Aboard the Jade Shadow [Sunday, Fandom time]

[momslilassassin]

It had taken a few days to break free of the Kathol Rift, but the minute the ship cleared the interference, Ben had his comlink out to make a few long-needed calls back to various galaxies.

Ender and his dad had been good to talk to--or not talk to--but he needed to reconnect with some others, too--especially Jaina.

[OOC: If you think you got a call, you did! Ping on back!]

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[glacial_queen]

Karla had gotten Ben's text, which meant she technically couldn't yell at him for vanishing away inexplicably. She'd also been having disturbing feelings every time thoughts of him had flitted across her mind. Nothing concrete, nothing she could put her finger on, just a nagging sense of concern which differed ever-so-slightly from the worry she usually felt for him.

The most obvious difference between the two was that this feeling made her want to give him a hug, rather than grab him by the shoulders and shake.

"Ben. It's so good to hear from you. Are you all right?"

[momslilassassin]

"I spent the last week in a cavern holding up random objects and hoping they'd speak to me. It was...weird," Ben replied. "Hi! How are you?"

The deflection was strong with this one.

[glacial_queen]

Fortunately, after two years, so was the bullshit radar.

"Please," Karla sniffed. "I know you. That's probably the least weird thing you've done in the past month."

It also was hardly the kind of thing that would make her Black Widow senses tingle, but she was going to ignore that bit for right now. There would be plenty of time to poke and pry at him after the initial greetings.

"Unless you're going to tell me that the random objects came to life and tried to eat your face. Even then, I'd hardly call that weird. For you, anyway."

[momslilassassin]

"There's been surprisingly little face eating so far," Ben said. "Face licking, on the other hand..."

[glacial_queen]

Ben, you have no idea HOW LUCKY YOU WERE that Karla had basically promised Ender that she wouldn't make comments in your hearing.

"Now, I know you're a male and therefore rather limited," she said again, but there are these neat inventions called napkins..."

It was kind of a lame joke, but most of her brain was caught up jokes she wasn't allowed to say.

[momslilassassin]

"Not by me," Ben said. "The aliens we were with communicate using six tongues. Each. They were green. Um, the tongues, not the aliens."

[glacial_queen]

"You are lying to me," Karla said. "I'm pretty sure that's the plot of one of the movies 'Dite has in the back room. Gorgeous Galactic Gals XVII or something equally ridiculous."

[momslilassassin]

"There was nothing gorgeous about the Aing-Tii," Ben said. "They looked like giant rocks."

[glacial_queen]

"..."

Ben, why you gotta do this to Karla's brain.

"So...you're saying that giant rocks talked to you by licking you with six green tongues," she repeated. Slowly.

Well, now at least she knew why she'd been so worried. Ben was either hallucinating or suffering from dementia.

[momslilassassin]

"For months," Ben added.

That was probably not helping Karla's diagnosis.