alternativewriting | (no subject)

"Come in," Andrew called, knowing that it would be Alec knocking at the door. Who else would it be, at this hour?

Although he'd thought Alec had been doing his homework, and hoped he wouldn't have to have a conversation about the merits of hard work again. They'd had one like that yesterday.

Could be some very polite robbers.

They did have that conversation and he's really trying. Fortunately that's not why he's coming into the room.

He stops a few feet from Andrew's desk with his hands behind his back and stares up at the ceiling for a moment. "Um. I was wondering if I could... talk to you about... something, sir."

"Talk to me about what?" Andrew asked, finally putting his pen down after signing his name on yet another piece of repetitive paperwork. He barely even seemed to have glanced at the paper before signing it.

There's a very long drawn out pause as Alec composes his thoughts.

He'd come up with hundreds of different ways of approaching this subject and they've all died horrid little deaths.

"Um."

"Well."

"Dating... I guess."

This calls for him to pick up the pen again and roll it between his fingers -- anything to have something to distract him from just how damn awkward this interaction has just become.

"What sort of advice are you looking for?"

He really hoped it was something simple, like "Should I use condoms?" or "Should I talk about economics a lot on the first date?" or "What's the best way to style my hair to look like you?"

Unfortunately for him, Alec a: Hasn't even thought about sex yet. b. Would never talk about economics on a date. and c. could never get his hair in any shape near Andrew's. It'd probably take a hairdresser to do that, and then it wouldn't last.

"Just... well... like... how can you even tell if they're interested... and I guess go from there."

Alec is still staring at the ceiling. A lot of his social interaction at school has involved fights or avoiding people. He hasn't had much in between stuff.

Oh no. These were questions that required introspection and insight to answer, not something he could explain in a few seconds and then bury his head in paperwork again. It was the worst possible outcome imaginary, but he couldn't put Alec off. If he knew one thing about the boy, it was that he was persistent.

"First of all, are we talking about men or women in this hypothetical situation in which you're mature enough to begin dating someone?"

He didn't care which, but it did make some difference to his advice.

Yes. That's how he ended up living with Andrew, wasn't it? Annoying persistence.

There's a brief flash of anger in his eyes at the idea that he's not mature enough to date someone. He was just going to say 'boys' but because Andrew's being a jerk, he goes with, "Both. Sir."

"It's always a good choice to offer yourself more options. I can't say I can find fault with that."

Andrew didn't date men, but, well, that didn't mean he didn't occasionally find them useful in one way or another.

"Has anyone -- male or female -- expressed any interest in you in a way that seemed romantic? Or sexual?"

"Yes, sir."

Still peeved, he's going to make Andrew fish for information now.

"If you're not going to provide me more than perfunctory answers that imply that you don't wish to have this discussion, perhaps you shouldn't have brought it up in the first place."

Andrew can play this game all day. With that comment, he puts his pen to paper again, and begins writing something. Or at least, pretends to.

"It was a yes or no question you asked me, sir," Alec says back. "I didn't think you wanted more information than that. You generally dislike getting more information on these sort of subjects."

Yes. So can Alec.

"Sit down."

He gestures a chair across the room, indicating that Alec should drag it in front of a desk. He can run this like a business meeting, if Alec really wants him to.

"You may elaborate on the yes or no question."

Alec grabs the chair and pulls it over in front of Andrew's desk. He then drops into the chair in a patented teenage slouch. That lasts for about six seconds before he pulls himself up straight. His fingers fiddle absently with nothing, but a few sparks flicker from their tips.

"There's been expressed interest of some sort by several parties with the dance coming up next month." Which Alec is still, as far as he can tell, able to attend. "I'm not sure if it's real interest or interest in going with the guy who lives with insanely rich person which will hopefully mean a really nice limo and something to brag about."

Classic dilemma. Do they want me for me or my ~~dad's~~ money.

Edited 2012-08-06 22:14 (UTC)

"You can let them know that there won't be a nice limo. Unless you pay for it with your own money, of course." That should help clear up some of the confusion.

Nobody had given him a limo for school dances. Not that he'd ever been to school dances back in Russia. That, however, was a point he wasn't going to belabor.

"Of course." He resists the urge to snort. Of course he wasn't going to get a limo from Andrew.

Well, he supposed if he worked at it he could possibly get Andrew to pay for one. Only if he really tried. It wasn't something he was interested in talking about just then. In theory, however, it was possible.

"But the underlying... stuff is still there."

"Stuff," Andrew repeated, slightly amused smirk on his face, "What, precisely, do you mean by stuff? Do they flirt with you? Call you incessantly? Ask you to go places with them?"

He finally set his pen down to give Alec more of his attention. The conversation was, at least, not as bad as he'd expected.

Alec looks flustered and momentarily at a loss for words. The tips of his ears turn a bit red and he stares at his hands briefly.

"I don't know... I mean... just... well... not call..."

He really is at that horribly awkward stage of having to deal with puberty and hormones and being incapable of talking about it or talking with people he finds attractive.

"Well, spit it out! I haven't got all day."

He did have all day, really, since he'd come home from the office, but that was neither here nor there.

"Are they sending you notes in class? They're not sending you naked pictures, are they?"

The red that was on his ears flushes straight down his face.

"What? No! No... no... naked pictures! That'd be... just... weird! " His voice cracks halfway through that. "Why would you even think that?" And it cracks again.

Because girls totally used to send him naked pictures. Way back in the old days, before technology was invented, so they sent them to him in the mail. Of course, he's not going to say that. Not to his thirteen year old ~~son~~. Maybe in a couple years.

Andrew reached across his desk and pulled the bottle of brandy towards himself. He needed a drink if he was going to get through this conversation. "Would you like some?" he asked, nodding at Alec. If they were going to discuss this, he might as well let him drink, too.

"Then what are they doing?"

They would. Rich man like himself... they probably still do. MWaagie...

He nods at the offer of the drink. That would be most welcomed. It's not like he can get some from his secret stash in his room...

"Well... giggling. There's lots of giggling... and um... dropping stuff... um..." This is from the girls. (He may be interested in the guys, but there are girls doing this to him...)

He poured Alec a drink -- a small one, mind you, he was smart enough to know that a thirteen year old couldn't handle his liquor like a man who'd been drinking for the better part of his life -- and leaned his chin on his hand thoughtfully. He hated to admit it, but he found this conversation amusing, almost... endearing. That was never a word he'd use, though, so he kept it to himself.

"Dropping stuff with the intention of your picking it up, I assume, so you can both show your chivalry and become engaged in a conversation with them. Have you any interest in these... ladies, I assume?"

He'd never known men to giggle and drop things.

Alec took the glass and sipped it carefully. He didn't make a face, but it was stronger than the stuff he had. Of course it was probably more expensive than the stuff he could afford.

"Yes. They're ladies. And... not really."

Well they would. But only after yanking it out of his hands and when they dropped it, it was in the mud or something like that.

Fights usually ensued.

"Then ignore them. Is there anyone in particular you're actually interested in dating?"

He took a sip of his own drink, watching Alec intently.