Alex had been working on a hex that was essentially a magical tripwire, when he heard the voice at his door. It startled him out of his concentration, but he was able to let the gathered magic dissipate harmlessly, instead of all at once in Gavin's face.
"Alex is more or less working a triple," he muttered, closing the spell book and wiping some dust off on his jeans. "Shit to do, not enough time to do it. As per usual. However, in the interest of keeping Marcus-Mom off my back, I'm declaring it break time. Bored, hmm? Tired of taunting Kennet for now?"