While the others still staggered about disoriented, the boy wearing a bowtie looked as if he could start bouncing off the walls at any minute.
Nikola
Hello hello hello I don’t think we’ve met yet have we?? Nikola Ragnvaldsson at your service, it’s just lovely to meet you!
Timaeus
Um, hi! Y-you look… really familiar?
Where had I seen him before? That purple hair and the huge grin… This was gonna bug me for days if I couldn’t remember.
Nikola
Oh hmmmm where are you from then, friendo? You sound American, lemme try…
His voice snapped into perfect English, with a Midwestern U.S. accent that would’ve had me swear he was from Ohio.
Nikola
Hi I’m Nick Raver
and
I’m
here to talk to
you
about the
Miracle Meatloaf Pan,
the
latest
and
greatest
kitchen essential you never knew you needed!!!
Timaeus
Oh my god you’re Nick Raver!!
How did I not recognize him earlier?! His strident voice haunts me to this day, from the overly loud infomercials in between Mom’s Lifetime dramas. He was practically a celebrity!
Nikola
Heeheehee! The network said Americans would have trouble “identifying” with my real name or something like that. Is Ragnvaldsson really that hard to say?
Timaeus
Rag-uhn-vall-dussun… Rag-in-vald-son… I– I guess so?
Timaeus
But I get plenty of alternative pronunciations too, ahaha. My name’s Timaeus…
Nikola
Timaeus, Timaeus… Timaeus! Like a studious Greek scholar, or a noble Roman emperor…
Timaeus
Actually, it’s–
Nikola
So fun to say!! Timaeus!!!
Timaeus
…Are you okay?
Nikola
Yes I’m totally fine why do you ask?!
His outburst startled me a little, and he wheezed in a breath. If he was talking at a million miles an hour before, it was two million miles an hour now.
Nikola
Okay okay okay so maybe we’re trapped in this lump of metal by
who
knows what and I babble when I’m nervous and I’m absolutely
freaking terrified
but you know what?? I’m not gonna let it get me down!!!
Timaeus
…It’s okay to be scared, you know.
Nikola
I know! But being scared doesn’t do any good either! You gotta accept the situation and keep going!! Que sera sera and all that!
Timaeus
…Well, whatever floats your boat, I suppose.
Now that I knew the overwhelming cheerfulness was a coping mechanism, it was a little… less weird, I guess. I told him I was going to talk to the others, and he bobbed his head brightly.
Nikola
Alright of course but it was really so nice to meet you I hope we’ll get to know each other better! Don’t be a stranger, Tim– uh, Timaeus! Can I call you Tim? It sounds cute. Tim! And you can call me Nik!
Timaeus
Y-yeah, um, sure! It’s nice to meet you too, Nik… See ya?
It felt a bit weird to stifle a giggle in a situation this dire– his laughter was just that infectious. But he was right, in a way. All we could do was keep moving forward, and it wouldn’t hurt to smile if we could.
…Ishi elbowed me and whispered conspiratorially. How long had she been there?
Ishi
Dude he is totally into you, want me to set ‘cha up–
