Adrien rolled his eyes, starting to kick his legs again. "There's also this amazing phenomenon- not sure if you've heard of it- called weather. Y'see, storms tend to gather really suddenly around here because it's Texas and God hates you and wants to rain on you when you're distressed."
Alex started pacing, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Okay, you might not believe me about that but what about when I jumped us from the street to the alley? What are you going to try and reason that with?”
Adrien sighed angrily because there really wasn't any way to explain it that didn't include magic. "I don't know! That's the whole reason I let you explain it to me in the first place, but nothing you're saying makes sense! Do you have magic? Fucking maybe. Can I deal with you telling me I have magic? Hell no! I'm 18, I would've found out by now if I did."
“Magic is a complicated thing. Sometimes it’s nit triggered inside you for years, some people go their whole lives not even knowing they have magic,” Alex took a few deep breaths to calm himself, “Look, when I have enough energy to make a jump I can prove it.”
Adrien sighed, hopping off the counter to rummage through his fridge. "I don't suppose you left your fantasy land with any money to buy a hotel room, did you? Where are you going to stay while you save up the energy? And how are you going to feed yourself?"
Alex rolled his eyes, “I’m sorry that when I’m in the middle of a fight my mind isn’t focused on money. Besides, my currency is different. I can just go back into the alley, I’ve slept in worse places.”
"Y'know, I was tempted to let you stay the night and feed you some leftovers." Adrien set down a Tupperware container full of chicken. "But if you're going to be an ass I'll just let it go." He shoved a fork into Alex's hand and grabbed a second container, this one full of salad.
Alex very nearly dropped the fork, blinking a couple times, “I can’t not be an ass, it’s just my personality.” He replied, shrugging his good shoulder.
"Then scale it back. You're getting on my last nerve." Adrien sat back up on the counter, digging into the salad with his fingers. He slid the chicken over to Alex. "Tell me more about this magic shit while you eat. If I hypothetically had it, how would I go about controlling it?"
Alex stabbed a piece of chicken and took a bite, swallowing before he responded, “Like anything, it takes time and practise. I can already tell your magic responds well to emotion. We’d have to go somewhere else to help you learn, it’s a bit of a time heavy mission I’m on but… control needs to be learnt. It’s all in your head. Once you’ve mastered control, you’ll be set with everything else.”
"Listen, you're not taking me anywhere until I'm %100 sure that storm today was magic and not just a fluke. And how much time do we have to train me up? Isn't your world slowly being taken over by the forces of evil or something?" He finished his salad quickly, setting the empty container in the sink.
"Don't remind me," Alex muttered, going silent as he munched on the chicken, "It's not going to work if you don't believe it will. You have to try and make it happen, believe it's real otherwise nothing is going to happen."
Adrien rolled his eyes. "That sounds like bullshit to me. Now every time I can't do it, you're going to pull the 'you just have to believe' card until I feel like tearing out my hair."
"Look just…" He took a breath as if calming himself before he said, "Please. I need this. My friends need this. I can prove it to you that all of what I'm saying is true I just need to rest for a while until I can make a jump."
Adrien froze at his tone, caught in a mental war between wanting to help and wanting to get the hell away from this guy. "Fine," he finally snapped, brushing past Alex and pausing in the hallway behind him. "I'll jump with you if it means that much. And you can rest here while you recharge or whatever. Just… bandage yourself up before you come into my room. There's a first aid kit in the bathroom."
Alex let out a relieved breath and nodded, "Okay. Will do… thanks." He mumbled something under his breath, inaudible and in a different language before finding the bathroom. He didn't show it but he was grateful, so, so grateful that he had a chance to at least prove it was true.
Adrien nodded sharply and finished walking to his bedroom, slamming the door firmly behind him. He collapsed onto his bed, arms pillowed beneath him as he stared up at the ceiling. What the fuck had he gotten himself into? "Come in here when you're done!" he yelled to distract himself.
Alex didn’t bother replying. He slowly stripped himself of his shirt, being careful not to touch his wounds too much. He placed his sword on the floor, finding the medical supplies and getting to work. Luckily, Alex had fixed up wounds worse then this before so he wasn’t too concerned.
Adrien rolled his eyes and sat up. "Y'know people usually like getting some kind of response after they've said something!" He walked down the hall, slamming open the bathroom. Alex was probably fine, but the image of him bleeding out on the floor was too scary to ignore. "Are you dead yet?"
Alex whipped his hand to look at Adrien, narrowing his eyes as he dabbed at a deep wound on his abs, “I’m not dead. Calm down.” He looked back down to the injury and continued working.
Adrien rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’m sorry I even cared.” He shut the door harder than he meant to, sending a loud bang through the hall, and stormed back into his bedroom. Of course Alex didn’t want any concern. He was strong and big and also a complete asshole.
Alex shook his head to himself, sighing softly. A part of him knew he shouldn’t be such an ass but it was in his nature. After a few minutes of cleaning and bandaging his wounds, he headed towards the bedroom. He knocked before entering, trying to at least show some manners.
"Fuck off! You can go sleep on the couch if you're going to be an ass!" Adrien yelled from where he was curled up on the bed. He knew he was acting like a brat but right now he couldn't force himself to care. Not when an embarrassed blush still clung to his cheeks from the exchange in the bathroom.
Alex rolled his eyes, fisting his shirt in his hand, “Fine. Whatever you say.” He replied, heading back into the living room. He flopped down on the couch and sighed. God damn this stubborn idiot for being the one person who could help.
Adrien eventually dragged himself out of bed to change into his pajamas, cursing quietly as his chest started to hurt. It was a sharp pain, like someone was stabbing a knife into his ribs, but he pushed past it. He'd felt worse before this was practically nothing. The ache in his conscious, however, was bothering him. Normally he could shrug off these kinds of things but Alex was clearly in pain and Adrien had been squarely in the wrong.
With a mournful sigh, he grabbed some painkillers from the kitchen and meandered into the living room. "Here." He shoved the bottle into Alex's hand, hoping he would see it for the apology that it was.