Second Floor Common Room [evening]

[momslilassassin]

Ben had spent a long, long day in the library getting nowhere himself, but some of the other people'd had more luck.

Being Ben, he had written down all of the clues they'd shared on the wipe board himself and was now trying to see if he could spot a connection between an Escher painting, a similar maze in Ireland two hundred years ago, a creepy hallucinatory and death-inducing recipe and a weird song.

But the part that was sticking in his mind was the snatch of the conversation he'd overheard between Scully and the librarian, about how Escher had been "wished" away to spend time in the maze.

He had a giant pot of coffee going since he wasn't planning to sleep (or, frankly, to go back to his room. It was too empty there), and was settling in for the evening.

The boy could use some company.

Comments

[weetuskenraider]

Spending just a little bit of time outside meant that Tahiri had thoroughly overhauled her assessment of how bad the inside of a sandcrawler smelled.

Luckily, it was usually pretty easy for her to find Ben, so she wandered in and dropped onto the couch. "Well, I'm glad to see you indoors and not doing anything insane outside."

[momslilassassin]

"It smells like what I'd imagined a tauntaun's insides would," Ben said, making a face, "and there's no coffee out there."

Ben's amazing mood had lasted into day two.

[weetuskenraider]

"Boy, you're going to be so much fun to be around," Tahiri observed, moving over to massage the back of his neck; just because it was true didn't mean she wasn't going to try and make it a little easier on him. "It smells like the galaxy's most disgusting sandcrawler mated with a Hutt's palace on Eriadu, and then some."

. . . no, really, that was an absolutely disgusting thought if you knew what she was talking about.

[momslilassassin]

He leaned his head into her shoulder. "That is the grossest thing I've ever heard," he said with a tiny chuckle. "It's worst than Aunt Leia's spiceloaf."

[weetuskenraider]

"Careful," Tahiri said with a slightly strained laugh. "Don't insult the spiceloaf too much where the squirrels can hear you, or this Leia might try to improve the recipe for future."

[momslilassassin]

"It's a recipe that could stand improvement," Ben said, grateful for a discussion of anything else tonight.

[weetuskenraider]

"Oh, that I won't argue with." Tahiri bit her lip in concentration, trying to search out any particularly tense spots in his neck and shoulders. "It's the experimenting before the improvement I worry about."

Way to negate your own point about not talking about the spiceloaf, Tahiri. But then, it was probably the more welcome topic.

[momslilassassin]

"Well, as long as Kar--" Ben looked pained, and shifted his sentence midway, "--as long as we don't have to eat the experiments, we should be safe."

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri winced at the unfinished word and turned the massage into a quick hug.

"We can foist that off on next term's new students instead," she suggested in an astoundingly un-Jedi-like display of anti-brilliance.

[momslilassassin]

"Tell them it's part of integrating into the culture?" Ben replied, trying to get back the banter.

[weetuskenraider]

"In a manner of speaking --" Tahiri was trying to stay upbeat here, although she couldn't help the fleeting thought that Karla's cooking really was part of Fandom culture now, and so they had to find a way to get her and the others back. "It really, really is, so that wouldn't be a lie."

[momslilassassin]

"And maybe one of them will be from a planet that appreciates her cooking," Ben replied with a slightly forced smile.

[weetuskenraider]

"Or another world," Tahiri contributed. "There has to be one somewhere."

[momslilassassin]

"Maybe we'll get an Uncle Han who will have to pretend to like it," Ben said.

[weetuskenraider]

"And wonder why we're trying so hard not to laugh the first time?" Tahiri suggested. "Although it'd be weird if that happened."

As if it wasn't all weird enough already.

[momslilassassin]

"We could place bets on who's head would explode first--Granddad's or Jaina's."

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri reached up to ruffle his hair. "I wouldn't be surprised at all, somehow, if it ended up a tie."

[momslilassassin]

"That sounds messy," he said with a little laugh, leaning into her hand. "Want some coffee?"

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri looked over his notes and scooted a little closer. "Since I get the feeling we'll be up for a while, that sounds like a fantastic idea."

[momslilassassin]

Ben waved his hand and the coffee pot floated over. "At least the Force still works here," he said, setting it down next to the Escher painting. "I can't make heads or tails of that thing," he admitted.

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri poured herself a cup and leaned over, frowning at the painting. "I'm not even sure which part should be heads and which should be tails."

[momslilassassin]

"Watch this," Ben said, flipping it around. "See? Now these guys are in the right direction."

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri groaned and twisted the fingers of one hand up into her hair. "What the kriff -- is that even physically possible?"

[momslilassassin]

"I don't see how," Ben grumbled. "Gravity doesn't normally work differently in different parts of a room."