Survival Of The Fittest

Julien made a note in his head to find Parker and at least make an effort to thank him for that idea of his. Myles had just affirmed that he deserved the arduous time spent searching for his hat which awaited him.

"That's so, hm? A shame." He didn't let it get under his skin though, being that it was just the expected level of pettiness. If it did happen to actually be true, some cold water didn't much bother him anyway.

Instead, he took out his phone, and then popped in a pair of earbuds. Bret would go on in to take his shower, as was the due, and he didn't figure that Myles would stick around long with only him for company.

They weren't actually playing anything, but how were they to know that?

Myles didn't bother to acknowledge any responses that came his way, instead making straight for his suitcase to put his pajamas away and make sure he wasn't forgetting anything before he left. Ivy had wanted to go shopping, which was fine by Myles; some of the museum exhibits sounded cool, and he wanted to get some pictures in front of the monuments since this wasn't the kind of trip he got to take often, but that could wait. He and Ivy hadn't gotten to spend much quality time together without some sort of drama bomb going off since before prom, and he was looking forward to it.

His train of thought happily anticipating a day spent wandering around and window-shopping with his best friend slowed and then came to a screeching halt as he looked through his suitcase.

Something was missing.

It didn't take long to figure out what the something was. It also wasn't hard to figure out why; he never recklessly misplaced his things, especially around people he didn't trust. The easy smile that had been resting on Myles's face was long gone, but he made a show of combing through his clothes one more time and then closing his suitcase up with as little outward reaction as possible, even as he started to fume. He didn't look up at Julien and Bret. He didn't ask. They wouldn't have answered him anyway, and probably would have just laughed at any sort of distress. They'd already had the absolute gall to dig through his personal belongings, like they had any right to touch his things. And they had stolen from him.

They had stolen from him, and they'd laugh in his face about it if he asked.

Well, if he couldn't find his hat, or if they had gone and torn it up or thrown it out or whatever, then he could just take that little matter to Ms. Garcia, and they wouldn't be laughing then. It wasn't about the item - well it was about the item, because that was his favorite hat and he'd be angry enough about losing it, but no matter what they had taken from him, Myles cared more about the violation. His suitcase, his property, and these smug jerks who already rubbed all that they had in his face wanted to steal from him like it was some kind of fucking game-

Myles took a deep breath.

He looked down at his hands. They were shaking. He made a concentrated effort to keep his expression smooth and neutral.

Myles stowed his suitcase back by the foot of the bed where it had been before, pocketed his phone, and left the room without a word. He could practically feel Julien laughing at his retreating back.

((Myles Roux continued in Sugar, We're Going Down!))

Well, that turned out about as well as could be expected.

From where he was, Julien regarded Myles impassively on the surface. The anger was only natural for somebody that had something they cared about taken from them. It did manifest somewhat more subtly than he had expected, but that made sense. He clearly believed, and not incorrectly, that none of his roommates would share what had happened if asked.

That suited him just fine; now Julien no longer had to concern himself with the possible concern of saying what happened, and all involved thought he would stay silent anyhow.

So he went back to thinking about nothing in particular, and waited until Bret went into the bathroom to see about doing something.

[ Julien Leblanc continued elsewhere. ]