6th Floor of the Dorms, Sunday Evening
Getting rid of Umbridge was only a piece of the puzzle when it came to undoing the damage she’d inflicted upon Fandom. They also had to find the device she’d used to make all this possible. Their search eventually led them to the sixth floor, specifically, in an ironic little twist given Umbridge’s opinion on public displays of affection, to Room 614.
As dorm rooms went, it was fairly innocuous looking. A bed, a dresser (with one drawer slightly askew), a comfortable-looking couch over in one corner... a door that slammed shut with a resounding click the moment the last of the young men charged with finding the object of power stepped through.
Well.
Now what were they supposed to do?
Belthazor
614, 614, why was that so familiar? But it'd been awhile since Bel had been to the dorms, let alone lived in them.
When the door slammed shut his first instinct was to yank it back open. But it wouldn't budge. "What the hell?"
Alec Lightwood
"It's a trap," Alec said at once, because... someone always needed to announce that it was a trap. Obviously.
It was a suspiciously empty-looking trap, though.
Jonothon Starsmore
//Of course it is,// Jonothon grumbled, backtracking for a moment and trying the door handle. //When is it not a trap?//
He'd spent too much time in detention for him to get stuck here, now, so close to putting an end to Umbridge's reign for good.
//But we're still standing.// Funny, that. //So, let's do what it is we came here for, and then get th'hell out, shall we, lads?//
Bel
"Let me try the door from the outside to make sure we can get out of here," Bel said. "It's going to suck if we find this thing and can't get out."
His form blurred as he tried to shimmer outside to the hall, but he didn't vanish completely. His expression grew frustrated as he realized some force was keeping him in the room, and after a few moments he gave up the attempt.
"What the fuck? There must be a spell on the room. Gotta be Umbridge."
Alec
Alec wasn't about to pretend that that didn't daunt him at all, but for right now he was just going to focus on the goal at hand. "Let's just look for it," he said, echoing Jono. "At least if we destroy it here, we'll have accomplished that much, and then one of you can try contacting someone to get us out of here."
He couldn't, because he didn't have anyone to contact. But surely one of the others knew someone who wasn't currently evil.
Jono
//If push comes to shove, I'll just blow th'bloody thing off its hinges,// Jono agreed, nodding into the room. //We came here for a reason. Least we can do is make certain we're in th'right place.//
Which meant... ransacking a dorm room, apparently. Jonothon shrugged, and then started poking around the dresser. Might as well get started.
Bel
Bel dropped down to his hands and knees so he could look under the bed.
"Hourglass, right?" he said, keeping his eyes open for a glint of metal. He was expecting brass or something similar.
Alec
"Hourglass," Alec confirmed, crouching down to rummage through the couch cushions. "Obviously it's going to be a small one."
Jono
//Obvious... ly...// Jonothon was just going to stand where he was at the dresser, staring at the contents with an eyebrow raised. //Tell me, mates. Anyone know if somebody's lived in this room before? They left behind some things.//
Like a few rolls of film worth of photos of boys, kissing. Not exactly what Jono was expecting to stumble over while looking for the means to save the world, or something like it.
Bel
"Maybe?" Bel said, shrugging as he stood up, finding nothing under the bed.
He crossed the room to look at what Jono had found. "Oh, hey, I know those guys," he said, pointing to a picture of Bridge and Xander. "That was ages ago. That was...."
His voice trailed off as he looked around the room. No wonder the number had seemed familiar. "Oh, fuck me," he said.
Alec
Alec, who had stood up and come over to investigate when Jono had started to trail off, turned a very bright shade of pink as soon as he saw the photographs.
"I don't think that'll be necessary," he said at once, and then promptly blushed even more furiously.
Jono
//Indeed. If that's an invitation, I'd really rather not,// Jono agreed, raising an eyebrow as he stepped back from the dresser. //So, are we in th'right room or not, mate?//
Because if there was kissing involved in this saving the world thing, they'd brought the wrong mutant along, here.
Bel
"This is the Room of Boykissy," Bel groaned. "Once you're inside, you can't leave until...." He sighed and rolled his eyes.
And right now only two of the three in the room had lips, so.
Alec
"There's an entire room for that?" Not the point, Alec. "I mean." Okay, lots more blushing. "I. That is. You and -- ?"
Alec, human speech. Please try it.
Jono
//... Not it.//
Look, if he couldn't have a sense of humour about the fact that he wasn't actually able to get them out of this room, what could Jonothon do?
... Search for the device, perhaps. That seemed like it was going to be important, still. Leaving the other two to the daunting task of snogging one another silly, he shrugged and started rummaging through the drawer full of photos again. If he had something to hide, he'd generally tuck it in with his socks, but this seemed to be the closest thing in here.
Bel
"I'm not kissing an infant," Bel growled.
He wanted to point out he was immune to fire, but that still wouldn't really help matters.
This couldn't be right. He couldn't have to kiss a kid to save the world. Dammit, Fandom.
Alec
"I -- you're a demon," Alec pointed out. Yes, Alec, this was accurate. "And I'm not--" That wasn't true. "I mean, I haven't-- I. You really can't turn off the fire?" he asked Jono pleadingly.
Still articulate!
Jono
//Sure, mate. As soon as it means I won't keel over and die a hollowed-out, smouldering corpse, I'll get right on that.//
Jono's brow furrowed as he turned the drawer over and spilled the contents onto the floor, and then went on to do the same with the next drawer, and the next. And the next.
Bel
"Let's just find the damn thing first and worry about kissing later," Bel said, moving to the windowsill to feel around the top to see if there was something tucked away up there.
He really couldn't believe he'd just said that sentence.
Alec
Alec appreciated that sentiment, at least, and hurried back over to the couch, where he proceeded to rummage some more. After a while, his hand hit something and he brightened. "Oh, there's--" Nope, those were condoms. "Never mind."
Jono
//Lovely.// Jono overturned the last drawer, expecting more of the same. Photos, glitter, little flags with glitter on them. The shoddy-looking hourglass that rolled across the floor and landed at his feet? That really just seemed like an added bonus, after all of the rest of it.
//Well, hello.//
Jono bent over and picked it up, wrinkling his nose a little as some duct tape caught on his thumb.
//... Seriously?//
Bel
"Seriously?" Bel echoed as he came over to see.
"She did all this with that?" Fandom, Bel was judging you. Judging you for your vulnerability to some contraption held together with duct tape and twine and...was that gum?
Alec
Alec was kind of disgusted. And a little bit embarrassed for Umbridge. "Well, it shouldn't be too hard to break, at any rate."
Jono
//There's the hope, anyhow. Better pucker up, boys, I have no mind to be stuck in here with this piece of shite and you two for th'rest of my days.//
The gum was sticking to his fingers, now, and Jono was making nondescript mental grumbling sounds as he tried to rub them clean on his jacket. Ugh.
Bel
"Right," Bel said. "Let's just get this over with." He eyed Alec. "You're not going to explode or something if you kiss a demon, will you?"
He might as well make the best of it. It was in the name of saving the world, after all.
Alec
"Not that I know of," Alec said begrudgingly, quickly beginning to return to his impression of a tomato. "This is really the only way out?"
Jono
//I could try to blast down th'door,// Jono offered, passing the hourglass from one hand to the next impatiently. //But I can't promise we won't all burn t'death in here if I do.//
So, you know.
Bel
Bel shrugged. "I won't, but...."
He crooked his finger at Alec. "C'mere, kid. I feel like I'm robbing the cradle, but let's do this."
Alec
Blush intensifying even more, Alec took the requisite few steps toward Bel, fidgeting with his arms a little. He craned his neck awkwardly in anticipation, not about to make the first move.
Jono
//Oh, spare me.//
Jonothon rolled his eyes as he idly plucked at a spare length of twine that had been wound around the base of the hourglass. Really, they were going to be stuck in this room forever, weren't they? He plucked at the twine again. And then started prodding at the duct tape.
Oh, hey. That piece was loose. Maybe if he just gave that a tug...
Bel
Fortunately, Bel didn't have any problems making the first move. He reached out to grab hold of Alec's shoulders and pulled him close. The room needed this to be good, right? If he was remembering correctly. It couldn't just be some chaste peck on the lips.
He cupped Alec's face in his hands, then brought his lips down on his. Not too rough, but not exactly gentle either.
Alec
Alec's intention had been to just sort of stand there and let Bel do the work, because this was his first kiss and it was in front of an audience and it was a lot of pressure, okay? But then there was a mouth on his own and okay, that was not horrible at all. So he was maybe a little bit cooperative.
By the time he drew back, he was flushed and wide-eyed. "Door?" he managed breathlessly.
Jono
//Gold star, mates. Let's get out of here now so we can find a safe way to dispose of--//
And that was when the duct tape that Jono had been fumbling with caught on the twine, which knocked some of the bubble gum out of place, which sent one half of the hourglass careening for the floor, while the other fell to bits in Jonothon's hands. The piece that fell shattered at his feet, and the sand in the other half slipped through his fingers.
All the while, Jono was just kind of staring at it in mute horror, brain taking a moment to catch up with the situation, mouth hanging open in shock as the events of the past week smacked him upside the head, twisting in and mingling with the rest of his life before it.
"Of..."
Hooboy
Dirty Cradlerobber
Bel had been about to make some sort of crack at Alec about not being bad for a beginner, but then his mind was being flooded with the return of the real world and all its memories. That there'd been no Anders in this world and he hadn't even realized it made his mind reel. And so did the fact that it was Anakin responsible in a way for this timeline. Jackass. Of course it was his fault for dying like that.
"...wait, did we do that?" he said. Then smugness set in, because this was Bel. "Awwww, yeah."
Alec
So it hadn't been real. It had been... just a strange week, but the memories, the effects... none of it had been real.
"We should go," Alec said quietly.
Jono
"Right," Jonothon agreed, shaking himself out of the daze he'd fallen into, staring at the last bits of sand that were running between his fingers. "Let's get the hell out of here."
This time, when he reached for the door and tried the knob, it opened without any trouble at all.
"Good work, lads."
Bel
"Sure, now you have lips," Bel said, just a little bit grumpily. The other world still had him somewhat shaken, but right now he just wanted to grab Phoebe and find Anders and lock themselves in their room at the Hyperion for a week or so.
"And either of you tells Anakin that I just helped save his ass, I'll kick your asses," he added. Because reasons. He didn't want him thinking he cared or something.
Alec
"Somehow I don't think anyone's going to be mocking what we just did," Alec remarked, then quickly added, "But I wouldn't have a problem with never mentioning it again."
Seriously. Never.
[ooc: preplay by the fabulous bloodyspitfire/apocalipped, stillajackass/demonbelthazor & doesntbetray/not_trivial!]
As dorm rooms went, it was fairly innocuous looking. A bed, a dresser (with one drawer slightly askew), a comfortable-looking couch over in one corner... a door that slammed shut with a resounding click the moment the last of the young men charged with finding the object of power stepped through.
Well.
Now what were they supposed to do?
Belthazor
614, 614, why was that so familiar? But it'd been awhile since Bel had been to the dorms, let alone lived in them.
When the door slammed shut his first instinct was to yank it back open. But it wouldn't budge. "What the hell?"
Alec Lightwood
"It's a trap," Alec said at once, because... someone always needed to announce that it was a trap. Obviously.
It was a suspiciously empty-looking trap, though.
Jonothon Starsmore
//Of course it is,// Jonothon grumbled, backtracking for a moment and trying the door handle. //When is it not a trap?//
He'd spent too much time in detention for him to get stuck here, now, so close to putting an end to Umbridge's reign for good.
//But we're still standing.// Funny, that. //So, let's do what it is we came here for, and then get th'hell out, shall we, lads?//
Bel
"Let me try the door from the outside to make sure we can get out of here," Bel said. "It's going to suck if we find this thing and can't get out."
His form blurred as he tried to shimmer outside to the hall, but he didn't vanish completely. His expression grew frustrated as he realized some force was keeping him in the room, and after a few moments he gave up the attempt.
"What the fuck? There must be a spell on the room. Gotta be Umbridge."
Alec
Alec wasn't about to pretend that that didn't daunt him at all, but for right now he was just going to focus on the goal at hand. "Let's just look for it," he said, echoing Jono. "At least if we destroy it here, we'll have accomplished that much, and then one of you can try contacting someone to get us out of here."
He couldn't, because he didn't have anyone to contact. But surely one of the others knew someone who wasn't currently evil.
Jono
//If push comes to shove, I'll just blow th'bloody thing off its hinges,// Jono agreed, nodding into the room. //We came here for a reason. Least we can do is make certain we're in th'right place.//
Which meant... ransacking a dorm room, apparently. Jonothon shrugged, and then started poking around the dresser. Might as well get started.
Bel
Bel dropped down to his hands and knees so he could look under the bed.
"Hourglass, right?" he said, keeping his eyes open for a glint of metal. He was expecting brass or something similar.
Alec
"Hourglass," Alec confirmed, crouching down to rummage through the couch cushions. "Obviously it's going to be a small one."
Jono
//Obvious... ly...// Jonothon was just going to stand where he was at the dresser, staring at the contents with an eyebrow raised. //Tell me, mates. Anyone know if somebody's lived in this room before? They left behind some things.//
Like a few rolls of film worth of photos of boys, kissing. Not exactly what Jono was expecting to stumble over while looking for the means to save the world, or something like it.
Bel
"Maybe?" Bel said, shrugging as he stood up, finding nothing under the bed.
He crossed the room to look at what Jono had found. "Oh, hey, I know those guys," he said, pointing to a picture of Bridge and Xander. "That was ages ago. That was...."
His voice trailed off as he looked around the room. No wonder the number had seemed familiar. "Oh, fuck me," he said.
Alec
Alec, who had stood up and come over to investigate when Jono had started to trail off, turned a very bright shade of pink as soon as he saw the photographs.
"I don't think that'll be necessary," he said at once, and then promptly blushed even more furiously.
Jono
//Indeed. If that's an invitation, I'd really rather not,// Jono agreed, raising an eyebrow as he stepped back from the dresser. //So, are we in th'right room or not, mate?//
Because if there was kissing involved in this saving the world thing, they'd brought the wrong mutant along, here.
Bel
"This is the Room of Boykissy," Bel groaned. "Once you're inside, you can't leave until...." He sighed and rolled his eyes.
And right now only two of the three in the room had lips, so.
Alec
"There's an entire room for that?" Not the point, Alec. "I mean." Okay, lots more blushing. "I. That is. You and -- ?"
Alec, human speech. Please try it.
Jono
//... Not it.//
Look, if he couldn't have a sense of humour about the fact that he wasn't actually able to get them out of this room, what could Jonothon do?
... Search for the device, perhaps. That seemed like it was going to be important, still. Leaving the other two to the daunting task of snogging one another silly, he shrugged and started rummaging through the drawer full of photos again. If he had something to hide, he'd generally tuck it in with his socks, but this seemed to be the closest thing in here.
Bel
"I'm not kissing an infant," Bel growled.
He wanted to point out he was immune to fire, but that still wouldn't really help matters.
This couldn't be right. He couldn't have to kiss a kid to save the world. Dammit, Fandom.
Alec
"I -- you're a demon," Alec pointed out. Yes, Alec, this was accurate. "And I'm not--" That wasn't true. "I mean, I haven't-- I. You really can't turn off the fire?" he asked Jono pleadingly.
Still articulate!
Jono
//Sure, mate. As soon as it means I won't keel over and die a hollowed-out, smouldering corpse, I'll get right on that.//
Jono's brow furrowed as he turned the drawer over and spilled the contents onto the floor, and then went on to do the same with the next drawer, and the next. And the next.
Bel
"Let's just find the damn thing first and worry about kissing later," Bel said, moving to the windowsill to feel around the top to see if there was something tucked away up there.
He really couldn't believe he'd just said that sentence.
Alec
Alec appreciated that sentiment, at least, and hurried back over to the couch, where he proceeded to rummage some more. After a while, his hand hit something and he brightened. "Oh, there's--" Nope, those were condoms. "Never mind."
Jono
//Lovely.// Jono overturned the last drawer, expecting more of the same. Photos, glitter, little flags with glitter on them. The shoddy-looking hourglass that rolled across the floor and landed at his feet? That really just seemed like an added bonus, after all of the rest of it.
//Well, hello.//
Jono bent over and picked it up, wrinkling his nose a little as some duct tape caught on his thumb.
//... Seriously?//
Bel
"Seriously?" Bel echoed as he came over to see.
"She did all this with that?" Fandom, Bel was judging you. Judging you for your vulnerability to some contraption held together with duct tape and twine and...was that gum?
Alec
Alec was kind of disgusted. And a little bit embarrassed for Umbridge. "Well, it shouldn't be too hard to break, at any rate."
Jono
//There's the hope, anyhow. Better pucker up, boys, I have no mind to be stuck in here with this piece of shite and you two for th'rest of my days.//
The gum was sticking to his fingers, now, and Jono was making nondescript mental grumbling sounds as he tried to rub them clean on his jacket. Ugh.
Bel
"Right," Bel said. "Let's just get this over with." He eyed Alec. "You're not going to explode or something if you kiss a demon, will you?"
He might as well make the best of it. It was in the name of saving the world, after all.
Alec
"Not that I know of," Alec said begrudgingly, quickly beginning to return to his impression of a tomato. "This is really the only way out?"
Jono
//I could try to blast down th'door,// Jono offered, passing the hourglass from one hand to the next impatiently. //But I can't promise we won't all burn t'death in here if I do.//
So, you know.
Bel
Bel shrugged. "I won't, but...."
He crooked his finger at Alec. "C'mere, kid. I feel like I'm robbing the cradle, but let's do this."
Alec
Blush intensifying even more, Alec took the requisite few steps toward Bel, fidgeting with his arms a little. He craned his neck awkwardly in anticipation, not about to make the first move.
Jono
//Oh, spare me.//
Jonothon rolled his eyes as he idly plucked at a spare length of twine that had been wound around the base of the hourglass. Really, they were going to be stuck in this room forever, weren't they? He plucked at the twine again. And then started prodding at the duct tape.
Oh, hey. That piece was loose. Maybe if he just gave that a tug...
Bel
Fortunately, Bel didn't have any problems making the first move. He reached out to grab hold of Alec's shoulders and pulled him close. The room needed this to be good, right? If he was remembering correctly. It couldn't just be some chaste peck on the lips.
He cupped Alec's face in his hands, then brought his lips down on his. Not too rough, but not exactly gentle either.
Alec
Alec's intention had been to just sort of stand there and let Bel do the work, because this was his first kiss and it was in front of an audience and it was a lot of pressure, okay? But then there was a mouth on his own and okay, that was not horrible at all. So he was maybe a little bit cooperative.
By the time he drew back, he was flushed and wide-eyed. "Door?" he managed breathlessly.
Jono
//Gold star, mates. Let's get out of here now so we can find a safe way to dispose of--//
And that was when the duct tape that Jono had been fumbling with caught on the twine, which knocked some of the bubble gum out of place, which sent one half of the hourglass careening for the floor, while the other fell to bits in Jonothon's hands. The piece that fell shattered at his feet, and the sand in the other half slipped through his fingers.
All the while, Jono was just kind of staring at it in mute horror, brain taking a moment to catch up with the situation, mouth hanging open in shock as the events of the past week smacked him upside the head, twisting in and mingling with the rest of his life before it.
"Of..."
Hooboy
Dirty Cradlerobber
Bel had been about to make some sort of crack at Alec about not being bad for a beginner, but then his mind was being flooded with the return of the real world and all its memories. That there'd been no Anders in this world and he hadn't even realized it made his mind reel. And so did the fact that it was Anakin responsible in a way for this timeline. Jackass. Of course it was his fault for dying like that.
"...wait, did we do that?" he said. Then smugness set in, because this was Bel. "Awwww, yeah."
Alec
So it hadn't been real. It had been... just a strange week, but the memories, the effects... none of it had been real.
"We should go," Alec said quietly.
Jono
"Right," Jonothon agreed, shaking himself out of the daze he'd fallen into, staring at the last bits of sand that were running between his fingers. "Let's get the hell out of here."
This time, when he reached for the door and tried the knob, it opened without any trouble at all.
"Good work, lads."
Bel
"Sure, now you have lips," Bel said, just a little bit grumpily. The other world still had him somewhat shaken, but right now he just wanted to grab Phoebe and find Anders and lock themselves in their room at the Hyperion for a week or so.
"And either of you tells Anakin that I just helped save his ass, I'll kick your asses," he added. Because reasons. He didn't want him thinking he cared or something.
Alec
"Somehow I don't think anyone's going to be mocking what we just did," Alec remarked, then quickly added, "But I wouldn't have a problem with never mentioning it again."
Seriously. Never.
[ooc: preplay by the fabulous bloodyspitfire/apocalipped, stillajackass/demonbelthazor & doesntbetray/not_trivial!]