Room 614, the Arms Hotel, Sunday morning

[momslilassassin]

It was positively decadent, sleeping on a soft mattress without worrying about mosquitoes, bickering teenagers, annoying co-workers, or potential planetary eradication...

So Ben was sleeping in today. Mmmm. Sleep.

[OOC: For Ender!]

Comments

[endsthegame]

Ender did grin, actually, and then ducked his head. "At least the temperatures on Lusitania are properly warm for your shivering gingerness."

[momslilassassin]

"This is true," Ben murmured.

[endsthegame]

Ender kissed his cheek again. "You'd almost think you were the one born on Tattooine."

[momslilassassin]

"Nope, on a ship," Ben said, grinning.

[endsthegame]

Ender hugged him a little closer. "I hope you're happy, at least."

[momslilassassin]

Ben kissed his cheek. "With you, it's...calm, even when it's not. You ground me. Always have, ever since Mom's funeral."

[endsthegame]

Ender pressed his forehead against Ben's again. "I know this place I've brought us to has you worried," he said softly. "And it worries me, too, don't get me wrong. I just... I'm the one who brought us there."

The real devil of the thing was that coming there had largely freed him of responsibilities beyond his family - not that it kept him from wanting to meddle.

[momslilassassin]

Ben kissed him. "I agreed," he said. "We all agreed, and the Hive Queen is finally happy."

[endsthegame]

"Doesn't mean you wouldn't be happy if we could leave," Ender murmured.

[momslilassassin]

"Well, that's true," Ben said. "I've gotten used to moving. I'm feeling stifle, and life without the Hive Queen would be something worth exploring."

[endsthegame]

"True," Ender said softly. "On the other hand... I feel like I belong there. But I don't know how long that will last."

[momslilassassin]

Ben looked genuinely surprised. "You feel like you belong?" he murmured, running his finger along Ender's cheek.

[endsthegame]

"How can I not?" Ender asked softly. "It's a world that was scorched and wrecked in childhood, and yet somehow managed to rise from it, tangled but still living, strange but real."

[momslilassassin]

"Oh, sweetheart," Ben whispered, holding him tightly. "You are not Lusitania, and if there's even a tiny part of you that thinks you still deserve to be destroyed, it can shut up right now.

[endsthegame]

"I might not be Lusitania," Ender said, tucking his face into Ben's neck, "But Lusitania is a great deal like me. It's the closest thing to comfortable I've felt on any planet."

[momslilassassin]

Ben started stroking his fingers through Ender's hair. "Even Naboo?"

[endsthegame]

"Naboo's nice," Ender murmured. "Peaceful. But it's a vacation."

[momslilassassin]

"So when you close your eyes and picture 20 years down the road, you see Lusitania?" Ben asked. "Piggies and Formics and amaranth with every meal?"

[endsthegame]

"I don't picture anything in particular when I close my eyes and think of twenty years down the road, besides you," Ender said. There was no particular sentimentality in his voice; that was just the way it was. "But there's something that speaks to me about Lusitania, I can't deny that."

[momslilassassin]

Ben kissed him between the eyes. "I just want you to be happy," he whispered.

[endsthegame]

Ender tilted his head up and kissed Ben firmly, thoroughly, until he needed the air.

"I love you," he said quietly. "Every single day since I was fifteen..."

[momslilassassin]

Ben smiled softly at him. "I love you too, Andrew."

[endsthegame]

"We'll figure something out," Ender said softly, "But right now I have you right here."

[momslilassassin]

Ben kissed him again. "I'm always here," he said, and in a show of great restraint, didn't add anything snarky about Novinha.

[endsthegame]

"True," Ender said, touching his cheek. "But it's been a long time since I had you without distractions."