#Ben Browser

[giannic]

Live-streaming end on end, for a binge watch!

[freckleslikestars]

Genuinely think Ben Browder is at his best in acting when his character isn’t the smartest in the room and gets to ask why constantly.

[lynnbeck-smithingtable]

Just got recommended a post about a thing that lets you "install the Minecraft launcher for free", so uh. Be careful, it's almost certainly a virus of some kind, like literally just watching the attached video I noticed some of the red flags of the kind of software that would install like 50 viruses.

This post is 100% sincere by the way. Like you may think it's obviously fake and wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole, but there are people out there who wouldn't think that.

[sagechan]

hi

that is all

like. what was the reason for this. they didn't have to make him look Like That, draped in Kevin's arms, like a Victorian woman overcome with hysterics and taken ill after seeing too much ankle. smh. Drama Queen McSlutface over here

[judgejudyofficial]

you used to be able to play games on cartoonnetwork.com . . . now every company's website wants to give you spyware and spread corporate propaganda but I REMEMBER when you could play a BEN 10 adventure game in-browser without so much as giving away your e-mail. people's heads should be on pikes for this

[daddyslittlegirlofsammy]

i found some really cute, rare and in colour Doctor Who photos from The Power Of The Daleks 1966, in the site said it was a collection of 21 colour images but only had 15 on the site

the link for the site:

[ryngzmn]

₊˚ෆ | moving up | S.B (2)

SUMMARY: After you helped him learn how to use a mobile phone, Ben comes to you a few days later so he can learn how to use a laptop.

WORD COUNT: 818.

WARNINGS: not proofread, little bit of swearing, maybe OOC Ben???, use of Y/N (only once).

A/N: a few people suggested I make this a series where reader teaches Ben how to use various pieces of modern technology and I LOVED that idea so here I am with my first series<3. also literally could not come up with a title so I js decided on some basic one…

part one! | part three! | part four! | part five!

Ever since you forced helped Ben work a mobile phone, you realized he started being a little nicer to you.

He didn’t call you names as often and he didn’t yell at you whenever you didn’t refer to him as his super name.

You didn’t ask him about it since you thought that if you did, he’d go back to his bitchy self.

—————————————————————————

Butcher and the others had just left for yet another mission that Butcher didn’t let you go on.

Apparently, he had also noticed how Ben seemed to be a little nicer to you compared to the rest of The Boys.

You didn’t necessarily mind not going on mission and risking injuries, per say, but it got a little boring constantly being told to stay back and watch Ben to make sure he doesn’t blow something up.

Right now, you were sitting at a random desk that was placed in the makeshift hideout, just minding your own business.

Well, you were minding your own business until you heard Ben’s booming voice speak up as he approached you.

“Hey, Y/N.” You raised your head and looked in his direction.

The first thing you noticed was the laptop tucked firmly under his arm. You raised an eyebrow, wondering whose it was since Ben obviously didn’t know how to work a laptop.

“Whose laptop is that, Ben?” You questioned skeptically.

“It’s Hughie’s.” Ben said smugly, throwing a thumb over his shoulder and gesturing to the now empty desk that once had Hughie’s laptop on it before he left.

“Seriously, Ben—“ Before you could protest further, Ben grabbed a chair and placed it next to yours, putting the laptop between you.

“Teach me how to use this thing.” Ben said in a slightly demanding tone.

You rolled your eyes and opened it, noting how Hughie surprisingly didn’t use a password in his laptop.

“Okay, well..” You sighed and looked over at Ben, pointing at the smooth squared area below the keyboard that you were dragging your finger on.

“This is how you drag the cursor. You can also plug in a mouse instead of using that.” Ben just stared at you, his forehead creased.

“A mouse? Why the fuck would you plug in a mouse to a laptop?”

You shook your head, shoulders slumping a bit.

“Not an actual mouse. Like a, uh…” You found yourself stumped on how to explain so you turned back to the laptop and opened the web browser.

“This is the web browser, there’s multiple of these but it looks like Hughie just uses Google. This is where you look stuff up.”

You quickly typed in the word laptop mouse and then turned the screen towards him.

“This is what I meant by mouse. It’s basically a different way to move the cursor.”

Ben nodded before looking at you again. “What’s a cursor?”

You pointed to the small white arrow that was in the middle of the screen. “That’s the cursor.”

“Oh, okay.” Ben moved the laptop closer to him and started snooping through Hughie’s apps and messages.

“Ben-“ You frowned, gently taking the laptop away from him. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Ben scoffed and mumbled something close to “party pooper” under his breath before he snatched the laptop back.

“I jus’ wanna do something real quick.” He mused, going to Hughie’s messages and scrolling until he found Butcher’s contact.

“What are you doing?” Ben held up a finger to silence you before he started typing something.

You shook your head in disappointment as you read what Ben was trying to send to Butcher.

‘I hate you, you stupid British fuck’

After clicking the send button, Ben laughed boisterously, leaning back in his chair.

“Oh, I can’t wait to see Butcher’s reaction to that message.”

“He’ll probably know it’s you.” You butt in, arms crossed across your chest like an angry parent.

Ben let out a defiant huff. “No he won’t, he’ll totally think Hughie sent it and then chew him a new one.”

—————————————————————————

Eventually, when everyone got back after you taught Ben how to maneuver through a laptop some more, Butcher saw the text and showed it to Hughie.

You sat back with Ben and watched as the color drained from Hughie’s face in a horrific expression.

“I didn’t send that!” He started defending himself immediately, making various points on how the time didn’t match up and how he would never say that to Butcher.

Butcher chuckled before turning to you and Ben, you didn’t hesitate to rat Ben out.

“It was his idea. I was just showing him how to work a laptop.” Ben shot you a glare as you were glad looks couldn’t kill because you’d definitely be dead meat right now.

It was safe to say that instead of Butcher chewing Hughie a new one, it was Ben on the receiving side of Butcher’s scolding.

—————————————————————————

reblogs n feedback r appreciated! <3

[marvelfanfn2187a113]

how do you think dean would react to sister!winchester calling him dad for the first time?? what about if it becomes a continuous and subconscious habit?

I think it would happen in season 5-6, here’s why—

—it needs to be a good bit after John dies, both because she loved John so much, and because of habit.

—there’s too much going on in season 3, 4, and 5 with Dean going to hell and Sam’s powers and Lucifer for it to happen then

—I think the home atmosphere with Ben and Lisa, mixed with Sam being gone, would really help Dean step into the “dad” role, not just with Ben but with his little sister, too.

It’s late one night, and Dean was up researching stuff about hell again instead of sleeping. He hears footsteps on the staircase, and he thinks it’s Lisa again coming to check on him. He changes his browser before turning to see his little sister descending the stairs.

“Why are you up?” She asks.

“Nothin much, just some work,” he says, standing up as he speaks. He can lie to Lisa, but you both know he can’t lie to you. He figures the best way to avoid talking about it would be to just go to bed now, rather than trying to talk you into leaving him down here.

“Ok,” you shrug, and Dean’s glad you gave up so easily.

“Commere, I’ll take you to bed,” Dean says, slinging an arm around your shoulder and guiding you upstairs.

“I like it here.” You’re whispering as you reach the top of the stairs, but Dean can still hear you, and it makes him smile.

“Yeah?” He says.

“Yeah.” You smile. “It feels like home.”

Dean doesn’t even know what to say to that, but he knows it makes him happy—the last thing he wanted was for you to feel left out with his new family, because he wanted you to be a part of it.

Dean tucks you into bed, and he’s just turning to go when—

“Goodnight, dad. I love you.”

Your voice is muffled and your eyes are already closed—you’re half asleep, but it doesn’t matter. Your words mean just as much to Dean as anything he’s ever heard.

“Goodnight, sweetheart. I love you too.”

He’s not even sure if you’re still awake to hear it.

You say it again in the morning, a casual “Morning dad. What’s for breakfast?” As you rub the sleep out of your eyes.

Lisa hears you, and she smiles but doesn’t say anything about it—Dean’s told her about how often John was gone and how he basically raised you, so she figured it was only a matter of time before your obvious dad-daughter dynamic took a next step.

“Pancakes,” Dean says, and his grin is much wider than usual.

I think there might be some part really deep down that feels a little weird, maybe even guilty, about taking John’s place. But he doesn’t listen to that part when he can help it—his baby sister calls him dad, and he’s going to enjoy it.

[shandyyart]

installed Turbo shimeji (thanks @troubldteenz !) and some other virus inspired characters (they’re browser extensions tho). and this weird little ass. got freaky with ddlc Monika... I’ve even captured this cruel act of cyber harassment.

bonus: chilling w Ben Drowned hehe

[37q]

cartoon networks browser games were amazingggggg. what were ur favorites. i liked the teen titan one a lot and the ben ten one and there was a lilo and stitch one i liked ?

[kodaswrld]

little class from mama koda𓂃⊹

ᯓ★ sometimes it can be hard for you to be in little space & find things to do that make you feel little while in public. mama koda has taken the time below to show you a few child safe websites that have learning games you can find on any browser on your phone or tablet!

ᯓ★ funbrain! an educational browser game website for children.

ᯓ★ pbs kids! educational games and videos from curious george, wild kratts and other pbs kids shows!

ᯓ★ national graphic kids! if you love watching national geographic kids this is a perfect gaming website.

ᯓ★ abcya! an educational games website with a wide range of games categorized by grade level and subject.

ᯓ★ nick jr! nickelodeon & nick jr. games!

ᯓ★ arcademics! this combines the excitement of video games with educational content to produce a high rate of learning through exciting, focused repetition that enables automaticity and fluency to be achieved quickly.

ᯓ★ disney junior! play disney channel, disney XD and disney junior games from your favorite disney TV shows!

ᯓ★ cartoon network! play the coolest online games for kids; play ben 10 action games, adventure time and gumball games. 

ᯓ★ cool math games! coolmath games offers more than just mathgames!

i hope some of these websites come in handy for you sweetie pies in your daily lives!

know that you are safe, loved & accepted here with me. i will never hurt you, judge you or belittle you. all of you matter & all of you are amazing! *hugs & forehead kisses*

[the-s1lly-corner]

Heyy me again so about the creepypasta thing, I just wondered if you can do Ben drowned with a gen z reader platonically? It's okay if your uncomfortable doing it ><

Ben drowned x gen z!reader (platonic!)

not uncomfortable at all! love that im getting ben drowned requests since i enjoy him a lot and kind of want to write for him more; just strictly platonic ..which reminds me, i need to draw him again soon! gonna answer this then take a break and get back to requests yipe!

admin is still sold on the idea of ben being confined to electronics most of the time so i can easily see him gaining access to your devices so he can pester you whenever he wants; though this may get a little annoying since youre... well still alive! you have a life

whether or not the reader is a creepypasta themselves or is a normal person is up to you! i think both can work, though i must say the idea of the reader being just some random person is really funny. like can you imagine? you get some haunted virus but the ghost is chill an you guys become friends

i do think ben can only mess with devices, i dont think he can mess with like. any internet browser stuff.... which segways me to my next idea; the og creepypasta came out in 2010, majoras mask came out in 2000, so putting it in the middle lets say ben died in 2005.. bro has missed a lot. youre going to have to fill him in on a lot of stuff, and boy let me tell you hes going to be going nuts

tell him about the new legend of zelda games. i think he would be hyped. throwing admins hc of ben being sick and tired of LOZ due to being trapped in the game out the window, admin needs this boy to get joyous!

he probably pesters you and asks you about the dumbest shit, does it on purpose because he thinks its funny

sometimes you guys play video games together, bro is absolutely astounded by how far games have come since he passed away. i think he would go insane over five nights at freddys. fill him in on the lore

going back on the video game stuff and playing together, just know that hes going to break the game and cheat + hes a sore loser, soooooooo...

do you think sometimes he comes and tries to spend time with you more and more over time because hes been stuck for years and hasnt really had many people to talk to? like yeah hes an angry spirit, but even angry spirits deserve friends!!!

ponders

probably messes with you by messing with your recordings if youre trying to make a video/tiktok/reel/what have you

probably interjects his own texts into your posts, never really says anything harmful, just messes with spelling or adds dumb messages

honestly its not your SM account/blog, its yalls shared account/blog now/j

stuck with old 2000s humor but i think he would absolutely love present day humor and how unhinged its gotten, though quick warning hes going to start quoting stuff

definitely quotes the sticking out your gyatt thing, hes going to drive you insane with it and hes going to laugh at you

do not play roblox tycoons with him hes going to bully small children

you guys play a horror game together on roblox and you can hear him freaking out through the speakers (likely using an old device for him so youre not fighting for control over one device)

absolutely DEVASTED when you tell him club penguin shut down

just know hes punching the metaphorical wall

on the rare chance ben is able to pull himself into the real world for a brief period of time, you guys probably do the same stuff hes just physically there for a short time!

make him touch grass while hes out, bro hasnt touched grass in nearly 20 years. this isnt even a haha "hes chronically online" joke, he hasnt actually touched grass in years due to circumstances

closing this with a hit of angst that made me go :( but imagine that it starts out as you guys being around the same age (well... close enough, since ben doesnt age anymore due to being a ghost) but overtime, you obviously grow up and have less and less time for him and :(

like owie

"what happened to us? we used to be best friends?" audio but its you two SOBS AND CRIES

[13eyond13]

Hi. If you don't mind me asking, how exactly did you get hacked? And how did you realize it happened? It's just that it's something of an anxiety of mine, and I feel that by learning from other people it happened to, I can learn to avoid it. No worries if you don't feel like talking about it, though.

I don't honestly know for sure, but I THINK it was because my desktop computer is pretty old and has been running on a very outdated version of Windows for quite a while now. I don't normally do things like click on suspicious links or answer suspicious emails or calls or messages from bots, but I'm quite lazy about things like updating my hardware and software when the older stuff is still working fine for me. Unfortunately this eventually makes you more vulnerable to being hacked remotely, because you can't get stuff like the current security updates and support on your computer's programs and all after a bit. Over the past couple of weeks I've had someone using my Facebook account to post fake ads for cars and motorcycles on Marketplace, someone using my Steam account to list all my trading cards for sale, somebody flooding my email address to receive literally hundreds of spam emails (like signing me up for random newsletters and junk mail and so on), and somebody using my credit card to attempt to buy a big purchase for themselves on Amazon. Basically since I don't know exactly how it started and the fact that it seems to be happening on multiple of my accounts I just had to go cancel my credit card and report the fraud to my bank, change every password on every personal account I could think of and add more 2 factor authentication steps to everything, and then wipe my computer of as much personal info as possible and lock it up a bit better too. I undid all the settings like the automatically saved passwords on my browser, and I'm not leaving it connected to the internet or leaving any of my personal accounts logged in when I'm not using them anymore. The security breaches seem to have stopped with me changing these passwords and everything else, but it's definitely a very violating and annoying experience to say the least. I should probably be more freaked out about it than I actually am, which is kinda just feeling a bit like the exasperated Ben Affleck smoking meme instead hahaha

[tomorrowusa]

Conspiracy crackpot Alex Jones lost a massive lawsuit brought by families of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting. In a bankruptcy sale, Jones's conspiracy site Infowars was bought by The Onion which plans to turn Infowars into a satirical self-parody.

If you enter www.infowars.com into your browser and hit return, you won’t see Alex Jones anywhere. The site’s longtime host and conspiracy theorist has been replaced by a vast expanse of white on the site’s landing page, along with five words in small type: “site unavailable till further notice.” On Thursday, the site’s new owners, a company called Global Tetrahedron—parent company of the satirical news site The Onion—said Infowars will return in January, when the far-right site will be rebranded as, essentially, a parody of itself. “We thought this would be a hilarious joke,” said Ben Collins, chief executive of Global Tetrahedron in an interview with The New York Times. “This is going to be our answer to this no-guardrails world where there are no gatekeepers and everything’s kind of insane.” Launched by Jones in 1999, Infowars grew into a giant, drawing 10 million visits every month — mostly people drawn to Jones, who argued that the 9/11 attack and the mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut were “false flag” events carried out by the government and “crisis actors” posing as children. It was Jones’ repeated lies about the shooting that led Sandy Hook families to sue Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems. The families alleged defamation and won, and in 2022 were awarded $1.4 billion — leading Free Speech Systems to declare bankruptcy. An auction held to sell off the site’s assets led Collins to make a successful bid for the site, with the consent of the Sandy Hook families. "The dissolution of Alex Jones’ assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long awaited and fought for," said Robbie Parker, whose daughter was killed in the 2012 school shooting.

Instead of cranking out fake news, Infowars will become a site making fun of fake news starting in January.

A research study published by The University of California, Berkeley, found that Infowars was the third-largest fake-news domain, accounting for more than 17% of all fake news traffic online.

Think of Twitter/X if The Onion somehow gained ownership of it. 😆

EDIT: Gotta love this headline at Daily Kos...

[halfagonyandhope]

ignite the stars │ch. 3

first chapter (x); previous chapter (x)

Satine Kryze is an internationally-recognized scholar in genocide studies who recently resigned from the Department of State over her concerns regarding the agency's ethics. Ben Kenobi is a tenured professor at Georgetown University studying the use of religion to justify military conflicts. Once high school sweethearts, the two haven't spoken since parting ways for university. That is, until Satine accepts a research fellowship - at Georgetown.

---

Suddenly grateful she’d stocked up on wine, Satine reaches for the cabinet of glassware and then for a bottle next to the fridge. She’s never cared enough to learn which wines to chill and which to leave warmer, so her wine collection lives perpetually adjacent to the refrigerator. She takes a sip, knowing she wouldn’t notice the difference in taste anyway even if she had bothered to chill it.

The wine gives her permission to be bolder, and she makes her way to the couch, grabbing her laptop. Setting down the glass on a coaster, she decides the line between fuck and fuck it is now non-existent, so she opens an internet browser and types in Ben’s name.

If he’s been following her career, she needs to get up to speed on his. She will not allow him to have the upper hand here.

As it turns out, there is a lot to catch up on. He’d indeed graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point the same year she’d received her BA in anthropology from Stanford. She has to laugh when she discovers his major was sociology. Even four years removed from knowing each other, their worldviews were exactly the same and yet entirely different.

And when she’d jetted off to Oxford for her Rhodes Scholarship, he’d also been on the move. There is less on his life during this time period, but she’s able to gather he worked as a military translator abroad.

Of course he’s fluent in Arabic, she thinks, rolling her eyes. Because of course. 

When she’d worked at the Department of State, she’d been taught that some languages were more difficult than others for English-speakers to learn. Arabic - along with Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Japanese - was in the “most difficult to learn” category, according to State’s categorization schema. Ben likely had spent all of his years as an undergraduate taking classes in the language, even if he didn’t have enough credits for a major, and he’d probably spent a great deal of time abroad learning to speak it well enough for him to be hired as a translator.

And him being fluent in such a difficult language? Satine groans. 

Sexy as hell.

She navigates to another webpage, wondering what he’s been up to since. Then she arches a brow, surprised. She’d come back from Oxford with her doctorate, on her way to Northwestern for a postdoc, and he’d come back from the war with a distinguished record of service - only to enroll as a graduate student at a Big Ten school in the Midwest.

He could have gone to any Ivy League of his choosing, could have had a fellowship literally anywhere in the world.

And he’d chosen Wisconsin for his doctorate?

Satine takes a large sip of wine, pondering this. He’d been in the political science department. She hums in consideration. The Ben she once knew had been radically liberal, and she suspects not much has changed in his political leanings despite the years. Moving to a purple state didn’t appear to make much sense for him.

She shakes her head. Maybe someday she’d ask him about it.

A thought occurs to her, but no - he’d moved to Madison a year before she’d accepted the postdoc at Northwestern. But their time in the Midwest had overlapped. For two years, they’d been within a three hours’ drive of each other.

The realization constricts around Satine’s heart.

Then she’d been recruited by State, and he’d been recruited by Georgetown. He’d completed a one-year postdoc there before being hired on as faculty.

Their lives were like parallel lines, forever running next to each other but never quite intersecting. Satine drains the rest of her wine.

She has a feeling the two of them are headed for that intersection now, and at full speed.

---

Ben climbs back into bed, lanky muscles still glistening with sweat and the scent of sex. One hand reaches for her jaw to cradle her face as he leans in for a soft kiss; the other hand holds a damp, warm washcloth.

“May I?” he asks, and Satine nods. He pulls the sheet away from her body, and his eyes rove over her skin. She shivers under his gaze, at the cool air.

He presses the washcloth between her legs, cleaning away the evidence of their joining. Satine wonders when she will remember how to breathe.

“Ben,” she whispers, and he meets her eyes. “How did you…how did you know exactly what to do?”

She’d been terrified the entire time. She’d had no one to ask before, had no idea what to expect. Beyond that it would undoubtedly be painful.

But it hadn’t been.

Not with him.

Ben sighs in relief. “I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am that you think that.” He finishes cleaning her and tosses the washcloth in the bathroom. Then he folds himself around her, hooking a leg over her hip, and pulls the comforter back over their naked forms.

He kisses her, slowly.

“I did a lot of reading,” he eventually admits. “Apparently, it’s not always painful if enough attention is placed on the…uh, preparation.” He swallows, and his young, wide eyes search hers. “You didn’t look like you were in pain. Were you? Was it painful?”

Satine shakes her head. “Not in the slightest,” she says. She brings his hand to her lips, committing to memory the feel of his clever fingers entering her, inside her, preparing her for what was to come. “On the contrary, it was perfect.”

She can practically feel his smile.

“I wish we had more time,” Ben says. “I can do better…the more I learn about you - ”

“Hush,” she says, kissing him again. She can’t let him continue down that line of thought, for her heart is already broken enough. She can’t let herself imagine what they might have had. “It was perfect,” she repeats.

She thinks he understands what she is thinking, and he nods. “I lo - ” he begins, but the look on her face freezes the rest of the words before they escape his throat. 

She’d thought she could hold it together until after they’d parted, but she’d thought wrong.

“Please don’t cry, Satine,” Ben begs, his face falling. “Satine.” And he pulls her more securely into his arms. “We’ll see each other again; I know we will.”

She buries her face in the crook of his neck.

“Promise me.”

“I promise you,” he says against her temple, and it is the last time she hears his voice for eighteen years.

---

Satine blinks at her alarm clock.

Damn him.

She’d been particularly proud of the way she’d buried that memory. She hadn’t dwelled on it in years. Until, of course, he’d waltzed back into her life and she’d been assigned the office next to his.

Though it’s still too early to get up, Satine rises anyway. She might as well take the early bus to campus - she wants to find her office before Ben arrives. She will not run the risk of him finding her wandering the halls again, still as lost as she was the night before.

But as it turns out, she needn’t have worried. She remembers the route he’d shown her last night, and she arrives at her office with only having taken one wrong turn. Pleased, Satine unlocks the door and steps inside.

It’s dreary and dull, with empty shelves and an empty desk save for the computer that was delivered to her yesterday. She’ll have the shelves filled with books - including the one she’d written - in no time, but she’d never been one for decorating an office space. It always meant more heartbreak when she eventually vacated said space and had to pack all her trinkets into a cardboard box. 

As she hangs her peacoat on the hook on the wall, there’s a knock at the door. Satine looks up to meet blue eyes icier than her own.

“Asajj Ventress,” says the woman, sticking out a pale hand. There’s a surety in her shoulders only gained by successfully defending one’s work against snakes and vultures; even if she hadn’t introduced herself by name, Satine would know she is speaking to a colleague rather than a grad or undergrad student.

Satine shakes the proffered hand. “Satine Kryze,” she supplies, and she takes in the woman before her.

Tall, thin, blonde, and pale like Satine, the resemblance ends there. Ventress’ platinum hair is cut short to one side and undercut on the other, and facial tattoos - possibly hinting at membership to a northern Indigenous group, Satine guesses - extend out from the lateral-most points of her eyes and lips. Despite her slim features, Satine gets the feeling that Ventress could snap her neck if she so pleased.

Ventress nods. “Oh, I know who you are,” she says. “Before you, there were two women in the department. And with Billaba on sabbatical, that meant it really was just me.”

“Want to come in for a moment?” Satine asks, gesturing at the chair in front of her desk.

Ventress doesn’t answer but strides through the threshold, her skirt flowing around her as she sits. Satine moves behind her desk and moves to sit as well. As she does, Ventress’ eyes follow her. “You’ll have already met my partner, Vos,” Ventress says.

Satine will return later to ponder the strangeness of addressing a partner by their last name. Instead, she says, “Yes, I met Dr. Vos when I interviewed here. He asked insightful questions. Seemed like he actually cared what my answers were.”

The steel of Ventress’ visage flickers for an instant as she takes in this compliment of her partner. “He’s always been better at the social aspect of academia than I am,” she says. “But I am trying to improve. The junior faculty - Vos, Kenobi, and myself - we usually go out for drinks on Friday afternoons, after the department seminar. You should join us.”

Satine’s heart stops and then works overtime the instant Ventress says Ben’s last name. It must show on her face, because Ventress lifts a platinum brow.

Before Ventress can comment, Satine accepts the invitation. “I’d like that,” she manages to get out, and suddenly there’s movement in the hallway. From her angle, she can’t make it out, but Ventress has full view.

Smoothly, Ventress calls out in a sing-song voice, “Kenobi, why the panicked expression?”

Satine tilts her head, curious, as Ben appears in the doorway, still clad in his winter outerwear. “Not a clue what you mean, Ventress,” he says, and Satine can tell he’s lying.

Ventress, it appears, can tell as well, and her eyes follow Ben’s…which have landed on Satine.

“Ahhh,” says Ventress with exaggerated understanding. She says to Satine, “So you’re the woman.”

“Beg your pardon?” says Satine, but Ben has suspiciously disappeared into his office to hide the blush that has reappeared on his cheeks, having nothing to do with the cold from outside.

Ventress smirks. “It probably would be best if you hear the details from him,” she says, eyes sweeping over Satine, who has the eerie feeling she’s suddenly being profiled. “Suffice to say that before I met Vos, Kenobi and I had a…situationship. It went nowhere fast, entirely due to the fact that he was hung up on another woman.”

Ventress stands before Satine feels the words sink in. When they finally do, Ventress is already halfway out the door.

“See you Friday,” she says over her shoulder, and Satine just blinks.

Well, she can’t begrudge Ben once having feelings for Ventress. If she weren’t attached to someone, Satine thinks, I’d probably fall for her, too. Still a little off-kilter, she stands and makes her way to Ben’s office.

It’s everything hers is not, with pictures in frames on his desk and fabric hung on the walls, such as the kufiya near the window and a scarf adorned with what she suspects are Russian folk motifs near the shelves. Ben looks up as she enters, and Satine reaches out for the door frame. She finds herself internally swearing at him again.

He’s wearing glasses, and it’s making her knees weak.

Trying to ignore the feeling, she says, “So, you and Ventress?”

Ben groans and throws himself in the chair behind his desk. “She had to tell you. Hence my panicked look,” he says.

Satine ponders this. "You didn't want me to know. Why?"

"She will surely tell you all sorts of ridiculous stories about me, all of them true.”

Satine snickers as Ben continues.

“Ventress and I had fun,” he says. “I don’t regret our time together. But the best thing that came out of it was that I introduced her to Quinlan. You see, at the time, Ventress wasn’t in the department. She was adjuncting over in Russian Studies, and Quinlan had just started a postdoc here. They hit it off, eloped, and soon after applied for the same position in International Studies. The department decided they liked them both equally and arranged a dual career hire to incentivize them sticking around.”

His face had heated again while he explained, and a sly smile crosses Satine's face. “You met Ventress because she was your Russian instructor.”

Ben removes his glasses so he can scrub a hand down his face. He groans again. “I was only auditing the class,” he says. "And in fairness, I stopped auditing the class as soon as things...escalated."

Satine tries to hide her laughter behind her hand. “So you’d mastered Arabic and decided you needed another language to tackle?”

“Someone spent last night Googling.”

She waves a dismissive hand. “Last night I sent you a LinkedIn request, so you already knew that.” Satine crosses her arms against her chest. “So you audited a Russian class? For fun? How fluent are you now?”

He responds in what she suspects is perfect Russian.

“So she was a good instructor, then.” In more ways than one, apparently.

If possible, Ben’s face becomes more red. “Is this revenge for me teasing you about getting lost? Because I’ll refrain from mentioning it ever again if you pledge to never bring up my relationship with Ventress.”

Satine shakes her head. “Not a chance. This is far better dirt to have on you than what you have on me.” She makes to step out of the office but pauses, looking back. “Ventress invited me to your happy hour on Friday. I think this could be the start of a beautiful friendship.”

She grins at Ben’s dismayed look, and takes her leave.

[valkxrie]

[prestor] i fucked up. I fucked up really bad.

[prestor] they really do crucify anyone these days huh

[prestor] when I die, please delete all my shit off the internet

{music!ben @ ragna!brunn who really did use his middle name for contact info}

@kylo-wrecked

[B] I'm going to need context.

[B] **About the fuck up AND your browser history.

[B] Is this about the purity ring you wore in the early 2000s? No one remembers.

[B] Do you want anything from Whole Foods?