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?"
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?"
"... 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.
"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."
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?"
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?"
"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.
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."
Still uncertain but willing to go along with it since this boy wasn't scary like the other one, Topher nodded. "You can see the pixels if you look close," he said quietly. "At home we got a TV but the pixels are all big and clunky and you can see 'em even from the couch. 's cleaner here."
Then he remembered that other kids didn't like to hear about science, so he bit his lip. "I mean, um. There's cartoons. On the other channel. If you want."
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?"
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."
Toby had woken up hungry, which wasn't new. So, naturally, he'd followed the voices (not the out-loud voices, the other kind) that were talking about food to the big room. There were lots of people, but that was okay. He could handle that for a little while, as long as he could get some cereal.
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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?"
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"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?"
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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.
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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?"
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"Hi," he tried, his voice coming out very, very small. "I'm Topher. Um. Did you wanna watch the TV?"
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"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.
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"Looking at the TV," he whispered. "You can change it if you want."
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"Is it any good?"
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Then he remembered that other kids didn't like to hear about science, so he bit his lip. "I mean, um. There's cartoons. On the other channel. If you want."
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"Hiiiiiii," she said shyly. "Is there any cereal here?"
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"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."
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"'lo?" he said tentatively.
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"Hi," he offered in a small voice. This kid looked shy like him so he probably wasn't a bully, but he couldn't be sure. "Did you want the TV?"
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Nerd.
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