to be all communicative or excessively friendly or showy about it at all.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

Easy enough to believe her on that one. He wasn't that low maintenance of a person (despite his claims) but she hadn't quit so he must have been doing something right.

"Such a brave person, sticking out a situation that could go horrible at any time. You should get a prize," he said, using that hand he had on her to pull himself a little closer. Just left him close enough to lean down, press his lips against her shoulder and sort of stay there. He wasn't tired but it was just one of those gestures that meant...something. It was something.

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

It was something. Enough for Effy to move her hands over his shoulders, brushing skin at his collar as she did that.

"Think you're the only person I know considers putting up with him prize-worthy," she remarked quietly, and with a hint of amusement.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"Considering what I make you put up with sometimes," he said, keeping his face and lips near her shoulder while he spoke, "it kind of is."

What, admitting some of his faults? Rare sight, there. Call it the result of letting that shield of his slip a little around her.

Alex brushed his cheek to her shoulder then before moving up a little further and pressing his lips against her neck.

"And here I thought you'd agree just to get a prize," he laughed.

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"Tempting." And she hadn't really disagreed, for that reason. Only the sickly sweet nice ones would actually object to that sort of thing.

"You have prizes in mind for these things?" Had to wonder.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"Nope," he admitted, pressing another kiss to her neck and then smiling, "but I've shown a talent for winging it before. I'm sure I could come up with something. Write your name on me again or something."

Whether she'd said it out loud or not, he knew she'd liked that.

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"Do have quite the imagination," she agreed, smirking a little. Yes, she had enjoyed that. No doubt about it. "Wouldnt keep offering up things like that if you had no clue."

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"I could let you write something on me," he offered, throwing that out since it was on his mind. "See how creative you could be."

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"Really like being used as a canvas, don't you," Effy remarked, lazily circling a finger on his neck.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"First thing that came to mind," he said, snickering. "If I think it, I don't tend to keep it to myself. Besides, seemed like something you'd get kick out of."

Writing whatever she wanted on him (though he'd make a rule against writing on his head if it came to that) seemed to be one of those things she'd like, whether she said it or not. Meant she got some power, after all.