Who: Ben Hargreeves and OPEN What: Ben has arrive, honestly arrived, in Goodlands Where: An Alley When: Sunday Afternoon Things felt wrong, even before Ben opened his eyes.
Maybe wrong was not the right word, but different. For one-- Ben could feel and not just the numb, phantom feelings that Ben thought he could feel sometimes. He could feel a breeze ruffle across his arm hairs. He could feel the heat of the sun on his skin. He could feel the humidity that hung in the air. Then he realized he could smell-- he couldn’t place anything in particular gas and fried food and hot asphalt. It was almost overwhelming, and his stomach turned. God, he was starving, but there was still a bubble in his stomach where he knew his portal to be.
Ben rubbed his face. It didn’t make sense. Where were his siblings? Maybe there was something about being a ghost that made the jump different for him. “Klaus?” He called out, “Klaus?!” He knew it was pointless to call out to the others, they wouldn’t be able to hear him anyway. Ben turned, but even his movements, his whole body felt heavier than it used to. He took in a deep breath, just like he would have told his brother. Take a deep breath and think.
Ben blinked at his surroundings, the buildings were tall and there were people all over the street. Whatever timeline Five had jumped them too, it had apparently avoided the apocalypse. He couldn’t remember the last time he had moved this freely in the physical realm without his brother. It was strange, and Ben could feel his anxiety rising. It had been a long time since Ben had felt like that, after all, what did a ghost have to fear? Something was different. Weird. Wrong.
His hands trembled as he merged with the crowd, accidentally bumping into someone.
He bumped into another person. It was solid, honest contact. He put his arms out to grab the person’s shoulders, slight panic on his face. “I-- can you see me?” He asked, trying to wrap his head around the fact that he was literally touching another person. Had he moved on? Was this what the other side felt like? Klaus had told him, and Five and Luther about Dad and his barber shop… maybe this was what it was like? Should he look for dad and his shop? Did he even want to face dad?