Tony's Secret Lab, Abandoned Warehouse District, Wednesday Evening

[dollpocalypse]

Topher flung the door open with more force than he'd ever realized he was capable of, his heart pounding. That was partially from having run all the way here while crying, though the helpless grief and rage battling inside him was also a close second. He couldn't remember ever feeling like this before -- like he'd just lost something completely irreplacable and there was nothing he could do. He couldn't fix it with science or programming or anything without at least a scan of Tony's brain and a wildly undeserved medical degree. It was just... just the worst thing ever.

He kicked the floor, and then, finding that unhelpful, threw the phone and that stupid orb he was still holding onto the ground and hurled a hard punch at the wall.

Fuck, that hurt.

But it did kill some of the helpless feeling, at least. Now there was just... grief.

With a choked sob, Topher collapsed down to the floor with his back to the wall, cradling his bleeding hand and just hating everything.

[[I'M SORRY. HE JUST HAS A LOT OF FEELINGS. for two, and NFB.]]

Comments

[dollpocalypse]

"Yeah, well, I wasn't trying to win," Topher muttered.

He'd just felt that weird tension in his limbs, the kind that always nagged at him when he was frustrated, and had really, really wanted to hit something. Hence... the wall.

"Is that a dent, do you think?" he asked, eyeing the not-quite-a-dent in the wall. More of a scuff, really. "I'll pay for it to get fixed. I mean, I can."

[wwiii]

Warren followed Topher's gaze to the totally-not-a-dent and shook his head a little. "I don't think it's really all that noticeable," he offered. "But, I mean, we could probably patch it up easy."

By wiping down the Topher knuckle-smear with a damp cloth.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much, Topher."

[dollpocalypse]

Maybe not even a damp cloth. It could just be a napkin or something to take care of the teeny specks of dust.

"I just... don't wanna wreck his stuff," Topher muttered. "If, you know, if we fix it, I don't want him to come back to a mess, or whatever."

Just, you know, two guys sleeping on the couches in there. That was normal.

[wwiii]

Hey, in the wake of the end of the multiverse? Two guys sleeping on couches was actually astoundingly normal, yes. The fact that one of them came complete with a lop-eared rabbit was just icing on the cake.

"Well, then we won't go punching his things," Warren replied. "If you really want to hit something, feel free to give me some heads-up before winding up and socking me in the shoulder a good one. It's a bit softer than the wall. I won't even hit back."

Probably!

[dollpocalypse]

So wise, Warren. So very wise.

"'m not gonna hit you," Topher said in surprise, glancing up to look at Warren. "You just fixed my hand."

Ethics. He sometimes had them.

[wwiii]

Sort of. Warren would take being punched over being bitten any day of the week.

"Well, then don't." Warren really didn't seem to mind either way. "But don't make a habit out of hitting the walls, okay? You need those hands, man."

[dollpocalypse]

That... hadn't really occured to him yet.

"Yeah, okay," Topher said quietly after a minute. "So, um. Research? And then -- I might just sort of stay here. After. 'f you don't mind."

[wwiii]

"I don't mind you staying if you don't mind me staying," Warren promised, nodding over to the pile of books that he'd hauled down here from the library. "And anyhow, it'll be nice to have some company that doesn't have a twitchy little nose and floppy feet. We can compare notes, yeah?"

[dollpocalypse]

This was true, Warren. While Topher did twitch on occasion (say, if someone were to mention boobs), his nose was rarely affected.

"Yeah," Topher agreed, reaching for a book. Then, hesitantly: "Um, thanks."

[wwiii]

That got a curious little glance out of Warren. And then a little, dismissive shrug of his shoulders and a slight twitch of a smile.

"Don't worry about it, Topher. We'll consider it even, okay? You stopped by with meta for Skyrim that one time, after all."

It had been some much-needed escapism. Warren had needed that at the time.

[dollpocalypse]

"...yeah, I mostly just wanted to play with someone," Topher admitted.

That was obviously the most polite possible thing to say there, Topher. Really.

[wwiii]

"You had good timing," Warren countered, because so help him he was going to say nice things to Topher today.

... Because Topher was possibly his only friend in the world right now. Literally. He'd have to check up on the tiny handful of others tomorrow, maybe.

"It's fine."

[dollpocalypse]

Warren. Seriously, you needed better (read: more resilient) friends. There was just no excuse for having Topher be the only one left in the world. None at all.

"Good," he said, nodding. "'Kay. So... books."

And then maybe playing with tech. But only with gloves on. You're welcome, poor Nothinged Tony.

[wwiii]

"Books," Warren agreed as he turned to lead the way to the stack of books that he'd hauled down here from the library. "And you can cross-check the notes that I made. Maybe something will jump out at you that I'm totally managing to miss."

[Sleeep for me. Night!]