He had awoken about 10 minutes ago with a loud snore and grunted something about five more minutes until the sound of rock scraping rock echoed in his hearing. The sound was of skin scraping against the sidewalk he was sprawled on. The large man sat up from his sleep with an alert look in his deep blue eyes, his brows narrowing as he looked around and stood up.
Ben wasn’t exactly known for being a genius, but he was smart. At first, he assumed it was just a dream, even when the little old lady who was passing him by gave a squawk and abruptly turned back the way she came. He was currently in the entrance (or in his case, exit) of an alley to a somewhat respectable section of town. Deciding to fool his subconscious, Ben stood there with his arms crossed for ten minutes until he mumbled, “Too fucking boring to be a dream.”
Reed and the others wouldn’t have just abandoned him out here just for kicks. The Baxter Geeks were too paranoid of him going outside, no one in the group could lift him up, and Reed wasn’t the one to pull a prank and this lacked Johnny’s style. With a resigned sigh, Ben took a step forward, figuring the reaction would be rather similar to the old lady he accidently scared.
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 12/27/2005 14:15:39
"Whoops!"
A light laugh followed, and Death stepped to the left, moving around to face Benjamin, rather than talk at his elbow. "Sorry about that. I didn't expect you to start moving again, you were still for so long."
She gave him a smile. "Are you okay now?"
From: [info]i_clobber Date: 12/27/2005 20:04:21
Ben looked at the petite pale woman for a moment, surprised she didn’t run off. Maybe he was still in New York, or something. New Yorkers had been seeing a lot of shit lately. And then he studied her, wondering why she seemed so familiar.
Someone from high school? He hadn’t hung around with goths back then... but how would anyone from that life recognize him now? “Nah, taking a nap. But I didn’t fall asleep here. Maybe I got drunk, or something.”
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 12/27/2005 22:06:01
She tilted her head lightly, looking up at him. "You were taking a nap?" She seemed to consider this, then nodded and shrugged. "I've heard a few of those. People just keep cropping up here, from all kinds of places lately."
She looked over his arm at the odd, dense skin, curious, but unafraid. He'd changed a lot since she'd last seen him. But it was was still Ben Grimm. Death never forgot a face or a name. No matter how much it tried to change.
"So, where are you headed?"
From: [info]i_clobber Date: 12/28/2005 21:30:24
“I was in the Fantasti– plane, flying thingy, whatever it is my friend built.” Ben snorted and shook his head. “Go to Europe, give the smack down to his ex-lab partner that makes an ex-wife pale in comparison and we head back. I take a nap. And boom. Here.”
He noticed the strange pale woman’s look to his skin, the simple curiosity of a person who wasn’t afraid of him. “Said ex-lab partner did this to me, and to few other people.” Ben’s heavy brows lifted at the question of where was he going now. “Shit... is getting back to Baxter Tech an option? You don’t wanna even know about the last time those geeks freaked out when I was ‘allowed’ to play outside.”
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 12/28/2005 22:38:47
She frowned up at him. "'Allowed'? Why would you need to be 'allowed' out?" Her hand was hovering mere inches from his elbow, her curiosity moving from simple visual comprehension to tactile wonder. Remembering that this was probably considered rude, she turned her hand over, and gestured to his skin. "Someone wouldn't let you out for this?"
From: [info]i_clobber Date: 01/03/2006 01:00:03
“Yeah, I think the Tech Geeks at Baxter tech got something against the less than pretty.” Ben said this nonchalantly, in all, he was adjusting pretty well. Okay, sure, he nearly killed Reed that one time after finding out the incident had been ‘Reed’s’ fault. It had been weeks of frustration and the lack of contact from his family and other friends that had gotten to him.
“Matchstick could waltz around with only a babysitter and he could lite the whole town on fire. Me? I make dermatologists cry.” The craggy man tilted his head at the woman and her hovering hand. “S’okay if you touch, don’t think too much hurts me, now.”
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/03/2006 10:36:14
She smiled at him and let her hand meet the roughness that was his skin. "Thanks. People don't usually like to be touched. Least of all by me."
It was rough, but still breathed. She could feel the living cells under her fingers, so condensed and compacted that they were harder than rock. Her smile widened. "That's incredible," she said. "Thank you."
She looked up at him. "So you were flying in a plane, headed back home, took a nap,and woke up here?" Then she nodded and shrugged. "Seems a common enough tale. I haven't met anyone yet who was trying to get here."
From: [info]i_clobber Date: 01/13/2006 07:19:59
ooc: I am so sorry, I've been up to my ears in issues this past holiday.
"You got the brain worms or somethin'?" Ben asked, the ridge that was his 'eyebrows' rose up skeptically. He could barely fill the touch, the nerve endings to his skin apparently was much duller than his former flesh. "You seem nice enough."
Ben nodded to her question. "Yeah, flying form Europe," He wasn't going to say it, no sane adult would say it, "Common tale? There's more?" He had the vaugest notion that Reed would have gone bonkers on this poor lady. Not the bad bonkers like Reed's ex, it seemed, just the 'OMG' bonkers of discovery.
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/13/2006 09:07:13
no problem. life happens. =) welcome back!
She laughed, a light and cheerful sound. "Nothing like that. It's just... what do you call it, preconceived ideas?" She shrugged. "Gets me down sometimes, but hey, then I meet nice people like you, and it's all good."
At his question, she nodded. "Yup. I met someone who fell out of a plane, and ended up here, and someone else who turned down a random alleyway and was here, fell asleep in their own beds, and woke up in this City. There hasn't been a pattern yet that I could find, but I never really cared about patterns so much. My brother is into that."