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The Perk, Sunday Afternoon

Ender had purposefully let Ben go off on his own. The man needed some time with his friends, and Ender's presence would just get in the way. After some time spent strolling around the beach, he walked back into town, stole into the Perk, and sat down.

A few minutes later, he had a large steaming cup of coffee sitting in front of him.

He stared out the window, taking the occasional sip. He still wasn't completely comfortable being back here, but he'd deal. At least the coffee was better than the improvised stuff they produced on Shakespeare - he'd have to buy some beans.

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There was at least one person that didn't think Ender would be in the way. Karla was only sorry that she'd missed them at the Causeway yesterday, when she could have gotten to see them at the same time and together.

This time, at least, her entrance was more sedate and restrained, though her smile was as bright as ever when she spotted Ender.

"Kiss kiss," she said with pretend serenity. "Welcome back, Ender."

Back, not home. After this year, Fandom wasn't home for her anymore, really, either.

"Karla," Ender said, greeting her appearance with a smile. (It wasn't one that reached his eyes, but that hardly meant anything with him.) "Come on, take a seat-- you want coffee?"

He was a little older and a little taller than the last time she'd seen him.

And Karla was cataloging those changes with quick glances at him, seeing what differences the years had made. "Please," she said, taking a seat. She noticed his eyes weren't smiling back, and resolutely ignored the pang that caused--after years of friendship, she knew better than to judge Ender's reactions based on what to expect from other people.

"Vacation, huh? Or did Ben convince you he'd come down with a horrible illness only Chilly Boulder could cure?"

Ender chuckled. "It's a slowly progressing disease," he said, "Or so Ben tells me. But tragic. Very tragic."

"I commend you both on how bravely you're facing it," Karla assured him. "Stiff upper lips in this difficult time and all."

Ender lifted up his coffee towards the barista, engaging in a brief but thorough display of hand-waving and finger-pointing that indicated that he would like another coffee for his friend.

"We get by," he said. "Apparently our homemade ice cream won't cure his ills. So we took a weekend off."

"Glad you decided to make the trip," Karla said, flashing him another smile, wondering if she could perhaps make arrangements to head back with them for that long-delayed visit. "Extra glad you did while I was here to see you. Saves me from having to sob or whine into your comms and you from having to listen to it."

Or delete it halfway through, but details.

She'd probably wind up stuck with Ben during the daylight hours if she did come along, but... that probably wouldn't be a deterrent.

"It works out well that way," Ender said, a little fondly. "Excellent timing, miss Di Glacia. How have you been?"

Not particularly, nope!

"Itchy," Karla said. "The island's getting a little small. How did you do it?"

It had been getting so bad, Karla had given thought to ambushing Peter somewhere and demanding to know how he was coping.

"I was used to waiting," Ender said, which was half of the honest answer. After a moment's consideration, the other half followed. "I still managed a great deal of sleepless nights, crawling up the walls. Coming back here almost makes me feel that claustrophobic again."

Because at least now Karla seemed to understand that part.

Karla did and didn't take that answer personally.

"I get that," she said. "I slept best in Glacia, even with the constant threat of danger. Sometimes I wonder why I decided to stay for my senior year, I really do."

She paused to thank the barista for her coffee and took a small sip, thinking that she could have left with her friends and not really looked back.

"I think I had this idea that my senior year would be one last hurrah, where I could run around doing whatever I wanted. Like a year-long bachelorette party or something."

"It doesn't turn out to be as easy when you have responsibilities elsewhere, does it?" Ender said, taking a quiet sip of his coffee as he composed his thoughts.

"I used to spend dance night going through files and doing research. Being there just served as a reminder of what I wasn't doing."

Karla nodded, recognizing the exact truth of his words. "I tried to compensate, taking responsibilities here to ground me," she replied, mouth twisting in a wry grin. "Now I'm trying not to resent them for seeming so petty compared to everything else."

She huffed a laugh. "I'd say you should have warned me, but it's entirely possible that I'm a bit hard-headed and needed to see this for myself to really get it."

"You seemed to be enjoying yourself too much, anyway," Ender said, smiling faintly - though this one touched a little closer to his eyes. "All whirlwind smiles and kisses and the occasional venomous jab."

"I've been freer here than I ever was in my life," Karla said softly, with a smile of her own. "And now I feel like I need to pay for that freedom, I guess. So I'm all impatient to get to the point where I can. If that all makes sense?"

She was impatient to get to Glacia for other reasons as well, but she figured Ender would understand this, too. The feeling of marking down time to get to the responsibilities that were hanging over her head.

"It makes sense," Ender assured her, and took another sip of his coffee before setting it down, cradled between his hands. "It won't be much longer now. If my experience is anything to go by, you might find it freeing in its own way."

"In that I'll finally be doing something instead of just thinking about it all the time?" Karla said. "I can see that."

Another, longer sip of her coffee, now that it had cooled a bit, and then she asked, "How are you finding governing?"

She was certain he was good at it, as Ender was good at everything he put his hand to, and knew how to inspire loyalty and trust in ways that Karla could only dream of, but how Shakespeare felt about his governing and how he felt about doing so were likely very different.

"It keeps me busy," Ender said bluntly. "By far the most interesting part of my governorship is being able to be there when new formic ruins are uncovered and researched. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen every day."

So... essentially what Karla was already guessing at.

"And once your term is up, you'll be moving on?" Karla asked. "Or will you stay and maybe start actively searching for ruins, instead?"

Karla was guessing that they'd move on. Shakespeare had too many ties to his old life, as well as not being a suitable place for the Queen. But with Ben's vineyards and the possibility of discovering more about the formics, a few more years might be possible, once Ender had shed his burden of power.

On the other hand, would he ever be able to on Shakespeare?

"Would they let you retire?"

"There's no letting about it," Ender said. "I've already announced that I'll be stepping down after my first term, and I've already set the political machine in motion - Shakespeare will go on as an independent colony. And while they might not realize it yet, they won't have any need for me when that happens."

Which was absolutely fine by him.

"So we'll be leaving. But that's still more than a year away."

"That was more in response to my thoughts," Karla explained. "Wondering if you two were staying and whether you'd be able to retire if you kept living there. I can see people coming to you both with problems, no matter how many times you gently remind them that that's someone else's responsibility now."

Which was all rather moot now that Ender had confirmed that they were leaving. But it was a thought that had dovetailed in with Karla's own, when she allowed herself to think of the end of her reign, whenever that might be.

"Plans on where you're off to next?"

"If history remains as it is, then the next ship will take us to Ganges," Ender said lightly. "After that, who knows."

"The universe is your oyster," Karla said. "Though I'd take it as a personal favor if you two avoided any planets with huge, improbable predators on it. I can just see Ben getting trapped inside some kind of giant tree or something to be digested for later."

She probably shouldn't be grinning at that mental image, but c'mon. It was funny.

"I have no doubt your magic diplomacy would rescue him before he took any permanent damage, but it would just be terribly undignified."

Ender chuckled. "I promise to try to avoid any planets where Ben might be eaten by a tree," he said. "Cross my heart. I'll even throw sentient shrubs into the deal."

Note that he was not questioning the likelihood of Ben getting eaten by any of it. Just the shrubs.

Because Ender was a realist, yo.

"It's because you're a good friend," Karla said piously. "And it would be cruel to tell me the story of how Ben got eaten by a stand of azaleas and not provide me with video."

Which Ender wouldn't take, sigh.

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The Perk, Sunday Afternoon

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