if i think i can figure things out, is that curiosity or arrogance?

Billy thought of where he and Topher usually ended up after drinking, and couldn't help but smile a little. "Sometimes it's not such a bad thing to have your inhibitons lowered," he said. "As long as something good comes out of it."

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"Like penguins," Topher agreed. Then he caught Billy's eye, flushed slightly, and added, "And stuff."

Cuddles: always a good thing.

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endsthegame

"Never been my thing. Sorry, lads." Ender sounded very much amused. "But if it works from you, far be it from me to condemn anything good."

Looking at Billy and Topher, oh yeah.

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Ben's hand had snuck under the table to rest on Ender's knee. "And getting Tony to buy things is always kind of hilarious," he added with a smile.

He was a Jedi: disposable income wasn't really a thing for them.

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Billy could see the way Ender was looking at him, and he was trying not to look at Topher and make things worse. "Yeah, I felt bad at first, but I think Tony likes spending money on insane things, so it's like we're supporting him."

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"Yeah," Topher chimed in. "Helping him out. Like friends do." He gave a little nod of certainty at that.

Him and Billy? Help Tony? Well, there was a shock.

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endsthegame

The hand on his knee made that Ender turned his head briefly to flash Ben a slight smile. "Somehow I don't think a bar and a penguin sanctuary are going to help Tony all that much," he said. "But who knows. Maybe I missed something."

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"Diversifying his portfolio?" Ben tried with a laugh. "His money isn't all tied up in tech stuff this way."

Until the penguins wore jetpacks, anyway.

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"And he needs to spend more time out of the lab. Being there all the time can't be healthy, even if he is making cool things," Billy insisted.

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"He's bad at knowing when to come out and, like, sleep," Topher pointed out. "Drinking helps."

The logical stylings of Christopher Brink, gentlemen.

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endsthegame

"I don't think drinking helps him to sleep," Ender said, after a beat. "And if he did get that dependent on it, it wouldn't be a good thing."

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Ben gave Ender a little grin. "Like any of us are going to let Tony get that bad."

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"Friends save you from yourself," Billy said with a nod. "That's what we're here for."

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"Also," Topher chimed in, "from giant virus monsters." A beat. "Well, that was mostly you guys," he amended, glancing from Ben to Billy.

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endsthegame

"Funny," Ender said, "I always thought Ben's strategy was just 'launch himself at the thing with the teeth and if he winds up saving someone, well, that's just the gravy'."

Straight-faced, yes.

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Ben kicked him. "Hey!"

Pause.

"Okay, accurate, but still."

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Billy probably should have kept his mouth shut, but he couldn't help it. "Ugh, you two are adorable," he teased.

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Topher grinned. "You should've seen them that day in Tony's lab," he commented dryly.

The dirty jokes had buuuurned.

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endsthegame

Sigh.

"You two also seem to get along well," Ender said.

It was a little dry, if you listened for it.

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"Yes, let's talk about you instead," Ben added, blushing slightly.

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Billy couldn't bring himself to look at Topher, and tried to give Ben a confused look instead. It might not have been very convincing. "There's nothing going on between us," he said. "If Peter or Warren said otherwise, they were totally lying." Because that was clearly the only way they could be misinformed.

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Topher looked appalled. Yeah, now he got why talking about relationships with other people was bad.

"Wh-- Peter -- Warren -- what?"

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endsthegame

"...No, they didn't say anything to me," Ender said, keeping his voice calm. "I just know you two are close."

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