Fourth Floor Common Room [Saturday noon-ish]

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

Triela was sitting, almost completely still, with a cup of tea in front of her. It had grown cold, and was still at least half full. Her chin was propped in her hand and she was staring off at nothing.

There was also a small cheesecake in front of her with a small slice on a separate plate. She'd eaten a bite or two before she got distracted.

It was a good bet that she wasn't going to eat the rest of the cake. And it was just sitting there.

[Potential and unpredictable bouts of SP as I am visiting folks, but it's still a common room!]

Comments

[endsthegame]

"So do you," he pointed out, and got up to get some tea.

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

"I don't really get to have an opinion on my situation." What's his excuse?

[endsthegame]

Ender had the comforting knowledge that his opinion didn't matter much to anyone but him, and he was fine with that. "I'd say I'm sure you get to have one," he said, "But I think I'd be wrong." He rifled through the tea drawer.

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

"Maybe it'd be more accurate to say that I don't get to pick my opinion, then." If he wanted to get technical.

[endsthegame]

"It's chemically determined?"

He threw her a look over his shoulder. It wasn't cautious. He made sure of that.

"Or is it the conditioning?"

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

"The conditioning. There are some pretty severe consequences for trying to fight it." It wasn't fun.

[endsthegame]

He looked at her for what felt like a long stretch of time. His fingers found a tea bag. He pulled it out without looking.

"Fun," he said, finally.

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," she snorted wryly. "You learn to only fight when it really matters." And you learned how to stretch directives so that you weren't really violating them.

[endsthegame]

Had this been a long time ago, he might've commented that it didn't sound fair. But life wasn't, and people weren't, and lies and string-pulling were still lies and string-pulling whether you got to choose to disagree with them or not.

"Yeah," he agreed. "At least they've got your health in mind."

Bitter? Him?

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

"I'm still the best they've got. And there are still people to kill."

It helped when you still fulfilled a function they wanted. Things might change if they decided they didn't need any more assassins.

[endsthegame]

"Like a good soldier."

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

"It's what I am." What they made her.

Triela's eyebrow arches ever so slightly. He almost sounds more than curious about all this.

[endsthegame]

"I can tell." What they'd made him, until he fell out, until he got to stop.

He went for the kettle, to put some water on.

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

"You're very perceptive." It doesn't sound like she's being sarcastic.

[endsthegame]

He poured water into the kettle, then put it on the fire. "I've been told that once or twice," Ender said, and he did sound sarcastic.

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

Triela leaned back in her seat and watched him.

She never knew what to do with Ender.

[endsthegame]

And that was exactly the way Ender liked it - when he was dealing with other soldiers.

He made his tea, and sat down with it on the other end of the room.

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

"Enough about me," Triela finally said. The implicit 'let's talk about you' was left hanging in the air.

Like that was going to work.

[endsthegame]

"Maybe," Ender said. He was very accommodating.

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

If he was then Triela was still waiting on evidence of it. Quite patiently.

[endsthegame]

Which she could continue to keep doing, as Ender patiently sipped his tea and fell back onto himself. He'd keep it up just about long enough to make sure that she wouldn't take any retreat on his part as being a retreat at all.