fandomtownies | Chilly Boulder Ice Creamery [Saturday Evening]

"Me, either," said Z, eyeing Bridge's concoction over her own single scoop of raspberry sorbet. "So of course we decided to visit the place for the first time in January. I worry about us."

Sky was feeling a lot better than he had earlier in the day after swallowing a few Ibuprofen, so he decided to head out and satisfy his craving for something sweet. For once Grape Judas would not be enough, he thought. He'd seen the Chilly Boulder before and never stopped in, but this time felt it would do quite nicely. He strolled in, his jaw dropping when he spotted Bridge and Z.

"Wh- wh-" he stuttered. "Bridge! Z! Where have you been?!"

Z blinked at Sky in stunned surprise for a long moment, then turned to Bridge, said, "Well, it's been real," and attempted to leave the booth.

Bridge is... okay yeah, pretty much with the stunned surprise himself, actually. But not so much that he can't grab on to Z's arm with one hand and yank her back down in to the booth.

"Buh?" he manages intelligently.

"... Nice to see you guys, too," Sky said with a hint of disappointment, completely not expecting this reaction. He hovered near their booth, unsure of whether or not he should pull up a chair, and crossed his arms. "You seem like you're surprised to see me. Didn't Command let you know I was being transferred here?" The feeling that something wasn't right, that they were all hiding something from him, that he'd had the other day when e-mailing Kat had come rushing back unexpectedly, but Sky held his tongue, thinking there had to be a good reason.

"No," Z said slowly. "No, not so much, no." They might have, actually, but Z hadn't exactly been checking her e-mail while running away. "Hi, Sky," she added weakly.

"Um," Bridge says. "What she said- they didn't, I didn't, I had no *idea* that you're... how long have you been here?"

"Hi," Sky replied, finally pulling up a chair and sitting down in it. He was irritated and frankly a little hurt by their reactions, though he wouldn't admit that, naturally. We're not that close, he reminded himself. "... I've been here for a week. I'm in the dorms, in room 407. Spent a lot of time looking and asking around for you guys, since you're the only people I know here."

"A week," Z echoed, shooting Oh my GOD! eyes at Bridge. "We um. We weren't here. Obviously. We're just really surprised to see you! Um."

"Yeah. We had um... a thing. That we had to do. But it's done now. As you can see by the fact that we're here and not there. And now you're here and not there! Not that we were there as in Nebula because we weren't, we were here, but not here in Fandom, here on Earth," Bridge babbles.

Z pointed at Bridge. "What he said."

Sky pursed his lips. His first instinct, of course, was to run straight back to his room and contact Command- either to report the two or to demand some answers, he wasn't sure which- but he held himself in, not wanting to antagonize them, either.

"I'm sure you have a very good excuse for not being here and skipping class besides, then," he said smoothly. "Not that it's any of my business, I'm sure. Knowing this place, I wouldn't be surprised if you told me you were... oh, I don't know... abducted by plague-carrying dinosaurs or something."

"I think plague-carrying dinosaurs might be a little farfetched even for this place," Bridge admits.

"Plague, sure," Z said, "dinosaurs, yeah, but combined? Too much, dude. Especially if they kidnap us, too."

"...Er, sure. You know Fandom better than I do." Sky stared uncomfortably at his feet, not sure where to go from here. This was completely notthe reaction he had been hoping for. Of course, he chided himself, what else possibly COULD have happened? I can tell they don't like me already. He bit down the urge to ask what had happened to them again and instead looked back up at them, saying, "... So how have you guys been? I haven't really talked to either of you in a while."

"How have we been?" Bridge muses on that. "Well, um. Today's looking pretty good. I mean, ice cream! And you're here! That's great!" The enthusiasm isn't entirely forced. It *is* nice to see Sky again, really, it just... the timing could have been better. Yeah.

"Yeah! And it's not snowing any more, and hey, now we've got, like, almost the whole squad!" Z said. Her enthusiasm for the lack of snow, at least, was entirely unfeigned.

Sky finally stood, looking at each of them. He could catch the fakeness of almost all of their enthusiasm, so, with a little shrug, he turned and started leaving the shop without another word.

Swell, he thought bitterly. Guess it's back to sulking and pouting in my room some more. He had no real idea why he was so hurt, but he was.

"Sky!" Bridge calls out. "Wait."

"Why?" he wanted to know, stopping and looking over his shoulder. "Obviously the two of you are quite content with each others' company, why should I intrude on that?"

"I-" Bridge swallows, looking a bit nervous. "Um. Do you want to sit down? Have some ice cream, maybe? I mean, you came in here to get some, you shouldn't just leave without having any, and you might as well sit with us, it's not like there isn't room," he might be giving Z the puppy-eyes and a 'please please go along with this' look.

Z might have looked slightly doubtful, but she made a point of scooting over a few inches. "We're sorry, Sky. It's just...been a really bad week."

"... Alright, whatever," Sky mumbled, ~~handwavily~~ getting a dish of chocolate chip and re-occupying his chair. "Seems like EVERYONE has been having an interesting week besides me. Something's not right here, or with SPD, but nobody thinks enough of me to clue me in, and it's really starting to piss me off. But... I won't pressure anybody. I've got enough of a reputation of being a difficult jerk as it is."

He wasn't bitter. Nope.

Speaking of difficult jerks... "So, um. How's Dru?" Bridge asks, before scooping up a spoonful of ice cream.

Sky almost got up and left again, but forced himself to stay, guessing that this was an attempt at a friendly gesture. So, as he had often done this week, he went against his instincts and accepted it, even though it meant the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach returned.

"Dru got sent away," Sky said shortly, almost sub-consciously pulling back his sleeve to look at his Tangarian coil. "They decided on Tuesday that it was time for him to move ahead, too, so he got sent to the Ohru Nebula to do some in-the-field undercover work. He said I might not hear from him again 'til the end of the mission."

Z noticed Sky messing with his jewelry and wondered vaguely what was up with that, but said instead, "I'm sorry, I know it's hard being separated from your friend." Because jail was so much better than boarding school and yes she was still bitter.

Bridge might barely be suppressing an eyeroll at the bracelet. Which, for Bridge, is about as snarky as he gets. But just because he's not Dru's biggest fan doesn't mean he doesn't feel bad for Sky. "That sucks, dude," he says. "Sorry, didn't mean to um, hit a nerve."

Sky inhaled sharply. "It is hard, but then again, he'll be back in a month, so it's not TOO bad, I guess. I still worry about him, because he's in a dangerous part of the galaxy... and, of course, spying isn't exactly the safest line of work that exists." He flicked the bracelet with a fingernail, making it ping, then shrugged at Bridge's statement. "It's alright, Bridge. You didn't know."

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Z offered, even though she didn't know this Dru guy and had no idea whether he was capable of spying or what. All she knew was that Sky apparently really liked him, and that Bridge apparently...really didn't. Which was kind of a new thing when it came to Bridge. "If SPD thinks he's ready, I mean, he's got to be ready, right?"

"Yeah. That's what I keep telling myself, anyway," said Sky. "I always knew when we became friends that chances are we'd be separated some day thanks to our different career choices, so I'm trying not to let it get to me." He fiddled with the zipper on his jacket, now more uncomfortable than angry. He really didn't think it was going to be so hard to relate with Bridge and Z...

"That's the spirit, dude," Bridge says sympathetically, tentatively patting Sky's arm.

Sky accepted this friendly gesture, too, managing a small smile, though he still felt incredibly awkward. You're as much a stranger to them as they are to you, though, he reminded himself. This can't be easy for them, either. He hated admitting it to himself now, but it was the truth.

"So..." he began, then trailed off, looking a little hopelessly at the two.

Z tamped down on her sudden, hysterical urge to say, 'How 'bout them Bears?' "Guys, do we have anything happy we could be talking about?" she beseeched them.

"Classes!" Bridge bounces excitedly. "Sky, what classes are you taking?"

Sky was grateful for the subject change. "I have Ye Shall Be As Gods on Wednesday, and Conflict Management and Tactics 201 on Thursday. Conflict Management wasn't my idea," he added sourly. "Whoever signed me up at Command thought it would be funny."

"That seems to happen a lot around here," Z said. "I'm in two of those. Tactics and, um, the one with the Gods. Hopefully not actual gods. I think Professor Ares left."

"Nope, not actual gods," said Sky. "Dr. Mizrahi's a normal human, thankfully. It's going to be a pretty fascinating class- she really made me think on Wednesday. One of the topics they'll be covering is genetic modification and... well, people like us. With powers." He very sub-consciously made a tiny force field with his finger as he spoke.

Bridge suddenly finds the table real interesting. "That's... I'm in those two too. The Gods class and Tactics. Um. I don't know Doctor Mizrahi but the Lieutenant's great."

"I'm supposed to be in the law class and Criminal Justice, too," Z said quickly, before she could dwell on what Sky'd just said. "With Professor Crazypants. I mean. Deadpool. Professor Deadpool. Did I say that out loud?"

Sky had noticed his companions' sudden increase in discomfort, and it clicked in his mind that whatever the two had been up to that week might have somehow had something to do with their powers. However, he held his tongue, resolving to ask Kat instead when he got back to his room.

"I haven't met Professor Deadpool, but Lt. Kerrigan is awesome... we got along really well during our first period on Thursday. She did give me a strange look when I wanted red armor, though." He snorted, then looked around at Bridge and Z again. The tension in the air, coupled with his re-aroused anger and resentment, was finally starting to prove too much, so he stood up, wanting to cut bait before he exploded. "Listen I... really should get going. I didn't sleep well last night." He started to go, then checked himself, and forced a smile. "I'm in 407, so if... you know, you ever want to hang out, or you can call me..." He also ~~handwavily~~ told them his phone number.

Chilly Boulder Ice Creamery [Saturday Evening]

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