Sineater's Fluff asks: Understanding Ikea instructions – Alan. A Movements AU fic.

Flash Fiction Friday prompt 206: Sink Or Swim. 734 words

Scott had said that he could get anything he wanted to make the house in New Haven his own, but up until now the only things Alan had bought had been for the kitchen. His room was more than amply kitted out.

But he'd seen this coffee table and its' practical nature appealed to him, along with the simplicity of it. So far the hardest part had been choosing the colour. The black-brown appealed because Scott favoured dark wood and light colours, but the white just looked so clean.

Of course he researched the table before he bought it. Watched a YouTube video that said it could be put together in about 10 minutes. He'd even seen a vid that had used the same table and decorated the top to make it really fancy, something he planned to do to personalise it for his big brother.

Plus, you know, he was a genius taught by Virgil…putting this together was going to be a breeze!

Three hours later the white table was still in pieces.

How could understanding IKEA instructions be so difficult? He'd read them thoroughly and laid all the parts out carefully in the living room once he'd cleared the space. The pictograms were simple.

Alan supposed it was because he'd never put furniture together before. Building rockets wasn't quite the same thing after all. The worst thing was that he needed it finished tonight to give the grouting time to dry before Scott came home in a couple of days.

He couldn't ask Gordon, he was working. John and Virgil were similar no-goes, unless he wanted to run the gauntlet of SD…He was on his own.

'Sink or swim, Alan,' he said out loud to himself. 'You build rockets. A flat-pack table should be no bother. Think logically.'

And he sat on the floor and began to assemble the table.

The ten minutes it should have taken stretched into 40 by the time he had the frame fully built and the tabletops ready to decorate.

Alan needed a break. He made himself a decent coffee and chased it down with some chocolate chip cookies to fortify himself, rewatched the vid for the decorating then got back to work.

The thin sheets of blue slate he'd chosen, already prepared so that they would be flat for the table, were glued to the tabletop, leaving a wide border. Alan then grouted them in place with a dark blue grout and cleaned them carefully.

Dinner was a simple affair, a quick sticky tofu stir-fry with noodles, and then he had assignments to finish. He'd put the tops on tomorrow when he was sure the glue and grout had dried.

The next day he set to with mounting excitement.

Scott had messaged to say he would be home in the early afternoon and that he'd be bringing a guest – which meant that Gordon was coming home too!

Thankfully his DIY had paid off, and within minutes he had a fully functional table. The best thing was that this table's top could be lifted up to provide a higher table on both sides, meaning that if they wanted they didn't need to bend over the coffee table.

Excitement mounting, Alan held off lunch, preparing a simple soup with fresh baked bread and waited for his brothers to come home.

They didn't keep him waiting long.

Scott couldn't believe how much Alan had grown in the couple of months since he'd last seen him, and he savoured the hug. Gordon, not one to be left out, joined right in, and the three stood there for several minutes just being held by each other.

Eventually though they moved apart and into the living room, and Gordon practically ran into Scott as the eldest stood still, mouth agape.

'Al, where did you get that table?'

'Do – do you like it?'

'Like it? It's beautiful!'

Alan beamed at Scott, and Gordon let out a soft whistle as he walked around it.

'Did you make this, Al?'

'No – I bought one from Ikea and then I decorated it. I hope you don't mind, Scott.'

'Mind? Of course not!'

And once more Alan was in the middle of a three-way hug.

He ushered them to sit and he demonstrated how it worked to even more astonishment and he fairly glowed in the praise of his efforts and thoughtfulness.

Sink or swim?

He'd swam.