underneath the stars we came alive @alexrsylvan - Tumblr Blog

lydiaxoconnell·:

Squinting at the nameless male in front of her, she crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re telling me you’ve been called worse then Hagrid? You? You, an attractive tall male, have been called worse than Hagrid? You’re lying to make me feel better.” Lydia answered, her last sentence more than a statement than a question in complete disbelif that he would ever be called something worse than Hagrid, that he would ever be called a rude nickname ever, really. Getting into her wordy and long winded explanation about why she was in fact hiding behind him, she looked up at him when she finished, not really sure what he was going to get out of it or what he was going to say. Waving a dismissive hand at his comment she shrugged. “No, but I took a cartoon class at summer camp in 3rd grade where I learned how to draw Spongebob and Marvin the Martian pretty well.” Lydia smiled, then half rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry you just think I haven’t tried that? He’s show up at my dorm, I think we’re well past texting him to say I don’t want to talk to him.” She sighed, pushing her hair out of her face then lifting one hand to his shoulder to brace herself as she pushed herself up on her tip toes to see if her ex was still standing there. “I think we may be clear, or you’re just too tall and I can’t see over your shoulders well enough.” Lydia answered, settling back down on her feet and letting her hand fall away. “Thank you for allowing me to borrow your height, let me know if you need me to return the favor someday.” Lydia smiled, hand patting his chest and side stepping him to go find her friends again.

For just a second, Alex tilted his head as if he were thinking about it, but ultimately he shrugged loosely. "You'd be surprised." He offered by way of confirmation. In the short handful of moments that he had been speaking with Lydia, the odd combination of amusement but also confusion had fluctuated all over the board. "I don't really know what you expect me to get out of that, but thank you for sharing. It is somehow impressive." He mused with a small grin he just couldn't help. Nodding along as the girl dramatically defended her efforts against her ex, he muttered a 'my apologies' under the breath of a chuckle at her, head shaking once. Then, it seemed, just as quickly as she was there behind him, she was gone. He stood blinking at the spot she had stood in, looping her words through his mind for a moment, unable to help but wonder if he hadn't just made the entire exchange up. As he turned with a laugh to himself, though, he saw her walking away, a hand lifting to rub at the edge of his jaw as he watched her in continued entertainment.

It was about an hour and a half later, Alex easing into the decision to head out from the party finally, when he found the very real presence of Lydia, the third grade cartoonist, once again. Only, this time she was a lot less at ease, definitely not hidden. Though, she was technically cornered by a guy that Alex safely assumed based on context clues was the aforementioned ex-boyfriend she had been working to avoid. He was an ass and he knew it, but he wasn't exactly the ass to witness a girl being harassed and do absolutely nothing about it, so he went and grabbed two beers. Coming up behind the other male, Alex lifted his brows as his gaze met with Lydia's, though he schooled his features into more of a casual expression as the male in front of her turned his attention to him, as well. Alex didn't look at him, though, just Lydia, as he held out one of the plastic cups of beer. "Sorry, Lyds, they didn't have what you wanted so I just got you a beer instead." He announced. Once she had taken the cup, he maneuvered sneakily passed her ex to stand beside her, arm slinging easily over her shoulders. This time his gaze finally did fall on the unwelcome company as his brows raised again. "You a friend of Lydia's? I'm Alex." He lifted the hand that wasn't holding his beer near the girl's shoulder out to the other male in casual introduction, faint grin quirking at the corner of his mouth. "There's not a problem, is there?"

#lydia #lydia: 01

lydiaxoconnell·:

Now that she’d been discovered by her hiding spot, there wasn’t really much getting out of explaining why she was there, but she wasn’t going to offer it up right away either. She had a little dignity to hold on to. Maybe. “Actually, I would hardly consider the population of males at this school as “giant” in any category other than pretentious, but maybe I’m not broadening my horizons enough.” Lydia smiled up at him, still trying to somewhat distract him from the fact that she really was using him as a human shield. Squinting one eye closed and scrunching her nose up as he looked over his shoulder to see who she was trying to hide from, she was thankful she hadn’t gotten into any explanation just yet. “Well, I’ll call you Hagrid then.” The brunette answered, sinking into her knees a bit to see Brian standing at the foot of the stairs still. Standing back up straight with a quick motion, she didn’t miss the way he handed off his empty cup to a drunk fratboy, a quiet snort of a laugh leaving her but her gaze once again pushed behind him after the fact. At least until he was saying her name. “Hmm?” She hummed out a second time, blinking and looking back at his face for what seemed like the first time considering she was finally able to recognize the attractiveness that was there. “Oh, right, well, you see.. I’m hiding because my ex boyfriend who also happens to be an eleventh of my friend circle is here, and I just broke up with him last week and he just won’t leave me alone. He wouldn’t really take a hint when I was doing the whole goodbye thing, so I told him I was seeing someone else, which I’m not, by the way, I lied, like a liar all because I thought that might deter him a little. Turns out I was in fact very wrong as he’s still texting me every day and showing up at my dorm and being an absolute crazy person trying to get me to get back together with him, which I have no desire of doing..” She trailed off, looking at this mystery giant’s face. “..obviously.” Lydia finished, then bit down on her bottom lip. “So I’m sorry I’m using you as a human shield but I gotta, please don’t hate me or like… move at all just yet.”

Face scrunching faintly as the girl spoke, there was a grin lingering beneath the questioning look as Alex tilted his head at her, letting out a laughed 'right' at her apparent assessment. His amusement clearly wasn't going to be going anywhere anytime soon, because between the dramatized expressions on her face and the animated way that Lydia spoke, there was plenty to be entertained by. She was cute, too, not that he'd ever been the person that spoke to cute people only or anything. Laughing yet again at her reply, he gave a tilted nod of his head. "Shockingly, I've been called worse." Getting into the detail of her reasons for hiding behind him, Alex had sort of already assumed - correctly, as it turned out - that it was probably something to do with another guy she didn't want to talk to. He had seen it before a couple times at gatherings like this, whether it was an ex situation or just some random dude that wouldn't take a hint, he had just never been the distraction-piece, so to speak. There was a first time for anything. Listening to Lydia's quick and long-winded explanation, Alex's brows remained lifted, grin present, as he nodded along slowly. "Anybody ever told you you're a little like a cartoon character?" He countered, smiling wide. "I think I caught it all, though, don't worry. Fast-forward is something I'm kind of familiar with." He teased gently further. "Just curious, though, why haven't you blocked his number or anything? Doesn't that usually send a pretty solid 'I don't wanna talk to you' message? Or is that too 2017?"

#lydia #lydia: 01

andyxsylvan·:

Andy knew that most of their conversation over lunch was going to be centered around Andy and his video shoot, and who the video shoot involved. He didn’t mind, him and Danae had found some kind of common ground with each other, and even though he wasn’t entirely sure where he stood, he still felt pretty sturdy there, at least for now. Eyelids fluttering in a subtle eye roll at his brothers dramatic explanation, he looked down at the menu once again, fully deciding what he was going to order before sitting back in the chair, letting the questions continue forward from his twin. “C. All of the above.” He answered, not letting his gaze fall from Alex’s face as he reached for the glass of water that’d been set down in front of him. “I don’t know, it’s definitely weird. But it feels normal, which is the bad part probably, that it doesn’t feel any different than before she broke up with me, it just feels like we picked up where we left off without the conversation.” He put the glass down and sighed. “And I don’t think it was intentionally for it to feel that way, I don’t think she’s doing anything to mess me up but it’s just confusing considering she’s the one who ended everything and she was the one to call me the night we hooked up, so.” He shrugged, chewing on the inside of his lip and looking at Alex, waiting for his opinion on the matter.

Even generally speaking, Andy had more to share than Alex did, that was just the way that their lives worked out. With Andy getting into music, there was a lot more that he was doing. Alex was pretty constant with school and work, and sure, he had the occasional funny story or cool anecdote to share, but a lot of the time their catch up's were Alex's way of finding out what his brother was actually working on or what was up next for him. He didn't mind, he was just glad that Andy was getting to do something that he seemed to really enjoy, and something that he was good at, too. The addition of Danae into the mix just meant he had like four or five more questions than usual, that was all. Dropping his menu finally, giving up the false pretense that he was still deciding, Alex nodded his head along with the other's initial answer, lips pursing in thought. As Andy continued to describe the circumstances a little bit more, Alex found himself squinting little by little, more in additional thought than anything else. "Alright, well, here's a wild question I'm pretty sure I already know the answer to," He started, pausing for the dramatic effect of waiting on said question. "Have you, I don't know, asked her about it at all?" A single brow raised in further question. Alex knew Danae, and while he had cut whatever remaining friendship tie there when the girl had dumped his brother, he still had a decent idea of the kind of person she was, or at least he thought so. He had faith that if Andy had asked Danae about what was going on between them that Danae would have been straightforward with him, whether it was a good or bad answer, which was why he figured he was right in his assumption that the subject just hadn't been presented yet. "Like, I get it, it all seems normal, and this is, in reality, what you want, but don't you want it in a way that's not in a confusing gray area?"

#andy #andy: 01

lydiaxoconnell·:

Typically, Lydia didn’t hate a good party, free alcohol, decent-ish music, other people participating in underage drinking, plenty of good people watching; it was a set up for success for someone who had nothing better to do on a Friday night. Tonight was a little different though, she’d been convinced to come out by her friends, and if their whole friend group was going somewhere together, that typically meant she was and it also meant that Brian was. Brian who she’d dumped less than two weeks ago. He’d already texted her once asking where she was, and Lydia was in no mood to have to explain why she broke up with him again, who this guy she liked more than him was (especially when that guy didn’t exist). So, she’d been dodging him for most of her night. She was rounding a corner to head into the kitchen to get another beer when she spotted him coming down from upstairs. “Shit.” She muttered to herself, looking around for somewhere to go in the body packed frat house. Stepping over to her left, she wormed in between two girls and then stood directly behind a very tall boy with her back to him, finishing the rest of her beer and breathed out a sigh. “Hmm?” She hummed, looking over her shoulder with a wince, then peering behind him to see if she could still see where her ex was. “Um, no, nope you’re so good right there.” She stood up straighter from peering around his side, smiling at him. “I’m hiding, and you’re a very useful giant shield.” Lydia smiled sweetly, hoping it would get this guy into her good graces long enough to help her out for a second. “I’m Lydia. Nice to meet you, thank you for being so tall this evening, do you have lifts in your shoes because your height is quite impressive.” She continued, willing this poor boy to just talk to her long enough to maybe make it look like she liked him if Brian happened to spot her.

Thinking on the moment, Alex couldn't say that he had ever been used as a hiding mechanism, at least not in a sense like this. He'd been to Horror Nights a few times, there was inevitable girl hiding behind him then, but this was a little different. There was something more humorous about this way. Alex couldn't help but chuckle further as the girl answered his question while simultaneously working to get a look around him. "I'm sure you say that to all the boys." He grinned, shaking his head. Sparing a curious glance back over his shoulder, wondering if he would spot just who this girl - Lydia, as she'd introduced - was hiding from, his amusement was still clear on his features as he looked back at her again. "I can't say I do, no. Somewhere in my biology there's just like, a single strand of giant DNA, actually." He nodded his head. Finishing off the remaining beer in his cup, he nonchalantly nudged the next guy to walk by on the shoulder. Once getting his attention he gave a 'hey what's up, man, can you take this for me, you're the man' which was evidently enough for a half drunk fraternity brother to think that they were friends, because he did just that. Having not really gotten an exact idea of what Lydia was hiding from in his quick look over the room, he focused his curiosity back in her direction. "So, Lydia?" He tilted his head in momentary clarification before nodding once without her answer. "Lydia, yes. Given I'm being used, I think it's only fair I get a little more elaboration here. Wouldn't you say?"

#lydia #lydia: 01

andyxsylvan·:

While Andy had always been pretty independent, it was nice knowing he had his brother closer rather than further. It was always a little harder when he was in New York or in Florida while Alex was in California, but now they were just five hours away from each other instead of a plane ride. Which made it easier for weekends like this to happen, for Alex to take a train down to LA to see him, or for Andy to do the same up to Stanford. Either way, Andy was happy to see his brother, especially with everything going on with him right this second. Getting to the restaurant, he was seated and started glancing at his menu. Focused on trying to figure out what he was going to devour for lunch, he didn’t notice anyone approaching him until two hands clapped down on his shoulders. Grinning, Andy stood up to hug his brother then sat back down, eyes immediately rolling at the question. “Fine.” He answered flatly, crossing his ankles. “The shoot’s over, I think it’s gonna be a good video.” Andy shrugged, eyeing his brother intently, knowing the answer’s he was giving were not the answers Alex was looking for. “We’ve hung out a few times, if that’s what you’re waiting for.” Andy glanced down at his menu again, rolling his lips together thoughtfully. “Figure out what you want to eat then you can grill me after we order, I’m hungry."

Settling down across from his brother, Alex snorted out a chuckle at the other's initial answer, a faint incline to his head. Once the other male had elaborated the smallest bit more, he gave a single nod, though his lips rolled together for a moment. After finding out about Andy's most recent music video shoot, or more specifically /who/ was on it, Alex couldn't help but have more questions about his work than may have otherwise been typical. It was more about looking out for his brother than being nosy, than wanting any sort of details - he would be more than fine having as few of those at the moment. He knew what the history was there between Andy and Danae, had witnessed all of it, and in particular had witnessed what Andy had been like after that relationship came to an unexpected end. "I don't grill, I gently question in concerned curiosity." Alex countered, lifting one finger from around the menu he had picked up to point at him. Looking over his options, he mulled over two dish options before finally deciding that steak was the way to go. Because why wouldn't he? "So, you've hung out a few times even though you've wrapped already? Or you hung out a few times while you were still filming?" He pressed carefully, brows lifting over the menu he left open in front of him despite already having his mind made up. "I mean, like, either way, you're just... doing okay with that?"

#andy #andy: 01

Going down to LA for a quick weekend trip wasn't unusual for Alex since his brother had moved to California. When Andy had been living in New York, they hadn't seen very much of each other. Even when Andy had moved back to Florida briefly, Alex wasn't really making an trips back home - what with their dysfunctional family, it wasn't like it mattered terribly much whether he was there or not. So now that the opportunity was there to get to see his twin brother more often, Alex figured that a few hours on an Amtrak train was a small price to pay. Between his going to school and Andy's rising work in music, it wasn't like they didn't have enough to catch each other up on half the time. He'd paid for a service to get his weekend duffel to the hotel that he was staying at for a couple nights and instead headed straight in an Uber to where he and Andy were supposed to be meeting for a late lunch. Thanking the car's driver as they pulled up outside of the restaurant, Alex dragged a hand back through curly hair on his way inside. Not completely surprising him, the hostess did a momentary double-take upon seeing him come in. He offered her a smile anyway. "I'm here to meet my brother. Should be under Sylvan." He noted, voice pointedly polite. The young woman nodded with a 'yeah, yeah of course' and began leading him toward the back seating area of the restaurant. Andy was already there, which further validated the fact that the poor girl had looked so momentarily stunted upon Alex's entrance - twins still seemed to blow people's minds from time to time. Coming up to the table that his brother was waiting for him at, he thanked the hostess before clapping both hands down on Andy's shoulders and squeezing tightly with a grinned 'there he is.' Letting out a light laugh, he gave the other boy a hug as Andy stood before flopping down into the seat opposite him. "What's up, brother, how's work?"

#andy #andy: 01

Alex didn't consider himself a huge party-goer. He liked the socialization of it, got a fair bit of amusement from watching others get so drunk that he had to remind them what they'd even done the night before, but he wasn't making it a point to be at every party ever. More power to the people that had that kind of patience and tolerance, but he got his fill sporadically. It just so happened that part of getting that fill fell on this fine evening. He had managed to avoid getting pressured into a keg stand, but instead was watching with a grin as a couple of the other guys that lived in the fraternity house took a crack at it. He wasn't planning on sticking around all night, maybe a couple more hours, he was just glad that there was enough going on at this particular party to keep him entertained for that long. His amusement was diverted, however, by the sudden and notable use of him as a hiding place. Eyebrows lifting, the grin remained on Alex's face as he half turned in the girl's direction. She was facing the other way, clearly meaning to simply utilize the fact that he was tall enough to obscure her from view as enough for her needs. He paused while looking at her, a vague expectancy in his gaze over the top of his red plastic cup of beer before he tilted his head. "Sorry, did you need something? Should I have stayed facing the other way? I'm not sure what the operation is here."