Eros [Sunday afternoon, Fandom time, NFB]

[momslilassassin]

Ender had wandered off on his own for a while, which meant that Ben now had a chance to really explore Eros.

Wearing his most Earth-friendly pair of jeans and a black t-shirt (and slipping his lightsaber into his backpack just in case), Ben joined the people in the narrow hallways (careful not to bang his head on anything--half-gravity made for a really bouncy experience) and fought back the almost constant feeing of vertigo caused by the way the floors sloped downward.

He wouldn't want to spend an hour more than absolutely necessary here and he noticed a slightly green tinge on the faces of those he guessed were the most recent arrivals. But Ben loved learning about new places--even really weird ones like this--and soon he was searching for a food vendor and people to talk to.

[OOC: For the NPCs what populate Eros...]

Comments

[endsthegame]

Two Italian women - one in her thirties, curvy and extroverted, the other a teenager, shy and a little withdrawn - were perusing the market when the boy arrived.

Now, it wasn't that they had strictly been stalking Ender, but Dorabella Toscano did make it her business to know when he turned up and who he was with. She whispered something to Alessandra and perked up, pasting a smile on her face and ever so subtly taking a few steps towards the boy.

"Are you finding everything all right?" she asked, brightly.

[momslilassassin]

"So far," Ben replied a little cautiously. "Do you have recommendations for a good place for snacks?"

[endsthegame]

"There's a stand with Greek delicacies about fifty meters from here," Dorabella replied, still smiling. "By the look on your face I assume you're new, boy."

[momslilassassin]

"You know everyone by face?" Ben replied, looking a little surprised.

[endsthegame]

Dorabella laughed. "You're adorable," she said. "No, but you have the look of one about you. Are you having trouble with the gravity? My little fairy princess here had the worst time with it when we came here."

Alessandra looked like she'd rather be hiding.

[momslilassassin]

Of all of the adjectives to describe Ben, "adorable" was not one he was particular enamored of. But then, he wouldn't want anyone to describe him as a fairy princess either.

"It's taking a bit of adjustment," Ben admitted, "but I'll be fine tomorrow."

[endsthegame]

"That's the spirit," she said, as she tried to nudge Alessandra out of hiding. "I saw you came in on the tug that brought our dear Admiral Wiggin in, too. Are you military at all?"

Alessandra gave Ben a smile that was a bit wobbly in its apologetic style.

[momslilassassin]

"Not really," Ben replied, eyebrows arching up at "dear Admiral Wiggin." "You're friends of his?"

He was getting an idea of who these two were.

[endsthegame]

"My Alessandra is a good friend of his," Dorabella said, pride in her voice, and gave the girl another good nudge.

"Hi," Alessandra said, offering him a cautious hand. "Sorry, mother was curious."

[momslilassassin]

"Alessandra, right?" Ben said. "I'm Ben."

And now that he'd met her, he couldn't help but feeling sorry for the girl.

[endsthegame]

"Hi, Ben," she said, then looked vaguely mortified that she'd repeated herself there. "Really, really sorry we flew at you like this--"

"Don't be ridiculous," Dorabella said, with a little titter.

"...But it's nice to meet another friend of Ender's." Calling herself Ender's friend felt presumptuous enough to make Alessandra blush a little. Sigh. "How is he doing? I didn't catch him when he came off the tug."

[momslilassassin]

"Fine," Ben said, pretending idleness. "We're not here that long, but I can pass along your well-wishes if you'd like."

[endsthegame]

"Oh."

Alessandra rubbed at the back of her neck. "I guess I'll just email him again," she said. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be a bother."

[momslilassassin]

Now Ben felt like he'd kicked a puppy. Being an empath made it tough to be mean.

"No bother," he said with a quick smile. "Even I haven't seen much of Ender this trip."

It might not be true, but it was an easy enough lie to give the girl.

[endsthegame]

It did at least make her feel a little better, which was something. "So how do you like the planet so far?" Alessandra asked. "I know it can be a little off-putting at first."

[momslilassassin]

"It's much more confined that I'm used to," Ben replied. "I prefer seeing the sun."

[endsthegame]

"You get used to it," Dorabella butted in. "Eros has its charms, too! You only have to look for them."

Though she was also making a calculated judgement of the boy, after watching him be so casually cruel with her princess.

[momslilassassin]

"All places have them," Ben agreed, "but we're not here very long. What would you recommend I see before we leave?"

[endsthegame]

"The Greek stand I just told you about," she said. "And our theatre, of course - we have the best performances sometimes. Sadly the two of you missed the reading of The Tempest we did..."

[momslilassassin]

Ben smiled politely. "Ender will be sorry to have missed it. He enjoys Shakespeare. Which part did you play?"

He could guess.

[endsthegame]

"Miranda," Dorabella said, happily. "Sadly, there was no place for my princess..."

"I wanted to play Caliban," Alessandra piped up, dryly, and then her tone faltered near the end as she realised she was being like that in front of her mother.

[momslilassassin]

Ben's lips quirked up. "Interesting choice," he said to Alessandra.

[endsthegame]

"She's just being silly," Dorabella interjected. "Caliban is no role for her! Maybe next time you can be Miranda."

Married off on her father's whim. Alessandra managed a pained smile, then shrugged. "The theatre is nice," she said, "And so was the central market when we put up the small Christmas tree this winter."

[momslilassassin]

Ben gave Dorabella another appraising look, though he was fairly certain he already had her measure, and then turned back to Alessandra. "Are there any other holidays coming up soon that will be celebrated like that?"

[endsthegame]

"We don't know yet," Alessandra said. She seemed to become a little more present just because she was being noticed - Ender made her feel like that a lot more, but this was an echo of it, maybe. "It's been one or two years, but mostly we all make things up. There are lots of people here, and most of them aren't from the same traditions."