Stark Industries, Monday

[endsthegame]

Taking a day off to see the unicorns this weekend had been a nice break, though Ender had never really moved past his own worries. There was simply too much to think about - too much to anticipate on, too much to plan for. Too many deaths to be remembered, for Kaeleer brought back memories of Agio, and left him mulling how much more blood would be spilled because of his failures.

He couldn't afford to fail Ben now.

Not for the first time since the summer, he found himself irrationally angry that the IF had kept him here, rather than sending him off much earlier. Sure, it would have meant the colony ship itself would have traveled much slower, but it would mean Ender would finally get the retirement he craved.

Nevermind.

He had to slog through a whole crop of blueberries in the morning just to get to his counter, but he barely paid attention to them. Missing even a day meant missing a lot of correspondence, and he still hadn't caught up yet.

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[momslilassassin]

"Ho, kreetle," Ben said with a little smile, then noticed the blueberries.

"This is a lot of fruit."

[endsthegame]

"It'll be gone by tomorrow," Ender said. He sounded distracted, and he hadn't quite lifted his head up from behind his laptop--

--though a few seconds later it was getting shut, as per usual.

[momslilassassin]

Ben's forehead furrowed. "Bad news?"

[endsthegame]

"No, but between your universe and mine, I have a lot of correspondence to catch up on," he replied. "I seem to be in demand."

[momslilassassin]

"I won't even make a bad joke at that," Ben said, putting lunch down and walking over to kiss Ender's cheek. "But I brought food when you get a second."

[endsthegame]

"I always have a second," Ender said, smiling briefly. "What've we got?"

[momslilassassin]

"Thai," Ben said. "I thought we could use a break from burgers and sandwiches."

[endsthegame]

"Ah," Ender said. "So you're trying to watch your waistline - or is it mine?"

[momslilassassin]

"For some reason, I seem to be sleeping in more often and missing out on all of my situps," Ben said, grinning at him.

[endsthegame]

"It would be a tragedy if you lost your six pack," Ender said. "Even if you're getting plenty of exercise."

[momslilassassin]

Ben chuckled, blushing slightly. "So, yes, Thai food. Though don't ask me to pronounce most of it. There's something spicy with chicken, something not as spicy with shrimp, and something with beef."

[endsthegame]

"I'll take the shrimp," Ender said. He reached for the bags. "Since I'm sure you'll be done with the beef the next time I blink."

[momslilassassin]

"I'm not that bad," Ben replied, making a face at him.

And then, yes, reaching for the beef.

"Nothing on fire in either dimension so far?" he checked, opening his carton up.

[endsthegame]

"Mine is downright peaceful," Ender replied. He opened up his container and reached for a fork. "More work going into the cure for the worm plague on Shakespeare, and the colonists waiting on Eros are starting to get excited about leaving in a few months. Everyone's in good spirits."

[momslilassassin]

"Good," Ben said, smiling. "I'm making some headway on the information you passed along. I might be able to match faces to names by the time we get there."

[endsthegame]

"Do you need anything else?" Ender asked.

There hadn't been any major developments in Ben's universe over the past few days, and speaking about it tended to get Ben stuck in a downward spiral of guilt, anger, and sadness. This... was more constructive.

[momslilassassin]

"Not that I can think of," Ben said, taking a bite from his food. "Is there a particular group you'd like me to focus on?"

[endsthegame]

"Everyone?" Ender offered, scooping up some of his own and taking a bite. "The most important thing we have to accomplish is to make sure everyone works together, instead of splitting off into cliques. Most importantly, we have to make sure the new colonists and the old intermingle peacefully."

[momslilassassin]

Ben nodded. "A bit like setting up a planet's worth of blind dates," he said.

He'd seen the Valentine's Day booths.

"Having them talk to each other early isn't possible, right?"

[endsthegame]

Ender shook his head.

"We don't have enough ansible bandwidth," he said. "Ansible access is still heavily regulated on the Eros end, and the one on the ship won't be able to deal with such a heavy load. So, our arrival is the first time everyone will meet."

He pursed his lips.

"We're going to more than double the population by anyone's calculations," he said. "We'll have to found new settlements, too."

[momslilassassin]

"Are you going to mix the settlers with the established colonies or just set the new ones up in their own place?" Ben asked.

[endsthegame]

"I think it might not be too late to mix things up a little - and if we don't, we'll have divided the colony right off the bat, and that won't do anyone much good," Ender said. "We won't want to uproot any of the established families, unless they volunteer. But there ought to be plenty of young people looking for a new challenge when we get there."

[momslilassassin]

"Is this going to turn into a go-forth-and-multiply pep talk thing?" Ben asked a little warily. "Because I remember how...intense...Bean and Petra were about it."

[endsthegame]

"I'm fairly sure the current colonists won't have any problem going forth and multiplying without my input," Ender said, sounding a little amused. "And I think you and me would run into some trouble in that department..."

[momslilassassin]

Ben blushed. "True. We're missing a little bit of equipment for that between the two of us."