Second Floor Common Room, Thursday Afternoon

[endsthegame]

When he'd taken the book out of the library, this hadn't been completely what Ender had planned on. It was with no small bit of mostly carefully-hidden confusion that he'd moved on into the common room, an odd green kitten with eyestalks resting on his shoulder.

He sat down and tried to ignore the quiet buzzing and bleeping noises the cat was making. This was all just par for the course, at this point.

[ open common room, y0 ]

Comments

[momslilassassin]

"That's where the hard part comes in, huh?" Ben replied.

[endsthegame]

He thought of Fly Molo, Crazy Tom, Bean, Alai, Petra-- everyone. It was only for a fleeting moment. "Yes," Ender said, evenly, "But it's not impossible." It had, after all, always been the adults who had been the enemy. Among your peers, you could find... some on your side.

[momslilassassin]

"Back home Jaina's a little...different," Ben said thoughtfully, "but here I think I could trust her. Maybe Karal."

[endsthegame]

"Karal seems like a good man," Ender said, neutrally. He'd thought Graff was a good man, too, but that had turned out to be false. Even if he had turned out to be on his side in some way, in the end.

[momslilassassin]

"He knew the version of my father who was here," Ben said, "but seems to like me for me." He shrugged. "We'll see how long that lasts."

[endsthegame]

Which just posed the question... "Your entire family showed up here, didn't it?"

[momslilassassin]

"A good chunk of it," Ben admitted, "but from different timelines. Grandfather, father, cousin and a girl who used to be with another cousin..."

[endsthegame]

"Can't choose family," he replied, a little dryly, but it couldn't be helped. What would his life have been like if Val or Peter had been here? "I won't have trouble keeping you apart."

[momslilassassin]

"I'm the smart one," Ben said, eyes twinkling.

[endsthegame]

He had to smile, at least reflexively, at that. "My siblings and I are all the 'smart one'," Ender replied, "Maybe it'll do you some good."

[momslilassassin]

"How many siblings do you have?" Ben asked, glancing over.

[endsthegame]

"Two," Ender replied, and because no one but him seemed to care here, he added, "I'm the Third."

[momslilassassin]

Ben heard the capital, even if he didn't understand exactly what was significant about it. "Were they supposed to stop at two or something?" he asked.

[endsthegame]

"Overpopulation," he said, sounding like that explained everything. Background, siblings, it had never mattered in Battle School, and before that, being Third had been a burden, and the truth was that now, he just didn't know how to talk about it. It was easier to keep to the bare facts.

[momslilassassin]

Ben nodded. "My cousin Anakin was the third in his family, too," he offered. "He was a hero."

[endsthegame]

"Was a hero?" Ender asked, leaning a little further sideways into the couch. He didn't need to ask the question to know what that implied. A lot of heroes died. Still...

[momslilassassin]

"When I was a baby," Ben said. "There was a war."

Another war. There was always another war.

"He was sixteen or seventeen?" The specifics had always been vague. Aunt Leia didn't like to talk about it. "He led a group of seventeen Jedi--all about our age--on this really dangerous mission. Half of them didn't come back."

[endsthegame]

There was always another war. Ender could understand that undercurrent as easy as breathing. There was always another game, another battle, another war, and somehow, hearing that same tone from Ben's mouth reminded him once again that this island, for all it was worth, was a fantasy castle at best.

"Including your cousin," he summarised. He didn't need to ask that one. Did you win the war played through his mind, but he realised that he just didn't (want to) care.

[momslilassassin]

Ben nodded. "Jaina was there too," he said softly, "and her twin brother Jacen."

[endsthegame]

"As in the cousin who turned into a cat...?" He nodded pensively, sounding more rhetorical than anything else.

[momslilassassin]

Ben nodded. "It was a lot more recent for her," he said. "Sometimes the timeline kind of sucks."