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but the sun comes up and the world still spins
hey how's the study group doing
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By the third day of Schlatt actually showing up for study group meetings and Wilbur still missing, Toby's willing to admit that he may have made a slight miscalculation.

In his defense, he's pretty sure this was not exactly according to plan. Alex was supposed to be the one in charge, and Wilbur might not have been happy but he would be alive, probably even more alive.

And, hey, maybe it'll still go great. Who knows. Not that he likes doing Schlatt's homework, but there are worse ways to spend your time, if it means Alex can fix things up with Tampa. He's been optimistic, recently, voice all smiles, and it's almost not incredibly obvious overcompensation for the way Niki and Tommy glare at him.

(Toby's not even good at Schlatt's homework. But Niki refuses and Tommy refuses and Schlatt refuses and Wilbur's--gone--so it's all on him and Alex. Granted, Tommy ends up taking on more of Toby's homework, to compensate, but it's the principle of the thing.)

He's got a project, at least. Easier to focus on that. Hand-thrown explosives with targeting--the targeting's the hard part, really, making sure the explosion centers on mals and not the floor of the school, because if he blows a hole to the void they'll all be screwed. He's thinking he might try his hand at some alchemy, instead, fill it with some sort of goo or ooze, focus the explosion on getting it everywhere rather than doing structural damage.

 

...Tommy's smiling today. That's new. (Maybe Wilbur's alive, or Tommy thinks he is, even more than he always does.) Maybe they can have a conversation today, at least. He tries to sound confident and probably misses the mark a little. "Hey, Tommy."

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Tommy jumps half out of his skin and ends up almost falling over. "Fu-uckin' hell, Toby, you scared the shit out of me."

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"I've been here the whole time. Not my fault you didn't notice."

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"It totally is, you fuckin', you crept up on me, like a little spider, except worse because my spiders do not creep up on me they merely skitter with their fuckin', legs and shit. You only have two legs, my spiders have so many more legs than that, if there was a legs contest you would lose. It would not even be close."

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"Why would I want to win a legs contest."

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"I dunno, mate, maybe then you would go faster. Or fuckin' fly or some shit. Lots of bugs can fly, right?"

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"Birds can fly and they don't have legs."

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"Toby. Toby. Please tell me what you think a bird looks like."

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"Wh-- wings, wings, I meant wings, oh my God. I know birds have feet."

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"Birds also have wings. I am--I am growing increasingly concerned that you have never seen a bird before."

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"No, no, like, they've got wings instead of their legs, except not their legs, their arms. They have wings instead of their arms. Oh my God, I'm an idiot."

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"Anyway I'm pretty sure millipedes have the most legs and they don't go that fast. I think I could outrun a millipede."

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"What the fuck, Toby."

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"What? I could!"

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"I do not--I do not doubt your abilities to outrun a millipede."

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"Good."

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"...Wilbur came by this morning."

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"What, really?"

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"Yeah. He was being all--fuckin' weird and shit, made me prove I still liked him."

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"Makes sense." Wait, shit, it's Tommy, that's the wrong thing to say. "You do, though, right? So it'll be fine."

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"Course I do, it's Wil. He's like my brother."

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"Like I said. You'll be fine."

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“I guess.”

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“The fuck’s happening here, what are you two fucking talking about. It had better be my homework.”

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Oh God Schlatt’s here. “You haven’t given me your homework for today yet, sir.”

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“Smart kid.” Papers. “I had better not hear you fucking talking.”

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“Yes sir.”

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Tommy waits until Schlatt’s distracted with leering at Alex.

“…You shouldn’t let him walk all over you like that.”

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“Alex almost has a trade agreement finalized with Tampa again. Nick and… I dunno, someone else, I forget his name. Chris or Carl or something.”

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“That doesn’t make how he treats you okay. How he treats any of us. You don’t have to fucking— do his homework, call him sir, I mean, really.”

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“I think I picked that up from Alex, actually.”

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“You— that’s— anyway, that’s not my point.”

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Shrug. “He’s a dick. I’ll live. Or I won’t, I guess.”

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“Not fucking funny, man.”

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“Sorry.” Shrug. “Just bothers me less, I guess. Want me to work some on the mana storage for Wilbur?”

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“Now that’s the Toby I know.” He grabs some of the homework in front of Toby and replaces it with a crystal. “I gave what we had to him, actually, but I figure he’ll probably run out soon, we can sort of rotate. Make sure all the crystals stay usable.”

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“Hey, what did I just say about doing my homework and not whining to your friends like a fuckin’ toddler?”

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“…Sorry, sir.”

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“This sucks.”

He doesn’t stop working on Toby’s homework, though.

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It takes three weeks to get the explosives working. Three weeks of Wilbur not showing up to meetings while Tommy shows up more and more tired, of Schlatt and Niki getting into screaming fights, of coordinating with Alex to make sure everyone's homework gets done. It's... a lot.

The explosives work well, though, if he does say so himself. Very flashy. Heavy on the pyrotechnics. Most importantly, he can produce loads of them, can batch them and give the extra away in exchange for good will. He hides a bunch in his room to give to Tommy and Wilbur later and distributes the rest evenly enough among the group, himself and Tommy and Alex and Schlatt and Niki and Jack. It feels good. A bit safer.

And he wakes up early the next morning to deliver the extras to Tommy and Wilbur. Well, mostly to Tommy, but Wilbur might be at his room anyway.

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Wilbur isn't there. "Toby, my man! I wasn't expecting you."

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"No Wilbur today?"

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"Nah. He's been all... mopey and weird recently. What about you, why are you here."

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Toby slings his backpack off one shoulder. "Brought you extra supplies, bossman."

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Dramatic gasp. "No! Wait, really?"

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"Saved 'em for you. Some for Wilbur, too, just let him know to stop by my room sometime. Just-- do try not to brag about it to everyone? Schlatt'll be pissed you got more than him."

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Tommy's uncharacteristically quiet for a moment. "...You didn't have to, you know that right?"

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"Yeah, I know. But I wanted to."

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"Well that's alright then. Just another scam, hm? Another grift?"

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"Is this a scam? Have I been scammed? Oh God, I've been scammed, haven't I."

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"Hey, what can I say. No one is immune to my schemes."

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"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

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"Hey! What are you implying, hmmmm?" Tommy throws a pillow at Toby. "I trained under the best. It's like in a fuckin' sports movie, Terrence and Wilbur mentored me in their ways and now I am better than them."

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"All I'm saying is that it's very convenient how Terrence isn't here to hear you say that."

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"Wow, Toby, rude. From my own best friend! After I just scammed you!"

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"You say that as though having scammed me is the sort of thing that would make me be on your side."

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"I mean, obviously."

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"Oh my God, you are actually so annoying." Pillow: gets thrown back at Tommy.

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"Only at first!"