Third floor common room, Friday afternoon

[tigerundercover]

Raven leaned back on the couch, a bowl of popcorn on her lap, and stared perplexedly at the television. For some reason, the only thing it wanted to show today was some show about sobbing food. Right now, a crying spoon was trying to comfort a crying pear. Or possibly the spoon was trying to apologize to the pear? It was hard to tell. But it was on every channel.

"I don't understand this show at all."

[because Crying Breakfast Friends. Open.]

Comments

[ihuntkillers.livejournal.com]

"Is that animated food crying?" Jasper asked after he'd taken a few steps into the common room and noticed what was on the television. "Did someone try and eat it?"

What else could food be upset about?

[tigerundercover]

"Not as far as I can tell," Raven said. "It seems like the world is made up entirely of sobbing breakfast food and utensils."

[ihuntkillers.livejournal.com]

"Interesting," Jasper commented, glancing at the crying food for a second longer before shaking his head. He walked over to the small kitchen area to fill a glass with water. "Didn't know you were a fan of sobbing food."

Of course, he knew very little about her so not a weird thing to know television preferences.

[tigerundercover]

"There is literally nothing else on." And god forbid she should, you know, not watch television.

[ihuntkillers.livejournal.com]

"That could mean a few things here," Jasper said, leaning against the counter casually. "Either there is other crap on other channels but it's on the same quality level as this or this television is only playing that show on every channel."

[tigerundercover]

Raven flipped through a few channels, resulting in small bursts of static between shots of a sobbing waffle. "The second," she said. "I'm trying to decide if it means something."

It probably didn't.

[ihuntkillers.livejournal.com]

Jasper glanced around the room, expecting to see sobbing fruit popping up or something. He hadn't been on the island long but he'd come to expect oddities. It made his own inner turmoil a little less dark sometimes.

"If my food starts crying tomorrow, I'm gonna be really upset."

[tigerundercover]

"I imagine most people would be," Raven agreed. "But at least it'll probably only happen at breakfast."

[ihuntkillers.livejournal.com]

Jasper shook his head and finished his water before washing the glass and putting it away. At least that hadn't started crying at him.

"Place is weird," he muttered, leaning back against the counter and crossing his arms. "Weird and full of a lot of freaking downtime. Maybe the TV's trying to make everyone get another hobby?"

[tigerundercover]

"I did warn you," Raven noted. "Maybe the island's televisions are having an existential crisis. I've heard the laundry machines go on strike, sometimes."

[ihuntkillers.livejournal.com]

"I got all the requisite warnings," he said, holding up a hand. "Even if they turned me off, I can't really leave this place."

The last thing he needed was for Melissa Hoover to put him in the system or drag him into juvenile hall or something.

"What does a laundry machine strike entail?"

[tigerundercover]

Raven shrugged. "They stop working? It hasn't happened since I got here. Unless I just didn't notice."

Which was possible, since all she ever really needed to wash was her sheets.

[ihuntkillers.livejournal.com]

"Doesn't sound like too big a deal," he said, shaking his head once again. There had to be more to it, he guessed. When this island did something, it wasn't ever simple.

Jasper knew one way it could be more interesting and he had to push away the image of his father leering lecherously from inside his head. He didn't need to think about that.

"I appreciated your warnings, by the way," he continued. "I didn't reach the brochure and the person who sent me here just gave me the 'space'll be good for you' lecture."

[tigerundercover]

"I'm glad," Raven said. "It's kind of hard to tell on you. You play everything very close to the vest."

[ihuntkillers.livejournal.com]

"No one wants to hear about me," he said. It was an excuse and he knew it. The truth continued to be that he didn't want to tell anyone about him. That would make things more personal and the closer people were to him, the more danger he thought they were in. "I'm boring. So, no reason to share."

[tigerundercover]

"I don't believe you," Raven said. "I'm not going to try to make you open up and share or anything, but there's not a person who ends up in Fandom who's actually boring."

[ihuntkillers.livejournal.com]

"Maybe I'm the first!" Jasper declared, putting on a big smile. All for show but he'd make it extremely hard for anyone to tell. "Or maybe I'm just a big time introvert."

Dear Old Dad was the total opposite: a gregarious extrovert who would charm you into his home before disposing of you. Jasper knew how to manipulate but chose not to use it frequently.

[tigerundercover]

"Maybe," Raven said. "But in my experience, boring people don't usually talk about how boring they are. They're just boring."

[ihuntkillers.livejournal.com]

That wasn't incorrect and he knew it. He'd tried too hard there. But, it was easy to correct. He shrugged and tilted his head, eyes on the sobbing food.

"Got me there," he admitted easily. "I'm just not big on sharing. Only person I've lived with the past few years is a half out of her mind grandparent. Not the easiest to talk to so I just don't."

[tigerundercover]

"Fair enough," Raven said. "I grew up with a telepath. I probably got into the habit of talking all the time just to keep him from claiming he had an excuse to get into my head."

[ihuntkillers.livejournal.com]

"Would he do that uninvited?" Jasper asked, suddenly very glad he'd never run into a telepath. He didn't need anyone in his head.

[tigerundercover]

"Not on purpose," Raven said. "Or after I told him not to. But I've known him since we were little, and controlling stuff like that takes practice. Plus, you know, there was the whole sibling rivalry thing."

[ihuntkillers.livejournal.com]

"Hmm." While Jasper knew he didn't want anyone in his head, he figured Billy would revel in it. Like he was the damn center of attention. "You can't retaliate? Go into his head?"

[tigerundercover]

"I'm not a telepath. And it's hard to trick him with shapeshifting, since he can always tell it's me." She smiled a little. "I freak him out sometimes, though, let my natural form bleed through in public and watch him squirm."

[ihuntkillers.livejournal.com]

"Can you shapeshift into inanimate objects?" he wondered curiously. "Like a bottle or something? That'd probably freak him out, picking up a glass that turns into you."