The Perk [late afternoon]

[momslilassassin]

It was only Tuesday and Ben was already having a very rough week. Staring into his enormous mug of black coffee as he waited for Jaina to arrive, he decided that a silver lining to Ender being gone was that he wouldn't wake anyone up with the nightmares that were waiting for him when he let his eyes drift close

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[solo_sword]

Ben's older cousin, who was not a cougar and in no need of a hip replacement, thank you Chuck and John, was still figuring out some sort of routine here again, and so while she'd intended on getting here before Ben, that didn't happen.

Still, she was smiling as soon as she saw him. "You're not nine."

[momslilassassin]

He grinned back at her and stood up. "You look a lot more familiar now."

[solo_sword]

"So, old, huh?" she said, immediately going to hug him, and no, he wasn't getting a choice in this.

[momslilassassin]

He clung more tightly than the general run of family greetings normally accounted for. "Well, your hair's not green and spiky yet, so that's a good sign," he completely made up.

[solo_sword]

"You're so lying," she laughed, and pulled away a little to get a better look at him. "This is incredibly weird."

[momslilassassin]

"I'm taller than I was when I was nine," Ben pointed out. "And better looking."

[solo_sword]

"Both true," she acknowledged. "Give me a second to get my drink, and I'll be right back, okay?" And that would give her a little more time to figure out how to start this off without just dropping it all on him.

[momslilassassin]

Ben nodded and glanced into his cup. "I still have plenty."

[solo_sword]

Jaina went to order a cup of coffee and returned a moment later, sipping it. Caf was still better. "So if w- I asked how you are, are you still going to say fine?" she checked after taking a seat.

[momslilassassin]

He shrugged. "Ender left for the week, so slightly less than fine?"

[solo_sword]

She was honestly surprised to get that much. "And rough timing," she said, remembering that whole rift thing. "He'll be back. Weeks go fast."

[momslilassassin]

Ben fiddled with a coffee mug that needed no fiddling. "He needed to go someplace that's not here and isn't where they'll shoot at us. I can understand that impulse."

[solo_sword]

"Having been on both ends of that sort of thing, it's definitely reasonable," she said. "But you still have people here. It'll be okay." He was so getting more hugs later.

[momslilassassin]

He nodded. "I wouldn't leave Tahiri anyway. Her version of the universe was nastier than mine."

[solo_sword]

"So you said. I'm starting to think this should have been an ice cream outing," she said.

Like she didn't have a freezer full at her place from before she left.

[momslilassassin]

"I haven't really been hungry," Ben admitted. "Coffee's fine."