Ben & Ender's house on Shakespeare [some evening]

[momslilassassin]

Ben was curled up on the sofa with Ender's rather dry book on anatomy after Ben's research into the subject had brought up suggestions like "Bend Over," "Eating Out," and other titles that had sent Ben into an unhelpful cycle of flail. (Jane had a wicked sense of humor, not that Ben knew that.)

He had a dish of ice cream while he waited for dinner to warm up--his only outward sign of nerves--and kept glancing at the door waiting for Ender to come home.

Just another night, right? If he kept repeating that to himself, maybe he'd believe it.

[OOC: This is going to get waaaaaaay NWS, methinks. For the boy.]

Comments

[momslilassassin]

"Thought it was a nice change from sandwiches and not-pizza," Ben replied.

[endsthegame]

"It's downright sophisticated," Ender said. "You'll be a chef soon enough."

[momslilassassin]

"Well, cooking meat seems like a pretty manly thing to do," Ben said, "or it was according to that food channel back in Fandom."

Stop babbling, Ben.

[endsthegame]

Ender just chuckled. "Ah, yes," he said, "sweet talk me with gender essentialist posturing."

[momslilassassin]

"Well, I figured dragging you by the hair to a cave somewhere would just be asking for trouble," Ben said with a little smile.

[endsthegame]

"You wouldn't be able to manage that without apologizing all the while," Ender pointed down, and set down his glass. "Now c'mon. This food needs to be eaten."

[momslilassassin]

Ben kissed his cheek. "And I'll try to calm down," he added softly.

[endsthegame]

Ender touched Ben's hand one more time, giving it a slight squeeze. "We'll calm you down," he said.

[momslilassassin]

"I don't want to change my mind," Ben replied, squeezing back. "I've just borrowed your overthinking."

[endsthegame]

"How about we talk it through one more time after dinner?" Ender said. "Because that ice cream is going to start melting soon."

[momslilassassin]

"Can't have that," Ben replied with a tiny smile, starting in on his dinner.

[endsthegame]

So did Ender.

"This is pretty good," he said, a few mouthfuls in.

Of course, he wasn't exactly a foodie.

[momslilassassin]

Ben beamed anyway. "Thanks."

He'd worked hard on it.

[endsthegame]

Ender quirked a little smile at him. "So how has your day been?" he asked.

[momslilassassin]

"Good," Ben said with an answering smile. "I haven't given you food poisoning."

[endsthegame]

Ender laughed. "Well, it'll be a few hours before we figure that out if you did," he teased.

[momslilassassin]

"Let's be optimistic, all right?" Ben teased back, poking him.

[endsthegame]

"Mhm, fine," Ender said, kissing his cheek. "But really, thank you for putting this all together."

[momslilassassin]

"You're welcome," Ben said, nudging his shoulder against Ender's.

[endsthegame]

Ender nudged his shoulder back, and took another bite of his steak. "So did you really spend all day cooking?"

[momslilassassin]

"A few hours tops," Ben said. "I spent time over with the speeders, too."

Because Ben tinkered when he was nervous.

[endsthegame]

"Get some headway?" Ender asked. "You know Abra's been asking whether he can look at the skimmers with you."

[momslilassassin]

"I did," Ben said, nodding. "Tell Abra to give me a call and I'll show him what I did."

[endsthegame]

"I think he'd be excited," Ender said, smiling a little. "He already complains about most of the adults underestimating him. I think we can relate."

[momslilassassin]

"Maybe a little," Ben said with a grin. "I'll let him get his hands dirty."