Il Pollo, Saturday Afternoon

[endsthegame]

Val had arrived a few hours ago, but they hadn't had a lot of time to themselves yet. Ender wanted to catch up with his sister in private - it had been a few months, and while they hadn't been quite as eventful as the previous year, a lot had still happened. He wondered how much of it he should share with her. She'd definitely like to know about Peter, but... well. Things in their family were always complicated. (In most families, he was starting to think-- few people he'd met here had simple loving relationships with their relatives, the way you saw them in the movies.)

Lunch had seemed like the best option, because he wasn't about to take Ben up on his offer to leave the room to them for a while. And so shortly after noon had come and gone, Ender took his sister down into the town to get some food at Il Pollo.

He sank down in the booth with a small smile on his face, and stole a menu from the table next to theirs. "You look good," he said, warmly. "Eros can't have been treating you that badly."

[[ ender is here for one, but il pollo is open like an open place. ]]

Comments

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"I won't complain," Valentine said, tilting a grin at Ender across the table. "But you should maybe get your eyes checked."

[endsthegame]

"I think my eyes are doing absolutely fine," he said, his smile going up a notch - which still didn't make it very big, except for Ender's standards. "I have very good doctors."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"You might want to double check those doctors' credentials, then," Valentine offered. "Or maybe put more carrots in your diet."

[endsthegame]

"I already eat like a rabbit," Ender told her, waving over one of the servers. "If I eat more carrots, I might turn into one right in time for Easter."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"I think orange could be a good color for you," Valentine noted after looking at Ender thoughtfully, as if imagining the new pigments. "When we're done ordering, you'll have to tell me if there are any of your teachers in particular I need to see."

[endsthegame]

"I think you might enjoy talking to Shunsui not that I'm encouraging playercesting yourself," Ender said, thoughtfully. "He runs an interesting class on pacifism, and he's quite a character. But ordering now-- can I have a glass of milk, first?"

The server shot him a glance, then jotted it down.

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"He's clearly still a growing boy," Valentine offered with a faint grin at the server's glance. "Just a water for me. Maybe a little bit of lemon?"

May as well splurge while she was here, right?

[endsthegame]

Sadly, that excuse probably wasn't going to fly by the time Ender was a few decades older and still ordering milk in bars, but, well, what were you going to do?

"I'll be back for your food orders," the man said, clearly avoiding commenting on the whole water-milk thing, and walked away.

Ender glanced down at his menu. "And in the spirit of our previous conversation, I think I'll opt for a salad," he said. "You should probably also talk to Jaina, if you find the time. She's teaching."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"I always have questioned the validity of the hiring practices at this school," Valentine noted. "I'll definitely have to see that. What is she teaching? Are you taking her class?"

[endsthegame]

"How to get out of difficult situations," Ender said, skimming over the menu. "I thought it was a useful addition to my roster, regardless of who was teaching it."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"Sounds like a useful addition to anyone's roster, really," Valentine mused, wondering if a bit more of a splurge than lemon in her water might be warranted now that she was here and perusing the menu herself. "Is it helpful? How is she at teaching?"

[endsthegame]

"Very hands-on, but that doesn't surprise me," Ender said, as the server came back and put their drinks down in front of them. "Mostly it's practical exercises. Mundane situations. Not that I mind; I haven't really had my fair share of experience with those."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"I'm interested to know what you'd consider 'mundane,'" Valentine noted, before giving the server a faint smile and offering her order of a salad to start out with, and then pasta. Lots and lots of pasta, with....she seemed not quite decided on the next part, but then decided chicken. Definitely chicken. This was hardly the sort of food she ate on Eros, so she was definitely going to enjoy it, yes.

[endsthegame]

Ender ordered a sizable salad himself, and a despicably healthy order of pasta along with it. It wasn't all that much food, and he wasn't likely to finish his plates either, but it was something.

And Valentine wasn't as inclined to keep shoving food at him like other people he knew.

"What to do when your car stops running in the middle of nowhere," he said, "What to do when it turns out you don't have enough money for dinner. And one I'm sure you'll appreciate -- what to do if you find someone with his tongue stuck to a lamp post. Like I said. Mundane."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

He was right, of course. Valentine couldn't help grinning a little at the last scenario especially. "And what did you do in each of those mundane situations?" she asked. She could guess, of course, but she'd like to hear Ender tell her.

[endsthegame]

"Try to fix the car, though I think in the future I might have to find some assistance," Ender said. "I'm not sure how long I'm going to keep up with mechanics where we're going."

He took a sip of his milk. "I left the waitress my contact details and struck up a deal," he said, "and left the latter to my more medically-skilled compatriots."

He was starting to feel like he was letting himself avoid the topic that Valentine would really want to know about, but he wasn't in any rush, either, so he didn't bring it up yet.

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

Valentine herself was definitely not going to have any objections to spending just a little more time getting to just enjoy some time with Ender before getting into that other topic herself. She knew eventually she'd probably have to push a little, but...

Not yet.

"It might not hurt to keep some of that mechanical skill ready, though," she noted mildly. "And, I have to ask, was the person with the tongue stuck to the pole a hapless victim, or the workings of the Danger Shop?"

[endsthegame]

"The latter," Ender said, "But I'm wondering if that's actually physically possible, or just a movie trope turned folky wisdom."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"Too bad it isn't cold enough to go find out," Valentine mused.

[endsthegame]

"Would you?" Ender asked, with a genuine hint of amusement. Or maybe it was just a repackaged version of the joy he felt at seeing her again. "Run outside, find a street light and stick your tongue out and see if it sticks?"

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"Oh, come on, Ender," Valentine said with a smile. "I'd run outside, find someone else, and get them to stick their tongue to the streetlight. I haven't seen Ben yet; think he'd be up for it?"

[endsthegame]

"Most likely," Ender said, easily. "Just as long as you dare him to do it properly, which you wouldn't have any trouble with."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"Can I express a suggestion, then," Valentine mused, "that these weekends be moved to colder months?"

[endsthegame]

"I'm sure Principal Winchester would be happy to hear it," Ender said, with a little amused shake of his head. "I think you enjoy torturing my roommate too much."

While Ben had taken up twitching on the inside when Val visiting came up. He was going to keep that tidbit to himself.

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"Well, if he didn't make it so much fun...What's he up to this weekend, anyway? The usual load of relations from about seven different directions and twenty different universes?"

[endsthegame]

"Actually, he's having a quiet weekend," Ender said. He took another sip from his milk, then put the glass down neatly on the corner of his placemat. "I've made him mind Dink for a while. They get along pretty well."

Ender: not really surprised.

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

Valentine: not exactly surprised herself.

"That's good," she said with a smile. "I think he deserves a quiet weekend every once in a while."

[endsthegame]

"He's had a few recently," Ender assured her. He glanced down at his milk, then up at her face. "Barring when we went to see Peter and the Jeesh, of course."

He still wasn't quite at the stage of talking about him as 'my brother'.

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

And there was the segue. Valentine returned Ender's glance. "So then he really deserves one," she said. "And you, too."

[endsthegame]

Well, it was segue to that, or distract her from it, or talk about the weekend little Valentine showed up, which he wasn't willing to do. In the slightest.

"Probably," Ender said. His eyes flicked back to his drink. "He plays the game less obviously than he used to," he said, "and some of it's obscure."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"I hate to say it," but, of course, she was going to anyway, "but he's starting to mature. Talk about a late bloomer."

[endsthegame]

"Maybe. Or maybe it's just Peter being Peter, and he's learned how to make his plans a little sharper. I guess it doesn't matter," he said, picking up his glass again. "I'm considering mailing him, god help me. Maybe it's time."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"What would you say to him?" Valentine asked, tilting her head with genuine curiosity. Both for what she asked and for what Ender might censor from her, too.

[endsthegame]

Ender took a sip of his drink, and had no trouble meeting Valentine's eyes after that. "The last time we spoke, he wanted to know if I was proud of him," he said. There was still a level of dry sarcasm at the idea, for it was still Peter. But not too much. "So I thought I'd start by inquiring after how he's doing, like a bonafide normal human being, and take it from there."

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

Proud of him. Valentine was not surprised, but she was a little bit curious as to how much of it might be conscious, and how much strategy.

"Now there's a novel approach," she noted, somewhat approving, and keeping back a comment about pen pals.

[endsthegame]

Ender was wondering the same thing, though his take might have been a little more cynical than Valentine's.

"I talked to Ben about it," he said. "Came to the conclusion that since Peter is still alive, I should probably at least make an effort. Ben's monster-turned-person died before he got the chance."