fandomtownies | The Beach, Tuesday Morning

There was one advantage to being back here: one incrementally small thing that Ender would take advantage of. There was water near Shakespeare, but it was well away from the city itself. Most of the colony operated on what they drew out of the ground, a relic of the days when making sure their water was filtered was a major necessity.

But here there was a beach.

Ender's raft had long since been dismantled, and he didn't bother searching for the remains. He just sat down on the sand, cross-legged, staring at the horizon for a while.

"Oh, wow. I have you to myself for once," Jane murmured in his ear. "I had almost forgotten what that was like."

Ender sighed. "We spoke all the time while I worked," he said.

"About work. It's not the same. I like watching you talk to people - you do so well at taking them apart," she said.

"I'm sorry if I'd rather not talk to you or have you listen in while I'm with Ben," Ender said.

"Oh, I wouldn't want you to. I've never really listened when you're with him anyway," she sniffed. "'Oh, I love you!' 'But I love you more!' 'No, I love you more!' 'Let's get naked!' Smooch, smooch, let's rub our parts together, whoops, there goes the furniture, it's all very disgusting."

Ender shot an irritable look at nothing in particular. "That's hardly all we do," he said. "Besides, you could make anything sound tawdry when you put it like that."

"You guys do more than that? I hadn't noticed," Jane shot back.

"I thought you were so happy to have me alone."

"Wow, that's a subtle attempt at a segue."

"So how about we talk about something that isn't Ben."

"I'd love to," Jane muttered. "How about those students of yours?"

"How about them indeed."

[ post is open! conversation with Jane NFB. ]