The Park, Saturday Afternoon

[dollpocalypse]

Clad in his finest suit, Topher was halfway through a Mountain Dew and trying to decide whether or not he knew the way out of the park when his phone rang.

"Go for Brink." The person on the other end of the line sounded urgent, so Topher took a sip of soda. No, more like a slurp. "No, I'm not at my -- I'm not at my desk, Boyd." He waved a hand,

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[regretiz4suckas]

Heading across the park on her way back to Efferton Manor, Kenzi spotted Topher and made a bee-line toward him.

"You! Jerk-face!" She was laughing, though. "You never call, you never write..."

[dollpocalypse]

"Do people write these days?" Topher wondered, whirling around at once and fixing Kenzi with a smirk. "Do you write? And if so, why?"

[regretiz4suckas]

"Because I'm somewhere I gotta stay radio silent, that's why." Tackle-hug! "Doofus. I didn't even know you were coming, or I'd have offered you a place to stay... and I'm pretty sure that wouldn't have worked out, so just as well."

[dollpocalypse]

"Eh, don't mention it," Topher said, waving a hand. "My hotel room has space on the ceiling. Like, planets."

[regretiz4suckas]

Kenzi snickered and let go, bouncing on her toes. "Of course it does. So, how goes the inventing and destruction... and what is on that hand-held right there?"

[dollpocalypse]

"I neither invent nor destroy," Topher lied loftily. Oh god, it was such a lie. He did both of those things. Holding up his phone, he explained, "This is a feed of my office. As you can see, my assistant is totally lost and confused without my sage guidance."

She was eating chips.

"...Hey, those are my chips."

[regretiz4suckas]

"Ahahahah!" Kenzi was teetering with giggles, and she poked her nose close to the screen. "Nice office! And nice nanny-cam. Mouse-cam? Whatever, why did you let her know where you kept the food?" Heeeee.

[dollpocalypse]

"She buys it and restocks," Topher sighed. "And apparently skims off the top. Evil! Pure evil!"

He thought about texting Ivy to announce his displeasure, but then what if she stopped doing things that he could call her out on? It was quite a pickle.

"'Sup with you, anyway?" he asked, frowning once more at the screen before turning off the display and glancing at Kenzi.

[regretiz4suckas]

"Been a while since we've been in person, hasn't it?" Kenzi was mostly amused by that, so the poking in the arm was just reflex. "Look, 3D! With tactile sensors!" Heh. "Let's seeeee, um, hey, had we gotten official foster parent status the last time I talked to you?"

[dollpocalypse]

Topher cocked his head. "Um, who is 'we'? And of whom? And... no."

He clapped his hands once. "Tell me the story. With as many details as possible. Let's go."

He just didn't want to catch her up on his own stuff, see. Sneaky.

[regretiz4suckas]

"You never read your mail at all, do you?" No, of course not. "Hmm, me and Bo and Toby. We took over Efferton Manor, a while ago, got it rebuilt. That old wreck near the Rocky Bits?" Kenzi was looking very pleased with herself. "And aside from mine and Toby's two, we've got four fosters right now. Human and fae and mutant."

[dollpocalypse]

"So... you babysit?"

He made a face. "You must get a lot of business during the weird weekends."

[regretiz4suckas]

Oh, Topher. Heh. Then again, this was Kenzi, so, fair point.

"Foster means they stay for a good long while." Kenzi grinned at him. "I feed them sugar and make sure they know they're safe, Bo and Toby do the rules thing. And oh God, don't even talk to me about weird weekends. Have you ever tried to herd flying ponies?"

Yeah, that one had been... special.

[dollpocalypse]

"Uh, I one time was a pony and tried to figure out how to fly," Topher offered.

Not the same thing. Nope.

[regretiz4suckas]

"Adorable horribleness. Yeah, so anyway, family life: good. Professional life: awesome." Heh. "And how 'bout you? Boyfriend? Girlfriend? Assistant I saw, along with what looked like an electronic dartboard... seriously?"

[dollpocalypse]

"Girlfriend, check," Topher reported, grinning dorkily all of a sudden. "She's like nine-tenths as smart as me and her hair smells really good, so I think this one's gonna stick."