Second Floor Common Room, Wednesday Afternoon

[puppy_fair]

Now that Zack was officially done with classes for the summer, it was time for a little getting out and about and being social. It was also, Zack decided, the perfect time to get the gerbil that Deadpool had given him out for some exercise.

And that was why, armed with a hamster ball and a bunch of notebooks, Zack was hard at work constructing the most epic gerbil floor-maze the second floor common room had ever seen!

Poor, poor Mr. Winkles.

[Open, as common rooms tend to be!]

Comments

[puppy_fair]

"Kind of like how the ShinRa building is located in Sector Zero of Midgar," Zack mused. "And it's right in the middle. Makes sense, but on a much bigger scale."

[momslilassassin]

Ben grinned. "Much, much bigger. So this is the second planet you've been to?"

[puppy_fair]

"Second ever," Zack agreed, grinning and bouncing a little. "I never thought I'd leave the one I was on. The space program is still really new on my world. They're just building a rocket now, nobody's ever left the atmosphere before, though."

[momslilassassin]

"We totally have to fix that before you go," Ben decided.

[puppy_fair]

Oh, Zack was about to start making excited squeaky noises, again. Just wait and see.

"Really? Like, really out there, in space? What's it like out there? Big and dark, right? I mean, that's what it looks like at night when you look up, but I can't even imagine what it would be like to look down at the planet from way up there, and-- Really?"

Eeee!

[momslilassassin]

"Really," Ben said, grinning. "I have a shuttle parked here and everything."

[puppy_fair]

Insert the inevitable squeaky noises, here.

"That is so cool, Ben! I'd love that!"

And the bouncing. The bouncing went very well with the squeaky sounds.

Mr. Winkles was not even remotely that squeaky.

[momslilassassin]

"No bouncing in space, though," Ben said. "No gravity. You'd smack your head on something."

He was mostly teasing.

[puppy_fair]

"I've got a pretty hard head," Zack laughed. He was fine with teasing, really. "But I'll try to keep my feet on the floor."

It would be a challenge.

[momslilassassin]

"We'll strap you down."

Not dirty.

[puppy_fair]

There was no sense in denying the unintentional innuendo around Zack. Once it started, it never ended.

"Guess you'd have to make it pretty tight. I have problems keeping still for big stuff like that!"

At least they weren't talking about swords.

[momslilassassin]

Ben's eyes went wide. Blame it on too much time spent with a pair of fairly forward Hapan twins.

"Um. Yeah."

[puppy_fair]

Give Zack a moment. He wasn't so swift on the uptake with things like this.

... Oh. Oh, there it went, sinking in. Now his eyes were a few sizes larger, too.

"I meant, going into space?"

Blushing. Sooo much blushing.

[momslilassassin]

"Of course you did!" Ben babbled. "Because clearly that was what we were talking about!"

[puppy_fair]

"All along," Zack totally agreed, latching onto the babble and spewing off some of his own. "I mean, what else would we be talking about?"

[momslilassassin]

"Nothing!" Babble, Ben, babble. "Maybe giant balls!"

Oh, Ben.

[puppy_fair]

"Yeah! We were totally talking about those, too!"

They were doomed. So, so doomed.

"Because giant balls are awesome!"

....

"Oh."

[momslilassassin]

"How about we agree that the last two minutes of conversation never happened?" Ben tried.

[puppy_fair]

Zack was going to plaster on his most pleading expression ever.

"What last two minutes of conversation?"

As good as gone.

[momslilassassin]

Ben grinned. "Exactly." He stood up. "See you around!"

[puppy_fair]

"Take care, Ben," Zack laughed. Ah, much better. "Hamster balls sometime soon!"