Benjamin Henry Harrision (cbenharrison) wrote in willowbrookrpg, @ 2014-03-02 08:40:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !thread, benjamin harrison, daniel jensen, day: november 28, player: kelly, player: lisa |
Thursday, November 28, 2013 [backdated]
Who: Ben and Daniel
What: an alternative Thanksgiving celebration
When: Thursday, late afternoon
Where: Ben's apartment
Rating: mild so far
Status: closed/incomplete (started in gdoc, continuing via threading)
No turkey. No declarations of thanks. No obnoxious fights with family members. Just football, pizza, and beer. And Daniel. It was probably the best Thanksgiving of Ben's life. Definitely the least stressful. When the last game ended, he turned the volume down low and sunk deeper into the couch cushions. Ben patted his belly with a grin. "So...you feel like a football fan yet?" He asked with a glance over at Daniel.
There had been three games on the television and the two men watched every minute of all three. He was a bit on overload but it was to relax with Ben again. He missed just hanging out, no pressure between them. Daniel felt that Ben was closer and closer to forgiving him for not being fully honest until it was almost too late. But true to his word, Daniel was honest with Ben about everything since, even telling him about his scouting mission with William and the Willowbrook instructor’s true identity. That bit of information had to be shared - it was the only way Daniel could make Ben feel comfortable about William.
But now he was stuffed. He had done the traditional Thanksgivings in the past but there had been a touch of sadness for Daniel as well. This was different. It wasn’t traditional and maybe even the start of a new tradition. Giving Ben a smile, he pushed out that thought and focused on the question at hand. “I’m getting there. Sunday will be a better test,” he said wanting a drink but knowing it would take too much effort to sit up and actually grab it.
"Sundays involve even more games. And don't forget about Thursday night games." Ben was a football addict. He could get pretty vocal during games as well, which Daniel had been subjected too. There was yelling at times, and Ben even threw things toward the TV when he was watching Colts games and the refs were being idiots. Hopefully, Daniel could handle it.
"I think I ate too much pizza. Gonna have to hit the gym extra hard the next few days. You up for it?" They hadn't really worked out together in recent weeks, but Ben felt more comfortable with he and Daniel's friendship, and he missed having a partner at the gym. "Maybe we could spar tomorrow."
”Wait, Sunday and Thursday?” he asked in a groan as he smiled at Ben. It was fun to watch Ben get all worked up and yell at the tv like he had some say in the outcome. Pass the fucking ball! Runrunrunrunrun! Why did you throw it there?? There were times that Daniel really worried about Ben’s blood pressure getting too high.
Daniel perked up a little bit at the idea of working out. His schedule had become somewhat jumbled with regards to his workout times lately. He really wanted to get back into his routine and if could involve Ben, all the better. “You know I’m game,” he said thinking about stretching but instead patted his stomach. “I think we both ate too much.”
Oh it was definitely high. At least when football was concerned. But Ben was in good shape, and he could cope. He knew how to handle stress. The yelling actually helped.
"Help me put the leftovers in the fridge. I think that counts as exercise, especially since I don't actually want to move right now." But he did, and after he stood up, he grabbed Daniel's hand, hauling him up as well. Ben grabbed one of the pizza boxes and carried it into the kitchen, then he foraged around for some containers to put the leftovers in. "So, now that I'm capable of conversation...what's new with you?"
Letting Ben haul Daniel to his feet was the easy part. Moving again, well.. that was the tricky part. Following Ben’s lead, he grabbed the two other boxes (they couldn’t decide on just one sort of pizza so they splurged and got a few different kinds) and carried them to the kitchen. Ben could have leftovers for days but Daniel might offer to take some pie off Ben’s hands.
They worked well together in the kitchen, they had from the start, Daniel thought with a smile, dancing around Ben to grab some tin foil to wrap up some pizza in. “Nothing really. Had an observational mission but that was more boring than anything. Sitting around on a bench, watching a rally. You? Keeping out of trouble other than yelling at the tv?”
Not only were they unable to agree on one kind of pizza, but it was NY pizza. Slices so thin could be inhaled easily. But their eyes were clearly bigger than their stomachs, because there was a lot left. "You and I eat too much junk good together. I think you're trying to fatten me up," he teased with a wink at Daniel.
"Yeah, nothing much. Had that mission the other day. Questioned a guy." But Ben didn't want to go into details. He hoped Daniel wouldn't pry. 'Questioned' was surely all Daniel needed to hear to know why Ben had been sent. He was tasked with playing the bad cop in such situations. Bend the interview subject nearly to the point of breaking. Everyone talked eventually. Ben was good at getting information.
”You’ll burn it off,” he said with a laugh as he wrapped up pieces in foil. “You work out harder than I ever do. But yeah, next time, I’m cooking something decent and good for us. How do you feel about fish?”
Daniel knew exactly what ‘questioned’ entailed. For that reason alone, Daniel was grateful that his powers were mainly of a defensive variety. Did it get to Ben after a while? He knew the sort of pain Ben could cause being on the receiving end of it, but did it eat at Ben’s soul after too much of it? Some day, Daniel would ask.
"I work out harder because I have to. I bet you've always been tall and lean." Ben had never been heavy, but he didn't think he'd naturally maintain this body if he stopped trying. Some people were just born thin and sculpted. "But fish is good. I love sushi."
"I have a few calm days now. Paperwork and shit. Nothing major." Which was nice. He needed a break after torturing someone. It did eat away at his soul. The only thing that kept Ben going was the idea that he was doing it for good reasons, and that his subjects were bad guys.
”Well I can’t make sushi that well but I have a few good recipes we can try out,” he said putting the pizza away. He couldn’t wait until spring when fresh vegetables would flood the farmer’s markets in the area. He’s have to take Flo sometime to show that not everything in the city was expensive. There were certain vendors that Daniel had gotten to know and they even held some of the better produce back for him, knowing he was such a good customer. But in the winter, it was a much different story.
“I haven’t always been tall,” Daniel said with a laugh. He’d gone through several gangly years as a teen, all legs and arms but as he grew older, his body caught up and he’d maintained a very fit body. But he did have to work at it. “You should have seen me when I was 15,” Daniel smiled. “I didn’t look anything like this.”
Paperwork. The bane of any agent’s existence. “Hopefully you can crank that out and relax a few days before your next assignment. Get some rest in.”
"I hadn't hit my growth spurt yet at 15, so I definitely didn't look like this." Ben, and his father, had started to wonder if he would be short. It upset his dad a lot...and Ben by extension. He hated feeling like a disappointment at all times. It was made worse by the fact that he'd been attracted to guys for as long as he could remember.
Ben put the leftovers in the fridge and broke down the pizza boxes to put in the recycling bin. "Do you wanna stay awhile...maybe watch a movie?"
Daniel imagined Ben as a cute kid, always on the horses. He had to admit though, Ben grew up nicely and yeah… Daniel busied himself with washing his hands and grabbing a bottle of water for now - beer just made him feel fuller. “If you’re not sick of me, sure. I’d like that actually,” Daniel said with a smile. He didn’t have plans but for maybe schlepping around bags for Aria with all the crazy people on black Friday. So he technically had the night free. Plus it was a good reason to hang out with Ben longer.
Ben looked at Daniel, shaking his head with a grin. "If I'm not sick of you by now, I'm not sure I ever will be." Because lord knew Ben had plenty of opportunities to rid himself of Daniel, and plenty of reasons too. But here they were. "I miss spending so much time with you. This apartment is so...cold. You never helped me pick out art."
Ben’s confession made Daniel smile. “It’s been really nice spending time with you again,” he said leaning against the counter and opening his bottle. He didn’t want to go overboard with the ‘really’s but it had been really REALLY nice spending time with Ben again. “We can fix that you know. Find some art you are drawn to and breathe some life into your place. Maybe some paint might warm it up. Get some velvet Elvis paintings,” he added with a smirk. “Dogs playing poker…”
Ben chuckled and shook his head. "No velvet. And I want real dogs. And cats. And horses. Don't forget the horses." They were a must. Maybe it was stupid to dream of such things, but he wanted that perfect country life, and he could see Daniel being part of it. Even now. Even after all they had been through. "Find me some awesome paintings of horses and the country."
”I think we can do that. Oh you know, I know a place who shows an artist who does fantastic sculpture. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it until now,” he said with a smile and pulled out his phone. “She does these sort of abstract horses in wood and they are pretty amazing.” He found the gallery on his phone and clicked on her work. “It’s less impressive small but you should see it in person, I think something of hers would work here.” Showing Ben the phone, he smiled again. “Maybe next week we can go check it out?” It wasn’t a date… it was picking out art. “It will be like having a horse here.”
"Abstract. That's when the art doesn't really look like what it's supposed to, right?" He made a face, unsure he could get interested in such a thing. "I guess I could check it out. Maybe I'll like it." Then Daniel showed him some examples. They resembled horses, and they weren't ugly. "I'd rather have an actual horse here," he said with a doubtful expression, "But, yes, we can go check it out in person. Next week." Would that be a date? Was this a date? Ben wasn't sure anymore. His relationship with Daniel was improving, absolutely, but it was nothing more than friendly. "Maybe we could go...uh, out afterward. To a club or something."
He couldn’t help fight off the laugh that was bubbling up from his chest. “Just look at ‘em and if you don’t like it, we’ll keep looking. I promise we’ll find you something. Or maybe we can start with paint. That’s a quick way to change things up. Close your eyes and think of your favorite color,” he said before taking a drink from his bottle. In the kitchen was fine to have this conversation. It was easy and chatty. If they moved to the couch, they might have to have an actual serious discussion. But then asked about going out afterward…. to a club. That was closer to date talk. It gave Daniel hope. “You don’t strike me as the club scene type but I’ll go to see that, absolutely,” he said with a bright grin.
Ben closed his eyes as instructed. But he really wasn't sure about his favorite color. He had a few. But he'd always been influenced by his father's preferences. What did Ben like? More importantly, what would his father hate? "Let's just make it obnoxiously pink. My father would be furious," he said with a chuckle.
"Hey, I'm a good dancer. Some might even say I'm great. All I gotta do is watch someone else, and I'm able to do what they do." Ben's cheeks reddened. "Did you already forget dancing with me?" That was an amazing night. Ben's insides swam excitedly as he thought about it. Not having any kind of physical fun for far too long lately, made him anxious.
The pink suggestion made Daniel laugh. He hoped that someday Ben could move out of his father’s disappointing shadow and do things for him. “I’ll help you paint your place flaming pink but I’m only painting once. So you’ll have to either re-do it yourself when you get violently ill looking at pink for one more day, or we can maybe try another color at the get go. We’ll try some colors out first before you decide.”
He watched Ben as he spoke, knowing he had the moves. ”Oh I remember, vividly. But slow dancing to jazz in my living room isn’t the same as clubbing and that’s cheating,” he said with a impish grin. “Can you do it without muscle mimicry?”
Ben gave a nod. "That's fair. Nothing against pink, especially given my father would have hated it, but I don't think I could stand it for more than an hour. Maybe something green." He liked green. It made him think of nature.
"It's not cheating. Mutant powers exist for a reason, and I use mine to their full potential. I don't think I could turn it off if I tried." The only way would be to close his eyes while trying to learn something new.