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

[momslilassassin]

The nice thing about how time worked on Naboo was that even a few days away from Fandom meant that Ender and Ben had gotten almost a week to themselves to unwind.

Now the fridge was restocked, the rooms were prepared and the droid Ben had made was bustling industriously around getting rid of dust bunnies.

Ben and Ender were ready for their Fandom (and other universes!) invasion.

Comments

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[endsthegame]

"And you're welcome here," Ender tossed in. He had a wry little smile on his face. "Make yourself at home."

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[wwiii]

"Hey, thanks," Warren replied, offering Ender a smile that barely managed to contain his excitement. "To both of you, for inviting us. I think Karla and I were about to go stir-crazy back at the Hall."

Where it had been lessons, lessons, lessons, without a pause to breathe in between. Well, except for sleep, of course. Warren could see the need for it, but he'd be lying if he said that he didn't want a vacation somewhere in there before traipsing off to Sunnydale, too.

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[endsthegame]

"I can only imagine," Ender said, though personally he'd probably have his head stuck in the books the whole time, had he been in Warren's position. "Hopefully the solitude here won't have the same effect. We're kind of alone out here."

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[wwiii]

"Alone, I'm used to," Warren noted, a wry little twist taking over his smile for an instant, and then it was gone. "A bit of quiet after spending so much time around the boyos is pretty welcome, too."

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[endsthegame]

"I know the feeling," Ender said.

He didn't smile wryly; he wasn't going to imply anything about his own past here, thanks. "The water's a nice temperature for swimming-- but there's a hill nearby if you'd like to take to the skies instead. Shouldn't be any trouble."

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[wwiii]

"I'm not much of a swimmer," Warren replied, thankful that Ender took the time to point out the hill. "I kind of take to water like a fish."

In that he went under, and didn't tend to come up again for long stretches of time after the fact.

"But if the scenery is half as awesome as I think it is, I'll enjoy the opportunity to get up there and see it from above. I enjoy a good breeze better than getting wet, anyhow."

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[endsthegame]

Ender quirked a smile at him. "There are only a few mansions scattered around this lake, so you won't have to deal with large audiences," he said, "It's vacation home territory for the most part, and it's lovely. You should definitely take the opportunity."

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[wwiii]

"I kind of get the feeling that one guy flying around out here is hardly going to get too much attention," Warren noted, still smiling. "Is there any direction in particular that I should head?"

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[endsthegame]

"We're towards the eastern side of Lake Country," Ender said. "If you want to get the full impact, going west is probably a good idea. There's a few nice alcoves surrounded by fields along the lake south of here, too, if you and Karla would like to take a trip by yourselves."

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[wwiii]

"I'll keep an eye out for them, thanks." Warren glanced out toward the water, and then shrugged his shoulders a little. "That is, of course, assuming Karla lets me get her away from you and Ben for long enough. She's missed you guys, you know."

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[endsthegame]

"I know," Ender said, glancing off towards wherever the girl in question had vanished to. "We've missed her, too. Life's a lot quieter without her."

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[wwiii]

"It's hard to imagine heading off to school without her," Warren admitted, allowing himself a brief frown. "I guess at least I get to go back to Kaeleer with her after that."

They were doing one hell of a job this summer, grooming him for that.

"I'm going to have to send her back to the island as often as possible through the summer to bother you guys, I think."

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[endsthegame]

"If she finds time," Ender said gently. "We'll understand if she can't abandon her Black Widows sometimes."

It got complicated. He understood that.

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[wwiii]

Warren nodded a little. Ender had a fair enough point, really. "If she finds time. Though I'll probably end up chasing her back to the island from time to time anyhow. For all that she'll be a full-time Queen in a year or so, for now she's still learning that balance between doing what needs to be done, and wearing herself out trying."

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[endsthegame]

"She should feel happy to have you," Ender said, with a wry little smile. "I have a feeling it's going to be tough on her. There's a vast difference between stopping by every now and again to make a gesture or sort out a single conflict, and being the constant focal point of so much responsibility."

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[wwiii]

"At least she'll have her Court there to take her by the shoulders and shake, if she starts pushing herself past her limit," Warren sighed, but he was wearing his feelings about the matter plainly on his face. He was among friends here, he didn't need to hide how much it frightened him, the way he felt he had to back in Kaeleer. "But I'm going to have to be doubly vigilant, myself, just to keep up."

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[endsthegame]

Ender nodded. "Just don't interfere so much she doesn't learn the consequences of her actions herself," he added quietly. "I'm sorry. I know it's a lot of responsibility."

Not so much talking about Karla, there.

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[wwiii]

Warren gave a little shrug in response to that, standing there quietly for a moment while he thought about what the future held.

"It is," he settled on, "but it's responsibility that'll be met head-on and to the best of my ability, once we get to that point. And in the meantime... I'll do everything in my power to get myself ready for the task."

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[endsthegame]

"I wasn't doubting your conviction," Ender said, with a slight smile. "But it doesn't mean you don't have my sympathy."

Whatever doubts he had about Warren's plight, he'd poked at once. That was enough, as far as he was concerned.

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[wwiii]

And that, Ender, was how to get Warren to loose a little huff of a laugh, right there.

"The boyos have been giving me that ever since they found out I have a mind to become Karla's consort," he shared. "We can add your sympathy to the pile. Along with a lot of promises of gravediggers, and an overall sense that maybe I'm totally out of my mind."

They had been pretty up-front about all of the above.

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[endsthegame]

"Well, my would-be father-in-law is a Jedi Master who's having great troubles coming to term with the idea that his son won't be dipping his toe into the family business any time soon," Ender said dryly. "I've been on the receiving end of the reverse - the 'what do you mean, you're dragging my son into a 'sane life'?' look. It's roughly as enjoyable, I assume."

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[wwiii]

See? And now the sympathy was coming around full-circle.

"Family are always going to be the worst culprit," he allowed, nodding a bit. "But you and Ben... you've earned that sane life. You've more than earned it. Ben's father might think he knows best, but... well... the only people who really do are you and Ben, and I can't imagine either of you making your decision lightly."

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[endsthegame]

"If it was up to Luke - good intentions as he has - Ben would probably be Grand Master by 25... if he lives that long," Ender said, shooting Warren a glance. "I managed to resign from my previous occupation," and he would rather not go into what that was, "and while Ben might never stop being a Jedi... well, he's not Karla. He's not the only one for the job."

He took a breath. "That doesn't mean neither of us knows what the call of responsibility is like," he added. "I don't envy you your life, but at this point, the one thing I should do is wish you the best."

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[wwiii]

"Thank you," Warren replied, working his way back up to something that was maybe a subdued sort of smile. "And you both, too. Like I said... you've earned it. You already know responsibility? Now it's my turn to get a feel for it."

You didn't learn responsibility first-hand by hiding in an expensive condo for ten years.

Re: Day One: Daytime [Lake Country]

[endsthegame]

"As long as you keep appreciating the people around you," Ender said, "and they return the favor-- if you do it together-- I think you'll be okay."

It wasn't a situation he had a terribly large amount of personal experience with. The closest thing to... well, a Karla, or perhaps a Warren... he'd had back then had turned his back on him as soon as the school forced a change of allegiance on him.