New Kids On The Block A3, Friday Morning

[dollpocalypse]

Topher was pretty sure that he was right on the verge of breaking into the files Peter had wanted. He'd spent most of the past week working on it, not to mention today's computer class, and while the files were pretty tough to crack, he knew he'd get it eventually. Come on. He was a genius. Just a few clicks... and... bingo. He was in.

Just what he

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[lockestheway]

"Ah, Topher," Peter said, grinning like the proverbial Cheshire cat upon entry. "I heard you had news for me."

[dollpocalypse]

Oh, if anyone was grinning smugly, it was Topher -- he had this irritating habit of being utterly obnoxious when he was proud of himself, and this was one such moment.

"Got your info," he said smugly. "Then I got locked out of the system, but: A. Wiggin. Command School. Further education." He nodded decisively. "That's what I got."

[lockestheway]

Yessss.

That was it. The last piece of the puzzle. It was enough to inspire Peter to an attempt at a congratulatory pat of Topher's shoulder. "Not bad, not bad," he said, "Oh, I knew it."

Ender. Command school. At his age-- that meant he was at the very least part of the assault on the Formics. He could use that. Oh, yes.

[dollpocalypse]

"Yup," Topher gloated. "It was really hard, too, but -- I managed." He shrugged like it was no big deal.

Oh, he was so very obnoxious.

[lockestheway]

Whatever. As long as he was doing Peter's bidding and didn't try to do something silly like give him advice or something, this was fine.

Peter was going to be in an excellent mood all day; the only thing that kept him a little down to Earth was knowing he couldn't go bragging about this to anyone. "You did manage," he said, jovially. "More people should have that kind of can-do attitude."

Mind, he was mostly praising himself, there.

[dollpocalypse]

"Right? Right?"

He reached down to close his laptop, satisfied with his computer skills for the day.

"So listen, if you ever need anything else..."

[lockestheway]

Peter looked thoughtful for a minute. He knew an opportunity when he saw one. "Say, Topher," he said, "How about a deal... You keep working for me, and I make sure you have plenty of stuff to test that big brain on. I can even find you some shiny new hardware for your trouble."

[dollpocalypse]

Um, that was only the best deal ever.

"Sure!" he exclaimed, then realized that he sounded a liiiittle too excited. "I mean. Sure. That sounds okay."

[lockestheway]

"Just don't forget to call me boss," Peter joked.

Sort of.

He'd totally enjoy it if Topher called him boss.

Not dirty.

[dollpocalypse]

"Yeah, right," Topher snorted. He wasn't that dedicated a minion.

Usually.

"So... what other stuff do you think you might need me to tackle?"

[lockestheway]

He'd get Topher there yet some day. Peter shrugged casually. "Oh, you know," he said, "Just finding out some stuff I'm curious about from time to time."

[dollpocalypse]

Fair enough. Although it was worth noting that someday he'd be able to talk a high-class institution into putting in a trampoline and a mini-fridge just for him. So don't expect miracles, Peter.

"That's cool," he said, trying to make it look like he wasn't hanging on Peter's every word. "So -- yeah. Let me know."

[lockestheway]

Peter would totally have his own compound one day that Topher was free to get a mini-fridge in. Of course, he was going to have to vacate it because he'd be stupid and invite over a homicidal Belgian super-genius despite literally everyone telling him it was a bad idea, but, well, pfiffle.

"Oh, I will," Peter said, still grinning. "There's a war going on back home, you know? Everyone's just hoarding information that's sometimes better off in public hands."

[dollpocalypse]

Topher nodded. "That makes sense," he agreed, still in the hanging-on-his-every-word mentality. Peter could say that he was secretly an elephant from the moon and he would probably keep nodding.

Not in a crushy way. In a regular, miniony way.

[lockestheway]

Good, because Peter dealt with minions a lot better than he did with crushes, being the charming lad he was.

He was feeling better and better about this camp thing by the day. Also in a non-crushy way. More of a 'this makes world conquering easier' kind of way. "Good to hear you agree," he said, "I'll text you next time I've got something."

He really kind of wanted to run back to his cabin and shout excitedly at Valentine about his new boyfriend totally awesome puppy minion.

[dollpocalypse]

"Awesome," Topher decided. He also wanted to brag about his new boyfriend owner boss, but there was that thing where he didn't have any friends. Always getting in the way of social interaction, that was.

And that was about the time that he ran out of things to say. Being the awkward person that he was, he opened his laptop as though that might end the conversation. He could at least blog about this, right?