Yeah, yeah. Waffles it is. [Billy, Billy. His cheeks are not red, it's just a little post-lit flush. He can make it through one breakfast, then slip away to his little apartment and try to process the last day into something logical and not all bizarre.
He is avoiding all eye contact, thank you, as he steps into the lead - the walk feels familiar, even if it's been weeks since he's been. Before he moved, he made himself a regular. Something about the waitresses just cheered him right up -]
[ whatever. his hands are now free of germs, and he's got enough social graces to not just put his hands all over steve, even to annoy the shit out of him. ]
I'm about ready to eat them out of house and home. Jesus, that pizza wore off hours ago.
[ Steve is holding it together better than he thought he would but he has a very real queasiness after The Bone incident. Real food would be nice. Maybe something not made of meat, though. ]
Oh, why am I not surprised?
[ At the diner the waitresses have tight tops and tiny shorts. It's alternate dimension Hooters. Rolling his eyes, he heads over to the greeter and politely asks for a table for three. ]
[Home sweet home - it smells heavenly. All vanilla scent and berry tang. He nudges Steve with his elbow, eyes absolutely delighted. At least three of the waitresses know Billy by name, tell him they've got his usual so don't you worry, and Billy goes into flirting mode so easily. Asks for the nice booth, asks if they'll do them some extras.
It pays to be him, sometimes. They do get the nice booth, which is nearer the back and a little more spacious. ] - Obviously the waffles are great, [he says before one of the more familiar waitresses asks for their drinks. ] Usual for me Donna, [he says, leaning in on an elbow, grin wide. ]
[ Look at that effortless charm at work. Hargrove's a popular man, and Eddie Munson can definitely see why.
His order is - a lot. A coke. A stack of berry waffles. Whatever the hell a crepe is. Mochi? Yeah, that too. The credit card means he doesn't have to worry about paying it back, and he offers it on up as payment for all of them. ]
[ Chocolate and cream for Steve, a coffee too. His own charm is less rampantly glitzy than Billy's but his warm smile gets some flirting back too and his gaze lingers on some of the girls. Boobies are soothing to look at! For a minute, anyway.
Steve gets out his phone and checks the network, screen flat on the table as he browses. ]
[Billy's usual is some waffles, scrambled egg on sour dough and a black coffee. He's a simple dude, promises Donna he will absolutely try the red berry next time he's in. He probably won't.
Eddie's order is - he can rationalise it from what he knows of Eddie Munson. Stoners love to eat, and Steve looks like such an American Dream he's shocked he doesn't get the maple syrup and butter. When they're alone, Billy does what he does best, sprawls with his arms along the full length of the booth on his side, eyebrow cocked at Steve's phone.
Phone. He's pretty sure he left his behind. Fuck. ] Shit, Munson - my phones still buried under all your shit. [He will not allow this to hinder his escape plan -] If I give you my new address can you drop it off or some shit? I need it for work on Friday.
Oh, right, that was what kicked off Steve's little adventure in paleontology.
[ he's got the decency to swallow before he talks, but the words are coming out between enormous bites of food. eddie eats like he's starving, always. ]
[ Steve makes no secret of the way he flatly eyes Eddie, going back to his scrolling. ]
Did you guys know that the people here call this place a nexus?
[ BREAKFAST TALK, mmm! Yum, waffles. ]
It's in some of the broadcasts. [ Conceding his moodiness for the moment, he looks at Eddie. ] A nexus is some kind of middle-ground, right? Like a black hole in physics, everything falls into it.
[ He failed getting into tech college, sure, but he wasn't sleeping through every science class. ]
[He manages to get a pen from someone passing, scribbling his address on a napkin square then glances at Steve as he passes the napkin to Eddie. ]
Nicest bucket I've ever seen. [He's still out of his depth most days. Not used to all the contactless technology; how his phone does everything except wash his damn clothes. Billy didn't pay much attention in science, but he gets the concept of what Steve's saying.
A middle ground. Maybe he really is deader than dead. ] Feels weird as shit as though, right? Some places you go and they just know you're from ass-backwards universe.
[ Eddie slides the napkin over, tucking it into his pocket. he'll.. add a milkshake onto his order, smiling charmingly at the waitress and making her laugh before he returns to the topic at hand. ]
Comics are a big proponent of the multiverse theory. [ wait, translate to pop culture ] Every choice every single person make make spawns different timelines, different universes.
[Some of the words are sort of meaningless - fucking comics and the multiverse, like he cares, really. But Eddie seems to care, and so does Steve, so he at least tries to pretend like he's listening and not focused on his coffee.
To Steve, he cocks an eyebrow.] Depends which me shows up.
Possibly, yeah. But they wouldn't necessarily be us... who we are? That's all choices we make along the way. The parts of ourselves we actually embrace.
[ he grabs the discarded straw wrappers, laying one flat to the table. ]
Say this is your life path. So - let's go with me. This right here [ he taps a point midway through ] is the point I decided I didn't want to be my old man. But say [ he grabs another straw, slapping it down ] maybe he was a better father, or maybe I just make worse decisions, but I double down. Now [ he taps a finger at the end of that line ] you've got an Eddie Munson that could and would hurt you for looking at him the wrong way.
[Steve gets a middle finger - at this point he's probably well acquainted. Mostly, Billy doesn't want to think of that Billy. How he feels like there's something still there under his skin, laying dormant.
So instead he forks some eggs and springs them right across at Steve. And smiles. ]
What if my evil twin seduced you with his dark magic in that world, hmm? Also - kind of kills any dramatic tension if you're shouting about my ass freckles.
[ Ow, his virgin cheek. Have a hair tug around one of those curls. ]
I can't be seduced by evil, for starters. Secondly, your ass freckles being shouted about during an intensely confusing identity crisis would sure clear things up fast depending on the resulting reactions.
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Whichever you think is best, Billy.
[ He gets a first name acknowledgement, even. No agreements fly about waffles, though! ]
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Yeah, yeah. Waffles it is. [Billy, Billy. His cheeks are not red, it's just a little post-lit flush. He can make it through one breakfast, then slip away to his little apartment and try to process the last day into something logical and not all bizarre.
He is avoiding all eye contact, thank you, as he steps into the lead - the walk feels familiar, even if it's been weeks since he's been. Before he moved, he made himself a regular. Something about the waitresses just cheered him right up -]
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I'm about ready to eat them out of house and home. Jesus, that pizza wore off hours ago.
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Oh, why am I not surprised?
[ At the diner the waitresses have tight tops and tiny shorts. It's alternate dimension Hooters. Rolling his eyes, he heads over to the greeter and politely asks for a table for three. ]
Hargrove, these waffles better be amazing.
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It pays to be him, sometimes. They do get the nice booth, which is nearer the back and a little more spacious. ] - Obviously the waffles are great, [he says before one of the more familiar waitresses asks for their drinks. ] Usual for me Donna, [he says, leaning in on an elbow, grin wide. ]
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His order is - a lot. A coke. A stack of berry waffles. Whatever the hell a crepe is. Mochi? Yeah, that too. The credit card means he doesn't have to worry about paying it back, and he offers it on up as payment for all of them. ]
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Steve gets out his phone and checks the network, screen flat on the table as he browses. ]
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Eddie's order is - he can rationalise it from what he knows of Eddie Munson. Stoners love to eat, and Steve looks like such an American Dream he's shocked he doesn't get the maple syrup and butter. When they're alone, Billy does what he does best, sprawls with his arms along the full length of the booth on his side, eyebrow cocked at Steve's phone.
Phone. He's pretty sure he left his behind. Fuck. ] Shit, Munson - my phones still buried under all your shit. [He will not allow this to hinder his escape plan -] If I give you my new address can you drop it off or some shit? I need it for work on Friday.
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[ he's got the decency to swallow before he talks, but the words are coming out between enormous bites of food. eddie eats like he's starving, always. ]
No problem.
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Did you guys know that the people here call this place a nexus?
[ BREAKFAST TALK, mmm! Yum, waffles. ]
It's in some of the broadcasts. [ Conceding his moodiness for the moment, he looks at Eddie. ] A nexus is some kind of middle-ground, right? Like a black hole in physics, everything falls into it.
[ He failed getting into tech college, sure, but he wasn't sleeping through every science class. ]
So we're in some kind of giant, cosmic bucket.
[ ... There it is. ]
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Nicest bucket I've ever seen. [He's still out of his depth most days. Not used to all the contactless technology; how his phone does everything except wash his damn clothes. Billy didn't pay much attention in science, but he gets the concept of what Steve's saying.
A middle ground. Maybe he really is deader than dead. ] Feels weird as shit as though, right? Some places you go and they just know you're from ass-backwards universe.
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[ Eddie slides the napkin over, tucking it into his pocket. he'll.. add a milkshake onto his order, smiling charmingly at the waitress and making her laugh before he returns to the topic at hand. ]
Comics are a big proponent of the multiverse theory. [ wait, translate to pop culture ] Every choice every single person make make spawns different timelines, different universes.
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[ Sending a look around their table of Is That A Bad Thing? ]
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To Steve, he cocks an eyebrow.] Depends which me shows up.
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[ he grabs the discarded straw wrappers, laying one flat to the table. ]
Say this is your life path. So - let's go with me. This right here [ he taps a point midway through ] is the point I decided I didn't want to be my old man. But say [ he grabs another straw, slapping it down ] maybe he was a better father, or maybe I just make worse decisions, but I double down. Now [ he taps a finger at the end of that line ] you've got an Eddie Munson that could and would hurt you for looking at him the wrong way.
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[ To Billy, ]
No offence.
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So instead he forks some eggs and springs them right across at Steve. And smiles. ]
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[ you heathens have your food fight, this food is being eaten thanks ]
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[ Tearing off some waffle to flick at Billy's stupid stache. ]
So, don't we need some kind of code to know we're who we say we are? Not evil clones?
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[ god if you're just gonna throw food he's gonna steal some of it. ]
Two ways to go about it: something only we'd know thus confirming we are the versions we know, or something we'd never say that can serve as a tell.
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[ JUST THE FACTS. Sorry, Billy. ]
Only I would know about that right? In this dimension?
[ Is that some humour behind Steve's squint? Maybe. ]
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[ reaching up to pinch Steve's cheek playfully. ]
What if my evil twin seduced you with his dark magic in that world, hmm? Also - kind of kills any dramatic tension if you're shouting about my ass freckles.
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I can't be seduced by evil, for starters. Secondly, your ass freckles being shouted about during an intensely confusing identity crisis would sure clear things up fast depending on the resulting reactions.
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So moving on with this plan, I think codewords are the best idea. For sure.
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