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

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!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

glacial_queen

Watership Down hadn't helped Warren's bunny fears any, either.

Of course, neither would this. But, details.

"What's a holy grail?" she asked, looking at the cover of the DVD. "Isn't a grail just a cup?"

Poor Ender, once more the fount of all Earth knowledge for the aliens.

From:

endsthegame

It'd been a while since he had to play that role. It was almost novel again.

"It is a cup," Ender agreed, "But it's a legendary one from Christian myth, supposedly pursued by King Arthur for the powers it possessed.

From:

momslilassassin

Ben laughed. "Think our Arthur's running around looking for a cup now?" he asked. "If he's using coconuts for horse noises, I want holos."

From:

glacial_queen

"He'd make poor Merlin bang them together," Karla sighed. "Though I doubt they're using coconuts. It'd be beneath his dignity."

And then, because it needed to be asked.

"..Coconuts? And why is the DVD asking if want to watch the Lego version?"

From:

endsthegame

"The team behind this were absurdist comedians," Ender said. He leaned over to tap a few buttons. "That probably has something to do with it - but we'll want the regular version."

From:

momslilassassin

"Hurry," Ben said. "If you don't make a choice, the thing yells at you to get on with it. It's very rude."

From:

glacial_queen

Fortunately, Ender saved them from being scolded by the DVD. That did not stop Karla from leaning over and poking Ben in the ribs. "I can't believe you guys brought a rude DVD over to yell at me," she teased.

A knock at the door revealed several footmen, bearing large bowls of popcorn, several pitchers of juice, and various other snacks for them to enjoy.

One of the bowls was placed specifically in front of them. "Mrs. Harrin requests that this bowl be used for throwing," he said, looking a little apologetic. "It has neither butter nor salt."

"Thank you, Magnus," Karla said with a smile. "We'll remember."

Magnus looked relieved as he bowed out and Karla gave the boyos a rueful shrug. "I warned the staff about what happened during terrible movies," she explained.

From:

endsthegame

After setting up the movie, Ender sank back into his seat. "I see you're making good use of the perks of your position," he noted, looking at the spread. "Though I think you and Ben'll burn through that in less than an hour."

From:

momslilassassin

Ben laughed and rested his head on Ender's shoulder. "An entire hour?"

From:

glacial_queen

"They won't let me do things for myself!" Karla protested, laughing a bit. "Apparently, my attempts to make my bed and fold my clothes give the staff hives."

Karla figured that if she didn't care that her sheets were only mostly tucked in and her clothes were shoved in drawers, no one else should, but no one else seemed to agree with her.

"One of the benefits of psychic threads is that when Ben's almost done eating all the things--" because Karla was a delicate flower dontcha know "--I can ask for more to be sent up without having to interrupt the movie."

From:

endsthegame

"Or you could just accept that done is done," Ender suggested, knowing full well she wouldn't.

On-screen, there was the sound of coconuts and a misty hill.

From:

momslilassassin

"Once Ben is done eating all the things?" Ben repeated, tossing a handful of popcorn at her. "Brat."

From:

glacial_queen

Karla was not the poster child of easy acceptance, no.

"It just feels weird to have them doing things for me that I've gotten used to doing for myself," Karla laughed, while futilely attempting to dodge Ben's rain of popcorn. "It's hard going from years of independence to suddenly having people wanting to do things for you."

In Fandom, her room had stayed messy until she decided to clean it. And it wasn't like she'd had a bevy of servants hovering over her during the war. To suddenly go back to that just felt distinctly odd.

And she wasn't that bad at making her bed! She just didn't care whether the sheets were pulled tight enough to bounce coins off of.

"And you're right," Karla said, turning back to Ben with merry eyes. "I should have said when Ben is done eating or wasting all the things."

From:

endsthegame

Ender looked faintly amused.

"I didn't let my assistants come within half a mile of my house for just that reason," he said. "I like my independence."

Surprise, surprise.

From:

momslilassassin

"It was part of our initial agreement," Ben said, nodding. "They also had to have a legitimate emergency to bug us after 8."

From:

glacial_queen

"Ha!" Karla said. "If I banned them from my chambers, I think I'd end up with a full-scale riot."

Pause.

"...Why are they banging coconuts together?"

From:

endsthegame

"Mimicking the sound of horses, I think," Ender said.

Sure, be a spoilsport.

"The Blood might be different," he added, "But at least with my people, it never hurt to set boundaries."

From:

momslilassassin

"You should make Lucivar carry coconuts," Ben suggested because he had a deathwish.

"And maybe you can give them time limits, at least? Or make them take Sundays off?"

From:

glacial_queen

"They have a roster of duties," Karla said shrugging. "There's a small group of them who take care of our suites."

Not that the Consort's suite needed much taking care of, since Warren was barely ever in there, but they insisted on changing the sheets every day anyway.

"I managed to convince them I didn't need help getting dressed and ready for the day unless there was an important function that required ridiculous clothing. I think I'm going to rest on my laurels for that victory for awhile."

Karla was starting to learn to pick and choose her battles. Letting people clean up after her was one she was okay enough with losing.

From:

endsthegame

"I think," Ender said, "That this conversation makes me very happy with my decision to step down."

Not that he expected Karla to ever consider it - hell, he would've said it was a terrible idea if she'd proposed it. But he was fully enjoying his own independence.

From:

momslilassassin

"It makes me want to build a housekeeping droid," Ben said with a little grin. "Beats having to do the dishes."

From:

glacial_queen

"I still have mini-Morton, you know," Karla said, dimpling. "My cousin was less than impressed with his namesake, but there's no accounting for taste. He mostly runs after Nemit these days, making sure that he doesn't get into any trouble and cleans up after him and..."

She glanced at the screen and snickered again. "I so want to watch Arthur watch this movie."

From:

endsthegame

"I think Arthur is probably more preoccupied with having his own people running around after him," Ender said, quirking a slight smile. "Sadly mini-Morton-less."

From:

momslilassassin

"Well, he has Merlin, which is pretty much the same thing," Ben said, grinning.

From:

glacial_queen

"Merlin probably talks back less," Karla sighed, throwing more popcorn at Ben for programming her a mouthy droid.

He could only beep, but he was adamant about it anyway.

"...Why isn't Merlin in this movie?"