Second Floor Common Room, Friday Morning

[endsthegame]

If the radio was something to be believed, common rooms were a focal point of activity here. Ender had heard of people meeting, talking, forging friendships and forming their own groups up here, until they pulled back to the privacy of their own rooms.

For now, he didn't really feel like mingling. He didn't know how long he was to stay here, or why, except that they didn't want him on Earth back home and they taught classes here on things he'd never really thought about before. Or hadn't wanted to think about.

But if he wanted to grasp the rules of the school, he'd have to see it for himself. He didn't expect to spend a lot of time here, but it was still important to know: and so, quietly, unobtrusively, Ender made his way into the second floor common room in the morning, working the television remote until he found some history documentary on this time's previous century.

[ open like a common room, yay ]

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[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Karal was on his way to the library, in the hopes he'd be able to resume working there on Fridays, but Altra was hungry and so was he. In the absence of anything in the fourth - or the third - floor common rooms, they found themselves in the second.

"Good morning," he said as he followed Altra inside, stopping in his tracks as the television screen came into Altra's line of sight. It looked very different.

[endsthegame]

Ender's attention was drawn away from the television at last; he hadn't been wrong in his estimation of the common rooms as much as he'd thought, then. He gave both boy and cat a curious glance. The boy looked concerned-- like he wasn't seeing what he'd expected to see, but Ender couldn't tell what he was looking at.

"Hey," he replied, "Are you looking for something?" It didn't seem like questions were a problem so far, and Ender was curious.

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"No," he said slowly, sounding very distracted, then he shook his head. "Well, yes, actually. I'm looking for breakfast. My apologies, the television caught me by surprise."

[endsthegame]

"You were surprised by the television," he repeated, tilting his head so he could look at Karal more closely. "Are you new?"

It seemed funny-- really funny-- to be asking that of someone when he'd only been here for a few days now, but he couldn't remember the boy from anywhere and he looked curiously lost.

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Karal smiled. "No, but it looks different than last time I saw one," he replied. "I'm Karal, and this is Altra." Altra was looking at Andrew intently. "I have been away for awhile. Are you one of the new students?"

[endsthegame]

"It seems that's always the first question around here," Ender said, frankly. "I came here this weekend." How did it look different? It was a strange statement, and he found himself looking from cat to boy to television in thoughtful confusion.

The cat was looking at him. It made him a little uncomfortable-- like the cat was trying to see something he didn't want for it to see. "I'm Ender."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"It is good to meet you, Ender," Karal said, and Altra nodded politely. "Welcome to Fandom. Umm, I should probably tell you that Altra is not simply a cat. He's a Firecat, a person in his own right."

[endsthegame]

Somehow, that didn't make the cat's staring any less uncomfortable. What do you see? he wanted to ask, everyone keeps watching me. "So you're not from around here," he ventured, "I've never heard of a Firecat before."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"No, no I'm not. I come from a country called Karse, in another world," he explained, turning away. "Are you from this world?" Altra trotted over to lead the way into the kitchen. "And would you care for some toast?" Since this kitchen actually had bread.

[endsthegame]

"I'm from the future," he said, because he was learning that yesterday and tomorrow were like up and down here; another world was sideways, then, to the left, or maybe the right. "About a hundred years," Ender continued, "But this world, as far as I can tell. I'd like some."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Altra leapt on the table so Karal could see the whole kitchen, and Karal started making toast. "I know someone from this world's future," he said thoughtfully. "Or, from one of them at least. Are you enjoying yourself so far?"

[endsthegame]

It was a ridiculous question-- he wouldn't even know where an answer would start, let alone finish. "I'm living," Ender said, instead, and he slid off the couch to pad down to that kitchen and see it for himself.

Not that he hadn't seen it upon entry, but he hadn't been there: just another in a long line of things where he didn't know how to begin. "When is your friend from?"

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

His answer made Karal hesitate, and then he dropped the bread in the toaster and turned to face Ender, leaning on the counter. He didn't need to face him to see him, but not doing so was rude. "From not too far ahead. She lives in a country called England," he replied, then gently added, "There is more to each day than just living, isn't there?"

[endsthegame]

"Living is the first thing," he said, carefully neutral, and his back leaned against the wall behind him. His eyes went from the cat to Karal again: Karal's response time was just a little off, and it accentuated the sense of wary lostness the boy exuded. It made him wonder. "Everything else is a bonus."

He could hear Mazer's voice in his head, saying Survival first, then happiness as we can manage it, but he brushed it aside, kept that tone light, like he was reading aloud some platitude or another. He didn't feel like too many difficult questions. "I know England," he added. "I've never been there."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"Nor have I, but I hope that someday Evey might take me there for a visit." Karal had the sense of walking around the edge of a very deep, very dark hole. "It is," he agreed, treading cautiously. "But once we have that, the little things can become important." He smiled as the toast popped. "Like having just the right amount of butter on your toast."

[endsthegame]

Again, his eyes went to the Firecat. Was it an alien? It wasn't a toy-- Karal had called it akin to a person. On the other hand, the cat-- Altra-- hadn't said anything, hadn't done much beyond move along with Karal's steps and watch him. Maybe the two of them were talking, except not out loud-- talking like the ansible about other things while he and Karal chatted about toast.

Or maybe Altra was just a cat, and Karal was making it up, but that seemed less and less likely. "Sounds like you know a few things about toast," he said.

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Altra snickered and Karal made a face in his general direction. "In addition to being a priest, I happen to be a toast expert," he proclaimed, and turned back to fetch the butter and start buttering. "Too much butter, and it overwhelms everything, too little, and the toast is dry and unpleasant."

He finished, put the toast on two plates, and followed Altra back to Ender. "Much like life, really," he added as he held out both plates for Ender to choose from. "It is all about the balance."

[endsthegame]

The cat had snickered; that threw a few of his theories out the window, and now he was free to send it a sideways glance, contemplating, searching for the sign of intelligence in its eyes.

And Karal, it seemed, liked to make metaphors of things. It was a childishly simple one, but simplicity had its place too. Except he'd never been anywhere near the butter to begin with, and if someone had given it to him, he would've had no clue how to use it.

"Balancing toast," he said, "They teach you a lot at this school." Ender took one of the plates, shooting the toast an exaggerated look. Karal liked to spread kindness, but he had a touch of the evangelical in him. It reminded him of a couple of different things at once, but he couldn't place it.

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"Honestly, if they did teach a class on toast balancing, it wouldn't in the least surprise me," he said, sitting down and taking a neat bite of his toast. "This is school is a good place, but it is unique."

Altra eyed Ender back, then yawned and said, :I won't bite.:

[endsthegame]

Ender was about to find his own seat when he heard the voice. His first reflex was to spin his head and look around, but he could find no other source of the talking.

By elimination, that could mean only one thing, and his head came back slowly to face the cat, his toast momentarily forgotten. "So you do talk."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Karal sighed. "It is getting him to be quiet that is the problem," he said teasingly, and Altra rolled his eyes, which made Karal tilt his head at the sudden change.

:I talk, I think, and I didn't get any toast,: he grumbled, settling to a crouch at Karal's feet.

[endsthegame]

"I can get you some toast," Ender spoke, as he digested the reality of Altra's personhood and gave it a place in his mind. He was torn between asking the cat a great deal of questions and leaving him alone so he could watch and learn without calling attention to himself.

For the moment, he put it aside, finding a spot on that couch and settling in it. "I doubt I'll finish all of it."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Altra started to purr and Karal sighed. "I thought you didn't like toast," he said to Altra, then, "That would be very kind of you, Ender. He is in a mood this morning."

[endsthegame]

"Can't have a Firecat in a mood," he said, cutting a piece off his toast and offering it to Altra. "Here."

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

Dean was heading down from the fourth floor, intent on making a trip into town, but heard the tv going when he passed the second floor common room and ducked his head in to see.

"Hey," he said to the boy as he glanced at the program. "Whatcha watching?"