Room 307, Sunday Morning

[dollpocalypse]

All things considered, there had been worse weeks on this island than just being monochromatic and really really boring. However, most of the other weeks hadn't involved being so mean to Billy (and Topher did realize that he'd been mean to Billy, whether it'd been intentional on other!him's part or not), so this one pretty much ranked as an awkward one.

Plus he was pretty damn sore from all the jogging other!him had been doing, so. There was that as well.

He mulled it over for a moment or two, decided that it was almost definitely excusable in the long run, then settled on his bed with Broca II in his lap and put on a movie on one of his laptops. Meanwhile, he took out his iPad and idly coded while the movie was playing. He wasn't sure what he was doing yet, but so far it had 'this island is batshit' written in binary, so that was a good start.

[[open!]]

Comments

[ultron_junior]

"What was that last week?" Victor asked from the doorway, after a little tap-a-tap-tap of hello. "And do you want some bongos? I have about four sets."

[dollpocalypse]

"The most boring weirdness we've ever had," Topher decided, because that seemed about the easiest way to sum it up. "Think I'll pass. What were you doing with bongos?"

Topher had been a wholesome jock type, which was bizarre enough, but this seemed potentially more hilarious.

[ultron_junior]

"Some beatnik thing," Victor said, shaking his hair out of his eyes in annoyance. "I thought they were awesome. Wore a lot of black, read a lot of poetry. What did you get stuck doing?"

He'd agree with the "boring weirdness" tag too.

[dollpocalypse]

"Thought I was some kind of baseball superstar," Topher shrugged, rolling his eyes. "But I also rescued GLaDOS from angry birds, so there's that."

[ultron_junior]

Victor snickered, just a bit, at the thought of Topher and any sport. "Good," he said. "Wait, how come birds were after her?"

[dollpocalypse]

Hey, hey. Chess was a sport! He played that! And... Pac-Man. That was a sport, right?

"Oh, she was in a potato," he explained. "And I think I was kind of an idiot at her, so there goes that awesome reputation I've been working on building up in gym class."

Riiiight.

"So when you say beatnik, are we talking about the goatee kind? 'Cause you and facial hair..."

[ultron_junior]

Victor groaned. "Hey, my mustache was awesome," he said good-naturedly. "I don't know why the rest of you are, like, too jealous to admit it."

Possibly because it was horrible.

"But nah, no beatnik beard. This time."

[dollpocalypse]

"Okay, whew, so it wasn't as bad as it could've been." That's right, Victor. Deal with that burn. Razor-burn, even. "But Fandom-wise, compared to last December? Kind of a letdown. I mean, last year we got to play D&D in the library while the world almost disappeared, so."

Because that was... fun. Apparently.

"Maybe your facial hair could be like, a portent of an apocalypse or something," Topher mused. "Want to try growing it out again? Maybe we'll get dragon monsters this time."

[ultron_junior]

"What are you going to do with a dragon monster?" Victor asked skeptically. "Also, the whole thing where the world almost ended last year? That still sounds weird every time somebody mentions it, dude."

[dollpocalypse]

"Hey, D&D was great." Because Topher fixated on the important things, clearly. "And duh, I'd make friends with it. What would you do?"

[ultron_junior]

"Try to figure out a way to get it into a cage, then worry about what to do next," Victor shared, looking at Topher sideways. "How are you going to make friends with a dragon? Also, we should play D&D sometime."

[dollpocalypse]

"Dragons are cool," Topher shrugged. "They seem reasonable. And if I was friends with one, it might give me rides."

Because wasn't all friendship about letting people fly on your back?

"And yeah, we should. Soon?"

[ultron_junior]

Rides. Right. Well, Victor supposed this could be a delusion that could be dealt with if and when dragons actually turned up. (Besides, maybe they;d be Lockheed-sized dragons? those would make good pets.)

"Sure," Victor nodded. "Has to be soon to fit it in before break, right? I'm going home for a week or so, don't know about you..."

[selfhelphero]

Billy peered in at Topher from the doorway, very glad that he was back to his normal-looking self. There was still one thing to check though... "Hey. I know you look busy, but I was wondering if you were still up for that game of catch?"

[dollpocalypse]

Broca II the robot dog, who had been programmed to share many of Topher's priorities, scampered right off the bed and darted over to pant up at Billy. That... seemed about right.

Meanwhile, Topher perked up at the familiar voice and set his laptop aside to look up at Billy. Without missing a beat, he said, "Catch equals sports equals gross, but with you... sure. Now?"

[selfhelphero]

Billy laughed, reaching down to pet Broca II because, well, he was close enough to a real dog, right? "Totally. We've got to go impress the dolls, right?"

[dollpocalypse]

Topher's response to that was something between a laugh and a groan. "For the record, I don't think you'd be all that impressed by me playing catch," he informed Billy. "There'd be a lot of wheezing. Which might actually impress some girls who go here since they almost all dislike me, except possibly for Ace who I now realize I called a 'fly chick' to her face and will probably never hear the end of that, but if it wouldn't impress you, then no deal."

[selfhelphero]

"I'm more impressed by Broca here," Billy said. "I'm sure Ace will forgive you, if she was crazy too. No one should be blamed for things said while monochromatic."

[dollpocalypse]

"She was regular, actually," Topher admitted. "So I may be teased forever."

He didn't sound like he especially minded, though. This week had been pretty chill, all things considered, with the exception of one concern. "Did I freak you out when we were doing the whole duck pond thing?"

[selfhelphero]

"I was definitely freaked out," Billy admitted, coming in and going to sit on the bed. "But that's not like, your fault or anything. It wasn't like you meant to weird me out."

[dollpocalypse]

"That's true, I did not," Topher agreed, scooting a little closer. "Other-me seemed to really want to be friends with you? Whereas normal-me is like, 'dude, please, dating Billy is way better, where have you been?'"

Thaaaat wasn't really that relevant.

[selfhelphero]

"Well, it's flattering that other-you would want to be around me, seeing how I'm not exactly jock material," Billy said, blushing a little at Topher's comment. "I like regular you a lot better though."

[dollpocalypse]

"Duh, regular me has cooler hair," Topher teased. Then, "Regular me likes you a lot better too. Partly because unlike the other version, I can see color, and your eyes are really nice, did you know that?"

[selfhelphero]

Well, now Billy was completely blushing. Well done, Topher. "I... I mean, that's not something I'd really say to myself, but... thank you. I like you better in color too. Being yourself and liking me and being brilliant and knowing what a computer is and all."

[dollpocalypse]

"All very good traits," Topher agreed. "See, this is why I'll never understand why I'm not popular."

Oh, Topher. So many reasons.