Stark Industries, Sunday

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

Jessica had a hoodie on and was working on a computer, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Despite, you know, being at work on her normal day and wearing a hoodie and all. Her goal of being inconspicuous became even tougher when she started complaining.

You see, every spare cable in the place only had male connections. Of course.

Comments

[dollpocalypse]

Why was Topher stopping by the shop on a Sunday? Maybe he had just missed it so much over the summer that he couldn't get enough.

Or maybe he had left his hoodie here yesterday. Who knew?

"Hey, have you seen a -- who are you?" Sigh, new people.

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"I'm Temporarily Aboy," Jessica said. "But you call call me Temp."

[dollpocalypse]

Topher squinted. "Who are you normally?"

When you couldn't recognize the genetic near-identical of someone you'd had a kid with in an alternate universe, it was a sign you weren't great with faces.

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

Honestly, Jessica was just glad that Topher caught the fact that she wasn't actually a new person named 'Temp.' "There's only one girl who works here, Topher," she pointed out.

[dollpocalypse]

There were probably a lot of gross things he could say in response to that, but fortunately none of them sprung to mind quickly enough to get said. "I was gone all summer," he pointed out. "Maybe Jessica got fired for, like, getting nail polish on something important and Tony had to hire some other girl."

Wait, scratch that last bit of narrative.

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"Okay, I'll give you the first part of that and ignore the second part completely," Jessica said. "I am Jessica, yes."

[dollpocalypse]

"Hi, Jessica," Topher said in his most friendly tone. Which was still about seventy percent rude. He tilted his head momentarily before evaluating, "Your hair looks better like that."

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"Hidden under a hood?" Jessica checked. "Or just much, much shorter?"

[dollpocalypse]

"Yes," said Topher.

Helpful.

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"Thanks, but I'll be keeping it the normal length once my body is back to its normal state," Jessica said. "This isn't really a trial style for me."

[dollpocalypse]

"Oh, I thought you maybe cut it like that during the summer," Topher said, despite there being no evidence of that weird conclusion. "Aww. Okay."

He bounced on his heels, apparently having fun with this strange conversation.

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"No, that's a side effect of the gender change," Jessica explained. "You've been a girl a few times, right? Has your hair stayed the same length during that?"

[dollpocalypse]

"Yeah, actually," he said. "Actually it gets cleaner, too. Does that happen to yours? It's kind of cool that Fandom does that."

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"No, but then again, I keep my hair pretty clean in th first place," Jessica said.

[dollpocalypse]

"Oh, you're the person I should ask, then," Topher said, pointing one finger at her. "Is there a difference between conditioner and shampoo? I was wondering, but when I looked it up I got lost in a Wikipedia loop, so..."

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"Yes, they're different. That's why they're called different things," Jessica said, trying not resist rolling her eyes. "Shampoo cleans the hair, and conditioner is used afterwards, mostly for health and appearance. It makes the hair softer and shinier."

[OOC: I had to look that up.]

[dollpocalypse]

"Oh," Topher said, tilting his head again. "Eh, I probably don't need that, right?"

[[Ha, oh no! Sorry! If it helps, you've educated not just Topher, but me as well?]]

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"Assuming you're just talking about conditioner? No, not really," Jessica said. "But you do use shampoo, right?"

[dollpocalypse]

"Yuh-huh." You know, sometimes. When he remembered. "Not the weird girl kind that smells like dessert, though. Do you think that matters?"

Why was Jessica suddenly the expert on hair care? Seriously, why?

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

""Frankly, I think it doesn't work as well unless it smells like some kind of fruit," Jessica lied. "If I can make a suggestion? Go with strawberry scented shampoo."

[dollpocalypse]

Topher sniffed the air, squinting at Jessica. "Is that what you use?"

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"I do, but the conditioner dulls the scent," Jessica said. Yeah, she was still making things up. "So I guess that is an actual reason to use conditioner if you start following my advice."