#but the story was like naaaaah.....what about those chairs?

[jmrothwell]

OMG ALL THOSE PROMPTS ARE SO GOOD (and I finally caught one of your lists before it's six days old lol). Laying on the floor so hard you wish they’d invent lying down 2 is an Alex Mood to me.

Maybe the chairs on the ceiling were less of a stylistic choice and more of a storage thing. After all that one was hung fairly low and if Alex knocked it, it would swing. Threatening to fall right on top of him.

He didn’t really like the thought of that. But it always occurred to him every time he caught even the slightest glimpse of the polished wood hanging from the ceiling. 

Perhaps he has a death wish since Alex was now laying on the studio floor below them. The steepled ceiling, fairy lights, and new potted plants hanging closer to the ceiling added a surreal level he wasn't really expecting.

Is this what Alice in Wonderland felt like falling down that hole? All disoriented and floaty? 

Which, honestly, he really shouldn’t be feeling all floaty like this. Not with how itchy this particular patch of carpet is. Another train of thought he would really rather not venture down, but is unstoppable now. 

Why was it itchy? He knows it gets regularly cleaned out here. It’s on the rotating cleaning roster. Though considering the last three individuals who were in charge of it were Reggie, Luke, and Carlos and Alex isn’t sure if any of them would have even considered the rugs. 

“Comfy?” Flynn’s voice came out of nowhere, quickly followed by her face leaning over his. Upside down. Her braids reach out towards him. That does not help him stop feeling like Alice. 

“Not really.” Alex says simply. Focus split between talking to her, keeping his breathing steady, and not spiraling into one of the many chasms his brain felt the need to create for no damn reason. 

Flynn hums noncommittally before disappearing from his view. Though she doesn’t go far, he can hear her settling on the floor next to him. “There are better places to lay down.”

“I am aware.”

“Do you like feeling uncomfortable?”

He can’t help the huff from his throat. He doesn’t like it, no. He can’t ever seem to escape it, just has to settle for which discomfort was more acceptable and today that means, “It’s quieter here.”

“Wow.” Flynn says through a disbelieving laugh. “What kind of chaos are they up to if the studio is the quiet option?”

Alex shrugs though he’s not sure if she can see it. “Don’t know about now but when I left, Carlos was unsuccessfully showing Luke something called Guitar Hero, and Reggie had been ranting for nearly an hour about how the Star Wars on the Disney app thing was completely wrong.”

Flynn quietly giggles, “Where was Julie in all this?”

An uneasy heaviness twists in Alex’s chest with the question. Or rather with the answer he gives, “She and Ray went to the Wilson’s.”

“Ah,” Flynn thankfully leaves the topic there. “This is the weirdest ceiling to lay under.”

“Right? Like, do you know why they hung the chairs on the ceiling?” 

“Not really,” Flynn says but doesn’t really sound sure herself. “But is it weird that I want to see if there are weirder ceilings out there?”

It’s the first train of thought in a while Alex feels sort of willing to wander down. “How would we do that?”

“Dear sweet Alex,” The statement and her haughty tone both make him slightly regret his decision. “That is what Google is for.” 

“Okay, please never call me that again.”

“Happily.”

He finally sat up and could finally see Flynn laying down on the floor. Her head next to where his was but feet pointing in the opposite direction. 

She smiles up at him, “Want to go see what we can find?”

“Yeah, all right.” He says with another shrug, following her to the couch. Tries to keep the thought splintering in check as he watches her use her phone in ways he’d only ever seen in sci-fi until a few months ago.

Admittedly, there are definitely some bizarre ceilings out in the world. But the Molina’s seem to be the only ones they can find so far who have chosen to mount chairs to theirs.