Milliways, Thursday evening

[momslilassassin]

Ben had been to some stupidly decadent restaurants (being the son of Luke Skywalker had its privileges), but this one blew even those most ridiculous on Coruscant out of the water.

"This is barvy," he muttered to Ender as their waiter led them to their table. "Look at all of the people here. And...other beings...of course."

Ben hadn't been knocked so completely off-stride in years.

[OOC: For the boy and great SP justice.]

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[momslilassassin]

Ben took a cautious sip from his new glass of wine and smiled, more pleased. "This one's much better," he said as their salads arrived.

[endsthegame]

"What's the difference in flavor?" Ender asked, taking a quick bite of salad (and being pleased to find it was not in the habit of speaking to him).

[momslilassassin]

"It's not as sweet or as metallic as the last one," Ben said, "but it's not so dry that it's coating my tongue with yuck, you know?"

[endsthegame]

"I don't," Ender said, laughing softly, "But I can picture it now. Very wordy."

[momslilassassin]

Ben laughed with him. "There's a reason I had Val edit the stuff on the back of the wine bottles."

[endsthegame]

"She'd be able to turn 'not coating your tongue with yuck' into something beautiful," Ender agreed sagely. "'Leaves only a flowery aftertaste after it touches your tongue', maybe."

[momslilassassin]

"I think something very similar is on the back of the merlot," Ben admitted.

[endsthegame]

Ender laughed softly. "I'm sad I missed these business meetings," he teased.

[momslilassassin]

"We were very silly," Ben said, grinning.

[endsthegame]

"But the two of you are usually so serious," Ender said.

[momslilassassin]

"It's true," Ben said, nodding over his glass.

[endsthegame]

"Never laughing," Ender said, smirking. "Always discussing the intricacies of solemn philosophies into the night..."

[momslilassassin]

"Or watching paint dry, grass growing..."

[endsthegame]

"A very philosophical topic," Ender said. "Just ask my students."

[momslilassassin]

"And how is Mom?" Ben asked. "Other than small and kind of weird."

[endsthegame]

"Small and kind of werd," Ender said, "And she makes it surprisingly hard on me not to sigh and go 'no, you're not' whenever she pretends to be vacuous and 'a dancer'."

[momslilassassin]

Ben smiled. "It's kind of funny to see her not exceptional at that yet."

[endsthegame]

"She's learning," Ender said wryly. "Very slowly. I'm sure she has some of the students fooled."

[momslilassassin]

"I kind of hope so," Ben said. "I can't imagine Palpatine being all that gentle with perceived failures."

[endsthegame]

"One of the reasons I'm trying not to call her on it," Ender admitted. "She has reasons to be the way she is right now."

[momslilassassin]

Ben nodded. "I wish I could tell her what a horrible human he is, but she's got to know it."

[endsthegame]

"She probably believes it's necessary right now," Ender said. "Or rather, he is."

[momslilassassin]

"She always was pragmatic," Ben agreed. "Idealism was for Dad."

[endsthegame]

"They tempered each other, I think," Ender said. "No wonder Luke's been searching."

[momslilassassin]

Ben nodded. "He misses her."