#oc: penny hargreeves | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

kingkeerys · 2 years ago

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50 ways to say goodbye ♛ ben hargreeves 3/4

word count: 7,102 (hELp mE)

pairing(s): sparrow!ben hargreeves/oc, umbrella!ben hargreeves/oc (platonic-ish)

a/n: this is way too long, just enjoy the chapter. sorry for the wait. thanks for the feedback love you all xoxo

← previous chapt.

"I SAY WE CELEBRATE," Fei grinned as they made their way upstairs.

“Champagne?” Ben suggested, still rubbing his stomach.

“You know me so well, brother.”

Everyone seemed to be in high spirits and accepted empty flutes from both Fei and Ben with smiles. Well, Sam’s was more of a grimace and Allison foregoed a glass for an entire bottle all to herself.

Ben retrieved a bottle from their bar – Sam suspected they had an endless supply back there – and popped the cork, pouring everyone a generous amount. They toasted and tossed back their drinks as if they were shots, quickly finishing two and then three glasses until their nerves had worn down to a pleasant buzz.

Slowly but surely, everyone dispersed from the living room, going their own separate ways to wind down for the evening. Sam took her fourth glass of champagne to one of the many tall, intricate windows in the Hargreeves mansion and gazed outside. Her headache was gone, limbs feeling pleasantly heavy and her stomach warm from the alcohol in an almost comforting way.

She watched the fires bloom across the street, licking across buildings and street posts and benches, melting and blackening everything in their wake.

She felt someone approach her from behind and took a light sip from her glass.

“So… we saved the world, huh?” she asked. The person stepped up and stood beside her. “Tell me what world you see out there. What was the point?”

“We’re alive, aren’t we?” Ben asked. “I think that was the point.”

“But is anyone else?”

“I guess we’ll find out.”

She sighed and looked away. “I didn’t think it was going to get this far, that there’d be this much destruction. I’m happy to be alive. I am. But what can we even do now? Where can we go?”

Ben pursed his lips and raised his glass to them, tossing back the rest of his champagne. There was a red flush to his cheeks – he’d probably had more glasses than she did.

“Who’s to say we can’t stay here?” he proposed. She furrowed her brows at him.

“Forever?”

He rolled his eyes. “We aren’t the only ones who survived this. There’s too many people on this Earth for us to be the only ones left on it. The world will rebuild and maybe for the better.”

“Yeah but that will take decades,” she argued. “We’ll be old and in rocking chairs before it’ll look even slightly livable. And that’s if we even make it that long. Do you not see?” she gestured out the window. “We didn’t save anything.”

She left Ben alone at the window, sitting her glass on one of the stray tables in the hallway before making her way upstairs.

She just wanted to sleep and pretend none of this had ever happened.

Sam wasn’t sure if she’d managed to fall asleep or was just dozing when she felt the bed shake beneath her.

She rubbed her eyes before widening them as she watched bottles of perfume and lotion fall from Jayme’s desk across from her. She quickly sat up in the bed and almost fell off of it as she felt a shock wave pulse through the room, sending her flying back against the wall.

She yelped, catching herself on the edge of the bed as she fell back down. Before she had the chance to regain her bearings, she felt a presence blink beside her. A pair of small arms wrapped around her frame, gripped her tight, and pulled her through space with a whoosh.

It felt like her body was being stretched like a rubber band through a hole barely the size of a penny. One second she was in a dark bedroom and the next she was in a bright, open room being sat in an armchair. She blinked quickly and glanced over at Five who let her go.

“Wha…?”

“I have to get Ben, I’ll be back!”

Before she could respond, he blinked out of the room and she fell back against the cushion of the chair with a sigh.

Why couldn’t anything go their way?

Ransacking the closets felt strange to her.

She knew the person the clothes belonged to most likely no longer existed, but it still felt wrong somehow.

Everyone needed a change of clothes, given the fact that most of them hadn’t changed since they arrived in the new timeline. Sam’s jeans had been hanging on by a thread, too many holes and rips for her to count. The Sparrow sweater she’d been given had loose threads falling around the hem, the sleeves and at the neckline. One wrong move and the whole thing would eventually come unraveled.

At Five’s suggestion, she went through the unlocked rooms to find a closet or suitcase that had clothes her size. It took a couple of tries but eventually she found one with clothes that fit her well enough. She considered hopping in the shower to wash the grime off her body, feeling itchy and sweaty, but she decided against it knowing there were bigger things to worry about at the moment than her hygiene.

She threw on a blouse and some fresh jeans – bell bottoms, of all things – and made her way down to the lobby of Hotel Obsidian where Five had blinked her and the rest of her siblings, plus Ben, to.

She found the rest of them congregating in the lounge overlooking the front room of the hotel and climbed the stairs, meeting the hard gaze of Ben who was freshly dressed along with everyone else. She stood off to the side, crossing her arms over her chest.

“You good, Sam?” Diego asked, leaning against the railing across from where she stood. She offered a stiff nod and nothing else.

Five had briefly explained to her that the Kugelblitz was too strong, too concentrated to be contained in Christopher’s little body. The trembling she felt was the Kugelblitz breaking free, swallowing the mansion whole along with every building in the surrounding area with it. It was back to reaping the universe tenfold, wave after wave emitting from its core and destroying everything in its path even quicker than before they’d trapped it.

So basically, a typical Tuesday.

Unfortunately, Ben’s sister Fei had been stuck in the immediate path of the Kugelblitz’s destruction. Five managed to blink to Ben just in time before the entire mansion was engulfed and for that she was thankful.

Despite his unpleasant attitude, she didn’t want to lose him a second time.

Allison was the first to break the silence.

“How is it that we’re still here but the whole of the universe is going down the cosmic shitter?”

“I don’t know,” said Viktor tiredly from one of the armchairs. “Maybe we’re just the last to get flushed.”

“Wasn’t talking to you,” Allison dismissed, not even glancing in Viktor’s direction.

“Maybe you should be more specific then when you ask a question,” Sam snapped back, returning Allison’s glare. She did not have time for Allison’s pettiness.

“Hey,” Luther interjecting, bringing everyone’s attention to him on the couch. “Where’s Klaus?”

“And Dad,” Sloane added with a frown.

“They’ll be here,” Diego assured them.

“What, did they hit traffic or something?” Ben snarked. Sam saw Diego clench his jaw before looking the other way. “Look people, we’re alive because we’re special, right? We’re the only ones who can save the universe.”

“Question, Ben,” Allison gave Sam a pointed look, who smiled sarcastically back. “Didn’t we just do that and fail miserably?”

Diego pointed towards Ben.

“That’s because his plan was stupid.” He stepped forward, ignoring Ben’s unimpressed look. “I’ve got a better one. We go with the large hard-on particle accelerator. You guys do some science,” he gestures towards Five and Sloane, “and we launch the Kugelblitz into outer space.”

Diego appeared proud of himself and Sam’s nose scrunched up.

“Didn’t think I knew that, did you?”

“It’s hadron,” Ben corrected with a sneer. “Not hard-on, you grade-A moron.”

Sam attempted to tune out their bickering, which eventually turned into an argument spoken in two completely different languages that no one was able to follow. Five had to interject, who seemed to be the only person capable of reigning everyone in.

“The universe is disappearing outside. You can keep rearranging the deck chairs of the Titanic if it makes you feel better,” Sam frowned at the analogy. “But the fact remains that we are too late. It’s over. We failed.”

Her stomach felt like lead and the room was so quiet you could hear a pen drop until everyone jumped into action.

“That’s not true,” Luther shook his head.

“It can’t be over over,” Viktor denied.

“Yeah, Five,” said Diego. “We gotta figure this out, man.”

“Okay,” Five lifted his hands impatiently, his tone suggesting he was about to get incredibly sarcastic. “Let’s take a step back and look at the big picture here. Most of us have spent the last 28 days trying to save the world. What exactly have we accomplished?”

He glanced around the room, eyebrows raised expectantly. No one responded.

“Well,” Luther stumbled before his gaze fell onto Sloane. “We made a few friends along the way!”

“Incorrect,” Five interjected immediately. “We accomplished nothing. We made things worse every single time.”

Sam swallowed and crossed her arms tighter across her chest.

“Look, when I went to the Commission, I had a conversation with my 100-year-old self. You know what future me said?” Five’s eyes connected with everyone in the room, ending with Sam who almost didn’t want to hear what he had to say. “My last words were, ‘Don’t save the world.’ Make of that what you will.”

“So your plan,” Lila began, sounding skeptical. “Is to not have a plan at all?”

“Why not?” Five shrugged, appearing casual yet sounding defeated. “Maybe it’s what the universe needs. I say we embrace the apocalypse and see what’s on the other side.”

“What if it’s nothing?” Sloane asked, shrinking against Luther’s side.

Five’s lips thinned. “Then I suppose it’s been nice knowing you all. If you have anything on your bucket lists, I suggest doing them now.”

The room was silent again as everyone soaked in Five’s words. Then Luther spoke up.

“Well…”

Between the knowledge that their days were numbered, the announcement that her brother was engaged to Sloane, and Klaus showing up with their father in tow attempting to change their mind about letting Armageddon commence, she was about ready for a lobotomy.

There was a ceremony and celebration arranged for that evening and everyone aside from their father was invited. Klaus insisted on throwing a bachelor party for Luther after hearing the news, so the boys spent the better part of the afternoon doing whatever it was guys did when preparing for a wedding and apocalypse.

Sam holed herself up in the room she shared with Allison, who thankfully was nowhere to be seen. She passed the time by watching the world fade away outside their window, stare blank and eyes mostly unseeing.

When it came time to get ready for the ceremony itself, everyone had to raid their neighbor’s closets again for appropriate outfits. It took her the better part of an hour to find something even remotely appropriate that would fit her, but eventually she pulled out an emerald green dress with a lace corset that was nice enough for a wedding but plain enough to keep all eyes on the bride.

Not that she expected anyone would be paying much attention to what they wore.

She threw her hair up because she was not of a mindset to do anything very nice with it, and then headed down to the banquet hall to meet everyone else.

Watching her brother get married was odd.

And not just because Klaus was the officiator of the marriage, making it more of a dramatized screenplay than anything else.

For one, she’d never pictured any of her siblings getting married. Well, except for Allison. And if they were to get married, she surely didn’t expect to be present for it. As much as she hated to admit it, her siblings were never very close after the death of Ben. She fully anticipated them having their own separate lives, never to intertwine again for any reason.

And two, as happy as she was to see Luther happy, it was hard to stamp down the jarring reminder that the world was crumbling down around them. This time tomorrow, or the next day, or next week, they wouldn’t even exist. Each time her mind wandered and she let herself smile at the joyful grin on her brother’s face, the ominous cloud of reality quickly settled overhead again and the smile was quick to fade as something heavy settled in her gut.

She wasn’t necessarily afraid to die. She’d long accepted the fact that her and her family were destined to live shorter lives than most just because of who they were. And with the inordinate amount of times they’d managed to bring about the apocalypse, death just sort of lost its shock value.

But there was a sadness to it as well. She was only thirty-years-old and there was a lot about life that was left undiscovered to her given her sheltered upbringing. There were plenty of things she wished she’d been able to do. Like skydive. She wasn’t a big fan of heights, or airplanes, or parachutes… but it was certain now that she’d never be able to do it and something about that just infuriated her.

Once the ‘ceremony’ was complete, their group made their way back inside the hotel to one of the ballrooms that had been set up for the post-wedding celebration. Chet, the front desk clerk and bellhop, was standing behind a DJ table at the dance floor playing what sounded like 60s or 70s jazz music and Sam had to chuckle to herself. Everything about the situation was so absurd, but in the best possible way.

Each person in their family seemed adamant to sit at their own separate tables for dinner. Luther and Sloane were already lost in their own newlywed world and clearly no one was of a mind to tolerate that in close proximity.

Ben had been grumbling about the ridiculousness of the situation ever since they all met up prior to the wedding, beginning with him scowling at how Luther was able to actually find a suit that fit him, and his sourness had not lost its potency since then. He yanked a chair out from a table as far from the happy couple as possible, flopping down into the seat with a scowl.

Diego and Lila seemed comfortable at their own table and Sam was certainly not going to interrupt their privacy, not willing to sit through another argument or disgusting lovesick stares. She couldn’t decide which was worse. Instead, she chose to sit next to Five, being that he was one of the more tolerable siblings she had.

Without greeting her, he popped open a bottle of champagne that he’d stolen the moment they entered the room and took a generous sip straight from the bottle. Sam stared at him.

“Aren’t you going to eat something?” she asked, gesturing to the buffet wafting temptingly from behind them. She couldn’t remember the last time she actually saw him eat something of real sustenance.

“Probably not,” he replied, burping after swallowing such a huge gulp of fizzy alcohol.

“Your stomach is completely empty, Five. That alcohol is going to go straight to your head,” she pestered, for once sounding older than him.

Five toasted her. “That’s the idea.”

She licked her lips and sighed, regretting her choice of company. Then again, she’d probably feel less depressed if she had a buzz.

She eventually grabbed herself a plate as Five continued to become more and more inebriated. She found it a bit amusing watching him as she ate. He loosened up when he had a few and if any of them needed to relax a little, it was Five. The more he drank, the less attention he paid on his surroundings and Sam would dilute his bottle of champagne with water every couple of minutes. It got to the point where he was clearly no longer paying attention to the taste, so if it was slightly less fizzy than before then he was none the wiser.

Even if he could drink them under the table as an adult, he still had the body and tolerance of a young teenager. She wanted him to have a good time, not die of alcohol poisoning.

“Have I told you how much I loved you?” Five slurred on his second full-size (diluted) bottle, swaying a bit in his seat. She quirked her lips in a light smirk.

“Not in the last two decades.”

“Well I do,” he pointed at her. “You’re great. Dad treated you so shitty but you di’nt listen to him. Your powers suck but all of our powers suck,” he outstretched his arms with a big grin. “We’re one big sucky, disappointing family! And we ended the world. Us! Hah!”

“Okay,” she gave him a sardonic smile. “I feel much better, thank you.”

“You’re welcome!” he shouted before falling out of his chair.

She snorted and shook her head as he rolled around on the floor, asking himself why he was laying on the ceiling.

“If the world doesn’t end tonight then you’re going to wish it had in the morning.”

She poured her own glass of wine from one of the many bottles scattered about the room and sipped it, eyes scanning the area. Viktor looked upset and Allison was in the midst of marching out of the room. Sam didn’t want to know what happened there. Luther and Sloane were attempting to share food, or at least it looked like Luther was trying to make that happen, but Sloane wasn’t having it. Klaus gave her a boyish grin and overzealous wave as he pranced away from Ben’s table, setting his sharp gaze on Five who’d finally managed to climb back into his seat and was complaining about how his champagne tasted.

She furrowed her brows at Ben’s slouched form, who appeared to be sulking as he poked his full glass. No doubt he’d finished several prior to that moment. She bit the inside of her cheek, made sure no one was paying any attention to her, and stepped towards his table. She placed her half-empty glass of wine on the table next to him and pulled out a chair. His glassy eyes regarded her with a squint.

“You alright there?” she asked with a quirked eyebrow.

Ben looked like he smelled something funny. “Yes, no thanks to you.”

She gave him an offended look. “Me? What did I do?”

“Your family,” he corrected, head rolling from side to side. “You showed up and ruined everything. You really should win an award for biggest colossal fuck-up of the year.”

She pursed her lips but tilted her head, not denying the accusation.

“This is so stupid,” he continued, scowling out into the room. “This is pointless. The world is going to end and they’re planning their Christmas card photos.”

“Maybe they’re just trying to be happy,” she retorted. “There’s nothing wrong with accepting the truth. They’re in love, let them be in love.”

She took a long drink of her wine. Ben made a face and stared at the table. She gazed at him for a moment.

“You told me that you’ve seen love before,” she played with her fingers for a moment before glancing over at Ben. “That you know what it looks like. Did you have someone once? That you loved?”

Ben blinked slowly and she almost wondered if his drunk-addled mind was able to comprehend what she said. He scrunched up his nose, face contorting into an exaggerated thinking expression before he pursed his lips.

“It was Alphonso,” he finally said. He played with his flute of champagne, watching the bubbles travel from the bottom of the glass to the top almost like they were racing. “Before he looked the way you saw, he knew this girl. She was a fan of us I guess, and she’d been hanging around our house with a group of people. Being Alphonso, he had to introduce himself. She told him he was her favorite.”

“That wasn’t… common, I take it?” she hedged.

Bun huffed a humorless laugh.

“He was always the funny guy. He made people laugh – that was his MO. No one ever really wants to be the funny guy,” he squinted up at her. “You get laughed at enough and you realize it’s all you’re good for so you stick with it, but it’s shit. He pretended to be fine with it but he wasn’t. So when a pretty girl comes onto you, suddenly it’s all you can think about.”

She felt a burst of sympathy for the late brother but didn’t express it out loud.

“So they were together, like officially? Even with your family’s…” what was the right word? “Fame?”

“Yeah, something like that. They went on dates, all that couple-y stuff. But Alphonso got the shit end of the stick. The more his powers manifested, the more we trained, the more disfigured he got. Like a side effect. And that was that, really. He changed but she didn’t change with him.”

She furrowed her brows. “So… she ended it? Just like that? Because he looked different?”

He nodded, puckering his lips. “Yep. Life’s a bitch, huh?”

She noticed his face tended to twist and express more under the influence of alcohol. It was a bit funny, not that she would tell him that.

“Yeah,” she agreed. “Some people only care about what’s on the outside when really it’s the inside that matters.”

“Yeah well, he was better off without her anyway,” she smiled to herself at the snide comment. It was probably one of the few times she’d actually seen him act like a brother. “He got more confident after that. But I saw what it did to him. He had this look on his face,” his eyes rolled up to meet hers. “The one you get on yours whenever you see me. Like you’re constantly being reminded of what you no longer have and it hurts.”

She swallowed thickly before glancing back down at her hands.

“Yeah,” she agreed, voice hoarse. She cleared her throat. “I know what that feels like.”

Ben hummed, twirling his finger around the rim of the glass. He watched the movement, almost mesmerized, and then blurted out, “I miss my brother.”

She glanced back over at him, taken aback.

He almost seemed surprised by his own admission, but his face eventually settled into something more resolute. More sad.

“I miss all of them,” he told her, lips turning downward. “I know we weren’t the Brady Bunch or anything, not perfect like you. But we were us. And now it’s just… me. Alone.”

She had wondered when the dam was going to burst. She couldn’t understand how he’d managed to seem so unaffected by the death of his siblings. She knew the mask he wore was only a front, that he’d trained himself not to show weakness, to be the best. But he couldn’t have not cared. And maybe he thought he didn’t at first, too wrapped up in the universe trying to swallow them whole, too preoccupied with her own family to notice his was no longer there. But now, once the madness had died down, once he got a moment of reprieve, some time to digest and listen to his own thoughts, suddenly he realized. They were gone.

She reached a hand forward and carefully placed it on his shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, Ben.”

His eyes shimmered with unshed tears. He clenched his jaw, steeled his expression, and blinked the tears away. She gave a gentle squeeze on his shoulder and he turned to look at the gesture before slowly moving up to her face.

“I’m sorry it had to end this way. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone, not even my worst enemy,” her thumb rubbed soothing circles against his shoulder. “But you’re not alone. We’re here and we’re not going to leave you. After all,” her lips quirked into a tiny smile, “we’ve got room for one more.”

Ben had a thoughtful look on his face, eyes skimming hers.

“You said I was nothing like him,” he reminded her. She pulled her hand away. “You said I was a disgrace to his memory.”

She felt the guilt well up inside her, forehead creasing. She had to look away.

“You’re right,” she nodded, squeezing her hands together. “I did say that. But I shouldn’t have. It was uncalled for, you didn’t deserve to hear that,” his eyes gleamed up at her, tickling the side of her face as she stared at her own glass. “It’s true that you’re nothing like him. But that’s okay. You’re not supposed to be. You’re just supposed to be you, whoever you want that to be.”

She chewed on her bottom lip, nails digging into her hands before meeting his gaze again. He had his arms crossed, leaning against the edge of the table, expression unreadable but his eyes were red-rimmed. She had a feeling it was mostly due to the champagne.

“I know what it’s like, feeling like you have to appease everyone. Like you have to excel at everything. I grew up with the same father you did,” her smile twisted into something more sardonic. “I could argue that ours might have been worse, but I don’t know. Nothing was ever good enough for him, no matter what we did. No matter what I did. He always wanted me to go that one step further. It’s exhausting chasing after his approval – I know because I always chased after it, always tried, ran marathons for it, and always fell short. Even today, seeing your version of him, it still bothered me that he didn’t care. That he made sure we weren’t his children because he was so disappointed in what we became.”

She sniffed, clearing her throat. “So I get it – wanting to be the best. I know you wish you were Number One,” Ben looked away at this. “I know you think you deserve it, that you had proven you were better than everyone else. I know that you always try to prove you’re better because your father set such unrealistic expectations for you that you feel you have to be the best or it’s not good enough. But you don’t,” she shook her head, watching his face as he took in her words. “You don’t have to be anything you don’t want to be. It’s not his decision to make. It’s yours.”

Ben’s face crumpled into something of a pout and in that moment he looked about ten years younger – like the Ben she remembered.

“I don’t think I know who I want to be,” he murmured, words slurring. She smiled again, this time a bit wider.

“Then welcome to the family, because none of us really do either.”

“The twerp seems to have the right idea,” Ben mused a few moments later. She followed her gaze over to Five, who was attempting to shoo Klaus away. His drunk demeanor already seemed to be wearing off slightly – something about Klaus must’ve been sobering him up.

She quirked her lips. “Probably.”

The sound of liquid being poured pulled her attention back to the table. Ben filled her glass back up before lifting his glass to her in a toast. She sighed but relented, clinking their glasses together.

“To the end of the fucking world,” Ben toasted and they downed their champagne.

Sam didn’t bother holding herself back, becoming more and more lax as Ben kept refilling her glass until their bottle ran empty. He stole another from the bar (he almost had to fight Five for it) and they were quick to drain it, too.

Sam wasn’t an alcoholic by any means, but once she got started, it was hard to stop. Alcohol seemed to be the only thing that could successfully shut off the reserved side of her brain – the part that was filled with worry, dread, fear. It made her body feel light, weightless, and after being crushed under a world so heavy and dark the past couple of months, she couldn’t get enough of it.

About half an hour later, Sam found herself attempting to support herself against the buffet as she watched her siblings (very badly) dance while Chet operated a fog machine, of all things. With the added benefit of alcohol, everything managed to be ten times funnier than it would be under normal circumstances. She found herself hunched over in laughter, almost stumbling to the ground more than once as she watched Klaus do the robot with Ben dancing goofily around him.

Ben came to stand (sway) next to her as Klaus dragged anyone into his dance routine that he could. They watched him with equally large smiles on their faces. Even in her drunken stupor, Sam realized how much more at ease Ben was with her and her family. It seemed he just needed a little liquid courage to loosen up.

Ben had another bottle in his hand, which he was drinking directly out of this time, and she watched him for a moment. Her eyes glided over his profile, trailing over his smooth, tanned skin and the small indent where the white scar ran down his cheekbone. His lips were widened in a grin, exposing white teeth. His smile was nice.

She’d always known Ben was handsome, but he’d really grown into his features in this timeline with his sharp jawline and defined collarbones. She felt something warm tingle in her stomach.

“Can I ask you something?” she directed to him. Ben turned to give her a bright smile, delightfully drunk.

“Ask awayyy, blondie.”

“That day when I told you about the Kugelblitz and we were talking about the other Ben… what did you mean when you said he probably felt the same way that I felt about him?”

“Well,” he began, loudly placing the bottle on the table behind them. “If you must know. There’s always been something a little familiar about you,” he wiggled his finger in her direction. “You and your annoying, talkative brother—”

“Klaus?”

“Whatever his name is. I didn’t get it at first because all of you were so irritating, but after hearing about the other Ben and how he was basically a copy of me, it kinda started to make sense. What if that version of Ben is connected to me?” he gestured boisterously towards himself.

She blinked owlishly at him.

“I’m not following…” she held up a hand. “Also you’re a copy of him, technically.”

“You guys being familiar to me… I think the other Ben is the reason for that. ‘Cause you guys were close, right? Maybe I’m just…” he waved his hand around, “Vibing with you.”

“I can’t believe you just said ‘vibing’,” she snorted before considering his words. Her lips curved into a sly smile. “So what you’re saying is, I was right when I said I’m growing on you.”

He rolled his eyes but she continued, moving closer to him teasingly, “You like me. You liiiike me.”

“How is it that you’re both irritating and cute as hell?” he countered, though a grin was beginning to form on his lips.

She pouted a bit, cheeks reddening. “You think I’m cute?”

He smirked. “I have no doubt the other Ben thought so.”

“But you aren’t the other Ben,” she gave him a pleased smile. He leaned in as well until their faces were only a few inches apart.

“And I bet you’re terribly upset by that.”

She pursed her lips and tilted her head, as if deep in thought. “I suppose you’re growing on me, too.”

He hummed, dark eyes flickering down to her lips. Their faces were so close at this point that it was almost impossible not to look. She bit the inside of her cheek. Her stomach was doing flips and turns and before she could figure out how to respond to her own body’s reactions, he leaned forward the rest of the way and pressed his lips to hers.

They were soft, as expected, and pleasantly warm. She couldn’t tell if her body was super cold or on fire, but either way she shivered as she pressed her palm against his chest. He stepped closer, bringing a hand up to cup her jaw as his lips moved against hers. She used her other hand to grip his arm, fingers pressing into the sleeves of his nice shirt.

They closed the rest of the gap between them, chest pressed against chest as he wrapped his free arm around her waist. She felt his fingers press into the dip of her lower back, digits gliding along the curve and slope of her spine. Her heart leapt as she felt the wet press of his tongue against her lips.

She sighed against his mouth and let him lead. He would grip a handful of her dress, tangle his fingers in her hair, lick deep into her mouth and all she could do was take whatever he gave her. Their kiss would break with a soft smack, only to have him come back in stronger, his taste and touch filling her senses until all she knew was Ben, Ben, Ben.

All too soon he pulled back a bit, their lips disconnecting with a string of saliva stretching between their bottom lips. He licked it away, the tip of his tongue flicking against her and she gave a soft moan, high-pitched but quiet. He kissed her again, just a press of lips against lips, before trailing down to her jaw and then her neck, where he pressed another kiss against her pulse.

She pulled away to see his face and he lifted his head to look at her, lips red and swollen and glistening. His breathing was uneven and he looked flushed down to his chest, though the smooth skin disappeared infuriatingly beneath the second button of his shirt so she couldn’t be sure.

She couldn’t resist and stole another kiss from him, wanting to mold herself against him and never let go. He bit her lip as she pulled away and she felt like she was going to jump out of her skin.

She licked her lips and opened her mouth to speak, trying to ignore how hoarse her voice was.

“So,” she croaked. “I’m growing on you a lot apparently.”

He bit his lower lip and gave her a heated stare.

“Well, something’s definitely growing.”

It took a moment for the innuendo to fully register in her brain and when it did her eyes widened. He pursed his lips in an attempt to suppress a giggle but then she pulled one of her hands from around his neck to slap his shoulder, hard enough for it to sting, and the giggles spilled from his lips.

Ignoring the heat on her cheeks, she squinted at him. “Are you this much of a dirty flirt when you’re sober?”

Ben gave her an affronted look nonetheless.

“Moi?” he exclaimed. She cackled, falling against his chest. His mouth was open in shock but he was still smiling. “I’m not the one defiling someone in a public setting. Nudity is not acceptable around your siblings, blondie, didn’t your father teach you that?”

As it turned out, her fingers really were working his shirt open one button at a time. She didn’t even realize she was doing it. She pulled her hands away, flushed down to her neck, and tried to ignore the lean chest she’d managed to expose.

“That’s the farthest thing from what my father would teach, Ben,” she chortled before arching a brow. “Did he teach you that?”

“I’m more self-taught when it comes to those things. Want me to show you?”

He laughed again, nearly crumpling against the buffet table as she gave him another open-mouthed stare.

“What, on God’s green Christian earth, is happening here?” Klaus’s voice interrupted Ben’s full body laughter. She turned to see him gesturing towards the space between them, or lack thereof, and then waving his hands wildly. “Separate, separate! Only one marriage is being consummated tonight!”

He yanked Ben away from her, who was still laughing, and the two of them nearly stumbled to the floor. Klaus ended up giggling at Ben’s clumsiness, which caused Sam to start laughing as well to cover up her embarrassment.

“Outside, you freaks!” Klaus shouted once he managed to right Ben, shooing the two of them towards the door.

She didn’t miss the way Klaus forced her to walk in front while him and Ben trailed behind her. They were draped over one another, probably in order to stand up straight. Sam glanced over her shoulder, eyes trailing downward, and… yep… Ben’s chest was about as red as her cheeks were. It made her feel hot all over and she quickly looked away before loudly asking Klaus where they were going.

He verbally directed her out onto the hotel’s large balcony where the ceremony had taken place earlier. The rest of the family aside from Allison were already sitting against or perched on the edge of the balcony. Sam spotted Sloane in her beautiful white gown cuddled up against Luther with his suit jacket draped over her shoulders and she had to smile to herself.

Somehow, despite all their differences, the two of them still managed to look good together.

“Oh no,” Diego called when the three of them came into view, jostling Lila in his lap. “Why’d you bring him out here?”

She knew without asking that he was referring to Ben and she most certainly was not going to be the one to answer him. She made her way towards Viktor, who gave her a careful half smile, and took a seat next to him after smoothing down her dress.

“C’mon,” Klaus whined. “He’s gotten better, I swear. He was swappin’ spit with our dear sister earlier so he’s practically family.”

“He what now?”

“I’m going to throw up.”

Diego and Five turned to squint at her and she gave them a sheepish wave, still riding her drunken haze just enough to not be completely mortified.

“Did he spike your drink?” Luther spoke up next, giving Sam a careful once over. She huffed a laugh until she realized he was serious.

“No!” She quickly denied and Klaus cackled.

“He’s a changed man,” their lanky brother intoned, pressing a hand to his heart. “C’mon, let the boy stay. He’s done no harm. I’m pretty sure their little escapade was one hundred percent consensual.”

“Klaus, please,” Sam rubbed her forehead. She glanced up between her fingers and caught the smirk Ben tossed her way. She shook her head but give a half-grin. It was so Klaus-and-Ben of them that she couldn’t be perturbed for long, enjoying the familiarity of their banter.

“Sickos,” Five droned, words slurring. “All of you are sickos.”

“Come on, big guy,” Klaus pouted, nudging Ben with his hip until he began to pout, as well. They were a powerful duo.

“Alright, alright,” Luther relented, and Klaus’s eyes lit up. “He can stay.”

“I won’t do it tonight since it’s Luther’s wedding night,” Diego announced, giving Ben a half-hearted glare, “but if I remember this conversation tomorrow, I’m kicking your ass.”

“Deal,” Klaus agreed for Ben, who only look mildly disconcerted by the threat.

The two of them made themselves comfortable on the ground in front of Sam and Viktor, Ben once again flashing a secret grin up at Sam with his glossy eyes. She nudged her foot against his lower back in response before glancing up at the sky.

Clouds of fire and smoke were roaring silently overhead, so thick and so vibrant that she felt as though she could reach forward and dip her finger into it. It was both terrifying and beautiful and she felt something sharp sweep through her gut that was quickly tampered out by the pleasant buzzing in her skull.

Now would have been a good time to go, when she didn’t have the ability to feel it. If only the world could end now, as they were, without fear or anticipation or anger.

“This is all I ever wanted,” said Luther after another moment of silence. “Just all of us together. No fighting or trying to save the world. Just… being in the moment.”

“I’m happy for you, Luther,” Sam told him. She gave him a smile when he turned to face her, seemingly surprised. “I know I haven’t told you and it was wrong of me not to. You’re my brother and I love you. If you’re happy, I’m happy.”

The genuine smile she received in return was reward enough, Luther’s eyes sparkling. “Thanks, Sam. Love you, too.”

She felt someone’s head fall back against her knee and she glanced down at Ben, whose hair was in disarray and falling over his forehead as he glanced up at her. Klaus had their arms winded together, tugging the boy as close to himself as he could. There was a cigarette tucked lazily between Ben’s lips (she was sure Klaus had given it to him), smoke floating up and tickling her nose.

He leaned back further, tucking his head and neck against her thigh, exposing part of her leg from beneath her dress and she flushed at the closeness. He turned to rub his cheek against her knee before pulling the cigarette from his lips so he could press them against her skin instead. She didn’t know how to react or what to say so instead she gave a small, hesitant smile.

He winked before moving his gaze to the sky, still resting back against her legs.

She carefully ran her fingers through his hair before looking back up as well, trying to ignore the painful swelling in her chest. Something about the look on his face was sobering to her, causing the tingling in the base of her skull to fade.

She decided she was going to need to be much, much drunker in order to make it through the rest of the night.

#ben hargreeves imagine #the umbrella academy imagine #ben hargreeves #umbrella academy #umbrella academy imagines

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badsext · 4 years ago

Text

Leap of Faith Part 6: Penny

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Penelope Elizabeth Nokes loved mud and frogs and flowers and insects. She was a playful and curious child, a ‘tomboy,’ often chided by the other children for her audacity. “Girls aint supposed to do that!” They never let her forget. Her voice, her clothes, her hair: it was all wrong and she was always getting into trouble.

“She always turns up like a bad penny,” the kids would say. “Here comes big, loud Penny to spoil our fun...Why don’t you just disappear?”

Then one day she did.

Thomas and Virginia Nokes were a very strict, traditional couple. Seeing their daughter’s independent spirit as a threat to their way of life, they sent her to a place called Rosewood Academy. It was a mental hospital disguised as a boarding school. Penny was admitted on the basis of nothing more than her father’s signature on the check. The doctors struggled to find an official diagnosis, but that didn’t stop them from locking her up and putting her on a cocktail of experimental drugs.

Rosewood had a handsome stone facade with an impressive garden, but the inside smelled of antiseptic. The floor tiles were shit brown and the walls were the color of bile. It had all the charm of a Russian gulag. This was where Penny got her first period at age twelve. And it was where she had her first kiss with a girl behind a shelf in the facility’s underfunded, heavily censored library.

A few years into her ‘treatment,’ Penny’s older brother, Michael (the favorite) had been drafted and shipped off to Korea in the Summer of 1950. The Nokes’ decided Penny was ‘cured’ and brought her home again. Their ‘brand new shiny Penny.’ But it was a difficult transition for the girl. She struggled through chemical withdrawal symptoms alone in her room, afraid that if her behavior offended her parents in any way she’d be sent back to Rosewood for good.

Penny was to start 10th grade in the fall. In spite of their efforts to hide it, the news had spread quickly around their California suburb. Some kids invited Penny to the lake for a swim. When she got there someone suggested they all go skinny dipping. “Wouldn’t that be wild? Besides nobody’d be able to see anything through water like this.” It was true, the lake water did offer some camouflage. Penny sank in up to her shoulders and took off her bathing suit, tossing it onto a nearby rock. What the other kids didn’t know is that she had done this plenty of times when she was alone. She honestly didn’t see what all the fuss was about. She swam out a little further, enjoying the beauty of the lake and the feel of the cool water on her skin. She thought maybe this is the kind of thing people did to make friends.

Penny eventually noticed the other kids coming out of the water with their bathing suits on. They stood on the beach watching, laughing. Their leader, a boy from the football team with a head shaped like a thumb was holding her blue bathing suit and other clothes.

“She’s gotta come out sooner or later,” he taunted.

Penny’s heart sank. She treaded water for a few minutes that felt much longer. Then something strange happened. Her entire body got that ‘pins and needles’ sensation that happens when your foot falls asleep. She panicked and swam to the opposite shore, away from the others. When she emerged from the water, she reached to cover her nakedness, but her efforts proved unnecessary because Penny Nokes had vanished into thin air. She could still feel the weight of her body standing there, the heat and pressure of her arms crossed over her chest. The sound of her labored breath and the water droplets rolling off her skin were the only tangible proof of her existence.

She pulled herself onto the grass and cried. She was scared, wondering if she was dead. Then surely she would remember drowning, she thought. No, this was something else. If it was a dream, it was the most vivid one she’d ever had (on or off drugs). Penny knew about people with strange powers. They had been in the news. Maybe that was it. She latched onto this theory, stood up, and found her way to the lakefront where the other kids were getting nervous.

“Johnny, she’s been out there too long. Something’s wrong.”

The girls started screaming, some of them crying.

“Shut up. Everybody shut up,” the boy looked out over water with a hardened expression. He raked his fingers over his blond crew cut.

“Somebody do something!, one of the girls shouted, but no one dared.

Penny watched their panic grow. Then it suddenly got very quiet. It was a strange feeling, being an observer to her own supposed drowning. Johnny’s focus shifted quickly from disbelief to acceptance then to self preservation.

“Okay. We go home. Nobody talks about this, you got it?”

They all just nodded, still in shock and too afraid of the alternatives.

Penny ran home, still invisible. She worried how long it would last. Her bare feet slapped the pavement all the way home. She crept in the back door and up to her room. There she stood in front of the mirror. Her reflection materialized slowly. She would come to learn that her powers would subside once she was out of immediate danger, and later, how to control them. Taking in her reflection, she saw someone she barely recognized. She had lost years, but now, when given the chance she had failed her experiment with normalcy.

She got dressed and went downstairs for supper. The phone rang. Penny held her breath. Virginia got up to answer it, shaking her head as she listened. “Hmm...No, she’s right here. Safe and sound, I’m afraid...Thank you. Yes, you too.” Someone must have squealed, a crisis of conscience.

“What are you playing at? Making these kids think you drowned in the lake?”

Virginia was not looking for a response to her question. It was rhetorical, as it seemed all of her questions were. Any attempt to explain or disagree was refuted. Penny learned a long time ago it was best to accept it. She nodded.

“I can’t take this, Thomas. It’s too much.”

“I’ll make the call tomorrow morning.” Penny’s father went back to his meat and potatoes.

Penny didn’t want to cry in front of her mother. She finished her supper then excused herself to her room. Not knowing what else to do, she grabbed her knapsack and filled it with clothes and a toothbrush. She caught her reflection in the mirror again. It was different this time. Through the veil of tears was a spark of clarity, of determination. Penny shut her eyes and let the feelings of hurt and anger wash over her. A moment later she could see right through her eyelids as they had gone transparent along with the rest of her body.

It was time to go.

@elliethesuperfruitlover @super-unpredictable98 @misskittysmagicportal @bubblyani @salvador-daley @helena-way07 @punknatch @magic-multicolored-miracle @slutforrobbiebro @sean-falco @preppy-lolita @cahtah-haht @bla-bla-bla-hut @bobateatae @bunbungirl14 @captainslugcat @nostalgiawings @maerenee930 @dopeybubbles @chipster-21 @ringpopdust @punknatch

#tua fanfic #tua series #origin story #klaus hargreeves fic series #tua oc #penny nokes

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