Third floor common room, Saturday evening

[future_sandworm]

The week before, Leto had been given a DVD by professor Mitchell, which was supposed to clarify certain questions Leto had had regarding British comedy. He hadn't had the opportunity to watch this until now. So this evening Leto was seated on the couch in front of the TV, watching Dark Serpent, the frown on his face increasing.

"Great Maker, are they insane?"

[Open, certainly]

Comments

[cutsthestrings.livejournal.com]

She shook her head.

"I've never seen. We weren't allowed a television. Or to watch one. Or to watch anything that would be one on another device used for viewing video content."

Tony got a wry grin.

"How's it work?"

[wantstodirect]

"No television or movies at all? Wow, that sucks," Tony said. "Well, check this one out." He waved at the screen. "It's a great example of the genre."

[cutsthestrings.livejournal.com]

She watched for a moment before turning to Tony.

"Who says there's a bullet with your name on it?"

[wantstodirect]

Tony shrugged. "It's just a saying," he said.

[cutsthestrings.livejournal.com]

"All right," she said thoughtfully, "but what does it mean? Is it like the thing with the cherries?"

[wantstodirect]

"What thing with the cherries?"

[cutsthestrings.livejournal.com]

"How putting cherries on top of things, like a sundae, makes them more desirable," she told him.

[wantstodirect]

"Ah," Tony said. "No, the 'bullet with your name on it' means that everyone's going to die sometime. Like there's a bullet out there that's going to kill you and you just haven't been hit with it yet."

[cutsthestrings.livejournal.com]

"Oh."

The explanation hit her with some gravity as she ducked her head and peered at the screen.

"I don't think that's very funny at all."

[wantstodirect]

"Well, not the saying, no," Tony admitted. "But this guy's trying to get out of a predestined death by writing his name on a bullet himself. It's ridiculous, so it's funny."

[cutsthestrings.livejournal.com]

She didn't think that was funny either, mostly because that was exactly what she'd done. She'd seen the end of her thread, felt the blood on her hands, the ashes in her mouth. She would have liked it if was as simple as writing a name on a bullet.

"If you say so," she said with a hopeful little smile. It wasn't genuine, in the least, but she was trying and it didn't look half bad.

[wantstodirect]

"Comedy doesn't work as well when you explain it," Tony said with a shrug.

[cutsthestrings.livejournal.com]

She nodded.

"My sense of humor's a little odd," she admitted.

"Usually Eliot only got my jokes."

[wantstodirect]

"Comedy's really built from cultural references," Tony said. "If you don't share a culture with someone, it's hard to get their humor."

[cutsthestrings.livejournal.com]

That was actually... very very depressing.

"Then I'm probably never going to find anything funny," she said with a wince.

"Thanks, though. For trying."

[wantstodirect]

Nice job, Tony. "Maybe after you've been here a little while, you'll get more jokes," Tony suggested. "You don't have to be born to a culture to find stuff funny."

[cutsthestrings.livejournal.com]

"Maybe."

She gave him a wry grin.

"I'm still getting over being the 'weird homeschooled kid' back at home."