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The Streets of Fandom | Wednesday Afternoon

So yesterday's patrol had been... interesting. Getting to play with his sonic immobilizer was always fun, but being threatened by Tony Stark -- who for whatever reason seemed to think Topher was remotely affected by what he thought -- wasn't quite as pleasant an experience. Shockingly.

But fine, Stark supposedly had a killswitch on the weapons he'd given out. All that meant was that Topher had stayed up late last night building himself some tech of his own, just in case it did come to blows between them. It wasn't his favorite kind of project by any means -- he far preferred using Stark's weapons and spending his own considerable scientific prowess on building things less likely to sting, burn or shock -- but it was a good idea to have a backup now that things were tense between them.

So today he was patrolling as usual, pockets full of Stark tech and a couple of his own toys just in case. And he might be inclined to be extra aggressive today, just because of the sleep-deprivation. Nice job breaking it, Tony.

[[open!]]

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Sometimes, Billy liked to think that maybe Umbridge had done something to Topher to make him be so terrible. But then, he'd hear broadcasts like yesterday's, and wonder how he'd ever wanted to date Topher in the first place. Maybe he was brainwashed, but there was also the possibility that he wasn't, and as much as he hated to do it, Billy knew he needed to talk to Topher to try to find out what the score was.

It wasn't hard to find him - of course he'd be out, looking ready to shoot people again, but when their paths crossed, Billy wasn't sure what to say.

"Well, this is awkward," Topher announced.

Because exes were awkward, right? Or something.

"Patrolling?"

"I was just going for some coffee, actually." Despite the fact that they weren't really near the Perk, oops. "Is that okay, or are you going to taze me for being outside without a good purpose?"

Had he been planning on being subtle? Hopefully not.

...Ugh. First Stark, now Billy. Seriously?

"Not unless you're secretly working for the rebel morons," Topher said slowly. "Or you punch me."

"I don't want to punch you, Topher," Billy said sadly, ignoring the first part completely. "I just think... do you ever wonder if you're going about things the wrong way? I don't know how hurting people is going to get them onto our side."

Topher pondered that. "Nah," he said. "I mean, yes, it would be ideal to bring them in after the tasing, my bad, but it seems like a pretty good strategy otherwise."

"Or you could try to, you know, just talk to them without hurting them," Billy said. "Maybe being intimidating scares people away."

"Except then I get punched," Topher pointed out, pointing to his face, where a bruise lingered as the evidence of yesterday's punching. "Which is unacceptable."

"Tazing people is pretty unacceptable too. If you keep raising the bar, people are going to hurt you worse when they see you."

The sad thing was, Billy didn't have to fake not wanting Topher to get hurt. Well, maybe punched a little more until he was thinking clearly.

"So I'll carry explosives," Topher said, shrugging easily. "So what?"

"Topher! Don't you see how that's going to get you killed?" Billy said sharply.

Topher thought about that one. Really, he did.

"...No?"

Billy sighed, and fought the urge to try to cast a spell on him to... well, do anything that would make him better. "Do you see how explosives might get someone else killed?"

"Oh, well yeah," Topher said at once. "Obviously."

It didn't look like he was particularly affected by this hypothetical, though, was the thing.

Yeah, that was going to make Billy scowl. "What happened to you? How could you possibly think that killing people is okay?!"

"Dude, what is with you and Tony asking this stuff?" Sigh. Topher despaired for them both. "Look, they're running around being dangerous to everyone. It's better to take them out so they can't, you know, bomb the whole island or whatever."

"But they wouldn't do that! They're good people. They're just... confused," Billy said. "Has anyone tried to blow the island up? No! That's not what they want."

"Says you," Topher pointed out. "What, do you, like, know any?"

Billy sighed softly, picking his words carefully. "Not anymore, I don't. But it's not like I've never met someone who's ended up in detention. They don't seem so bad before they're taken away. Most of them, at least."

Topher squinted at him, trying to discern what felt off about this conversation.

"They're throwing terroristy temper tantrums right and left all over the island," he said slowly. "And whether they seem so bad or not, Umbridge says that earns them detention time or worse, so we're supposed to help make that happen."

"Spray painting things it not terroristy. Tazing people, on the other hand..." Billy trailed off and sighed. "I guess I'm just not as good at this stuff as you are."

Topher wasn't about to argue with that. "Hey, you know, if you think it'd help, you could always see Umbridge for one of her mind-thingies," he offered, as offhandedly as if he were suggesting Billy try jogging in the mornings. "I hear they work on some people."

"Is... is that what you did?" Billy asked, trying to sound nonchalant about it.

Topher snorted. "Yeah," he said, "like I'd let someone play with my brain."

Billy pressed his lips together tightly to try to hide his disappointment. "Yeah, it doesn't seem like a good idea to me either," he managed to say.

"Probably your best bet is to just try to get more interested in this stuff," Topher advised. "You could borrow my sonic immobilizer if you want."

Billy almost shook his head before he thought about it. If he borrowed the sonic immobilizer, then Topher wouldn't be able to use it, and people would at least be safe from that. "Could I?" he asked, putting on a smile. "Maybe it'll seem better if I actually use it, instead of just hearing about it."

"Sure!" Hey, if that was what it would take to get Billy into the swing of things, Topher would totally go for it. "Hey, why don't we patrol together? I could give you pointers."

The part of Billy that wanted to spend time with Topher and make him okay, and the part of Billy that didn't want to see what Topher did on patrols were conflicting, but in the end, his weaker part won out. "Yeah, that'd be nice," he said. If nothing else, it'd be more information for the resistance.

"Cool!" Topher said brightly, handing over the gadget in question. "This is one of Tony Stark's, so it's pretty good. I mean, he seems to hate people using it, but yeah."

He glanced up the street. "Which way do you wanna go?"

"You can pick. You know a lot more about what to do than I do, obviously," Billy said. He was going to go back to his room and hide under the covers when this was done.

Topher shrugged. "Left, then," he decided, and turned left, swinging his arms as he went.

"So... how've you been?"

What, they needed small talk to pass the time while hunting down traitors. Duh.

"I've been... okay. This isn't exactly what I thought school would be like," Billy admitted.

Topher blinked. "Yeah, I know," he said slowly. "That's a good thing."

"It clearly is for you," Billy said, trying not to sound bitter. "I just want to learn stuff, you know?"

"We learn all kinds of stuff here!" Topher objected. "Like I have a class on philosophy or whatever and a class on robotics and besides, we learn, like, a ton outside of classes that you wouldn't get at another school." Topher grinned. "Like practical Darwinism."

"Do you ever worry about breaking the rules and getting into trouble?" Billy asked. "I have a difficult time learning when I'm worried." He wasn't sure what might get through to Topher, but he was willing to try anything at this point.

"...No," said Topher slowly. "Why would I break the rules? I mean, the only one that's kinda 'eh' is the one about no kissing, but that's kinda a non-issue now." NICE JOB WITH THAT, BILLY.

UM, NOT JUST BILLY'S FAULT, TOPHER.

"I'm not saying I think you'd break the rules. There's just a lot to remember and stuff," Billy said oh-so-eloquently. Being around Topher had always made him tongue-tied, but this was way worse.

"Not really." Topher shrugged. "Just to stick to the dress code and keep personal space and avoid blowing stuff up unless there are traitors in it. It's pretty easy to remember. Plus, I like the dress code, so."

Thank you, Captain Sweater Vest.

"Why, what's hard for you?"

"Well, the dress code's not so bad." The sad part was, he really did think that. "It just seems kind of...arbitrary sometimes. I kind of hope I don't ever have to blow anything up, you know? No matter how cool it'll look."

"...Why?"

Seriously, Topher was stumped.

Billy sighed, holding Topher's gadget at his side in the hope the Topher might forget he'd given it to him. "If you don't understand why blowing people up isn't right, I can't explain it to you," he said. "Maybe I should let you patrol on your own, and I'll do my patrol tonight." After a long session of emo music and ice cream.

That... actually kind of stung a little. Weird.

"Yeah, whatever," Topher said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I need the taser back, though."

Sorry, Billy.

Billy hesitated for a moment, holding onto the taser tightly. "Promise me you'll only use this as a last resort. As a friend promise. Tony won't make you cool stuff if you use it in ways he doesn't want."

And Billy wasn't going to even get started on how messed up Tony was. He only had enough room for disappointment in one person at a time.

"What are you, my mom?" Waaait. "Wait, we've kissed, that's gross. But still, come on. I use it when I wanna use it. Stark can deal."

For a moment, Billy thought about handing the taser over, about letting Topher go back to what he was doing and slinking away to the dorms, but he couldn't make himself let go of the gadget. He'd spent so long hoping that this wasn't really Topher, and finding out that he wasn't under anyone's influence but his own hurt a lot more than Billy had expected.

Maybe it was the hurt. Maybe it was the possible attack coming up. Or maybe Billy just wanted to do something good for once, instead of pretending to be loyal. His grip tightened, and he took a step back from Topher.

"I can't give this back to you, Topher. I'm going to take it back to Tony or--I just can't let you hurt anyone else, not like this. I'm sorry." Billy took another step back, and then turned quickly. He hadn't used his magic in a while, but thankfully it still only took a second to conjure himself a portal and teleport away.

Clearly, being good and being stupid went hand in hand.

And Topher started after him with his mouth slightly open, eyes all but burning a hole in the spot where the portal had just been.

"What the hell?" he demanded eloquently, followed by a slightly more annoyed, "Ugh. Now I have to go talk to Tony."

Seriously, Billy. Taking his toy was one thing. But making him talk to Tony Stark? That was just cruel.

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The Streets of Fandom | Wednesday Afternoon

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