fandomhigh | Practical Philosophy, Monday

The sky was overcast, but the temperatures weren't terribly low and the threat of rain not so high that Ender opted to stay indoors. Instead they were out on the dorm lawn again, a bag of sandwiches sitting in what would soon be the center of a circle of students.

Before he started talking in general, he glanced towards Yeul and said, "I'd like to see you after class, please."

Then his attention shifted. "Last week, we experienced some interesting events," Ender said, only a little dry humor obvious from his tone of voice. "The peppers were a nuisance, that's for sure. I hope all of you made it through unharmed and unsinged." They usually did at Fandom-- he didn't think he spotted any major injuries.

"Now, the phones are a semi-annual problem. I've experienced that one several times since I came here. I always don't realize what is going on until I've already made a few calls of my own - and I'm always left wondering what prompted me to respond in the first place," he said. "What is it that makes us want to say something back when someone says something to us? Why can't we just let obviously confused, crazy people be?"

He shrugged. "Maybe it's because our lives are built and supported by our ability to communicate, so when someone communicates oddly at us, we're alarmed," he said. "Maybe we've just all got tempers. Maybe we're just trying to turn a freak occasion into some amusement for ourselves. Or maybe it's just human nature for the entire tribe to start shouting when one member does."

He stretched his legs out. "How was your week?" he asked.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Is it arrogance if it's true?" she wondered.

"Is it true that you will do such lasting harm to your friends when you leave that it is not worth being close to you at all?" Ender asked.

"I did not say I would leave," she said mildly. "Just that I know what awaits me."

It wasn't a correction, since he was more right than wrong.

"I do not know how lasting the harm will be to them," Yeul continued. "I would spare them any amount of pain when it comes to me."

"And that is where you're arrogant," Ender said. "It isn't your place to weigh those odds for anyone else."

"Perhaps," she said quietly. "But are you not just as arrogant for judging me without knowing me?"

"The only thing I'm judging are your words," Ender said. "I'm hardly judging you or your worth as a person. I'm in no position to do so."

"No," she said softly. "You are not."

The only person, besides herself, who could judge her never did.

Yeul sighed. "I weigh the odds, as you say, because I have very little experience with them not being weighed."

And... not in her favor.

"Are you waiting for it to happen again?" Ender asked, settling back.

She laughed softly.

"It will," Yeul said simply. "Maybe not with the people here... but it will. Maybe that is why I weigh the odds now, so I do not forget that they will always be weighed."

"Then why not enjoy what you're being offered here?" Ender asked. "For as long as it lasts."

"It is not easy to change habits," she said. "Nor is it always a good thing to do so."

"No," Ender said, "But neither is it always a good thing to be inflexible."

"I do not think I am inflexible," she said mildly. "Just different."

"Everybody's different," Ender said, "And everybody's the same. Thank you for sparring with me, Yeul."

Her smile was the same as it had been at the start.

"If you say so, Professor Wiggin," she said. "And you're welcome."

Practical Philosophy, Monday

Re: Talk.

Re: Talk.

Re: Talk.

Re: Talk.

Re: Talk.

Re: Talk.

Re: Talk.

Re: Talk.

Re: Talk.

Re: Talk.

Re: Talk.

Re: Talk.

Re: Talk.

Re: Talk.

Re: Talk.