The Gym, Saturday Morning

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If there was one thing Ender was loath to miss out of his schedule, it was his morning exercise. Two years since he'd arrived here, and he still hadn't quite gotten rid of the habit; by now, it was as comforting as anything ever was, a simple focal point of structure in his day.

He slung his towel over his shoulders as he came in, loosening up his hand and wrist with gentle kneading motions with his other thumb. Weight-lifting, beyond a certain point, was fairly useless for his purposes, but it was good to keep his lower body strength up.

Bikes, first - torso after, in the same ritual he'd been following every day since 2008. He took a deep breath and sat down, pressed his feet to the pedals and his hands to the support bars, and started moving.

He was quickly lost in the sense of his own muscles working. It was nice.

[[ totally open, although I'll be gone for a short while after posting! ]]

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Ender debated telling Hannibal he was mostly making fun of him, but decided against it. "God knows that's never been any good for people," he deadpanned, instead. "I'm so glad humanity discovered the water filter before the wheel."

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"Oh, don't even lie and tell me you wouldn't do something like that," Hannibal said, shooting him a look. "I could see you taking up a challenge and proving that someone can live off the land if they're smart enough."

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"I'd do it if I have to," Ender said, easily. "I'll leave 'doing things on a whim because I feel challenged' to other people."

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"You ever done that before?" Hannibal wondered, curious. "Lived off the land?"

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"A little," Ender said, shrugging. He let go of the support bars to focus on the motion of his legs. "Once. But even then, I didn't do it because it was a challenge. Or because I had to. Just because I wanted to."

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"Yeah, of course," Hannibal said, nodding. "How'd it go? Any advice for someone who won't ever do that in a million trillion years?"

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Ender gave him a thoughtful look across the room. "No," he said, eventually. "No advice."

After a beat:

"Besides remember to hydrate often."

That... was a joke.

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"You're so helpful," Hannibal said dryly. "Would that be the same advice you'd give to someone setting out on a long rafting trip, since that seems to your hobby lately?"

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"Almost," Ender agreed, "Except for the hydrating part."

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"Because drinking salt water would be a bad thing, right?" Hey, Hannibal knew something!

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"That does tend to dry you out."

Ender peeled the towel from his shoulders and let it drop onto the rests in front of him. "No college?"

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"Haven't given it any thought, no," Hannibal said and shook his head. "What the hell would I do? Major in sarcasm?"

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"I think they call that English," Ender volunteered, "Or 'being a 12th year literature student'." In less of a deadpan, he added, "Don't axe your chances without looking."

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"Mmm. I'll have to look before I axe anything," Hannibal told him, shrugging. "You honestly think I could make it in college?"

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Ender gave it a shrug. "I've never graded anything of yours," he says, "So I wouldn't know. But I do know this is the kind of thing you consider before you throw it away. You have the choice."

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"So philosophical," Hannibal chided lightly. "Maybe you should be grading something of mine."

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"Not philosophical, just practical," Ender answered. "When I graduate, I'll be shipped off to become governor. I don't have a lot of say in that."

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"Governor?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "What of?"

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"Our first space colony," Ender said, dryly. The program he'd been running on the bike hit zero, and he stopped moving. "Anyway, it's just an idea."

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"I dunno, now I kinda wanna be a governor of something," Hannibal said lightly.

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"You definitely need college for that."

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"Unless you're just that damn good," Hannibal decided, smirking.

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Ender snorted, climbing off the bike. "Sure," he said.

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"Oh, don't be jealous, Ender," Hannibal teased. "You'll get there."