Sta-- Fixer Uppers, Monday

[endsthegame]

The carrots had been yanked out of the machinery. The laptop had been set up on the desk. The holo-display had been tweaked, and everything looked as clean as it ever did. Even the lens flare on the sign seemed slightly less offensively ugly today.

Ender had called up most of his files on the Formics, and he had gone to work, and that was that.

Everything was back to normal.

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[momslilassassin]

Ben had tried to give Ender his space this weekend, but now that Peter and Val were gone, he was back with two large coffees and take out from Taste of Thai. His expression was carefully neutral as he walked into the shop.

"Ho, Ender."

[endsthegame]

Ender looked up, and immediately shut his laptop. "Ho, Ben," he said. "No sandwiches?"

[momslilassassin]

"It's gross outside," Ben said, "and I wanted something warmer than sandwiches." He grinned. "Besides, I was getting too predictable. What are you working on?"

[endsthegame]

"Nothing beyond the usual," Ender said, fluidly. If he hadn't thought it'd lead to frustrating questions, he might have followed it up with 'catching up on the work I missed over the weekend'.

But he had, and he didn't. "How about you, since I didn't have the chance to check in on you last week?"

[momslilassassin]

"Fine," Ben said with a quick smile. "Dad and Granddad sparred and everyone walked away with all of their limbs." He passed over Ender's coffee. "I chatted with Val and had a quick conversation with Peter, too."

His eyes tried to meet Ender's to appraise how much damage the weekend had caused him.

[endsthegame]

Ender looked just a little bit older, but he always looked old for his age. And tired. He hid it behind his coffee, taking a long drink from it, no matter how warm it still was. "Val told me she'd been talking to you. Fun reunion."

[momslilassassin]

"Mmm," Ben answered noncomittedly. "What did Peter want?"

[endsthegame]

Ender snorted. "What does Peter ever want?"

[momslilassassin]

"Something for himself veiled as something for the good of the world," Ben replied promptly, then thought about it a little more. "Did he piss of the jeesh somehow?"

Ben bet on it being something like "by talking for more than two sentences" but he wasn't inclined to give Peter the benefit of the doubt in much.

[endsthegame]

"The Jeesh has been pissed off at him since time immemorial," Ender said, brushing it off. "More the former category. Anyway, it's none of our problem."

It was Ender's problem, because he'd said yes. But.

[momslilassassin]

Ben gave him an incredulous look. "Is it just your problem, then?" he asked. He'd learned a little bit about how carefully Ender parsed things over the years.

[endsthegame]

"Peter's his own problem."

[momslilassassin]

"Did you tell him that?" Ben replied.

[endsthegame]

"Does it matter what I told him?" Ender retorted. "He's not coming back here."

[momslilassassin]

"That's not what I'm really worried about," Ben replied. "Are you going there?"

[endsthegame]

"I was already planning on 'going there' three months ago. I don't see why I should change that just because Peter decided to try to throw his weight around."

[momslilassassin]

"But now he'll take credit for your arrival," Ben said, making a face. "I know you don't care about the politics, but sometimes it matters."

[endsthegame]

"If Peter wanted to take credit for me coming back to Earth," Ender said, shooting him a dry look, "He wouldn't have proposed helping me get onto the planet without being noticed."

[momslilassassin]

"If Peter has screwed up really badly, he would also not want it getting around he needed his little brother to fix it for him," Ben replied, nodding.

[endsthegame]

"He wouldn't even have to screw up too badly," Ender replied. "He has nothing to gain politically from me being there right now. Publically. It would only undermine his image as a peace-seeker."

[momslilassassin]

"So why did he ask?" Ben asked.

[endsthegame]

"Do I look like I have a straight line into Peter's head?" Ender asked him, sarcastically. "I really don't care."

[momslilassassin]

"So when do we go?" he replied, ignoring the sarcasm.

[endsthegame]

Yeah, well. Peter did something to Ender.

"Probably soon," he said. "Graff's kept me waiting long enough." But Peter, was the implicit message, could still blow it all out his ass.

[momslilassassin]

"Have you heard how Alai's doing?" Ben asked.

[endsthegame]

"Nobody really tells me much of anything," Ender lied ommitted like an ommitting thing. "And he's pretty deeply ensconced in the Middle East right now."

[momslilassassin]

"Ender," Ben said, giving him a slightly impatient look. "Want that again?"

[endsthegame]

"Not really," Ender said, looking him firmly in the eye.

[momslilassassin]

"Why not?" Ben asked.

[endsthegame]

"Because I've already told you," he said. "Not everything's a conspiracy theory, Skywalker."

[momslilassassin]

Ben leaned against the counter. "It feels like I only have about half the picture," he said quietly.

[endsthegame]

"Val would say that sometimes half the picture is all you get, and the rest of it might as well be sky," Ender said, lightly.

[momslilassassin]

"Maybe," Ben said, "but I also have a feeling that you gave me the shot that's mostly sky and half of a boot and are keeping the rest of it to yourself." He tried to meet Ender's eyes. "And I don't know why."

[endsthegame]

Ender was hardly going to look away, but he didn't budge an inch. "Or maybe you're just paranoid," he replied. "I haven't told you anything but the truth."

[momslilassassin]

"I've known you for years now," Ben replied. "You think I can't tell when you are working to make sure you get past my Jedi truth-checking? Give me a little bit of credit."

[endsthegame]

"Or you could give me a little, yourself," Ender said, irritably, "And let this go."

[momslilassassin]

"And if I say no?" Ben asked, working carefully.

[endsthegame]

Ender groaned. "You are worse than a girl, do you know that?"

[momslilassassin]

"I could tell Karla you said that and she'd thump you around the second floor," Ben promised.

[endsthegame]

"I might actually opt for that over this conversation," Ender said, irritably. "Which is pointless."

[momslilassassin]

"I don't know about it being pointless," Ben said. "I'm learning a few things."

[endsthegame]

"I'm losing IQ points by the minute."

Yes, Ender had been learning from watching Sherlock from a distance.

"Can we talk about something useful, now, or are you going to keep prodding?"

[momslilassassin]

Ben sighed. "Fine, kreetle," he said, shoving a take-out box of noodles toward him. "I'll write Val and ask instead."

He wouldn't.

[endsthegame]

"Good luck with that," he said, taking the box and opening it for a good poke-through.