Meanwhile, back at Engineering...[Semi-Open]

[sonofether.livejournal.com]

It had taken him a little time, as he hadn't had many serious projects outside of his own lab until now, but finally, Stephen had a delivery to make.

By his own admission, it wasn't much--he hadn't checked Stacy for the Eva unit's schematics yet, but even the merest theories for the fusion generator he was planning. Well. It might be worth something at least. Or so he hoped.

He also hoped that he'd find Billy on duty. In truth, it was likely, as Stephen knew very well that Billy didn't precisely believe in "time off".

"Mr. Cranston?" he called as he entered the Engineering area. "Are you here?"

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Stephen chuckled a bit at that. "What wasn't? It was a DeLorean! I loved Back to the Future when I was a kid, although the later movies were sort of silly."

He grinned, shaking his head a bit. "I never really lived the hotwiring down, though. I still get reminded of it, sometimes. Anyway, you should come to the Sensoriums sometime and try snowboarding, or skiing at least. I kind of had a bit of skateboarding under my belt before I tried that. Skiing is easier, since you don't have to worry about your balance as much."

[morphitudinous]

"Back to the...Future?"

A nod at the sport suggestions. "Over time, my friends introduced me to more and more sports. We rarely had snow in California, so snow sports were some of the few we didn't try. If I have free time, I may try it out."

Billy snorted. "I had my own mishaps, particularly involving the explosions. I once burnt my eyebrows off---that was a particularly amusing matter to my classmates."

Then, quietly: "I wonder if it was amusing to Marco as well."

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"It was a movie. Maybe I can see if Stacy has it on file sometime." The nostalgia alone would make it worth it, even if he'd ache for Pythagorus a little upon seeing Doc Brown's DeLorean.

Then he turned a skeptic's eye on Billy. "You might have to make some free time, knowing you. I already wonder when you sleep."

A rather odd expression crossed his face for a moment as he imagined Billy with his eyebrows burnt off. "I can beat that. For April Fool's Day, I put methylene blue in my boss' coffee. He liked that a lot."

That quiet last comment made Stephen arch his brows again and offer Billy a look of concern. "Marco. Dare I ask?"

[morphitudinous]

A night at the movies might be nice, he thought. Not that Stacy was serving popcorn.

"I sleep every night after third shift. I have a roommate who would glue himself to my heels and force me into bed if I didn't." He smiled at the thought of it. Even though his friends' concerns sometimes irritated him, he knew he was loved.

Quirking his eyebrow at Stephen's brief odd face, he finally laughed at the prank. "Not something I would consider doing, but quite effective for a shock."

After a moment of silence, he cursed himself in his head. He'd said that aloud? Oh boy, time to dreck it up again. "He got into an argument with an antisocial crew member, Bob McPlayskool, over the omnicoms. He was mocking Mr. McPlaySkool's supposed obsession with toys by claiming the McPlaySkools fought the McPowerRangers for Lego Scotland---or something similar to that. I wondered why he was referring to my team as though we were childrens' toys."

"In his universe, as I found out, my friends and I are childrens' television characters, and I must assume that our show had merchandise. But that's beside the point. He expressed shock and dismay that his childhood entertainment was both real and part of the crew. I don't think he meant harm. I'm sorry that I scared him."

He sighed and pushed his glasses up his nose. "But now I have to wonder how I was presented as a character. I can't imagine that the portrayal was a very favorable one."

[sonofether.livejournal.com]

"Good. Someone needs to look after you." Oh, there was a pot calling the kettle black. Stephen might need it, but it'd be a while until that happened. If it ever did. Maybe if one of his friends somehow popped.

He grinned at the thought of the April Fool's Day stuff. Probably didn't bode very well for the other ship folk once that day rolled around. But the mirth passed quickly as he listened to Billy.

"I saw the comms, but I didn't think you needed a proverbial Buttinski jumping in when you seemed like you were doing fine by yourself." Billy's next comment made Stephen's expression turn somewhat thoughtful.

"Well, one, at least you rated being in the show. And if you were a kid's television character, I imagine you probably had something to teach, even if your portrayal wasn't always that great." Though to his own knowledge, Stephen hadn't ever been a TV show character. Still, he knew the premise of a couple TV shows. Bit characters didn't make it back. He doubted his friend was that.

"And, really, we're not back there any more. We're kind of here now, and you sure as heck seem like you've been making the best of it for a long time now, considering you're co-head of Engineering and all. I'd be proud of you, if I was you. Heck, I think you're my friend and I'm proud of you. You wouldn't be in your position if you didn't deserve it."

Stephen folded his arms over his chest, and gave a satisfied nod.

[morphitudinous]

As Stephen talked, Billy felt his face getting progressively warmer.

"You're right, of course. Marco and any others introduced to my fictional counterpart have had enough time to get to know me. If they judge me based on my past...well, I don't have an obscene history. But they do have secrets that can be used against me. I don't think Marco would, but not everyone on the crew is so kind."

He shrugged, trying to force those worries out of his mind. "But as my friends would have said, after a certain point I need to stop considering possibilities and accept reality for what it is. I'll do that."

Easier said than done, but he does look slightly relieved. "And I'm honored by your faith in me."

[sonofether.livejournal.com]

"You seem like you have a good handle on what your secrets might be," said Stephen, with a shrug. "The future usually isn't predictable for certain. You can draw as many projections as you like, and there's usually a variable or two that makes nothing set in stone."

He just grinned at Billy, then. "You haven't done anything I've seen to dissuade me from having it, and I can get pretty cynical sometimes. Or so I've been told. So, don't do anything to break it, huh?"

He gave Billy a gentle slap on one shoulder.

[morphitudinous]

"Precisely." This was what he needed sometimes, to be talked down from reaching an unlikely hypothetical conclusion that did nothing but cause stress.

He reached up to rub his shoulder then, but the gleam in his eyes would tell Stephen that it was in jest. "If I do, we'll all be in trouble. You don't need to worry about me."

A smile later (wow, that had gone pretty well!) he turned to check the upload's progress. "Almost complete?"

[sonofether.livejournal.com]

"Looks like," Stephen said, peering over at his omnicomm. It hadn't been much, at least not in the Etherite's opinion.

"Admittedly I'll probably have more later. Depends on how fast this stuff takes me. I like to cover my posterior." Especially since the business with the Eva unit wasn't just covering his own work, it was an entire other person who was depending on his Science.