fandomhighdorms | Third Floor Common Room, Saturday Morning

Topher was exploring.

Usually he had to be careful. Mom and Dad didn't like it when he went too far or wandered outside. But today Mom and Dad weren't around, and anyway he had all the necessary precautions -- his safety goggles, a pair of gloves, and a magnifying glass -- just like the scientists on TV. So it should be safe to see what was nearby.

Like in this room, the TV was all weird and skinny, not like the TVs at home. He wanted to go behind it to see what wires did what, but Mom had yelled at him last time. So instead he took his magnifying glass and used it to look at the buttons on the remote, but really, really big. It looked cool!

While he played with the remote, he turned on the TV. Cartoons, cartoons, cartoons... ooh, but a special about fireworks was on! That was enough to distract him from the buttons, so he came up closer to sit on the floor and hold up the magnifying glass to the TV instead. It made the fireworks all big and pretty.

It was a good thing there weren't any big kids around, he decided. They would just laugh at him like the kids at home. Better that he had this whole big room and TV all to himself.

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Toby's eyes went wide. "Sounds neat," he said diplomatically. Personally, he kind of found fireworks scary with the big flashiness and the noise and all but... this other kid had been here first.

"Really?" Topher asked, surprised. Where he came from, no one liked science.

Toby wasn't exactly a fan of science. Toby was a fan of not calling too much attention to himself.

"Really," he echoed, trying to sound convincing. He... probably didn't.

"Wow," Topher marveled. "Cool! It's teachin' me all 'bout the mortar and the shell and stuff. You should come watch."

Whatever Toby's response was going to be, it was cut off by the rather loud grumbling of his stomach as he was reminded of his original reason for being here.

"Um," he said, heat rising in his cheeks.

"You hungry?" Topher asked.

Obviously.

"Yeah," Toby nodded. "But I can't reach up where all the cereals are."

Edited 2011-11-12 17:13 (UTC)

"Me neither," Topher told him, trying to puzzle out a solution. "You could climb on a chair?"

"That might work," Toby admitted. Adults didn't usually like him climbing on chairs, but the only adult around seemed to be that blonde lady, and she didn't seem mean, so. He dragged a chair over to the counter and scrambled up, grabbing the first box of cereal he could find.

"Cookie Crisp?" he read carefully. "Whassat?"

"I dunno," Topher said thoughtfully, peering up to see. When he caught sight of the box, his face lit up. "Is it real cookies? For breakfast?"

At home, for breakfast, he got grapefruit.

"Think it might be," Toby decided. "It looks like cookies." Much, much better than the usual boring cereal he got at most homes. "Want some?"

Uh, duh.

"Yeah!" Topher agreed. That was almost as cool as fireworks! He went to the fridge and squinted at the milk options, finally choosing one that said 2%. He wasn't sure what that meant, but there was a little picture and it looked all white instead of the beige soy milk his mom made him drink, so he was curious.

"I found milk," he announced. "It's white."

"That's cause it's regular milk, not soy kind," Toby offered helpfully.

"I've never had the regular kind," Topher said thoughtfully. "Is it good?"

Toby shrugged. "I like it. It's not all watery like that soy stuff," he admitted, glancing around nervously 'cause he wasn't supposed to complain about what he was given.

"Then I'll try," he decided.

As he unscrewed the cap and spilled some all over the floor, he added, "Mom says soy is the best kind. But she also likes grapefruit. Yeeech."

"You gotta put sugar on grapefruit," Toby said helpfully. "But make sure it's not salt." One of the kids at his last home had tried to pull that trick on him. Toby'd dumped the salt bowl over the other kid's head and had gotten in some serious trouble for that.