momslilassassin | Ender's Swingin' Bachelor Pad, Naboo [Wednesday, Fandom time]

"I'd advise you against that," Ender said, as he wandered out of the house with his hands stuck in his pockets. "Ben's a little trigger-happy."

"Ben wouldn't shoot me for stealing his ice cream!" Karla protested. "It's--wait, how rare is ice cream here?"

It didn't pay to be too hasty with the assumptions, after all.

"Kiss kiss, Ender. I see I'm going to have to spend a significant time out of doors to try to catch up to your tan." By which she meant 'to compete with Ben over who could get the most burned.'

"Fairly rare," Ender said. His smile shot up a few notches. "And if you change your mind about that, we keep the sunblock in the kitchen. And in the living room. And near the back door..."

"I'll just have to be sneaky about stealing it, then!" Because in a house with the four of them, Ben would be completely flummoxed when it came to figuring out who'd made heavy inroads into the ice cream supplies.

"And in the guest rooms and each bathroom, I saw," Karla added, laughing. "How bright did Ben get before you started leaving it everywhere?"

"Last time we were here, he managed an almost full-body burn," Ender said.

Quite possibly because of activities. Ender should've probably scrubbed more floors in anticipation of her coming, come to think.

"I thought I'd pre-empt that this time."

And a few more walls, too. Just sayin'.

But Karla was just going to raise an eyebrow at the idea of a full-body burn, but not make a comment. Because she was a good friend and Ender preferred not to get teased about that.

"Probably wise," she agreed, biting back a smile. "I wonder if I can convince Warren to wear some when he goes flying."

"I think he'll be fine, as long as he doesn't choose to fly too close to the sun," Ender replied. (Sometimes he made these jokes only for his own amusement. Sorry, Karla.) "I'll make sure to pass him some along, though." Beat. "And a bottle of water for tonight."

If Karla had been perturbed by Ender's weird sense of humor, she would have bailed on their friendship years ago. She paged through her knowledge of Shakespeare, realized it wasn't from a play (or, if it was, it was from a play she hadn't read yet) and let it go.

"It helps if you give him a look when you do it," she said. "I call it my yes-you-have-a-Healing-factor-so-what? look. Sometimes he's a little stubborn about things." Her lip twitched. "I haven't the least idea what that's like."

"Neither do I," Ender said, "My friends all being so pliable, sensible, and not at all inclined to rash behavior."

Stone-faced, him.

"I know, right?" Karla asked with a disbelieving shake of her head. "You have no idea how difficult it is for me to deal with his antics."

Karla didn't do stone-face anywhere near as well.

"That's why I stick a camera on Ben's back wherever he goes," Ender said.

He didn't. He just had Jane hack into whatever security cameras were pointing at Tony's latest mess.

"So you can catch a video and know all the reasons to point and laugh and/or facepalm?" Karla suggested. "You know, you could almost turn that into a drinking game..."

If Ender drank at all. Which he didn't. And assuming Ben was just doing stupid things, not life-or-death things.

"Has be been running off and getting into trouble lately?" On the one hand, Karla was glad not to be involved--it meant any trouble Ben was getting into was not her fault! On the other hand, not knowing was just indicative of the distance between them now.

"Only the odd incident with Tony," Ender reported. "Nothing genuinely difficult or life-threatening above and beyond the call of duty." He hesitated briefly, then added, "He decided to take some distance from Luke's business, and both he and Luke are actually keeping to that."

"Thank the Darkness," Karla mumbled. "I get genuinely and truly scared when he goes home nowadays."

Because then he came back with more scars and nightmares.

"I'm glad you went with him and kept an eye on him last time," she added. "But I'm even gladder he's decided just to sit the rest of the summer out."

And then they'd be off to Shakespeare and what Luke did or didn't do would no longer be Ben's concern.

"He wants to go back one last time to say goodbye to his father," Ender said quietly. "I'm not going to begrudge him that."

And that was why Ender was a better person than Karla.

"I...want to not begrudge him," she admitted. "Or, rather, I don't begrudge him the impulse, but I can't help but worry and wish that he wasn't."

Not that it was Karla's place to begrudge or not. Or that she would ever breathe a word of her feelings to Ben anyway.

"Either way, I can't blame him for it. I'd feel the same, I know."

"He can take care of himself, and I've got his back."

Possibly in more ways than Karla was, or was going to be, privy to. Actually, in more ways than anyone involved was really privy to.

"But I'll be glad once we're aboard that boat, I can't deny that."

"I know he can and I know you do," Karla said. She hadn't been trying to argue or suggest that wasn't true. "I just wish that him going home didn't require either of those."

She hugged her knees, adding, "And, yeah, I know. Wishing things were different is kind of pointless. I just...do, sometimes."

Ender's mouth quirked up. "I can't begrudge you that, either," he said. "But at least it won't be much longer. We can be pleased with that."

Right. Because then they would be flying off for a bajillionty years to a planet that probably didn't have a portal or a post office accessible by Fandom or even a telephone system that could be reached with her phone.

And then they would scrimp and toil just to survive and any number of other horrible, nightmare scenarios Karla's sulky dislike of Ender's colony could come up with.

But she'd keep that all internal, thanks much. "We can be," she agreed firmly. "Though I'd told him that if he'd had any other plan than flying off with you, I'd've had him kidnapped."

By his one true love, Purple Guy.

Ender was quietly of the opinion that if they didn't have that - time somewhere remote, where portal access was scarce or non-existent - they would be too easily drawn into, if not their home universe's intrigues and dangers, then that of the universes of their friends.

He was also too tired of both intrigues and this brand of dangers to feel too guilty about wanting to pursue that very state.

"I'm glad we can rely on you to look after Ben's well-being if he wanders off the path," he joked, though there was a core of truth to it, much as he doubted Karla's ability to keep anyone out of trouble.

What if Karla promised not to ever tell them about anything wrong ever again? Could she get a secret method to communicate with them, then?

"I am fully committed to keeping him facial-hair free," Karla said, shaking her head. The only thing she could remember about that weekend was Ben's dead animal glued on his face. "You have my word on it."

Somehow, Ender didn't think Jane would go for that, Karla.

"Good," he said, with quiet honesty. "I'd rather not see a repeat of that."

His reasons not to talk about it had kind of evaporated after he and Ben got together; he just wasn't usually inclined to bring it up.

Awww, Jaaaaaaaane! C'mon! Please? Pretty please? With sugar on top? Karla would be your best friiiiiiiend!

"I don't either," she said, brushing her bangs out of her way. "I don't even remember it and I'd still prefer not to have it repeated. I treasure your happiness--but not just happiness." Her expression clouded over as she tried to word her thoughts. "More than happiness; your emotional well-being, I guess. If that makes sense?" She sighed in frustration. "I'm not saying it right."

"No, you're saying it well enough." The smile on Ender's face was fleeting, but definitely genuine. "Thank you, Karla. The feeling is mutual, of course."

He looked up at the sky. "I remember a fair deal about that weekend. More than I've told you," he said. "I should've taken it as a clue much sooner than I did."

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