Stark Industries - Thursday

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

There were no fish floating around Barry today. Nope.

Instead there was just random citrus fruit showing up in the most irritating places where he was trying to work.

"MOTHERFUCKING ORANGES!"

Which of course led to a lot of swearing.

Comments

[spin_kick_snap]

"Language, Barry," Kathy said, grinning at him from the doorway. "You're working for the man now." Or something. "What if I decide I'm offended and complain to your supervisor?"

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Shit. You think he gives a fuck?" Barry asked with a smirk. "How's it hanging, Kathy?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"I don't have an answer to that that's as fun as a guy would," Kathy said with a small chuckle. "But not bad. I've got some really interesting classes this semester. And you? It's been awhile. What've you been up to?"

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Just working here and fucking around with research back at the warehouse," Barry said with a shrug. "No point for me to go to college, right? And going back home and pretending to be something I'm not what I am doesn't appeal to me. So I'm sticking around the island for the near future."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy was willing to bet a certain Norwegian princess influenced his desire to stay as well, but wasn't going to tease.

"Why work here, instead of just on your own stuff?" she asked instead. "Looking for that important retail experience? Or do you just not get enough floating oranges in your own lab?"

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Barry scowled a little bit as he batted an orange that was drifting into his line of vision.

"Stark is a genius in his own right and runs his own businesses," Barry said with a shrug. "Something that I couldn't do before publically. I'm just trying to figure out how I may be able to do that home somehow. If necessary."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy reached out and snagged one, nonchalantly starting to peel hers. Why look a gift orange in the mouth when she could put it into hers?

"Barry Ween, working with the public," she said, shaking her head with amusement. "How long until you make a Barry-bot you can program so it deals with the customer service aspects leaving you to tinker in peace?"

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"I've done it before when I was in grade school," Barry admitted. "It never really ended well back then. Besides this is just part of the job."

Barry wouldn't admit it but he pretty much needed the social interaction no matter if it was a hindrance at times.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy wasn't going to argue with him about that.

"Do I dare ask what happened with the grade school Barry-bots?"

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Well one had a psychotic reaction to the letter W in grade school," Barry said with a sheepish grin. "The other one looked like a fucking Sasquatch after eating paste."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Okay, but now I have to ask," Kathy said, unable to keep from laughing, "did you use to eat paste, too? Or did your robot just decide out of nowhere that it would be delicious?"

She figured the latter, but the image of Barry Ween, Paste-Eater was delightful.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Fuck no. I've never eaten paste," Barry said rolling his eyes. "That was just a subroutine for socialization in my android. How the fuck was I supposed to know it would spontaneously grow hair?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm more interesting in why you thought that was a subroutine that would make your bot more social," Kathy retorted. "What kind of school did you go to?"

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"You're average public school," Barry said rolling his eyes. "And you can't tell me you didn't know a kid who didn't eat paste in grade school."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Yeah, but everyone avoided him because eating paste was weird!" Kathy said, still laughing a little. "Nobody looked at that kid and thought, 'Ah yes. That's the kid I want to be friends with.'"

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Well I wanted to avoid any semblance of being smart so I wouldn't get dissected by the government," Barry pointed out. "Eating paste was a sure fire way to dispute I was a brainiac."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Fair," Kathy agreed. "And probably better than pants-wetting. Though just limiting your robot's intelligence might also have been an idea. Just throwing that one out there."

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"If my android was eating paste, you can be assured it wasn't that bright," Barry snarked. "So how's school? Everything wacky there as usual?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Isn't it always?" Kathy sighed. "I got bit by a gremlin on Sunday and thought I was a zombie. Tried to eat three people in town. That was...mildly horrifying."

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Yeah that was pretty fucking weird," Barry admitted. "The whole weekend was fucking weird. But it didn't seem too bad so I just locked myself in the warehouse and got work done."

[spin_kick_snap]

"It really was," Kathy agreed. "I stopped by the dance on Saturday, but I just poked my head in, saw it was full of strangers, and immediately bailed."

She'd gone to Baltimore instead of a warehouse lab, but the impulse was the same.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Yeah. I mean I know the reason why I'm sticking around here," Barry admitted. "Though I have to wonder about some of the people who willingly came back."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I would," Kathy admitted. "This is the first place where I made friends. And where I first became Banzai."

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Oh, bullshit," Barry said rolling his eyes but in a good-natured way. "You didn't have one single friend before you came here?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"My little sister Sarah," Kathy said with a shrug. "Are we counting her?"

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Sure if you want, but I'm not sure I believe it," Barry said shaking his head. "Hell, I was a fucking recluse and I had Jeremy."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You have no idea how incredibly shy I used to be," Kathy said with a small smile. "Like, days could pass in school when I didn't speak except to answer questions. Add that with strict parents, a lot of time devoted to studying and gymnastics, and our building being mostly elderly people when I was a kid and families with small children when I was older..." she shrugged. "Not really a recipe for a lot of friends."