The Roof, Thursday Morning

[endsthegame]

By now, Ender had identified whatever was going on with him as the raging hormones that they were. He still didn't like it; the indirectness of the itch, the way it made him flush for no reason at all, was troubling. Maybe if there had been an actual target for it, it would've made more sense to deal with, but there wasn't

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[momslilassassin]

Ben had slept restlessly, even for him. He just couldn't find a way to get comfortable.

So he'd headed for the roof, hoping that some air would help.

...he really should have checked to see if anyone else was up there.

"Ho, Ender."

[endsthegame]

He should have, yes, as a sense of oh crap passed over Ender the same moment his inner chimp broke into a grin.

It wasn't easy to juggle both of those impulses at once; he suspected he looked a little like a deer in headlights, if more subtly so.

[momslilassassin]

Ben's forehead creased as he frowned. He'd gotten good at reading that face and could tell when something wasn't right. "Are you okay?"

Not that he was okay, himself, but making sure Ender was was suddenly much, much more important than it usually was.

[endsthegame]

"I'm fine," he said, snagging some of his precious cool by the horns and tugging it towards him. He couldn't be that person. He wasn't the chimp. "It's just a strange week."

[momslilassassin]

Ben nodded and moved a little closer. "People are being really...affectionate," he said.

Which meant he probably shouldn't have moved closer. Oops. "It's giving me a headache."

[endsthegame]

"The empathy has to be a little rough on you," Ender agreed. He was fighting an uncharacteristic impulse to shift closer. That wasn't him.

It took more work than he'd hoped.

[momslilassassin]

"Normally I can shut it out," Ben said, sitting down on the edge of roof and looking down. "But it's so many people. Not being...affectionate...didn't bother me as much. I don't understand."

[endsthegame]

"You don't have to keep saying 'affectionate'," Ender said, shooting him a slight look from the corner of his eyes. "It's a little unsettling."

[momslilassassin]

"I didn't know you could get unsettled," Ben replied with a tiny smile.

[endsthegame]

"Out of my comfort zone," he corrected, after a moment. "All in all, I'd rather not be compelled by whatever my hormones decide on."

[momslilassassin]

"Even if it's something you wanted already?" Ben replied.

[endsthegame]

Ender took a deep breath of air. He tried not to look at Ben. "I prefer to make my decisions with all parts of my consciousness functioning on an equal level."

Oh, Ender, you would've never done half the stuff you did if that was true.

[momslilassassin]

Ben smirked. "Really. Since when?"

[endsthegame]

"Since you got that ratty hairdo, small fry." He took another breath.

[momslilassassin]

Ben reached out to mess with Ender's hair, a habit that suddenly seemed like a terrible idea.

He paused, arm outstretched and heart pounding in his ears.

[endsthegame]

Funny, because Ender was suffering just that; his head hadn't even shifted out of the way, but rather his eyes shifted a little, considering the arm in the air.

He didn't say anything.

That was probably a bad choice.