Stark Industries, Monday

[endsthegame]

It was his turn to take care of Mara the Wokling. Considering his responsibilities at work, that meant Ender had to watch the Ewok. At work. So far, he had succesfully managed to boot up the holographic system to his specifications, but otherwise, he hadn't really gotten any work done.

There wasn't really anywhere safe in the back to leave the Ewok, after all, so his options were limited to the front desk or his lap, and neither of them let him do much. He didn't really mind, though-- taking care of the Ewok had its own draws.

[ ooopen. ]

Comments

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

Tony was just going to walk by and check something on his computer quickly, but...

"...why do you have a teddy bear?"

[endsthegame]

"It's not a teddy bear," Ender said, holding up the Ewok a little so that it became clear that she was moving.

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

"...riiiight. And why do you have that then?"

[endsthegame]

"Skywalker's idea of a valuable life lesson," he said, lowering Mara so he could straighten her fur a little. "Class assignment."

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

Tony just made a face. "It's not going to crap all over my lab, right?"

[endsthegame]

Mara stared at him, not quite understanding. "Yub," she responded.

"I think she'll be able to contain herself."

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

"Good." A beat. "And stop trying to program my system."

[endsthegame]

"I'm just making sure I can work with it," Ender said. The little creature in his lap was batting up at his chin, but she didn't reach it, and he pushed her paw gently down. "Unless you'd rather I sit around and do nothing all day."

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

"Is the security system finished?"

[endsthegame]

"Finished and tested," he said, reaching into the desk to get Mara's food. She took the opportunity to pull on his shirt. "It's ready for a field run."

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

"Excellent." Tony grinned and just eyed the bear thing warily. "Transfer it to my server and we'll give it a go with my IT people."

[endsthegame]

"Will I get a look at the reports?" Ender asked. He wasn't really looking forward to handing something like this over unless he was sure what was going to happen with it. Precedent said a few nasty things.

He unscrewed the lid off the jar.

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

"I'll make sure to have them send them to you," Tony replied. "It's your project, after all."

And it wasn't as if he could answer any questions they had.

"Try not to let on how old you are. They might get upset at being beat by a kid."

[endsthegame]

"You can assure them I beat better people," Ender said, without blinking, or sounding like he felt particularly arrogant about it. It was just a fact, and he knew it.

He spooned up some food for Mara and fed it to her, careful not to make too much of a mess. No matter how hard she was trying.

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

"I never implied you didn't," Tony said dismissively. "Just that I don't want to deal with them have a crisis of ego over this."

[endsthegame]

"And I never implied that you did," Ender replied, looking up from over Mara's now-occupied head. "But I won't mention my age. It doesn't mean much anyway."

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

"Good." He nodded to the thing. "Enjoy babysitting."

[endsthegame]

"I'll do my best," he said, "Try not to slip on any crap, Stark."

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

"Cute." Tony rolled his eyes and headed out the door.