fandomtownies | JGoB's, Saturday Morning

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JGoB's, Saturday Morning

Val's coming during Ender's first Parents' Weekend years ago had been an ambivalent affair, Ender not sure how far to trust her, Val not sure how far Ender would trust her.

Now, four years later, that seemed like a century away. Ender was terribly glad to see her as she'd arrived that morning. Not that he'd had much time to talk to her yet: check-in at the hotel and all of that stuff. So he'd promised her he'd meet her for breakfast at JGoB's and left her to settle in.

He was there now, having picked a nice table near the front of the shop. There was a plate of pastries sitting in front of him, though he hadn't ordered drinks yet: that could wait until she was there.

He waited.

[[ Ender is expecting one, but post is totally open both for interacting with him and for other use of JGoB's. ]]

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"'Morning, Ender." Valentine smiled as she pulled out the chair across from her brother and sat down, beaming happily, almost proudly at him. It really had seemed a century ago, and it was only her incredible sense of self-control that was preventing Ender from being thoroughly smushed right now.

Although the plate of pastries were a good distraction, too.

"Morning, Val," Ender replied. His smile didn't quite match her, but then his rarely quite hit his eyes, even after all this time. It certainly didn't mean he wasn't pleased to see her; that was obvious. "I'm sorry to bustle you right back inside when you probably haven't seen a blue sky in a while, but I'd rather not risk the rain."

"The food more than makes up for it," Valentine assured him, as she was unable to hold herself back and eagerly reached for a particularly tempting morsel. She fully intended to gain ten whole pounds this weekend, gorging herself on food that wasn't the spartan victuals she was used to. "There's a pretty good view from my hotel room, anyway."

She tore off a piece of the pastry, offering Ender a crooked grin before eating it. "Are you excited?"

If he wasn't, it seemed that Valentine could manage enough excitement to cover both of them.

Ender's answering expression inched into the wry spectrum. "Oh, I'm ecstatic," he said. "I'm graduating high school. It's everything a boy my age would want."

"I'm sure not everything," Valentine noted with a suggestive quirk of her eyebrow. "Still, though..."

Her smile turned pleased, adoring, even a little proud. "It's quaint. I think it's good for you."

"Getting up on stage wearing a robe and collecting a piece of paper," Ender said. "You're right. My therapists will be terribly pleased with my progress."

"You might be surprised how much stock people put into a piece of paper," Valentine reminded him, "or, even worse, what's written on it."

"I'd be as surprised at that as I'd be at the ease with which you can forge words on a piece of paper these days."

Ender took a pastry for himself and took a quick bite.

"But I'll do my best to improve my shivering in anticipation," he added. "Nothing but the best for my sister."

Valentine nodded with a sage expression on her face. "I would expect no less," she said. "And what's next in line for the high school graduate? Delaying a colony trip even further?"

"Until the ship is done," Ender agreed. "I don't see a pressing need for me to hang around Eros. Thought I'd try my hand at teaching instead."

It meant avoiding colonists fawning over him (besides through regulated email channels) for another few months.

"Teaching what?" Valentine asked, with a small laugh and absolutely no attempt to hide her amusement.

"Self-reliance and the basic understanding that I don't actually know anything worth learning that they don't know already," Ender said. "Or philosophy, as it's called."

That description did little to quell Valentine's grin. "Think it's too late to sign up to take a few summer courses here? I'll have to talk to someone to take notes on how you do. Or, better yet, film it."

Ender snorted softly. "I think you're a little old to be a student, Val. You're supposed to have your piece of paper already."

"Supposed to," Valentine said. She was sure the IF could provide one if need be. "Besides, half the people who go to this school look older than a normal teenager; I don't think anyone would notice."

"Maybe," Ender said, "But the school has paperwork on your age from back when you were here. Not that it matters," he added. "If you wanted to come here, you'd find a way."

He smiled a little.

"Yeah," Valentine said, a little wistfully, a little proudly. "I would. But, no, I suppose it's only fair to let actual students get to have the pleasure of being your students. Really, I'm not that masochistic anyway."

"You're more of a sadist," Ender agreed. "Taunting me with your return to the island. Terrible, Val."

"As if you won't get enough of me in the future," Valentine said, but, when she folded her arms in front of her and leaned forward on the table, there was a very interesting glint in her eyes.

"Fair enough," Ender agreed. "But you promised me a perpetual nuisance, and I've only been granted an intermittent one."

"Did I?" Valentine laughed. "Did we put this down in a contract? You know, a verbal agreement is only as good as the paper it's written on, Ender."

"I believe once upon a time, word of mouth was considered sacrament," Ender said, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Especially between kin."

"Have you met my kin?" Valentine asked.

D'aww. She missed this.

"Let's not drag Peter into this and foul up the conversation," Ender suggested.

This Peter, Fandom's Peter, either Peter...

"Fair enough," Valentine allowed, grinning as she snagged a second pastries. "These are way too good for me to go and spoil my appetite, anyway."

Ender chuckled. "I'm glad you like them," he said. "I never come here, other than to feed the ravening beast that shares a room with me, so it's good to know my judgment of pastries doesn't fall short." He leaned forward. "It's really good to see you again."

It had been since Christmas, and that didn't feel right.

Edited 2012-04-28 20:40 (UTC)

"Honestly," Valentine said, "you could put a burnt cookie with cat hair on it in front of me, and I'll think it's decadent. Eros isn't known for its gourmet cuisine."

Said conversationally and idly before she allowed a faint smile to surface on her face when she added, "It's good to see you, too. And it's good to see you doing well. Or at least doing well at hiding it if you're not."

"I'm well enough," Ender promised her. "And not hiding a thing about it, honest."

It was actually kind of true!

"How has Eros been treating you?"

"You haven't been by to see us at all, and I know you know we came here yesterday, Ender."

Hello to you too, Petra.

Ender looked up. That was... not the guest he'd been expecting, but a fine guest none the less.

Double one, he amended, as he saw the shape of Suriyawong coming up on JGoB's door.

"I wanted to give you some time to settle in," he said.

"Yes, because what I really want when I come here is to spend more time with your imasen brother," Petra said, sinking into the seat in front of him. "You were avoiding us."

Ender sighed. "Of course not," he said. "Why would I do that? I haven't seen you in ages."

"Because you don't want to deal with us being here, and you can't wait to get away for good," Petra said.

She'd promised herself she wouldn't let Ender chip away at her frustration until he gave her some actual honesty.

Suriyawong sat down in the seat next to hers. "Or maybe he enjoys Peter's company as much as you do," he observed, his head nodding forward in a respectful quarter-bow. "Admiral Wiggin."

Ender smiled at him. "Thank you, Surrey," he said. "But there's no need for titles here - I'm just a student. And I'm happy to receive the both of you here. Honest -- it has been too long."

Petra scowled at him. She wasn't fully buying it, but she remembered the last time she tried to pick a fight with Ender about anything remotely personal. "Your brother is a pain in my ass," she said. "He's teaching my children all of the wrong habits."

Suriyawong shot Ender a look.

He'd been in the middle of Petra and Peter's belligerent UST for several months now, and he'd really rather be... well, elsewhere. With Virlomi, perhaps.

"He is," Ender agreed easily. "But perhaps that means you shouldn't let him near your children."

Ahem, Petra.

... Well, she could.

But Peter was good with them, that was the thing. And then there was... the thing he'd said, but hidden away, that he refused to own up to now. And...

It was stupid to think about it. Bean had been buried less than a year ago.

"He's paying for their housing," she said stiffly, wishing Ender couldn't read her this well.

Edited 2012-04-28 18:20 (UTC)

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JGoB's, Saturday Morning

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