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[faceguy]

Hello? Hello? ...Ah-ha, just kidding! Leave a message after the beepity beep~

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...I didn't even think about that

[effiomsfavorite]

Oh, I'm pretty sure you would've shown it off by now if you could.

[It's easy ribbing, delivered with a grin, though it fades a bit with the followup question. It's not that he hasn't thought about Yin - he misses the kid like a hole in his heart - but he definitely hasn't talked about him as much. How does he explain that he'd known Yin for two years but only really known him for two days? How does he describe that dizzying depth of connection? How does he talk about anything specific without explaining what a construct is? What is world is like? How much he's responsible for, in the greater scheme of things?]

[He doesn't know, so he's mostly avoided it. There are a handful of people here who know bits and pieces, but Leo sure doesn't. He'd mentioned Yin in passing, as a friend and a good kid, but not much else.]

[And now here Leo is, putting him on the spot. He can try, at least.]

I don't think so - he's more of a bookworm.

[faceguy]

[Leo does catch how Huvrye’s mood shifts at the question. Maybe this isn’t something he should be poking around in. He can’t guess at much with so few details, but with how little Huvrye talks about his life before this place, he knows a lot is being hidden from him.

Not maliciously, at least Leo doesn’t think so. He hasn’t sensed any ill intent from Huvrye, and if he truly wanted to hurt him he was playing a really long con - he’d had a million chances now that Leo felt safe enough to share a roof with him, doubly so now that he knew the kind of fears that haunted his dreams at night.

But there are other reasons to hide things. Leo hasn’t brought up the fight with the Shredder and who knows when he will, because talking about the Shredder means talking about Gram-Gram. Maybe it’s similar.

Though he said “is,” so that’s a good sign.]

Oh yeah? [Leo keeps his tone light despite it all.] Guess you probably had different books than we do here.

[It’s an out if he wants it.]

[effiomsfavorite]

[He sees the out, but doesn't quite take it; not entirely, at least. Leo doesn't know, and he doesn't want to just shut him down. There's something to be said for trust going both ways, even if most of Huvrye's life is still a closely-guarded secret.]

Yeah. Frankenstein sure didn't exist in Lasardhi.

[Sympathy for a manmade being? It never would've been published; it probably wouldn't have even been written.]

I know you're not really a book guy, but if you come across one called The Day the Stars Roared, can you let me know?

[faceguy]

[The Day the Stars Roared. He isn't a book guy at all, but he commits it to memory anyway. It's something important to someone important, that's all Leo needs to know to remember it.

Saying that is sappy, though, so he just shrugs.]

Sure, if I'm forced to go into a library anytime soon I'll keep an eye out. Is that your favorite book or something?

[effiomsfavorite]

Isn't there one at your school?

[Why yes, Huvrye will call every single one of Leo's bluffs, as he makes them, in real time.]

[He softens a bit and shakes his head.]

Not mine - Yin's. I never got a chance to read it.

[faceguy]

Chyeah, doesn’t mean I go inside.

[Does he look like a nerd? Please!

Though he softens, too, at the explanation.]

Ah. Gotcha. Yeah, I’ll watch out for it - it’d be cool if you could read it too.

[effiomsfavorite]

Gonna be hard to watch out for it if you never go in the library.

[He's not above the redirect, or being a smartass.]

[faceguy]

[Clearly!]

Fiiiiine, I’ll go in the library just for you. But only once! Any more than that and I’ll get infected by some terrible nerd virus.

[effiomsfavorite]

Oh no, the reading virus. How will you ever survive.

[He can lay off on the sass - Leo is agreeing to help him, after all.]

Thanks, though.

[faceguy]

[He can joke all he wants but this is serious stuff! He's angling for a jock reputation at school, okay? (Though the class clown vibes are stronger.)]

Yeah, no problem.

[Leo settles back, turning the conversation over in his head.]

You've been really into Frankenstein though, huh?

[Leo's never read it, unsurprisingly. He mostly knows about it through references in other things.]

[effiomsfavorite]

Yeah, I finished it the other day. Mark told me I should read it, and he was right - it's really good.

[He can't go into the details - why Mark assigned him that particular homework, or why it'd resonated with him - so the conversation needs to stay surface level.]

[faceguy]

Isn't like really old and hard to read though?

[For Leo, reading anything written before color television is nearly impossible.]

[effiomsfavorite]

I think it's old by this world's standards, but it's definitely not hard to read.

[faceguy]

It isn't? Maaaaaaybe I'll read it then.

[He reads a lot (of comics), maybe he can do it!]

[effiomsfavorite]

You should. That way we can talk about something we both actually know.

[He's absolutely heard a thing or two about Jupiter Jim by this point, even though that doesn't seem to exist in this dimension.]

[faceguy]

You know, if that's all it is, I could just watch a movie version.

[There's several even in this world, he's guessing.]

Or we could find a different movie and watch it together!

[effiomsfavorite]

Or you could read the book and we could find a movie to watch.

[faceguy]

[Leo droops a bit.]

Man, why is it so important to everybody that I read?

[He means his teachers, too.]

[effiomsfavorite]

Well, it's fun, as long as the book's good.

[faceguy]

Comic books are fun and movies are fun, books are just slow.

[And for nerds!]

[effiomsfavorite]

Yeah, that just means you're not reading the right books. Robinson Crusoe is great.

[faceguy]

Robinson who? Croissant?

[effiomsfavorite]

Robinson Crusoe. It's one of my favorite books back home, but I'm not sure if it exists here. It's about a fairy who keeps getting shipwrecked on deserted islands and has to figure out how to survive and escape. It's kind of old, but it's pretty good.

[It's an escape, is what it is. Someplace long ago and far away from Lasardhi, and struggles far from his own - a story he could get lost in when he had a minute and enough focus to read.]

[faceguy]

Okay. Guess I'll look for that one, too.

[He could just get online and see, but if hunting for books is like hunting for comics there's something to be said for just going and taking a look to see what he can find.]

Having to survive a shipwreck does sound pretty fun. I bet you'd have to drink coconut milk and catch fish and stuff like that.