Logan (damnhardtokill) wrote in commandhq, @ 2018-06-01 23:45:00 |
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Entry tags: | benjamin walker, p: mena, p: mj, riley hunter |
Who: Benjamin Walker & Riley Hunter
What: Riley checks up on Ben after the explosion
When: Sometime after this
Where: Ben's room
Rating: Low
News of the explosion spread through the base quickly. So quickly that the dust had barely settled before people were getting notifications to just stay away from the gym levels while the damage was assessed. And the rumour mill went nuts. Someone blew up, someone exploded. Someone died. Someone was sent flying out of the building and landed in the courtyard. Someone was blown through the wall. Some British dude had been sent to the infirmary because he'd been thrown through the wall and bounced on the concrete. It hadn't taken Riley long to work out that the bloke thrown through the wall, who had miraculously survived, was Ben. He'd checked in with Holly - who had told him that Ben was okay but she'd told him to get checked out - and then headed right down to the clinic with the intention of just checking on Ben and telling himself - seeing with his own eyes - that Ben was okay. But Ben wasn't in the infirmary. And logically, logically, Riley knew that Ben being not in the infirmary was a good thing. That he'd been discharged and sent back to his room. But he couldn't shake the concern that gripped at him, that anxiety that twisted in his stomach at the mere thought of what could have happened. He made it to Ben's room in record time, knuckles rapping sharply on the door, his hair a shaggy mess because he'd pushed his hands through it that many times in the last half hour and he was sure that he was sprouting grey hairs just by breathing right now. In all honesty Ben could think of a hundred things that would have been more fun than having been at ground zero when Jett had exploded especially as he hadn't exactly stopped at the wall but rather had gone through it with all the force of a cannonball that didn't lose momentum until the third of fourth kissing concrete with body parts. Thank God for his power or he'd be dead no question about it, he'd be off trying to barter with the folks at the pearly gates as to why he should go to Heaven rather than Hell. He'd been discharged not too long after getting to the infirmary but then there wasn't any damage to inspect not when his powers had been a very effective shield, keeping him from really feeling the explosion or the subsequent fallout. He hadn't even shed any blood. Good thing too because he was pretty sure Jett had been traumatised enough without adding him bleeding into the mix. Of course the moment the adrenaline was out of his system he crashed and he crashed hard. So hard that he'd just managed to pull his top off before he'd collapsed into his bed, flat out exhausted and drawing in slow deep breaths as he processed the aftermath of being hit by what felt like a freight train. Of course an insistent knocking at his door drew a small disagreeing groan from Ben who slowly lifted his head and turned it, hand rubbing through his hair. "Jesus fuck," he grumbled as yep his body still ached in all the wrong places. "Coming, hold your horses." He grimaced as he struggled off his bed and trailed over the door to open it all ready to bark and jump down somebody's throat when Riley was stood there, looking very much like he'd just been fucked, but Ben knew it was probably more worried than the other. He cleared his throat. "Rumour mill been at it I take it?" "Summat like that," Riley breathed, lower lip spit-shiny from where he'd been chewing at it. When the door had opened, it took everything in him not to surge forward and reach out, to touch Ben and just prove to himself that Ben was okay. Touch him and make sure. His hands flexed restlessly at his sides, he crossed and uncrossed his arms, swallowing past a lump in his throat that seemed to just get bigger when he realised that Ben was shirtless. Shirtless and... more defined than he had been six years ago. Riley cleared his throat, stopped his eyes from wandering any further and dragging them back up to Ben's face. That look of worry was still etched on his face and he couldn't seem to get rid of it even though he was trying. "I-" Ben knew that look and was familiar with the energy pouring off Riley in waves so against his better judgment he stepped aside and tipped his head. "You gonna come in or what?" He waited until the other man was in his room before shutting the door after him. Mm, fuck. His head was throbbing a bit more now that he was upright. "M'alright," he said as he turned back round to face Riley. "Aye, or what," Riley muttered even as he stepped inside, past Ben and into the middle of the room. He swallowed, looking at the lines of Ben's back and being so relieved that he didn't have bruises, nothing visible. No visible markings, nothing that screamed that he'd been blasted through several walls. Just... that was what had happened. And if it hadn't been for his power he would have died. Avery Jones might not have been his agent, but she'd almost been lost on a mission recently and it had shaken her handler up, as well as some of the people that knew her and whilst he didn't, it was always something to make you think when someone nearly died on a mission. And Riley had been thinking. He pushed his hand through his hair again, twisting his fingers in the strands - fuck he needed a hair cut - before letting his touch rest at the back of his neck. "Y'dont sound fine, Ben." "Well, I just woke up, that's probably got something to do with it," Ben pointed out as he trailed past Riley and rummaged out a t-shirt because the last top he'd been wearing had been ruined by wall and concrete. That top was never going to be the same again, it had all kinds of marks and rips. He grimaced faintly as he started to pull on his t-shirt, a small breath escaping the gaps between his teeth as he tugged the material into place. "Youse wanna take a seat?" "Not really," Riley admitted, though he did shrug out of his jacket, and then the hoodie he had underneath, leaving him in a t-shirt. He offered Ben a weak smile and leaned back against the wall, tipping his head back to rest against it. "Kinda feeling too amped up, like. Got us all worried, you know." He looked at Ben, not lifting his head from where it was against the wall, tipped back slightly, before his eyes lifted to the ceiling. "Besides, I know that grimace. Thought they said youse was fine?" "That's 'cause I am," Ben replied as he returned to his bed and settled on it, figuring it was better to have something taking his weight as he didn't trust his legs to do it right now. "Don't mean I don't feel like I got blasted through a wall like." He smoothed a hand through his hair and squeezed the back of his neck where he was certain a knot of tension was setting up camp like travellers on free unprotected land. "Didn't mean tae worry you, didn't plan it." "Gonna be honest with you, 've not read your file. Felt like that was... some kind of invasion, like." Riley swallowed, flexing his hands again where they'd rested against his upper arms. "So I'm fucking glad you've got a power that means you didn't get hurt." But still, Riley didn't look convinced. Even after all this time, Ben had some of the same tells as before. He drew in a breath and pushed off the bed, grabbing the chair and pulling it closer so he could sit opposite Ben, arms braced on his forearms so that he was close but not quite close enough to touch. That being said, he could feel heat radiating off Ben in waves. It hit him like a dizzying wave of nostalgia and nausea. "I know," he said softly, meeting Ben's eyes. "I- Just freaked me out." "Aye, passive power apparently," Ben shared with a small lift of his shoulders. "That'll be why nobody pegged us as being a super sooner." He glanced up as Riley moved closer, almost close enough to touch, but not quite. There was still some distance but that was understandable. They had very complicated history. Really complicated history. And this whole being thrown into the Regiment and same facility it wasn't ideal but they were adults, for the most part. Ben reached out and closed that distance, closing his hand around Riley's shoulder, squeezing. "It's alright. I'm alright." Since Ben had arrived in the facility, the only touching that had happened was them knocking their feet together under a table when they were having lunch a few weeks back. Riley had been giving the guy space; it had been years. Ben had moved on. Just because Riley's brain went blank when Ben's hand clapped on his shoulder didn't mean that Ben's brain did the same. He lifted his hand and curled his fingers around Ben's wrist gently, the touch familiar. But it didn't hold as much comfort as it used to. He sighed heavily, ducked his head to hide the fact that he felt his expression shifting with the weight of Ben's hand. "Aye," he muttered. "This time." But what about next? What about if Ben was sent on a mission? Out into the field? Well, Riley shouldn't so certain about things because despite the years Ben's mind did go blank when he Riley's hand curled around his wrist and squeezed. Of course he wasn't the sort to entertain fancy notions of what could be especially with how things had ended between them. "Aye," Ben said with a small smile and nod of his head. "Gonna take more than an explosion to finish us off." He pushed a breath out of his chest and lifted his hand to squeeze Riley's neck before he reluctantly pulled his touch back. Riley drew in a breath when Ben's touch slipped to his neck and he squeezed Ben's wrist again before he felt the other man drawing back so it was with equal reluctance that he dropped his own touch though it didn't last for long. He reached out and put his hand on the back of Ben's neck, tugging him forward so that their foreheads touched. He didn't look up, just focused on keeping himself in check, but his fingers squeezed there gently. It felt tense. Ben always carried his tension there, and in his shoulders. And, weirdly, in the curve of his lower back. Riley remembered going on one of those cheap courses from a deal website to learn how to massage to try and help, since Ben's job had been so physical, and all. "I know you're not a pre-cog or anything," he muttered, "But do us a favour? Try not to do that again. Not sure we heart can take it." Ben hadn't been expecting anything else than the brief contact he'd had with Riley but when the other man reached out to clasp the back of his neck and tugged him closer, close enough so that their foreheads touch he found himself swallowing past a rather large lump in the back of his throat. Breathe, Ben, just remember to breathe. He was still for a moment until he copied the gesture, reaching out to close his rather large hand around the back of Riley's neck as they just sat there for a moment, closer than they had been in a very longer time. "I'll do me best," he assured with a small nod of his head. "Thank you," Riley muttered, eyes closed past the overwhelming sensation of Ben's hand against his neck. Maybe they could do this, be in the same place, at the same time and be friends. This was friends, right? This was what friends did? Yeah. Yeah, it was. He didn't have many friends at all, Matt and Ethan, and he'd do this with both of them. His heart might be beating a little more slowly if he was sitting like this with Matt, though. And they'd probably have some kind of hard liquor for Matt to be drinking. "Appreciate it." Ben's lips curled into a small smile. "Yer welcome." Honestly he had not in any shape or form been intending to cause drama or worry and he probably should have gotten out of the gym sooner, but he'd been confused and a little out of his depth. Thankfully despite his powers being passive they were very good at keeping him alive. He was well aware that this lingering in one another's space was probably a touch too much and a touch too long especially as they were trying to be friends and shit like this might confuse matters. Last thing he wanted to do was cause Riley any more aggro than he already had. One final squeeze of Riley's neck and Ben was pulling away less he do something really stupid like kiss the other man. Riley wasn't quick enough to hide the flash of disappointment that crossed his face as Ben pulled back and away, but he did get to his feet, rub his hand through his hair again and then rest his hand against the back of his neck to try and capture some of the warmth from Ben's touch that was rapidly disappearing. That same hand then rubbed over his face and he stuck his hands in the pocket of his jeans, leaning against the table. "Should probably let you get back to sleep, like," he mumbled, feeling suddenly embarrassed, like he'd set a foot wrong because Ben had pulled away and shit, he couldn't even do friends. "Just- yeah- I- uh-" His voice wavered a little so he cleared his throat. "Yeah, 'm glad youse're okay." Ben had seen that disappointment and he felt a definite sharp ache in the middle of his chest because he'd already hurt Riley enough as it was without going and doing it again. Maybe he should just ask for a transfer? Riley was here first after all. Riley hadn't done anything wrong save for putting himself in a position where it would have been really fucking easy for Ben to crush his mouth to his and just drown in the other man until Riley was his entire world and nothing else really mattered, but that wouldn't be fair. Not to Riley, not when Ben had been the one to fuck everything up. He deserved something or rather someone better, not Ben Walker from Newcastle. "Aye, makes sense," he said with a nod. "Cheers for coming tae check on me, it's appreciated." Ben might have been good at hiding his feelings, but Riley had known him since they were teenagers and the expression that flickered across the blond's face made Riley's stomach plummet. He'd reacted wrong, he was sure of it. But Ben had done the right thing, pulling away, before something really stupid happened and honestly it wasn't the time or the place and Ben... Ben had moved on. Riley was just a reminder of a time that he was sure the other man would rather forget. "Any time," Riley responded, stopping himself from closing the distance and pressing a kiss to the top of Ben's head like they'd just got out of bed on a Saturday morning by putting his hands in his pockets. "Just take care of yerself, mate, and we'll be grand. And... if you ever wanna have lunch or summat, just give us a shout." "Aye, deffo," Ben said with an answering nod. "And I'll do that, give you a shout that is." He rubbed a hand through his hair. "Good," Riley said with a parting smile and half-wave. "Get some sleep, Benji." And with that, he turned to leave, shutting the door behind himself and heading outside very quickly for a cigarette or ten to calm his nerves. |