Room 204 [early afternoon]

[momslilassassin]

If he was being very honest with himself--which Ben tried to be--he wasn't exactly feeling like going to a dance tonight. The months he'd spent with Bean and Petra had been mentally and emotionally exhausting, and watching Achilles get executed hadn't exactly been a highlight.

And he was very, very worried about Ender. Under the guise of messing with his hair--which had gotten long and fairly stupid looking--he glanced at Ender in the mirror and waited for his roommate to say something.

[OOC: For the roomie!]

Comments

[endsthegame]

Ender was busy with something else: poking through the files on his laptop, now that he'd reclaimed it and gotten it back. His own nerves were tight, and his emotional state probably spun off in a million directions if he let go of his control over it, but for the minute it was holding.

He wasn't saying anything. Yet. He'd have to break the silence.

Even if a stubborn part of him was trying to channel everything into waiting to see who rusted first.

[momslilassassin]

Ben let out a little sigh, giving up on his hair, and brought a glass of water over for Ender.

He handed it over silently and then a seat on Ender's bed and waited.

[endsthegame]

Ender took the glass of water, and threw a look at his screen.

Then his eyes darted towards Ben. "I'm sorry you were dragged into all of that."

Of course, Ben had taken the initiative to come, but that hadn't surprised Ender. The fact that he had managed to show up was something else entirely.

[momslilassassin]

"I'm not," Ben said quietly, trying to keep Ender's attention on him. Asking if Ender was all right seemed like a really ridiculously pointless question. "Why'd you go?" he asked instead.

[endsthegame]

"Self-preservation, first of all," Ender said, lightly. There were some parts of his motives he was fully intent on keeping to himself. "Peter's been working on a new portal to Fandom, closer to home. And then Achilles was instated - I had sources warning me. It didn't seem prudent to call attention to anyone or anything out here. He'd have been on it at a moment's notice."

[momslilassassin]

"So you thought Achilles would end up here?" Ben replied, furrowing his brow. "I think we could've taken him out."

[endsthegame]

"You only saw him when he was desperate," Ender noted.

Also, Achilles -- or Peter -- would've caught on to the Formic in Special Collections eventually.

But again. Some motives were best kept to himself.

He rubbed at his eyelids. "Nevermind the risk that I'd get snatched off the causeway when I least expected it," he said, "I thought I'd minimize that."

[momslilassassin]

Ben shifted a little closer. "By leaving a cryptic message and going yourself."

[endsthegame]

"I didn't think 'I'm going back home due to a megalomaniacal genius who isn't my brother, no idea where I'll wind up or when I'll be back, but I'll be back' would be a helpful message," Ender sort of quipped. "I'll keep it in mind for next time."

[momslilassassin]

"I learned a lot about Caligula thanks to that note," Ben said with an equally weak showing of a sense of humor. "You worried Karla."

But not him. Really.

[endsthegame]

"I already talked to Karla," Ender replied, shutting his laptop. "I have friends down there, Skywalker." It was the friendly way of saying you shouldn't have worried about me.

[momslilassassin]

A slight pursing of Ben's lips was his only comment about Ender's friends. "They seemed slightly more concerned with cutting the planet into chunks of personal power than in stopping Achilles."

[endsthegame]

Something flickered in Ender's eyes, but he didn't comment on it.

"I know," he said, "But Bean got the job done."

[momslilassassin]

And suddenly Ben wasn't so eager to meet Ender's eyes any more. "Why'd you let me go in with them?" he asked.

[endsthegame]

"Because I needed Bean to be safe," Ender said, shooting a look at his hair. "Because you were likely to pull something if you weren't allowed to go in."

[momslilassassin]

Ben made a little face. "I follow orders," he said.

[endsthegame]

"You'd have been miserable and tetchy," Ender pointed out. "There's no shame in that."

[momslilassassin]

"Not because I was anxious to protect Bean," Ben pointed out.

[endsthegame]

"No, because you were anxious to do something and get out," Ender said, shooting him another glance.

There was a lot of emotion running through him like a current, but he forced himself to keep it tightly locked up.

[momslilassassin]

"Ender," Ben said softly, chewing at his bottom lip. "Talk to me."

[endsthegame]

"About what?"

Ben, once again, you get to meet Bean's greatest headache.

[momslilassassin]

Which just made it more of a challenge! Because Ben had to be better at Bean at this, a contest neither of them would admit to.

He gave Ender a patient look. "Start wherever you'd like, but tell me about the last few months."

[endsthegame]

"I got an anonymous tip about Peter's new portal and Achilles," Ender said, shrugging. His usual emotional defenses weren't functioning at optimal capacity, so some emotion might have bled into that beyond the obvious. "I arranged a few things with Alai and I've been on the move until you guys showed up."

[momslilassassin]

"Anonymous?" Ben frowned. "But not that many people know you're here to tip off, do they?"

He shifted closer to Ender, near enough to brush shoulders. "So who do you think it was that wanted you back in action?"

[endsthegame]

"I have a hunch it was one of the Jeesh; the subject line they used points to a Dragon." Which was why he'd trusted the info and gone for it.

Actually, he had a sneaking suspicion it wasn't a Dragon -- it went back earlier than that. Alai, or Shen. "Maybe older than a Dragon."

Alai had almost but not quite confirmed his suspicions. Actually.