Ben's room [Ellis Island, Enderverse, Wednesday afternoon, Fandom time]

[momslilassassin]

Ben finally got his hand extracted from Ender's (he hadn't really been trying that hard while Alai had been visiting), and left the room to give Val (and Alai, sigh, grumble, whatever) some time to spend with Ender as well.

Ben went for a walk, got lost four times, found some food and a shower and finally made his way back to his room.

He sat down in an uncomfortable chair on the theory that if he sat on the bed he'd fall asleep for a week, and began making some long-delayed calls back to Fandom.

With his luck, time had sped up there, he'd been gone for a month, and Karla was after his head...

[OOC: If you think he called you, he did!]

Comments

[momslilassassin]

"I don't know," Ben said. "I don't think so. Val found something while she was on the phone with me and took off fast enough that she didn't remember to hang up. And she was just standing there while Ender got the poodoo kicked out of him, so I'm guessing he must have said something to her. She wouldn't have just let this kid hurt Ender otherwise."

[glacial_queen]

Karla....wasn't entirely as convinced about Val as Ben was. She had his memories, the memories where Val had, at the very least, allowed herself to be used to drag Ender back into the war. Was it likely? No. But was she pragmatic enough to let it happen?

Well, she was a Wiggin, wasn't she?

"So, he just lay there and took it?" Karla asked. And, as much as she hated to ask it, she had to. "...Some kind of penance thing?"

[momslilassassin]

There was a very long pause as Ben tried not to bawl all over the phone, then a quiet, "Yeah, that's what I think."

[glacial_queen]

Shit. Could she schedule a portal while still talking to Ben on the phone?

"Mother Night, Ben. Are you sure you don't want me to come up? Even just to take a stint by his bedside, so you can sleep."

She'd even go before Ender woke up if he wanted.

[momslilassassin]

"We'll be back pretty soon," Ben replied, "and Val's here to swap out with. And Alai."

Not that Ben was all that thrilled to split hovering time with Alai.

[glacial_queen]

"Try not to sound so thrilled," Karla said wryly. "I know you're Alai's biggest fan and all, but could you tone down the gushing? It's getting embarrassing."

[momslilassassin]

"Yeah, so far I'm getting no sales on my t-shirts with his name on them," Ben said. "Go figure." He sighed heavily. "He's not really my biggest fan either."

[glacial_queen]

"I think both of you are jealous of the other," Karla offered quietly. "You, because there's always going to be a part of Ender that he'll know and you don't. Him, because he's Ender's past. You're his present--and hopefully future, too."

Sorry, Ender. That might be a little too much information for Ben there, but if you wanted to protest, then maybe you shouldn't have gotten yourself hospitalized.

[momslilassassin]

"Mmm," Ben said, not sounding all that convinced. "I think he was mostly surprised I was up in the bed with Ender."

Was that oversharing? He was tired and didn't really care.

[glacial_queen]

Karla was unsurprised. Vastly, vastly unsurprised. It wasn't like this was new. "Well, he probably doesn't know about the nightmares," she pointed out. "Ender was a lot less touchy then, too."

[momslilassassin]

"I wasn't going to tell him," Ben replied.

He'd also been kind of amused to be warned about Ender's violent tendencies when he woke up. That had stopped being a problem for them, barring random shifts to animals or girls, almost a year ago.

"Besides, Ender had a death-grip on my hand. I wasn't going anywhere."

[glacial_queen]

"Like you would have gone anyway," Karla said softly. "You don't leave your friends, Ben. You and I both know it."

[momslilassassin]

"Not without a fight," he admitted quietly. "Alai's smart enough to recognize that. Besides, Ender's only been up for a few minutes at a time."

[glacial_queen]

"So little jealous pissing contests is about as far as he can push you," Karla reminded. "Why keep playing that? He wins when you do. You know that, right?"

Finally! Relationship advice!

...She just couldn't tell him that's what it was.

[momslilassassin]

"I know," Ben said, "and it's been pretty easy this week to see the petty things for how stupid and pointless they are." He ran his fingers through his hair. "It was close to me having to make an entirely different call for you."

[glacial_queen]

Karla was just going to sit down on her bed, her knees not liking the implications of that call. "I'm going to assume that you mean a panicked call for help with Healing," she said, a slight tremor in her voice betraying the fact she knew that wasn't what he's meant. "Because if it's anything else, I might throttle Ender before I have a chance to Heal him up proper."

Didn't Ender realize how much he meant to them? How selfish it would be for him to just end it all?

...Not helpful thoughts, no, but...dammit Ender!

[momslilassassin]

"He's been beat up enough," Ben said, just a little bit of steel in his voice. "He'll have a very neat explanation for why he did what he did. It might even be the truth."

[glacial_queen]

Karla sighed and glared at the phone. "Do you really think I would throttle Ender? Really?! Especially when I'm in full-on Healer mode?"

Leash it, Ben.

"If it isn't the truth, you gonna call him on it?"

[momslilassassin]

"Yes," Ben said, "but not here. There are too many cameras here."

[glacial_queen]

"Graff," Karla said sourly. "And maybe Peter. And anyone else who feels free to listen. One of these days, I'm going to make you guys aural shield bracelets for whenever you leave the island. I have a feeling they'll come in handy."

Like...all the time.

[momslilassassin]

"It might just get them more interested in figuring out what we need to say that they can't hear," Ben offered. "A worry for another time, either way."

He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "I miss you."

[glacial_queen]

"I miss you too," Karla said. "It's been forever since I've seen you. Or so it feels like."

Sure, she'd visited on Naboo and they'd done a movie when they got back, but something had changed over the summer. On all their parts, maybe. There was a distance there that hadn't existed before.

"We have to hang out more when you get back. For more than just Healing up Ender."

[momslilassassin]

"You have some kind of story to tell me about visiting Jono's world too, I think," Ben said, sounding a little Warlord Prince-y. "You used yourself up too much."

Didn't mean he wouldn't be demanding healing for Ender anyway, but...

[glacial_queen]

"I wish I could have done more," Karla said, not even bothering to deny it or even protest. "He called us in a panic after coming home and finding a bunch of people from his new school crucified on the front lawn. And then the next day was worse."

So, so, so much worse.

"What Hobart is doing, he's doing it for power and politics." Her voice was very soft. "I can't condone it, but I can at least understand it. What happens in Jono's world--and Bobby's and Warren's--the mindless fear and hate that leads to exterminating millions...I just can't."

[momslilassassin]

"That part I have more insight on," Ben said sadly. "That's got the Yuuzhan Vong War--and the rise of the Empire, to an extent, written all over it."

But he wasn't going to go into details right now. He had enough of a mess on his hands without digging up the past.

"How much worse did it get?" Ben said. He'd been to some gruesome situations with Karla, and if she thought it was bad, he was going to believe her.