Chilly Boulder [Friday afternoon]

[momslilassassin]

Ben was a slightly obsessive listener to the radio, so it didn't take him long to take his speculations from his conversation with Aravis and the information from last night's broadcast and realize that dead relatives had come to visit the island.

And that his mother had not. But he was fine with that. Really. Even if Anakin had come for Jaina and

Comments

[endsthegame]

Ender had to dance around a puddle of emo to make it in pushed open the door to Chilly Boulder. It wasn't that he had Ben tracked, or anything, but his moods weren't very subtle, and his coping methods even less so.

For yet more reasons that involved patently obvious reactions on Ben's part, Ender didn't bother asking as he pulled back a chair and sat down and stole some of Ben's ice cream without asking.

[momslilassassin]

"Get your own, kreetle," Ben said, but without any heat in his voice.

[endsthegame]

"Someone has to look out for your metabolism," Ender said, lightly, and raised his eyebrows in Ben's general direction.

He wasn't so much talking about the food, no.

[momslilassassin]

Ben gave him a smile that would have convinced most people he was fine. "I'm not going to get fat."

[weetuskenraider]

"--almost always here," Tahiri's voice came through the doorway as it opened. "He practically lives here. See?"

She and Anakin made their way over to Ben's table, Tahiri looking much more awkward about the whole thing than Anakin did, but giving Ben a look as if to say That looks like a sulking-sized helping of ice cream, Skywalker.

"Hi," she said, starting to reach out a hand toward Ben and stopping halfway, biting her lip. "Someone really wanted to meet you."

[momslilassassin]

Ben hardly noticed her movement because he was so busy staring at the other boy, eyes as wide as saucers.

Hearing about it on the radio, turns out, is nothing like meeting them in person. "Anakin."

[nonelikemesince]

It was weird for Anakin too, if that was any consolation; the last time he'd seen Ben the boy hadn't even been walking yet, and here he was nearly Anakin's age, and Tahiri not that much older.

And, he realized, he didn't look a day older than he had in archive holos as old as Ben was.

That didn't stop him from giving his cousin a friendly smile. "Hi, Ben."

[momslilassassin]

Ben gave him a tentative smile back. "Have I gotten better looking since you saw me?"

Nervous Ben made bad jokes. Blame time with Tahiri.

[notqueenyet]

Aravis, on the arm of a tawny-skinned, lanky boy with her eyes and smile, was clearly in the middle of waxing poetic about her favorite topic: chocolate. "You must try the chocolate in ice cream form," she was telling him. "It's wonderf -- Ben!"

She grinned over at him, tugging the boy over a bit. "There's someone you should meet."

[momslilassassin]

Ben glanced up from his ice cream and grinned back. "Hello. Is this your brother?"

[lostofcalavar]

Aravis nodded, while the boy stepped forward with a confident little step. "So you're the famed Ben?" he asked, smiling easily. "My sister was hoping I'd be fortunate enough to meet you." He ducked a swift bow, not unlike Aravis' usual Calmorene curtsy, and added, "Rishti Tarkaan. How does the day find you?"

[momslilassassin]

"Confusing," Ben admitted with a little laugh, "but the ice cream is helping. All of the good things Aravis might have told you about me are absolutely true."