Sixth floor kitchen- Wednesday late morning and afternoon

[annieadderall.livejournal.com]

Today seemed to be a busy day for a lot of things, but Annie hoped people would show up for today's cooking extravaganza for tomorrow's Thanksgiving feast. When she wasn't in class, Annie was here, getting things set up or trying something from a recipe book. Cooking was easy, right? You just put stuff together according to directions. Nothing hard about that, and way easier when you weren't four.

Moddable ingredients and utensils and things were available for anyone who wanted to stop by and help!

[So open, and set so no one has to choose between this and reserves or the party. I may or may not be slow, so you'll just have to ping in and talk to each other too. *nods*]

Comments

[dollpocalypse]

Topher blinked. "Are those the only options?"

Oh, Topher.

[glacial_queen]

"What would you say the reason is?" Karla asked, happy to give him plenty of rope to hang himself with.

[dollpocalypse]

"Well," said Topher, totally honestly and without affectation of any kind, "he didn't hit me."

Topher had learned positive and negativereinforcement through angry girls, you see.

[glacial_queen]

"Is that the only way you'll learn?"

THINK CAREFULLY BEFORE ANSWERING, TOPHER!

[dollpocalypse]

"Well, with violent people," Topher pointed out reasonably. "Like En--ygirl in the this school."

NICE SAVE.

[glacial_queen]

Too bad Karla caught what he was about to say. And her hand flashed out before she even thought.

Way to prove his point, Karla.

"Don't you dare," she snarled. "Don't you dare judge him. You haven't the right. He nearly died a few months ago, letting some kid beat him almost to death because he wouldn't raise his hand to the child of friends, so don't you dare pretend to know him and say that."

[dollpocalypse]

"I'm not judging!" Topher blurted out hastily, because he was pretty sure Karla had no problem decapitating him and rolling his head down the stairs to the lobby without a second thought. He held up his hands, clarifying honestly, "Dude! Look! I get it!"

This was true. He completely overidentified. Nerd.

[glacial_queen]

She would have a second thought!

...She's make sure to shield the carpets!

"You get it?" she challenged. "And you expect me to buy that?"

[dollpocalypse]

"Um, chyeah."

He was a genius, Karla. GOD.

[glacial_queen]

"I'm not."

SHE HAD YET TO SEE ANY PROOF OF THIS.

[dollpocalypse]

Topher shrugged. "Sorry," he said, without sounding very sorry at all. "But. You know. I do."

So. There you go.

As far as he was concerned, and he might have consulted his psych textbook on several occasions to verify, it had gone like this: Ender had been deliberately isolated in his childhood. It wasn't unlike Topher's own isolation, if he thought about it, except that his isolation was due to bullies and being crazy smart rather than the deliberate efforts of military personnel in a military school in space. Regardless, alone was alone, and people had to adapt one way or another. Like, say, calculated violence. Or just being completely caustic and obnoxious all the time. One of the two.

[glacial_queen]

Ha! Karla saw your isolated childhood and raised you parental tragedy and a barrel of abandonment issues, so there!

Though it was possible that Karla had erred on the side of caustic and obnoxious with a healthy dose of violence thrown in for good measure.

"Then start proving it," she snapped. "Because so far, it doesn't seem like you understand crap."

[dollpocalypse]

"I understand lots of things," Topher objected sullenly. "Like... physics, and... astrophysics, and... brains..."

Topher, stop. Please. For the love of god. Stop.

[glacial_queen]

See how impressed Karla looked right now, Topher?

"You may understand brains, but you don't understand shit about people."

[dollpocalypse]

"So?" Topher shrugged. "You just said I'm not supposed to try and figure people out."

So nyah.

[glacial_queen]

"No, I said you're not supposed to sneak behind their back and pry into their personal lives," Karla retorted. "That's not figuring people out, that's snooping!"

[dollpocalypse]

"Or," said Topher, holding up one finger, "is it research?"

It was snooping.

[glacial_queen]

Karla wiggled her fingers at him. Spookily. "I'm sorry, was that an invite into your brain I just heard?"

[dollpocalypse]

"No," Topher said adamantly. "But if you were smart enough to hack the IF and find out about his whole Battle School thing, wouldn't you?"

[glacial_queen]

"No," Karla said, shaking her head. "I'd want Ender to trust me enough to tell me that stuff. It means more if he tells me because he wants me to know than because I hack the information."

Which was essentially what she'd done anyway. But that had been an accident!

"Anyone can find out what happened at Battle School with the right tools. But Ender will only tell the people he trusts."

[dollpocalypse]

"I hadn't even met him yet!" Topher blurted out, throwing up his hands.

Topher. Bad idea. Bad idea.

[glacial_queen]

"Peter."

Only one word, but it boded very not-well for Topher's friend.

[dollpocalypse]

Topher flailed. "Nuh-uh!" he exclaimed, too quickly and loudly to be all that convincing.

Look, he was a loyal minion, okay?

[glacial_queen]

Just one who was utter crap at lying.

Karla went over, getting all up in Topher's personal space. She raised her right hand and slid her snake-tooth out from under her ring finger nail. It was wickedly sharp and right at the level of Topher's eyes.

"There is a tiny poison sac at the base of my finger," she informed him, tone pleasant. "It's not quite as potent as it will be after I make my Offering to the Darkness, but still quite strong enough enough that even a scratch will leave you writhing on the floor. More than that will kill you."

In agony, but he probably could guess that much.

"You tell 'whoever' is digging up stuff on Ender--" and yes, she meant Peter, "--to knock it off, hear me? That doesn't need to be shared with every happy asshole in the school. Are we clear?"

[dollpocalypse]

...well, fuck, that was pretty terrifying.

"Um," Topher squeaked, having backed up as much as he could before inevitably colliding with the wall. "Uh. Uh-huh."