xp_logs | [Scott, Alex]

Now it's the little brother's turn to force Scott into taking a break, even if it means being annoying and cute at the same time. Now these two manage to make a serious point out of any of it is amazing.

Warning- Pure Summers fluff. Read at your own risk.

His head was hurting again. Scott grimaced and paused in his typing to rub briefly at his temples. All right, so he'd been at it for a while programming these Danger Room scenarios, but that was really no excuse. He opened the top drawer of his desk, finding the bottle of pills Madelyn had given him.

Like everyone, Alex was worried about the workaholic he liked to call his older brother. So he took it upon himself to provide Scott with a break. He spun the basketball on his finger as he walked down the hall to Scott's office, thinking about his plan of attack.

Washing two of the pills down with a swallow of coffee, Scott put the bottle back in his desk and reminded himself to stop down in medlab sometime very soon and confess to Maddie that the headaches weren't going away. Popping pills multiple times a day was not a long-term solution. Scott turned his attention back to the half-finished scenario, racking his brain for the next set of variables.

Pushing the doors open with out knocking, Alex came waltzing into the office as if he belonged there, and in his teenage mind, at this moment he did belong there. He placed the Basketball on the desk right across from where Scott sat and leaned on it. "Hey Scott. Whatcha doing?"

Irritated, Scott opened his mouth to ask Alex if he'd ever heard of knocking, but caught himself in time. This was Alex, after all, and he did not get to growl at his little brother just because he had a headache. "Team stuff," he said a bit vaguely, then spotted the basketball. "You on your way outside?"

"Yes in fact I was...and so are you." He smirked at his brother, knowing he was on the edge of danger here. For once he was glad for his little brother advantage. His brother was stressed as usual, Alex could tell by furrows above the glasses. "Come on, you need some fresh air bro."

First Kurt, now Alex? It was a conspiracy. You weren't paranoid if they were actually out to get you. "I can't, Alex," Scott said, managing to keep his tone fairly level. "Seriously. Too much work to do."

Now Alex pouted. "Ahh come on. Too busy to play with your little brother?" He wasn’t above using guilt to get what he wanted, which was for Scott's benefit after all. "You always have too much work to do, I think some of it can wait!"

A small plane could have landed on Alex's lower lip. The less said about the puppy-dog eyes, the better. Scott grimaced, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "Alex, I can't," he protested more weakly. "Seriously. Kurt dragged me out yesterday afternoon, and now I'm falling behind..."

"You stop to take a breath and you fall behind. Seriously Scott, Come on. Fresh air isn't going to kill you though you avoid it like the plague by locking yourself in here." He heard the weakening in Scott's voice and grinned to himself. It was working, just a little bit more..."Plus I hear Basketball is a good way of relieving stress..." That last came out in a sing song voice, almost taunting the elder Summers.

"Alex, knock it off," Scott said, a bit more sharply than he'd intended. Alex blinked at him and he winced. "I'm sorry... "

Alex sighed and moved to half sit on the desk, the orange ball in his lap. "Scott, I have hardly seen my big brother in weeks and when I do he's so stressed he can barely see straight. And I'm going to use every once of my Summers' stubbornness to fix it, whether you like it or not." What he said was teasing but his tone was serious, and he was, very serious. "I want my brother back Scott."

Scott sighed, resting his head in his hand for a moment. "And here I thought I was getting better at not being the crazed workaholic these last couple of weeks," he muttered with a feeble attempt at humor.

"Nope, you really haven't. If anything, I think the realization of your problem is making it worse." Blunt and honest, Alex's specialty when it came to anything but himself. "When was the last time you had some mindless fun, just for the sake of doing nothing important?"

"Mindless fun? What is this mindless fun?" Scott countered, still trying for a joking tone. "Your words are strange to me."

Alex grinned as he picked up on the attempt at a joke. "Then it's time for your education big bro!" He jumped up from the desk, tossing the basketball from hand to hand. "And what better time to start then right now."

Scott sighed. "I'm coming," he said, saving the half-finished scenario and getting up. "Only an hour or so, okay? I really have to get these done today."

Alex raised a hand in mock surrender. "An hour is all I ask. At least it will help you wind down some what..." He threw the ball at Scott's chest. "Just hope you can keep up!" He smirked at Scott before darting toward the door.

Scott couldn't help a laugh as he followed Alex outside to the basketball court. "Here," he said, tossing the ball back. "Put your money where your mouth is, junior."