2nd Floor Common Room, Tuesday Afternoon After Classes

[endsthegame]

They were everywhere.

When Ender had saved the first green... thing from falling out of the window that morning, it hadn't seemed like much of a problem. The second one... well, that got him thinking.

By the third he just wished they'd stop following him.

By the fifth... he was sitting down in the common room, a book of common fairy tales in hand. Reading aloud, as a matter of fact, because so far that seemed like the only strategy that actually got them to shut up. He wasn't sure if they were even actually listening, but at least they weren't talking to him.

Some days, Fandom made him very, very tired.

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Comments

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

Kenzi wandered in after classes, trying to figure out further weirdness to commit on the stupid uniform... and stopped and stared.

"Do I even want to know...?"

[endsthegame]

"Fandom," Ender said, which he felt covered the situation nicely. "I'm trying to keep them quiet."

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

"You saved us!"

"What did you do to save them?" Kenzi asked, perching on the back of the couch and watching them with wide eyes, starting to grin.

[endsthegame]

"Kept one from falling out a window," Ender said, "It snowballed from there. They're rather trouble-prone."

"You saved us!"

"And loud."

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

"They're adorable. And yeah, loud." She grinned at the little guys. "Guys? Could you go get Ender candy from the vending machine maybe?"

[endsthegame]

A whole lot of eyes blinked up at her momentarily.

Then they went right back to it. "You saved us!"

Ender shot her a wry smile. "The reading is the only thing that's worked so far," he said, "And obviously it's temporary."

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

"Damn. I thought we had a little alien cult ready-made for you," Kenzi said, disappointed. "How about the TV? Any joy there?" She looked at the little guys, and started trying to count them. "They do know you didn't save all of them, right?"

[endsthegame]

"I did, actually," Ender said mildly. "Like I said... they have a real penchant for getting into trouble."

He looked up at the television. "I tried," he said. He'd tried.

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

"You guys," Kenzi said disapprovingly. "I mean, you look like you're made out of rubber, but still. Learn to save yourselves!" She waved an hand in one of their faces. "TV? Muuusic? News of the world? Food Channel?"

[endsthegame]

"I'm pretty sure it's all just background noise to them," Ender said, flipping through a few pages in the book on his lap. "Though you're welcome to try and figure out if they'll respond to Italian cooking programs better than anything I tried."

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

Kenzi flipped on the TV set, and started looking for Food Channel, then picked one of the little guys up and pointed him toward the TV. "Look! Fooood! Pasta carbonara!"

"We are forever grateful!" squeaked the little guy. Although at least he kept watching the screen?

"You saved us!"

[endsthegame]

"Well, congratulations," Ender said, watching the spectacle. "You've just picked up an admirer of your own."

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

"Hey," Kenzi said, alarmed. "No, no. He's still yours! Look!" She turned him back around. "Look, it's Ender! Remember him?"

Little Green Guy flipped over in her hands and spread his arms. "You saved us!"

"Crap."

[endsthegame]

"You saved us!" Ender's group cried in unison as well.

"I think there's more books in the library," he said dryly.