I entered the garage -- the Spudcave, as Nene had dubbed it -- and carefully refrained from slamming the door shut with every ounce of strength I possessed.
Instead I shut it gently.
My glowering was interrupted by the full-length mirror mounted on the back of the door. Well, more appropriately, the sign taped above it: "BEFORE YOU
LEAVE: Are you who you think you are?" I didn't recognize the handwriting, but I suspected either MD or Uni. If Ben had done it it would have been
more snarky, and besides, Nene was too short to have hung the sign.
It had an effect, though. The unexpected humor broke my fugue; instead of ranting, raving, and railing at the walls, I just let out a deep, drawn-out sigh and
stepped over to the battered armchair, dropping into it with bone-weary relief.
"Bad day?" MD inquired from where he sat at the workbench, fiddling with the super-laptop Uni had created. He was in his Major Starlight form. I
waved a hand at her in greeting.
"He's just grouchy," Rhea said, before I could say anything. I scowled.
"Everything was fine, until Little Miss Boredom here decided to take a nap," I replied. Tam raised an eyebrow.
"I was tired!" Rhea protested.
"You know," I said thoughtfully, ignoring Rhea sticking her tongue out at me in the back of my head, "I knew intellectually that Lisa was, to
coin a phrase, hawt like the fire of ten million suns."
Tam raised the other eyebrow. "And?" she prompted.
I shrugged. "Let's say that Rhea has a very good memory and very vivid dreams, and leave it at that."
"Oh, you liked it, you know you did," my brainspace invader put in.
"Yes, well, I'd have liked it a lot more if you were the silent type in bed or if it had happened at some other place than where I
work."
"Oh, dear," Tam commented, trying vainly to suppress her laughter. I scowled at her.
"It's not funny, man," I said. "I sit right next to HR. If they'd been in the office, I'd be out of a job right now! As it is,
people think I was surfing porn already." I pitched my voice as close to Rhea's as I could. "'Oh, Lisa, yes! Right there! Yes!'
Feh."
"I don't sound like that," Rhea said. "And you forgot the moaning, anyway."
I dropped my face into my hands and whimpered. "See? See?!"
Tam was laughing too hard to respond. Nene chose that moment to enter, a couple of sodas in her hands. "Say, Brian, do you have another chair we
could... okay, what'd I miss?"
"Me losing my job," I replied.
"Rhea had a nap," Tam said, a smile tugging at her lips. The traitor.
"I was tired," Rhea said. "You'd think I melted a busload of nuns or something."
Nene thought about that for a moment, then shook her head. "Yeah, I don't think I wanna know."
Uni appeared in a flash of light in the corner of the garage, where we'd set up our 'teleporter pad' -- a large square of cardboard taped to a
wooden cargo pallet, with a bulls-eye drawn on it in Magic Marker. On the wall behind it hung another sign: "Don't stand here. Telefragging is bad...
maybe. We don't know. DON'T TEST IT!" I noticed a scrawled line beneath that in a different hand: "Take THAT, Heisenberg!", and
snorted.
"Hey, guys, what'd I miss?" Uni said, stepping down.
I snorted. "Don't ask. Please."
Tam and Nene returned to their Dynasty Warriors game -- on a hodge-podge of monitors that Nene had rigged into one functional whole on the wall, something
which made me wince every time I looked at it -- and Uni dragged over a crate to use as a seat.
"So," I said after a few moments of mindless explosion-watching.
"Hmm?" Nene replied absently, her tongue jammed firmly in the corner of her mouth as her fingers madly tapped buttons.
"Any news from the others?"
"Lots of wierd things on the 'net," Uni replied. "And the media is having a field day."
"You guys think we should try to get in touch, or...?" I let the question trail off.
"I think we should go find the others," Rhea put in.
Everyone was silent for a moment.
"I could take some time off," Tam said thoughtfully, not looking away from the screen. "I mean, I just came off holiday, but I could get a few
days."
"I can't," Uni said, shaking her head. "I've used up all my vacation time already this year."
"Leave that to me," Nene said airily, waving a hand in dismissal. The Gundam she was fighting chose that moment to skewer her with a fusillade of
beam spam. "Darnit."
"I've got something like six weeks total at this point," I admitted. "My boss would probably appreciate it if I used some of it now instead
of taking November and December off entirely."
"So..." Tam said, grinning slyly. "Roadtrip to Jersey?"
We all groaned, and Rhea threw Mr. Whiskers at her.
(Edit: gah, gender identity issues + pronouns = confusion!)
--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs
Instead I shut it gently.
My glowering was interrupted by the full-length mirror mounted on the back of the door. Well, more appropriately, the sign taped above it: "BEFORE YOU
LEAVE: Are you who you think you are?" I didn't recognize the handwriting, but I suspected either MD or Uni. If Ben had done it it would have been
more snarky, and besides, Nene was too short to have hung the sign.
It had an effect, though. The unexpected humor broke my fugue; instead of ranting, raving, and railing at the walls, I just let out a deep, drawn-out sigh and
stepped over to the battered armchair, dropping into it with bone-weary relief.
"Bad day?" MD inquired from where he sat at the workbench, fiddling with the super-laptop Uni had created. He was in his Major Starlight form. I
waved a hand at her in greeting.
"He's just grouchy," Rhea said, before I could say anything. I scowled.
"Everything was fine, until Little Miss Boredom here decided to take a nap," I replied. Tam raised an eyebrow.
"I was tired!" Rhea protested.
"You know," I said thoughtfully, ignoring Rhea sticking her tongue out at me in the back of my head, "I knew intellectually that Lisa was, to
coin a phrase, hawt like the fire of ten million suns."
Tam raised the other eyebrow. "And?" she prompted.
I shrugged. "Let's say that Rhea has a very good memory and very vivid dreams, and leave it at that."
"Oh, you liked it, you know you did," my brainspace invader put in.
"Yes, well, I'd have liked it a lot more if you were the silent type in bed or if it had happened at some other place than where I
work."
"Oh, dear," Tam commented, trying vainly to suppress her laughter. I scowled at her.
"It's not funny, man," I said. "I sit right next to HR. If they'd been in the office, I'd be out of a job right now! As it is,
people think I was surfing porn already." I pitched my voice as close to Rhea's as I could. "'Oh, Lisa, yes! Right there! Yes!'
Feh."
"I don't sound like that," Rhea said. "And you forgot the moaning, anyway."
I dropped my face into my hands and whimpered. "See? See?!"
Tam was laughing too hard to respond. Nene chose that moment to enter, a couple of sodas in her hands. "Say, Brian, do you have another chair we
could... okay, what'd I miss?"
"Me losing my job," I replied.
"Rhea had a nap," Tam said, a smile tugging at her lips. The traitor.
"I was tired," Rhea said. "You'd think I melted a busload of nuns or something."
Nene thought about that for a moment, then shook her head. "Yeah, I don't think I wanna know."
Uni appeared in a flash of light in the corner of the garage, where we'd set up our 'teleporter pad' -- a large square of cardboard taped to a
wooden cargo pallet, with a bulls-eye drawn on it in Magic Marker. On the wall behind it hung another sign: "Don't stand here. Telefragging is bad...
maybe. We don't know. DON'T TEST IT!" I noticed a scrawled line beneath that in a different hand: "Take THAT, Heisenberg!", and
snorted.
"Hey, guys, what'd I miss?" Uni said, stepping down.
I snorted. "Don't ask. Please."
Tam and Nene returned to their Dynasty Warriors game -- on a hodge-podge of monitors that Nene had rigged into one functional whole on the wall, something
which made me wince every time I looked at it -- and Uni dragged over a crate to use as a seat.
"So," I said after a few moments of mindless explosion-watching.
"Hmm?" Nene replied absently, her tongue jammed firmly in the corner of her mouth as her fingers madly tapped buttons.
"Any news from the others?"
"Lots of wierd things on the 'net," Uni replied. "And the media is having a field day."
"You guys think we should try to get in touch, or...?" I let the question trail off.
"I think we should go find the others," Rhea put in.
Everyone was silent for a moment.
"I could take some time off," Tam said thoughtfully, not looking away from the screen. "I mean, I just came off holiday, but I could get a few
days."
"I can't," Uni said, shaking her head. "I've used up all my vacation time already this year."
"Leave that to me," Nene said airily, waving a hand in dismissal. The Gundam she was fighting chose that moment to skewer her with a fusillade of
beam spam. "Darnit."
"I've got something like six weeks total at this point," I admitted. "My boss would probably appreciate it if I used some of it now instead
of taking November and December off entirely."
"So..." Tam said, grinning slyly. "Roadtrip to Jersey?"
We all groaned, and Rhea threw Mr. Whiskers at her.
(Edit: gah, gender identity issues + pronouns = confusion!)
--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs