Third Floor Common Room, Saturday Morning

[lockestheway]

Peter prided himself in being able to adapt to any situation in a short span of time. By the end of this week, he was genuinely no longer thrown by their current location. Skeptical of half the stories that had been told him, yes, but a touch of healthy skepticism had never helped anyone.

He'd also noticed the importance everyone here seemed to put on their friendships with one another. Their little common room get-togethers. And, wel, it was obvious he was already a little behind, PR-wise, here. So what else could he do but move his ass to the common room in the morning and set out some cereal? Enough to make it look like a properly catered breakfast.

It took a little planning, sure. But if his brother had managed to make friends here - of course he had - then he'd just have to pretend to be just as loveable as Ender to get ahead.

So, cereal, a stack of plates, bread, stuff like that. And Peter with a bowl of cornflakes, watching the news.

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[dollpocalypse]

"I hear you, man," Topher sympathized immediately. "My parents are all 'Topher, you need to socialize.' Like being a genius who can do anything with computers isn't good enough."

[lockestheway]

Peter nodded. Hey, he was a genius who could do anything with public opinion. He didn't need a career boost. "Right?" he said. "Oh, man. Think of how terrible it would be if they were actually right, and we'd have to rely on the gifts of our parents to get ahead. Please."

This could wind up being a really terrifying partnership for the rest of the planet...

[dollpocalypse]

Topher laughed, visualizing it clearly. As if any of the geniuses he'd ever heard about had known a damn thing about social interaction.

"It'd be the worst," he laughed. "You'd have cheerleaders running everything. Which has its pros, but..."

Clearly this was an alliance in the making. One that the rest of the planet should fear.

[lockestheway]

"We'd all wind up stuck in World War Fifteen the first time one of them went on the rag," Peter said, because he was a classy dude. "Or someone lost a hairclip. No, I don't think I'll be depending on summer camp to get me ahead. I haven't really met anyone who exuded 'president potential' here yet."

[dollpocalypse]

"My roommate might be one of those guys," Topher volunteered, amused. "Except no offense to him and all, but I'm not so sure I'd want him running anything. We'd probably end up with, like, post-apocalyptic Japan."

He gestured toward the window.

Ah, Topher. Little did he know that he'd be the one to cause the apocalypse. Try again.

[lockestheway]

And here was Peter, plotting to make sure the apocalypse didn't happen, and he was actually going to succeed at it too.

Sorry, Topher.

"Humanity likes to try to blow itself up every once in a while," Peter said, following the line of Topher's gesture towards the window with his eyes. "Unless someone has enough guts and brains to actually stop it. Cheerleaders would really be bad for business."

[dollpocalypse]

Huh.

Topher nodded, considering that first part.

"Well, you know," he said thoughtfully. "Cheerleaders in charge might mean the world might actually need blowing up."

He had a very strange sense of retribution.

[lockestheway]

"Cheerleaders in charge might mean I'd have to put a bullet in my head," Peter said, cheerfully. "But thankfully, our parents' generation has no idea how to deal with anything outside the bog-standard paths, or what makes someone rise to the top of their game."

He paused, and eyed Topher. "Got any interesting hobbies?"

[dollpocalypse]

Thankfully, that was true, yes. But for people as manipulative as the two of them, that could only be a good thing.

"Video games," Topher laughed. "Programming." He hesitated, then added, "Looking up brains." As clarification, he said, "I have a thing about brains."

"You?"

[lockestheway]

"Nothing that intricate. Just blogging, keeping up with current events, taking college classes," Peter said, idly, though especially the former two weren't idle subjects at all.

He just wasn't used to dealing with people as smart as he was. Yet.

[dollpocalypse]

Topher nodded. He too was pretty much a stranger to other smart people. It was why private schools had never really worked for him. Kids whose parents had bought their way into school were rarely intelligent enough to impress him.

"'s cool," he said. "And this future career your parents want you to prepare for is...?"

[lockestheway]

"Bank manager or minor league politician," Peter said, shooting him a glance. "What about you? Your parents hoping you'll get squirrelled away as a SysAdmin somewhere?"

[dollpocalypse]

Ugh. Bank managers and politicians. Ew. Not that Topher would mind being a dictator or something, but the ones who had to run for office were not on his list of future careers.

"Hell no," he laughed. "They both say I'm too smart to mess around with computers. They seem to think I'd be a shining star in the auto sales industry." He rolled his eyes in contempt for this horrific idea.

[lockestheway]

Peter burst out laughing. "Oh god, really?" he said. "If you are that smart, that would be a terrible waste of a brain."

Come into Peter's parlour and hack for him, Topher.

[dollpocalypse]

[[watch me forget to switch logins. I fail at LJ forever.]]

"That's what I keep saying!" Topher exclaimed. "They're completely crazy. Parents, man."

[lockestheway]

"Don't even start," Peter said, shaking his head. "Why are they so afraid of you and computers, anyway?"

[dollpocalypse]

"They probably think I'll manage to take over the world from mine," he hypothesized. "I mean, my mom still doesn't even know how to check her email. So, you know." He shrugged.

[lockestheway]

Considering Peter was trying to take over the world from his... "No, really?" he asked, incredulously. "How backwards is she?"

21st century, Peter.

[dollpocalypse]

"I know," he said, rolling his eyes. "She's completely dumb. You can see why auto sales appeals to her. She probably thinks those people are, like, as smart as they come, just 'cause they manage to trick her."