Third Floor Common Room, Thursday Evening

[catchmeifyoucan.livejournal.com]

Frank was trying to watch TV.

Trying being the operative word here. For one thing, he kept getting distracted by how bright everything was, bright and colorful, closer to real life than he could imagine television being. The picture even seemed clearer, sharper somehow than even a movie theater back home, but Frank thought that might be the awe talking.

But the main issue here, the reason why TV was giving him such a hard time, was because he couldn't for the life of him find any of his favorite shows.

Which was probably silly, since of course they weren't on anymore, it was 2012 and any shows from the 1959 lineup had long since run their course, but he couldn't even find any shows like the ones he knew from back home. There were no comedies starring charismatic male leads running flimflams and hijinks, no westerns about cowboy family life on Nevada ranches, no adventure shows about infiltrating opposing war bases, and...

"Oh, come on!" Frank complained. "Not even meta for Lassie?"

He took a breath. Sighed.

Then he called up the local pizza place he'd been fortunate enough to come across a delivery menu for, placed an order for a couple pizzas, and got to work familiarizing himself with what 2012 television did have to offer.

He was going to be here a while.

Comments

[alreadyisbeyond.livejournal.com]

Tonight seemed like as good a night as any to get out to the common room and meet people. Of course, when your roommate was a psychotic cat, literally every night was a good night for that.

"Anything good on?" Terry asked as he walked into the room.

[catchmeifyoucan.livejournal.com]

"So far, just sports," Frank reported a little disappointedly. "You don't happen to know what's good, do you?"

[alreadyisbeyond.livejournal.com]

"Sorry. I don't have time to watch much TV. And I'm from the future anyway," Terry said. "Not a sports fan?"

[catchmeifyoucan.livejournal.com]

"Not since the Dodgers moved," Frank said with a sigh. "I'm from the past. This is all a little more colorful and... weird than I'm used to."

[alreadyisbeyond.livejournal.com]

"I can kind of relate. Except that the newscasters aren't holograms and there are fewer channels," Terry said. "So don't worry, it gets weirder."

[catchmeifyoucan.livejournal.com]

And now he was dorking out at the very idea of it.

"Holograms?" Frank repeated, awed. "Really? That is so neat. If they have those at home, why would you want to go to school someplace that doesn't have those?"

[leavingthenest.livejournal.com]

"Terry!" Rapunzel exclaimed when she spotted him. "Hi!"

"How are you doing?"

[alreadyisbeyond.livejournal.com]

"Not bad, Rapunzel," Terry said. "Still getting a little adjusted."

[leavingthenest.livejournal.com]

"Any exciting stories from your first week?" she asked with a grin.

[alreadyisbeyond.livejournal.com]

"Not really. To be honest, things have been kind of quiet for me due to player afkness," Terry said. "I'm sure that'll change at some point soon."

[leavingthenest.livejournal.com]

Rapunzel grinned. "Are you looking forward to that, or... dreading it?"

[leavingthenest.livejournal.com]

"Oh, what are you watching?" Rapunzel asked as she swept into the room, her hair trailing behind her. She liked TV! And people!

[catchmeifyoucan.livejournal.com]

"Nothing that can't be changed," Frank said, turning around to face her. "Know anything better than, uh..." He glanced at the cartoon sponge on the screen. "That?"

[leavingthenest.livejournal.com]

"Um... I never know what's on," Rapunzel admitted. "But I've seen this one before..." And she didn't really get it? At all?

[catchmeifyoucan.livejournal.com]

"Yea or nay?" Frank asked.

[leavingthenest.livejournal.com]

"I don't really understand it? I think it's supposed to be funny, but..." All the jokes, well, she assumed they were jokes, didn't make sense.

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

Rilla was tired of moping about in her room rereading the newspaper (and was too stubborn to go to the library to read more about the Lusitania sinking), so she went in search of company.

"Hello," she said with a little smile to the room.

[alreadyisbeyond.livejournal.com]

"Hi there," Terry greeted. "Before you ask, there's not really anything on TV. At least not that we can find."

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

"I'm not much of a television watcher anyway," Rilla admitted. "I prefer a novel. You're new?"

[alreadyisbeyond.livejournal.com]

"How novel," Terry punned. Deal with it, people of the past! "Ahem. Sorry. Yes, I'm new. Terry McGinnis."

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

"It's lovely to meet you," Rilla said. "I'm Miss Rilla Blythe."

[catchmeifyoucan.livejournal.com]

"Hey," Frank said, returning that smile with an extra-smiley thousand-watt one of his own. Look, she was cute and shy. Cute and shy merited a big smile, in his opinion. "I don't suppose you come bearing TV advice?"

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

"Turn it off?" she offered merrily. "It's a vast wasteland."

[catchmeifyoucan.livejournal.com]

"That's a new opinion," Frank said, momentarily surprised. "Is it that bad? I mean, I'm from the past, so right now I'm having trouble getting past the 'ooooh, pretty colors' of it all."

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

Rilla perked up. "How far in the past?"