Aboard the Jade Shadow [Tuesday, Fandom time]

[momslilassassin]

Ben was grabbing a quick snack as he waited in the galley for his father to finish docking the ship on the first human-majority planet they'd seen in months and taking the chance to catch up on more reading about the Aing-Tii Monks. As soon as they restocked their supplies and checked for physical mail (Ben hoped that Tony's package would catch up with them here), they'd be heading into Aing-Tii space, which was a challenging enough flight that Luke Kriffing Skywalker looked slightly apprehensive about it.

Ben stopped being nervous by remembering that if Jacen had been able to do it, Luke would be able to do it better.

...it had never been said that Ben could not be very petty if the occasion called for it.

[OOC: Open for calls, texts, visits from the boy who's in space with him, care packages from home full of YA gay literature...]

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[momslilassassin]

Something in that smile made Ben's heart thump kind of painfully in his chest.

"Oh, it wasn't just me," he said, laughing and dropping eye contact.

[endsthegame]

"Please," Ender said, tossing the shirt back at the box. "I've always lived at the apex of mirth."

[momslilassassin]

Ben laughed even harder at that. "The life of every party who never sneaks out early to check his email."

[endsthegame]

"I don't ever 'sneak'," Ender felt he had to point out. "I leave at a respectable time, while the rest of you sip spiked punch, waiting to be scraped off the floor in the morning."

[momslilassassin]

"I've never been scraped off the floor in my life," Ben protested.

Beat.

"The fight in the Hidden One's lair doesn't count. I got up."

[endsthegame]

"Eventually," Ender said, "If I recall. And didn't Karla get you drunk back in Hawaii?"

[momslilassassin]

"Not that drunk," Ben replied. "I don't really like the control loss."

[endsthegame]

"Enough to get your face plastered to the table," Ender said, flopping backwards on his bed. "But if anyone understands that, it's me."

[momslilassassin]

"That was the fault of the sugary drink and a table not being wiped well enough," Ben said, reaching out to ruffle Ender's hair.

[endsthegame]

"A likely story," Ender said, "I heard there was poetry."

He reached up to de-ruffle his hair once Ben was done with it.

[momslilassassin]

"Looked better how I fixed it," Ben replied mildly, smiling. "And I wasn't the only one reciting poetry."

[endsthegame]

"I have this feeling that neither of you were attempting to emulate the words of e. e. cummings or Shakespeare," Ender said, shutting his eyes.

[momslilassassin]

Ben's hand drifted down to rub Ender's back absently. "Nah, we were more limerick-y."

[endsthegame]

There were times Ender wondered if Ben was trying to drive him insane; the touch on his back brought that theory back onto the foreground. "Poetry according to intellect," he muttered, trying not to think about it.

[momslilassassin]

Ben concentrated on a particularly tight back muscle and snorted. "Be nice. I'm being nice to you."

[endsthegame]

You shouldn't be, Ender thought, and swallowed back a tiny groan as he tried to swerve out of the way of Ben's hand. "I await your brilliant limericking skills," he said, in an attempt to keep the mood from taking a dive.

[momslilassassin]

Ben bit his lip and pulled his hand back. "There once was a girl from Naboo," he recited, "whose eyes were a beautiful blue. She was kissing a boy, which was giving her joy, then she looked up and asked, 'who are you?'"

As a poet, Ben made a good Jedi.

[endsthegame]

"Ah, as I thought, then," Ender said, sitting back against the wall at the back of his bunk. "Pretty bad."

Much better for his ability to think straight.

[momslilassassin]

"I'd like to hear you do better," Ben said with a smile. "And quoting Shakespeare is cheating."

[endsthegame]

"Maybe I'm merciful, and don't want to inflict my stylings on the world."

[momslilassassin]

"Maybe you're a chicken--" weird Earth phrase, still, "--and know I beat you at poetry."

[endsthegame]

"It's poetry," Ender replied, "Maybe I'm just aware that good poets don't come up with their stuff on the fly - you need to think about meter and metaphor, and free form isn't quite as impressive."

[momslilassassin]

Ben thought about that, then shook his head. "Nah, that's not it."

[endsthegame]

"You know, you can't beat me if I refuse to participate," Ender said, looking amused, and then reached over to nudge Ben in the back with his foot.

Just in case there were any awkward vibes left over from earlier.

[momslilassassin]

Ben grinned and swatted at Ender's foot playfully. "No, if you cede me the field without even firing, I win."