Disclaimer: I wouldn't be a poor student if I owned Alex Rider, now would I? In fact, I even borrowed the title from Toussaint, a French minimalist writer.
A/N: This is dedicated to SamayouTamashi who has been asking for more drabbles and who has written a two-shot based off 'Hope' and 'Certainty' (called Unofficially) which you will all go and read and review, n'est-ce pas?
La télévision
Ben had draped himself over the couch, lounging with his left foot propped up on the low table and his right arm flung across the head rest. When Jack entered the living room, he lazily glanced over at her and turned back to the television currently showing reruns of old cartoons.
Jack set down a bowl of crisps between them after plopping down on the other end of the couch. She shifted around uncomfortably, taking in the strange tenseness exuded by the spy despite his reclined position. Picking up the remote control, she started zapping through the channels. Lingering distantly on mindless chat show, switching music channels in mid-song and wincing whenever she passed the news.
Her thumb finally haled in the motion of pushing the channel up button as the screen began flickering and crackling with white speckles on a dark background. For what felt like hours they both stared blankly at the static dancing over the TV in front of them, stuck in their own two trails of thought which focused on one single person only. Painfully aware of the third presence missing on the couch between them, they turned to regard each other with glazed eyes. Silently sharing their yearning and sorrow, they remembered all the evenings spent together, watching films or playing games or simply talking until Alex would lean into Ben, sometimes entwining their fingers, other times not, and pull Jack along with himself, placing an arm around her and letting her head rest on his shoulder.
Jack's gaze lowered, fixing the crisps between them with a glare, as though it was their fault that Alex was not with them. In a furious swipe she threw the bowl off the couch, creating a mess on the carpet. Ben was still watching her, a soft frown forming on his face, then changing into an expression of odd satisfaction. Scooting over towards her a little, he pulled her into a loose embrace while she allowed herself to give into the warmth of the young man beside her.
Their eyes fell on the TV screen again, the bright spots still raging on it, a hailstorm to calm hurting hearts. Curled up stiffly on the couch, they waited for something to happen.
A/N: Hope you liked it and I managed to get the mood across – I'll leave it up to you to imagine what happens before and after this scene.