Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Jack stared down at his sister as she lay on her bed, headphones blaring, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for her to notice he was there. In the end he gave up and reached out to yank the headphones off, music blaring out even louder than before.
"Hey!" Z protested, reaching out to grab them back before he held them out of reach. "Give those back!"
"Oh no. Not until you promise to play your music a little less loudly."
"What?"
"Quietly, Z. Play it quietly."
"Why?" she snapped, arms folded across her chest defiantly.
"Because you're driving Syd nuts."
"So?"
He scowled and held the headphones higher as Z grabbed for them again.
"I mean it, Z."
"Oh, I get it. You're not getting any and you're making it my fault?"
Jack paused for a moment, thinking it over. While he didn't like having to chose between Syd and Z, it was a little frustrating to have all his efforts ignored because Syd was annoyed with her roommate. His attempts at starting a make out session had all come to nothing, even nibbling on her ear hadn't had any effect and that was usually a sure-fire winner. What it all boiled down to, he supposed, was that he was feeling more than a little frustrated by now and it all seemed to come back to Z. "Yeah, basically."
"Not my problem, Jack."
"It is your problem now, unless you have a spare set of headphones lying around." He quickly sidestepped the replicant that materialised behind him.
"Jack, give them back."
"Promise."
"Give them back and I will."
"Promise first. Then you get them back."
Z scowled. "Fine. I'll try not to damage your girlfriend's ears anymore. Happy now?"
He tilted his head to the side thoughtfully, then handed the headphones back. "It'll do." Now maybe he'd get somewhere.