As it turned out, we didn't really do much at all. Leonard turned around and seemed to be doing his best to pretend we weren't there. Karyn plopped down beside me on my bed. "I'm sorry Jon...he came to my house. I couldn't believe it. You know he can't talk to me." That was true enough. Leonard's social disorder seemed to intensify around Karyn, probably due to his creepy stalkerish crush. "Well...he still could barely talk to me. It took me a good twenty minutes to figure out his stuttering."
"Why did you bring him here?" I asked.
"Would you rather I didn't?!" Karyn flared suddenly. "Yeah, I could have not told you about it and pretended it never happened. Then when you found out I'm sure you'd be totally understanding and sympathetic."
"Alright, alright. I'm sorry. It's just...you could have told him he imagined it. Pretended you didn't know what he was talking about. Anything."
"Jon, he saw me change. He knows I'm supposed to be a redhead. And my boobs-" Leonard gave a start. I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks as Karyn cut herself off and sighed. "Look, can we at least talk to him about this like normal people? Y'know, instead of pretending he's not here in the room with us." Suddenly, I was a bit embarrassed at the way we'd been treating him.
"Hey, is that Dollhouse?" Leonard interrupted, gesturing at a pile of DVDs on my desk.
"Uh, yeah." I responded. Apparently, Leonard was used to being ignored.
"It's not as good as Buffy though." Karyn added.
"Well, except for that last unaired episode. That was intense."
After that, well...we shamelessly geeked out. Like I said, Karyn and I weren't exactly ones to judge when it came to nerddom. And Leonard...well, I'd never seen him like this. He barely stuttered at all, and had a feverish energy to him, in sharp contrast to his usual languid introversion. We probably talked for an hour, just him, Karyn, and me. About stupid things really. Books, games, even a bit of anime, though Karyn was more into that than I was. But I had to admit, it was fun. At Karyn's urging I even showed him the rock for a minute, though I was careful to get it back after a quick examination.
"You're kidding yourself Jon. 4th edition is a shameless attempt to cash in on WoW."
"Well excuse me for wanting to have some progress in game mechanics within a decade."
"The world building is cooler in 4th edition too..." Leonard said dreamily. "Did you guys...ever just wish you were...somewhere else?"
"What do you mean?" Karyn asked.
"Just anywhere else. This world is just...lame. That's why I read fantasy. Everything's different. Better." Leonard was starting to creep me out a bit again.
"Better? You've never read A Song of Ice and Fire, have you? Medieval worlds are hellish. I'd never want to live in one." Karyn explained.
"Hellish...how's that different from here? I really do...I wish we were in a different world."
A flash, a sudden urge to look away. That not so little shit had somehow gotten his hands on the stone. I had to close my eyes, but before I did, I could swear he was looking straight at me...with a smile on his face.
