Flowers for Algernon (algernon) wrote in enemies_rpg, @ 2013-01-14 20:20:00 |
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Reuben was having a really shitty day. First there was the bludger to his head. And then, a bright spot where Rosemary brought the news of victory to him and they snogged. That had been brilliant. Stupendous. But any high that he had from that and the tail end of the Gryffindor party had been dashed away quickly after his conversation with Rosie and Gwen, not to mention Algie giving him crap. Reuben's good mood was gone, completely, and in it's place was frustration and anger and resentment at himself, his life, his choices. He flung the bed curtains over. He only had so long before Gwen came upstairs and punched him in the bollocks. He was not looking forward to that. Algie was on the floor doing crunches like he always did when he was upset. Reuben watched him for a few minutes and then he slid down from the bed, lay down beside Algie, and started doing the crunches too. "Still in a foul mood at me?" Reuben asked as he bent forward. When Reuben joined him, Algie let go, lying back on the floor, staring up at the stone tower ceiling. He exhaled slowly. "It's not about you," he said petulantly. It wasn't, not really. He'd taken out some of his frustration on Reuben, but Reuben's only crime was being normal when Algie himself wasn't -- there was no hiding from the fact now, and the way he'd come to that realization left much to be desired. None of that was Reuben's fault. It was just timing. On top of it all, Gwen was right. He should be happy about winning the match. He repeated what he told her, the same thing that Dieter had told him not too long ago: "I'm just having a rough week, is all." Reuben did a few more crunches, looking over at Algie every time he was sitting up. He wasn't surprised to hear that Algie was having a bad week. He'd been doing crunches most of the week anyway, which was always a bad sign. But no matter how many times Reuben asked, Algie deflected the question or changed the subject. "All right, then," Reuben said, pausing while sitting up to watch his friend continuing to go through the motions. "Then what is it that's got you so worked up? Out with it." Algie sat up, draping his arms over his knees and hanging his head. He couldn't tell Reuben what his real problem was. Algie hated himself enough for what had happened with Dieter Lestrange. He didn't need his friends hating him too. He'd already told Gwen that Bron was the problem, and he figured he'd be consistent. "I've got to break up with Bron," he said, finally. Reuben frowned at Algie's posture. Something was really eating away at him and he wished he knew what it was so that he could say something about it and make him feel better. He might be zapped of energy at the moment, but he still wanted to be there for his friend, even if his friend had been a jerk to him earlier. The news that Algie was going to break up with Bron surprised him, but he supposed that it might explain why Algie had been so agitated over the past week. "Well," he said, unsure of what to say to make him feel better. "Sorry about that. The distance, yeah?" he said. "Aye, and things weren't the same when I saw her over hols," Algie said. He didn't sound entirely convincing, and he knew it. He couldn't even say that it had been rough with the distance, since most of the time he forgot he even had a girlfriend, but it was true that things had changed by the time he saw her again. In December, he'd been distracted, trying to figure things out, and couldn't pay attention to anyone. "I knew from the start things weren't going to work out with her." That much was completely, unambiguously true. "Huh," said Reuben. He sat up fully and stretched his long legs out. He couldn't argue with how Algie was feeling. He was a bit surprised Algie hadn't mentioned any of this to him before, but he supposed it wasn't exactly common for him to share about his girlfriends with Algie either. There was something about Algie's tone that made Reuben wonder if this was really all there was to it, but he couldn't put a finger on what else it could be. "You're sure that's it?" He put his hands on the floor. "Well, if you knew things weren't going to work out, why did you go for them anyway?" He asked. He was earnest in his question, especially after the dramatics with Rosemary. Reuben wondered just what either of them were doing, when he knew both their families expected them to marry Pureblood girls. "I don't know, suppose I was just having fun" Algie admitted. He thought of Bron's biceps, and the way that she liked to arm-wrestle him. Knowing what he did now, it made so much sense. She had been the girl he liked because she was so much like a man. And yet, he thought with a sense of realization, it had been he who had initiated their relationship, as well as most of their physical moments. Maybe he had been trying to prove something all along. He looked over at Reuben, letting his eye for a brief moment travel along the solid planes of Reuben's chest, imagining how it might feel to run his fingers along those muscles. Different from how it had been with Dieter. "I think I like someone I shouldn't," Algie blurted out finally. He wasn't sure why he said it, and it wasn't even strictly true. "Fun, yeah," Reuben said. Hopefully breaking up with Bron would go well enough for Algie. He certainly hoped it didn't blow up in his face. But Bron was a good sort, she probably wouldn't be too fussed about it either. Reuben hoped that Algie would find some good closure with his girlfriend. "Oh?" Reuben said, turning to face Algie. He gave him an interested look and leaned forward a little. "Well, who is it?" he said. "Come out with it." His eyes widened. "No. Gwen?" Algie was quick with the denial. "No!" he exclaimed. He wasn't sure where he could go from here. It felt weird to lie to Reuben, whom he had known for seven years. "It's not Gwen. It -- doesn't matter. Nothing's going to happen anyway." Which was a lie, of course, given that something had already happened. "Then is it Rosie?" he asked. Was that why Algie was in such a mood at him after the game. It was the only reason he could think of for that treatment. He frowned at Algie, his own feelings for Rose conflicting how he felt about Algie going for her. But it's not as though he could stop him, after what he'd do to Rosie. "It's not Rosie," Algie said, bristling. Gwen had thought the same thing, and he cursed himself for denying it with her. It would have been such an easy, convenient cover. "I already told you it wasn't about you." Reuben leaned his back against the bed, arms crossed over his chest as he studied Algie and frowned. "So, you're not planning on telling me then?" he asked. He'd just ask once more, out of curiosity, and then he'd not bother with it any longer. He'd just hoped that they could share in the frustration that came with being the only sons of Purebloods and all the expectations that came along with that. Algie shook his head. What could he say? If he told Reuben he couldn't tell anyone, Reuben would wonder why, and the list of possible things Algie couldn't tell wasn't so long that his friend wouldn't be suspicious or even stumble upon the truth. "Sorry, mate. Just -- forget it." "Well," Reuben said. He shrugged. "All right," he said. He laid back on the floor and started doing crunches, wondering what you were supposed to say to a situation like this. 'If you ever want to talk, you can?' Nah. Girly. "Bet I can do more crunches than you can," he said, even though he knew Algie would wipe the floor with him in that area. |