Fixer-Uppers [all day]

[momslilassassin]

Ben was back to working on the Bluetooth (stay well away from any audio recordings today) and trying to dodge the rain of lemons and blueberries every half hour.

He hated when the store tried to get into the spirit of things.

Fixer-Uppers was open!

Comments

[endsthegame]

"So it's a fruit day," Ender said, rolling a lemon out of the way with his foot as he came in.

[momslilassassin]

"In theme colors, even," Ben replied. "The blueberries come down pretty hard."

[endsthegame]

"I think there's an umbrella in the back," Ender volunteered, putting their burgers down on the desk. He'd opted for traditional this time. "In case you're afraid of maiming your brain pan."

[momslilassassin]

"And here I thought you'd think there was nothing in there to hurt," Ben teased, reaching for a burger. He glanced at his chrono. "We have 22 minutes before the next storm."

[endsthegame]

"The brain itself doesn't have any pain receptors, just the skin over the skull," Ender said, cheerfully, "So it doesn't really matter if you have anything in there or not. And then I'll be out of here in twenty-two minutes. Keep track for me."

[momslilassassin]

"You are just a font of knowledge," Ben said dryly. "And here I was going to offer to share the umbrella."

[endsthegame]

"I could just take the umbrella and wait and see if the island conjures up something big enough to crack that thick layer of bone..."

[momslilassassin]

"Oh, you mock, but I'll have the last laugh when you end up working on watermelon day," Ben threatened.

[endsthegame]

"Are you accusing me of tempting the fates?" Ender asked, getting a burger from the bag.

[momslilassassin]

"I'm saying I know where to find a ladder and some watermelons," Ben replied. "I can make it be watermelon day."

[endsthegame]

"Blatant abuse of Jedi training."

[momslilassassin]

"No, I was planning on abusing gravity," Ben said, laughing. "Jedi training would keep the blasted things in the air."

[endsthegame]

"I never specified what kind of Jedi training," Ender pointed out. "It could just be your spectacular ladder-carrying abilities." He took a bite of his burger.

[momslilassassin]

"Nah, that would just be a workout for my arms," Ben said.

[endsthegame]

Ender glanced very briefly at Ben's... sleeves. "Because you don't do enough of that already," he deflected said. "No ladders here, Skywalker."

[momslilassassin]

"Well, you never know when you'll need to pick something heavy up," Ben said with a grin. "It's better to be prepared."

[endsthegame]

Ender snorted softly. "So," he said, putting his burger back down, "It appears that Virlomi is arranging a very foolish war with China."

Hello, mostly unrelated topic shift.

[momslilassassin]

Ben frowned immediately. "Is she attacking?"

[endsthegame]

"From what I can gather off the latest rumors, she wants to," Ender said, "But I haven't really looked into it."

He really didn't want to. He'd gotten more involved with the whole situation than he'd been planning to in the first place.

[momslilassassin]

"Are you going to?" Ben asked.

[endsthegame]

"I've done all I can already," Ender replied, glancing up to meet Ben's eyes. "And it's not my planet anymore. I don't want all of this to keep clogging up the back of my head. So no, I'm not planning to."

[momslilassassin]

But when it was this twisted up with Alai, it was hard not to care at least a little bit.

"She's doing this alone?"

[endsthegame]

"No, the plan seems to be attributed to the entire Caliphate," Ender said. "But like I said, that's all I know."

[momslilassassin]

Ben sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "Sorry, kreetle."

[endsthegame]

"I'm just keeping you updated," Ender said, sounding generally level about it all. "No apologies - or condolences - necessary. With any luck, Alai will talk her out of it, and that' be that."