The Pool, Thursday Morning

[endsthegame]

That morning Ender had received four phone calls from Peter.

Three had come from Fandom's Peter, and in all cases Peter had hung up before Ender managed to even answer the call. The third was from his own Peter, calling in to confirm he'd be showing up and he'd be taking Petra and Suriyawong with him.

Ender's opinion of these events was mixed - though he would hardly say no to a chance to see Petra and Surrey again, the rest was a little more complicated.

Luckily, his regular morning swim always allowed for a good opportunity to clear his head. He made it there early so that he'd have some more time today, quickly stripping down to his swim trunks and diving in.

If there was one thing he'd miss about Fandom in the near future, it would be the easy pool access.

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[momslilassassin]

Ben closed his eyes and relaxed a bit. "I'm shocked to hear that a Wiggin is less than completely forthcoming."

[endsthegame]

"I'm as forthcoming as I need to be," Ender said, "And I trust Val."

But he'd felt Ben relax, and so his words held no real sting.

[momslilassassin]

"Which is high praise," Ben murmured. "You don't trust many people."

[endsthegame]

"Mmm. Probably a failing on my part," Ender said, kissing his temple. "Val's sneaky."

And he'd never trust anyone with everything.

[momslilassassin]

"I've noticed," Ben said, smiling softly and resting his hand on Ender's knee. "Did you get Peter's email? Tiny Peter's."

[endsthegame]

"I didn't," Ender said, "But going by the timing and the fact I have three aborted calls from him sitting on my phone right now, I can piece together what's happened."

[momslilassassin]

"I told him to watch out for Achilles," Ben said. "Hopefully he'll listen to me."

[endsthegame]

Ender snorted. "It's Peter."

[momslilassassin]

"Yeah," Ben said. "So I'm not hopeful."

[endsthegame]

Ender looked at him. "You've got a better idea about what happened than I do," he surmised.

[momslilassassin]

"Peter went home to tell everyone he's Locke and see what happens," Ben said.

[endsthegame]

"And you ran into him?" Ender asked, raising his eyebrows.

[momslilassassin]

"I ran into someone looking for him," Ben said. "I can piece together most of it from there."

[endsthegame]

"Achilles?" Ender asked. "No. He'd be hurt. Or dead."

[momslilassassin]

Ben's lips thinned. "I might not be the greatest of friends with your brother, but Achilles wouldn't have survived a trip to Fandom." He took a breath and squeezed Ender's knee again. "Bean was here, kreetle."

[endsthegame]

"Why didn't you--" Ender started.

Then his mouth slammed shut. Of course he knew why.

[momslilassassin]

Ben chewed on his lower lip and watched Ender's face, hoping he'd made the right call.

[endsthegame]

Ender rubbed at his temple, his other hand dropping to the tile from where it had previously been thrown around Ben's waist, over his thigh. "I can handle Bean, Ben."

[momslilassassin]

"I'm not sure he could have handled you," Ben replied softly.

[endsthegame]

"Better than Petra or Dink or any of the others," Ender said simply.

Bean's loss still ached strongly.

[momslilassassin]

And Ben could feel that but he didn't reach out in comfort, letting Ender have his space instead.

"Maybe," Ben said. "He was heading off-island when I ran into him anyway."

It was a cop-out and he knew Ender would know it.

[endsthegame]

Ender pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes. "Don't tell me stupid excuses," he said. "That doesn't do anyone any good."

[momslilassassin]

"I was trying not to get you hurt," Ben replied more honestly.

[endsthegame]

"He's already dead and mourned. How much more hurt was I going to get?"

[momslilassassin]

"I wasn't that anxious to find out," Ben shot back.