#adapttothis

Alex stares at the coffee machine.  It's too fucking early for this shit, he thinks, trying to glare the machine into giving up its secrets.

Usually, he is perfectly capable of using the coffee machine.  He knows how it works, somewhere in the depths of his head, but he can't quite get there this early in the morning, on next to no sleep.

But he is going to do this.  He is going to make the coffee, and he is going to give a cup to Armando when he came downstairs, and they ae going to talk like normal people, and then Alex is going to tell him that he loves him.  It's going to happen.

He even remembered to put on his leather jacket, because Armando had mentioned being interested in seeing him in it.

He's going to do this.  

Alex smiles as he leads Armando down to the basement.  It seems impossible, that he's back, that he's around, but it's true.  It's real.

And he can't help but smile about it, even though Sean seems utterly intent on outing his goddamn crush on the other guy on, of all mediums, Twitter.

It's ridiculous, but right now he doesn't have to think about it, because shit, Armando's alive, and they're going to go play pinball just like they always did before the compound, before everything went to shit.  Armando's alive, and he wants to be around Alex, and they're still best friends even though they only new each other a month or two before it all went wrong.

Time's all screwy these days, but Alex, he's just glad that any of this is happening, so maybe he's grinning like a fool.

But it doesn't matter.  He glances back at Armando.

"I really am pretty rusty.  Haven't played since before the war, at least."  It's only half a lie.  He hasn't played since the compound, since Shaw took everything away -- confidence, safety, Armando.

[Alex is running--it's nice to run, he's been doing it ever since he got out and the stretch of his legs is getting a lot better--at four o'clock in the afternoon, which is a weird time to run, but it's actually earlier than his usual.  

(He started doing it to avoid Erik back when he was still Erik.)

Doing laps around the fences that border the mansion should probably have gotten old by now, but hey.  Finding things old--got old about two years ago.

And then, sometimes, you come upon things that aren't usually there.

Keeps it 'new', he guesses.

His legs slow to a jog and then to a walk at the sight of the mildly-familiar yellow taxicab sitting in the driveway as he approaches it, a more-familiar form just barely in view.

He wonders where the hell Darwin got his car.

Maybe he left it somewhere, before--

Yeah.]

Hey.

[He lifts a hand in greeting, then thinks maybe that's stupid and gets his sweaty hair out of his eyes instead.

Well, hell, he doesn't know what's stupid or not.]

[The last time he saw this one, he was dying.

However, he is decidedly not dead now.  Fascinating.  Azazel's head tips to one side, slightly, one eyebrow lifts.

2AM texts ;

[text] daaaaarwin

[text] i have a bottle of hair dye and a way in to alex’s room

[text] ten bucks says you won’t be able to turn him ginger

Unsent texts ;

[unsent] did it hurt when h

[unsent] where were y

Threatening messages ;

[text] You tell anyone about what you saw and you’ll never see another sunrise, Darwin.

Lusty/loving/affectionate messages ;

[text] you remybest friend syou know

[text] i misse dyou a lot an dim glad you’re back

Drunk messages ;

[text] ale xis mena and yuo suck

[text] aaaaand charsle jsut fuond uor stash

[text] donthu rt him ok