Conversations over Frozen Yogurt

I don't own Dr. Horrible, the lovely Joss Whedon does. I do however own the computer I wrote this on so that's something. :P

He stared bleakly off into the distance and I dug into my cup of frozen yogurt discouraged. It seemed like I got it for free all of the time anymore, even though I always had quarters left over when my clothes were spinning in the dryers, he insisted. I didn't think foods could taste better with company but they really did. Things were sweeter, moods were lighter and the conversation was better. Most of the time.

With a last taste of vanilla on my tongue I tried to bring him back from his gloomy daze. It was obvious that recounting my date last night with a superhero hadn't impressed him. "So you've never told me about your parents. Do they live around here?"

His blue eyes returned to me with a flicker of surprise. "Oh my parents? Uh..they're dead. What about yours?"

A stab of pain pierced my heart and I instinctively reached over and touched his hand. "Billy, gosh, I'm so sorry. That's just terrible. Uh, forgive me for bringing it up." Why did I always say the worst possible things when I was trying to make things better?

His skin was cool and he didn't make any move to back away. He also didn't seem to care for my sympathy. "It's okay, it was a long time ago; I was just a kid. A freak accident, nothing I could do." His hand remains beneath mine and he offers a shaky smile. "Don't apologize, Penny. It's not like it's your fault or anything."

I blushed a little and looked away. "Oh you know me; I apologize after bumping into furniture." Typical silly, klutzy me. But I never felt that way there in the laundromat. I felt stronger, graceful, ready for anything. I wasn't sure if it was the natural high I got from the fresh smell of detergent or something more. "But, if you want to tell me what happened, you can."

"It was an uncontrolled explosion, my father working with chemicals he knew nothing about. Everything happened so fast. The stupid firefighters took forever to get there, the ambulances too. When they did, it was too late." He hung his head, shrugging uncomfortably and I couldn't think of a single thing to say to make it better and was almost afraid to try. So I stayed silent.

He peered up at me then, clearing his throat. "So uh, what about you? Are your parents still alive?"

I balked at the bluntness of his question but smiled, knowing that was just his way. I wouldn't change it for anything. "Oh yeah, they are. Dad's a teacher and Mom runs a yarn shop on Spruce Street." I glanced down at the mismatched blue and yellow knitted skirt and red t shirt I was wearing and chuckled. "As you can see, I'm not immune to her creativity, but she's my mom, you know, and she means well. She makes every piece with love, at least that's what she says." I kept chattering past the point of actually having something worthwhile to say since all he was doing was staring at me in that intent curious way I had grown to know. "So she's taught me how to crochet and stuff so I've been making blankets for the homeless in my spare time. I like to think it helps."

My dryer buzzed loudly, signaling the end of the cycle but neither of us moved. "Well, I'm sure your efforts are appreciated, but is there really a need for blankets in July?" his teasing smirk had returned and I gave him a playful swipe before finally hopping down from the dryer I had been sitting on.

"Hey! Seasons change, I'm just starting a little early."

"I guess so." His nervous smile had returned. "You know, Penny? You're really a good person, it's shocking how much you care about people."

I sent him a quizzical smile as I finished pulling my bed sheets out of the machine. "Shocking? Well maybe I am a little weird about it, but it's just natural for me. It might be why Doug and me get along so well, both liking to help people and stuff."

The smile vanished. "Doug? Who's that?" he spit out the name like it tasted bad.

I reddened and made a mental note to stop saying the wrong thing. "Uh, Captain Hammer, that's his name. Oh gosh, I hope he didn't mind me giving out his real name, he didn't mention that I could or couldn't."

Billy rolled his eyes derisively. "Oh, I'm surprised he doesn't make you call him Captain Hammer all the time. I would think he would."

I sighed as I started folding my sheets. There were times Doug really did like me calling him Captain Hammer but I wasn't about to tell Billy about that. "He's really a nice guy, Billy. He's a hero, he's well intentioned. He wants to make the world a better place as much as we do."

Billy snorted. "Yeah, doubt it." Then he returned to the bleak staring, leaving me helpless yet again.

The laundromat suddenly didn't seem like the happiest place, despite the smell of Tide and the sun shining into the windows. I kind of just wanted to leave since I wasn't doing anything to make Billy not go into another of his funks. Actually I was making him worse. I didn't have to do my laundry here, Doug always suggested I use his super power washer and dryer combo but added the "we can do things while we're waiting for the clothes to get clean that don't need any clothes" line that made me decline. I placed the folded sheet in my basket and tried to think of something non offensive or worse to say to bring Billy back around. He seemed to like my singing, but I didn't think it would fit now.

I opened my mouth and promptly shut it again when Billy blurted out "I think anybody can be good, not just heroes, if something makes them want to be."

I smiled at him and crossed over to give him a pleased hug. He stiffened under my touch but tentatively patted my shoulder. "Uh, what is this for?"
I couldn't answer, because there, with my arms around his neck and the scent of summer on his clothes, I had figured out why the laundromat was my favorite place, and it was more than a little worrying.

"I uh, I'm just glad you're on my side, Billy. It's always nice to have someone to count on, you know?"

He harrumphed again, then finally returned the hug carefully. "Yeah, yeah Penny, I know."

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Product of listening to Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog too much, NPH on the Emmys, and finding lots of cute fanart of Dr. Horrible on DeviantART. Hope you like! :)