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First Floor Rec Room, Monday Late Afternoon

Topher did not have a clue why anyone might not enjoy video games. In fact, with the exception of a brief window during which the frat meeting had taken place here (which had consisted of playing more video games), he had been playing one in the rec room all day. Loudly.

Compared to his usual shoot-at-zombies game, this one was actually a bit more complex. He had to strategize. And hide from things. And... shoot at stuff. But only on occasion!

He was really good at it, too. The only thing that might present more of a challenge would be if he had someone else to play against.

"Yesssssss!" he yelled after a victorious shoot-out against the game-generated opposing side. Then -- "Wha? No! Don't go over there! No no no no no no no!"

[[Expecting one opponent, but open for all!]]

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Ender had been heading indoors after spending the day at work, but the noise coming from the rec room made him pause. Topher. Peter's friend.

He couldn't help but be amused that Peter was associating with people this into video games.

After a moment's deliberation, he stuck his head in. "Having some trouble?"

Topher was in the middle of flailing heavily and using one flaily hand to try and shoot at the opposing guys, which was just not working at all. Waste of fire, Topher.

"Yes," he moaned miserably. "This game is -- gaaaaah."

"Hard?" Ender guessed. He took a step into the rec room, deciding that spending some more time with the people his brother hung around with might be a good idea. "Both hands on the controller might help."

"I know that," Topher grumbled. Didn't mean he employed that strategy on a regular basis, but hey. Sighing dramatically, he made a big show of holding the controller in both hands and firing at the screen.

It didn't help.

"It might also help," Ender ventured, as he walked around the couch, "If you took advantage of the 'take cover' command the hint box keeps yelling about."

Topher scoffed. "Like that'll do any good."

It would probably do a lot of good. Meanwhile he kept firing and his little guy on the screen got shot in the arm.

"Damnit!"

And on that note, Ender sat down. He was getting the feeling most of Topher's social interaction went on over video games. "You're never going to win this way," he said, conversationally. "They've got overwhelming numbers."

Topher had yet to notice that Ender had been moving around in the room. The range of his focusing abilities was fairly limited.

"What, like you could do better?" he scoffed.

BAD. BAD TOPHER.

"I'm just saying you could be a little smarter about it," said Ender.

Who wasn't at all trying to see if Topher got chatty if he went multiplayer.

"Hey. Hey. This is already level twenty-six here," Topher pointed out. "I think I know what I'm doing."

You know, compared to most people. Compared to Ender, not so much.

"But if you think you could do better, I can put it on multi..."

Said in the tone of someone who was fully prepared to kick his opponent's ass.

"I've never really played this before," Ender said easily, "But I wouldn't mind giving it a shot, if you'll teach me the controls."

Oh, Topher.

So not only did he have bad advice, but he was also an amateur. Sigh. Topher had this thing in the bag.

"Sure," he said like this was some big chore, pausing it. Then he gave Ender a run-through of the controls. "This one is running, this is jumping, this'll fire standards bullets and this fires better stuff but you have less of that to start out with, and this..." He tilted his head. "Actually, not sure what that does. Probably something cool."

He opened the menu and switched it to multi-player, then went to plug in a second controller.

"You ready?"

THIS WAS A MISTAAAAAKE.

Cover. That was the cover button, Topher. Sigh.

Ender took the controller in hand. "Sure," he said. Then added: "You spend a lot of time in here?"

"Yep."

Too much time. Toooooo much.

"Not really a video game person?" he asked sympathetically, paging back through thumbnails of old levels to find a really really hard one he'd beaten a few days ago.

"I used to be," Ender said vaguely, "But not so much these days. I guess I got sick of it."

He adjusted to the grip of the controller in his hands, and ran the gameplay he'd just seen through his head. It was a fairly familiar system - he doubted it'd take him long to figure it out.

It probably wouldn't. While Topher regarded this game as the height of complexity, it was unlikely to pose much of a challenge for someone like Ender.

He found the hard level he'd been looking for, which was set in a complicated network of caves, and said, "Alright, aaaand -- go!"

Topher was just going to go ahead and fire at Ender's guys right off the bat. Priorities.

Right. Multiple attackers, multiple units. It took Ender a second to master the art of taking cover, but not much longer.

He took a few hits, but within another few seconds, Topher's bullets were hitting solid wall. "How long have you been doing this?"

"Buh-- wha-- "

Goddamnit, Ender! Topher was staring in shock.

"Like a long time," he said distractedly, sending his attackers around to try to get a better angle. Which put pretty much all his guys in the range of Ender's fire. Oops?

Reflexes, yes. Strategical insight, not overmuch, Ender judged idly in the back of his head.

Two of Ender's units opened fire on Topher's, while the third went around in the confusion to get a better angle on Topher's only route for escape. "You're a big shooter fan?"

Since he didn't know what the cover button did, Topher was forced to have his guys flatten against the cave walls, as though that would be in any way conducive to not getting shot. He had no clue what Ender's third guy was doing, and since he was preoccupied with answering his question, he didn't even wonder about it.

"Not always," he said, devoting way too much attention to thinking about that. "Sometimes I play, like, fantasy stuff."

Not castles and mirrors and weird world-endy things. Normal fantasy stuff.

Bad spatial perception, too, Ender thought. Topher had distinct trouble overseeing his battlefield.

He clacked his tongue as he kept his unit firing, and watched with satisfaction as his third unit got right into place. "It's a hobby that takes up a lot of your time, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Topher answered, distracting himself even more as he unpinned one of his guys from the wall and sent him returning Ender's fire.

Bad move, Brink. Bad move.

Ender's third guy neatly tapped Topher's unit in the back of the head. Simulated violence - not really Ender's favorite, but it was a good excuse to find out more about Topher.

And that would be Topher blinking at the screen in horror as his guy crumpled.

"Wha -- buh -- where did that come from!?"

"Behind you," Ender said. As one does.

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First Floor Rec Room, Monday Late Afternoon

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