The Astronomy Suite In The Arms Hotel | Saturday Evening

[dollpocalypse]

It had officially been forever since the guys' last drinking night, so with the six of them all on the island for a weekend, there was really no excuse not to have some kind of gathering. And since Topher's hotel room had space on the ceiling and awesome futuristic-looking furniture, there was pretty much exactly no question about where this gathering would be.

And with an alcohol tolerance that had been drastically reduced by going almost fourteen years without drinking at all, Topher stood a very high chance of getting stupidly drunk tonight. It was probably going to be hilarious.

The bar was stocked to capacity with, among other things, every necessary ingredient for every girly cocktail ever invented, and Topher had hauled the entire contents of his office's Drawer of Inappropriate Starches onto the table for the occasion. (Ivy would get more for him before he got back to LA, he was sure. ...He was mostly sure.)

"B-t-dubs, there's astronaut ice cream in the bathtub," Topher announced loudly to everyone. "...No idea why it's there. But Ben gets last dibs."

Cruel, Topher. Cruel.

[[for the 20-years-older nerds! let's see if two decades made them more responsible.]]

Comments

[dollpocalypse]

"Ah. It may have been longer than that since I last checked the mail," Topher said, nodding sagely. "I kind of live at the office these days. It's a whole big thing."

A thing. Okay.

"So... how's married life, man?" he asked, sounding overeffusively friendly. "Is it as mind-numbing as TV and my divorced co-worker have led me to believe?"

[ultron_junior]

Victor had forgotten the art of managing Topher, and there was a moment of staring in horror before he answered. "We're happy," he said defensively. "I don't feel like my mind is numb. But .... thanks for asking?"

He jiggled his leg a bit. "I am guessing you're single."

[dollpocalypse]

"Nope," Topher said, his face lighting up. "I am dating a girl who was in Scientific American once. Well, 'dating.' It's a complex thing. We one time kissed."

Just wait until the second kiss, Topher! That was the one where Bennett was going to get shot in the head!

...Too soon.

"Anyway, congratulations," he added, waving one hand around. "What's the deal with the kids? You know, robot-wise."

[ultron_junior]

"... wait, 'girl'?"

Sorry. Topher. Victor missed the memo about you being bi. He coughed awkwardly.

"I mean, that sounds great. And so far the kids are just kids. But, y'know, they're little and my wife's a mutant, so that could change when they hit puberty."

[dollpocalypse]

That was what Topher got for not keeping his friends abreast of his life developments! Confused people and awkward coughs.

"I always thought having superpowers manifest during teenage years would be the coolest way to go," he shared. "So, fingers crossed for them if that's what they're hoping for. Hey, they could hang out with my kid sometime, maybe."

Who he was pretty sure didn't have powers, but he figured he'd just throw that out there as it occured to him.

[ultron_junior]

"Okay, I definitely didn't know you had a kid," Victor said slowly. He was wondering who'd looked at Topher and seen fatherhood material. "Congratulations. What're they like?"

[dollpocalypse]

"Apparently he's pretty smart." That was always a great way to describe your own child, Topher. A+. "Jessie-- Jessica is pretty much raising him and I sort of figure, why mess with a good thing? I guess he probably gets to go to the SHIELD offices a lot, which is pretty cool as far as hangouts go."

Seriously, Dad of the Year right there. Topher swung his arms.

"How about yours?"

[ultron_junior]

"How did I not know you were Jessica Drew's kid's dad?" Victor wondered.

Probably it was because he'd never asked.

"And Mimi's going through a princess thing, but she taught herself to read with my engineering books so we figure she's probably pretty smart. And James isn't even one yet, so he's still trying to figure out walking. We don't take them to the Avengers or X-Men HQ too often, though. We're trying to keep them off the radar."

[dollpocalypse]

Topher waved a hand like it didn't matter. "Eh, I don't think Jess spreads it around." For some reason. What a mystery, right? "Your kids sound cool, though. For kids."

Grinning, he added, "I'm just crazy relieved that kid who showed up here for us once didn't turn out to be real. Hector or whoever."

[ultron_junior]

"Awww, Buzz was awesome," Victor said. "But --- yeah. All things considered, I like the kids I have now."