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THIS ROUND IS NOW CLOSED TO NEW PROMPTS.
ROUND FOUR WILL OPEN AT 10PM EST ON MONDAY THE 14TH.
ROUND THREE
closing at 5000 comments
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REMINDER: THERE IS A SPOILER POLICY IN PLACE UNTIL 7 MAY.
PROMPT FORMATTING:
Alphabetize pairings. They will be archived that way!Put [RPF] before RPF prompts ( Read more... )
Did he break their almost-friendship before it even had a chance to take root?
The second he logged in, he was instantly spammed with what looked like a hundred messages.
HandsomeSmarts: Sorry.
HandsomeSmarts: I was drunk.
HandsomeSmarts: Yo, GM?
HandsomeSmarts: You’re not mad, right?
HandsomeSmarts: I said I’m sorry!
HandsomeSmarts: You’re still not on? It’s been an entire day…
HandsomeSmarts: Okay, now this is just plain being mean. It’s been twenty seven hours and fifteen minutes. I’m sorry, okay?
HandsomeSmarts: …
HandsomeSmarts: Two days GM…
HandsomeSmarts: Look, I was drunk, you can’t expect me to take responsibility for my actions!
HandsomeSmarts: Three days. Anyone tell you that you can hold a grudge?
HandsomeSmarts: Okay, look, I need a little help on my new scanner.
HandsomeSmarts: GM?
He scrolled through the messages- HS obsessively dated them down to the exact minute. It was actually touching to think that somebody, anybody would miss him that much.
He couldn’t think of a single other person who would.
Bruce reached the end of the messages, fingers hovering over the keyboard. The last message had only been logged a half-hour before. It was one-thirty in the morning, and insomnia made fools of any man.
Gammaman: Hello HS.
And then, because his mind couldn’t do anything beyond scientifically analyzing everything he ever said, he froze up. He didn’t type in the apology he was planning, he didn’t ask how HS was doing… he just said Hi.
The reply was instant, and a drive right into his heart.
HandsomeSmarts: Gammaman? That you over there? You’re not mad at me anymore?
Gammaman: Yes, I’m here…
Gammaman: I just wanted to say sorry for not logging on earlier.
HandsomeSmarts: Sorry for that? It isn’t anything to apologize for
Gammaman: And apologize for saying stuff about your dad. I should’ve just listened to you.
Tony blinked at the screen. Wait… so the guy was apologizing for not listening to him? Nobody listened to him. Tony didn’t listen to himself. It was why he was building a robot, who probably wouldn’t listen to him either.
HandsomeSmarts: It’s all cool. I was drunk, didn’t actually mean anything.
HandsomeSmarts: Anyways, I have this really cool idea-
Bruce frowned at the screen. HS was far too willing to change the subject, almost implying that no one listened to him. Bruce grimaced- probably because no one did.
Gammaman: Hey, listen. If you ever want to type it out and bawl your heart out, I’m willing to listen. I’ve been told that I’m a good listener.
Tony, in the middle of typing out what could probably pass as a doctorates thesis paused. Read the line. Read it again, eyebrows climbing to his hairline. Was the guy really offering what Tony thought he was offering?
Thoughtfully he saved what he had already typed, and then deleted it. Slowly he typed in,
HandsomeSmarts: So if I get drunk again and come to you bawling about life you’re not going to log off?
HandsomeSmarts: Because I’ll totally understand if you do.
The reply pinged in only a few seconds after, as fast as GM could type.
Gammaman: I’ll listen. I swear. I’ll even type it back to you. In perfect English.
Tony grinned. A guy could really, really grow to love that.
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