cedar rapids, iowa & room 220 | yesterday & this afternoon | wednesday & thursday | october 7 & 8
It hadn't been that hard to pack a small bag and catch a portal after class and leave the island without anyone really knowing he was going. Really, he'd deluded himself into thinking no one cared that much about him to notice so he hadn't told anyone.
Hell, he hadn't even told his mother. Yeah, he'd just seen her this weekend but after a weekend filled with people she didn't know and conversations she wasn't used to, he almost felt obligated to check on her sometime later that week.
It was late now. Or early, Alex couldn't really tell. All he knew was that it was dark and quiet, something he'd nearly forgotten while being in an often noisy school. Nothing was really moving outside and the only thing making noise inside the small house was the television on low volume and his mother's breathing while she slept on the couch beside him.
His visit had surprised her, of course, but had caught her at a time when she wasn't at her best. So, he'd gotten the horrible honor of witnessing her cry into his shirt while she wondered his father had never come back, why Alex himself hated her and why he'd left in the first place, whispering a quiet comparison to his father against his shirt. Alex knew she didn't really mean that but it gutted him anyway, nearly sending him from the house that instant. He'd stayed though, tried to clean her up and get some kind of medication in her (prescribed, thank you) before letting her fall asleep against him while watching television.
Alex figured he wouldn't be sleeping that night. Wasn't like he wasn't used to this sort of thing. He'd just spend all night staring at the television and listening to his mother breathe. He'd done it before. He could do it again.
When Alex got back to the island and his room sometime that afternoon, he still hadn't slept but he was doing a pretty damn good job of not showing the mental and physical exhaustion. He tossed his bag underneath his bed, kicking it a little harder than necessary before going for his cigarettes in an effort to calm his nerves.
His mother had been better when he'd left that morning but she'd still cried and it still sucked to see but he'd been able to leave, get it out of his mind, go back to pretending that was emotionless and impassive. He'd done it before, he could do it again.
With that in mind, he took a seat on the floor, back against his bed and closed his eyes briefly. Then, he was yanking his phone out of his pocket and making a quick, quiet phone call just to check before hanging up and finding his all too familiar Tetris game to distract him.
[meant to post this laaaaaaaast night but ugh exhaustion. taking some liberties with a canon that gives me SCRAPS on alex's past, oh yes. anyway, NFB/NFI on the Iowa stuff but door is cracked and post is open back here in Faaaaandom.]
Hell, he hadn't even told his mother. Yeah, he'd just seen her this weekend but after a weekend filled with people she didn't know and conversations she wasn't used to, he almost felt obligated to check on her sometime later that week.
It was late now. Or early, Alex couldn't really tell. All he knew was that it was dark and quiet, something he'd nearly forgotten while being in an often noisy school. Nothing was really moving outside and the only thing making noise inside the small house was the television on low volume and his mother's breathing while she slept on the couch beside him.
His visit had surprised her, of course, but had caught her at a time when she wasn't at her best. So, he'd gotten the horrible honor of witnessing her cry into his shirt while she wondered his father had never come back, why Alex himself hated her and why he'd left in the first place, whispering a quiet comparison to his father against his shirt. Alex knew she didn't really mean that but it gutted him anyway, nearly sending him from the house that instant. He'd stayed though, tried to clean her up and get some kind of medication in her (prescribed, thank you) before letting her fall asleep against him while watching television.
Alex figured he wouldn't be sleeping that night. Wasn't like he wasn't used to this sort of thing. He'd just spend all night staring at the television and listening to his mother breathe. He'd done it before. He could do it again.
When Alex got back to the island and his room sometime that afternoon, he still hadn't slept but he was doing a pretty damn good job of not showing the mental and physical exhaustion. He tossed his bag underneath his bed, kicking it a little harder than necessary before going for his cigarettes in an effort to calm his nerves.
His mother had been better when he'd left that morning but she'd still cried and it still sucked to see but he'd been able to leave, get it out of his mind, go back to pretending that was emotionless and impassive. He'd done it before, he could do it again.
With that in mind, he took a seat on the floor, back against his bed and closed his eyes briefly. Then, he was yanking his phone out of his pocket and making a quick, quiet phone call just to check before hanging up and finding his all too familiar Tetris game to distract him.
[meant to post this laaaaaaaast night but ugh exhaustion. taking some liberties with a canon that gives me SCRAPS on alex's past, oh yes. anyway, NFB/NFI on the Iowa stuff but door is cracked and post is open back here in Faaaaandom.]