Third Floor Common Room, Saturday Morning

[dollpocalypse]

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. 

Comments

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

Sadly enough, he wouldn't have the whole big room to himself for very long.

She'd been on her morning jog, but Quinn wasn't quite awake yet. She had the coffee pot halfway full of water before she really looked at the guy on the couch and realized he was just a little kid.

She'd have to check with Puck and see if Beth had turned up again yet.

"Great," she said. "One of those weekends. Whose kid are you?"

[dollpocalypse]

Topher's eyes widened behind the goggles. He hadn't expected grown-ups! What if she told Mom and Dad that he'd went exploring?

"Um," he said, dropping the magnifying glass down away from the TV. "Um. I'm. Um. My daddy's Zachary Brink but please don't tell him I'm here 'kay 'cause I'm not supposed to be out 'cause of that thing in school with the glitter okay?"

[lockestheway]

Peter had woken up in a room a lot bigger than he was used to, all by himself, which he liked fine-- except he couldn't tell where Ender or Valentine were.

And he was bored.

And getting steadily more annoyed because of it. So of course he went walkabout, sticking his head into the common room. "And who are you?"

[dollpocalypse]

Topher stared. A lot. Big kids were scary and this kid was bigger than him and and he sounded annoyed and Topher didn't know what he'd done wrong except wear goggles but that was for safety and it was good to be safe, right?

"Hi," he tried, his voice coming out very, very small. "I'm Topher. Um. Did you wanna watch the TV?"

[lockestheway]

"What are you watching?" Peter asked. He didn't exactly sound friendly, but he was stalking towards Topher on the couch.

[dollpocalypse]

Still terrified. Still very terrified.

"It's about fireworks?" Topher managed, his nervousness making it sound like a question. "I can change it. There's cartoons on the other channels. You can have the remote?"

He gripped his magnifying glass protectively, not wanting to give that up. Not that it really mattered. Bullies always took his stuff.

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

"... what thing in school with the glitter?" Quinn asked, since that was the most obvious question.

As for the rest of it, she was pretty sure this was Topher given the boy's dad's name, but that meant the whole thing had skipped her. Which was too bad. She'd liked being seven. "And I don't even know your dad, so I won't tell him," she added. "Probably."

She could only be so mean to a little kid, even if the kid would grow up and turn into the most annoying human being on the planet.

[dollpocalypse]

"I wanted to see if it floated if you put it in glue," Topher explained, now sounding almost earnest because it had been a good experiment even if it got him into trouble. Maybe she was a sciencey grown-up and she would understand! "But I couldn't see in the glue jar so I had to pour it out and it got in Lin's hair and my teacher and my daddy got all mad at me."

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

"What are you doing?" Tony did not approve of this totally not professional science tomfoolery. He knew science, darn it. He had a job and everything.

[lockestheway]

Oh, poor Topher. If he hadn't clutched his magnifying glass like that, Peter might not even have paid attention to it. But now it was something he could use to get some power over this kid.

"Nah," he said, "I'd like something else much better. What you got there, kid?"

[dollpocalypse]

Topher drew in a little closer on himself, wary. This kid didn't sound like a bully but bullies never sounded like bullies until they took his stuff and cut his hair and made fun of him for playing with wires in class.

"Looking at the TV," he whispered. "You can change it if you want."

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

"Hi, I'm Quinn," Quinn informed Young Mr. Attitude. "And who are you?"

Why was she talking to the midgets? Apparently she had some kind of bizarre yen to babysit.

[dollpocalypse]

"Magnifying glass," Topher whispered, holding it close to his chest. "My mommy got it for me. Was a present."

Oh no oh no oh no this guy was gonna take it and then he wouldn't have it and it would be gone and he couldn't be a scientist without it and nothing would ever be good ever again...

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

"Is everybody a midget today but me?" Quinn wondered aloud. "Also, hi. Do you need breakfast or anything?"

[whitequeensfire.livejournal.com]

Angelica was hungry, but peeking around the fourth floor common room hadn't turned up anything to eat, so she trudged down the stairs to the third floor.

"Hiiiiiii," she said shyly. "Is there any cereal here?"

[dollpocalypse]

Oh, no, a girl. Girls were always the meanest to him 'cause they chased him around and made him run even though he had asthma and then when they caught him they wanted to kiss him and it was scary and he didn't like it.

"Um," Topher said in a tiny voice, already wondering if he should start running now. "Um. I don't know. Um. You can have it. If there is."

[lockestheway]

Oh, Topher. You just made Peter want it more and more.

"Let me have a look at it," he ordered. Didn't ask. Ordered. "Four-eyes."

[lockestheway]

Peter - messy dark hair and Alexander the Great-like-face and all - promptly offered Quinn his best 'you're an adult and I'm a well-behaved boy' smile. "I'm Peter," he chirped. "Hi."

[whitequeensfire.livejournal.com]

"Why do you have gloves on?" Angelica had to know. "You don't need them inside, silly."

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

It took sincere effort for Quinn (who was not at all sciencey) not to laugh at that.

"Yeah," she drawled in the end. "Girls ... usually don't like glue in their hair. I see why your dad got mad. But I don't think he's here." A beat. "Your name is Topher, right? I'm Quinn."

Maybe he'd even remember that this time.

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

Tony frowned again at the magnifying glass, but nodded slowly. His judgement, feel it, Topher.

"Is it any good?"

[dollpocalypse]

His mom had gotten his name engraved on the handle. It was supposed to be his. But this boy was scary and he had to do what he said so he wouldn't get hit.

Trembling, Topher held out his magnifying glass in a shaking hand toward the other boy, and drew in even further on himself.

[dollpocalypse]

"They're for safety," Topher whispered. "Please don't take them away."

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

Free food? Hell yeah!

"I'm normal sized!" Tony said, twisting in place to make sure of that. Yup, normal sized. "Are you a new secretary?"

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

It was an epidemic.

"Hey, Peter," Quinn said, reasonably charmed by the smile. She liked well-behaved kids and wasn't inclined to look too far below the surface of this one. "Do you need somebody to get breakfast for you, or are you covered?"