Soldier Boy (compoundv) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2023-07-31 14:20:00 |
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Entry tags: | !closed, !completed gdoc, soldier boy (compoundv), ~2023 july, ~~waverly earp (angelwaves) |
Who: Waverly and Ben
What:First time they’ve actually talked since Relationship Confusion
When: Before the switchover.
Where: Outside the Den to…
Warnings: mild violence
Status: Completed GDoc
Life had become pretty status quo for Waverly since all that weirdness where she thought she was married to Ben. Of course, status quo was defined as hiding with her sister, having no social life and trying to have a work schedule that was opposite Ben’s. The last part didn’t always work out, especially if she wanted the best tips. Hence, working tonight. Every time Ben came on stage or played the crowd, Waverly focused on the people at the bar so she wouldn’t have to watch. The usual suspects were there, but new faces were present too. New faces were the easiest to play, and since she was going above and beyond to no watch Ben, she overplayed things a bit with one of the guys. Needless to say, he got the wrong idea. Closing up went like clockwork and soon Waverly was hoisting her satchel over her shoulder and heading out the door. She said goodnight to the bouncer who would lock the door behind her and out she went to head home. “Hey, cutie.” Waverly stopped in surprise to see the guy from the bar leaning against a lamppost nearby. Her brows lifted as confusion gripped her. “Oh uh. Hey.” She tried to remember if they’d said anything about meeting up after, but she would never do that. Drunk guys in strip clubs was where she drew the line. “Thought I’d offer to walk you home.” He lifted from his lean as he snorted then swaggered toward Waverly. She took a step backward as she got a polite smile. “No, thanks. I can get home on my own.” Ben had noticed that Waverly's schedule had changed quite a bit and they no longer worked together as often. Which was fine by him. The less he had to see her, the better. He wasn't really mad at her; it wasn't fair to blame her for something she had no control over, but it almost felt like Crimson all over again and he hated the fact that he had allowed himself to become so weak and needy. So, to prove just how much he didn't need her, he had gone above and beyond to show her that. He had slept with countless females and shamelessly thrown himself at them, which was par for the course when it came to him. He would sometimes watch her when he wasn't on stage and found that her smile still brought him some comfort. While he hated to watch her flirt with all the men, he could do absolutely nothing about it. That would be jealousy, and he had nothing to be jealous over. At least that's what he told himself. While he knew that Waverly wasn't weak like other humans, she was still vulnerable to death. Her stubborn nature allowed her to think she was capable of walking home alone at night, but Ben thought otherwise. He would always hang back and let her think he had left, only to follow her discreetly back to the apartments. That was if he wasn't going off with another woman somewhere. He had noticed the man lingering about, but he couldn't do anything about it. What if they had agreed to go home together? The thought alone made his blood boil, but he kept himself in check. That was until he heard her speak and picked up on the hesitation in her voice. "I don't think so, pal." Ben said as he stepped out of the shadows to reveal his presence. "If you want to walk home tonight, I highly suggest you leave her the fuck alone. I will not hesitate to break your legs and I am in no mood to be fucked with, so go ahead and try me." Ben sneered in disgust, looking at the man with a deadly glare. Waverly was surprised to hear Ben’s voice, but relieved at the same time. Not that she and her can of bear spray couldn’t handle one drunk guy but it would be nice to not have to. As she stepped out of the way, she made sure Ben saw the grateful, if small smile on her face. “Hey, pal,” the guy said mockingly. “Why don’t you mind your business, huh? Go give some bridezilla a lap dance.” He turned a sloppy grin toward Waverly. “Besides. She was hittin’ on me all night.” Waverly gave an indignant scoff. “It’s called working the bar, dumbass.” "Ask me if I give a fuck." Ben growled, not easing up on the man. "I don't care what she was doing all night. We're talking about now. As in this very second, and I do believe she told you to fuck off!" He stood in front of the other man, who was slightly taller and reached out to give him a good shove, letting him hit the tree behind him. "I'm feeling generous tonight. So, I will allow you to walk away unharmed. But you have to apologize to the lady. Or you can fight me, and may the best man win." He grinned crookedly, beyond confident he could kick this guy's ass. Ben was really hoping he would pick the fight option. It had been far too long since he'd last been in one. “You son of a bitch…” The guy growled before stupidly stumbling toward Ben. Waverly got between them, however. “Ok. Penises down. Let’s not do this.” She gave Ben a pointed look before she turned her back to him to look at the drunk. “Go home. Sleep it off. Or do you want to be banned from the Den?” That was threat enough to make him pause. He had to take a moment to weigh his options, however. Finally, he reached a conclusion and pointed at Ben. “You’re lucky she got in the way.” Then he turned to stumble away. Waverly let out a heavy sigh then turned to give Ben a small smile. “Thanks.” Ben turned his head to look at her with eyes wide. "What the hell?" He had been willing to let it go, until the other man decided to speak up and Ben decided to teach him a lesson. "I'll show you lucky. You stupid mother fucker." He growled and advanced on the man, grabbing him by the back of his shirt. He drew back his fist and punched the man so hard that he hit the building with a loud thud. "If you ever show your face here again, I will give you more than that." He could have kept going, but what was the point? The guy was going to lose, and while Ben could kill him with ease, but not in front of Waverly. He waited a second to make sure that the guy was still breathing and turned to Waverly. "I'll walk home with you, and I'm not taking no for an answer." It sounded like an awful thing to say, but if anything happened to her, he would lose it. “Wait! Be--” But it was too late. Ben slugged the guy anyway. Waverly sighed as she sunk her face into her hand. She almost felt like calling the police before they left so the guy could get taken to the hospital in case he had a broken jaw or something. She gave Ben an exasperated look when he turned around. “He was leaving, Ben. You didn’t have to do that.” But she wasn’t arguing about having company on the walk home. "Yeah, I know he was leaving. But he opened his mouth and I wasn't going to walk away like some pussy. He fucking asked for it, Waverly. I wanted to do it, so that he could see for himself that I don't need a woman to intervene." He sighed and adjusted the straps on his backpack, motioning for her to start walking. "I showed him mercy. On your behalf, so at least give me credit for that." Why he didn't want her to be upset with him was beyond him. It wouldn't change how he felt about punching the guy, he had no regrets about it. "I think maybe I should go to the gym a little more often." Though he could easily take the punching bag right off the ceiling if he wanted. "I miss the gym at Vought. It wasn't made with flimsy ass equipment." She let out with a long sigh. Knowing she wouldn’t win this discussion, Waverly just let it go. “Fine. You didn’t put his nose through the back of his head. Good for you.” She rolled her eyes then began to walk for home. If he was going to insist on walking her home, he’d have to keep her pace. She knew he probably wouldn’t have a problem with speed. Waverly just wasn’t in a hurry. She liked to take her time, enjoy the night, especially after a long night. Part of her felt she should say something, but she couldn’t think of anything that wouldn’t sound stupid. Of course, she had to be like that, but he would take it. Ben followed her, but she was being annoyingly slow and it was driving him up the wall. He wasn't the type of guy who stopped to take time and smell the flowers. He was the type of guy that would happily stampede over said flowers in his rush to get to where he was going. He played with the straps on his backpack and reached into his pocket to grab himself a joint, wasting no time in lighting it up. "So," he started, taking a deep drag from the joint. Ben exhaled the smoke in small circles and turned to look at her. "How's Alice doing? Still cute and stinky?" It was a diaper joke, and hopefully she got it and didn't get offended. Fortunately she didn’t get offended. She’s made the same comment herself. A less tense smile formed on her face, though. “She’s good. Growing like a weed. Babbling. She’s learned to grab hair now which has me thinking about cutting mine.” Now that she pointed it out, she’s been keeping her hair in a braid or ponytail more often. Plus, she hasn’t been wearing as much makeup as she used to. Being summer, she does stick to tight tank tops and daisy dukes to avoid the heat. “Who is the flavor of the week?” Yes. She’d noticed the girls that came and went. No pun intended. "Long hair is always a pleasure to grab." Ben commented with a crooked grin, though it faded at her next question. How did she know what he was up to? Did she miss him? No. Doubtful. Fuck. This was the most awkward he’d felt in a while. “They come and go. I like to switch it up so I don’t get bored.” His gaze dropped to her ass and he couldn’t help but stare and admire her from behind. “How’ve you been?” She knew how he liked to grab long hair, and was glad it was dark out so the flush that came to her cheeks wouldn’t be seen. Waverly did have to stifle the cough that wanted to come out however. Stupid memory of being married to stupid Ben. “Fine,” she answered. The truth was far from it, actually, but Waverly didn’t want to tell him that. She’d returned to the practice of not going out that she’d been in when she first arrived. Ben nodded his head and pursed his lips in a thin line, not believing her for a second, though there was no point in arguing with her. He focused on smoking his joint for the most part, making sure to keep an eye on her in case any crazy attempted to snatch her or something. The walk was a little painful, and he wanted to reach out and touch her, but he could’t do that. He wouldn’t. “I guess Alice is keeping you busy.” Waverly let out with an abrupt sigh, stopped in her tracks then turned around to look at Ben with a snippy look on her face. “Why are you doing this? You don’t want to be around me anymore than I want to be around you. And you don’t have to…walk me home...like I’m a helpless Pomeranian. I’ve been walking home all this time without you just fine.” She crossed her arms over her chest. It was the most stubborn she’s ever looked. Which was to say Waverly looked cute. “And your small talk sucks.” You don’t want to be around me anymore than I want to be around you. “Shit. Why don’t you tell me how you really feel?” Ben scoffed with a roll of his eyes, doing his best to seem unfazed by her comment. “I was making sure that creep didn’t go after you. Sorry for giving a fuck.” He added with a growl and gave her a pointed look at the expression on her face. “I’m not known for my small talk. Most people enjoy the company of my giant dick.” He shifted his stance to look back at her with his legs slightly spread, arms folded across his chest and head high. “But, while we’re on the subject, your tough talk sucks. Needs some work.” Waverly scoffed in outrage. “You ARE a giant dick! And what do YOU care how I feel anyway? You seem to be over any kind of feelings you may or may not have had for me since you make a point of sticking your crotch in the face of every female that waved a five at you!” She advanced on Ben, pointing a finger sternly at him. “And I told you I didn’t need help! I have bear spray and a taser, thank you very much! I’ve done pretty well taking care of myself ever since,” she made finger quotes, “the divorce.” “Need I remind you that you’re the one who ran out of the fucking apartment before I woke up?” At her insistence of not needing his help he just tossed his head back with a laugh. “What if something happens to the taser or bear spray? You think a fucking taser will take someone like me out? Bear spray?” Ben laughed again and shook his head. “I mean, maybe you would get like thirty seconds to run, but I would still catch you, Waverly.” He moved even closer and closed the gap between them, her finger between them. “You know what? Do it. Pretend that I’m coming after you and I’m about to carve every inch of that beautiful body up with my knife. Try and stop me, Waverly.” “Because I knew you would flip out about being married!” Waverly poked him hard in the chest since he was right there. “And I didn’t want to deal with that insensitive slap in the face!” Fortunately, Waverly was used to being laughed at when it came to her taking care of herself. It had happened all the time back home. The fact was, she COULD take care of herself since she’d done just that for so long while her sister was out getting drunk and laid for so many years. At the dare, her eyes narrowed and her lips pressed together. Then, without warning, she brought her knee up hard into Ben’s groin, shot that bear spray into his face then took off at a sprint in a seemingly random direction. "So, you don't even…" he wouldn't have flipped out about it. Did she think that his not leaving rule applied to everyone else? Sure, he enjoyed the company of his partner in the morning. More sex was always a pleasure, but if they left, they left. It wasn't that he thought she was a weak damsel in distress; but without her tools, could she really protect herself? Men could be savage beasts and he knew that for a fact. The knee to his groin distracted him long enough for her to grab the bear spray and he sighed, paying attention to the sound of her running away. The spray stung, but the effects were limited and he turned to run off in the direction she had gone. The sound of her feet crunching the twigs that lay on the ground continued to guide him and it wasn't too long until he came up behind her and grabbed her. One arm went around her waist and the other moved swiftly to grab her bag and toss it far away and out of her reach. With a grin on his face, he leaned down to whisper against her ear. "Now what do you plan to do, princess?" Waverly knew she wouldn’t get away for good. The point was how long she’d be on her own. Long enough she would have had time to call Wynonna or Doc. They were both on emergency speed dial, so even if he caught her before she could say anything, the struggle would transmit. Her phone would still be active and they could track her. No, she wasn’t strong. No, she didn’t have super powers. But she was fucking smart. Her tactics had bought her time. Waverly hadn’t triggered the Wynonna signal for this, however. It wasn’t a real emergency and she wouldn’t drag her sister away from Alice. A squeak came from her when he grabbed her finally, and she knew better than to fight with the bag. She could have kicked, screamed, squirmed. Any number of things to draw attention to her “plight”. Instead, she did what probably was completely unexpected. The whisper next to her ear reminded her of a lot of things, times together that were influenced by the Dome. Things that weren’t real. It sparked a fluttering in her stomach and chest and drew a sigh from her that had nothing to do with exasperation. Waverly did wriggle, but only so she could turn around to face Ben just before her hands caught his face and she kissed him. He found himself stunned by the kiss, but he wasn't sure if this was a ploy, or something genuine. Just to be careful, one arm hung low on her body and held her close to him, ensuring that she couldn't kick him or run away. If she made any attempt to get away, he would scoop her up into the air and carry her back to the apartments. "If this is a trick, you're crueler than I ever thought you could be." Ben murmured against her lips, a sly grin on his face to indicate he wasn't serious. "Is this what you plan to do if some guy is chasing after you? I'm not sure if that's the best route to go. But, you never know." He continued to tease her, his fingers playing in her hair. "I guess I should get your bag and walk you the rest of the way home." A quiet giggle came from Waverly as her arms slid around Ben’s shoulders. “No trick, but I’ll have to remember the suggestion.” Her eyes drifted shut for the attention to her hair. God, this reminded her so much of when they’d been married. Ben had still been a jerk, but not all of the time. Most of the time he’d doted on her in his own way. And the physical attention had been more sensual and intimate than him getting his rocks off. Like the hair thing. Her chin lowered as she bit her lower lip. She probably shouldn’t be doing this but… “Or we could go to your place.” There were certain people that got to see a different side of Ben, and one of them was Waverly. What the hell were they even fighting for? Because she left one morning due to anxiety? It was - oh. She had thrown out the l word and he panicked. She hadn't said it outright, though. It had been implied, more than anything. The word was completely foreign to him. He looked down at her with such longing and his fingers moved to caress over the side of her face. There was a sad smile on his face as he released her from his embrace and ran off in the direction he threw her bag to retrieve it for her. "You're welcome to come home with me, but I only plan to get high as a fucking kite and smoke an enormous amount of weed." Ben handed her back her bag and started back to the apartments with her at his side. "It's just a quiet night at my place." That look right there! That was the look that melted her heart every time. It brought a soft smile to her face and put a light in her eyes. Waverly knew he never showed that side of himself to anyone else. Not even on a dare. And it was real. Vulnerable. She adored it. Just like now, it never lasted long. But at least Ben wasn’t suggesting what page of the Kama Sutra they should try. This was as close to being like anyone else as he got. “I mean sure,” she said with a shrug of her shoulder. “If that’s all you want to do with me. Alone in your apartment. But I’ll take a pass on getting high.” She waited for Ben to catch on. “I mean, I can make you a…nope, no I can not. I have nothing that is Waverly friendly for you to eat. Aside from water, which…I guess if I served it as ice, that would be considered food. Right?” The fact that she was hinting at sex hadn’t gone over his head. That plane had landed successfully. Ben would never admit it, but she was different, and after what had happened between them it was probably for the best not to take her straight to pound town. Though after smoking a bit, who knew what might happen? “I’m sure we can find something to occupy our time together. Alone.” He teased, turning to look at her with an impish smile. She also knew that look. That look led to a pounding heart while she gasped for breath. Waverly grinned in return. “We could play Bridge.” |