Doug and Topher | Backdated to 2/25/15
Feb. 25th, 2015 03:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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om_mainDoug and Topher run into each other. Geekdom abounds!
Pretending that he was Han Solo navigating the unyielding terrain of Hoth had only gotten Topher so far before he switched to sprinting and swearing between buildings whenever he had to go outside. Buying appropriate outerwear didn't even cross his mind.
He was on his way in from another harrowing outdoor adventure, a streak of plaid and floppy hair, when he collided with an unanticipated mass in the doorway. They went down in a tangle of limbs, and before he remembered to be extra careful about extracting himself, [in fact, putting his palm on what turned out to be the other guy's face] he felt the rapidly normalizing sensation of skin contact and the pursuant buzz of unfamiliar powers.
Doug had been heading outside, his mind more focused on the translation he'd been working on for SHIFT than where he was going, when he suddenly found himself on the ground, with a kid he didn't recognize's hand smashing down into his face. He opened his mouth to protest (at least partially because the kid's other body parts were also lodged in other uncomfortable places), when he froze, his mind whirring at ever increasing speeds. "Wha-" he said incoherently as he pushed his assailant's hand from his face and stared at him. Everything - his face, the way he moved, everything, suddenly had a pattern to it. A comprehensible, logical pattern. Everything.
"What'd you do?" His voice sounded almost like an echo to his own ears as his mind tried to file each syllable, each sound into its own separate compartment of meaning.
Topher's best attempt to use the other guy for leverage had backfired, and he landed on his ass anyway. As well as a little dizzy and drained. He was going to have to be way more careful about where he put his hands.
Phrasing.
Through the fall of dirty blond hair, he stared at his unwitting victim. Apologizing for knocking him flat never crossed his mind.
"My thing, I guess." Realizing that wasn't terribly descriptive or helpful, he hastened to ask, "Why? What are you doing??" He might just have amped the guy up to a thermo-nuclear detonation point, or something.
"Translating. Everything." Doug looked over at the other kid suddenly and grinned. "How long does it last?"
Topher shrugged, and struggled to his feet.
"I didn't ask the last guy. Probably not long." He started to reach out a hand to help the kid up, then remembered. Jeez. Learning curve.
"Damn." Doug ignored the proffered hand and got to his feet, his mind still reeling. "Approximately how long is not long? Because I'd seriously hate to waste this."
Topher's shoulders went up to his ears. "Seriously, I don't know. I'm frankly kind of surprised you're still feeling it."
Being a human battery was something Topher wouldn't have expected to be sensitive about, and yet. And yet.
As if the other guy's words were a switch, the extra level of perception began to fade away, leaving Doug feeling disappointed and more than a little diminished. He sighed in disappointment, blinking, and grimaced. "And there it goes."
There was a long moment of silence, and Topher stuffed his hands in his pockets before speaking.
"So. I'm Topher."
Doug's eyebrows rose, and he grinned a little, only belatedly recognizing the other guy from his introduction. "The Brink. In person. Never figured that would happen. I'm Doug Ramsey. Also known as Cypher."
Topher's face instantly went: HAVE YOU SEEN MY BLUE?????????
"Shut the front door you are not."
"Pretty sure I am," Doug confided. He grinned. "Nice code you put up last month. I'd offer to shake, but seriously, if you do whatever that was every time? I'd rather do it when we were close enough to a computer that it wouldn't wear off."
For someone who self-identified as a wizard overlord of the internet, Topher was finding himself struck completely dumb by the net royalty he was encountering in real life at Xavier's.
"Yeah-I-don't-know-how-to-turn-it-off-yet are you sure you're Cypher?" He didn't wait for an answer. "You really liked my code? Like, LIKE liked it?"
Doug felt his face warming, but he grinned. "Definitely like liked it," he assured Topher. "And yeah, pretty sure. Unless someone's been using my screen name? I haven't been on a lot lately - too busy."
Too busy being actually super human? I can see that. Topher was grinning like an idiot, and barely noticed.
"Wow. OK, then. But seriously, you gotta tell me -was that you, with the NSF site last month? It had a certain anarchistic quality to it."
"Mmmm. I should plead the fifth," Doug joked, but shook his head. "I wish. That was a nice job. But no, I was up to my eyeballs in stuff to translate." He grinned. "On the flipside? I'm pretty sure I managed to find out who did do it, and you will not believe it."
"Well you won't know until you tell me." And you're totally going to, manfriend.
"Do you one better," Doug countered, gesturing for Topher to follow along. "I'll show you. I've got a lab setup downstairs; inherited it from one of the students who graduated last year."
As Doug turned to go, Topher did a truly dignified little hop to follow. I'm going to the lab. With Cypher. NBD.
"Cool." If I faint before we get there, you should probably just throw some water on me or something. We don't want any more shenanigans.
"So, how'd you end up here?" Doug asked as he headed towards the elevators.
Topher's smile was genuine and a bit sly. 'Well, I was pretty sure I was supposed to be here. So I got on a plane." Nevermind that he hadn't been exactly right about what his powers were. He was special, he belonged here, and that was all that mattered.
Doug chuckled. "Okay, that took balls, man. Seriously."
He shrugged, with self modesty that he totally didn't feel.
"Well, yeah, I mean. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do." John Wayne much? But even if it was heavy handed, Topher couldn't think of a prouder moment in his life.
Pretending that he was Han Solo navigating the unyielding terrain of Hoth had only gotten Topher so far before he switched to sprinting and swearing between buildings whenever he had to go outside. Buying appropriate outerwear didn't even cross his mind.
He was on his way in from another harrowing outdoor adventure, a streak of plaid and floppy hair, when he collided with an unanticipated mass in the doorway. They went down in a tangle of limbs, and before he remembered to be extra careful about extracting himself, [in fact, putting his palm on what turned out to be the other guy's face] he felt the rapidly normalizing sensation of skin contact and the pursuant buzz of unfamiliar powers.
Doug had been heading outside, his mind more focused on the translation he'd been working on for SHIFT than where he was going, when he suddenly found himself on the ground, with a kid he didn't recognize's hand smashing down into his face. He opened his mouth to protest (at least partially because the kid's other body parts were also lodged in other uncomfortable places), when he froze, his mind whirring at ever increasing speeds. "Wha-" he said incoherently as he pushed his assailant's hand from his face and stared at him. Everything - his face, the way he moved, everything, suddenly had a pattern to it. A comprehensible, logical pattern. Everything.
"What'd you do?" His voice sounded almost like an echo to his own ears as his mind tried to file each syllable, each sound into its own separate compartment of meaning.
Topher's best attempt to use the other guy for leverage had backfired, and he landed on his ass anyway. As well as a little dizzy and drained. He was going to have to be way more careful about where he put his hands.
Phrasing.
Through the fall of dirty blond hair, he stared at his unwitting victim. Apologizing for knocking him flat never crossed his mind.
"My thing, I guess." Realizing that wasn't terribly descriptive or helpful, he hastened to ask, "Why? What are you doing??" He might just have amped the guy up to a thermo-nuclear detonation point, or something.
"Translating. Everything." Doug looked over at the other kid suddenly and grinned. "How long does it last?"
Topher shrugged, and struggled to his feet.
"I didn't ask the last guy. Probably not long." He started to reach out a hand to help the kid up, then remembered. Jeez. Learning curve.
"Damn." Doug ignored the proffered hand and got to his feet, his mind still reeling. "Approximately how long is not long? Because I'd seriously hate to waste this."
Topher's shoulders went up to his ears. "Seriously, I don't know. I'm frankly kind of surprised you're still feeling it."
Being a human battery was something Topher wouldn't have expected to be sensitive about, and yet. And yet.
As if the other guy's words were a switch, the extra level of perception began to fade away, leaving Doug feeling disappointed and more than a little diminished. He sighed in disappointment, blinking, and grimaced. "And there it goes."
There was a long moment of silence, and Topher stuffed his hands in his pockets before speaking.
"So. I'm Topher."
Doug's eyebrows rose, and he grinned a little, only belatedly recognizing the other guy from his introduction. "The Brink. In person. Never figured that would happen. I'm Doug Ramsey. Also known as Cypher."
Topher's face instantly went: HAVE YOU SEEN MY BLUE?????????
"Shut the front door you are not."
"Pretty sure I am," Doug confided. He grinned. "Nice code you put up last month. I'd offer to shake, but seriously, if you do whatever that was every time? I'd rather do it when we were close enough to a computer that it wouldn't wear off."
For someone who self-identified as a wizard overlord of the internet, Topher was finding himself struck completely dumb by the net royalty he was encountering in real life at Xavier's.
"Yeah-I-don't-know-how-to-turn-it-off-yet are you sure you're Cypher?" He didn't wait for an answer. "You really liked my code? Like, LIKE liked it?"
Doug felt his face warming, but he grinned. "Definitely like liked it," he assured Topher. "And yeah, pretty sure. Unless someone's been using my screen name? I haven't been on a lot lately - too busy."
Too busy being actually super human? I can see that. Topher was grinning like an idiot, and barely noticed.
"Wow. OK, then. But seriously, you gotta tell me -was that you, with the NSF site last month? It had a certain anarchistic quality to it."
"Mmmm. I should plead the fifth," Doug joked, but shook his head. "I wish. That was a nice job. But no, I was up to my eyeballs in stuff to translate." He grinned. "On the flipside? I'm pretty sure I managed to find out who did do it, and you will not believe it."
"Well you won't know until you tell me." And you're totally going to, manfriend.
"Do you one better," Doug countered, gesturing for Topher to follow along. "I'll show you. I've got a lab setup downstairs; inherited it from one of the students who graduated last year."
As Doug turned to go, Topher did a truly dignified little hop to follow. I'm going to the lab. With Cypher. NBD.
"Cool." If I faint before we get there, you should probably just throw some water on me or something. We don't want any more shenanigans.
"So, how'd you end up here?" Doug asked as he headed towards the elevators.
Topher's smile was genuine and a bit sly. 'Well, I was pretty sure I was supposed to be here. So I got on a plane." Nevermind that he hadn't been exactly right about what his powers were. He was special, he belonged here, and that was all that mattered.
Doug chuckled. "Okay, that took balls, man. Seriously."
He shrugged, with self modesty that he totally didn't feel.
"Well, yeah, I mean. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do." John Wayne much? But even if it was heavy handed, Topher couldn't think of a prouder moment in his life.
