((OOC: Sunday, October 3rd.))

It looked like a whole lot. A never-ending torrent of web comic updates. The appearance was a lie. After the 3-day bender, reading panel after panel, log after chat log, he found himself not-so-literally hunched in the tub with his knees against his chest, rocking back and forth from withdrawal, hand on the f5 key, hoping for an update fix. He was an addict. Shin... was an addict to a web comic.

Shin needed... Shin needed someone to talk about this with. Thankfully, Shin had a very supportive girlfriend he could always count on, who humored his interests. THANKFULLY... Shin had someone he could also get hooked.

~*~

Shin knocked on Kealey's door, laptop in-hand like he was the pizza man. He had a delivery. One addiction, with extra cheese. He also had a text book smooshed under one arm. While she was studying the difficult webcomic, he would goof off with his text book. It'd be a blast.

It was Sunday. Had he mentioned that?

Not only was it an addiction. It was also a new religion.

Kealey was actually starting to worry a little bit. Shin was stuck in some sort of new internet comic, though, and she didn’t want to bother him. It wasn’t how she worked. Sometimes, no matter how much you loved a person, you needed to spend some time apart…doing your own thing.

Shin was doing his thing. Except he’d been doing it for ages and Kealey had hardly heard a word from him. This one was looking to be serious. She smiled at the thought, and chuckled a little bit and went back to work on her first project of the semester. She was getting a ridiculously early start, but the way things went around the Mansion…she’d need the head start.

The designs for the dress had already been laid out, and Kealey stared at the plastic trash bags she’d amassed to start sampling for wear and tear. Really…a trash bag dress? So many people had done it…from runway to reality TV…but it was becoming something of a quintessential fashion school project. She’d go with the flow. It didn’t really matter.

A knock on the door pulled Kealey from her sketches and pattern drawing, and she tilted her head as she made her way to answer. The feelings on the other side were very familiar, and the blond grinned as she grabbed the handle and pulled.

”Hey!” she said, as the door moved aside to reveal Shin.

He had his laptop.

And a book.

This had potential.

”Finish your thing you were doing? Come on in.”

Shin smiled at Kealey. "I got caught up temporarily. Is there a place for me to set this?" He slipped into her room, glancing around.

Her room was messy again. He was used to it by now. It was a constant flux of organized chaos. That was just how she worked. One new project stood out, amid the chaos. Plastic bags were arranged purposefully on the main flat work space she had, her table. He'd have to ask her about those later. For now, he searched out other spaces. The bed was flat, but covered by their ever-expanding plush army. The floor was no-good. A nightstand had him worried. He didn't want the laptop to slip off the small stand. He also didn't want her to have to read his laptop's screen from over his shoulder, or off his lap. It seemed there just weren't currently any good places to set the laptop down.

He set his book down on the bed, so he could hold the laptop in two hands, then looked hopefully to Kealey. "Can you move your project so I can set my laptop down? I've got something to show you."

He…had something to show her…and it involved his laptop. The laptop he’d been attached to for the past several days. Kealey tilted her head as she looked at her boyfriend and thought. He really was very excited about whatever it was he wanted to show her.

The blond grinned and started moving things around. ”Sure, just gimme a sec.”

The trash bags all got lumped together and shoved into one of their number. That cleared things up considerably. The pattern paper, pencils, and other materials went into various drawers in the wheeley-drawer-cart-thing that Kealey had bought to try and organize things.

Once a space was cleared, she waited, starting to get excited by virtue of Shin’s emotions.

”So, do I get to see what’s kept you all the way over in your room for the past few days?” Nope, she hadn’t bugged him a single time while he’d been a little bit of a hermit…but that didn’t mean she hadn’t been curious.

Shin nodded.

He moved across the room to set his laptop up, popping the screen and booting it on. He tapped a few keys, face locked intently on the task for the moment, casual smile on his face. He chuckled smugly to himself as he brought up page one of Homestuck, on the MS Paint Adventures web page.

Shin looked to Kealey and grinned. "Who is this young man!?" He asked.

Shin stepped away from the table, pulled a chair up from somewhere, and set it in front of the table for Kealey.

Power cord, power cord... He patted himself down. It suddenly occurred to him, the battery might run dry.

Shin looked towards the door. "I'll... be right back. You read that! Let me know what you think!"

And he was out the door, without another word, off to his room for the power cord. He'd leave her to his web comic, in his absence~

For a few moments it was quiet as Shin got the laptop opened up and running. From there it was a few short moments before the web comic was loaded, and a chair was being produced for Kealey to sit in while she read.

She sat down.

She studied the first page of the comic.

This was what had kept Shin occupied for so long? The artwork wasn’t even that good.

Kealey was intrigued. If Shin had been that into it…it had to be good.

Who was that young man?

Shin left her for a moment, promising to be back and Kealey clicked to the next page, eyebrow raising at the name that appeared. The comic was not above a bit of base humor. That was okay, as long as it was funny.

On she clicked. The boy’s name was John. He lived in a room. It was his birthday.

Nice beginning. Kealey leaned a little closer to the screen to read the movie posters on the wall.

CLICK.

Half an hour later, Shin strolled back in.

Yes, he'd actually just done that. He'd left his girlfriend on her own with a web comic, so she could stew in the revelawesomesauce that is John Egbert. By now, she had to be at least somewhat far in the beginning. Perhaps she was at a point where his laptop, much like Rose's, severely needed that thing which all laptops do: Power. Perhaps this extension cord would be a beneficial thing, both for himself, and for her, the burgeoning addict? Perhaps... he could Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps all day? That wouldn't help here. Instead, he reentered her world, power cord held out in front of him like a knight in shining armor holds the shield, to stall the stares of the Gorgon, lest they be frozen in their tracks.

Someone had warned him about stares, obviously. He was not worried. He was only prepared.

Shin kneeled down by the electrical socket, plugging the cord in. He popped the other end into his laptop, and smiled innocently at her. One could almost see the angelic halo floating over his head! Man, he had to get on that, seriously. It'd probably be the cutest thing.

"Hey," Shin said simply. "How far are you?"

Needless to say, by the end of that first half-hour, Kealey was feeling several different things. First. She was mildly confused, but for some reason she had a feeling that was all part of the grand design. At least as far as the comic was concerned.

Second, she was tickled pink. Some of these jokes were simply so hilarious. A few times she’d startled herself by laughing out loud in an otherwise quiet room. It was a bit shocking.

Third, she had this inexplicable desire…no it was almost a need to continue. She had to find out what was going to happen next. What character would pester John next? What crazy antics would they be up to in their own home? Would they ever actually sit down and play the game they all seemed so interested in?

It boggled the mind. Seriously.

In the world of addiction to Webcomics, a half-hour is merely a drop in the bucket that would no doubt be embarrassing later on. Kealey barely noticed that Shin was gone….which was saying something. Kealey always knew when Shin was gone.

The artwork had grown on the blond, and as she sat, twirling curls around her finger, she realized how complex some of the frames really were. This author was obviously some sort of diabolical genius.

Ah ha! she thought as the loading screen appeared to block the green slime ghost on John’s computer screen.

Then Shin spoke.

Kealey looked up, obviously startled that he’d appeared out of nowhere. She smiled at him, and recognized the new feeling that was at least coming from her.

Camaraderie

”John just installed the beta….and….”

She clicked, she clicked again, one more time and she sat back with a silly grin on her face.

”I….just met Rose.”

Good Kealey, best girlfriend.

She seemed to like it. That pleased him.

"That sure is one flighty broad, huh?" Shin plopped down on her bed and opened his textbook. It was time for some studying (argh). He grinned to himself as he tried focusing on the book, but there was something about this 'camaraderie'. What was it about this disease called... friendship? It made him want to join her in reading the web comic. There was also the fact that Kealey reading web comics was adorable on so many levels. Then again, what wasn't with Kealey? Why, he supposed she could feed a whale to a giant beast of the deep whose scream could permeate the minds of the living, wiping out all surface-dwellers in a single moment... and it would still be cute.

He turned a page, staring sternly at the writing upon it. What was he studying again? Oh right, history. Joy.

Shin smirked to himself as he read, surreptitiously sneaking glances at his webcomic-reading cute girlfriend.

D'awww.

Kealey laughed at Shin’s description of Rose, and dove back into the reading as Shin got to work studying whatever it was he’d brought with him to study. She could see him in the mild reflection from the screen of his laptop and she smiled to herself. Boy he was cute when he was all serious and studying like that.

She cleared her throat and focused on the comic in front of her. It really was easy to see how Shin had gotten so enthralled…so many strange things were happening, and they were happening so often. That little arrow beckoned her to click it each and every time. Kealey told herself she’d stop after 'one more' several different times, then gave up all together and kept reading.

Who knows how long it had been.

But Kealey finished Act One.

She sat back and rubbed her eyes.

”I can’t believe it…that was a huge asteroid. The apple… geez…” she took a deep breath and let it out, then leaned her head backwards so she was looking at Shin upside down.

”Is the whole thing like this? I can understand why I’ve seen so little of you. It‘s like…I have to keep going.”

She took another deep breath and let it out, still looking at Shin upside down.

”How’s the studying?”

"Fantastic," Shin replied wryly, closing the book. Yeah. He couldn't concentrate at all now. She was being cute again. Shin set the book aside, and pushed off the bed, bridging the gap between the two of them to plop down behind her, on the other side of the chair. He grinned up at her upside-down face for a second. Then, Shin leaned forward to plant a kiss on her forehead. "I thought you'd like it." He said softly.

He'd hoped. He'd gotten his wish.

"I need someone to talk about this thing with. Think you can catch up with me? Gotta warn you. It's easier getting caught up than you'd think."

”Fantastic”

Kealey’s upside-down head tilted to one side as Shin pointed out just how well his studying was going. The blond felt momentarily bad for distracting him, but didn’t really make much of it. Shin was a big boy, if he needed to study, he’d let her know that she needed to leave him alone.

Apparently he didn’t need to study at the moment, because he got up from the bed and came to sit behind her chair. Kealey grinned, watching him upside-down. The upside-down world was interesting. Shin kissed her forehead and Kealey grinned some more. Apparently web-comic binges induced huge amounts of grinning.

Shin said he was glad she liked it and the only word Kealey could come up with was understatement.

He wanted someone to talk to about the web comic, and Kealey grinned some more, turning herself upright and swinging the chair around to face him.

”At the rate I’m apparently going to read this thing…I shouldn’t have any trouble catching up.”

She glanced over her shoulder at the laptop, ”Speaking of which….”

>>”Speaking of which….”

"You can borrow it," Shin read her mind. He didn't have to outline any rules for her. She knew the drill. He trusted she wouldn't break it, or download anything that'd ruin his computer. He didn't have anything to hide, either. Although... Shin suddenly remembered something. He got to his feet, and stepped around her to mess with the laptop mouse. "Remember that trip to the New York Aquarium?" He asked.

The window shrunk as it was minimized. Shin brought them to the desktop background. It was a picture of Shin and Kealey at the aquarium, posing for the camera. Shin had one arm wrapped around her shoulders. The other was thrust forward in a 'V'. They were both smiling. It was a good picture.

"Background," He smiled. "If you find anything cool, you can change it, but... I doubt there's anything out there cooler than this."

Kealey grinned when Shin answered her unasked question. She knew she needed to get a laptop of her own, and she definitely had the money to swing it…but that was a lot of effort. Not nearly as fun as shopping for clothes. Besides…when it was really necessary, Shin was super nice about letting her borrow his. Why have two…but if there were more web comics like this one…maybe it was something to start considering.

Shin said he had something to show her, and Kealey wondered what could possibly be more important than her catching up on the comic. He messed with the mouse, and asked if she remembered their trip to the Aquarium.

”Uh huh!” she said with a grin. It had been a lovely day in the city, and the fish had seemed particularly colorful.

Shin minimized all the windows, and Kealey grinned at herself as she smiled from the desktop wallpaper. It was nice. She was epic enough to be on the background of Shin’s computer. That was saying something.

”I think I’d have a hard time finding anything….” she said, then reached out, maximizing the window.

”But if I’m going to catch up….” she said, fingers itching to click the next button.

”I have to find out what that apple did….”

Shin couldn't help but smirk. Ah, the addiction was progressing nicely. "By all means," He said, gesturing for her to retake the computer as he backed away. She couldn't well catch up if he were blocking the screen, now could she?

Shin slipped back to the bed, grabbing his text book and kicking his shoes off along the way. He curled up atop it, amid the plushies and the pillows, and cracked the book. His eyes fell to the page. He focused on studying, and left her to the comic.

Later, there would be much talk, much sharing of epic fan art, amazing music, and possibly clothes. For now, she had to catch up to him. Kealey was in for a roller coaster ride.

Fade to CLICK. CLICK.