readbentweenthelines

[readbentweenthelines]

"I'm still working through that part, but you'll be the first to know when I get there," Ben told her softly, giving her a gentle kiss. But he let her talk. He let her tell him about her experiences, about how she'd spent so long focusing on other things, pushing herself to the side, both before and after she'd come back to life. He knew that all of that had been hard. Really, he wondered if she'd even vocalized all of this before, at the same time. She'd been through so much, even before she'd come back to life. Then, of course, that happened, along with everything that accompanied it. It was all little details that attributed to what made her the person that she was, but that didn't make them good things. There was this idea that trauma made people stronger, but Ben didn't think that was the case. Trauma didn't make people stronger; it just hurt them. How they chose to react to that hurt was a testament to who they were, not the trauma itself. Bri wore her heart on her sleeve, as lovely and messy and broken as it could be, and he loved that about her.

"I don't want to forget that you said anything," he told her moving to brush his thumb against her cheek. "I appreciate you worrying about me, I do. And us being different doesn't mean that I'm doing it better, or that I don't still want you to share your experiences with me. I don't want you to feel like you're unraveling, love, and I hate that you do. I wish I could do more. I wish I had the right words that could fix it, make it okay. But words only do so much," he murmured. "You're right, you know. About how unhealthy pushing things to the side can be. I know that, I do. But I am..." He paused, thinking over his words. "I'm at my best when the people that I know are okay. That's how I get through it. That's what I chose to worry about, years ago. Losing my leg-- It... it bloody sucks." Ben sighed, moving his hand to the prosthetic. "It hurts, sometimes. Aches, like it's being cut off, still. It's frustrating, trying to do things, being unable to do things, losing a part of the independence that I've had. But I... I would rather go through it so many times than see someone else suffer. I can deal with me. I have a much harder time when it comes to everyone else." He didn't worry about himself. He didn't see the need in it. The thought of something happening to her, though, was too much to bear.

Ben laughed a little, holding her close to his chest and pressing a kiss to her hair. "We can see about building a basement, but it's pricey, and time consuming, and might not be possible depending on the structural integrity of the house. Plus, we likely wouldn't have to be here during the process. It might not even be worth it," he told her. Honestly, in that case, the thing to do might simply be to find somewhere new. A bittersweet idea; he'd lived here for as long as he could afford a house in Lunar Cove, and it wasn't a lie if Ben said that he'd grown attached. But life moved on, and sometimes life outgrew the things that people were attached to. That was okay. "I do think a bed made of books would be rather interesting, if, perhaps, not the most comfortable."

"Then move in with me, and you won't have to be lonely," Ben said, his voice soft and low. He held her a little closer. "I'm always going to worry about you. I know that vampirism doesn't negate the pain. I often wonder if it makes you all feel more, really. The instant something painful happens hurts, but the recovery isn't any easier, and you all feel that so quickly," he said quietly. He thought of her fainting once more, the way that magic had been taken from the room, the way that she'd been threatened. "When that happens, I promise," he said. When he could ensure that she wouldn't be harmed from his actions... But, until then, the package that he'd been given would remain hidden in his office at the Coalition's headquarters. "Being alive isn't the only caveat, Bri. I don't want you to suffer. I don't-- I can't bear to see you hurting."

Ben smoothed a hand through her hair, humming. "It's truly such a shame you were unable to properly appreciate my superior strength. I suppose I'll just have to start hitting the gym a bit more in a desperate attempt to replicate it." He just shook his head. "I've made my decision, and I don't have any plan of changing it. I want to be with you, and I want that to be forever. We have time, and that's included as a part of it. Even if that means adjusting to new abilities or being around Aaliyah Rose for the rest of eternity," he added, flinching slightly. Though, he sighed. "I've worked with her for awhile, now. I hate that you're starved for options about these kinds of things, but I do truly believe that she has the capacity to be helpful. When she's not pretending to sleep in council meetings, she actually can contribute to the conversation in meaningful ways, and I do think she cares about the Clan. Perhaps in a more distant manner than some would like, though."

"And yet?" Bri whispered quietly back, peering over at him with her big brown eyes before a soft sigh slipped from her lips and her gaze fell back into her lap. "If you say you know, you know, but... I used to think everything would be fine. I think I spent a lot of time compartmentalizing my own feelings or pushing them to the side," She bite down on her bottom lip as she fidgeting with the hem of her sleeve, not sure how to go about explained, but after a prolonged beat, she finally murmured out, "Back when I first came to town, I... I knew it had bothered me when I found out about what happens to humans here. About how we can't- couldn't leave without forgetting everything, but there was so much going on. My exe and I had just bought the house, we were already in what felt to be a tumultuous place, and it wasn't as if I could do anything about it really. The damage had already been done. If I left, I'd forget everything. I'd forget her, this place, magic- and I didn't want to do that. I... I was in love. I was head over heels for the idea of what we could have been. So, I put my dreams of being a 'broadway star' aside. I focused on the now. On.... home decor," She let out a small scoff at the thought, still not bringing herself to lift her head.

"On bedding, on the perfect mattress... I made to-do list after to-do list and let her feed off of me, because it made me feel close. I just kept smiling through it and focusing on the good." It was how she had always been since she was small. She didn't used to be loud the way she was now or brazen. She used to painfully optimistic to the point where it hurt. She spent so much of her life telling everybody that everything was 'fine'. Only being able to see her dad for a few months out of the year? It was fine. Both of her parents being too busy to see even one of her performances? They had more important things to do. They still sent flowers every show and she knew how lucky she was. Even if they stopped loving each other, they never stopped loving her. And really, she was just lucky enough to be adopted. But, then- "When I came back, I tried to do it too. I was so scared and I had never-" She shook her head, willing whatever tears she may have back as she moved to tuck her hair back behind her ear and tug further down on her sleeves if only to give her something else to focus on. "Been through that much pain before. But, even though I didn't fully know what happened- even though I was covered in blood and my hands couldn't stop shaking over god knows who, I really thought it would be fine, because... because Jonah was in town. I wasn't alone. He'd help me and we'd figure it out and I just focus on what I could control. Only, he had been just as freaked out seeing me as I was. Understandable, since I had been dead for three years and all, but... then I bumped into Rohan and he recognized me from the astral plane. He knew I had come back and he freaked out and then I freaked out. And we've resolved it for the most part, but I think in that moment, every feeling I had overlooked that had building up throughout my entire life came to a breaking point and ever since then I've felt like I've been unraveling and... and I don't know how to put the pieces back together again," She shook her head the tiniest bit back and forth. Squeezing her eyes shut once more as she let out another shaky breath to keep herself from crying. Not this time.

"I'm only telling you all of this because I love you and I guess I worry. I-" Her voice broke the smallest bit as she finally lifted her head up to meet him. "I don't want you to ever have to feel this way. I don't want you to ever have to feel like all of the emotions you've been putting off have piled so high up that it's too much to take. But, you're right in the fact that you're not me. You're you and you know what you're doing, so we should just forget I said anything," She gave him a small nod, followed by a little sniffle at the thought. "And I promise, I won't bring it up again, okay?"

"I really do love you," She promised him, moving to dab at her eyes before she scooted even closer. Her arms lacing their way around his waist as she rested her chin against his chest. "You're the best part about this twisted so-called afterlife. I hope you know that and I love it here. Though, we are going to have to do something about the lack of space issue... Do you think we could look into building a basement? It's just that you happen to have a lot of books and I happen to have a lot of books as well as a whole bunch of other stuff, but at this point, we're either going to have to convert all of the walls into shelves or dedicate one room solely to literature and, even at that rate, we might have to start replacing furniture with just a stack of hardcovers."

"I don't, but I know I'm impatient and," She bite down on her bottom lip again as she squeezed her eyes shut and let out a small groan in embarrassment as she admitted, "I get lonely without you. I'd rather just live here with you, but yes. I understand that it's worrisome and, genuinely, you don't know how nice it is to have you worry, because most people in this town seem to be under the assumption that vampires can't feel pain when we very much so do and I will give it to you. The aquarium with the fainting- I get why you did what you did. I really do and I'd probably do the same, but when I'm not having the magic that keeps me alive drained from my body, you promise we'll figure something out together? I mean it. I know you'd do literally anything to protect me, but as long as I'm alive at the end of whatever it is, its not worth sparing me some pain if it means I don't have a fully intact boyfriend to come back to. Got it?" She gave his chest a firm poke as if to show that she meant business.

"Yes and it was hot. Like really hot. I'm sad I wasn't fully coherent to get to enjoy it, but then again... probably for the best I wasn't," or she would have had a full blown panic attack and likely lost her shit in that aquarium. "Oh. Makes sense, but... if you do prefer being human or later decide that magic isn't all it's cracked up to be, then... you'd tell me right? I know we have this whole plan about what to do down the line involving vampirism, but... I mean it, if you don't want this life for you, regardless of me, then I don't want you to subject yourself through it. As someone who thought this is what I wanted, I know now that I was way in over my head and I wouldn't want you to ever wind up regretting a decision you made for my sake is all and mhmm. That's the one. She's... something, that's for sure," She grumbled out. "I once got badly sunburnt based on her not so great advice, but I also don't really have anyone else to turn to in the Clan right now either. Meena's so busy and honestly really intimidating. I keep on trying to be Ken's friend, but he doesn't seem to like me all that much and told me that just because I'm friends with Leyla doesn't mean we need to be. That and the last time I asked for help, he was pretty condescending. The last time I spoke to Gia, she asked me to kill her while on a werewolf hallucinogenic trip. I can barely get ahold of Rio much these days and the rest of the Clan seems to be as lost at this as I am, so... it's either Aaliyah or I'm on my own."

[readbentweenthelines]

"There are teeth on their tongues," Ben said, chuckling a little. "They don't need thumbs, and you won't have any, either, if you go to grab one by the neck and their tongue-teeth bite off yours." He nodded, considering. "Adelaide's not bad. You certainly seem like more of an Addie, though." Ben gave her a wry smile. "He's a cool guy, certainly, though I fear I might have to keep him out of fights." He could already see the potential headaches coming out of Council situations, but, in the same vein, Ben thought that, maybe, he needed someone like that. An opposite so that, hopefully, they could find a middle ground and get things accomplished.

"Don't forget the fae," Ben tacked on helpfully. He shrugged. "Human laws are still maintained. Mostly. This is Rhode Island, after all. We have a functioning city government as well, complete with all the normal checks and balances. But, yes, an additional form of government is sort of needed when you have people aren't bound by natural law." He laughed. "The few, the proud. We're not that rare, though. A lot of us came to town and just... ended up staying, I suppose. When you leave, if you're human, you forget all of this, you know. All of the magic stays here."

"Yeah, but geese ain't got opposable thumbs," Addie said, holding both her arms out in front of her and flexing her thumbs, as if to punctuate her sentence. She then curled her hands together, miming the action of choking. "All you gotta do is squeeze their little necks till they pop. Or kick 'em real hard." At the guess for her name, she gave a morbid chuckle. "Ha! I wish. Nah, my parents got all fuckin' weird with our names and gave me and my sisters like, old ass lady names." She shrugged. "Adelaide. But no one calls me that." And for good reason. She was not an Adelaide, she was an Addie. That's all there was too it. "Your advisor sounds like a cool guy," she commented, keeping an even stride as she walked along side him, subconsciously making sure she was never walking any faster than him.

"Christ." Addie cursed, "y'all really got your own government and everything going in here, huh? Guess the normal police don't really work for a place with fucking vampires and werewolves and witches, oh my!" She threw her hands up in mock surprise before letting them drop back to her sides. "So that makes you human, yeah? Rare breed around here, I'm guessing."

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"Well, I never compared you to Edward Cullen. Is that how you see yourself, though, Song? A teenage hearthrob with a dazzling personality?" Ben joked. He raised an eyebrow. "I'm a professor at an off-shoot branch of the University of Rhode Island, and I haven't left this town in over fifteen years, so, I don't know. Do I have a summer home in Cornwall?" he asked drily.

"Maybe not the Accords, but things get blurry when it comes to matters of potential harm. No one did end up killing another with these new abilities, but it could have happened, and we're entering into a bit of grey area when it comes to what they can or can't do. The Accords don't take into account humans with supernatural abilities." Because they were human. They weren't supposed to have any of that. Sometimes, Ben wondered if humans had originally just been brought into town to be a food source. They weren't just that anymore, of course they weren't. "Plus, this is still a town within the state of Rhode Island. Our laws do matter for some things. At least, they should. But I know Frankie gave her brother some terrible headaches. Screaming voices? I'm not familiar with the semantics of witch abilities, I'm afraid, though I'm quite certain that is one." He sighed. "Concerned in general? Concerned as to what all of this means. Someone's out there attempting to, what? Level the playing field?"

"Oh of course. Because that's the word people would use to describe me. Dazzling. Like Edward Fucking Cullen," He rolled his eyes lightly over at the thought. "See the sad part is I honestly can't tell if you're joking there or if you really do happen to have a summer home in Cornwall," He quipped, seeing that it did, in fact, sound like something Ben would have.

"No where in the accords does it say you can't inject yourself up with potentially harmful drugs. Trust me, I'd know. Nor does it say that you can't put yourself and, potentially, others in harms way. Those are our laws, not there's and it isn't as those we can't prove blackmail and coercion took place," He countered. "Regardless, Efe got super speed. I think he broke someone's hand too, by accident. Devrim duplication. Todd is convinced he's Carrie at this point, but pretty sure he had telekinesis. Jonah left early before... well, you know and I don't know about Frankie. You?" He tilted a brow over at Ben as he started to list off all of the powers he could recall off of the top of his head, though he was in the middle of trying to not electrocute people, so he wasn't paying all that much attention at the time. "Concerned about what?"

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"I think, together, we make a pretty solid pirate," Ben mused. If he replaced his prosthetic with a peg leg, and they got Jonah a rather handsome eyepatch. Both of them would need hats and the ostentatious coats, of course, but at least there could be a bit of levity in this situation. Even if it was hard. Even if it seemed difficult. Ben ran a hand through his hair, sighing. "This," he started, "this is me taking care of myself, I'm afraid." Reaching out to others, finding some way to attempt to shoulder a load, that was how Ben took care of himself. If he could focus on others, if he could help them, then he could be okay, too. He could show that he was okay. He gently brushed Jonah off. "I'm fine, really, Jonah. I wish-- I wish I could have done more, really. I'm sorry all of this happened."

The voice registered quick enough and Jonah turned to meet Ben with a point to his bandaged eye, "Me too, not anymore for while at least." But even then, what he had most enjoyed about swimming, that dive into deep waters where it felt like a different world entirely was taken from him in a flash. Picking up the fallen smile, Jonah gave Ben a weak flash of it with a quick shake of his head, "No no, you're not a bother. Thank you.. I- uh- I do appreciate it." And he did, he really, did, but enthusiasm and the willingness to entertain people even if it was just people checking in could not easily be met with his usual optimistic demeanour. "We're good here Ben, thanks. I mean this nicely, yeah? Take care of yourself first. This..." he pointed towards the aquarium, "We'll be fine. You've already been through a lot and got stuck in there when..." he trailed off unable to even speak on it, "...how are you doing?"

[readbentweenthelines]

"That's rather a shame. Geese are really quite horrifying creatures. Have you seen the teeth on their tongues?" Ben shook his head. "They're all villains, I'm sure of it." He wasn't quite sure what she meant by his name fitting him, though it likely wasn't a compliment of any kind. It didn't bother him too much, though. "I think it fits as well. And yours for you. Is it short for Addison?" he asked. There were multiple options. He went with the one he'd heard more often. "No, I'm afraid that's just me. I think my advisor would rather get stabbed than apologize," he told her. "The Coalition of Non Supernaturals. A mouthful. It a human organization here in town, though we also represent others who are unaffiliated."

"If I get murdered by a goose, then I want my body to be left where it was to rot because that's just pathetic," Addie noted, tucking her hands in her pockets as she walked alongside him. She could tell his gait was off, just enough for someone like her to notice, and with the comment about his leg, it was easy enough to come to the conclusion that he had a prosthetic. Not that any of that mattered to Addie. In all honesty, she was surprised she still somehow had all her limbs and organs. With how much she smoked and how often she drank, she didn't think she had much longer in this world, though. "Ben. Yeah, that fits," she commented, glancing sideways at Ben as they walked. She thought she might've even been able to guess that was his name. Or something else plain, like Frank or John. "Addie," she said back, but didn't say much past that. "Coalition? Of what? Apologizing for no reason?"

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"I know," Ben said softly. He knew that he was allowed to be upset. He'd certainly given it thought, late at night or the first time he'd really looked, really saw what was left of his leg. He'd thought about it. He'd decided that it could wait for later, when things weren't so serious. They'd never gotten to that point, though. There was always something else to worry about, something more pressing, and, pretty soon, he was so exhausted by physical therapy, and there was always something to do with work, and there was always another event with more drama, and eventually, being upset about something that he couldn't change slipped his mind. He got frustrated, sometimes, when he was alone in his office, having to take his leg off and own, tripping over a foot that no longer had feeling because it wasn't even there.

"I've always been more devoted to work, to this place, than other people. Relationships were," he paused thinking. "I didn't really go looking for them. That's what made me stay here, at first, but it ended. My time here didn't." Ben really did love Lunar Cove. He loved this place where people were so openly able to be themselves, where there was still such a broader, wider world to learn, and he could never leave it. He could literally never leave it, not while he was still human. Even when it took from him, forced him to watch the ones that he loved get hurt, he couldn't leave. He couldn't forget all of this. And he couldn't forget her. "Having you has given me more than I ever knew I could have." He wouldn't give it up for the world.

Ben chuckled. "I'm glad you like it here. I'm glad you already see this place as your home. It feels more like home when you're here." He raised an eyebrow. "No basement, I'm afraid. I don't think I would have been able to keep that from you for an extended period of time, love." He gave her a soft smile. "I know you don't want to be the one to always ask. I'm sorry I take so long with things. Sometimes, I just enjoy the moment. I like to sit in each milestone. I think it's the literature student in me. We're taught to close read, analyze, linger. I like lingering in every moment with you."

He actually looked mildly shocked at her confusion. "What? No!" he said, a little flabbergasted. "Not bad boyfriend! I-- I'm... Bri, I understand that you heal faster, better than I do, but that doesn't make these things any less worrisome. Especially in a situation where it seemed all of the supernaturals had been cut off from magic. So, yes, I was worried. I had to take a calculated risk. I didn't see another option." He sighed. "But you're right. We're a team. We'll... figure something out with all of this. But, if a circumstance arises where I'm... blackmailed again, I'll do what I have to to make sure you're safe. You know that, right?"

He shook his head, a self-deprecating laugh pouring out of his mouth. "I broke a table just by bumping it. I got rather lucky that I didn't break the tanks myself, though that happened anyway." He shrugged. "I don't know if... prefer is the word. I'd need time to acclimate to feeling like that again. Time to understand it." He actually raised his eyebrows. "Aaliyah Rose? Is she... I didn't think she was actually capable of being helpful, outside of the occasionally enlightened comment at a council meeting or disgruntled yelling at misbehaving vampires."

"I..." A soft sigh broke from her lips as she reached up to cup his face in her hands. "I think you were raised by some truly amazing people and I'd never tell you to be anyone different. Like I said, I think you're one of the most gracious and optimistic people I've ever met and I love that about you," She promised him. "But, its okay to let yourself be a little upset about your situation too. I mean isn't that the point after all of us all being different? That we can all learn from each other?" She countered, giving him a small shrug as she did. "You feelings matter just as much as mine do or anyone else's in the room, even if the rest of us might sometimes be a little louder about them is all."

"I don't know what I'd be without you either," She whispered softly out. Or maybe she did. Maybe she wouldn't even be here. Bri was in a really dark place when she bid his basket, but that day, their first somewhat date, made her feel human again. Like she was more than just some monster, but an actual person. She hadn't smiled that much in a really long time and, ever since, she found herself more at ease with him than anyone else. "You really never had that before?" She asked quietly. Her cheeks tinted red as she found herself admitting, "I don't think I really knew what unconditional love meant until I met you."

"But wha- hey!" She exclaimed. Her bottom lip shifted into a pout as he called her brain ridiculous and beautiful. "Is it really that ridiculous to want to be asked?" She countered once more. Her soft smile only growing when he told her that he was in fact asking. "Don't say that about our home. I love it here. Though, while we're on the subject..." She trailed off, sneaking him an innocent peak as she added, "I do happen to have a lot of clothes that I might need a decent amount of hanging space for. We don't happen to have a basement I could turn into a walk in closet, do we?"

"What do you mean if you'd known it was what I wanted? Ben," She whined out as her big brown eyes met his. "I want to do everything with you. All of the big life moments. I just don't want to be the one who always has to ask? But, I also know I'm impatient which is part of the problem. I'm not good at waiting," She admitted with a small pout. "It's part of only child syndrome! I never had to before."

"Ben!" She exclaimed again as he said he'd do it again. "Bad boyfriend!" She narrowed her eyes over at him again. "I know, I know, you would and I'd do the same for you, but Ben, you're human and I do want to preface that being human doesn't make you any less equipped to protect me. If anything, you being you, makes you way more so. We both know I'm not great in a high stress situation, that I think humans are the best species one can be and if I had the chance to be a human again I would take it in a heartbeat, especially now with whatever weird liquid was in that syringe that gave you temporary super powers. But, while I do get hurt statistically far more often than you do, my wounds tend to be a little less permanent. Maybe we could consider a different route to take together if one of us ever gets blackmailed with the other, which also statistically seems to be a rather high occurrence in this town? Not that you didn't make the right call this time around! You totally did. I mean hot damn. But, we're are team and, so, maybe in the future if the calculations seem heavily likely that something dire will happen to you and less dire for me, we compromise?"

"Okay. If you're sure," She gave him a small nod, despite the concern still very much being there. "Why did you feel useless? You were incredible! And did it? I'm sorry it's gone now, unless you prefer not having magic? But, I don't know. Either way, I think you're the most useful person ever. Though, I do get what you're saying. I feel useless majority of the time, even with abilities and I still don't really know how to control them either, but... I went to Aaliyah for help? I don't know well it will go though."

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Ben shrugged again. "Only if you chose to see it that way," he replied. He chuckled. Honestly, it's not a question of could. A very determined goose could murder you, if it was so inclined." Though, in truth, Ben simply didn't see himself as capable of such a thing. Murder. It seemed like such an impossibility. The act of it was so nonsensical that he couldn't even imagine it. Not except in his nightmares, deep in the back of his mind where he relived the moments that Bri died over and over again in a dream, sometimes at his hand, on accident. Hardly murder, though that made it no less terrifying. He walked them towards the Historical Society, his pace more even than it had been in weeks as he got used to walking. "I'm Ben, by the way. I lead the Coalition. And you are?"

"Jesus, that's kinda sad," Addie said back. She rarely apologized, but Addie was brazen and she made sure people knew what they were getting into before they got to know her. She didn't really care what people thought of her, hadn't for a long time. "Alright, fine. But only because you think you could actually murder me," she joked, shrugging as she nodded towards the direction he'd been walking before. She could probably put up another poster wherever they were going, too, so it was a sort of two birds, one stone situation. "God's been trying to do that for ages and so far, no luck."

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"Succeeding feels like a stretch," Ben murmured, moving to hold her a little closer to him. "I'm simply... going forward. It's how I was raised. My parents are good people. Caring, considerate, but also analytical, straightforward. They raised me to accept things, even if they're hard. It's so hard to change the world from the past. All I can do is think about the present and what comes next. Putting one foot in front of the other. Or, well. Relearn how to walk, if need be." He gave her a slight smile. "I'm just... dealing with things in the only way I know how, just like you do, like Jonah does, like everyone else does. We're all different. It's what makes us people. I'm just me, you're just you, and I don't know. I think that's rather wonderful of both of us. It'd be very boring to date myself, don't you agree?"

He looked at her, really looked at her, and wondered if she'd get it. "I don't actually know when I don't lean on you, to be honest. It's... little ways. Seeing you brightens my day. I love hearing you talk, about books or work or the things that annoy you. The things that make you happy and the things that make you sad. You've given me something to look forward to. Someone to look forward to. I've never had that. I've always been devoted to my work. You've given me a person. I can't tell you how much that means to me, how much you mean to me because the words for it simply don't exist. I don't know what I'd be without you around anymore."

He shook his head. "You're brain is ridiculous, my darling love. Beautiful, but ridiculous. Yes, I'm asking you to move in with me. We can take our time with it; I know you want to be there for Jonah, and I'm sure you'll have things to sort out with your own place. It'll be a bit of a downgrade, I fear, but I'd love for you to move in with me. I... would have asked you sooner, if I'd known it was what you wanted." Ben often wondered if she thought he was too tepid in their relationship, too hesitant. It wasn't hesitancy, just a desire to take things slow, to linger in the moment. He believed they had time. He believed that this would last. There was no need to rush this.

"Hey!" He said, mouth slightly agape as she shoved him. "I'd do it again," he said immediately. "If I thought that it would ensure your safety, then of course I would. I wasn't going to risk anything happening to you. I took a calculated risk that nothing would happen to me, either, nothing that couldn't be fixed." Though, truthfully, he hadn't thought much of anything at all. She was at risk, he wouldn't let that happen. Of all the decisions Ben had made it his life, that one required the least amount of deliberation.

Ben nodded, sighing. "I can go to the doctor, but, really, I feel fine. It's a bit... underwhelming, I suppose, to lose the strength." He gave her a squeeze back. "It was intimidating at first, particularly because I didn't know how to control it. But you weren't well, and all I wanted to do was get you somewhere safe. I wanted to be gentle with you, so I think I put most of my effort into that. I felt rather useless, truthfully, throughout most of the experience. The ease was nice. Being able to stand so easily."

"You're succeeding," She pointed softly out. A soft sigh escaped from her lips as she moved to rest her head on his shoulder. Her arms moved to wrap around his waist as she admitted, "I don't know how you do it, Trouble. I break down over the littlest of things and, yet, you manage to be so damn strong and, you might not think of yourself as such, but you are. You haven't gotten mad or upset or depressed, maybe its compartmentalizing and it's only a matter of time- I don't know, but I do know you're one of the most gracious and optimistic people I've ever met." At first she might have thought he was merely in denial and, when the reality of the situation set in, the five stages of grief might kick in. Only months passed and now she was starting to realize this was just who he was. A literal saint in comparison.

"I know it is just you which is what makes it so impressive. You're being you," and try as she might, she'd never be like him. Not in that regard at least. "Not really, no," She admitted after a prolonged beat, shaking her head the smallest bit back and forth when he said that she didn't realize how much he leaned on her. "You've leaned on me? For what?" She asked, genuinely trying to rack her brain for a moment when he had.

"Okay, but to clarify," She peeped up. Her smile only growing as he cupped her face in his hands. "Are you asking me to move in with you? And yes, I am going to actually need you to say it or my brain is totally going to internalize this conversation as it being me who pretty much invited myself to stay, even though I do know I kind of instigated this conversation regardless," She flashed him another innocent look, knowing fully well that she always seemed to be the least patient one in the relationship, typically being the one to kick off majority of their bigger milestones.

Only as he mentioned the needle, her eyes widened in disbelief as she gave his chest a light shove. "Benjamin Anak Bandi!" She exclaimed as she shook her head in disbelief. "As much as I love that you'd do anything to protect me and I do love it and you, what is something bad had happened to you? We don't just go stabbing ourselves with random needles! There is like so many things wrong with that," She huffed, before her own eyes softened as she looked over at him. "I get it, I do. I wouldn't want anything to ever happen to you either, but-" She let out a shaky breath as she asked, "But, can you at least think it over, a little bit? Please? Because as much as you don't want to hurt me, I don't want you to be hurt at my expense either and if it means protecting you from god knows what, I can handle a bit of pain."

"Oh, okay," She gave him a small nod as she moved to weave her fingers through his hand and give it a tight squeeze. "Well, you might still want to go to the doctor anyhow. Who knows where that needle had been, but... how did it feel? To have magic? Did you like it or?"

[readbentweenthelines]

"I'm sure you'll dazzle and impress no matter what." Ben hummed, shaking his head. "Sorry, I keep the centerpieces in my summer home in Cornwall." He shrugged. "I'm not sure. We all chose to take a potentially harmful drug, not knowing anything about it. We were putting ourselves and, potentially, others in harms way." He sighed. "And things did end up getting destroyed. I don't think we'll be at fault, but I think there will be questions. Maybe. Maybe not. There were other things happening. That might not be the biggest concern. But, yess, I do think it would be good to know who got what of the... "crapshoot abilities." Sometimes, he could still feel the strength, how it had made everything so ridiculously easy. How things had gotten harder again once it was gone. "She's not looking to pursue anything with the Council. So we'll, yeah. We'll keep it on the back burner. It might not be the best to bring that up in the meeting, regardless. I'm more concerned than anything."

"Nothing like bureaucratic chaos to really bring out my best work," He quipped. His lips twitching up in amusement as he tact on, "Tragic. Here I was, fully expecting you to be drowning in canapé recipes and debating the merits of centerpieces," He gave a mocked sigh. "You think the Council will try to hold us at fault for what exactly?" A genuine scoff broke from his lips at the thought. "Gaining the same temporary abilities they all have that we give them a pass for time and time again? Pretty sure none of us broke the accords either, even after we all took magical steroids," He reasoned. "Hm. Fine by me. You mean other than who got what crapshoot of abilities?" He curved a brow over at Ben, trying to decipher if he had happened to receive a strange note after the fact or if it had only been him. "Have you talked to Frankie by the way? She got bite from Safiye and, if she wants us to bring it up, then we probably should, but if she doesn't care then... we might want to hold off on mentioning it until someone brings up the roided up humans. Keep it in our back pocket to use if necessary as fucked up as that might sound."

[readbentweenthelines]

"Perhaps I'm simply apologizing for the inconvenience of it all," Ben said, offering up a shrug. An apology for the state of the universe. It wasn't that he was personally sorry; she was right, he had no hand in her forgetting her lighter. He was however, sorry that it happened. Even the annoying things deserved apologies, sometimes. He did laugh, though, raising his free hand up in surrender. "Honestly, that's perfectly sensible. If it makes you feel any better, this secondary location's fairly crowded, most days. Plus, I'm pretty weak on my left side. You could quite literally kick my leg out from under me. You know, should I attempt to murder you in broad daylight at a crowded location," he added, giving her a smile rather than half a smirk.

"Just my luck," Addie grumbled, shoving her hands back in her pockets, ready to walk away when the guy started talking again. Pausing, she turned to look at him, raising a brow. "Why are you apologizing? Ain't like you made me forget my lighter." He kinda seemed like one of those people that'd apologize if someone else spilled soup in his lap. Addie hated pushovers like that. Frowning, she gave him a pointed look. "Ya know, my mom taught me to never go to a second location," she lied, giving a half smirk, "once you go to a second location, chances of survival go down to about twenty-five percent." Of course, she doubted this local do-gooder was a serial killer, but then again, people had doubted that Ted Bundy was one, too. One could never be too careful, but Addie was the exact opposite of careful. She'd probably follow a serial killer home if they offered her something she wanted. She'd never really thought that a problem-- she was bound to just become another statistic, anyway. Murdered or overdosed or killed herself, she'd just be another tick in some statistician's journal.

[readbentweenthelines]

"I think the closest place is downtown, actually," Ben said, feeling a little apologetic at the fact. "Downtown, or this side of Sunny Harbor." Unfortunately, the town green wasn't exactly home to that many convenience stores. Or, well, any, for that matter. The farmers' market was in this part of town every week, but even if it was running, most vendors weren't likely to be selling lighters. Possibly matches, but that felt like a bit of a digression.

He noticed her posters, the downward tilt of her mouth, the annoyance of it all. "I could help you with those, if you like. And direct you to the closest convenience store." He was just trying to think of options, really. "Or, actually, I'm headed to the Historic Society to see about some work. There's a break room that might, at the very least, have some matches." If nothing else, he could possibly just have her wait while he went into the Coalition's headquarters. There was bound to be a lighter somewhere around there. "I'm sorry all of this is rather inconvenient."

Addie frowned, patting back over her pockets and jacket, hoping to find one despite having just looked and come up empty. "Fuckin' hell," she grumbled, taking the cigarette out of her mouth and stuffing it back into the pack. She turned to look more fully at the person beside her, giving him a good once over, noting the cane and the slight tilt of his body to lean to one side. Not that it mattered, but Addie often found herself noticing things about people that weren't always obvious to others. Call it a gift or whatever, Addie mostly kept it to herself. All she deduced from his appearance was that he looked like someone her dad would've called "one of those scholarly types".

"You know where's the closest place I can go buy one? Don't really wanna walk all the way back downtown right now." She still had more posters to hang up, the lot of them tucked under her arm at the moment. Maybe it was being lazy, but she didn't really care at that point, she just wanted her fucking smoke.

[readbentweenthelines]

Ben was headed towards the Coalition's Headquarters, planning on actually doing his work for the Coalition there rather than consolidating all of his business on campus. He didn't think that this was what one of his students meant when they were discussing "third spaces," somewhere separate from home and school or home and work, but he figured it probably counted in a certain way, if he squinted. Or just closed his eyes and pretended. Whatever the case, he was looking forward to being in the archive more, and the walk was pleasant, at the very least.

He wasn't expecting to be greeted, and he could only shake his head. "Sorry," he said genuinely. "I don't carry one on me these days." Perhaps he should start; not for his own benefit, but he now had a Coalition advisor who was a regular smoker, and he knew several more. Plus, a lighter was something handy to own, wasn't it? Useful in a variety of ways, not just for smoking.

Who: Open @lunarcovestarters Where: Town Green/Common

With confirmation that Ronnie was alive and in town, it seemed that Addie was going to have to set up shop here for a bit. At least until she could figure out what to do next. It wasn't like she could just call their mother and tell her the truth, not with everything she'd seen, and everything she'd been told. She hadn't taken much time to ponder over what to do now, but Addie wasn't all together too worried, she wasn't in any hurry, after all. And lucky for her, a P.I. could really set up shop anywhere. All she had to do was...find where to set it up. And probably figure out better sleeping arrangements than the back of her van.

She'd printed off some tacky posters, with her information and job details on it, before heading over to the bulletin board that was in the middle of the town common area. There were jobs posted, missing pets, advertisements for parties (Addie grabbed one of those), and ads looking for roommates (Addie did NOT grab one of those). Taking one of the loose thumb tacks, she stuck her poster over an old crumpled one for a missing dog, sticking it up and standing back to admire her work. She noticed someone coming up beside her, but didn't turn to address them, instead digging in her pockets for her pack of cigs, tugging one out and then delving back into her pockets for her lighter. "Shit," she cussed under her breath, finally turning to the person beside her, "hey, you got a lighter on you? Seems I forgot mine."

[readbentweenthelines]

Ben made the slow walk towards the aquarium, trying to rely less on his cane, though he still needed it more than he would admit to. Glass crunched under his boots as he observed the damage.

Being inside, nearly drowning, watching those around him get hurt, hurt themselves, hurt others, had felt useless. He'd been given powers, too, an insane amount of strength that he'd hardly had time to reckon with, and he hadn't been particularly useful with it. In fact, Ben didn't think he'd been particularly useful the entire night. He didn't feel particularly useful now, but he came to try.

"I'm afraid I'm not much of a swimmer, these days," Ben called back, stepping a little closer. Besides, he'd seen quite a few of the aquarium's former occupants up close and personal that night. "I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, Jonah. I just wanted to check in. And I wanted to see if there was anything that I could do to help."

for: open! @lunarcovestarters ( might cap at 5 tho ) location: yellow submarine, or what remains of it

'Closed until further notice'

Fingertips brushed over the sign with a heavy sigh. It had been a few days after the incident, almost a week really if he had been actually paying attention, but he hadn't been. Passage of time had been hard to keep track of in between hospital visits and not having somewhere to work anymore. Usually one to follow a schedule, now he had little to nothing to occupy majority of his day. While, yes, he should focus on his injury, this place had been a place of great comfort and the destruction of it cut far too deep that he liked to claim.

Of course it was nothing compared to the loss of a life. He had not known Kitty well, but from what he had seen of the girl in and out of the fight, was that she was brave. He wished he could be too. But instead all Jonah could do was pull up his rain boots and clock in for a shift of heavy repairs. Until of course he heard footsteps. "We're closed," he called out, not bothering to even look, "If you're here for a tour, I suggest you take a swim in the ocean."

[readbentweenthelines]

"I understand, certainly," Ben said, taking her hands. "I do trust you not to disappear on me, you know. And I never thought you would, even if you were busy taking care of him. Even if you did, though, I think we could probably figure it out." They were both adults, and Ben liked to think that he was understanding. He had no doubt that they could talk through and work out whatever they needed to without any sort of hangups. He tapped his prosthetic foot on the ground when she poked his thigh, giving a small smile. It still felt odd, the vibration of tapping the floor felt in his knee rather than where the foot was making contact, but he was doing better, and he was proud of the progress. "I'm working on it," he said softly. And there was still plenty of work to do. He shook his head. "I don't know if I'd go that far. I'm just... me." He was doing his best to stick to his priorities: the Coalition, his work, her. Getting well, getting stronger, all of that was just building blocks to make sure he was still able to do everything that he needed to. "I don't think it's about taking turns, love. It's not a back and forth, a give and take. I think it's more... harmonious than that. But, if you need to, you can take my turn whenever you'd like. It's yours for the taking. I don't think you quite realize how much I lean on you, either, though."

He reached up, brushing his thumb over the corner of her mouth as she tried to keep her smile away. "I do. I very much like having you here, Bri," he said. He smirked at her words, at that flash of faux innocence. "It's not much of a riddle, you know. However long you want means exactly what it sounds like. If that means a week, a month, forever, then that's how long it'll be. You're welcome to stay however long you want. There's no overstaying because you're always welcome."

Ben gave her a soft look. "It was either take whatever was in that needle, or watch you get hurt. It wasn't really an ultimatum or a choice at all. I knew what I'd pick the instant the choice was given." He'd never willingly let her get hurt. He'd never make that choice. If he could keep Bri protected from all harm, he would, in a heartbeat. He looked at his hands and slowly opened and closed them before shaking his head. "No, it wore off relatively quickly. I don't think it was made to last."

"I know," She let out a small sigh as she scooted closer. Resting her chin on the top of the pillow as she peered up at him with her deep brown eyes. "But, with Jonah and everything that went down, it just seems like there's a lot of logistics that need to be figured out and I didn't want to just up disappear on you either while I'm there for him. So, I thought maybe we could figure them out together, is all," She explained, reaching up and tucking a stray strand of hair back behind her ear as she gave him another small shrug. "Oh. I meant more as in right now. I mean you're literally back on your feet," She pointed softly out as she gave him thigh a soft poke. A small and yet proud smile finding its way to her lips at how much progress he had already made so soon. "You're so independent and strong. I'm impressed by you on the daily. Always have been. But, right now with Jonah, I think it's probably going to be my turn to be the overly dependent one? Even if I was also sort of the overly dependent one a few months ago too. I took you turn twice now. Sorry," She attempted to joke, though she wasn't sure if it really landed. She knew she had been a mess when he had gotten hurt and likely overbearing, but she did hope that she helped at least a little bit take some of the burden off of him. Even if she had rearranged his entire living room to bring his bed downstairs in the process...

"You do?" She blinked over at him, biting lightly down on her bottom lip to hide her growing smile. "And what does however long I want mean exactly?" She flashed him an innocent enough smile. Her fingertips tiptoeing up his arm as she began to ask a few clarifying follow up questions. "Are we talking a week? A month? Forever? I just want to be sure, I'm not overstaying my welcome," She added, though the newfound giddiness that made it way to her eyes made in clear that she was hoping for a specific answer out of the three.

It was only at the mention of an ultimatum, that her brows crossed. "What do you mean an ultimatum? Did someone threaten you? Yeah, I'm pretty sure it gave the whole lot of you super powers, which kind of would make you Superman." Either that or the Hulk, but she didn't exactly like the second comparison, which is why she chose not to say it out loud. "Wait, do you still have super strength?"

[readbentweenthelines]

"I'm almost certain that council meetings will expose you to new and fascinating situations to implement sarcasm through," Ben said, giving Song a grin. "I try to make sure I have what I need to suit the occasion. You know? Tenure track professorship? I'm hosting surprisingly less dinner parties than I anticipated." He sighed. "I suppose we need to find out a place to begin. We need to ensure that the other humans that took the drug, Coalition member or not, are not held at fault for taking what they were given. If their message, your message, was anything like the one that I received, then it appeared as if the only choice was to either take what we'd been given or watch our loved ones suffer the consequences. Such actions taken in a state of duress should be considered in that light. In short: we were blackmailed." He paused, thinking. "I say that we, well, offer up what we know, which is very little. If anyone's syringes managed to make it out of the aquarium flooding, we might be able to see if there's enough content within to find out what, exactly, it was that we were given. But, otherwise, what do we truly know about it?"

"Eh. I've yet to find a situation I couldn't make a whole lot more uncomfortable with sarcasm and I'm sure that's not going to start now, so," He offered up an eased shrug at the thought. The corner of his lips tilted up as he lifted a brow over toward the man whose plates seemed to all require meticulous hand washing. "Wow. We're really starved for choice here, aren't we? So, outside of now knowing what I'm getting you for Christmas, we want to talk about what we're about to walk into?" He asked as he plucked up two of the paper plates and began to lay out the assortment of Korean food he had brought with him. "Like the whole whoever the hell reached out to us back there created a whole new playing field?"

[readbentweenthelines]

"Of course, you know you don't have to ask," Ben said, turning to face her as she settled beside him. He was a little confused by how official this all felt, how formal. To him, they were more comfortable than this, but he knew a lot had happened. A lot kept happening. He scratched at the back of his neck, but he nodded. "That's a good idea," he started. "I'm sure Jonah will appreciate the company. He grew even more confused, though, his facial expression shifting slightly to match. "What gave you that idea? That you need me more than I need you? I figured we were sort of on equal footing, in that department, at least." He'd carried her back, but that was only because he'd had the strength to do so. Ben was under the impression, at least, that Bri would do the same if he needed it. "Bri, if you want to go back to your place, then you can, but I like having you here. I love having you around. I like that you've felt comfortable and that you've stayed. You can stay. However long you want." He wasn't sure what he'd done to make her think otherwise, attempting to go through all the things that he had or hadn't done in the last few weeks. He frowned. "I... don't really know what I took. I was given an ultimatum, and the answer was rather simple, so I ended up injecting myself with... whatever that was. It made me stronger. It seemed to do different things to different people."

@readbentweenthelines

"Hi, can we talk?" Bri asked as she moved to settle down next to Ben on his couch, pulling a pillow into her lap as she did. She had been offering fluffy pillows to nearly everyone at the hospital, but as she settled in against the sofa, she quickly realized that she was likely the one who needed it more than anyone at this rate. "I'm going to be staying at the hospital with Jonah for the next however many days and, honestly, it's probably for the best. I mean, you carried me back at the aquarium. I need you more than you need me right now and I know I pretty much moved myself in without asking, so," She bite down on her bottom lip as she brought herself to say. "I think it's probably time I head back to mine too, huh? Though, I do want to talk about what happened back there too. With the drugs and then humans shooting lightening thing. What happened? What did you end up taking?"

[readbentweenthelines]

"You would think so, wouldn't you?" Ben asked, unable to hide a grin. Council meetings, if nothing else, were about to get more interesting with Song joining. Ben was certainly glad to have someone in his corner, even if the ways that he and Song approached situations might be inherently different. He followed after and moved into the kitchen, reaching around to open up one of the cupboards. Of course I have plates. Several different sets. Tell me, do you want fine china or fine china?" he asked, first pointing at a set of nice plates before pointing out a stack of paper ones.

"Sounds fun," He decided after a prolonged beat, having a feeling if one of the supernaturals in the room did try to come at them, he could always use it as an opportunity to blow off some steam. Not that he was exactly itching to pick a fight with the Council per say, people did like to point fingers around these parts. "Please. I've always known how to cook. I just don't exactly like doing so for others. Now, got any plates?" He cocked a brow up at Ben as he side stepped around him making his way toward the man's kitchen.