Re: Comic Book Heroes: Alex/Holly/Billy
Maybe Alex should've written down all these tips but he was not really a note-taking kind of guy. And it wasn't really like he suddenly wanted to trounce Tandy in forum-based debate. What was happening though was that he was starting to feel like he was part of a conversation again, in a whole sense, not just there while people are talking but then gone and completely not part of their lives after that fact. It was a nice feeling, and he just kind of let it soak into his skin as Billy and Holly talked. "So, disagree, be random, use emotion instead of logic, and blindside him," he summed up, counting the points off on his fingers and getting the feeling he already had a fair compliment of those skills in his verbal arsenal. "I got mosta that goin' for me, especially the lacking logic thing." Again a little shrug and a little smile. The shrug was common to Alex's body language: it meant anything and everything, like here I am, this is me, things happen in this world and for the most part, I'm cool with it. The smile said a lot more: I can joke, I can make jokes, I can make jokes as the expense of others and myself. It warmed him in the same way Billy's kind smile did. It felt good.
But he knew he was the new kid here in town and while Holly and Billy did not seem to be friends exactly, Alex recognized that he was probably walking into months, if not years of shared history here, and things, curious things, started making his ears perk up. The thing with the rec center? People dreaming? Spooky town? Alex hadn't felt any sort of spooky town vibe since he'd been here (okay, the trailer park was a little fucky at night, but that was a trailer park thing in his own experience), but maybe he hadn't been paying attention. He should pay more attention.
Alex took Billy's money and let the register tell him what the change would be because yeah, math. Which he then handed back to Billy before bagging up Holly's considerable stash. "Not much of a singer, but I like music enough," he said, handing over the bag. "I'll come check it out one night." Well, he'd browse all the cool stuff the record store had to offer, anyway. He would've felt out of place without an invite, for the simple fact that he would probably be walking in there without buying.
"And I'm there for a party if you're havin' one an I'm invited," he told Billy, handing over his considerably lighter bag which might not have even been strictly necessary. Parties didn't seem so bad, they were a place where you could kind of blend and melt into the crowd and...well, he was trying not to think that way anymore. "Just let me know dude." Then he thought about their admittedly silly banter in the forum post and added, stretching out the first word: "Maybe my super power is gettin' Tandy to dance," he said with a little raise of his eyebrows. Though Alex was probably a shit dancer as far as he knew himself. Because he wasn't much sure he'd ever even tried it.