the older man grinned as he leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms. he had seen this too many times, and could even recall this all from the way he had been back in his own day. the epitome of calm, cool, and collected. "everything okay here?" a father asked his son, his voice curious and without assumption or judgement. only a bit of amusement he wasn't simply letting be known outside of the way his lips quirked. but this worked in two ways. ender knew full well of how his father had been standing there, even before making his presence known. it was something the man himself had taught him. be aware, especially when you do not appear so. do not allow anyone to get the upper hand, unless it serves your purpose.

"he's glitching." the words were spoken no differently than if he were asking someone to pass the potatoes at dinner time. ender had run a diagnostic, double checked everything, he was sure of it. Behind him, his father's lips pursed in thought, before he pulled himself away from the door to step towards the desk and look the unmoving rat over. "You got him that update I sent you then?" he asked, confirming that was what Ender had been working with. Ender turned in his chair, looking up at his father, nodding. "I'm sure I did everything, but it feels like I missed something, or maybe I did it wrong? Do you think it was too much for him?"

A knock on the open door, he let himself in, clearing his throat. Dressed the same way she had last seen him, almost as if some ritual in hopes that she would remember him and not forget. The open flannel shirt with a simple white shirt beneath it. A pair of jeans and boots. A forced smile plaguing his lips, as blue eyes danced about the room until they fell upon his mother. Her darker gaze turned towards him with uncertainty as she began to sit up. "Merry Christmas," he spoke the words almost sheepishly.

There was no certainty on her face that she understood what he was speaking of. But once she saw the pink roses, her face did light up, for they had always been her favorite. "Jeresai?" she called for her deceased husband as if he had been standing before her, her eyes never leaving the bouquet as she held her hands out to take the flowers. "Where's Ender?"

The holidays had brought him a total of three gifts, where he expected none. Nothing had been given outside of his mother, and an offering to pay for the surgery of his sister's sick cat. A journey through the depths of fragile bridges, baited traps, and pitfalls only to come back empty handed. Feelings about this gripped him, as he moved for the refrigerator and pulled a beer away from it. A long swig washing away any cluttered thoughts, only for the neck of that very same bottle to dangle from his fingertips.

Night turned into day and day turned into night before he realized what had happened. How everything had spun into a different territory through the process of drinking. A longing to feel close to someone or something, somehow that wasn't framed in metal, with guts of wire. For a flash of a moment, he could have sworn it was there. Gone as quick as it came, turning into some tug of war he didn't expect anymore than the communication itself.