We Can't Help It

[Casper & Jasper Emory]

U should order Chinese, we are coming over.

Please.

Those two text would buzz in on Alexandra's phone, one from Jasper and the other from Casper. They had texted Alex a while back, sort of confronting her about how they felt betrayed by her. They still felt like she betrayed. Especially because they heard that she had been spending a lot of time with Artemis, that she had even went to prom with him. Talk about a slap to the face. Neither Alex nor Franck invited them to prom. Did they just assume the brothers didn't want to go? Did they just not want to go with the brother? Was it because they were only sixteen year old and Sophomores?

The brother's didn't know the answer and it just made the pain they felt to those they thought cared about them sting all the more. Still, they had worked on calming down and at least didn't feel like punching things to death like they did before. No, the chemicals that were being released of late tended to make the two of them depressed, but they had gotten good at going against that feeling. Getting fresh air, exercise, and just doing things that they enjoyed help them for the most part keep control over themselves.

So they felt that it was a good time to pay Alex a visit and figure out where she stood with them. They reached her dorm room not to long after they sent the text, and both knocked on the door, as they took a deep breath. They still felt so off. "Alex, it’s us." The brothers said in unison as they messed with one another's hair to make sure that they didn't look like they had gotten into a fight with one another, which they did.

((Tag:Alexandra Lawson))

[Alexandra Lawson]

It was a good thing Alex had already committed herself to doing little more than playing video games and drowning herself in junk food and Chinese the moment she'd gotten the rather curt text that ended the conversation she was having with the twins. She didn't commonly drown herself in food, usually only games, but she'd talked about it to the twins and she was going to be damned if she was going to let a good Chinese food craving go to waste just because she was upset.

It was true, she felt it unfair that she was being judged based on action she'd taken when she didn't know all the factors in the equation. Alex had talked about the twins with Artemis. It was a topic the two of them had actually purposely avoided. How could she have been blamed for going to prom with a boy she liked when she didn't know what he'd done? In the end it didn't matter. Alex didn't like the confrontation and she was very much beginning to feel like she was stuck in the middle of something that shouldn't concern her. It all sucked on so many levels.

The running water that cascaded from the overhead spout drowned out the sound of Alex's phone beeping the sudden shift in plans announced by the twins. It sounded the perfect night to take a shower, eat some Chinese, and tinker around online before turning in early. Distress wasn't a fragrance Alex wore well and she simply wanted a distraction. Everything would be better in the morning.

Eyes widened when Alex faintly caught the knock at the door. She started as if someone had reached into the shower and poked her in the ribs. With a groan she shut off the water and hurriedly went to wrap a towel around her slender form, tucking it within itself so it wouldn't go anywhere as she scurried out into her room, heading for the door. "I'm sorry!" She said, presumably to one of her roommates. "I know it was my turn for the dishes, I'll do them tomorrow, I promise and I'll even make lunch to make up for-" Her words caught in her throat as she opened the door to find none other than the Emory twins towering over her. "Oh..." She said, eyes large and peering up at them. This was certainly not what she had expected.

[Casper & Jasper Emory]

When the siblings sent out the text asking her to go ahead and order Chinese, they did not think that they would be greeted in such a way. They had not told her to get ready for anything; they figured they would just be hanging out in Alex's room. Yet, here she was answering the door in a towel and still a little dripping yet. The way she spoke also made it seem like she had been expecting someone else. That thought alone was enough to cause some anger to rise up in the boys, making them think that maybe she called up Artemis to take their place and was getting all cleaned up for him.

So much anger, so much...jealousy. Ugh, they hated the feelings. There was enough of it to keep them from being outright dogs and leaping on her for being in a towel in front of them. That didn't mean they were not looking, because they were staring. The brother's twin eyes starting from the top and slowly working their way down. It was obvious too because they were not saying anything the whole time they were checking her out. It was only thanks to Casper clearing his throat and trying to keep himself in control that Jasper refocused.

"If we are interrupting something, we can leave." Casper said, trying his best to be polite about it, but there was a hint of anger to his voice. "Unless you wanted to have that kind of fun with us, then I think we would be game for staying." Jasper added. There was some anger in him too, but lust sometimes won out for him and in this case it did. She was in a towel and dripping wet! How could he not think about just sexing her up right there if she just said yes?

[Alexandra Lawson]

"W-what?" Alex stammered a little bit as her brain tried to catch up with the situation unfolding around her. She caught the contempt in the twins' voices and her head shook. She took a couple steps back and to the side, opening the doorway for them to enter if they so desired. "No, it's fine. I don't have anything going." She gave a nervous laugh and a bit of an exaggerated shrug. "Just taking a shower is all." An uncertain, yet inviting smile turned up toward the much taller boys. It hadn't quite sunk in that she was standing in front of them in nothing but a towel with her long, brown hair still wet and clinging to the exposed skin of her shoulder and neck.

"Oh!" She said suddenly, her eyes lighting up. "Food!" She exclaimed. "There's plenty on the way, are you..." Alex studied the two boys for a moment. She hadn't checked her phone. Their messages had gone unread up to this point. "... are you sticking around?" She asked hopefully. She didn't want there to be any bad blood between them on account of her connection with one of their enemies. She would be approaching the boy in question soon enough about what had happened with the twins, of that she was sure. The simple fact remained, however, that Alex had nothing to do with it nor did she have prior knowledge of anything beyond the twins marking up the boy's face. "I was just about to, you know, bash some people in the face." She gestured to the TV sitting behind her.

[Casper & Jasper Emory]

She said that she didn't have anything going, but they were still a bit on edge. Did she not get their text messages? Was she ignoring them? No, she was wet and in a towel so perhaps she just had not heard her phone while in the shower. The brothers were feeling a tad bit more forgiving because of the current nice view in front of them. How could they not be pleased to see a girl dripping wet and in a towel? If her towel were to slip at all, they were certain they were going to end up standing at attention.

For now they just felt a little bit excited, but they were still not happy with her so that was keeping them from getting too excited. The brothers were pleased that she seemed game for the plan to eat and talked about there being plenty on the way. They were already in her room by now, looking around and touching a few things. Their main focus was to get to Alex's room, which was easy to tell because of the light amount of steam coming from it which was coming from the shower. "Yes, we came to hang out." Casper said as he and his brother moved to go into her room and try to get a peek into her bathroom.

They always wanted to see what a girl's bathroom looked like; they heard the public ones were something to be terrified of. "Go ahead. We will watch." Jasper said, only to be hit by his brother. "We will help." Jasper said, getting hit by his brother once more. "Fine, we will go wait on the couch." Jasper said as he moved to go sit on the couch to watch the TV. Casper however stayed behind and smirked before he leaned in close to whisper to Alex. "I could just stay behind and watch you if you prefer that." Casper teased before going to join his brother on the couch.

[Alexandra Lawson]

Alex didn't mind the way the boys moved about her room. There wasn't much for them to find, as it was a fairly nondescript room. Alex had a few knick-knacks here and there, mostly of the horror movie genre. Her prized material possession was an 18" figure of Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th series, still in the box and signed by four of the men who'd portrayed the character in film. Other than that, there were a few scattered plush figures, the most prominent being a small Umbreon that sat on her desk. The only adornments on her walls were a few pictures of what seemed to be her family back home and, in a style very befitting the cluttered, often chaotic mind of the girl who lived in it, the room was in no discernible order. A few articles of clothing were strewn about and the bed was unmade. The boys had certainly caught Alex by surprise if she allowed them to enter while the clothes she'd worn before her shower (underwear included) were still laying in a pile near the bathroom door.

And through it all, it still took the boys pointing out she wasn't dressed for her to realize she was little more than the slip of a towel away from revealing far more about herself than she wanted to. She stood for a moment as the twins sort of went back and forth. When they finally turned their attention back to her, she let out a short 'eep' sound, snatched a pair of shorts and a t-shirt from a small pile sitting on her bed and scampered into the bathroom, shutting the door loudly behind her.

[Casper & Jasper Emory]

There was not much interesting in Alex's room, just normal boring stuff. They didn't have a care in the world for most of the things that were in her room, what they cared about involved clothing. Specifically, clothing that was worn to cover you 'bits'. That was where their specific interest was because obviously they wanted to see what taste Alex had. They spotted what they were looking for on her bed and were immediately giving one another a look. They didn't say anything about it however; if they had then she would have scooped it up and hid it away.

No, they did not want that. They wanted to act like they were no interested really in anything around her room so she would go into her shower so they could fully check things out. To make sure that their plan worked, Casper made sure to get Alex a little hot and bothered. Or at least tease her in such a way that she was either going to run from them or flirt back. Both would be a win because they would get a reaction out of the girl and could have some fun. Despite being mad her still, it was nice to know that their Alex had not changed much. The two of them both snickered when she scampered away into the bathroom.

"Aww, come back out Alex! I want to see!" Jasper yelled as he and his brother had gotten right to work. Their magic fingers sliding over things, picking them up, placing them back, and finding the jackpot. "I knew this was her taste. Pay up." Jasper said as he held up one of Alex's underwear. If she didn't want the siblings looking at her delicate, then she should have one locked them out of her room, and not left them unattended. They were young teenager boys after all, bad to the bone, and could not help themselves.

[Alexandra Lawson]

Nope. Alex was in no mind to have anyone watch her get dressed at this point. It was bad enough the boys had been in her room for all of a minute and she was already flustered and flailing about. The moment the bathroom door slammed shut behind her, Alex moved to her sink and leaned over it, starting at her crimson flushed cheeks in the mirror. She lowered her gaze and took a deep breath. Things were different now. It wasn't fair to a certain other party for her to interact with the twins as she had in the past. She had to keep her composure and not do anything she would regret later on.

After just a few minutes, Alex emerged from the bathroom clad in the red shorts and the over-sized t-shirt she'd snatched up in her rush. She was putting the finishing touches on wrapping her long, dark hair in a towel as she stepped out into her room. Visibly calmer and more in control, Alex gave an amused shake of her head as she folded her arms across her chest. "Really, boys?" She said with a sigh, though she really didn't seem bothered by the sight she'd walked in on. "What is the fascination guys have with girls and their underwear?" She wasn't embarrassed, rather far more amused than even she expected to be.

[Casper & Jasper Emory]

By the time Alex would get out of the bathroom, she would find the siblings still going through her underwear draw. Jasper even had some of the delicate items just chilling on his shoulder as if they were pets or something. Casper was holding up a pair to the light, seeing how see through they were and in general admiring the detail that went into the pair he was holding. The brothers only stopped to look at Alex when she stepped out before going back to going through her things.

She didn't scream or tell them to stop so that meant that she was okay with it all, right? So if she was okay there was no point in scrambling to cover up what they were doing, she should have expected this from them anyways. "Yes really, you left us alone bored in a girl's room, what did you expect?" Jasper asked with a chuckle as he moved to make himself comfortable lying down on Alex's bed. It even smelled like a girl’s bed. Girls were such girls. "You have to ask other guys. I don't know about the general thought on it but for us it allows us to now picture what is under your clothing. Lets us know what kind of girl you are in the bed or wish to be." Casper pointed out.

Jasper nodded his head along with his brother, agreeing with what his older twin had to say on the matter. "There is like a whole guy science things on girls about it. Their underwear tells it all." Jasper added after his brother’s words as he moved a little on Alex's bed before letting out a yawn. "So, when is the food going to be here or are we eating you?" Jasper asked, giving a wink because of that line was just so perfect that he had to use it. Casper just shook his head but did give his brother a few claps for that.

[Alexandra Lawson]

Alex most certainly did not want to know what the twins thought her underwear said about her, either in bed or otherwise. While, no, she wasn't all that upset over their intrusion of her privacy, she was more annoyed with the idea that someone's underwear was a window into their soul, as it were. Alex dressed for comfort above all else. When not forced to wear the Academy uniforms, it was all t-shirts and jeans for the petite brunette. She rarely mixed it up, which could be seen by many as her being boring, though she hardly cared. It suddenly occurred to her the underwear she chose most days reflected that sentiment perfectly. She'd just silently proved herself wrong.

"There's something to be said about leaving things to the imagination." She replied, moving to snatch her clothing from Casper's hands before turning to Jasper and plucking the garments from his shoulder. "And be careful what you hear from things like 'guy science', whatever that is." She laughed, though, as she stuffed her clothes back into her drawer and pushed it closed. "I just ordered it before you guys showed up." Alex then went to plop down into her desk chair. She gave a little kick and spun around in a lazy circle once before stopping the chair and looking at the twins squarely. "Does this mean you guys aren't mad at me anymore?"

[Casper & Jasper Emory]

The brothers had several ideas about the kind of girl Alex was deep down and how she would be in bed. They were of course keeping them to themselves since while they enjoyed making her blush and seeing her react, they were not fully in the mood for it. They were doing their best to act like things were normal between the two of them but deep down the brothers did not feel right. It felt wrong to be around the girl who they felt like she betrayed them. To think they had been friends with her for so long only to be tossed away for some stupid guy that looked like a baby.

They had heard stories about how girls for like that, the kind of girl who would stop hanging out with her friends for the sake of her boyfriend. They just didn't think Alex would be the type to do that as well. Sure she had not stopped hanging out with them; it was more so the boys that stopped that because they were so upset with her they didn't know what they would do to her the next time they talked to her. "Yeah, leaving it to the imagination is fun and all. Especially when you are never going to get a taste of it yourself because the person has zero interest in you." Jasper said, with a hint of bitterness in his voice.

Yes, he had a boyfriend but that didn't mean that he didn't like Alex at all; well not so much now. The two of them did let out a small snicker at Alex's warning about guy science and not trusting it too much. "It's helped out a lot so far." Casper pointed out as she moved to grab a seat with on the bed with his brother but remained sitting up instead of lying down. "Sweet." Jasper spoke up after she spoke of having ordered food. Then came the most important question which had the siblings both shaking their heads no.

"We are still mad at you. After all, you have been spending a lot of time with that stupid baby face guy that almost killed Casper." Jasper spoke up. "That and you didn't even invite us to prom with you. Heard you went with stupid baby face. Did you to have sex?" Casper asked. Now the two of them were no longer bothering to hide how upset they were about finding and hearing about all of this. They didn't even know about the fact that she might have been going out with said stupid baby face.

[Alexandra Lawson]

A brow quirked at Jasper's snide comment but Alex shrugged it off. She had flirted with the twins, yes, and, perhaps, she'd taken things a little further than she'd wanted at times but she'd been up front from the beginning that she wasn't the type to just hop into bed with someone. If Jasper had a problem with that, then Alex wasn't going to lose sleep over it.

Alex had went to speak but she was cut off by the blunt, up front question. Her head tilted as she looked to Casper. He was supposed to be the more understanding and even-keeled of the two and the question caught Alex completely by surprised. "That's... that's none of your business." She said with no small amount of disbelief in her voice.

"Look." She said sternly, her eyes shifting from twin to twin as she regained her composure and steeled herself for what was about to come. Alex enjoyed, in a way, the game they all played though she was suspecting the twins were taking it a little far at the moment. They had no say in who she hung out with, or how often, or under what circumstances. "I get that you're upset, but what I do and who I do it with is none of your business." She remained seated as she spoke, her gaze unwavering. The boys may have held a certain amount of control over her when they all got into that flirty, teasing demeanor but she'd be damned if she was going to sit here and have them get pissed over something stupid as who she hung out with. It also didn't hurt that she'd gotten Artemis's side of their conflict and insisted she didn't want to be in the middle of it. "Whatever went on between you guys in between you and him. I'm not going to be a part of it."

[Casper & Jasper Emory]

"Right, of course not. Cause you don't want to have fun with us now that you got your new boy toy.” Jasper said bitterly. Alex might have been responding to Casper but it should not have been anything new that the brothers spoke for one another. While Casper was the calmer of the two, with matter like this he could not help but to be more like his brother. Or it was better to say that the two started to mind meld which happened from time to time when they were upset over something. This meant they felt what one another did and thought the same even more than they normally did.

Then Alex was getting all stern with them which just had the brothers rolling her eyes as she started to talk about how she got why they were upset. "Do you?! Do you really know why the fuck we are upset?!" Jasper yelled, already snapping so soon. Casper looked at his brother but didn't make any signs of planning on stopping him. Perhaps it was best if they just got it all out and were just done with her since she was obviously done with them. So much for all those lies she had told them and the wasted time for starting to actually care about her as a person and not as just some object to be played with.

"Yeah, of course you don't care. Just like everyone else in this damned world. Hope every burns alive." Jasper said bitterly as he stood up and moved to leave. He was really upset; unlike he had been with even Lucy or Franck. He didn't fully get why Alex had him so upset over something like this but she did. Casper was trying to figure out why it hurt so much for Alex to be like this with them after almost a year of knowing her and this stupid young looking boy showed up and she just stabbed them in the back. That was how it felt and now Casper was getting up to follow his brother to leave. "Enjoy your food." Casper said as he would pass Alex and follow his brother towards the door so they could leave.

They both had lost their appetite in that moment and desire to even try and get through the pain. Both of them wanted to hurt her, hurt her bad, but that small part of them that had started to care deeply for her was why they were just giving up and leaving. The world would burn one day soon; they would be that cause of it. All of these people that hurt them could all die. People didn't get that they were slowly but surely pushing the siblings down for a life of crime.

[Alexandra Lawson]

"Why would I invite you over then?" Alex countered, obviously confused at the sudden turn the evening had taken. "What have I done that would make you think I don't want anything to do with you?" Her tone had softened at Jasper's admission. She hadn't meant to hurt anyone's feelings, let alone either of the twins. She knew they were different than other people which made up the bulk of their allure. How the moved about the world and interacted with others in it was fascinating for Alex to watch. That, and she considered them friends, a rare designation.

She had gone to speak again but words failed Alex completely at Jasper's outburst. She visibly flinched and recoiled away from the much larger boy like a mouse would cower in the presence of a hungry cat. Her arms drew inward protectively and she could scarcely stand to bring her her eyes up to Jasper. She hadn't done anything to show she didn't care. She'd done nothing to warrant such a reaction and, for the first time since Alex had met the twins, she was scared of them. "I... I didn't do anything..." She uttered weakly, her voice barely above a whisper.

The moment Casper spoke, Alex slid quickly away from him as well. He was far more calm than his much more hot headed brother but Alex didn't know what to expect out of either of them anymore. She eyed Casper warily, shrinking away from him as he moved passed toward the door. She didn't speak or try and protest. She only stood, watching as the twins walked away. Only when the door closed did she let out a low sniffle and wiped at the tears that had formed in the corners of her eyes.

[Casper & Jasper Emory]

"I don't know, you tell us why you keep playing games with us?" Jasper asked, still upset about the whole thing. They got if it was her getting some kind of payback but they felt so worked up and in a fragile state that they just wanted their Alex. Their Alex that made them feels good and like she actually cared and liked them the way they were. "You spend time with that boy that almost killed Casper, you went to prom with him and didn't even ask us you it, and it feels like you don't actually care about us anymore." Jasper added at her next question on what she had done.

It might have all seemed weird, but that was how the boys felt and honestly thought that she was done with them. They thought the same when it came to Franck as well and pretty much everyone that they had started to feel close to. They had said this much to Beth when they talked to her and they had thought about it. Thought about it and figured they had a handle on it but it was clear that they still did not fully understand as Jasper snapped and Casper just didn't know what to do anymore. What were they supposed to do? Stay there and beat her up until they felt better? That would not have made them feel too much better but they didn't know how to communicate what was wrong still.

Jasper didn't hear the mutter, he was already gone. Casper did but he didn't know what to say either. Alex looked hurt, they were hurt, and it didn't look like anything was going to be fixed as Alex didn't look like she was moving or saying anything to stop Jasper. Casper took that as just being proof that she didn't care about them anymore. That she was done with them and that it was probably best that they left. So Casper followed after his brother, slightly hurt by the fact that she moved away from him when he went closer to her. That just felt like more proof that she didn't want them around anymore.

The siblings didn't actually go that far, they just stepped outside her door and waited there. Why were they waiting? They were giving Alex a chance to come after them; they were hoping that she would come after them. Beth had told them that they had to let people make their own choice and that saying about 'if you love something, you must let it go and it will come back to you if it loves you as well'. So there they were trying to see if Alex did still want them as they did their best to calm down and not let their emotions overrun them anymore then they already did. "She might no-" "She is going to come!" Jasper yelled at his brother, cutting Casper off from what he was saying.