Stark Industries, Monday

[endsthegame]

Living in the tents wasn't that terrible; sleeping on an unreliable air mattress, on the other hand, wasn't exactly what you'd call grand.

It'd slowly emptied itself again during the night, leaving Ender with a rock digging not-so-gently into his back. So when he got to the store and finally got to take a seat that didn't poke him in a bruised spot, he did so with a deep sigh of relief.

Then he pulled up his laptop and got to work - but not without shifting in his seat every now and again, or reaching back and rubbing at the painful spot.

Sigh.

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[momslilassassin]

"Ho, kreetle," Ben said, giving him a sympathetic smile. "You found the rock last night?"

[endsthegame]

"It's a very vicious rock," Ender muttered.

[momslilassassin]

Ben moved behind the counter so he could kiss the back of Ender's neck--though not anywhere near his scar--then moved his hands down to give Ender a bit of a massage.

"I'll go have a chat with it," he murmured.

[endsthegame]

Ender shot him a slightly amused look. He couldn't mock too hard, though - that felt nice. "Will you make it levitate if it gets mouthy with you?"

[momslilassassin]

"Yep," Ben agreed. "And then I'll kick it out of our tent."

[endsthegame]

"So violent," Ender said. "Is that what they teach all Jedi? Act out against rocks?"

[momslilassassin]

Ben moved his hands down to work the kinks out of Ender's back. "Only when they start it," he replied.

[endsthegame]

Ender made a relieved little noise in the back of his throat. "Nice."

[momslilassassin]

"The real reason you put up with me, isn't it?" Ben teased, kissing the back of Ender's neck again.

[endsthegame]

"It's the one thing that made you a worthy dating prospect," Ender agreed, smiling a little.

[momslilassassin]

"Well, I certainly can't cook," Ben agreed, putting a little more pressure into his fingers.

[endsthegame]

"Ngh."

A little painful, that, but it was the good kind of pain that made it clear Ben was pushing some of the strain out of his back. "And please don't try again."

[momslilassassin]

Ben nuzzled his neck as his hands kept moving. "So you'll cook on Shakespeare? I can do dishes."

[endsthegame]

"We don't really cook back home," Ender murmured. "As far as I know, everything gets synthesized, more or less. I doubt it's quite the same at the colony yet, but it'll be before long."

[momslilassassin]

"Sounds familiar," Ben replied with a smile. "We only cook on places like Dathomir."

[endsthegame]

"The upside is someone will probably figure out how to synthesize ice cream from the local flora and fauna after a while," Ender said.

[momslilassassin]

"And that person might even be me," Ben said, chuckling. "Feeling better?" he added more quietly.

[endsthegame]

"I am," Ender said, glancing up at him with a small smile. "Thanks. You have the healing touch."

[momslilassassin]

Ben leaned in to kiss him softly. "Only for certain people."

[endsthegame]

"Good," Ender murmured. "If Tony figures out how good you are at massages, he'll never let you leave."

[momslilassassin]

Ben laughed. "I promised him a bacta tank. That should be enough for him."

[endsthegame]

"It's probably more efficient," Ender said, "And god knows he'll need efficient."

[momslilassassin]

"Because he's not going to stop stepping into cages with tigers," Ben agreed.

[endsthegame]

"He doesn't even know how," Ender said wryly, "But then that's something it took you a long time to figure out as well. Whoever is without sin..."

[momslilassassin]

Ben looked briefly confused by the quote. "That's not Shakespeare."