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

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

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.

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"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.

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."

"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."

"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."

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.

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."

"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.

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.

"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."

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."

"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."

"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.

"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.

"Trust me, I'm learning a whole new appreciation for the people around me," Warren replied. "The other boyos are readying themselves for... similar positions, though their Queens aren't going to have anything quite like Glacia to worry about. At least in the getting there, I know they have my back, like I've got theirs. That has to count for something."

Though maybe Ender's previous assessment hadn't been completely true. Back when they'd gone up against the Formics-- they'd been loyal to him. Completely.

Then again, that wasn't quite the same thing as having people you could fall back on as peers.

"It does count for something," he said. "The best advice I can give you is to keep fostering those friendships."

"I didn't have any plans to the contrary," Warren decided, smiling faintly. "Those and more, if I can at all manage it."

"You might even be able to mend fences with whoever Karla manages to offend at any time," Ender added, sounding gently fond and amused. "Good practice."

"I'm just hoping she doesn't plan to butt heads with any more giant magical tigers, honestly. I'm pretty sure I can smooth things out with most of the human-shaped people she decides to tangle with, but I have plenty of meat on me, and I don't know if I can talk reason faster than an Arcerian cat can pounce."

On the plus side, there'd be some chance for morbid hilarity once the feline inevitably chokes on the equivalent of a giant chicken bone?

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

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