Fifty-Sixth Theory [Action]

[i_speak_softly]

((Forward-dated to Sunday the 26th, after the village has cleaned up from the ice storm.))


[That was a good last try, Winter, but you are rapidly losing your hold over this ectotherm. He was trapped in C5 for several days, after Luke Skywalker’s guests shook off their movie-marathon stupor to realize they were iced in, but since making it safely back to House 55 he’s been increasingly alert and moving around with greater purpose.]

[Today he put on his heated snowsuit and struck out across the snowy village to the library. He had found this puzzle-box among his things, and he wants to work on it without his housemates hanging over his shoulders.]

[He also wants to strike up a conversation with anyone who so much as glances at him. Cold weather and semi-torpor don’t present many opportunities for socializing, and the normally-quiet Turtle has a lot of pent-up conversation in need of an outlet. It won’t be at his normal intellectual level, but it should at least be better than it has been in recent weeks.]


((Feel free to help Don with the puzzle-box, but I don’t want it to be opened yet.))

Comments

[herotypical]

...Maybe I know. What kind of night-time things? There's a variety.

[i_speak_softly]

Scavenge in dumpsters. Help homeless people. Stop petty criminals.

[Typical night-time activities.]

[herotypical]

Wait wait wait. Scavenge in dumpsters?

[i_speak_softly]

For food?

[Oh. Wait. Most people don't do that.]

Um...

[herotypical]

I didn't realize you were one of those...what are they called? Freegans.

[i_speak_softly]

Who?

[herotypical]

Freegans. Like vegans only....free. I suppose.

[i_speak_softly]

... I don't think I'm that.

[herotypical]

...It was kinda just a far-fetched example anyway.

[i_speak_softly]

[Subject change?]

Do you roof-run, Buffy?

[herotypical]

Depends. For business or pleasure?

[i_speak_softly]

Either.

[herotypical]

Plenty. For business. Sometimes it's the best way to outrun a vamp in the alley-ways.

[i_speak_softly]

[He nods, remembering how it feels to take the direct route while some dumb criminal tries to escape through the maze below.]

Do you want to go running some time?

[herotypical]

[ light. lilting. teasing. ] Think you can keep up?

[ translation: yes. ]

[i_speak_softly]

In a month I can.

[It's a date.]

[herotypical]

You've got yourself a date.

[ she ratifies that unspoken term with a cheeky grin. ] Just don't tell my boyfriend. I don't think he'd understand.

[i_speak_softly]

[Don grins.]

Mine either.

[herotypical]

"Yours?"

A surprised raise of her eyebrows. "I didn't know you had a honey, Don."

[i_speak_softly]

A frustrated gesture at the puzzle-box.

"Christmas present."

rofl apparently i accidentally switched to prose. you mind?

[herotypical]

"...Aha. Cute. Cuter than what mine got me. So there's that."

I do not

[i_speak_softly]

Don allows himself a moment of satisfaction, for having a partner who gives superior presents.

And then, because he's in over-sharing mode today:

"Robert Hastings."

[herotypical]

"Only met him once. He..."

Her face darkened for just a second. "We had a mutual friend. A very...close one."

[i_speak_softly]

Don looks away. He knows some people Robert cared about deeply had been sent home.

He keeps hoping he isn't next...

[herotypical]

"He and Giles...well -- that's kind of a dreary subject all around. I guess."

She wasn't sure she'd be able to look Robert in the eye, now. Too many Giles-related things. "But he seems like a decent guy."