fandomhigh | Practical Philosophy, Monday

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practical philosophy

Practical Philosophy, Monday

"We talked about it a little last week," Ender said, "And since nothing catastrophic has happened since, we might as well continue on that yarn-- about identity, and specifically, the debate surrounding nature and nurture."

It was another nice-ish day, and so they were outside again. Bag of sandwiches, drinks, the works. Ender seemed fairly serene about it all.

"The nature versus nurture debate is an old one," he said. "The original progenitor of the term was the polymath Francis Galton. He approached it as something of a binary. Philosophers like John Locke claimed the nurture end was the right side of the stick - that all humans were born blank slates to be imprinted on. On the other side, you had people such as the behavioral geneticists, who felt most behaviors were derived from your DNA."

He smiled a little.

"Common wisdom dictates that this binary isn't so clear-cut," he said. "There's a little bit of nature and nurture in all of us. But how much, and how?"

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"You lost your father and was swept-up in defacto indentured servitude for at least two years," Ender said, "and the only place you could find a home was here. You're not pathetic. You're still standing."

"Well, sitting," Cade said, "hugging my grandfather like he's a plush bantha."

"'sokay," Ender said. "Since I haven't had the chance to give little you any plush banthas yet."

"Bantha's still got his," Cade said, "unless he's given it to one of his kids by now."

Ender smiled a little at that; he couldn't not.

"You could use a hug or ten," he said. "Suck it up."

"Fiiiiine," Cade, who hadn't lessened his grip on Ender, replied.

"And when the end of the summer comes, you can tell us what you need," Ender added. "We'll figure something out."

"Okay," Cade said quietly, finally letting go. "But that's not for a while."

"No, it's not," Ender agreed. He settled back.

Cade made sure his shoulder was plastered up against Ender's. "You have a knack for getting me to relax," he murmured. "It's unsettling."

"I don't have any magical knacks," Ender said. "I just try to listen." He smiled a little at Cade. "Besides, when you've been through what I've been, you learn to value calm and healing."

"And yet you spend your life with Ben," Cade replied with a rueful smile.

"Why do you think he came with me?" Ender said quietly. "He values those things as well."

"Oh," Cade replied, voice barely above a whisper. "I just--" his hand flailed out. "It's his last name that get us all in so much trouble at home. If I'd've been a Wiggin, no one would have given a kark."

"You're welcome to change your name, if you want to," Ender said wryly. "But-- did anyone ever tell you what happened in the months leading up to him leaving?"

Cade shook his head. "No."

"Ben had already lost his mother - to his uncle's blade, and his uncle to the dark side," Ender said. "Luke had been sent into exile due to the damage caused by Ben's uncle, Jacen. Ben decided to go with him, and so did I. Along the way, we encountered both the Sith and an entity called Abeloth."

He let out a breath. "Abeloth, as it turned out, had designs on both Ben and a Sith girl named Vestara," he said. "She kidnapped the both of them, thinking them to be her chosen ones. Luke hesitated in going after them because he wondered if it might be the will of the Force to have this happen."

You could tell by Ender's expression how he felt about that. "In the end, they swooped in and saved Ben and Vestara anyway," he said. "But not before the two of them had suffered a lot at the hands of Abeloth. Ben was sick of it. He told the Masters he wanted to leave with me for a while, but they said no - they wanted him to stay in case they needed him as bait for Abeloth."

He picked up his now-cold pizza slice. "So Ben shoved his lightsaber through the floor of the Council Chamber, resigned from the Order, and left with me."

"Luke's a dick," Cade declared with feeling, "and Ben's a drama queen." A tiny smile worked across his face. "But I bet the looks on their faces was karking priceless when he killed his lightsaber like that."

"So I'm told," Ender said wryly. "Ben spent his childhood and most of his teenage years fighting wars. So did I. We left together because we were both tired - unloaded weapons with no more ammo in sight."

"I understand being tired," Cade said softly.

"I know," Ender said quietly.

Cade dropped his head back against the bed and let his eyes drift closed. "How did you two get together?"

Ender blinked, surprised. "We met when we were fourteen," he said, after a pause. "Right after Ben had been coerced into becoming an assassin by Jacen. His mother died shortly afterwards, and since I was one of his few friends, he asked me to come to the funeral. After that... well, a paperwork error got us rooming together. We spent years talking-- growing closer. He was dating a girl called Tahiri at the time."

"I didn't grow up learning to share," he said. "People either didn't care about my feelings or they preferred to use them against me. Ben got me talking anyway." He shot Cade a wry look. "Of course, I knew I was going to leave after my graduation. I was never much for staying, and I had an appointment to keep. So when I realized I had feelings for him, I kept my mouth shut and tried to make sure he didn't get any more attached."

Cade smiled. "That plan worked out really well."

He knew how the story ended, but after telling the bad ones, he wanted to hear the good.

Ender smiled back. "For that, I actually owe Luke a debt," he said. "If he hadn't gotten exiled, I would've retreated during our penultimate summer, and we wouldn't be here today. Instead my decision to come along forced Ben and I into closer quarters."

He took a bite of the cold pizza. "A few weeks after we got back, Valentine and I were trying to get back to Fandom when a portal pulled us into our universe's future instead. There I met Arkanian, though he called himself something else then. Arkanian was trying to instigate a large-scale rebellion against me and the remains of my brother's empire, because his mind had been filled with spurious lies about his parentage. I convinced him to change his mind, but he beat me to the brink of death in the process. Ben was... upset."

To put it mildly.

"I had plenty of time to think at the hospital. I realized I'd been a fool. I asked Ben to come with me, gave him some time to think about it without letting on anything else," he said. "Then I walked in on him after he'd fallen asleep in the bathtub and said to hell with it and kissed him."

He offered Cade another wry look. "Surprised the hell out of him. I think he fancied himself to be the instigator in our relationship. But then he's dumb like that -- occasionally."

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