voltage ; stranger things

seven ; the royal we

          TONY blinks for a long moment at his coworker's words, seemingly stunned into immobility. "Damn," he says at last, breaking from his trance and straightening his glasses. "That's messed up, C."

Colleen shrugs her shoulders and goes back to tweaking with the Walkman on the front counter. She twists the screwdriver carefully, but her knuckles are white and pale around the handle. "It's whatever," she mutters under her breath. "I'm over it."

"Doesn't seem like it to me," he says. He watches as she replaces the Walkman's batteries, then tries to switch it on again. It doesn't work. "But... do you know what you're gonna do now?"

          It's the same question she asked herself yesterday at Scoops Ahoy, the same question she had tried answering by changing her hair. She doesn't think it worked. "I... I don't really know." She stops working and sighs. "I've never really broken up with someone before."

          Tony touches her shoulder and turns her to face him. "Well," he says, his face lifting a bit, "the first thing to forget about it. Get it out of your head, 'ya know?" Colleen nods her head. "When my mom broke up with her boyfriend, the first thing she did was do something fun. So, what do you like to do for fun?"

          Colleen hesitates. She would normally say go over to Jonathan's and watch a movie, or ride with him and listen to their songs in the car, but she supposes she can't anymore. "Uh..." She furrows her brow. "I guess I like to roller skate." In truth, she hasn't roller skated in years, but it's the only thing she can think of right now, especially under his piercing gaze.

          Her coworker flashes her a smile and lifts his arms in a sort of congratulatory expression. "There you go. Why don't we say after work, we-"

          He's cut off as Dustin appears at their counter, a brand new Star Wars action figure still boxed in his hands. "Hey, wonder kids," he says, bracing his arms on the table. "How's business?"

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Colleen asks, planting her hands on her hips. "Like playing your Atari at home in your dark basement?"

"Woah, geez," says Dustin, feigning offense. "You're one to talk - I've invited you over to fix my Gameboy, like, a hundred times, and you always say you're busy."

"Because, unlike you, I actually have a life." Colleen stares at him a moment, then shakes her head and forces herself to smile. "What do you need?"

Dustin steps back and bows rather gracefully, which she didn't think was possible for him, lifting his arm in a gesture to take her hand. He says in a mockingly cultured voice, "I have been hired by the jester himself to escort you to the palace for your break." He looks up. "Coming, my lady?"

Colleen looks down at her watch and realizes he's right - it's already three minutes into her break and she hadn't even noticed. "Uh, sure." She turns back to Tony, who's busied himself with messing with the Walkman. "I'll be back in a bit."

As she lifts the counter separation and follows Dustin, Tony watches her disappear around the corner. He frowns, then goes back to his work.

"Where'd you get that one?" Colleen asks, pointing to the Star Wars figure Dustin is still examining. "I thought you already had Jar Jar."

He looks up at her as if she's just asked him what two plus two is. He answers, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "Uh, yeah, I have regular Jar Jar. This is Jar Jar in his Coruscant robes. Jeez, Collie, and I thought you knew Star Wars." They slip past a group of teenage girls her age, who all turn and gawk at her platinum hair. "I got it from the toy shop a few doors down. Steve paid me to come get you."