A Mixed Message

In Les Deux Magots, Sweezus and Splosh wait for the shoppers to come back.

Sweezus: Yeah, and turns out a cube is identical to a sphere.

Splosh: Not where I come from.

Sweezus: Me either, but that's topology, according to Sartre.

Splosh: Why's he interested in topology?

Sweezus: Progress. Why are you interested in oystercatchers?

Splosh: I'm not, really.

Sweezus: Just your career?

Splosh: Ultimately.

Sweezus: Same with me. That's why I'm up for one last chance with Sartre.

Splosh: How's that work?

Sweezus: Yeah well, the reason my article got rejected was ....

Splosh: .....gossip. I know.

Sweezus: Not only that, there was a crucial element missing.

Splosh: Topology. You didn't explain it.

Sweezus: No. A bicycle. Any bicycle.

Splosh: Huh?

Sweezus is about to explain that every article in Velosophy must at least mention a bicycle, and that his didn't, when the shoppers arrive.

Baldy (running in first): Look at my new pants!

Splosh: Have you been crying?

Baldy: Yes, I had to.

Terence (arriving next): He's crying because he's too hot.

Baldy: No I wasn't.

Sweezus: Good pants. What are they? Oystercatchers?

Baldy: PANDAS!

Splosh: At least they match your new feathers.

Gaius: Yes. He looks the part now. Quite the activist.

Belle: He looks like a mixed message. But never mind. At least he's happy.

Gaius: Arthur managed to do some sort of deal. He got the panda long johns for nothing. And Terence talked me into a bargain.

Terence: Look! Hawaii shorts!

Sweezus: What deal?

Arthur: Pants for a poem.

Sweezus: I bet you just dashed it off.

Arthur: Yes, I did. So... what are we doing?

Belle: We're off to Saint Malo on the very fast train.

Gaius: The TGV? Won't that be more expensive?

Arthur: Not necessarily.

Gaius: Are you coming?

Arthur: I might. Sweezus needs time with Sartre. They're re-doing the topology interview on bicycles.

Belle: Is that papa's idea? How ridiculous. Couldn't you just have added a bicycle to what you'd written already?

Sweezus: Not really. It was all about cubes and prunes.

Belle: I bet Arthur could've. You should've asked him.

Sweezus looks crestfallen.

She wishes she hadn't said it.