Lousy Play

“Wow! You can travel to other universes effortlessly? That’s so cool!” Penny wanted to learn more about Repy.

After a while, she noticed his body language and realised she was probably being creepy.

“Uh, so, anyway, I’m gonna get another cup of coffee so I’ll be right
ba-” she started to say in an attempt to change the subject but didn’t
notice she was walking right into the coffee she spilt and slipped on
the spill.

She landed on the floor on her back. She didn’t know which pain felt
worse, physical or emotional. How could she forget about the spilt
coffee right as she said she was going to get another one?

The Repairman realized there wasn’t much of her that screamed “mad scientist,” but then, a lot of Toons were subversive these days. Her expression was looking pretty close to that a crazed doctor might have…

“I-it is?” he stammered. He never really thought about it, but he guessed it was novel for many.

He sighed in relief as she seemed to calm down a bit. Of course, this relief was short-lived, as he saw Penny slip and fall. He winced a bit.

“You okay?” he asked, rushing over to her prone body. He seemed to forget all about his minor neuroses as he rushed to lift the kid up.

Maybe he remembered that a lot of eccentric scientists weren’t evil. Maybe he recalled that this was just a child. In any case, he noticed her mortified expression. He smiled sympathetically.

“…Happens to the best of us,” he softly said, recalling incidents with oil slicks, banana peels, soap bars, and more. It was embarrassing the first few times for him, too.