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

"Still gross!" he informed her, but the bike shorts kept him from flailing too much.

With that, he set off after her, and if there were tiny whimpery noises at the surprising amount of energy this involved, well... your face.

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To make up for the meanness a bit, Ace offered him a hand once she'd reached the top. "Long as you don't mind the cooties..."

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"I just climbed your rope," he pointed out in a grumble, taking her hand. And everyone knew cooties could live on rope. So there.

After straightening up and dusting off his clothes to his satisfaction -- it would be a tragedy if this sweater vest got tarnished, you know -- he peered down at the nice spacious area they had for explosive-throwing. Not bad.

And then he got right to the important part.

"Can I throw it?"

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Down came the bag and out came the booty again. "You can throw the first one." Please, like she hadn't brought more than one can.

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Well, now she was totally forgiven for the teasing. Totally.

Topher took a moment to assess the options, then delicately picked one up. "'Kay, so... stay," he instructed. Probably unnecessarily. And with a nice dramatic wind-up of his arm, he tossed it down to the clearing below.

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"So next time," Ace said conversationally, peering over to watch it fall, "You might want to take the cap off."

Since that was what primed the fuse.

KA - BOOM!!!

"......Or I might want to stick it on tighter."

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"...Yeah, that was intentional," he decided. Lying. Totally lying. "'Cause I saw you did it badly."

Riiiight.

"So that was kind of awesome."

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"Not bad. Good aim." By which she meant he successfully got it over edge and didn't blow them both up, which was all she cared about now that the teal deer were out of danger.

"Needs more destruction, though." Anyone who thought that backpack was empty now needed to go back to the dorms and lie down, because they hadn't passed the minimum brain-cell requirements to play with explosive devices.

They could, however, be forgiven for not expecting Ace to pull out a Hola Gato toaster (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_EpTo-u2xlY/T3WxxdzJs2I/AAAAAAAABJI/2Jkv4A_vGSQ/s1600/hello-kitty-toaster.jpg) with no lever and a frayed, plugless power-cord.

She slid another mini-nitro can into one of the toast slots, jerked the lid off and drop-kicked it over the side of the rocks. "BOMBS AWAY!"

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That poor, poor toaster.

Topher totally geeked the hell out at that explosion, flailing a bit. "Okay," he admitted, turning to Ace after the fact. "That was much better."

And louder. Good thing no one lived in these parts, right?

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The bang had been more than enough to ~~send Derek into a frenzy and hide under the bed like a dog in the fourth of July~~ put Derek on edge. He went still, listening for the signs of someone coming for him, trying to catch the scent of gunpowder or wolfsbane.

When the second explosion happened, he went looking for the source: two dumb kids. Two dumb kids who were setting off cherry bombs by his totally legit house.

Ugh.

So, he did the reasonable thing and stood a good distance away, glaring at them until they noticed his presence. His shirtless, shirtless presence.

Look, he was allowed to work out however he wanted in the comfort of his own creeptastic home, okay?

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"That scrapyard's the best." More rummaging in the bag meant it was going to be a tick or two before Ace noticed anybody's shirtless anything. "Want to blow up a wind-up clown doll or a World's Best Step-Great-Granddad mug?"

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"Oh, totally the clown," Topher said without even needing to think about it. "Clowns are creepy."

Know what else was creepy? Lurkers. Lurkers like Derek.

Too bad Topher was too distracted by all the pretty explosives to notice him.

LOOK, SCIENCE WAS AND WOULD ALWAYS BE HIS FIRST LOVE, OKAY? Especially the science of shit that blew up.

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"It's hard to pretend not to be a girl when you say things like that, y'know," Ace ~~who had suddenly gotten older, hotter, and slightly more Asian~~ pointed out, handing him the clown doll. "If I was ever gonna marry anybody..."

The towering, glowering, shirtless bloke whose sudden presence when she turned around made Ace forget for a moment how to form consonants might be a contender. Though only after Thor, because come on.

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"Wait, what?" Clown doll in hand, Topher turned to toss it down to their designated explosion zone, but was interrupted by, yes, the shirtless guy.

The very creepy-looking shirtless guy.

"Uh." That was alarming. "Hello."

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"You're trespassing." Kind of. Just go with it.

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"It's a forest preserve." Oh look, consonants. Also, not so much forest in this part, but just go with it. Teal deer had to be chased away, was the point.

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Maybe Derek kept them as pets! Or for late-night snacks on the full moons. You never knew!

"Hey, if you own this place, you should really do something about all the dirt," Topher supplied. "Also the explosions down there in the clearing. The neighbors have complained."

Topher, one of these days you were going to get eaten. You just were.

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Derek turned the full force of his gaze onto Topher, looking down at him like he was no more than something to be crunched between sharp, pointy teeth. "Its next to my house."

That he was squatting in. For freesies.

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"There's a house out here?" Ace glanced around the wilderness. Which was admittedly a challenge because hello, she wasn't blind, but she did manage. "Who'd you buy it from, Bigfoot?"

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"We don't have a Bigfoot on the island," Topher corrected her. "Just a Thor."

Same diff, really.

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Derek was having none of your sass, guys. None of it. His hands curled into fists, making those muscly arms extra muscly looking. "Leave before I call the police."

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"What, the tiny not-Irish bloke?" This guy was more intimidating than the sheriff. Hell, Topher was.... okay no. Jake, you win that one.

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Hey, hey, Topher was totally intimidating!

...Like, when he'd been evil and had a sonic taser. Now, not so much.

"Or," Topher proposed, "you could leave us to explode more rocks in peace." Wait. "Hang on, do you want to blow up the clown doll? Because I really wanted dibs, but if you're gonna be picky..."

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