Third Floor Common Room, Monday Morning

[dollpocalypse]

This year, Topher decided, temporarily being a parent was much easier than it had been last year.

Antonia was a teenager, and Buzz was... probably a little younger than that but still capable of hanging out on his own. Actually, Topher thought he should probably find that kid at some point to get his credit card back. In the meantime, though, they were both off doing other things, which meant Topher was in the common room with a chocolate milkshake, enjoying some peace and quiet until they inevitably came back.

Well, not quiet. He was still working on Laser Dragon Tetris, and the dragons made a lot of noise.

Comments

[weegodofneuro.livejournal.com]

"Dad!" chirped a voice as Edie entered. "There you are."

[dollpocalypse]

Whaaaat what what what what?

"What?" But -- it was practically time for the kids to leave! "Who are you?"

[weegodofneuro.livejournal.com]

"I'm your daughter with someone you haven't met yet," Edie replied easily, taking a seat on the couch and drawing her knees up to her chest. "My name's Adrienne but I go by Edie. After Edgar Adrian."

[dollpocalypse]

Topher blinked at her.

"You realize you can't just tell me there's someone in the world who let me name you after Edgar Adrian and not tell me who it is, right?"

[weegodofneuro.livejournal.com]

"Actually the name was Mom's idea." Deal with that, Topher. "You wanted to name me after a variation on Broca. Like the dog you had in high schoo-- now."

[dollpocalypse]

"Broca's the best," Topher informed her before Edie could argue otherwise. "Dude, who is this lady? Are you sure it's not Ace? 'Cause I know Ace. And she's... a girl. That I know."

[weegodofneuro.livejournal.com]

Edie shrugged her shoulders, reaching for his milkshake and taking a sip of it before Topher could protest. She handed it back to him. "Her name's Bennett Halverson."

[dollpocalypse]

...Yeah, not ringing any bells.

"I've never heard that name before in my life," Topher admitted.

[weegodofneuro.livejournal.com]

"Like I said, you wouldn't have yet." Edie knew what year it was, so she knew how old her father was supposed to be. He wasn't set to meet her mother until much later. "She's your age, so it's pointless looking her up until you're both older, but you probably will anyway because that's your curious face. Bennett has two Ts in it."

[dollpocalypse]

Topher squinted at her. "Thank you," he said warily.

Yeah, he should have brought his phone with him. He'd look her up later.

"Where have you been staying the past two nights, anyway? Isn't the point of finding your parents that you do it early enough to get a place to sleep?"

[weegodofneuro.livejournal.com]

Well, that was a fair point. Edie might have gotten carried away with exploring. She'd never been here before. And she never had the chance to be outside for more than a few seconds at a time. Sometimes a minute at most. Dad always told her the outside was overrated, but Edie wasn't sure that was true. This town was pretty beautiful.

"I found a building."

[dollpocalypse]

Topher squinted some more.

"Is Bennett a hobo?" he had to ask. "Wait, are we all hobos?"

[weegodofneuro.livejournal.com]

Edie thought about it. Not by the contemporary definition, but with Butchers running around and no one hanging on to a home for long, it seemed like all Actuals were hobos. "I don't think I should answer that," she said.

"Could you put on the TV?" she asked after a moment. "I want to see the Discovery Channel."

Dad talked about it a lot. It sounded nice.