Guidance Counselor's Office, Wednesday

[electrocynic]

Electroclash was predictably cranky.

The good thing was that the radio had stopped playing Christmas carols.

The bad thing was that it was now playing an endless torrent of barely-appropriate pop and overly syrupy love songs, and she did not much care for either right now.

Fandom High's guidance counselor was in. And slumped in her chair behind her desk, looking grumpy. But in.

[ooc: Open!]

Comments

[myownface]

"Wow," Sparkle said, casually leaning into Electroclash's doorway. "Your taste in music sucks."

Normally, he'd like what the radio was playing! Normally. Right now, that shit was just. Not. On.

[electrocynic]

Electroclash scowled at him. "It is not my taste in music," she informed him. "Bloody thing's broken."

Seriously, there shouldn't have even been any power going into the damn thing, and yet.

[myownface]

Sparkle contemplated that one for a moment before tilting his head at her curiously.

"Real broken, or Fandom broken?"

There was an important distinction there.

[electrocynic]

"Well, it doesn't respond to my commands or violence," she rasped. "So I'll go with the latter. Last week it was Christmas carols."

She missed those now.

[myownface]

"Have you tried throwing it out a window? I find that throwing Fandom-broken things out a window and then not going to get them again sometimes helps."

Sometimes. The other option was that they would come back. But at least it meant they possibly got a few moments of blissful quiet, first.

[electrocynic]

"Did that once already. But it was here again when I came back today."

She hadn't touched it yet today, but she was already suspecting it might be glued to the desk now.

[myownface]

"Well, shit. There go all my suggestions. It'd probably follow you to another office if you up and moved, if it's doing that." Because Fandom was probably far more stubborn than either of them were. "Earplugs?"

There were always other options.

[electrocynic]

"Might as well not come to work." Which she thought was an acceptable solution, because that was how committed an employee she was. "I hate this stupid bloody town."

[myownface]

Pfft. Sparkle hadn't been to work at one of his jobs in weeks, and the other one in even longer. In fairness, one of those options was the sex store, and right now was... bad times for sex store employees, okay?

"I think there's a club for that. It's the 'we all hate Fandom's bullshit but for some reason we're still here' club. The numbers change depending on the week, mostly."

[electrocynic]

"I'm sure the numbers are high as hell this week." Because this was stupid and she hated it. Like a mature person should. "Though I don't see what you've got to forn about. The island's crawling with teenagers, there should be enough for you."

Single adult males seemed more rare to her.

[myownface]

"So far, there's... like one?" Sparkle shrugged his shoulders a little. "I'm pretty sure I managed to meet, like, the only single person on the island I'm even remotely compatible with at the dance on Saturday night."

And that had been fun! But sadly, the number of guys who were into guys who also happened to be single was pretty low unless Sparkle tried dipping into the townies-and-teachers pool, which was never going to happen, because it didn't matter how much he looked, they were never gonna touch.

"Whatever, it's not that bad. It's annoying. It makes for stupid fucking life choices."

And really, Spark hadn't been terribly good at making those before the pollen.

[electrocynic]

"I could go for some terrible life choices."

Apart from the obvious where she'd applied for this job despite being clearly unsuitable for it.

"But you probably shouldn't." That was better. "It's bound to be over soon anyway, right?"

[myownface]

"If this goes on any longer than, like, a week, I've decided I'm running away to... anywhere. Somewhere not here."

Sparkle hadn't really figured that much out, yet.

"Options are hard."

[electrocynic]

"Spring break's coming up," Electroclash pointed out with a shrug. "You don't think this can follow us there, do you?"

[myownface]

"It didn't follow me and Atton to Nar Shaddaa on Sunday night, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything," Sparkle noted, with that wrinkled-nosed look that suggested that he really wasn't going to put anything past the island right now. "Like, I distinctly remember the trip to Skyrim involving a lot of ladies with dicks, too."

Stay classy, Sparks.

[electrocynic]

"If it didn't follow you on Sunday, then that does mean something, you idiot." Classy was not a thing that was happening here. "It's proof this is most likely localized."

[myownface]

"Or it can't be bothered to follow two jackasses to another galaxy when it can follow the whole population of the island to a cruise ship instead," Sparkle pointed out, rolling his eyes. "The word 'proof' when you connect it to like anything Fandom related? It's a nice thought, but like this place has ever been so forgiving."

... Poor Fandom. And here she was just trying to make people happy!

[electrocynic]

He was getting glared at again.

"If you're just here to depress me, you can leave right now. I can do quite enough of that on my own, thanks."

[myownface]

Sparkle smirked just a little. Hey, a little schadenfreude was good for the soul!

"Nah," he replied, shaking his head. "Actually, I came here, like, looking for advice of all things."

[electrocynic]

You know what wasn't good for the soul? Getting things thrown at you. So there was maybe cause to tread more carefully with the smirking stuff.

She looked like she doubted him. "Really?"

[myownface]

Sparkle gave his shoulders an easy shrug. Okay, so he was generally pretty shitty at taking advice when it had been handed to him in the past.

... A lot.

But still.

"Yeah, really. I mean, I'm graduating in a few months and I'm going to have to, like, accept that real life is going to be a thing one way or another once I'm not being clutched soundly to Fandom's nightmarish bosom anymore, and I have no damn clue what I'm doing or even really what I want to do. So... advice."

[electrocynic]

"And I somehow look like someone who knows what people should do after school?"

She thought he of all people should know the title was on the door mostly for decoration.

"Suppose I can try."

[myownface]

"This is mostly so I can say I talked to the school counsellor if I end up going back to Toronto and, like, I want to go to like college or something," Sparkle quipped. And then pulled up a seat and straddled it backwards, resting his elbows over the back. "And there aren't many people who actually have their shit together around here anyway."

See? No pressure!

[electrocynic]

Electroclash rested her elbows against the desk with a sigh.

"But there are some," she pointed out. "We ought to ask them how they do it." A beat. "Then maybe point and laugh at them."

[myownface]

"Seriously," Sparkle muttered. "What the hell are they doing wasting their time around here if they actually have their shit together, anyway?"

Sparkle would kick all of them in the shins, but some of them were biters.