Fourth Floor Common Room, All Day Wednesday

[endsthegame]

It was Ender's turn to run the coffee cart. Official business meant a good opportunity for him to get out and look as normal as he could (and wouldn't Valentine laugh about that; he was having trouble not doing so himself). Coffee, cocoa and snacks -- Ender made sure they were all laid out at the start of the day, then sat back.

Add that to the list of things no one back home could see him doing. He found the irony took the edge off the boredom, at least.

[ and come get your coffee, kids! ]

Comments

[imac-kenzie.livejournal.com]

Mac was all out of finals, which was officially scary, since that meant she was graduating in not many days at all.

In order to distract herself from packing, and thinking too much about leaving, she found her way to the common room, and to coffee. Good start to the day. Very good.

[endsthegame]

"Need any refreshments?" Ender was playing his role pretty well, even if his tone was laced with some earnest amusement.

[imac-kenzie.livejournal.com]

"Not going to catch me turning them down," Mac replied, shooting him a quick smile. "Morning."

[endsthegame]

"Morning," Ender echoed. "I hadn't expected you to." Personally, Ender didn't really need the coffee to help with these finals, but it seemed to be tradition. "I take it you're looking for caffeine."

[imac-kenzie.livejournal.com]

"Coffee would be awesome if you've got it in there," Mac confirmed with a nod. Little addict.

"Still got finals to go?" she asked him.

[endsthegame]

"I have my first one today, actually," Ender said, as he busied himself over the cart for a moment. "Anatomy. I'm not really worried." Understatement. He poured a cup.

[imac-kenzie.livejournal.com]

"Well, that's good at least," Mac remarked. "You're... definitely calmer than most people are about this sort of thing."

[endsthegame]

"It's not my first final," Ender said, with a little wiggle of his eyebrows to indicate he was trying to make a joke. "How about you?" he asked, offering her the cup.

[imac-kenzie.livejournal.com]

Mac huffed a little laugh as she accepted the mug. "I'm all done," she replied. "All that's left now, is to graduate."

[endsthegame]

"Which means there's no point in asking you to vote for me next year," Ender said, thoughtfully. "I should just stop trying politics if I can't even ply the right person with coffee."

[imac-kenzie.livejournal.com]

"Sorry," Mac said, smirking slightly. "I'll try and pass on the good word to someone who will be?" she offered.

[endsthegame]

"Word of mouth is pretty effective if you go grassroots," Ender finished, solemnly. It'd taken him a year, but he'd finally grasped some of the local banter. The effort gave him something to do.

[imac-kenzie.livejournal.com]

"And probably the best strategy for what you're going for, anyway," Mac agreed. "I'm not really a politician, in any sense."

[endsthegame]

"Me neither," said Ender, leaning back a little, "But I think I play one on TV."

[imac-kenzie.livejournal.com]

Mac raised an eyebrow, not quite sure if he was kidding or not. It was difficult to tell with this one.

"I'm going to consider that 'a sense'," she decided, quirking a bit of a smile.

[endsthegame]

"In any event, I'm the one serving you political coffee," Ender confided. "Any graduation plans?"

[imac-kenzie.livejournal.com]

"Looking at this internship back home for the summer," Mac answered. "There's a big software company - Kane software - and I've applied so... I guess we'll see."

[endsthegame]

"So you're good with computers," he noted. So was Ender.

[imac-kenzie.livejournal.com]

"You could say that," Mac agreed with a grin. "Everyone has their thing, right?" That was hers.

"You got your summer all planned out?" she asked.

[endsthegame]

"I'm seeing if I can't get a ticket home," he said. Not that Ben would ever hear about that. "I'll be doing a lot of research, either way."

[imac-kenzie.livejournal.com]

"Where's home for you?" she asked, sipping at her coffee.

[endsthegame]

"Earth," he answered, "About two hundred years from now, to be exact. Although I'm thinking about heading into space."

[imac-kenzie.livejournal.com]

"Only around here do you have to clarify that you live on earth," Mac remarked, with a dose of amusement. "I might actually miss that."

[endsthegame]

"It's pretty quaint, isn't it?" Or interesting, anyway, to a point. "A plain old 'USA' used to do."

[imac-kenzie.livejournal.com]

"That true of earth in a couple of hundred years?" she asked curiously. "You were talking about living in space, so..." He could've been used to that before, of course.