Second Floor Common Room, Saturday Morning

[endsthegame]

Ender had been inside during yesterday's attack, knowing full well there was little he could do except make trips downstairs to make sure support was well-organised. These invasions had a habit of taking care of themselves, though, and so he hadn't been too concerned-- using Ben's brief absence to rewatch some of the videos he'd been sent.

That hadn't been a smart idea. He'd gone back to his Formic research.

But now it was the-day-after, and he'd been awake for a larger chunk of the night than usual. So eventually he removed himself from his room and pottered into the common room, where he rifled through drawers until he'd come up with a stack of leftover sandwiches from yesterday.

They were sparsely topped - just cheese or ham or both - but there were many of them, so he left them sitting on the table in the middle of the room. He curled up on the couch, laptop on his legs, and worked.

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[momslilassassin]

And welcome to Ben's defense mechanism, where all negative things trace back to Jacen.

"Who were you talking about?"

[endsthegame]

"You," he said, simply. "You don't know yourself all that well."

[momslilassassin]

Ben's brow furrowed. "So what relationships do I have that are unhealthy?"

[endsthegame]

Ender shrugged his shoulder. "I think you should stop using Jacen as your catch-all place for unhealthy," he said, "And you might start to figure that out. Or you might not; God knows you're a star at using other people's problems to avoid thinking about your own."

[momslilassassin]

"And you've certainly never indulged in the practice yourself," Ben retorted, feeling stung.

[endsthegame]

"Trust me," Ender said, "I spend a lot more time in my own head than you do."

Too much, if you asked Valentine.

[momslilassassin]

"Too much," Ben said quietly, who would have been slightly irritated to find that he was agreeing with Valentine. "Neither of us have found the correct balance yet."

[endsthegame]

"Maybe not," Ender said, lightly. "I don't want to say anything that might mess up one of your relationships, Ben-- I'm simply asking you to take a better look at where you're at. You don't do it enough. Not without defaulting to the usual." Jacen, bad...

[momslilassassin]

Ben sighed and leaned back into the sofa's pillow. "Yeah, maybe," he agreed. "Oh, speaking of uncomfortable things, did you know that Karla can feel the nightmares that soak into our walls?"

[endsthegame]

"Yes," Ender said, shrugging. "It's why I asked Alai to get an extra cleaning crew set up at his compound last year. Just as a precaution."

[momslilassassin]

Ben reached out to poke Ender in the shoulder. "You didn't think I needed to know about this?"

[endsthegame]

"I thought you already knew," he said, "And that if you didn't, it wouldn't matter much. It's not like your abilities aren't intrusive already." He said that matter-of-factly, like he didn't care much.

[momslilassassin]

Ben visibly recoiled. "Oh. I don't mean to be...intrusive...to live with."

[endsthegame]

"Of course you don't," Ender said, rolling his eyes. "Don't take it like that, Ben. I knew what I signed on for when I let you move in with me."

[momslilassassin]

"Okay," Ben said, still looking a little wary. "But I'll be scrubbing down my walls now. No need to make it uncomfortable for Karla to come into the room."

And Ben didn't like for most people to know that he still had nightmares. Ender, of course, fell into a different category.

[endsthegame]

"If you think it'll help," he said, non-committally. He rubbed his hands together. "Though, on a completely different note, I have a proposition for you."

[momslilassassin]

"I'm listening," Ben said, cocking up an eyebrow.

[endsthegame]

"I'm running out of employees at Stark's, and I'd like you to come work for me," he said.

[momslilassassin]

"Would I have to call you sir?" Ben teased.

[endsthegame]

Ender snorted. "I'd like to avoid being called 'sir' by anyone in the future," he said, "Especially you."

Shush.

[momslilassassin]

Ben smiled. "In that case, I'd love the job."

[endsthegame]

Ender smiled back, despite himself. "Mondays and Tuesdays are spoken for, but you're welcome to come in and open up any time," he said. "Somehow I don't think I have to show you around."

[momslilassassin]

"I've been there a couple of times," Ben replied, eyes sparkling. "Do I have to help with the satellite, or do I get my own project?"

[endsthegame]

"Satellite's done," Ender said, waving it off. "We'll see what we can rustle up for you."

[momslilassassin]

He grinned. "Good. I like new projects."