Ender!
Ender paused, removing his toothbrush from his mouth before leaning over to inspect his desk.
His name danced around the screen for a moment, before almost immediately being replaced by a new message.
We're outside, let us in! -Bean
Ender held his toothbrush between his teeth and moved to answer his door. He unlocked the door, opened it, and stepped out of the way all in one motion, just in time to escape being trampled by none other than Bean Delphiki.
Bean shot through Ender's door and was sprawled on the bed in a second flat. Alai entered the room moments after Bean, as calm and collected as always.
"Ho, Ender," Alai said in greeting to the shorter boy.
"Hey, man!" Bean called, already flipping through the book on Ender's nightstand.
"Ho, Alai," Ender responded cordially. "Bean, get your shoes off my bed. And stop going through my stuff."
Bean set the book down obediently, but didn't hesitate to roll his eyes as soon as Ender turned his back to retrieve his desk from the bathroom. His childishness caused Alai to smile into his hand, disguising it as a small cough.
When Ender returned, Bean and Alai were situated comfortably on Ender's bed, backs to the wall, desks on their knees. Ender squirmed his way in between them before powering on his desk and opening one of the few games they had access to.
They did this often, game together in silence; With Ender banned from training with other armies now, and Alai and Bean being transferred, there wasn't much to during free time, other than relax and decompress.
Ender was almost grateful for the ban on training, because it meant he could finally have a real friendship with other people for once. He was sure that wasn't Graff's intention when he'd banned him, but Ender didn't intend on asking Graff what he thought. He just wanted to enjoy Alai and Bean's company for as long as he could.
Ender wondered if Graff knew about this.
Yes, Ender thought bitterly, He's probably coming up with a way to stop us as we speak.
Graff didn't want Ender to be close to people; that much was obvious to Ender. But Ender didn't want to be right for once; he wanted to be paranoid, over-imaginative, anything if it meant he'd be allowed to have friends for once.
Ender scrunched his eyebrows together; What was the point of thinking about it right now? He should be enjoying being with his friends while he still had the chance, not imagining life without them while they're still here.
Ender turned his desk off, watching Bean and Alai play instead. No one spoke, but Ender knew they were confused. It didn't matter. Ender wasn't about to say what had been on his mind, even if Bean and Alai were the two most likely to understand. He was content to just watch, and remember.