xp_logs | Topaz and Frank (Backdated)

Frank ambushes Topaz to talk about books. The conversation doesn't end where it started. Backdated to May 6

"Hey, Topaz," said Frank, catching up with her from behind after their last class of the day. "You got anything planned for the rest of the day?"

Topaz turned, a bit surprised. "No?" The word came out as a bit of a question. "Nothing but the library, why?"

"Was wondering if I could pick your brains for a while," he replied. "I kinda want to talk over homework a little. Bribe you with coffee?"

"Sure." She shrugged, pulling her bag up over her shoulder. She didn't have anything else to do. "Don't have to bribe me, but I won't say no to it either."

"Eh. When given the option, I prefer to bribe someone unnecessarily. People always like nice things." He led her away down the corridor, aiming towards the kitchen. "Besides, who doesn't like coffee?"

She was still more of a tea person. But she wouldn't say no to coffee. "I'm sure there's someone out there. So what did you want to talk about?"

"Homework," he said, rummaging through his bag to drag out the book they were covering in his class. "You read this before? Because I'm coming at it fresh and I'm not so hot on it."

Yes. Yes she had. So many times. "Yeah, I've read it. What do you need to know?"

" Okay. So... is Atticus supposed to be this annoying?" The kitchen was thankfully empty. He made a beeline for the coffee maker. "I get that he's supposed to be, like... the voice of liberal parenthood and morality. But he's just fuckin' insufferable about it the whole time."

"I...guess it depends on your point of view?" Topaz shrugged. "I'm pretty sure Alice was in love with him. Personally I've always thought he was a bit of a whiny, preaching idiot."

"Well yeah, but that's because you're sane," grumbled Frank, leaning against the counter. "It's not even that, though. It's..." he waved his arms, trying to express his thoughts. "Atticus represents Tom Robinson, right? It's the main point of the novel. He's standing up against racism. Right?"

"Sounds like you've got a pretty good grip on it to me," Topaz commented dryly. "Yeah, Atticus hates segregation and discrimination, he represents justice and equality within the novel. Or he's supposed to at least."

"Yeah, but that's the thing. All we ever see is Atticus' perspective on it, and even that second hand. Jem never talks to Tom Robinson. You know what that makes Tom? A cutout at best. He's an excuse to make the white guy look cool. Tom," and here, Frank pauses dramatically, "is Atticus' pet."

"Well what exactly would you expect?" Topaz asked, raising an eyebrow. "It was the 1930s in the American south, just because Atticus was standing up for the black man doesn't mean anyone actually cared what he had to say. Tom Robinson was a tool for furthering Atticus' own agenda, that's all."

"Yeah, but they don't even admit that! That's the problem I have with the god-damn novel! The whole way through Atticus is presented as this figure of egalitarian justice. I get he's supposed to be a good guy, but with Tom being this... this... this plot device, the whole thing becomes a total cop-out!"

"Maybe it just seemed natural to them?" Topaz shrugged. "I dunno. Everyone says it's a classic, but honestly...I don't see it."

The coffee maker whistled invitingly, and Frank poured out two mugs, pushing one towards her before starting into his own. "Okay. So it's not just me. Okay." he glanced up at her, paused, smirked. "Thank christ."

"You know what they say," Topaz said conversationally as she picked up her cup, taking a tentative sip, "if you have a complaint, chances are there's someone else with the exact same problem."

"Well yeah," Frank groused, "But the someone matters, right? I'd have to take a long hard look at myself if I had the exact same problem as, say, Maddie."

Topaz nearly choked on her drink. She wasn't laughing, really she wasn't. She set the mug down hurriedly, covering her mouth as she tried not to smile.

"I mean, what would that say about my emotional state?" he continued, seemingly oblivious, but with a smirk lurking at the corners of his mouth. "How would Xavier's cope with two manic pixie dream girls running around at once?"

"Reality would probably collapse on itself," Topaz managed to say, training her expression into something more neutral. Or so she thought, at least. "And I'd have to question how you suddenly turned into a girl."

"Oh, come on. We go to Xavier's. One of RAs is a purple cat who's starting a restaurant. You would SO not be phased by a little errant gender bending."

"...Okay, yeah." She couldn't quite argue with that. Really, she should have known better. She'd been dealing with the strange and abnormal long before she'd even known the school existed. "Gotta give you that one."

Frank grinned at her, and sipped his coffee. "At most, you might offer me a skirt or something. Or maybe there's rules for it. Like, Mr. Summers just pulls you aside, hands you a pamphlet and calls one of the RAs."

"Yeah, if you spontaneously turn into a girl, I'm calling a teacher or someone with authority. Possibly Amanda. Because Billy would probably somehow be involved."

"I hope not. I always kinda hoped he'd have more imagination then just turning me into a girl, you know? I was hoping for, like, a cat or a wolf or something." Beat. Sip of coffee. "Or a fox. Turning into a fox would be awesome."

"Hey, take what you can get," Topaz pointed out. "Maybe turnin' you into a girl would just be practice, then next time he would take requests."

"True. He did promise me Quidditch on the lawn once he got the hang of his magic," Frank said, consideringly. "Hey, maybe he could get a job at Warner brothers. "The real Harry Potter Experience! Magic! Romance! Inexplicablly sexless teenage boys who REALLY should notice women more then they do!""

"He'd be the richest person to ever get lynched," Topaz deadpanned. People didn't always react well when something different came along. And magic - real, honest-to-god magic - was definitely different.

"But think of the funeral. Think of the insanely expensive, ludicrously-overcomplicated funeral. His coffin could be made of SOLID GOLD, Topaz."

"...Why...never mind." She wasn't going to question why anyone would want to be buried in a sold gold coffin. "No offense to Billy, but that's one funeral I don't think I'll be attending."

"Aah, you have no appreciation of bling," said Frank, amused. "Come on. What would Snoop Dogg say if he saw you ducking out?"

"...Who?" She had no idea who Snoop Dogg was. Suprise, surprise.

"Snoop Dogg. Rapper. Smokes a lot of weed, tries to pretend he's all ghetto despite going to a private school and being happily married with, like... four kids?" He raised an eyebrow. "Ringing any bells at all, here?"

He got a raised eyebrow right back at him. "Sorry, we got our wires crossed somewhere. You have me confused with someone who actually listens to rap."

He smiled at that. "Touche. So what, you're more of a Nora Jones kind of girl?" That was a stab in the dark; he had a vague idea that Nora Jones was from the UK somewhere, and it seemed vaguely appropriate.

"And again - who?" She wasn't really much of a music person. Or a pop culture at all person.

"Okay. Let's try this again. Hey Topaz! What music do you like?" He was honestly curious now.

"Um...nothing, really." The revelation was a bit of a surprise to her. She'd never thought about it before. "I...don't really listen to music."

Frank raised both eyebrows at that. "...Really? Nothing?" He leaned back on the counter, thoughtfully. Then, finally, "okay, I have something for you. COme on."

"Where are we going?" Topaz asked, one eyebrow still raised a bit.

"Somewhere with a computer. Come on. You'll like it, I promise." He headed for the door, stopping to look over his shoulder. "Trust me."

She blinked at him for another moment before finally following as they headed out of the kitchen.

Frank led her through the mansion, up the stairs to his suite. He held the door open for her, and then darted into his room, returning with his laptop. "Okay," he said, loading up iTunes. "This is why you should listen to rap." After a second, Maria by Dizraeli and the Small Gods started to drift out of his speakers. Frank watched her surreptitiously as it played, trying to read her face.

One thing that could generally be said about Topaz was that she was good at keeping her expression even. Which she did as she listened to the song, but...she had to admit, she liked it. She tilted her head a bit as she listened, the familiar accent providing a surprising modicum of comfort.

Frank sat down as he listened to her, leaving room on the couch if she wanted it. He'd always liked that song, in a pathetic sort of way, and for some reason he couldn't put his finger on he wanted her to like it. So he sat there, and listened, and watched her. And wondered what she'd say.

The room was appreciated. Topaz tended to get fidgety when she felt like she was cornered. Not that she thought Frank would corner her. She listened to her song, her eyes fluttering shut towards the end. "That's...a good song," she finally said when it ended, looking over at Frank. "Who sings it?"

"His name's Dizraeli," said Frank. "He's from Bristol. That was his band, the Small Gods. I found them on youtube a while back." He looked at the laptop, suddenly, realising he'd been on the boundaries of staring. "Figured you might like it," he said. "Not all of it's that dramatic, though. I mean, there's really only so many songs you can write about a dramatic love-inspired suicide." He was rambling more then usual. Christ, what was wrong with him?

If Topaz noticed the staring, she gave no indication of it. She did, however, smile a bit at the rambling as she focused a little harder than she needed to on the screen, looking at his iTunes list. "I imagine writing about the same thing over and over would get a little old after a while anyways."

"Tell that to Nickelback," said Frank, smiling wryly. Then he leaned forward and changed the song to Empty Room by Arcade Fire. "Since we're here, I figure you might like these guys too. They're Canadian. Kind of weird instrumental stuff. I like it." Rambling again. He shut up, stared at the screen and prayed she hadn't noticed.

Unfortunately for him, she'd noticed. It was almost... "Huh." She raised an eyebrow as the song started. It was definitely...odd. Though not in a bad way, so that was something.

They sat in silence for a while, as Frank tried not to speak so as not to ramble. Because he treasured what little dignity he had left.

And Topaz just enjoyed the music. She was surprised. Never much of a music person, her. "All right, that one's not too bad either," she said as the song ended.

"Damn straight it's not. That whole album is awesome." He rose, wandered over to the kitchen, and started shuffling through the cupboards. "...I could lend it to you, if you'd like."

"Yeah...sure." Topaz was surprised by her own easy agreement. Less surprised by the cheeky, "You keep your CDs in the kitchen?" that followed.

To be fair, it didn't surprise Frank much either. "Oh, she's a wise guy now, huh?" he said, smirking at her. "I keep my potato chips in the kitchen. I keep my CDs in my room, but eating one of them in front of you would maybe make a less favourable impression then asking if you want a dorito."

A small smirk pulled at Topaz lips as well. "It's a new thing I'm trying out, actually. What do you think? And no to the dorito, but thank you."

"It works, man, it works. I mean, it's such a total contrast to your usual demure self," he snarked, crashing onto the couch again. "You're usually so... what's the word?"

"I'll have to think about keeping it permanently then," she returned. "And that depends on who you ask, the word could vary from quiet to a list I wouldn't want to repeat in mixed company."

"Hey, I'm told a dramatic rep does wonders for a girl," said Frank. "And do I count as mixed company? I mean, I curse every second word and I don't think I've ever heard you swear."

"Does it?" Topaz asked, raising an eyebrow. "And since I doubt I could actually offend you, no, you don't count as mixed company." She simply shrugged in response to the swearing thing. She didn't actively avoid swearing - it just didn't happen often.

"Hell yeah, man. Scares off the assholes. Useful trick." He smirked at her, and started into his potato chips. "Alright. So. That's your official introduction to modern music covered. What next?"

"That I will have to keep in mind," Topaz said, nodding thoughtfully. She liked scaring people. "Well if you're really desperate for something to do, you can start teaching me about pop culture. I'm tired of getting looked at like I have three heads when I don't know what something is. Should've seen Sarah when I told her I didn't know what Star Wars was."

"I'm guessing it'll be similar to my reaction when it sinks in that you haven't seen Star Wars," Frank replied. "Wow, Topaz. Just wow." He was grinning though. "We're gonna have to fix that."

"...You're gonna make me watch all six movies, aren't you?" Because yes, she had retained most of what Sarah had told her about the movies. Even if it made no sense.

"Nah, man. Just the good ones." He leaned over and started tapping at his laptop again. "Trust me. You'll thank me for this."