Second Floor Common Room, Tuesday Afternoon

[endsthegame]

To say that Ender was Not Amused when he came home from classes to find all of Karla's books (as well as his copy of the Complete Works of Shakespeare, his books by Nietzsche and Kant and other philosophers, and any number of biology texts) reduced to romantic drivel would be a severe understatement. His laptop was not a credible alternative because he was still trying to come up with a good way to deal with Jane, and so the only option left to Ender was to head into the common room, and at least hope there were some good documentaries on.

"Oh, you have to be kidding me," he said, when the 111th channel also turned out to be playing... something by Jane Austen? No, even that was too much to hope.

This was not his week.

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[endsthegame]

You could stop crowding me, Ender thought, then waved that thought away. It wasn't constructive, and Ben would pick up on it if he kept it too long. "Ben, I'm not bleeding from anything, and nothing really traumatic has happened to me recently," he said. "Seriously."

[momslilassassin]

Which was kind of why Ben was freaking out. He was used to at least having a vague idea why Ender was off-kilter, even if it wasn't going to be something they would talk about.

"Okay," he said, trying to not look as uneasy. He glanced back at the television. "Would it be better to just turn that off?"

[endsthegame]

"What, you don't want to watch two unconvincing twenty-somethings fawn all over each other with two-bit dialogue?" Ender asked, reaching for the remote.

[momslilassassin]

"Not even a little bit," Ben admitted. "But at least they aren't singing."

[endsthegame]

"Your wish is my command," Ender snarked, turning the thing off. "I was starting to go a little crazy myself."

[momslilassassin]

"I'd noticed," Ben replied with a little smile, "but you started out a little crazy to begin with."

[endsthegame]

"That's me," Ender agreed, "Haven't got a lick of sanity left in me."

[momslilassassin]

"And you don't even have good looks to fall back on," Ben said, shaking his head sadly.

[endsthegame]

"At least that makes both of us," Ender replied, leaning over to put the remote back down, and putting a few extra inches between him and Ben as he sat back down.

[momslilassassin]

"It's amazing we're allowed out in public, really," Ben agreed, not really noticing how Ender had moved away.

[endsthegame]

"I contemplating throwing sheets over your head, but I was afraid your Jedi instincts would trumph your sense of the common good," Ender said, really quite fine with that.

[momslilassassin]

"Sorry, but yes they would have," he replied, grinning.

[endsthegame]

"And they call you warriors for good."

[momslilassassin]

"You win some, you lose some," Ben said helpfully. "Want a snack? That way we can pretend we're full when Karla's cookies are ready."

[endsthegame]

"Sneaky, yet simple," Ender said, in approval. Banter was such a useful thing. "Sounds like a plan."

[momslilassassin]

"I occasionally have them," Ben agreed, sneaking out a box of cereal when Karla wasn't looking at him and holding out for Ender. "It's not the most amazing lunch, but it'll work in a pinch, right?"

[endsthegame]

"I'm not complaining," Ender said, snagging the cereal and digging in. "I'm not generally inclined towards haute cuisine as it is."

Understatement. His stomach was probably the one most capable of processing Karla's cookies like they were actual food items.

[momslilassassin]

"And there goes another illusion about Battle School for me," Ben said teasingly.

[endsthegame]

"Shouldn't have bought into the tourist guide," Ender said, chowing down on some cereal, which made it hard to say anything else.

[momslilassassin]

"But I wanted the commemorative plate with Graff on it," Ben replied.

[endsthegame]

"Don't say that too loud," Ender said.

Then swallowed.

"He might get one."

[momslilassassin]

"Collect them all?" Ben replied a little wryly.

[endsthegame]

"Get Graff's, then get Mazer's," he said, "It's a tight system."

[momslilassassin]

"I guess it's better than the Hegemon and Strategos series," Ben said.

[endsthegame]

Ender snorted. "Does that mean I shouldn't get you Bean commemorative items for your birthday?"