003 (Video) ; I'm a word that no one ever wants to say...

[andblockbuster]

 [Hello, Tranquility. Here's Topher, recently exorcised and looking... Well, let's be real here. Topher looks like he got hit by a truck. His hair's messier than usual, he's ashen-faced, and there's a bandage around his left hand, which you can only just barely see because his hands are tucked tightly under his arms, like he's trying to pull himself into the smallest possible space.]

Is it over yet?

[He swallows.] ...Are they gone?

[For a moment, he looks like he might say something else, but there's just a long silence where nothing happens and he flips the communicator off with an aggravated and exhausted sigh. This has not been the best few weeks of his life and he's had a lot of terrible few weeks.]

Comments

[voice]

[sammyskeleton]

[Here, Topher. Have a deep, smooth and placating sort of Irish voice talking to you, because you look like you've been hit by a truck.]

I'm not sure. [Topher he wants to help you.] You look like you could use some tea. Would you like some tea?

[voice]

[andblockbuster]

I could use a lot of things right now. [Sob. He misses Adelle... Not that Adelle would probably offer him tea. She'd tell him to stop panicking and get his head in the game. In a vaguely understanding way. ...Oh right, he drifted off there. Funny what you think about in the middle of a trauma.] But in absence of any of those things and so long as I don't have to leave my room... Tea sounds great.

[voice]

[sammyskeleton]

[Oh right wait he's a skeleton won't that make things awkward?

...Eh nah, people are used to weirder right???]

Right. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I have no idea where your room is, but if you tell me, I'll bring you some. Maybe some chocolate, too, if I can find some. That's always good for trauma. [So's whiskey but Skulduggery is kind of not the guy to think of that so.]

[audio]

[testgasm]

[Guess who...DOES NOT NOTICE A DIFFERENCE AT ALL but might also possibly look like he's been hit by a truck for entirely different reasons NOT THAT YOU CAN SEE HIM so there.]

I dunno. Go ask management, they're futzing about on the Holodeck, pretending nothing is wrong.

[audio]

[andblockbuster]

[Not sure if want.

You can't really see... Topher staring at the communicator like he's suffering a major crisis, but the awkward pause that might as well have its own Jeopardy music says a lot.]

Did you know your ex-girlfriend's possessed?

[...Look, this is his attempt to be both a dick and helpful, all while being too tired to properly do either. Fight him.]

[perma-voice]

[testgasm]

[OF COURSE WANT Wheatley is exactly what everyone needs all the time.]

I don't have an ex-girlfriend, I'm a robot, remember?

[Not programmed to love, or something. But wait, hang on, he has to think about that for a moment.]

But if you're talking about Chell [and he says her name--he knows it now--with no small amount of contempt], I suppose that...would explain the talking, and the excessive amount of lying she's been doing, lately.

text;

[constructum]

you okay?


[ yep, she doesn't know what else to say aside from that. because, YOU ARE AN ASSHOLE didn't seem like the best thing. :/ ]

text;

[andblockbuster]

no.

[And then two minutes minutes later.]

i am so sorry. that wasn't me. i wouldn't have

[Another minute]

if you don't wanna talk to me... after that. i get it.

video | encrypted 85%

[constructum]

[ oh topher, she honestly can't be mad at you too long. it is just...

a sigh and she is flipping on the device, looking into the screen with a slightly wary look. ]

I'm not going to stop talking to you. It's just...how do I know it's really you?

[ hey, she was cautious with arthur after all of this. she needs to be cautious with you. ]

video;

[entrapments]

Hey boy genius.

They aren't yet, I don't think.

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[andblockbuster]

[He laughs in a way that is not entirely happy.] Where are the priests and religious nutjobs when you need them?

video;

[entrapments]

They're working on it. [ the smile she goes to is meant to be reassuring. even if it doesn't quite make it. ]

Are you hurt?

[voice]

[doggedly]

[There is a time for everything. A time to string people alone, and a time to pity them, and it just so happens that this is pathetic enough to fall into the second category, which is in fact rather rare.]

Nearly dead or just mostly?

[voice]

[andblockbuster]

[You're so kind, Sirius.

So kind.]

You should see the other guy.

[voice]

[doggedly]

Not sure I want to, thanks. A hundred percent dead, is he?

[ video ]

[the_vishual]

[ Chase herself is looking a little worse for wear--or maybe just really, really sleepy. She licks her lips, hesitantly, before deciding to actually speak: ]

I'm glad I didn't find you, Topher.

[ Hey, at least it's not 'sir' anymore. ]

[ video ]

[andblockbuster]

[Aww Chase. ;_;]

Were you...?

[ video ]

[the_vishual]

[ She nods. ]

So.. I'm glad I didn't find you. It wanted me to.

[consulting]

Unknown.
Lacking in sufficient data to respond accurately.

You need a blanket.
You're in shock.

SH

[andblockbuster]

[Fact: No matter how traumatized he is, Topher can still be a dick.]

Only a little bit in shock.

Willing to forgo the blankets in exchange for enough pillows to make a fort. How many couches are there on the ship?

TB

[Although it is... Kinda not as factitious as it sounds. He would totally build a pillow fort and ring it with salt.]

oh gosh, I'm thinking of the pillow fort city in Community now.

[consulting]

I could send you an approximation.

Sorry, Fort?

SH

[ What are pillow forts. I have deleted it. ]

video;

[butwedonot]

I'm afraid I can't tell you if they're gone yet, though I'd advise staying where you are as of now-- it's quite a dangerous sort of situation. [ He offers a soft sympathetic smile. ]

I'm sorry I cannot be of more help, but you look as if you might be in need of some medical assistance.

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[andblockbuster]

I think I remember enough of my residencies to deal with an unfortunate fork injury.

[The last person he invited into his domain was a skeleton. A nice skeleton, but still a skeleton. He's back to being paranoid.]

[onteamdyson]

[For a long time, Kenzi wasn't sure what to say. She hadn't been much help at all with the Demon. In her mind, she'd done more harm than good. Couldn't even help her friend in his time of need. Her genius friend. Was she the only useless one on this boat?]


Are you for realz all alone in there again?

[Because that is obviously the smoothest conversation starter, Kenz. Nice.]

How's the hand?

[andblockbuster]

In the most.. Cyndi Lauper sense. And I don't even like 80's pop, so... That might not be the most reassuring reference joke. [...That was Tiffany, Topher. Not Cyndi Lauper, who sang "I Think We're Alone Now," so congratulations, you're fail makes it a very reassuring reference joke.]

Not broken. Still twinges a little, but it's okay- I've got a spare. [He waves his good hand at her.]