Happy Boostlethon, poisonivory Part II
Title: A Whole Lot of Walking to Do
Fandom: DCU
Rating: PG-13 for language
Word Count: 17010
Characters: Ted, Booster, bunch of other people
Summary: Warnings for an overabundance of cameos and name drops, references to geek, retro and pop culture, and a timeline that probably wouldn't stand up to actual scrutiny. It started with just a little tutoring...
Part One
Ted stared at Booster's latest test in complete and utter shock. "How is this possible? How could you have done worse?" It was mind boggling. It was unfathomable. It was completely and utterly inconceivable, and he knew exactly what that word meant. For the last two weeks they'd been doing so well! Booster was receptive, and he generally caught on quick. Ted assumed Booster just had trouble focusing on getting the homework done because he was, by no accounts, dumb.
Booster looked sheepish, ducking his head and shifting in his seat. "I'm just not a good test taker, I guess. All that pressure and everything."
"Pressure," Ted stated flatly. "You, Mr. Quarterback, have problems working under pressure."
Booster's cheeks went red, "A 200 lb charging fridge threatening to run you over is completely different than taking a test, I'll have you know."
"You know I don't care about football, but this should be important to you, man. You're not going to be able to play at this rate."
"I know, I know," Booster scrubbed a hand over his face. "I just... I need more time."
"Okay." Ted pushed the test back, leaning in his chair and letting his eyes scan over the library shelves without actually seeing them. "This isn't the end of the world. We can deal." Except Ted didn't really know how. "Okay. Okay, I think maybe we're going about this the wrong way. It doesn't take you long to catch on to new material, so I think the problem is how you study for tests."
Skepticism twisted Booster's lips, but he sat back in resignation. "Okay, how?"
"Well, how do you usually prepare?"
"I dunno, go over my notes again, I guess."
"Then what you need," Ted said decisively, "are flashcards."
"What?"
"Flashcards! It'll be perfect!" He slapped a hand on to the test and pulled it halfway toward him before he thought to ask, "You mind if I borrow this so I can make them?"
Booster scratched his head, looking more and more perplexed. "Uh, no. Go for it."
"Awesome." He folded and stuffed the page into his planner before scooting closer to Booster's side with his elbows. "Okay, let's get to your homework now. You're on valence electrons, right? In basic, basic conditions, an atom has two shelves where electrons orbit. The inner most can only hold two at a time while the outer most can hold up to eight. The valence shell- the outer most orbit -can be open or closed. When it's a closed shell, it either has all eight electrons, or are used in chemical bonds. A closed shell is when the atom is at it's most stable. An open shell is when the valence shell isn't completely full or all the electrons aren't used in a chemical bond. Following so far?"
"I think so." The crease between Booster's eyebrows undercut his statement.
So Ted pulled out a sheaf of paper and began drawing as he started over. "See, it's like this," and when Booster leaned in closer, Ted could smell something like citrus and a bright summer's day off his hair.
~*~*~*~
The flashcards seemed to help, at least enough that Booster was merely borderline almost-flunking and not actually almost-flunking. It put him back on the active football roster, as long as he kept up his sessions with Ted. Practice eliminated after school tutoring, which meant lunches spent going over homework and, once Booster got a new laptop, long nights on chat where the conversation often skewed away from chemistry and to things like arguing which version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was the best and how Deep Space Nine was such a sorely underrated show. Shooting the breeze with the jock started feeling so easy and natural Ted didn't even notice that he started spending his time between periods talking to Booster in the hall, or that he'd hang out in the library after school with Barbara until the football team finished practice.
He didn't realize how much Booster was occupying his time until Tim said on Mumble, "/We're doing a 10-man heroic run on Mogu'shan Vaults and could always use another healer. What level's your Pandaren shaman at?/"
Ted froze. "Uh... I don't remember."
"/You don't... Have you gotten any of your characters up to level 90?/"
"I... don't think so...?"
He could practically hear the younger teen slapping himself in the face if it weren't for his glasses. "/Ted./"
"Sorry! I've just been busy lately!"
"/I know for a fact that it is a physical impossibility to be too busy to raid. I've tried./"
"I'd rather not have my family do an intervention with me," he drawled. "Look, there's-" Ted cut himself off abruptly.
"/If you were about to say there's more to life than raids, we may no longer be friends./"
He was, but he wasn't about to let Tim know that. "Like you don't have a life outside of raiding."
"/Maybe, but I'm still an active senior member of the guild, at least./"
"Okay, okay. Sorry. I'll get back into it." A chat window flashed up on his screen with Booster asked Hey, man what's up?. "Just not tonight. I'm a little busy right now."
Tim huffed. "/Alright. But don't come crying to me when you're the only one without a Polarizing Seal./"
The conversation, though, didn't stick in Ted's mind, not until later that week when the school gathered for an assembly to talk about homecoming. Ted crammed his knees into the huddle his friends made, trying to be heard over the reverb of the gym without shouting. "So I hear Ted's been slacking on raiding duties," Barbara started up.
"I haven't seen Ted log into WoW, Guild Wars, or Minecraft in almost a month," Scott added.
"And he hasn't been trolling Mumble with random My Little Pony clips, either," Ralph tsked. "Keep this up, and we'll have to hold an intervention."
Ted was torn between looking incredulous and snorting, so he split the difference and did both. "I've never heard of someone holding an intervention to get them back into antisocial habits."
"Except for the fact that online is where you're most sociable."
"Guys, seriously. You're getting all weird over noth-" Something hit Ted right in the temple and he let out an explosion of curses, head whipping around to find the culprit. A couple students eyed him warily but otherwise paid him no mind.
There was one person looking right at him, though, biting their lower lip and trying not to laugh. Booster gave a sheepish little wave and Ted was duly impressed Booster managed to hit him from halfway across the bleachers. Guess that was why he played football. It was also, Ted realized, the first time he'd seen Booster wearing a letterman jacket, the thick material making his shoulders look broader and all the patches going down one arm; Ted had never really looked at one of those before.
"Hey," Ralph's boney knee bumped one of Ted's. "You going to open your air mail or what?"
"What?" A crumpled piece of paper was dropped onto his lap unceremoniously.
"I think he's trying to tell you something," Ralph went on in an exaggerated whisper.
"If Timmy's stuck in a well again, I left my fucks with my repelling gear." The note, when opened, simply said hang out after assembly? When Ted looked over, Booster had turned back to his teammates, but Ted could see him glancing back his way. So he grinned and gave a thumbs up.Booster grinned back, even as he ducked his head when the big hairy guy that came from Ukraine last year pounded him on the back, howling with laughter.
"What is it?" Scott asked with a grin that said he'd already read it over Ted's shoulder. "Another tutoring date?"
"You're still tutoring Booster?" Ralph looked surprised.
"Yeah- no- wait, what?" Ted shook his head, trying to figure out who he was answering. "What do you mean 'still'?" Ralph just shook his head and looked away so Ted asked Sue, "Are you going to have to start watching out for your boyfriend? Because I don't know how I can handle being in a screwball comedy."
Sue just laughed and held her hands up, "One- if you don't know what's going on, you're not his type. Two- I think it's a little late for that."
~*~*~*~
When Booster asked after the assembly if he wanted to see the new Bond movie together Ted said yes without thinking about it. He hadn't expected to meet Booster at the theater with a small party of girls. "Sorry," Booster said with his hands stuffed in his pockets. "When my sister found out, she wanted to go too and called her friends up."
Her friends being called Beatriz ("Bea- Beatriz sounds like a Golden Girl," and Ted wisely didn't mention Bea Arthur at any point) and Tora. Even if Ted didn't have three classes with them it would've been impossible to forget Bea's amazingly green hair.
"If we're intruding, we can sit away from you guys." Michelle wasn't exactly a spitting image of her brother, but there were so many similarities between them that Ted was momentarily thrown off seeing Booster's familiar grin on a feminine face.
"It's okay," Ted assured them, "I don't mind being surrounded by pretty ladies." A chorus of snorts and amused snickers was his response. "You sure you wanna see Skyfall, though? I thought girls were all about that new Twilight movie."
Bea scoffed, hair falling in waves down her back. "Please. When I want to oogle guys, I want a man, not a boy still figuring out how puberty works."
"Try being in my shoes," Michelle said, "I have to live with someone like that."
Booster's face went red, "Hey!"
"Don't worry, Booster," Ted said as he patted his shoulder, "one day you'll be a big boy."
"I'll show you a big-" the rest of that was cut off as Booster facepalmed himself.
The girls erupted into laughter as Ted held up his hands. "Whoa. This is a family friendly establishment."
"Yeah," Bea teased as she pulled Michelle and Tora to the ticket counter, "don't get ahead of yourself!"
Ted nudged at Booster with a shoulder. "C'mon, buddy. We've got a sky to watch fall."
The noise that came out of Booster's throat was a cross between laughter and a snort. "Jesus, Ted."
Sitting in the row behind the girls, Booster and Ted leaned on the same arm rest as they whispered running commentary to each other the whole movie, and even though Booster was the one that bought the popcorn, Ted was the one that ate most of it. Afterwards, the group stood outside the theater, gushing about the movie as they waited for their parents to pick them up. Ted offered to have his mom drive them home but Tora's father was on his way to take the four of them. "He's a bit of a fuddy-duddy, but he likes making sure we all get home safe," Tora explained.
"You're amazing just because you say things like 'fuddy-duddy'." Ted told her.
When the girls dissolved into squeals over Daniel Craig, Booster angled Ted away just enough with his shoulder so they were part of their own conversation. "Hey, man- thanks for putting up with all this."
Ted looked up at Booster in surprise. "Putting up with what? A good movie and better company? It's not like I suffered or anything. You know- minus the part when I really had to pee by the climax."
"No, I mean... I know my sister and her friends can be a bit... much."
"Nah, they're great! Seriously, your sister is awesome."
Booster winced, something in his jaw tightening. "So you like my sister then?"
Ted wasn't the most receptive person when it came to body language, but even he sensed there was some thin ice treading going on. "I don't like like her, if that's what you're asking."
The tension deflated out of Booster's shoulders. "Okay. Sorry. Just, you wouldn't be the first, uh, 'friend' I had that was more interested in her than me."
"Aw, Booster. Your sister's fun, but she's not you."
A little smile wormed its way across his expression and it made something warm wriggle in Ted's chest. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. She's outta my league, anyway."
That made Booster snort. "I don't think you're even aware of what league you're in."
"Are you suddenly trying to get me to date your sister now?"
"No! God, no!" He ignored Ted's dry humored 'gee, thanks'. "I'm just saying a person's got to be blind to not realize what an amazing person you are."
Words dried up in Ted's mouth, and he ducked his head as the warmth in his chest climbed up his cheeks. "Thanks, man," he finally managed to get out, giving Booster a shoulder check, "you sure know how to make a guy feel special."
~*~*~*~
"I'm just saying," Ted insisted as Barbara whapped his feet off the table for the third time, "that people are freaking out over it, and they have no idea what they're in for."
"God, Ted. If you turn into one of those people that complain about people getting into the source material because of a movie or tv series, I will not watch Life of Pi with you."
"What, you don't want to reach through your monitor and strangle people? Especially when they start talking about how wonderful and great, say, Robb Stark is and you just want to kill them because of friggin' A Storm of Swords-"
Barbara put a hand to her head, but Ted knew her well enough to spot her feigned exasperation hid the fact she was laughing internally. "This coming from the guy that still hasn't read A Dance with Dragons."
"I barely even remember what happened in the fourth book because I was so traumatized!"
"You can re-read them."
"My heart is a weak and fragile thing, Babs. It can't take all the heartache and frustration again."
"This is the last time I talk about the show with you."
"Just you wait until season 3 starts. Then you'll be begging for someone to rant at."
"That's what Dinah is for, thanks."
"I see. I see," Ted sniffed, blinking his eyes melodramatically. "I can tell when I'm no longer wanted. You go and have a good life with Dinah and have all the fun times you once had with me." He turned away from the library's counter, shuffling his feet and sniffling loudly.
Barbara, heartless woman that she was, just said cheerfully at his retreating back, "Have a good wallow, Ted. I'll talk to you later tonight."
Ted stepped out of the library before pivoting on one foot and striding back in. "Oh yeah- I almost forgot to ask, but have you read a book called John Dies at the End or The Alienist?"
Immediately Barbara replied, "By David Wong?" Eidetic memory was so useful, Ted couldn't help being jealous if it. "I've heard of it, apparently it's being made into a movie that's supposed to go out to next year's Sundance, so you better get to reading it soon if you want any hopes of lording any 'elite geek' privileges. From what I hear, it's well written and funny, but it's not very high on my list since horror isn't my genre of choice. And if you mean the book by Caleb Carr, I've been trying to get you to read his stuff for a while now."
"Oh." Ted scratched at his neck. "Do you think-"
"You can borrow The Alienist." A smile tugged the shadow at the corner of Barbara's mouth. "So what finally convinced you to give it a try?"
"Well, y'know, Booster was talking about them both a couple days ago. Figured I'd ask you about them since you're the book guru and all."
The shadow solidified into a smile, "Of course. Give them a try; you're a lot less picky about books than I am, anyway."
Ted tossed a wave over his shoulder, "Yeah, thanks Babs. I gotta head out, I'll see you online tonight?"
"Sure. And tell Booster I said hi."
He nearly smacked into the wall as he twisted back to protest. "What? I'm not-" but Barbara was smirking at him in that way she did when she, inexplicably, knew what was going on in his head and there was no way to dissuade her from it.
Ted marched off, ignoring the heat rising in his face and said, "Whatever. Later, Babs." He very pointedly did not take the stairs two at a time or check his phone for the time because, even though he was aware of what a 'coincidence' it was, having it actually pointed out to him made him hyper-aware of what he was doing and that was just... it was just silly was what it was.
Sure there was always a honeymoon period- and was there really not a platonic equivalent of that? -with new friends, even if Ted hadn't expected to become friends with Booster at all and couldn't really trace back to how it happened. A couple late night study sessions turned into dinners here, a comment that revealed commonality there, and before he knew it talking to Booster was the highlight of his day.
Was that weird? Had he been like this with his other friends? Ted honestly couldn't remember, and comparing it to the last time he witnessed anyone's honeymoon period didn't work because it was Scott and Barda. They definitely did not need to worry about platonic equivalence.
Ted swung over by the cafeteria to grab himself a soda, taking a different route to his usual after-school meet-up with Booster he headed out on the other side of the cafeteria and wandering in and out of the pillars that lined the way to the gym. As he rounded the last corner, he heard voices, very familiar voices. Voice of people he wasn't even aware had ever spoken to each other before. Channeling his inner Garrett and The Deadly Shadows, Ted plastered himself against the wall, inching toward the corner between him and Ralph and Booster, wondering what on earth they'd have to talk about.
"-called stalking and it's pretty fucking creepy. Besides, do you really want to keep the act up forever?"
"I know, I know. I didn't actually mean for it to go on this long."
"So what's stopping you?"
"I just... I don't wanna mess things up."
"Keep waiting, it's just going to get harder."
"I know."
"Seriously, man. It's not going to turn out nearly as bad as you think. Ted's a pretty chill guy, you tell him everything, and I'll bet he won't even get mad. But you seriously have to tell him because there are just some things Ted will never pick up on."
"Yeah. I'm starting to figure that out."
"So you either tell him or, if he still doesn't know by next week, I will. It's not that I have a problem with you-"
"You're his friend, and I'm being a stalker and creepy, I get it. I'll tell him." Then, almost under breath, "Soon as I can figure out how."
Ted nearly yelped when Ralph suddenly strode right past his hiding spot, too busy digging in his pocket for his phone to notice Ted was within arm's reach. He waited until Ralph was out of sight before his heart stopped slamming into his ribcage, trying to hear if Booster was still there and not wanting to risk actually looking around the corner. Two long minutes stretched by until Ted could make out muttered curses and scuffling feet.
Ted nearly turned the corner then until a thought struck him: just what had Ralph been insinuating? What did he know that Ted didn't? Was Ted taking up as much of Booster's time as he was Ted's? Did Booster look forward to hanging out together as much as Ted did?
He dwelt on the thought a few moments before carefully creeping back inside the school. He went upstairs to a window that overlooked Booster’s spot and, standing off to the side and leaning over just enough to look out, Ted watched him. For ten minutes he watched Booster wait, occasionally pacing up and down, or staring aimlessly off into space, even sometimes peeking through the window of the door Ted normally used, as if trying to see him walk down the hall. So it went for ten minutes yet at no time did Booster look at his bag like he was thinking about going home. Ted didn't know what that meant- he didn't know what he wanted it to mean, and he had to cross his arms to keep from grabbing his phone and demanding Ralph to tell him what he knew.
So he pushed himself away from the window, going down his usual route in a half-jog so when he finally burst through the door (nearly whacking Booster with it in the process) he was slightly out of breath. "Oh- dude, sorry! I didn't see you back there!"
Booster just waved it off with a sheepish grin, getting up from the half-crouch. "No worries. Not the smartest place for me to fix my laces anyway."
He wondered how often Booster casually lied to sound that natural. "Sorry, Barbara and I started talking books and time just went by." Though he supposed it wasn't like he was much better. "I didn't expect you to wait."
"Practice was a little rough today, so I was taking my time, I wasn't here long."
Ted eyed him for a long moment, trying to decide if he wanted to force the issue or not, if he wanted to wait until Booster had mentally prepared himself, if he even wanted to know what secret was being kept from him.
Booster fidgeted, "Something wrong?"
He shook his head. "Nah. C'mon, I got a hankering for Jamba Juice. If you tell me I'm pretty, I might accidentally order one of those wheatgrass things."
"Yes, Mr. Kord," Booster started saying in his best Peter Lorre, rubbing his hands together with his shoulders hunched around his ears. "You are amazing, Mr. Kord. I am unworthy, Mr. Kord."
They had a week. For Booster to say what he needed to say. For Ted to figure out what was going on in his head. A week could be a long, long time.
~*~*~*~
A week was an utter blur, especially when it was crammed full of school and friends and homework and things to distract people from homework. It wasn't that Ted forgot about what happened, it was everything pulling his attention away from Booster and introspection. The only time Ted really had to think was in the hours past midnight when he was trying to convince himself that the internet didn't have anything interesting going on, and it wasn’t crazy to consider going to bed and sleeping for four or five hours before his alarm went off. He'd go over the course of the day and see if maybe he missed a clue somewhere, if Booster had hesitated or opened his mouth to form a word that ended up becoming something else at the last second. He would've tried to edge Booster into saying something, if Ted knew what he was trying to get him to say. Trying to blindly lead Booster into a random verbal trap left Ted talking himself in circles. Booster had to be suspicious, Ted ended up giving himself a headache, and why did life have to be so hard?
He glared at his desk between his fingers and a pencil clenched in his teeth. Ted was making a new set of flashcards but kept getting distracted by the huge knot that his life had become. Okay, so it wasn't a huge knot, it was just a Booster-shaped knot, but the blond had become such a prominent fixture in Ted's life in such a short amount of time that it felt like all his existence had gotten twisted around.
"Everything sucks," he announced to no one to thin air then let his fists and head thunk on his desk. That gesture propelled a couple sheets of paper and his planner to the floor. With a long suffering sigh, Ted leaned over to snatch them up. As he grabbed the spine of his planner, a loose note drifted out, folded in half though the telltale wrinkles spoke of a previous, less pristine state. Ted opened it up to find the phrase hang out after assembly? scribbled inside, and he snorted. He set it aside and turned back to the flashcards in progress. He was halfway through a simple explanation of the pH scale when he froze. His hand shot out, flattening the note and dragging it toward him so he could scrutinize it and Booster's test.
After he was convinced what he actually saw was what thought he saw, Ted grabbed his phone and dialed.
The line picked up on the fourth ring, and Ted cut off the speaker halfway through their greeting.
"You knew."
He could practically hear Ralph frowning. "/I know many things./"
"About Booster."
"/I also know many things about him, too, though a lot of the recent stuff had been because you don't stop talking about him./"
"You know what he's up to."
The tone in Ralph's voice was like a tightrope walker, keeping a careful eye on where he was about to put his proverbial foot so he could keep plausible deniability later. "/Did you figure it out?/"
"I figured out something."
"/Then why are you calling me?"
That... was a good question and Ted floundered for a moment before he realized why he'd instinctively gone to Ralph. "Do you know Booster at all?"
"/I've had at least one class with him since the 5th grade, but it's not like we ever really talked./"
"From what you do know, what do you think about him?"
There was a long pause, as if Ralph was trying to figure out what exactly Ted knew, if maybe he was just fishing, and what Ralph thought would be safe to mention. "/He's more or less a good guy. He's not malicious or a troll or anything./"
"Then what's the point?"
"/Man, that's something you need to ask him./"
And that was why, the Friday after Ralph's ultimatum was issued, Ted was waiting. Because there were only two ways it could go: good or bad. If it went bad, then at least the two of them could avoid each other all weekend, and starting Monday pretend they'd never spoken for the rest of their high school careers. If Ted were really honest with himself- which, if he were also honest with himself, he had about a 50-50 chance of being -he'd admit that the possibility of that Bad End ever happening scared the crap out of him.
"Hey!" Booster called out, grin bright and hair damp from a post-practice shower. It was so unfair that Booster was always so effortlessly good looking, even after having a guy with a name like Ivanovich and the build to match the meatiness of the name repeatedly plow him into the ground. "If you were hoping to grab a bite or something, I'm gonna have to pass tonight. Mom's planning on making tacos, and there's no way I'm passing that up."
He had to do it, he had to do it now, and Booster was already looking at him oddly. "Ted? Something wrong?"
Ted closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, opened his eyes again, and said, "You're not really failing chemistry, are you?"
Booster froze, and Ted knew that look that flashed through his eyes. It was that I've-been-caught look that Ted knew, deep in his bones, from all the things his mother called him out on. "What do you mean?" There was nothing casual or natural in that lie, and Ted plowed on.
"I'm actually pretty ashamed that it took me this long to figure it out, but those tests weren't really yours, were they? The handwriting on them didn't match that note you gave me."
Booster's face crumbled. "Ted, I-"
He flung his arms out wide, "I mean- what's the point? Why would you go through all that?"
"It's... God," Booster rubbed a hand over his face. "I don't know how to explain it. I didn't want it to turn out like this!"
Silence fell heavy between them, Booster half turned away and Ted's face creased with confusion. Finally Ted asked, "Whose tests were they?"
Booster's shoulders and elbows tucked in close to his body. "Guy Gardner's."
Ted had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. He never got along with Gardner, not since Ted pantsed him on the playground in fourth grade. Not that they got along before then, but ever since it was basically a Cold War of petty insults. "Were you trying to keep him out of trouble or something? Because that's not helping him any."
"It's not like that. I've been tutoring him on the side, using those flashcards you made and everything."
At least Gardner was legitimately getting better then, because there was no way in any of the nine circles of Hell was Ted going to tutor him. "Then what's this about?" When there was no answer, Ted threw his arms in the air, "C'mon, man!" He huffed and stomped to one side for a moment, hand pinching the bridge of his nose as Booster continued to say nothing. Ted's hand slide down his face and, when he turned back around, his jaw jutted out thoughtfully, "Was all this because you didn't know how to be friends with me?"
That same I've-been-caught look flashed in Booster's eyes, this time followed by something almost like panic. Booster ducked his head and he might've been blushing but the lighting made it difficult to tell. "Not... exactly."
"But you said the guys you mostly hang out with don't have the same kind of interests you do, right?"
"Yeah."
"You know if you just went up to me and said 'Hey, I get the reference of your 'Can't Stop the Signal' patch on your bag, we should hang out and talk about what a shame canceling the series was,' everything would've been a lot easier."
The corner of Booster's mouth twitched, "You know, I never did ask where you got that."
"From one of those custom shops at the mall," Ted stated flatly.
"Oh." They fell silent again, but it was more one-sided uncertainty than just plain uncomfortable. "Are... you mad?"
"About what? It's not like you did anything wrong. Okay, academically, yes you did something wrong. But you didn't do anything to me personally, and I like hanging out with you, so..." Ted just shrugged.
Slowly, still a little hesitantly, Booster smiled back. "Thanks, Ted. No matter anything else, I'm glad I got to be your friend."
"Yeah, well, you still are. And if you wanna hang out with people who have tastes more in line with yours, Sue's out of town visiting family during Veteran's Day weekend so Ralph's planning on a Eureka/Warehouse 13 marathon. You should come over."
"I... I don't want to just crash the party."
"What party is there to crash? It'll just be you, me, Ralph, Scott, a night of sodas, chip'n'dip, cheesy SyFy shows and whatever else our notoriously wayward attention spans latch on to. Last time we stayed over at someone's house was to study for finals, and we spent the whole night watching Epic Rap Battles of History." Ted gave his best grin, sliding over so he could shoulder check Booster just enough to get his attention. "It'll be fun, promise. If not, I'll spend the entire next weekend... I dunno, watching football games with you or something."
When Booster looked up there was a soft smile on his lips and something even softer in his eyes. "You're a hard man to say no to."
Ted's grin was beatific. "I'm glad to hear that."
On that fated weekend, somewhere between having to change the sheets on the air mattress because Ted made Scott spew soda everywhere and Ralph downloading Sumotori Dreams for a four-man bout of ragdoll polyhedron people drunkenly stumbling around, Booster sat with his back leaning against Ted's. "You know, I like your friends better than my friends."
"I think at this point they're your friends to. I'm pretty sure being able to recite the 'Biggus Dickus' scene on command passes the litmus test."
Ted could feel Booster's laugh vibrating against his back and deep in his own chest. "In that case, I like my new friends better than my old friends. Except maybe Will. He's a tough act to follow. Wally has his moments, too, if he ever stays in one place long enough to have them."
"I take umbrage to not topping the list. Just so you know."
"Nah." Booster's hair brushed against Ted's cheek. "You're in a league of your own."
"I dunno- I cry when people try to make me play baseball."
The resulting laughter rang through Booster's body and right through Ted's. "Definitely no competition."
Part Three
Fandom: DCU
Rating: PG-13 for language
Word Count: 17010
Characters: Ted, Booster, bunch of other people
Summary: Warnings for an overabundance of cameos and name drops, references to geek, retro and pop culture, and a timeline that probably wouldn't stand up to actual scrutiny. It started with just a little tutoring...
Part One
Ted stared at Booster's latest test in complete and utter shock. "How is this possible? How could you have done worse?" It was mind boggling. It was unfathomable. It was completely and utterly inconceivable, and he knew exactly what that word meant. For the last two weeks they'd been doing so well! Booster was receptive, and he generally caught on quick. Ted assumed Booster just had trouble focusing on getting the homework done because he was, by no accounts, dumb.
Booster looked sheepish, ducking his head and shifting in his seat. "I'm just not a good test taker, I guess. All that pressure and everything."
"Pressure," Ted stated flatly. "You, Mr. Quarterback, have problems working under pressure."
Booster's cheeks went red, "A 200 lb charging fridge threatening to run you over is completely different than taking a test, I'll have you know."
"You know I don't care about football, but this should be important to you, man. You're not going to be able to play at this rate."
"I know, I know," Booster scrubbed a hand over his face. "I just... I need more time."
"Okay." Ted pushed the test back, leaning in his chair and letting his eyes scan over the library shelves without actually seeing them. "This isn't the end of the world. We can deal." Except Ted didn't really know how. "Okay. Okay, I think maybe we're going about this the wrong way. It doesn't take you long to catch on to new material, so I think the problem is how you study for tests."
Skepticism twisted Booster's lips, but he sat back in resignation. "Okay, how?"
"Well, how do you usually prepare?"
"I dunno, go over my notes again, I guess."
"Then what you need," Ted said decisively, "are flashcards."
"What?"
"Flashcards! It'll be perfect!" He slapped a hand on to the test and pulled it halfway toward him before he thought to ask, "You mind if I borrow this so I can make them?"
Booster scratched his head, looking more and more perplexed. "Uh, no. Go for it."
"Awesome." He folded and stuffed the page into his planner before scooting closer to Booster's side with his elbows. "Okay, let's get to your homework now. You're on valence electrons, right? In basic, basic conditions, an atom has two shelves where electrons orbit. The inner most can only hold two at a time while the outer most can hold up to eight. The valence shell- the outer most orbit -can be open or closed. When it's a closed shell, it either has all eight electrons, or are used in chemical bonds. A closed shell is when the atom is at it's most stable. An open shell is when the valence shell isn't completely full or all the electrons aren't used in a chemical bond. Following so far?"
"I think so." The crease between Booster's eyebrows undercut his statement.
So Ted pulled out a sheaf of paper and began drawing as he started over. "See, it's like this," and when Booster leaned in closer, Ted could smell something like citrus and a bright summer's day off his hair.
~*~*~*~
The flashcards seemed to help, at least enough that Booster was merely borderline almost-flunking and not actually almost-flunking. It put him back on the active football roster, as long as he kept up his sessions with Ted. Practice eliminated after school tutoring, which meant lunches spent going over homework and, once Booster got a new laptop, long nights on chat where the conversation often skewed away from chemistry and to things like arguing which version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was the best and how Deep Space Nine was such a sorely underrated show. Shooting the breeze with the jock started feeling so easy and natural Ted didn't even notice that he started spending his time between periods talking to Booster in the hall, or that he'd hang out in the library after school with Barbara until the football team finished practice.
He didn't realize how much Booster was occupying his time until Tim said on Mumble, "/We're doing a 10-man heroic run on Mogu'shan Vaults and could always use another healer. What level's your Pandaren shaman at?/"
Ted froze. "Uh... I don't remember."
"/You don't... Have you gotten any of your characters up to level 90?/"
"I... don't think so...?"
He could practically hear the younger teen slapping himself in the face if it weren't for his glasses. "/Ted./"
"Sorry! I've just been busy lately!"
"/I know for a fact that it is a physical impossibility to be too busy to raid. I've tried./"
"I'd rather not have my family do an intervention with me," he drawled. "Look, there's-" Ted cut himself off abruptly.
"/If you were about to say there's more to life than raids, we may no longer be friends./"
He was, but he wasn't about to let Tim know that. "Like you don't have a life outside of raiding."
"/Maybe, but I'm still an active senior member of the guild, at least./"
"Okay, okay. Sorry. I'll get back into it." A chat window flashed up on his screen with Booster asked Hey, man what's up?. "Just not tonight. I'm a little busy right now."
Tim huffed. "/Alright. But don't come crying to me when you're the only one without a Polarizing Seal./"
The conversation, though, didn't stick in Ted's mind, not until later that week when the school gathered for an assembly to talk about homecoming. Ted crammed his knees into the huddle his friends made, trying to be heard over the reverb of the gym without shouting. "So I hear Ted's been slacking on raiding duties," Barbara started up.
"I haven't seen Ted log into WoW, Guild Wars, or Minecraft in almost a month," Scott added.
"And he hasn't been trolling Mumble with random My Little Pony clips, either," Ralph tsked. "Keep this up, and we'll have to hold an intervention."
Ted was torn between looking incredulous and snorting, so he split the difference and did both. "I've never heard of someone holding an intervention to get them back into antisocial habits."
"Except for the fact that online is where you're most sociable."
"Guys, seriously. You're getting all weird over noth-" Something hit Ted right in the temple and he let out an explosion of curses, head whipping around to find the culprit. A couple students eyed him warily but otherwise paid him no mind.
There was one person looking right at him, though, biting their lower lip and trying not to laugh. Booster gave a sheepish little wave and Ted was duly impressed Booster managed to hit him from halfway across the bleachers. Guess that was why he played football. It was also, Ted realized, the first time he'd seen Booster wearing a letterman jacket, the thick material making his shoulders look broader and all the patches going down one arm; Ted had never really looked at one of those before.
"Hey," Ralph's boney knee bumped one of Ted's. "You going to open your air mail or what?"
"What?" A crumpled piece of paper was dropped onto his lap unceremoniously.
"I think he's trying to tell you something," Ralph went on in an exaggerated whisper.
"If Timmy's stuck in a well again, I left my fucks with my repelling gear." The note, when opened, simply said hang out after assembly? When Ted looked over, Booster had turned back to his teammates, but Ted could see him glancing back his way. So he grinned and gave a thumbs up.Booster grinned back, even as he ducked his head when the big hairy guy that came from Ukraine last year pounded him on the back, howling with laughter.
"What is it?" Scott asked with a grin that said he'd already read it over Ted's shoulder. "Another tutoring date?"
"You're still tutoring Booster?" Ralph looked surprised.
"Yeah- no- wait, what?" Ted shook his head, trying to figure out who he was answering. "What do you mean 'still'?" Ralph just shook his head and looked away so Ted asked Sue, "Are you going to have to start watching out for your boyfriend? Because I don't know how I can handle being in a screwball comedy."
Sue just laughed and held her hands up, "One- if you don't know what's going on, you're not his type. Two- I think it's a little late for that."
~*~*~*~
When Booster asked after the assembly if he wanted to see the new Bond movie together Ted said yes without thinking about it. He hadn't expected to meet Booster at the theater with a small party of girls. "Sorry," Booster said with his hands stuffed in his pockets. "When my sister found out, she wanted to go too and called her friends up."
Her friends being called Beatriz ("Bea- Beatriz sounds like a Golden Girl," and Ted wisely didn't mention Bea Arthur at any point) and Tora. Even if Ted didn't have three classes with them it would've been impossible to forget Bea's amazingly green hair.
"If we're intruding, we can sit away from you guys." Michelle wasn't exactly a spitting image of her brother, but there were so many similarities between them that Ted was momentarily thrown off seeing Booster's familiar grin on a feminine face.
"It's okay," Ted assured them, "I don't mind being surrounded by pretty ladies." A chorus of snorts and amused snickers was his response. "You sure you wanna see Skyfall, though? I thought girls were all about that new Twilight movie."
Bea scoffed, hair falling in waves down her back. "Please. When I want to oogle guys, I want a man, not a boy still figuring out how puberty works."
"Try being in my shoes," Michelle said, "I have to live with someone like that."
Booster's face went red, "Hey!"
"Don't worry, Booster," Ted said as he patted his shoulder, "one day you'll be a big boy."
"I'll show you a big-" the rest of that was cut off as Booster facepalmed himself.
The girls erupted into laughter as Ted held up his hands. "Whoa. This is a family friendly establishment."
"Yeah," Bea teased as she pulled Michelle and Tora to the ticket counter, "don't get ahead of yourself!"
Ted nudged at Booster with a shoulder. "C'mon, buddy. We've got a sky to watch fall."
The noise that came out of Booster's throat was a cross between laughter and a snort. "Jesus, Ted."
Sitting in the row behind the girls, Booster and Ted leaned on the same arm rest as they whispered running commentary to each other the whole movie, and even though Booster was the one that bought the popcorn, Ted was the one that ate most of it. Afterwards, the group stood outside the theater, gushing about the movie as they waited for their parents to pick them up. Ted offered to have his mom drive them home but Tora's father was on his way to take the four of them. "He's a bit of a fuddy-duddy, but he likes making sure we all get home safe," Tora explained.
"You're amazing just because you say things like 'fuddy-duddy'." Ted told her.
When the girls dissolved into squeals over Daniel Craig, Booster angled Ted away just enough with his shoulder so they were part of their own conversation. "Hey, man- thanks for putting up with all this."
Ted looked up at Booster in surprise. "Putting up with what? A good movie and better company? It's not like I suffered or anything. You know- minus the part when I really had to pee by the climax."
"No, I mean... I know my sister and her friends can be a bit... much."
"Nah, they're great! Seriously, your sister is awesome."
Booster winced, something in his jaw tightening. "So you like my sister then?"
Ted wasn't the most receptive person when it came to body language, but even he sensed there was some thin ice treading going on. "I don't like like her, if that's what you're asking."
The tension deflated out of Booster's shoulders. "Okay. Sorry. Just, you wouldn't be the first, uh, 'friend' I had that was more interested in her than me."
"Aw, Booster. Your sister's fun, but she's not you."
A little smile wormed its way across his expression and it made something warm wriggle in Ted's chest. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. She's outta my league, anyway."
That made Booster snort. "I don't think you're even aware of what league you're in."
"Are you suddenly trying to get me to date your sister now?"
"No! God, no!" He ignored Ted's dry humored 'gee, thanks'. "I'm just saying a person's got to be blind to not realize what an amazing person you are."
Words dried up in Ted's mouth, and he ducked his head as the warmth in his chest climbed up his cheeks. "Thanks, man," he finally managed to get out, giving Booster a shoulder check, "you sure know how to make a guy feel special."
~*~*~*~
"I'm just saying," Ted insisted as Barbara whapped his feet off the table for the third time, "that people are freaking out over it, and they have no idea what they're in for."
"God, Ted. If you turn into one of those people that complain about people getting into the source material because of a movie or tv series, I will not watch Life of Pi with you."
"What, you don't want to reach through your monitor and strangle people? Especially when they start talking about how wonderful and great, say, Robb Stark is and you just want to kill them because of friggin' A Storm of Swords-"
Barbara put a hand to her head, but Ted knew her well enough to spot her feigned exasperation hid the fact she was laughing internally. "This coming from the guy that still hasn't read A Dance with Dragons."
"I barely even remember what happened in the fourth book because I was so traumatized!"
"You can re-read them."
"My heart is a weak and fragile thing, Babs. It can't take all the heartache and frustration again."
"This is the last time I talk about the show with you."
"Just you wait until season 3 starts. Then you'll be begging for someone to rant at."
"That's what Dinah is for, thanks."
"I see. I see," Ted sniffed, blinking his eyes melodramatically. "I can tell when I'm no longer wanted. You go and have a good life with Dinah and have all the fun times you once had with me." He turned away from the library's counter, shuffling his feet and sniffling loudly.
Barbara, heartless woman that she was, just said cheerfully at his retreating back, "Have a good wallow, Ted. I'll talk to you later tonight."
Ted stepped out of the library before pivoting on one foot and striding back in. "Oh yeah- I almost forgot to ask, but have you read a book called John Dies at the End or The Alienist?"
Immediately Barbara replied, "By David Wong?" Eidetic memory was so useful, Ted couldn't help being jealous if it. "I've heard of it, apparently it's being made into a movie that's supposed to go out to next year's Sundance, so you better get to reading it soon if you want any hopes of lording any 'elite geek' privileges. From what I hear, it's well written and funny, but it's not very high on my list since horror isn't my genre of choice. And if you mean the book by Caleb Carr, I've been trying to get you to read his stuff for a while now."
"Oh." Ted scratched at his neck. "Do you think-"
"You can borrow The Alienist." A smile tugged the shadow at the corner of Barbara's mouth. "So what finally convinced you to give it a try?"
"Well, y'know, Booster was talking about them both a couple days ago. Figured I'd ask you about them since you're the book guru and all."
The shadow solidified into a smile, "Of course. Give them a try; you're a lot less picky about books than I am, anyway."
Ted tossed a wave over his shoulder, "Yeah, thanks Babs. I gotta head out, I'll see you online tonight?"
"Sure. And tell Booster I said hi."
He nearly smacked into the wall as he twisted back to protest. "What? I'm not-" but Barbara was smirking at him in that way she did when she, inexplicably, knew what was going on in his head and there was no way to dissuade her from it.
Ted marched off, ignoring the heat rising in his face and said, "Whatever. Later, Babs." He very pointedly did not take the stairs two at a time or check his phone for the time because, even though he was aware of what a 'coincidence' it was, having it actually pointed out to him made him hyper-aware of what he was doing and that was just... it was just silly was what it was.
Sure there was always a honeymoon period- and was there really not a platonic equivalent of that? -with new friends, even if Ted hadn't expected to become friends with Booster at all and couldn't really trace back to how it happened. A couple late night study sessions turned into dinners here, a comment that revealed commonality there, and before he knew it talking to Booster was the highlight of his day.
Was that weird? Had he been like this with his other friends? Ted honestly couldn't remember, and comparing it to the last time he witnessed anyone's honeymoon period didn't work because it was Scott and Barda. They definitely did not need to worry about platonic equivalence.
Ted swung over by the cafeteria to grab himself a soda, taking a different route to his usual after-school meet-up with Booster he headed out on the other side of the cafeteria and wandering in and out of the pillars that lined the way to the gym. As he rounded the last corner, he heard voices, very familiar voices. Voice of people he wasn't even aware had ever spoken to each other before. Channeling his inner Garrett and The Deadly Shadows, Ted plastered himself against the wall, inching toward the corner between him and Ralph and Booster, wondering what on earth they'd have to talk about.
"-called stalking and it's pretty fucking creepy. Besides, do you really want to keep the act up forever?"
"I know, I know. I didn't actually mean for it to go on this long."
"So what's stopping you?"
"I just... I don't wanna mess things up."
"Keep waiting, it's just going to get harder."
"I know."
"Seriously, man. It's not going to turn out nearly as bad as you think. Ted's a pretty chill guy, you tell him everything, and I'll bet he won't even get mad. But you seriously have to tell him because there are just some things Ted will never pick up on."
"Yeah. I'm starting to figure that out."
"So you either tell him or, if he still doesn't know by next week, I will. It's not that I have a problem with you-"
"You're his friend, and I'm being a stalker and creepy, I get it. I'll tell him." Then, almost under breath, "Soon as I can figure out how."
Ted nearly yelped when Ralph suddenly strode right past his hiding spot, too busy digging in his pocket for his phone to notice Ted was within arm's reach. He waited until Ralph was out of sight before his heart stopped slamming into his ribcage, trying to hear if Booster was still there and not wanting to risk actually looking around the corner. Two long minutes stretched by until Ted could make out muttered curses and scuffling feet.
Ted nearly turned the corner then until a thought struck him: just what had Ralph been insinuating? What did he know that Ted didn't? Was Ted taking up as much of Booster's time as he was Ted's? Did Booster look forward to hanging out together as much as Ted did?
He dwelt on the thought a few moments before carefully creeping back inside the school. He went upstairs to a window that overlooked Booster’s spot and, standing off to the side and leaning over just enough to look out, Ted watched him. For ten minutes he watched Booster wait, occasionally pacing up and down, or staring aimlessly off into space, even sometimes peeking through the window of the door Ted normally used, as if trying to see him walk down the hall. So it went for ten minutes yet at no time did Booster look at his bag like he was thinking about going home. Ted didn't know what that meant- he didn't know what he wanted it to mean, and he had to cross his arms to keep from grabbing his phone and demanding Ralph to tell him what he knew.
So he pushed himself away from the window, going down his usual route in a half-jog so when he finally burst through the door (nearly whacking Booster with it in the process) he was slightly out of breath. "Oh- dude, sorry! I didn't see you back there!"
Booster just waved it off with a sheepish grin, getting up from the half-crouch. "No worries. Not the smartest place for me to fix my laces anyway."
He wondered how often Booster casually lied to sound that natural. "Sorry, Barbara and I started talking books and time just went by." Though he supposed it wasn't like he was much better. "I didn't expect you to wait."
"Practice was a little rough today, so I was taking my time, I wasn't here long."
Ted eyed him for a long moment, trying to decide if he wanted to force the issue or not, if he wanted to wait until Booster had mentally prepared himself, if he even wanted to know what secret was being kept from him.
Booster fidgeted, "Something wrong?"
He shook his head. "Nah. C'mon, I got a hankering for Jamba Juice. If you tell me I'm pretty, I might accidentally order one of those wheatgrass things."
"Yes, Mr. Kord," Booster started saying in his best Peter Lorre, rubbing his hands together with his shoulders hunched around his ears. "You are amazing, Mr. Kord. I am unworthy, Mr. Kord."
They had a week. For Booster to say what he needed to say. For Ted to figure out what was going on in his head. A week could be a long, long time.
~*~*~*~
A week was an utter blur, especially when it was crammed full of school and friends and homework and things to distract people from homework. It wasn't that Ted forgot about what happened, it was everything pulling his attention away from Booster and introspection. The only time Ted really had to think was in the hours past midnight when he was trying to convince himself that the internet didn't have anything interesting going on, and it wasn’t crazy to consider going to bed and sleeping for four or five hours before his alarm went off. He'd go over the course of the day and see if maybe he missed a clue somewhere, if Booster had hesitated or opened his mouth to form a word that ended up becoming something else at the last second. He would've tried to edge Booster into saying something, if Ted knew what he was trying to get him to say. Trying to blindly lead Booster into a random verbal trap left Ted talking himself in circles. Booster had to be suspicious, Ted ended up giving himself a headache, and why did life have to be so hard?
He glared at his desk between his fingers and a pencil clenched in his teeth. Ted was making a new set of flashcards but kept getting distracted by the huge knot that his life had become. Okay, so it wasn't a huge knot, it was just a Booster-shaped knot, but the blond had become such a prominent fixture in Ted's life in such a short amount of time that it felt like all his existence had gotten twisted around.
"Everything sucks," he announced to no one to thin air then let his fists and head thunk on his desk. That gesture propelled a couple sheets of paper and his planner to the floor. With a long suffering sigh, Ted leaned over to snatch them up. As he grabbed the spine of his planner, a loose note drifted out, folded in half though the telltale wrinkles spoke of a previous, less pristine state. Ted opened it up to find the phrase hang out after assembly? scribbled inside, and he snorted. He set it aside and turned back to the flashcards in progress. He was halfway through a simple explanation of the pH scale when he froze. His hand shot out, flattening the note and dragging it toward him so he could scrutinize it and Booster's test.
After he was convinced what he actually saw was what thought he saw, Ted grabbed his phone and dialed.
The line picked up on the fourth ring, and Ted cut off the speaker halfway through their greeting.
"You knew."
He could practically hear Ralph frowning. "/I know many things./"
"About Booster."
"/I also know many things about him, too, though a lot of the recent stuff had been because you don't stop talking about him./"
"You know what he's up to."
The tone in Ralph's voice was like a tightrope walker, keeping a careful eye on where he was about to put his proverbial foot so he could keep plausible deniability later. "/Did you figure it out?/"
"I figured out something."
"/Then why are you calling me?"
That... was a good question and Ted floundered for a moment before he realized why he'd instinctively gone to Ralph. "Do you know Booster at all?"
"/I've had at least one class with him since the 5th grade, but it's not like we ever really talked./"
"From what you do know, what do you think about him?"
There was a long pause, as if Ralph was trying to figure out what exactly Ted knew, if maybe he was just fishing, and what Ralph thought would be safe to mention. "/He's more or less a good guy. He's not malicious or a troll or anything./"
"Then what's the point?"
"/Man, that's something you need to ask him./"
And that was why, the Friday after Ralph's ultimatum was issued, Ted was waiting. Because there were only two ways it could go: good or bad. If it went bad, then at least the two of them could avoid each other all weekend, and starting Monday pretend they'd never spoken for the rest of their high school careers. If Ted were really honest with himself- which, if he were also honest with himself, he had about a 50-50 chance of being -he'd admit that the possibility of that Bad End ever happening scared the crap out of him.
"Hey!" Booster called out, grin bright and hair damp from a post-practice shower. It was so unfair that Booster was always so effortlessly good looking, even after having a guy with a name like Ivanovich and the build to match the meatiness of the name repeatedly plow him into the ground. "If you were hoping to grab a bite or something, I'm gonna have to pass tonight. Mom's planning on making tacos, and there's no way I'm passing that up."
He had to do it, he had to do it now, and Booster was already looking at him oddly. "Ted? Something wrong?"
Ted closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, opened his eyes again, and said, "You're not really failing chemistry, are you?"
Booster froze, and Ted knew that look that flashed through his eyes. It was that I've-been-caught look that Ted knew, deep in his bones, from all the things his mother called him out on. "What do you mean?" There was nothing casual or natural in that lie, and Ted plowed on.
"I'm actually pretty ashamed that it took me this long to figure it out, but those tests weren't really yours, were they? The handwriting on them didn't match that note you gave me."
Booster's face crumbled. "Ted, I-"
He flung his arms out wide, "I mean- what's the point? Why would you go through all that?"
"It's... God," Booster rubbed a hand over his face. "I don't know how to explain it. I didn't want it to turn out like this!"
Silence fell heavy between them, Booster half turned away and Ted's face creased with confusion. Finally Ted asked, "Whose tests were they?"
Booster's shoulders and elbows tucked in close to his body. "Guy Gardner's."
Ted had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. He never got along with Gardner, not since Ted pantsed him on the playground in fourth grade. Not that they got along before then, but ever since it was basically a Cold War of petty insults. "Were you trying to keep him out of trouble or something? Because that's not helping him any."
"It's not like that. I've been tutoring him on the side, using those flashcards you made and everything."
At least Gardner was legitimately getting better then, because there was no way in any of the nine circles of Hell was Ted going to tutor him. "Then what's this about?" When there was no answer, Ted threw his arms in the air, "C'mon, man!" He huffed and stomped to one side for a moment, hand pinching the bridge of his nose as Booster continued to say nothing. Ted's hand slide down his face and, when he turned back around, his jaw jutted out thoughtfully, "Was all this because you didn't know how to be friends with me?"
That same I've-been-caught look flashed in Booster's eyes, this time followed by something almost like panic. Booster ducked his head and he might've been blushing but the lighting made it difficult to tell. "Not... exactly."
"But you said the guys you mostly hang out with don't have the same kind of interests you do, right?"
"Yeah."
"You know if you just went up to me and said 'Hey, I get the reference of your 'Can't Stop the Signal' patch on your bag, we should hang out and talk about what a shame canceling the series was,' everything would've been a lot easier."
The corner of Booster's mouth twitched, "You know, I never did ask where you got that."
"From one of those custom shops at the mall," Ted stated flatly.
"Oh." They fell silent again, but it was more one-sided uncertainty than just plain uncomfortable. "Are... you mad?"
"About what? It's not like you did anything wrong. Okay, academically, yes you did something wrong. But you didn't do anything to me personally, and I like hanging out with you, so..." Ted just shrugged.
Slowly, still a little hesitantly, Booster smiled back. "Thanks, Ted. No matter anything else, I'm glad I got to be your friend."
"Yeah, well, you still are. And if you wanna hang out with people who have tastes more in line with yours, Sue's out of town visiting family during Veteran's Day weekend so Ralph's planning on a Eureka/Warehouse 13 marathon. You should come over."
"I... I don't want to just crash the party."
"What party is there to crash? It'll just be you, me, Ralph, Scott, a night of sodas, chip'n'dip, cheesy SyFy shows and whatever else our notoriously wayward attention spans latch on to. Last time we stayed over at someone's house was to study for finals, and we spent the whole night watching Epic Rap Battles of History." Ted gave his best grin, sliding over so he could shoulder check Booster just enough to get his attention. "It'll be fun, promise. If not, I'll spend the entire next weekend... I dunno, watching football games with you or something."
When Booster looked up there was a soft smile on his lips and something even softer in his eyes. "You're a hard man to say no to."
Ted's grin was beatific. "I'm glad to hear that."
On that fated weekend, somewhere between having to change the sheets on the air mattress because Ted made Scott spew soda everywhere and Ralph downloading Sumotori Dreams for a four-man bout of ragdoll polyhedron people drunkenly stumbling around, Booster sat with his back leaning against Ted's. "You know, I like your friends better than my friends."
"I think at this point they're your friends to. I'm pretty sure being able to recite the 'Biggus Dickus' scene on command passes the litmus test."
Ted could feel Booster's laugh vibrating against his back and deep in his own chest. "In that case, I like my new friends better than my old friends. Except maybe Will. He's a tough act to follow. Wally has his moments, too, if he ever stays in one place long enough to have them."
"I take umbrage to not topping the list. Just so you know."
"Nah." Booster's hair brushed against Ted's cheek. "You're in a league of your own."
"I dunno- I cry when people try to make me play baseball."
The resulting laughter rang through Booster's body and right through Ted's. "Definitely no competition."
Part Three