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Second Floor Common Room, Wednesday Afternoon

Ender had been gone for the weekend, and since then he'd spent no small amount of time either in his room or in Tony's secret laboratory. But, he decided, it was time to stroll back into the common room and see if there was anything interesting he could catch on TV.

He suspected not, honestly. But sometimes - sometimes - there was an interesting documentary or two. Like right now-- a well-researched, thoughtfully filmed piece on the social and cultural development of early man. Because of the year they were in, some of the information would be out of date, Ender knew.

But at least it was food for thought.

He sat back and snacked idly on an apple as he watched. Speaking of food for thought - that fruit basket hadn't exactly been easy to find around here. He was starting to suspect someone had exchanged all the fruit for snack food.

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Kenzi wandered in, looking for the coffee. She was up way too late making campaign ideas possible, and texting Mr. Caffrey's friends. They were hilarious.

She poured herself a huge mug and wandered over to stare at the TV. "Why are those people painting the cave?" Give her a few minutes to catch up.

"Because they're human, and human beings tend to be inspired to do things like painting caves," Ender said, taking another bite of his apple. He wasn't looking up yet. "It's not 'Extreme Makeover'."

Kenzi gave him a bleary look, then took a longer sip of her coffee before climbing over the couch to stare for a moment before saying, "This is a documentary. It's way too early for documentaries." It was always too early for documentaries. "Unless it's about sharks. Then it's never too early."

Ender's eyes traveled to the clock. "It's afternoon," he pointed out, lightly. "Never a better time for knowledge."

It was possible he was joking at least a little.

Kenzi looked up ~~and her mun facepalmed~~ and frowned at the clock. "Gahhh." She sighed and drank more coffee, then frowned thoughtfully at the guy. "I know you. Why do I know you?" she mused aloud.

"I was at the welcome picnic," Ender supplied, and finally looked up at her. He quickly filed her away as familiar, too. "I think you were talking to my brother."

"Peter's brother," Kenzi said, gaze sharpening a little. "Right. Welcome back." She took another sip of coffee and then admitted, "If he told me your name, I totally forgot it. I'm Kenzi."

Well, that had definitely caught her attention, Ender observed. He didn't respond with any reaction as visible as that, though; instead he offered her his hand. "Andrew Wiggin," he said, "Though some people around here call me Ender."

Kenzi considered, then smiled and shook his hand. "Ender? Guess that's cooler than Andy. Or Drew." She looked back at the documentary, and said in a friendly voice, "Does the geekitude run in the family?"

"We have an inborn drive to want to understand," Ender said, throwing her an amused look, "Some circles might call that 'geekitude'."

More coffeeee to help digest that, and Kenzi said, "I probably travel in those circles. Music dancing XBox parties and so on. Are you into global politics too? Or is that just Peter's obsession?"

"That's Peter's obsession," Ender said. If his voice sounded a little darkly wry about it, well-- he knew Peter. "Politics isn't really my main interest, and I'm not planning to stay on Earth after I graduate."

Getting away from Peter = good. Valentine had been right about that, at least.

"He does go on about it," Kenzi had to agree. "Hopefully he'll chill now that the war's over. And you're back." She yawned and drank more coffee. "Where are you going to?" she asked, blinking, realizing that he'd meant he wasn't going back to the future Earth either.

"One of the colonies," Ender supplied. "I'm a few years ahead of Peter - people back home have used the end of the war to springboard a lot of different colonisation efforts for the planets the Formics left behind. I'm signed on for a ride after graduation."

"Yeah, that bugs him," Kenzi said, snickering very quietly. "And ooooo. That'll be way cool. You have a planet picked out already?"

"Planet Shakespeare," Ender said, with a vague smile. "It's the first colony we settled on."

"Planet Shakespeare?" Kenzi chortled, more awake with this non sequitur. "Seriously? Rhyming poetry world? Or it should be. What're you going to do there? Farm? You'd need food, I guess."

The Dingy of Cannibal Confrontation was still in her mind.

"I thought it was apt," Ender said, unfazed. "Considering all the references one could make to The Tempest alone." He was a Shakespeare geek, Kenzi. Don't laugh at Shakespeare in his presence. "Of course we'd need food - and housing. But by the time the ship gets there, the original settlers will have been there for several decades. We mostly bring a much-needed population increase; hopefully a big enough one that more of the colonists can spend their time on things other than farming."

"Kewl." Kenzi beamed at him, thinking that was geek heaven. Yay. No more soldiering. She drank more coffee, and checked, "Does Peter know this yet, or should I not mention it to him? Time travel. Confusing."

"If the colonisation effort hasn't started in Peter's time yet, it will soon enough," Ender said, mildly. "I give it about a month before it becomes obvious that I'm not coming back."

Because Valentine and Ender's parents made Peter make it happen.

Kenzi paused, considering that. "You're not gonna miss Earth? And everybody?" She sounded uncertain to her own ears. There was being fine with never seeing her family again, and there was... the entire planet. "Big change."

Ender shrugged. "It's a whole new adventure," he said, with a quirk of his mouth. "I might as well find out what we saved the human race for."

Thank you, Val, for giving him plausible arguments to use.

"Can you come back if you change your mind? Can you call? If you could, I guess that's a sweet deal." Save the world, explore the universe. Kenzi liked the idea, anyway. She added, "I'm not geek enough to even guess how that works." She cocked her head. "I guess you're due, after all that. Your military sucks," she said frankly. "Peter said you'd been doing this forever."

"I have," Ender said, but didn't go into it. "I could go back. Of course, it's a fifty-year-journey." He shrugged. "But that's me. Tell me about you - you know Peter well?"

"Too loooong. Are you going to be asleep for it? God, I'd hope." They'd have to be, right? Kenzi shrugged a little, considering that question. "I guess? Sort of." She smirked a little. "Mr. Wheeler-Dealer Future Legal Counsel to world leaders. Or leader. However that works out for you guys. He's fun to hang with, sometimes."

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Second Floor Common Room, Wednesday Afternoon

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