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

[glacial_queen]

"What does that have to do with anything?"

[dollpocalypse]

Really, Karla?

"...it makes it sorta difficult to trust you."

[glacial_queen]

"Technically, I only threatened you with poison. I'm not about to kill you," Karla corrected. "There are laws against murder in this world."

Not her own, though. Fear, Topher. Fear.

"But surely that stands as excellent testimony that I will do what I say. And I've said I won't tell either Wiggin so long as you don't give me a reason to do so. You can trust in that as much as you do that I can poison you if you give me just cause."

See? PERFECTLY REASONABLE.

[dollpocalypse]

"I don't care if you tell Ender," Topher grumbled, because he really felt like throwing all his dignity in a hole today. "I just don't want you to blame Peter for it, 'cause..." Hmm. "'Cause it was just me."

Topher was a bit surprised by that himself, and it showed on his face for an instant before he gave a decisive little nod. Yes. It was totally all his fault.

Such a loyal minion, this one. Even if this was a terrible lie.

[glacial_queen]

The lie was obvious even without mind-reading skills, but the fact that Topher tried meant...something. Probably that Peter had the poor male twisted up in a knot, but still. She was shocked Topher would put that much effort into protecting someone who wasn't hanging above his bed.

"If Ender finds out about this, Peter probably will to," she said, just so Topher didn't get any stupid ideas. "He's really put you through the wringer, hasn't he?"

She was regarding him with new thoughtfulness in her eyes.

[dollpocalypse]

Topher squinted at Karla. Something in her expression had changed, and there was that weird question...

"What do you mean?" he asked, suddenly feeling oddly self-conscious. It wasn't something he felt very often -- well, apart from when he was actively seeking praise -- and he wasn't at all sure it was on his list of favorite emotions.

[glacial_queen]

Karla shook her head. "Nothing," she said. "Never mind."

She had a feeling that explaining it to Topher wouldn't do much good. But she remembered how insistent he was that he'd understood Ender's isolation...

"Look, I'm just not gonna tell, all right? Right now, there are whole worlds vanishing without a trace. Give me some credit for having priorities. And by the time we fix this, it'll be too long since it happened for me to run and tattle. So as long as it doesn't happen again, I won't tell."

The Wiggins.

[dollpocalypse]

"Fine," Topher said, eyeing her carefully. "It was a while ago, anyway," he finally conceded. "And I'm not that interested."

That wasn't quite true; after the Bonzo footage, he actually was quite interested. But not enough to get in trouble with Peter or risk getting poisoned. So.

"Is that it?" he asked, finally unfolding his arms from his chest and letting them swing at his sides.

[glacial_queen]

Karla raised an amused brow at that. "Depends," she said evenly. "Have you found anything useful?"

[dollpocalypse]

Topher paused.

Then jabbed a finger up at the Tony picture on the ceiling.

[glacial_queen]

Karla glanced up at the picture and then back to Topher. "Just how is that helpful?" she demanded.

Sorry, Topher. She meant in regards to the bigger picture, not your libido.

[dollpocalypse]

"First tell me what you meant by boyfriend."

Sure. Now he decided to be stubborn.

[glacial_queen]

"Without knowing if you have any information worth my time?" Karla countered. "Not likely."

[dollpocalypse]

Frustrated and incredibly curious, Topher found himself filled with a weird tension all over his body, and he swung one foot out to kick useleslly at the air in front of him. "Just -- is he -- I mean, he said he isn't, but -- !?"

That was punctuated by a high-pitched whimpering noise. Because HE NEEDED TO KNOW.

[glacial_queen]

"First of all, that Tony--" she pointed to his ceiling, "--is not this Tony. So it doesn't matter if that Tony paints himself blue and goes horseback riding naked, that doesn't mean that this Tony will. Alternate versions are just that. Alternate."

Not that Karla had a great track record in keeping her hatred of different versions of people separate, but do as she said, Topher, not as she did.

"So any answer I give you means nothing about this Tony. Got that?"

[dollpocalypse]

Topher nodded quickly. The words had registered, and if he'd been any less excited to just know already he might've made some remark to the effect of his being a genius and knowing that already, thank you very much -- but now was not the time for that.

"Uh-huh," he said, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet.

[glacial_queen]

"Then, yes, that Tony had a boyfriend. I don't know how they got together or anything about them. I just know that Tyler used to run Fight Club with Lady Ghanima, so presumably, that Tony is attracted to guys who are pretty bad ass."

So...NOT YOU, TOPHER. HINT. HINT.

[dollpocalypse]

Okay. Digesting that. Okay.

"Badass," Topher repeated, nodding. "Okay. I can do badass!"

He most certainly could not.

He glanced down at his considerably unbadass ensemble and bit his lip. "Probaby gonna need some new clothes, huh?"

[glacial_queen]

No, Topher. That was not the takeaway message here.

Karla felt like facepalming.

"Do you really want to change who you are, just for a male?"

Oh, honey. Don't try to use self-empowerment ideals with Topher.

[dollpocalypse]

"Um." That was a bit of a stumper. "Yes?"

Aww, did Karla like him the way he was? That's okay, Karla. Just admit it. You'll feel better.

[glacial_queen]

No. Mostly she didn't want to have to Heal a laughter hernia from the sight of Topher rocking a leather jacket over a sweater vest. And, if word of this conversation got out, she would probably have to Heal whatever was left after his first fiery wreck on a motorcycle.

"No, Topher," she said tiredly. "The right answer is no."

[dollpocalypse]

"...why not?"

Look, Tony was awesome, okay? And if some version of him liked guys, then maybe Topher had a shot, and if all he had to do was be cooler, what was wrong with that?

[glacial_queen]

Because Topher wasn't that cool? And because that version of Tony wasn't this version? TOPHER. THEY HAD JUST HAD THAT TALK.

"Because you can't base your personality on what other people like," Karla told him. Though, really if it meant he stopped being so annoying... "Small changes, yes." Like not being so annoying, again. "But you can't suddenly become a whole new person. Especially when the person you're trying to become is attractive to a completely different version of that guy you like."

[dollpocalypse]

"But maybe they like the same things," Topher pointed out, not seeing her objection to this. "Or else what makes them both versions of Tony, instead of just two guys with the same name?"

He had a point. Granted, not an especially sharp one, but.

[glacial_queen]

"Go talk to Ben and Ender about timeline mechanics," Karla said, happily foisting off that duty to other people. "Or Warren. He has very little in common with his alternate-universe selves."

Which reminded her..."By the way, you ever try to eat or experiment on my boyfriend again, we're going to have words. Or, rather, I'm going to have words, and you're going to have high-pitched, squeaky noises of pain and terror. Okay?"