Re: Billy/Tandy: the neighborhood
Billy just shook his head, a good-natured play at disapproval in the face of Tandy’s deadpan brand of snark that probably did more to betray how much Billy actually enjoyed it than anything else. Tandy’s sense of humour was proving delightfully dry. “Was there ever any doubt about my predilections? I’ll have to remember that and start doing better. Maybe I should bring back the hankie code.”
He tore off another sizable bite of pizza and put it away in his stomach with a thoughtful sort of expression on his face. “Oh, are we getting a Costco membership? Do you think they have, like, a lube loyalty card?” A pause then, to polish off the last of the slice before he leaned down to rescue his poor dish towel from the floor at Tandy’s feet. He wiped the last of the grease and cheese from his fingers and then tossed it on the counter, grinning all the while. “I gotta insist on an R rating, minimum. We can’t set a lame precedent for our parties.”
About the room, Billy nodded and gestured grandly towards the staircase where it joined the main floor near the foyer as he led the way. Okay, so he was like, ninety percent confident about the shade of blue. Maybe closer to eighty, wavering all the way up the staircase to the second floor and down the hallway. Billy’s bedroom was at the far end, and he angled a thumb at the second bathroom as they passed it. “Your bathroom, I’ve got my own off the master. And this is you,” he added, with a dull pang of anxiety as he stopped in the doorway to Tandy’s room and waited to see what the guy thought.
“You’re probably right,” he nodded, about Tandy’s theory on Alex. “And it is sad, but I get it. I know you didn’t do it on purpose, I’m just saying be careful, okay? He seems… kinda fragile?”