Room 522, Wednesday Evening

[batwaffles]

No patrolling for Robin tonight; the bacta bandage was doing a good job of healing up Stephanie's cuts but she wasn't going to risk ripping them open again by doing anything strenuous tonight. (This wasn't a prudent I-don't-want-to-hurt-myself-worse move. This was a the-sooner-I-get-healed-the-sooner-I'm-back-on-duty move. The only person who

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[dollpocalypse]

So by "curl up in a comfortable pile of pillows," Stephanie meant that she really wanted to talk to Topher today, right? Right. Of course. Naturally. Because he was in her doorway, toeing the ground awkwardly.

"Uh, hey."

[batwaffles]

Topher. It was Stephanie's dorm room, not the lion's den. Even if her hair while she was in costume did have a certain mane-like quality.

"Well, well." Stephanie set the book on forensic methods aside and raised both eyebrows. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

[dollpocalypse]

"So... I wanted to, uh, talk... to you. About a thing. That I did."

Yeah, apologizing to Jono had been way easier.

"Um... what's up?"

[batwaffles]

"Mmmmhmm." Stephanie glanced pointedly at her phone on the nightstand, not having forgotten a certain phone that got flung at her head a few days ago. "What's up at the moment is that I'm waiting for you to provide some specifics, since that would be ever so lovely. I'd hate to have you go through the long arduous apology process and then realize you had nothing to apologize for, after all."

[dollpocalypse]

"Wait, what?" Hang on, he needed to process that. This was a process that required fiddling with his hands, apparently. Then: "Oh. 'Cause I was totally gonna do that."

Yes. She was aware of that.

[batwaffles]

The corner of Stephanie's mouth twitched.

Note to self: work on poker face more.

"Sometime this century? A girl can hope." She waved a hand. "If it helps the process, come on in."

[dollpocalypse]

Aaaaand now he was in a girl's room. Or at least, a room that was half a girl's. Either way, it was weird. Topher didn't even like to stay in Kenzi's room for too long, and she was the girl he had the most tolerance for.

Anyway.

"So..." He glanced over at Jeremy's side of the room, deciding that that was the place he was least likely to encounter... girl-covering things. "Um. Ishouldn'thaveyelledatyouandthrownmyphoneatyourheadandI'msorry."

[batwaffles]

Well, all the video game paraphernalia on Jeremy's side would probably make Topher feel better.

Stephanie held up one hand and made a gesture like she was turning a knob in exaggerated slow motion. "Let's see, if I play that back at quarter speed . . . no, you shouldn't have. The thing is, that part I completely understand. If I'd been there I'd have freaked out too."

[dollpocalypse]

Was she... trying to relate to him? Excuse Topher while he tried to deal with the idea that he and Stephanie might have anything in common.

Well, besides the obvious.

"Uh," he said. "Yeaaaaaaaaaah."

Profound.

[batwaffles]

Profound.

See, Topher? Steph's head voice agreed with your narrative.

"I'm so glad we're sharing and having a healthy dialogue here." Okay, the poor kid looked uncomfortable enough, and it wasn't like he was a perp she had to shake down for information; Stephanie relented a little. "But in all honesty, apology accepted. You ended up helping out after all, so I guess I can't be too mad."

[dollpocalypse]

"I didn't know he was gonna -- you know," Topher added uselessly. "I mean. I figured that he -- never mind."

Why was he still going with this, again? Oh, right. He was trying to be a decent person. Fuck.

[batwaffles]

Did that hurt, Topher? Over-the-counter painkillers might help with the pain there.

"Was too smart to end up having that happen?" she suggested.

[dollpocalypse]

"Yeah. Um. Not that he isn't! But. I mean. I just figured. Yeah."

That Tony was a god and therefore not susceptible to pesky things like the Nothing. See, pedestals could hurt you!

"Um, have you seen him? I went to, uh, bring him coffee, but he wasn't..."

[batwaffles]

They were occasionally also useful for kicking over to trip up pursuing bad guys -- wait. Metaphorical. Right.

"He had things to do at home," Stephanie said, vague for the sake of any pesky squirrels but with a subtle lift of her eyebrows.

[dollpocalypse]

Topher's brow furrowed immediately. Things at home? That sounded... bad.

He glanced out into the hall, shot a Snuggie-clad squirrel a look, then shut the door.

"Uh," he said, looking worried. "What kind of things?"

[batwaffles]

The less said about the neatly folded Superboy Snuggie at the foot of Stephanie's bed, the better. She was still mad at Conner; she'd have preferred a Green Arrow one.

She sat up, winced a bit, and cleared her throat. "Y'know. Things." She wasn't sure exactly how much Topher knew about the specifics, and mission stuff was supposed to be classified, right?