Room 307, Thursday Evening

[dollpocalypse]

Fact: Research sucked.

But here Topher was, doing it anyway. Because Peter had told him to, and that was enough, most of the time, to get him to do things. Sad but true.

And... maybe Topher was a little bit more inclined to do as Peter said this week in particular for another reason too. Which would be the need to appease him in light of the terrifying possibility that maybe, just maybe, Karla had blabbed the contents of their conversation the other day and now Peter wanted to kill him and get a new tech person and not be his friend anymore and and and --

Anyway.

Researching.

It was hard, with the siren call of meta for Skyrim beckoning to him, but Topher was managing.

[[open door, open post]]

Comments

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

People researching needed food. Sharing food was not like sharing money. Kenzi would actually share food.

"Hey, dude." That was a tiny packet of chips aimed for his keyboard. "Study break."

[dollpocalypse]

Topher really, really tried to catch the bag.

Alas, he did not. His laptop did. Oh, well.

"Hey," he said, pausing his research and turning around as he opened the chips. "Don't let Peter hear you say that. He's all workaholicy today."

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

"Dude. What's he doing? Aside from sounding way together on the Radio." Kenzi ripped open her own bag and stuffed popcorn in her mouth. "And what are you supposed to be doing? Doesn't efficiency get more efficient with study breaks? I'm sure I read that somewhere."

[dollpocalypse]

"I know, right?" Topher exclaimed, seizing onto the first part of what she'd said as he grabbed his chips and flopped down on the bed. "He's totally, like, calm and stuff. I told him I'm pretty sure he's a robot. And, for the record, he was surprisingly quiet on that topic."

So. Proof, right there.

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

"Hunh." Kenzi folded herself onto the floor, puzzling over it. "Maybe he knows something we don't? I gotta admit, I've been avoiding find out anything since we got back from Rat World." Shudder.

[dollpocalypse]

Topher shook his head. "Nah, I've got this," he told Kenzi with little inflection, reaching new heights in his self-deluded arrogance. "I got a message from the future. So. We're good."

Sure enough, one of the many windows open on his screen was a paused video, and a pair of well-worn headphones snaked from the jack in the laptop down to the floor.

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

"Oooooooo." Kenzi perked up, leaning up. "Who from? Show me? Did they say when we do stuff to fix this whatever-the-hell-it-is?"

[dollpocalypse]

"Tooooooony."

Were you that shocked, Kenzi? Well. Maybe.

Topher went back to his desk and made the video full-screen, pointing. "See, see, look. See. That's him." With a dorky expression on his face that was half-grin, half-lipbitey, he looked to Kenzi for confirmation of Tony's hotness.

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

"Whoa, he's so old. He looks like his dad." Howard Stark could put away the Jell-O shots. Kenzi tilted her head. "Is he losing his hair?" Now she was just messing with him.

[dollpocalypse]

Topher's dorky expression turned to a gaping look that could only be described as "scandalized."

After emitting an aghast noise, he sputtered, "Wh-- bu-- no, he is not -- he's -- his hair is fine!"

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

Kenzi chortled, and leaned back, popping another kernel into her mouth. "Seriously? Okay then! It is pretty cool for him to be sending messages from the future and all." She elbowed Topher. "Maybe he won't be dating anyone in the future."

[dollpocalypse]

And that would be Topher dissolving into a fit of giggles totally manly coughs. Yep. No giggling at all.

...she believed that, right? No?

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

That eyeroll would argue otherwise. As long as Topher wasn't stalking this Tony any more, she wasn't gonna ride him about it, though.

"So what's he say happened?" Kenzi asked, reaching to poke at the screen.

[glacial_queen]

Karla poked her head into Topher's room, trying not to wrinkle her nose. "So here's where you've been hiding."

[dollpocalypse]

"...this is my room."

So... yes?

[glacial_queen]

Karla glanced around, face disapproving. At least, of Topher's side. "Yeah. I could tell."

...Was that a giant picture of Tony Stark above Topher's bed? Yes. Yes it was.

"There is something wrong with you."

[dollpocalypse]

She was probably disapproving of Dave's side too. There was a huge freaking strobe light under his bed.

Topher sighed. He'd heard this before. "Why this time?"

[glacial_queen]

Hey now. Strobe lights were cool.

Karla pointed at the picture now in a place of honor. "I know who that is," she said dryly. "He was still on the island when I got here. He and his boyfri--"

Ummm. Dammit. That was probably not the best thing to have said.

[dollpocalypse]

WELL, THE STROBE WAS FROM TOPHER. TAKE THAT.

Topher fell off of his chair.

No, literally. He was on the floor now.

"WHAT."

[glacial_queen]

"What what?" Karla asked trying to play dumb. And think of something that could sound like 'boyfriend' but wasn't.

[dollpocalypse]

"Wh-- wh-- "

Topher scrambled in the least coordinated possible way to get off the floor, then pointed up at the ceiling. "Boyfriend?!"

But -- but Tony had said -- but --!

[glacial_queen]

"I didn't say that," Karla said immediately.

Mostly because she hadn't finished the word.

"No, his name is Tony Stark."

Be obtuse, Karla. Just keep being obtuse. Maybe his attention would get caught by something else?

[dollpocalypse]

"I know that!" Topher exclaimed, flailing like a crazy person. "But -- he -- you said -- bhuh?!"

Articulate as always, Topher.

[glacial_queen]

"Those weren't even words," Karla scolded, which made for an excellent reason not to respond to them. "What are you working on?" She made a curious face at the computer. "Better not be more spying on Ender!"

And any one of those things he wanted to fixate on was all right with Karla.

[dollpocalypse]

"Shhhhhhhhh!" Topher hissed, scrambling to shut the door. The last thing he needed was Peter hearing that Karla knew about this.

Well, no. The last thing he needed was probably to be Nothinged. But before that.

"Dude!" he admonished her once the door had been closed and all squirrels shooed away. "You don't just say things like that! There are -- people! And squirrels!"

Both things he feared, yes.