"I will not start a search engine, thank you River," Topher deadpanned. He grinned at her, just happy to see her happy, and not, well, broken. He nodded along to her explanations about the war, hoping with all his heart that this was one place where his world differed from hers. He suppressed a knee-jerk reaction to tell her that she was wrong, that nothing bad could ever happen because he'd fix it, as though all the problems of her world and his were a rubik's cube he could solve with a few minutes and a cup of coffee. But he bit his tongue.
Because when River pointed out that she was smarter than him, he could only nod. He knew that is was true, and that if she couldn't figure it out, he didn't stand a chance. But it still hurt. A lot. He had built his whole identity, his very sense of self, around being the best. Not his best, the best. They'd praised his brains, said he would go far. Called him a genius, and he'd believed them. Because without that he was just some kid, scared and alone. At least now, he could pretend that it was self imposed isolation.
He flinched as River touched his face, not because of her, but because no one was ever that intimate with him. He wasn't used it. "No, no, no judging," he agreed, unable to meet her eyes. "We can solve the puzzle."