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Chuck Bartowski is a huge nerd. (chuckmate) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-10-30 16:08:00

Who: Hurley Reyes and Chuck
What: Discovering their narrative balloons and hatching a geeky experiment
When: Morning, during the Narrative Balloon Plot
Where: Hurley’s house/Chuck’s house
Rating: PG, general geeking out
Status: Complete.



Hugo "Hurley" Reyes had grown up reading comics. Everything from Captain America to X-Men, Batman to Justice League, he'd always delved into the fantastical worlds with a sense of wonder and longing. So when he'd woken up this particular morning, he'd assumed maybe he'd still been in the fog of a dream when he was brushing his teeth; he'd glanced in the mirror and to his surprise saw a bubble appear over his head that looked very much like those in the comics he loved so much, only with the word "Brush-sh-sh-sh". Blinking, Hurley stopped. Then a question mark appeared in it. Then three, in bold with red outlines. He carefully put the toothbrush down, cupped some water from the faucet to his mouth, and spit - all the while watching the bubble.

PTOOEY! it went.

DUDE. WHAT. came next.

"Dude...what?" He then said aloud in reaction. Carefully he reached up and tried to touch the comic bubble floating above his curly head. His finger poked it, it gave a little, nudged a little, then settled back again.

"I gotta call Chuck," he said aloud, hustling for his phone. Grabbing his Galaxy 4, he did the "Jedi wave" to turn it on and practically yelled into it, "Call Chuck!" Even as the words appeared for his actions and words above him. The phone rang…

Chuck was having a field day. Or, a field morning, really. On the one hand, he’d woken up like every other day, gotten dressed, and went down to get his breakfast. As he munched on some Frosted Flakes and stared absently into nothing, he thought to himself that maybe he preferred Frosted Mini Wheats better. In his reflection in the microwave, something above his head caught his attention, and he frowned. As he glanced up, and thought, what the hell is that, he blinked to see his very musings scribble out before him in a cloud-like thought bubble.
“Oh. My god. This is awesome.”

AND SORT OF SCARY, offered the little bubble.

Swallowing down a half-eaten mouthful of cereal, he reached for his phone just as he saw Hurley calling.

THE GUY MUST BE PSYCHIC.

“Oh my god, Hurley,” Chuck said as he answered the phone. “You are never going to believe this!”

"DUDE. Dude...you're never gonna believe...hey! Stop writing Dude!" Hurley shouted at his bubble. It's not gonna stop, is it? Roll with it bro."Yeah, you know how there's that thing people were posting around facebook about how great it is we don't have thought bubbles above our heads? Well I kinda got a thought bubble above my head." And it's kinda AWESOME it wrote out in big bold letters complete with white border for emphasis.

“Me too! I’m like - I know I should be sort of freaked out? But it really appeals to the part of me that always wanted to be a comic book hero.” I AM SUCH A LOSER.. “So. Pretty much the most amazing thing to ever happen to us, yes or yes?”

DUDE ME TOO! went Hurley's bubble.

"Yes, totally yes." He laughed.Calling dibs on Iron Man "We're like the real Avengers! Minus the um, avenging part."

“Hey. I could totally avenge things! Okay, maybe not. But I always saw myself as more Reed Richards than a real Avenger, you know?” Chuck grinned like a maniac, even though Hurley couldn’t actually see him over the phone. “I’d look great in spandex.”

Hurley laughed. "Dude, there's no way I'd wear spandex. And Reed is totally a real Avenger! Just like Black Panther, they just are kinda busy with all the science stuff. I dunno which Avenger I'm like. Ideas?" Hulk? No, not angry enough. Spiderman? Went the thought bubble.

“Psh, clearly if I’m Reed Richards, you’d have to be Thing.” Totally logical. Good job, Chuck. “Then we could be like, part of two really amazing groups and who wouldn’t want that?”

Hurley thought about that, and his balloon was doing a good job of it, replaying little cartoon versions of the Thing in snapshots from Fantastic Four comics he had read. “I’m cool with that. He’s all indestructible and stuff.” Suddenly Hurley’s bubble was filled with exclamation points as he got an idea.

“Dude. Just got an awesome idea.”

Chuck was, he felt, a pretty smart guy when he wanted to be. And it was really nice to meet someone who found his comic book smarts impressive and not just a waste of time. As his thought bubble continued to praise him, he got excited, because what wasn’t to love about awesome ideas?
“Go on, I’m all ears.”

“We should totally take these thought bubbles for a test drive at the comic book store. They’ll love it!” It’s perfect, they’ll think it’s some sorta new tech, like those cat ears chimed in his bubble. Hurley almost suggested cosplaying just to make it cooler, but realized without a con nearby it would be just bizarre.

“Oh man. What if like, everyone there has them too? It’ll be like a mini con. A New York prep, as it were. Hey, speaking of,” Chuck switched the phone to his other ear, then decided to just plug in his headphones and talk using that microphone, “you are going to NYCC right?”

A huge exclamation point with a red border around it popped into the balloon. "Dude, I totally spaced and forgot to tell you. The show people called and told me they wanted me at New York Comiccon. Totally last minute thing, man. And I told them you needed to come along."

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD. Chuck’s balloons popped up at rapid speed. “Get out. Really? You said that? Oh. My god. Sorry, this is like Christmas. This is better than Christmas.”

Hurley laughed, and his balloon showed a giddy emoticon smiley face. “Dude, chill. And you’re welcome. But uh, just FYI, I kinda told them you were like, my personal assistant. It was the only way to get them to give me the green light.”

Hurley hit the speaker and tossed the phone on the bed next to him as he started tying his shoes. “So you want me to pick you up or you just wanna meet at the comic book store?”

“Hey, totally and completely acceptable. I can totally be personal assistant material. No one will suspect a thing.” Chuck got up, too, figuring he should maybe put on some socks and the like. “Whatever’s easiest.”

“Glady you’re cool with it, dude. It’ll be nice to have a friend with me this time.” Finishing, he stood and took the phone with him, taking it off speaker. He jogged downstairs, his balloon bouncing along with him, happily displaying the sounds of his steps as he went down the stairs, going TROMP TROMP TROMP as he did so. He glanced up at the words at the base of the stairs.

“Dude, I don’t go ‘Tromp’.” he said to the bubble, before grabbing the car keys from the dish nearby. To Chuck he said, “We’re gonna have to teach these bubbles some cool words.”

“Hugo!” his mother’s voice called, thick with her latin accent. “Where are you going?”

“To the comic book store, ma! With Chuck!” he yelled back, hand on the doorknob. His back was to her, and he winced a little, annoyed she’d caught him before he left. Somehow she always knew when he was heading out.

“Why are ‘ju always going to the comic book store, Hugo? There are no girls there.” she said, rounding the corner from one of the rooms of the house, like a ninja. She stopped and frowned when she saw the balloon over his head. “What is that?”

“Uh…” Hurley stalled, and his eyes rolled upwards. The innocent balloon went Why does she always gotta ask a thousand questions when I go out? And there are totally girls at the comic books store. Sorta.

“Hugo!” she chided. “I do not ask a thousand questions when you go out. And what is that thing? And who is Chuck?”

“Gotta go!” Hurley blurted, turning around and pulling open the door. He hustled out as quickly as his legs could take his hefty frame, hoping the words in the bubble could only be seen from the front. “Crap, my mom saw the bubble.” He whispered into the phone to Chuck as he raced to his bright blue Chevy. It was one of his dad’s cars he’d taken with them when he and his mom had left Florida.

Chuck didn’t even pretend not to laugh as he heard Hurley and his mom on the phone. It sort of made him miss his own mom, but he definitely didn’t pine for the little moments like that. “Well, it’s not like it’s some big secret. I bet plenty of people here have them.”

Oh god. What will people at work think when they see my thoughts?

“Wow. Yes, teach them good words and teach them not to remind us of cruel truths. Maybe I’ll call in sick for a couple days.”

“Yeah well, mom doesn’t get out much so I think mine’s the first bubble she’s seen.” Hurley said. He started up the car and pulled out of the driveway as quickly as was possible without causing an accident.

“Dude, can you teach a thought bubble?” He wanted to look up at his as he drove to see what it was saying, but the thing was pushed up against the roof of the car, like a helium balloon.

“Uh. Probably not.” Don’t be a moron. “Mine’s getting pretty sassy over here, though. I hope yours are nicer.” Chuck grabbed his bag and keys and sat himself on his doorstep, waiting for Hurley to show up.

“So far mine are cool,” Hurley replied into the bluetooth set. The blue Chevy came wheeling around the corner and came to a stop right in front of Chuck’s place. For the first time he got a glimpse of his friend with his thought balloon and watched as it entered the car with him.

“Dude, that does look pretty crazy.” He grinned. “Now let’s see how crazy they get at the comic book store when we roll in with these babies over our heads!”