The Portal on Shakespeare [a week later]

[momslilassassin]

A mattress had been bought for guests, the house had been scrubbed from top to bottom and then bottom to top, and Ben, even though he knew that Luke wouldn't care in the slightest, had stressed out about what they'd have for dinner for the last three days.

Now he was a half-hour early for the time his father had sent him for the portal, bouncing nervously on the balls of his feet.

He was excited and terrified in almost equal measure.

Sounds like a fun vacation, huh?

Comments

[notsoreckless.livejournal.com]

Luke nodded. "I wasn't military very long--only a few years--and the Jedi mindset is slightly different than a military one."

[endsthegame]

"Imagine being five or six years old," Ender said, leaning back against the counter. "Waging war on other five or six year olds every day. It's not play-- your very honor and the future of your people hinge on this, or at least that's how it feels. Imagine being confused at the thought of anyone asking you what you wanted to be when you grew up."

[notsoreckless.livejournal.com]

"In that, you and Ben weren't so very different," Luke said quietly, "though he started his training very late by old Jedi standards."

[endsthegame]

"I know," Ender said, "But he felt responsibility very keenly even before it."

[notsoreckless.livejournal.com]

"He wanted to be his Uncle Han before his training," Luke said a little wryly. "I think he'd still rather be his Uncle Han."

[endsthegame]

Ender's mouth curved. "I think so too," he said. "Too bad he's too much of a doofus to manage it."

[notsoreckless.livejournal.com]

"Yes," Luke deadpanned. "The doofus is strong in us."

[endsthegame]

"You said it, not me," Ender said, but he looked Very Very Amused.

[notsoreckless.livejournal.com]

Luke smiled. "It's easy to admit to when you already know the truth."

[endsthegame]

"For what it's worth," Ender said, "I like the Skywalker brand of doofus."

[notsoreckless.livejournal.com]

Luke smiled. "I'm glad because Ben has a lot of it."

[endsthegame]

"I lived with him for three years even before we started dating," Ender said wryly. "I'm well aware of it."

[notsoreckless.livejournal.com]

Luke smiled. "I've been hearing about you for many, many years, yeah."

[endsthegame]

"We're coming up on six years," Ender said. "More or less, taking timeline oddities into account."

[notsoreckless.livejournal.com]

"That makes me feel very old," Luke admitted. "It was tough enough admitting that Ben was old enough to date, let alone find a life partner."

[endsthegame]

"He's only twenty years old," Ender said, shooting him a wry look. "You never know."

[notsoreckless.livejournal.com]

Luke shrugged a shoulder. "You share a house and a life right now," he said quietly. "I didn't do that before Mara."

[endsthegame]

"How long did you and Mara have?" Ender asked, just as quietly.

[notsoreckless.livejournal.com]

"Not nearly long enough," Luke said, staring off into the distance. "Almost twenty years."

[endsthegame]

"What was it like when you two first moved in together?" Ender asked, watching him.

[notsoreckless.livejournal.com]

Luke smiled. "Almost a disaster. We'd both spent so much time on our own that we were very set in our own routines. She had much more stuff than I did--more weapons, more changes of clothing for covert operations--while most of what I had could be stowed in an X-Wing. We were used to our own space."

[endsthegame]

"How'd you compromise?" Ender asked.

[notsoreckless.livejournal.com]

"We remembered the reason we'd gotten married to begin with," Luke said with a smile, "which was to spend time together."

[endsthegame]

Ender smiled, too.

"You still miss her a lot," he said.

[notsoreckless.livejournal.com]

"Every day," Luke said quietly.