The Estate, Sidra, Glacia, Tuesday (Fandom Time)

[glacial_queen]

Warren had gone to graduation, but Karla hadn't been able to get away to go, too. That had been disappointing, but it had meant she'd been able to make sure that there was literally nothing about to go wrong or that would need her attention for the next week or so.

Why?

Because Ben and Ender were visiting, eeeeeee!

While she couldn't ignore her responsibilities entirely (more's the pity), she had informed her entire First Circle that she would be largely unavailable for the duration of the visit and was to be bothered only in the direst of emergencies. And if there was a dire emergency, they needed to inform her on psychic threads and never in front of her visitors.

If anything happened, Ben and Ender weren't going to know about it, dammit. And most certainly wouldn't be involved in fixing it. But nothing was going to happen. She was Quite Serious about everything going smoothly. Were you listening, Kaeleer? Nothing bad was allowed to happen.

[NFB, open to residents and the expected guests!]

Comments

Inside

[glacial_queen]

Filled with places to go and people to see!

[Feel free to add places if you feel so inclined]

Ben and Ender's Suite

[glacial_queen]

A large and airy suite, it included a bedroom (with double doors that open onto a balcony above the gardens), a bathroom with a tub big enough for both boys and several guests if they were so inclined, a study, a small dining room in case they didn't feel up to sharing a meal, and a parlor where they could entertain guests without having the privacy of their bedroom or bathroom invaded.

The study and the dining room also made an excellent buffer for nosy witches who could pick up emotions from the walls.

Re: Ben and Ender's Suite

[endsthegame]

Ender dropped his bag off in the hallway and took a moment just to take in the whole length of the suite. "Well," he said to Ben, "She certainly spared no expense."

Re: Ben and Ender's Suite

[momslilassassin]

"Well, queen," Ben said with a little smile. "It's a bit like visiting Tenel Ka."

Re: Ben and Ender's Suite

[endsthegame]

Ender leaned over to give him a quick kiss. "Let's count how many rooms we're worth."

Re: Ben and Ender's Suite

[momslilassassin]

"Any bets on if it's bigger than our house?" Ben replied, knocking his forehead into Ender's.

Re: Ben and Ender's Suite

[endsthegame]

"It probably is," Ender said. "They have to accomodate for a lot more people where we live."

Re: Ben and Ender's Suite

[momslilassassin]

Ben laughed. "True. So our next place will be a castle, then?"

He didn't think so.

Re: Ben and Ender's Suite

[endsthegame]

"Oh yes," Ender deadpanned. "I'll get you a castle to go along with our lake house. I'll even import a moat."

He sat down on the bed.

Re: Ben and Ender's Suite

[momslilassassin]

Ben flopped down next to him. "Mmm, this is comfortable. Not that I expected anything else from Karla."

Re: Ben and Ender's Suite

[endsthegame]

"It does kind of brim with her enthusiasm for us, doesn't it?" Ender asked, amused, dropping back to enjoy the full length of the bed with him.

Re: Ben and Ender's Suite

[momslilassassin]

"If there are twinkly lights above the bed that spell out 'have sex!!!', I won't be surprised," Ben replied. "Embarrassed, but not surprised."

The Queen's Suite

[glacial_queen]

Laid out much like the boyos', though on a far grander scale, of course. In addition to the public rooms they had, the Queen's suite also had a dressing room attached to her many closets (most of which were still empty), her personal library, a solar that looked like it was being used as a stillroom with a large loom in the corner, several offices-cum-meeting rooms, and a few other rooms that didn't appear to have been put to much use yet.

One of those rooms had a brand-new TV in it, hooked up to a nearby laptop. There were also several battered couches and a bunch of huge pillows and bean bag chairs scattered about. The perfect room for, say, a movie night?

Re: The Queen's Suite

[endsthegame]

Regardless of how many rooms she had, Karla had, at least, a door. A door that could be knocked on, now that the choice in movie had been finalized.

And knock Ender did. "I wonder if we can get lost in there."

Re: The Queen's Suite

[momslilassassin]

"Probably," Ben laughed. "Think how much bigger her suite must be than ours."

Re: The Queen's Suite

[glacial_queen]

"And the Consort's suite is almost as big," Karla said, rolling her eyes as she opened the door. "The few things that Warren keeps over there look sad and lonely. If I didn't think we'd get in trouble with the maids, I'd be leaving bread crumbs to help me remember which way is out."

It's possible she'd just given up a time or two and passed straight through the walls, rather than trying to remember which door connected to which room. She wasn't going to say for certain, but it certainly was possible.

She gave them a crooked grin. "Kiss kiss. I have snacks, so if we get lost, we probably won't starve to death before someone comes looking for us."

Re: The Queen's Suite

[endsthegame]

"Don't eat all the snacks," Ender told Ben.

He turned back to Karla. "And thank you," he said. "We've managed to pick a movie I think won't end in tears."

Re: The Queen's Suite

[momslilassassin]

"We're ridiculously proud of ourselves," Ben added. "I double checked to make sure we're not accidentally watching porn, either."

Re: The Queen's Suite

[glacial_queen]

Karla waggled her eyebrows at that. "I'm sure you did," she said serenely.

Look, if Ben was just going to set her up for comments, he couldn't blame her for taking them, okay? And she'd say that that was a very restrained response as it was.

You're welcome.

"Do you like your suite?" she asked, letting them into the front parlor of her own. She was pretty sure the TV room was the third room through the door on the right? "I don't need to send footmen to stand and point to the exits or anything?"

Re: The Queen's Suite

[endsthegame]

"We like our suite fine, though we could do with about five less rooms," Ender said, half-teasing, half-trying to ensure the topic change stuck and Ben wouldn't go red like a ripe tomato.

He followed her, making quick note of what he could see of the layout of her own suite.

Re: The Queen's Suite

[momslilassassin]

Ben was a lovely shade of pink instead? It looked really bad with the red hair.

"It's bigger than our house at home," Ben said, nodding.

Re: The Queen's Suite

[glacial_queen]

WHO HAD BROUGHT UP PORN? WHO? NOT KARLA.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be able to judge how much the Queen likes you by how much square footage you get when you visit or something," Karla said. "This was my mother's suite, but Warren and I only moved in a few weeks ago. It had to be seriously refurbished."

Because it had also been Ludmilla's suite and Karla had refused to step foot into it until all traces of Ludmilla's taste and Hobart's presence had been expunged from the very walls.

"But now anyone who comes in here knows that I'm the very specialest person in the whole estate. Y'know, on the off-chance they were confused about that or something."

Though to hear Mallory bitch about her jeans, you'd think Karla wandered the estate in rags and tatters.

Re: The Queen's Suite

[endsthegame]

"In other words," Ender said, finding a seat, "We should have brought measuring tape to our quarters. Just to determine whether we should feel offended."

Library

[glacial_queen]

Filled with books and comfortable chairs, as is only right and proper. Not as large as the library at either the Hall or the Keep, but still filled with thousands of books spanning hundreds of years.

Dining Room

[glacial_queen]

While there was the great formal dining room (and several other rooms of equal formality but varying size), it was only used when the Court was hosting some kind of obnoxiously fancy event. Fortunately, Karla didn't feel like subjecting Ben or Ender (or herself) to that.

The dining room used for family and First Circle was much more comfortable and intimate. More importantly, there was always food set out on the sideboards. Even during the most random hours of the day or night, one could find platters of sandwiches, baked goods, and fresh produce to pick at.

Look, it was never a good idea to let the Blood get hungry.