Room 401, Saturday Evening

[nottrivial]

It was officially way too loud everywhere. In town, in the common rooms, just everywhere. In the world. Ever.

All Alec wanted to do was quietly read his book on demon poison, but no. He had to be subjected to an endless loop of child shrieking. And, considering he'd only ever gotten along with one or two children even when he was a child, it was probably for the best that he keep his distance. 

So for the sake of not going crazy, he was fiddling with that weird mundie music device they'd given out in Seven Deadly Sins class one week and trying to figure out how to make it work. It didn't look like it had any music on it, which couldn't possibly be right, because what was the point, then? And anyway the headphones fit strangely in his ears and the whole thing was just a disaster. Maybe he should go to the library or something. Or New York. Or overseas. Just to be safe. 

[[open!]]

Comments

[ultron_junior]

"How come you're in my room?" Victor asked, when he came back from the common room.

He'd woken up here. Therefore, it was his entirely.

[nottrivial]

Oh god no. SOMEONE SAVE HIM. Alec couldn't even handle his own baby brother, so there was no way this was going to work out well.

"I live here," Alec said patiently -- or as close to patiently as was possible at the moment. "We share, actually. That's your side."

He pointed.

[ultron_junior]

"But you're a teenager," Victor pointed out, and went to sit on the bed he knew was his anyhow. It had better posters over it. "Teenagers and kids don't have to share. Unless they're brothers and I don't have one of those."

[nottrivial]

"Well, I do," Alec replied. Though that was not at all relevant to this discussion. "But that's just how it works here. We share. Apparently."

Sigh.

[ultron_junior]

"Here is weird," Victor decided, with no real heat. He bounced onto his bed, took another look at Alec. "Are you listening to music? Can I hear it too?"

[nottrivial]

"I'm actually not," Alec sighed, yanking out the headphones and giving them a good glare. "I can't figure out how to work it."

Well that was an embarrassing thing to admit to a seven-year-old. Especially one who was a robot. Ahem.

[ultron_junior]

"Is the battery dead?" Victor asked, seriously. "'Cause that's usually the problem. You need to charge the battery for, like, foreeeeeevvvvvver."

This particular seven-year-old did not know he was a robot, but he liked playing tech support long before he had powers.

[nottrivial]

"...I don't know," Alec said slowly, then reached around to grab something from a nearby outlet. "Does it work with this charger?"

No, Alec. A brand new iPod did not work with that dinosaur of a phone charger. Really now.

[ultron_junior]

"Nuh-uh, you need a white ... thingie, with a long part to stick in the iPod," Victor said knowledgeably, thinking that for a big person, Alec wasn't very smart.

He poked into a milk carton of random electronic parts his older self kept at the foot of his bed, came up with an Apple charger that was rather the worse for wear. "Like this! Try it."

[nottrivial]

Alec plugged it in, and... wow. That actually did seem to do the trick. It was lighting up and showing him an apple on the screen, anyway.

"Thanks," he said, mildly surprised that that had worked. "I haven't used one of these before. I thought it'd be easier than this."

[ultron_junior]

"De nada. And how come?" Victor asked bluntly. "Are you poor?"

His mother would have told him that was a rude question, but she wasn't there.

[nottrivial]

"No," Alec said, making... kind of a face at that. Not much of one. But it was definitely a face. "I just don't have a lot to do with technology. Anyway, are you even supposed to have these now? You're a little kid."

Oh, Alec. That was the wrong way to refer to a seven-year-old. Really now.

[ultron_junior]

"Seven isn't little," Victor said, returning the face. "And ... the cord was here, so I'm allowed. Obviously."

His mother, again, might have disagreed.

[liarallmyown.livejournal.com]

"There's a bunch of children around, did you know?" Jace asked, just walking into Alec's room like he belonged there.

[nottrivial]

"Oh, thank the Angel you're still normal," Alec said at once.

Ahem.

"I did notice that, yes." He cast a look Victor's way. "I can't say this is my favorite weekend."

The volume. It was appalling.

[liarallmyown.livejournal.com]

"Oh it's not that bad, Alec." It was easy for Jace to say since he got along with kids. Or, well, he got along with Max anyway.

[nottrivial]

Whereas Alec was laughably terrible with Max. It was pretty sad.

Alec sighed. "Is your roommate normal-sized at least?" he asked. Because he really had no idea at all how to deal with a seven-year-old robot. None.

This was where a firmer background in mundie movies and television would've benefitted him. People always overlooked the usefulness of that kind of knowledge.

[liarallmyown.livejournal.com]

"Haven't seen him yet today," Jace said. "Your tiny roommate driving you nuts?"

[nottrivial]

"He's very... bouncy," Alec said, sounding a little strained. "I'm not sure if I'm supposed to keep him out of trouble or what."

[liarallmyown.livejournal.com]

"Just keep him from choking or electrocuting himself and I think you'll be fine," Jace said. Could Victor electrocute himself even? Seemed like Alec had an easy job then.

[nottrivial]

Lucky Alec!

"That sounds... manageable," Alec settled on, eyeing Victor. He didn't seem to be likely to choke on anything, anyway. "I hope."

It'd be pretty awkward to have to ask someone for help with a seven-year-old robot who'd swallowed an arrow or something. Maybe he should tidy his room up a bit just in case.

"So I think I got invited out to a bar last night." Segues were for other people, apparently.

[liarallmyown.livejournal.com]

"Oh?" Jace said, trying to look interested but not overly so. Irrational protectiveness and being ridiculously judgmental was to be expected in this situation and Jace was aware of that, so he was trying to keep it all inside. "By who?"

[nottrivial]

And it immediately occured to Alec that he may have just sicced yet another person on Sparkle who was inevitably going to get all weird and threatening at him. He really needed to learn to keep his mouth shut.

Too late now, though. Whoops.

"Sparkle," he said. "He and I have been... sort of spending time together lately. Shooting at the gym and so on. And apparently Izzy was, uh, difficult to him over Parents' Weekend, so now he's taking me to a bar."

That was logical.

[liarallmyown.livejournal.com]

"Sparkle?" Okay, so much for trying to act cool and collected like Natalie.

[nottrivial]

"It's his name." Yes, Alec. Obviously. "He works at that clothing store in town? Spiky hair, wears a lot of black..."

Maybe he should just tell Sparkle to start running now.