Hijra [A few weeks later]

[momslilassassin]

Ben was catching up on emails from home--news about the Sith, the latest gossip from Jag and Jaina's corner of the galaxy and whatever Allana had gotten herself up to while being unsupervised (there was a lot of "it'd seemed like a good idea!!!" in her correspondence)--and then poking around scientific journals about advancements in reproductive technology.

You know. For no real reason. Cough.

He drank tea and really missed having those yummy red fruits around. He'd need to ask when they came back the next time he went to the market.

Comments

[endsthegame]

"Mhm," Ender said. "Show me some of those crowd-traversing moves; it's the only way we'll get over there."

[momslilassassin]

Ben reached out and took Ender by the wrist. "Just sense the rhythm of the crowd," he murmured, "and go left when they go right."

[endsthegame]

"Okay," Ender said. 'Sense the rhythm of the crowd' was easier for someone with Ben's senses, he suspected - but he could make a decent crack at it using his intuition, and so the first few steps he took weren't all that terrible.

[momslilassassin]

"Good," Ben said, speeding up without realizing that maybe not everyone could keep up with his intuition. "Now we really start going."

[endsthegame]

It took Ender more trouble than Ben probably realized to keep up with him, but he was sharp and smart. After a few near-failures he could genuinely start to guess which way Ben, and by extension the crowd, might go.

By the time they were running close to the restaurant, he'd almost gotten the hang of it.

[momslilassassin]

"Very good," Ben said, smiling proudly as they arrived at the restaurant. "You could be an honorary stalker."

[endsthegame]

"Ah, yes," Ender said, "Just what I've always dreamed of."

He smiled at the waiter. "Two, please."

[momslilassassin]

Ben let go of Ender's wrist as they were led to a table with a pretty good view of the festivities outside. "There's going to be dancing in a bit," Ben said. "Could get interesting."

[endsthegame]

"I think it's interesting already," Ender noted. "See that couple in front of the door...? They look almost paranoid about something."

Why yes, he was trying to openly stimulate Ben's Jedi cop skills today.

[momslilassassin]

Ben watched them over the menu for a moment. "Huh. Affair, maybe?"

[endsthegame]

"I don't know," Ender mused. "Seems a little easy. Look at the way they're motioning between each other."

[momslilassassin]

"True," Ben agreed, watching more carefully. "No couple trying to avoid being noticed gets into that animated a conversation, and they certainly wouldn't get seated by the door..."

[endsthegame]

"Waiting for something?" Ender suggested, quickly scanning the menu and determining what he thought he and Ben would want.

[momslilassassin]

Ben's first thought was "explosives" but that was because he was paranoid and his galaxy was a little violence happy.

"They don't have space for more people to join them," he mused aloud. "Maybe they're just waiting for the live entertainment to start?"

[endsthegame]

"But then why the fidgeting?" Ender asked, then turned towards the waiter and placed their order, glancing back to Ben only briefly to make sure it was okay.

(He'd gone for the falafel with the lots of it for Ben.)

[momslilassassin]

"Maybe they've had too much tea?" Ben offered teasingly, giving Ender a quick thank you of a smile for the order.

[endsthegame]

"Possibly," Ender said, smiling back at him. "So. The two girls sitting behind me. What's their story?"

[momslilassassin]

"Oh, that's easy," Ben said. "They know one of the dancers and are meeting her here after the performance. The one on the left thinks you're very cute. She keeps glancing this way when she thinks I'm not noticing."

[endsthegame]

Ender chuckled. "And how do we know she's not looking at you?" he asked.

[momslilassassin]

Because that option never occurred to Ben?

"Because you're cuter," he replied immediately.

[endsthegame]

"I don't know about that," Ender said. "I think I disagree."

[momslilassassin]

Ben laughed. "Yeah, but you're biased. It's mostly dark hair around here--I stick out, but you're more their type."

[endsthegame]

"True, but the red hair makes you exotic," Ender pointed out.

[momslilassassin]

"Or peculiar," Ben said.

[endsthegame]

"Could go either way, but you stand out more," Ender noted as the waiter brought their drinks.