element_wizard | (no subject)

Current Mood: indescribable

(no subject)

Alec's waiting for Aiden at the Inn's front desk. He's not sure why he agreed to take in the solider boy... man... thing... but he agreed to it, and he would see to it that he was well taken care of. Because that's just the way he was.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Not a problem. The place is a mess, I hope you don't mind." Alec, even on his good days, is terribly messy.

"Not at all," Aiden smiles, shrugging his shoulders. "Just as long as you don't mind me cleaning it up. The soldier in me can't stand letting things like that go."

"No, I don't mind at all. Someone should clean it up, gods know it's not going to be me." He comes around the front desk and picks up the duffel bag. "This way, if you please."

And he walks out the front of the Inn and into a rather messy apartment. There are books all over the place and clothes where there aren't books. It looks like Alec had just picked up and dropped things randomly. One or two of the plates look like they have something growing on them.

"......Dear God, how can you live like this?!" Aiden stares. And stares. There will be cleaning. Tonight.

He blinks, "Um... I don't spend a lot of time here." He drops the bag on a couch.

"Obviously. Pick that up."

"Hrmm? You can pick it up if you want. Come on, I'll show you the rest of the place. There are some places you can't go into." He leaves the bag on the couch and starts to head deeper into the apartment.

"Um, no. Pick it up now. That is the reason this place is mess. You put something down, forget about it, then never pick it up again. I can't clean up after you all the time; you have to make an effort to take care of yourself."

Alec turns around and looks at him. "You said you wanted to clean it up. That's fine with me. If you don't want to, that's also fine. It really doesn't bother me either way."

"How can you not care?!" Aiden all but shrieks, his jaw somewhere near the filthy floor. "This place is a breeding ground of funguses and bacteria! You've probably shortened your lifespan exponentially just by allowing this refuge to fester!"

"Well... good." Ah yes, threaten shorter lifespans to the suicidal man.

"Good," Aiden intones, staring rather blankly at the fire mage. "Right. What the hell is your problem? Why are you so depressed? Wallowing in self-pity can't be THAT amusing."

He gives the super solider a blank look for a moment, "My wife and children were murdered several months ago."

"Oh, is that all? My parents, all my friends, everyone I ever knew were turned into glass by alien invaders intent on wiping out the entire human race when I was six. But did I lie down and take it? Did I waste my time wallowing in self-pity while they were out killing countless more people? NO! I trained! I got stronger! And eventually? I got revenge!"

"The guy who did it is sitting on my mantelpiece as a glass globe. Or a baby universe, one of the two." There's a shrug.

"And you're still moping? Look, I know it's cliche, but there's a reason for that; I don' think your wife would appreciate you wasting your life just because she's gone. She'd want you to be happy."

"Course I'm still moping, as you put it, as it turns out I'm a horrid failure at life!" he snaps.

Aiden groans. Loudly. Why is he giving Spike's boss a pep-talk? Wasn't that his job? "Damnit, Chief, that's because you're not trying! If you put a little more effort into existing, you'd do better!"

"Not trying? Not trying?" he said softly, flames starting to flicker around him. "I did everything I could and I still couldn't save them!"

"So what?! They're dead, it's in the past! Moping about it won't change that, all you can do is go on living! You stopped trying when they died, and now you're a pathetic waste of human flesh! You have to live so their deaths aren't in vain!"

"I should have died trying to save them."

"And then your wife would be here sulking."

For a moment it looks like Alec is going to explode in an ball of angry fiery doom. But instead he he sort of deflated and he shrugged.

Aiden huffs and shakes his head. "Fine. Be that way. I, however, refuse to live in this dump, and I refuse to clean it all by myself. You can start by taking care of the dishes."

Alec looks at him stony eyed, as if he's thinking something, thinking of a response.

Aiden looks impatient. "Well?"

"I think I was giving you a tour of the house, wasn't I?" he says, ignoring what Aiden said.

"It's an apartment, I doubt I'll get lost in it."

"Yeah, you would think that, wouldn't you? And there are some places you can't go into."

"Like your room?" One of the plates with the semi-living thing on it is picked up. If Alec doesn't shut up soon, it's going in his face.

"Well,no, actually. Um... Michael's lab's one place, and his library really. The place is a lot bigger than it looks." If Alec notices, he gives no sign.

"Uhuh, sure," Aiden nods, not really listening. He's more focused on discreetly aiming the plate so it land with the food in Alec's mouth. Once he's sure of the trajectory, he pulls back his arm and throws.

The plate explodes before it even reaches Alec. He narrows his eyes, "Throwing things is not acceptable behavior."

"Hm, damn." A second plate is grabbed and Alec is approached. "Is this better?" he asks before shoving the plate in his face.

There's a blurring motion and Alec's not there anymore. At least for a second. He's back again and nabs Aiden's ear, yanking it hard. He's lost that apathetic look he was wearing a bit ago and is now shunted into Parent Mode. "Okay. That was dumb," He yanks harder,"I was hoping we wouldn't need to go through a discussion of proper behavior, but apparently I was wrong."

"Oh! Oh oh ow!" Aiden yelps, leaning into the yank to lessen the pain. But hey, at least it snapped Alec out of his slump, right?

Oh sure it is.

Alec walk -yanks- Aiden a few feet, not letting go of the ear. "Now then, I'm sure you know what appropriate behavior is. I expect that. If you don't display that, then I'm gonna have to move into the punishment side of things, which I really don't like to do. I tend to make the punishment fit the crime."

"Crime? I didn't even touch you!" Aiden whines and whimpers as he's yanked along. "If you didn't leave ammo lying around, I wouldn't have had anything to throw!"

"You shouldn't have thrown it in the first place. That is not acceptable behavior or a way to have a discussion." Tug, yank, tug.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only