What's a Troika?

[burninating]

Mom called me first thing, shattering this really cool dream I was having about At-ats and a million squishy ewoks. She wanted me to tell my brother that he'd gotten a phone call from a big Los Angeles law firm. She was "very concerned that he was in trouble with drugs

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[robo_pimp_daddy]

Four straight hours of working, and I was finally starting to get somewhere on this program I'd been working on. It wasn't exactly a class project or anything -- more a personal task I'd set for myself a while back, but never got around to actually doing. One of those projects, you know? For what it's worth though, it must have been about ten times as interesting as anything outlined within the syllabus of my computer programming class. So anyway, I was just starting to get somewhere like I said, when there's a knock at the door. Not a big deal, right? Wrong. My whole train of concentration had been compromised -- my mindset corrupted. It would probably take me weeks to finally force myself to get started on this thing again. And for what? Because Tucker forgot his key? I had half a mine to leave him out there. Then again, I really didn't feel like sitting through his endless bitching.

After trekking the small distance between my desk and the door, I lifted my arm in order to cup my hand in front of my face. I didn't exactly want to be subjecting anyone to my potentially rancid breath, after all -- especially not if it was Tucker's friend Amy, or one of her friends. Thankfully, all checked out just fine. Turning the knob, I finally opened the door .. only to be greeted by the sight of two (sort of) familiar looking figures staring back at me. Brows vexed, I looked over the smaller of the duo. Wait a second .. was that really Oompa Loompa Jonathan Levinson from Sunnydale High? Huh, go figure. It really was a small world. What the hell was he doing here, though? Glancing up to the dirty blonde at his side, it was like one of those cartoon light-bulbs activated just above my head.

"Andrew, right?"

[burninating]

I smiled, suddenly feeling kind of shy and uneasy about "dropping by casually" because I didn't feel very casual. Nodding anyway, I blurted, "Hey, yeah. I'm Andrew. Tucker's brother. Kudos on a good memory. And you are Warren, right?"

Jonathan looked at me uncomfortably and I went on, "Uh, this is my roommate Jonathan. We were coming by -- well, *I* was coming by, but he wanted to come too -- to see if Tucker was here. I have a message for him. Is he -- uh, is Tucker around?"

I tried to look past Warren into the dorm room, to make sure that I wasn't intruding like last time. I didn't really want to walk in on Tucker and his new girlfriend being kissy-face on the bed. Or, for that matter, Warren and his imaginary but inevitable girlfriend.

[jl_superstar]

"Do you think it's weird that 'rocket-propelled grenades' and 'roleplaying games' have the same acronyms?"

I shrug, and then we stand wanting waiting for the door to Tucker's dorm to open. I'm totally sure that inviting Tucker to breakfast will end in disaster, probably of epic proportions, but I can tell Andrew's determined to make the gesture.

"Huh, never thought about it." I admit, shaking my head. "But dude, killing ewoks in your dream like that. That HAS to mean something. I mean they're cute, and furry, and they helped the good guys..."

Whoa, instead of Tucker answering the door, it's his roommate and he looks kinda familiar to me. Andrew makes with the awkward intros, but I think the guy recognises me too.

"Didn't we go to the same high school?" I can't quite place him, but have this nagging feeling he's one of the dudes who used to call me an Oompa Loompa and would 'accidentally' make me spill my lunch tray in the cafeteria. One of Tucker's cronies anyhow.

"Uh, hi. Yeah, I'm with Andrew. Obviously. Wait, I mean, I came with Andrew, came with. Not... the other thing, we're not togeth- Because...let me just say chicks at college, way hotter than at high school."

Okay, so not the first impression I'm wanting to give the guy.

[robo_pimp_daddy]

For a minute, it almost seemed as though neither one of them was going to say anything, much less do anything but stand around as they had been, looking pretty uncomfortable. I lifted my eyebrows, hoping to entice some sort of reaction out of the duo some time this millenium. The short kid Jonathan looked over toward Andrew to make the next move, which thankfully enticed him to say something .. finally.

"Hey, yeah. I'm Andrew. Tucker's brother. Kudos on a good memory. And you are Warren, right?"

"That'd be me," I deadpanned, kicking yet another awkward silence into gear. Once again, it seemed like Andrew would be the one salvaging the moment for both he and Jonathan .. who seemed to be staring at me now.

"Uh, this is my roommate Jonathan. We were coming by -- well, *I* was coming by, but he wanted to come too -- to see if Tucker was here. I have a message for him. Is he -- uh, is Tucker around?" The former asked, before he tried looking past me and into the dorm room. I lowered my hand from where it had been resting on the doorframe so that he might get a better look inside. Tucker was nowhere to be found, and I really didn't have anything to hide at the moment. Besides, the Oompa Loompa started eyeing me all weird-like again after Andrew had finished talking.

"Didn't we go to the same high school?" He finally asked, as though he wasn't one-hundred percent certain already. I knew better. If I could remember him, I was pretty sure that he knew exactly who I was, too.

"I thought you looked familiar. Sunnydale High, class of '98, right?"

"Uh, hi. Yeah, I'm with Andrew. Obviously. Wait, I mean, I came with Andrew, came with. Not... the other thing, we're not togeth- Because...let me just say chicks at college, way hotter than at high school." All right, so Jonathan was exactly the same. At least some things would never change. I allowed my gaze to linger on him for a short moment, not sure exactly how I was supposed to respond to his rambling. Rather than making him feel inferior though, I opted instead to turn my attention back toward Andrew.

"Tucker isn't here," I stated simply -- as if that much wasn't obvious already. "Probably out with that Amy chick again. I'll let him know that you guys stopped by."

[burninating]

He knew Jonathan from high school? No fair. I wanted to know someone like that in high school. Someone who would stick up for me with Tucker. I thought he was a friend that Tucker'd met at tech school and that was why I'd never met him. But, I guess I never really met any of Tucker's friends. I didn't think he had them, really. And yet, here was one.

Warren looked kind of pointedly at us like why are you still here? and I squirmed.

"Okay, cool. Yeah, um... tell him we stopped by and that someone called the house looking for him. Some lawyer. I don't --" I stopped for a second. Maybe his roommate would know something that I didn't? No harm in asking. "Do you know why Tucker would have contacted a lawyer? Is he suing someone?"

"I have no idea," Warren said bluntly. "And, I'm kind of busy right now, actually, so..."

"Oh! Sorry. I didn't -- we didn't mean to..." I started. "You're working on something cool, probably. Is it? Cool? You don't have to answer that. We'll go. It's just... I told Jonathan about your Decepticon figure and-- nevermind. Um, yeah. I guess we'll go eat at the cafeteria, then, and leave you alone with your whatever stuff. Unless you're hungry, too?"

Jonathan kind of twitched at my invitation. Maybe they didn't like each other in school. I probably shouldn't have said anything. Actually, I should probably not talk so much.

"Or, nevermind." I took a step back, immediately bumping into someone who was walking down the hall. They glared at me and grumbled before continuing on. I sighed and wished for the millionth time that I wasn't invisible. "Well, okay. See you, I guess."