Main Campfire, Saturday... Noonish

[lockestheway]

Peter had actually gotten up a hell of a lot earlier that morning (to talk to Val about their strategies for tomorrow's essays, obviously) but since it was a Saturday, he had a hunch the other students would still be in their nests. He didn't make it out for breakfast - or really, brunch - until noon as a result, and walked the extra few feet to the main campfire just to keep things even.

He lit up the campfire with a brief thought towards little firebug Val, tossed a bag of marshmallows aside, and began to pry open the plastic packaging on a bunch of hotdogs. Combined with the buns, he'd be having brunch just fine, thanks, and might draw out some of the more interesting people around here.

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[dollpocalypse]

"Just colder? That's the whole difference?" That was... kind of a let down.

[[I can read, I swear. ...Just not today. :p]]

[child-of-rer.livejournal.com]

"People are different too," Sov added, noting the disappointment. "Very different i some ways. And very similar in some, I guess."

[dollpocalypse]

Huh. That was... not the kind of stuff a geek like Topher really knew how to process.

"Okaaaaaay..."

[child-of-rer.livejournal.com]

Sov didn't know what to make of that, so they added: "And we have no TV. And we don't stay the same gender all the time like you do here."

[dollpocalypse]

EW EW EW AGAIN WITH THE GENDER THING.

Topher tried not to think about it. "Well," he said helpfully, "someone told me that sometimes people at Fandom switch genders, so..."

[child-of-rer.livejournal.com]

"They do?" Sov looked a little hopeful. If that has happened while Sov was here they totally missed it by being in kemmer that weekend and keeping to their room and not listening to the radio. If Topher had issues Sov wasn't paying attention.

[dollpocalypse]

"Apparently," he said, cringing just a bit. "I know. Ick."

Which was profoundly rude, but he didn't quite pick up on that. Sorry, Sov.

[child-of-rer.livejournal.com]

"What do you mean, ick?" If Sov looked a tiny bit insulted, that should be understandable.

[dollpocalypse]

"I'm just saying, I don't really wanna be a girl for any length of time," he answered, still looking mildly disturbed. "That's just... ew."

[child-of-rer.livejournal.com]

"What do you mean, it's 'ew'?" Sov was now sounding rather irritated.

[dollpocalypse]

"You know, just the... parts and all." He cringed. "I'd rather stick with what I've got, you know?"

[child-of-rer.livejournal.com]

"No, I don't know," Sov snapped. "I actually like not being stuck in one gender constantly. Doesn't it get annoying?"

[dollpocalypse]

Uh.

"Nope," Topher said, mildly deterred. "Gotta say, it's a pretty comforting routine, my... maleness."

[child-of-rer.livejournal.com]

"Well, on my homeworld we call that being a pervert."

Sov didn't call people here that and wasn't particularly prejudiced at home either. But Topher had been the one who had started to talk about things being icky.

[dollpocalypse]

"Oh, right," Topher said, demonstrating the same ignorance he tended to show for most people who were different from him. "Yeah, it's real perverted to be comfortable with my body."

[child-of-rer.livejournal.com]

"How can you be comfortable with it if you need to express disgust with those of others'?"

Sov had had conversations with Handdara Indwellers after all, and thought they would find the response interesting.

[dollpocalypse]

Uh... well...

"I mean, you know," Topher said, despite being slightly blushy at this point. "I just. Don't want, uh... other parts. They freak me out."

[child-of-rer.livejournal.com]

"Ok." Sov thought for a moment. "So, you're... gay?" That was the word they used for someone who only had sex with someone of the same gender, right?"

[dollpocalypse]

Topher made an odd sort of squeaking noise. "No!" he sputtered, far more offended by that than anyone had a right to be. "I just -- I just don't -- are you?!"

He was irrational.

[child-of-rer.livejournal.com]

What? Sove couldn't understand the reaction.

"But you said you didn't like a female body," they pointed out. "And I'm not, I think. I mean, I have sex with people in either gender." And there was no need to be embarrassed about that.

[dollpocalypse]

"I don't want a female body!" Topher reiterated, irrationally freaked out by this. "I didn't say I don't like it!"

Well, he didn't. Shh.

[child-of-rer.livejournal.com]

"What's the difference?" Sov asked pointedly. They really didn't get it.

[dollpocalypse]

"Well, you can see a cool car in a store, right? But that doesn't mean you want to be it!"

[child-of-rer.livejournal.com]

"A person is not a thing. You don't own them. You just... meet them." Sov frowned, because the idea of comparing someone to a car was truly disturbing. "They are like you."