Room 707: No Man's Land

[Endellion]

[ Julien Leblanc - Trip: Start ]

The rude awakening by blared... K-pop, at a wild guess, resounding through the room meant that Julien's day was off to a lovely start; Myles had also occupied the shower, with his departure nowhere in sight. Even better.

It did at least mean he didn't have to face him for a little while, which was alright with him. Seeing the... unfortunate reminder of his own spite wasn't something he was mentally prepared for so early in the morning. Focusing on other things was for the best. Like his hair, currently hanging down over his face.

Tying ponytails had become second nature at this point, however, so that didn't hold attention. The senseless noise emerging from the bathroom was still going on too.

"Say... Do you think we could get away with breaking through the door? For his own safety. Maybe we thought that his phone might, ah, slip into the shower and there could be a horrible accident if we didn't do something." Between him and the Carter brother that Julien drew a blank on now that he thought about it, the door wouldn't really be an obstacle if they didn't want it to be.

[Deamon]

((Bret Carter: Trip Start))

The music that had woken them was awful. He would have preferred almost anything else. It didn't even need to be something from the library of eighties rock that he preferred. It just needed to be not whatever the crap on Myle's phone was. Unfortunately, he couldn't make him turn it off because Myles was in the shower and based on the time they had spent sitting around waiting Bret was under the impression he had died in there.

It took a moment for Bret to realize Julien was talking to him. He looked up from his spot on the bed and put his copy of Monsters down on the bedside table. It was a book about the 1985 Bears and he had bought it for the downtime on the bus ride and at the hotel, in hindsight, it was a good idea that was paying off. After that was done Bret stood up and stretched his arms up over his head. He had just thrown on his exercise shorts and a tank-top after waking up. His hair was messy but he had patted it down as much as possible while he waited for the shower to become available. There was no point bothering to get ready for the day when he hadn't even had the chance to brush his teeth.

Bret shrugged as he crouched down over his bag and started looking through it for the clothes he wanted to wear. He took a quick glance up to assess the quality of the door before scoffing.

"Yeah, could probably knock that down easy enough."

As Bret continued to speak he withdrew a t-shirt and a nicer pair of shorts from his luggage.

"Tomorrow I'm going in first."

[Endellion]

"I figured as much. And yeah, sure."

Julien really didn't care. It was just another excuse to lay in the excuse of a bed he'd had to make himself on the floor for a while longer. Though with how uncomfortable it was, that wasn't exactly a stellar prospect. Better than nothing all the same.

"You have something planned for after we can actually get out of this room, I'm guessing?" It was something idle, said for the virtue of being preferable to what passed for silence, and it sounded as such. It was friendly though; he had no reason to hold much of an opinion about Bret either way. "So many choices, so little time and all." As he opened his suitcase, Julien clicked on his phone to browse recommended feeds. They consisted mostly of things about DC, so after a moment he made the decision to leave a more detailed look until later.

He had other things to think about anyway. Like...

Yeah, he'd go with a plain shirt and cargo pants today.

[Deamon]

"I have a few ideas," Bret said as he lay his clothing choices out on the bed and smoothed them down. "Nothing concrete yet, I'll have to see what other people are doing."

That was partly true, Bret was going to go and see what he wanted. The only difference seeing what the others were doing would be what he did in between what he wanted. There was a lot to see and do in Washington and he supposed he would go and see all the monuments, take a couple of photos because his mom had asked for some. He'd have to go to the White House obviously, there would probably be some form of protest against Canon nearby but Bret didn't bother himself with that.

Once he was done sorting out his clothing choices for the day Bret sat himself down on the end of the bed and ran his eyes over Julien. He was tall enough but was on the skinnier side; so the stories he'd heard made sense. He didn't doubt the validity of what he had been told. If anything he hoped all the details were true because frankly, he found his hilarious. As the mental image he had of the event played in his mind Bret couldn't help a small grin forming.

"So, you beat Myles up huh?"

[Endellion]

Well, that came slightly earlier than he'd expected.

"Yes, that I did. He wanted to be his worst self, but he ran away when I did the same. About what you'd expect of him, I suppose."

Now he had to handle being roomed with Myles for the next week too. There were upsides and downsides to that alike, granted, but for the most part Julien was willing to bet on it being more of this. It'd be worse in the event they wound up being the only ones in the room too, unlikely as that might be.

"And," he sighed, "yes, I did also throw money at him." It didn't take a brain surgeon to guess that Bret had likely heard about that part of it already, given who he was connected to. Besides, the least he owed Myles was facing up to that rather than leaving room for the impression that he was trying to hide it.

[Deamon]

There was a long silence after Julien brought up throwing money at Myles.

Then Bret burst out laughing. It was a satisfying feeling. Myles had always considered himself untouchable due to his friendship with Ivy, but then along comes some random kid and boom. Not so untouchable. It was hilarious, doubly so because it was Myles specifically. The kid had always been a little shit, so if anyone deserved it, it was him.

As Bret got his laughter under control he shook his head ruefully.

"What I would have given to see that."

Myles had never like him and honestly, the feeling was mutual as far as Bret. Still, he was going to make an effort to remain civil. One good thing about his room was that when he had taken a bed, no one had said a word to him. He was sure they whined and complained to their friends, but none of them spoke up. If he was in Wyatt's room and they decided they wanted the same bed, well, that would have been a different story. But he wasn't, so there was no issue.

Speaking of issues, Bret stood up and moved across the room to the bathroom door and gave it three loud knocks.

"Myles, hurry up!"

No response.

Bret considered his options for a moment before sighing and returning to his position on the bed.

"But seriously, good on you. The kids a little shit."

[Endellion]

Hmm. Julien slipped that reaction away into his head to be remembered in the future.

"It wasn't all that exciting, I'll say that much. I suppose that's usually the way, though."

His expression stayed even-tempered. As far as he was concerned, Bret could come to whatever conclusions that he might please. Saving his attempts at reconciliation for the person who rightfully deserved them was just fine by him. Those efforts were likely doomed to be thrown back in his face, but he would try all the same. It was only appropriate.

"And, ah... I don't think he's coming out of there any time soon."

[Frozen Smoke]

((>tracert Parker_Green
1 | 1 ms 2 ms 1 ms Van-der-Waals Valentines█))

Parker swished some of the coffee around the side of his mouth, trying to pressure the few chunks of rubbery bacon that were now stuck between his molars, making the whole left side of his mouth feel distinctly unclean. The breakfast had been pretty good overall, but the bacon had not been a highlight. The falafel was surprisingly excellent though, and that had served to bulk out a nice mix from everything they had to offer, providing plenty to munch on as he chewed over the problem at hand internally.

He scanned his card and open th-

clunk

“Fuck.” he mumbled, as he scanned the card and pulled the handle down fast enough this time. Doing it one handed as he brought a cup of coffee up with him took just a modicum more mental energy than he’d hoped for. He awkwardly shoulder-levered the door open as he tried to keep from spilling it as he re-entered the room, the crack in the door bleeding J-Rock into the hallway. There were only two other people sitting there, not three.

Well, that made things easier.

He put his coffee down on his side of the bed as he dipped his head slightly in tired greeting to Julien and Bret, not wanting to interrupt their conversation, and having plans of his own.

He nonchalantly moved around to Myles’ side of the bed and opened the wardrobe that stood by the wall there, and looked around for a few moment, before closing it. He then lowered himself to his knees and looked under the bed.

Where was it?

[Deamon]

"I think you might be right," Bret said with a resigned tone.

The temptation to put a hat on and head downstairs to have breakfast was starting to grow but Bret resisted it, wearing a hat indoors and to eat in would have looked especially bad. He also toyed with the idea of going to the hotel gym but then that would mean he would have been further behind in his morning schedule. No, he had to wait it out. Once Myles eventually vacated the shower he could jump in—probably freeze to death due to a lack of hot water—and then head down to breakfast. But until then he had to sit in their hotel room and wait. He supposed that one clear silver-lining of the situation he found himself in was that clearly the three people he was sharing the room with valued personal hygiene. He appreciated that much. It didn't take much of a brain to realize there were some people at George Hunter who struggled with that detail.

The door unlocked only to lock again and then unlocked again as Parker returned. Bret nodded to return Parker's greeting and watched for a moment as the boy set about looking for something in the room. In the meantime, he returned to the conversation at hand.

"I suppose, I wouldn't really know that much. My fights have mainly been shoving matches on the football field."

[Endellion]

He shrugged. "Guess we're in for a longer wait than we'd like. And, well, that's about all the effort they're worth most of the time." While he didn't feel even a hint of inclination to believe what Bret had just said, that opinion would be less stressful to keep locked away in his mind.

Parker was sent a returned greeting and a little sympathy for his clear fatigue when he entered; just a little, though. He hadn't slept on the floor, after all. It did draw more of Julien's attention when he opened up a wardrobe and set to looking for some unknown thing in particular, then moved his search under his own bed when that came up empty.

It wasn't exactly difficult to hazard a guess why he'd returned. The current source of annoyance was clearly shared between all three of them, and so... Yes, it was presumptuous of him. But he would hardly be surprised if he was right to presume.

"Hey. If you're looking for something of his... ah, just be thorough about it, could you?"

They weren't going to hear the end of it if Julien's guess did turn out to be correct. And besides, even if humiliation wasn't about to be on the cards... well, a little frustration seemed like fair retribution for Myles putting them through this.

[Frozen Smoke]

Julien's mind seemed to have gone to the same place his had, which was unusual but not not unexpected, he supposed. He had been the one to throw money at the kid after all, over some dumb shit about a girl, from what had slithered it's way through the grapevine to him. Myles pissing him off again was probably par for the course, given that there was now no real way they could avoid interacting with each other, despite the fragile peace that had held together last night.

Whatever.

His searching moved to the draws by Myles' bed, which turned out to be entirely devoid of anything at all, and were quickly shut. That left exactly one place left, as he moved over to the half-unzipped bag that sat at the end of their shared bed, covered as it was in the kind of gaudy pattern one would expect from Myles.

Red clouds. Neat.

He quietly unzipped it, and lifted the lid properly, to reveal exactly what he'd been looking for. The black, felt hat that Myles so often wore. It wasn't something he wore quite enough for it to be a distinct part of his silhouette, but he wore it enough that it was clearly something he valued. He held it up by thumb and forefinger, pressing together on the rim as he held up his prize to the room, looking between Julien and Bret for a moment, weighing up exactly what to say.

"I'm going to hide this cunt's hat." he declared. It was simple. A statement of fact as to his intentions. Broaching no room for argument on moral grounds. His eyes locked on to Bret as he continued, knowing that Julien - by virtue of his own disagreements with Myles - was unlikely to be taken as a reliable source on who had done this.

"Either of you two going to rat me out?"

[Deamon]

The stare was a cute touch. One that Bret barely registered mind, but he appreciated the attempt. If Parker thought Bret cared about his opinion as a person—not that there was proof of that—he was mistaken. Bret didn't care what Parker chose to do and truthfully he thought the idea would be funny. It was doubtful many people would rush to help Myles due to how the boy acted and watching him rush around and panic as a result of the lost hat would have been entertaining all by itself. It was almost a perfect crime. There were a few issues with it but Bret could brush those all aside easily enough. He wasn't directly involved and could claim innocence. Plus he had nothing else to do while he wanted for the shower to become free.

Bret kept his gaze on Parker as he shrugged.

"You should do it, it'd be funny."

The end result of Parker's plan didn't matter to Bret but for the moment he was engaged with the concept.

"You got any ideas where?"

[Frozen Smoke]

"Yes."

To elaborate on where was almost certainly why Bret had asked that question, but if you wanted something to stay unknown, the best way to do that was simply not to tell anyone. It was unlikely that Bret would be satisfied with a mathematicians answer though, so he lead into his cover story. It wasn't technically lying to him, but it was a good enough diversion that he would hopefully assume that it was an answer to his question.

"I'm going to-" he raised the hand not hold Myles' hat into the air and make exaggerated quoting motions in time with his speech, as he poured a liberal amount of sarcasm into his voice. "Take a shower. In someone else's room." He smiled at the two of them. Julien hadn't spoken up yet, and if Parker moved now, Julien would - like the proverbial tree - make no subjective sound.

He made a further token effort to tidy up his searching efforts, closing the case and smoothing his clothes over, before heading towards the door, it clicking open as he paused in the portal for a moment. He turned back towards his co-conspirators.

"Peace, fuckers."

((Parker Green - GOTO thread/Hamiltonian Eigenstates█))

[Endellion]

"See you around."

And so Parker left, with what he'd sought in hand. Julien could just about conjure the image of Myles pulling out everything in his suitcase and wardrobe looking for the hat in his mind's eye already.

It did also occur to him that he should really take a step or two to protect himself against something similar happening to him. A fortunate coincidence, to say the least.

But, all things considered, doing that right now wasn't such a good idea. It would make him look accountable. And besides, someone being impassive for one person lent itself well to doing the same for another.

"How long will he insist on looking, you think?" Julien looked over at Bret as he settled back in, wait for Myles to get out of the shower resumed.

[backslash]

((Myles Roux continued from Van-der-Waals Valentines))

In truth, Myles had actually gotten out of the shower several minutes ago. In the time since, he had just been waiting around to see if the hot water would run out.

He had toweled off and swaddled himself in the complimentary bathrobe (there were two, and one of them was his now, possibly forever since it was pretty comfy), and had amused himself by scrolling through texts and social media while the music continued to play from his phone. Every so often, he stuck his hand back into the shower to confirm that the water was still hot. It showed no signs of letting up, either. These places delivered.

He could hear the roommates he'd gotten stuck with talking outside, muffled by the running water. He was a little surprised nobody had come to bang on the door yet, but maybe they were smart enough to know that doing so wouldn't speed him up any. If they'd tried it, it would have just motivated him to do more of what he was doing now, ie wasting time.

Eventually though, Myles ran out of messages to check, and he didn't want to drain his phone's battery too much, so the jig was up. He shut off the water and the music, dressed and gathered his discarded pajamas and phone, and finally unlocked the door and stepped out.

Jesus, this room felt even chillier now that he was coming from the very steamy bathroom back into its frigid embrace.

"Morning," he said brightly to Julien and Bret. "Hot water's out." It wasn't, and they'd figure that out soon enough (or, the more amusing possibility, they'd wait a while to shower and not catch him in the lie) but saying that it was was funnier.