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I don't want your heart
I want your liver;
Lord knows that your heart
ain't worth a dime.
They made their clumsy way downstairs, and Benji was actually pretty excited that he made it all the way down the flight without tripping and cracking open his skull or anything, and stumbled off into the living room, which was still a hive of activity. Benji wanted to throw up all over everybody, but he was pretty sure it could be considered impolite and unhelpful. Instead he held his breath, which helped steady his churning stomach, and squinted through his dark glasses to find somebody to talk to.
It wasn't long before he and Will spotted Keith and Theo talking quietly in the corner, out of the way, which is exactly where Benji wanted to be. He quickly threaded through the activity, dragging Will along by the wrist, and pulled the other boy up next to him when they stopped to talk to Theo. "Hey," he grunted, his voice more hoarse than he'd anticipated it being. Theo and Keith nodded in response, and the previously unseen Toby, who was sitting against the wall at Theo's feet, grunted back.
"I was wondering where the hell you two had got off to," Theo said in the manner of somebody who is used to losing his two best friends more often than not. "You guys look like s**t."
"I know all about it," Benji sighed, not wanting to dwell on it, but feeling secretly very cool all the same, "and I feel even worse. But listen, I need water." He glanced at Will. "We need water. I know it might be weird, but tap's still okay, right?"
There was a short, thoughtful pause; Theo opened his mouth, then frowned, then glanced at Keith and frowned some more. "You know what?" he said, his eyes unfocusing as he pondered, "I really don't know. Let me go talk to somebody." And with that, he departed, leaving Keith to stare after him, looking a little confused. Keith was usually confused, though, Benji noted unsympathetically. Still, he felt a little weird just standing there, trying to ignore people chanting and drawing; it was like a freaky cult arts and crafts meeting.
"So," he said, turning to Keith and Toby, "what are we... doing? Is there some kind of awesome plan that I should be contributing to?" He sincerely hoped there was; he was fairly certain that doing something to help would be the only way to keep sane in this situation, as he stood there, surrounded by mumbling figures filling the air with the sent of rice paper and thick, dark ink on calligraphy brushes. And outside, he reminded himself, is my family. And a town full of the walking dead.
Of course Toby was the one to answer. "I don't think so man," he said, sounding exhausted, and maybe a little like he wanted to cry. Benji noted he avoided looking directly at anybody, and decided not to push it. "We're doing everything we can right now, and even if you weren't still ******** up, you don't know any magick. And not that that's a bad thing, dude, but it's the only thing that will stop them so far."
Great. Just what Benji didn't want to hear. He turned to Will and gave him a serious buisness face before looking back at Toby and saying, his voice slightly harsher than he intended, "So we just have to sit here. While everybody is working to save our asses, we're just gonna chill and ********' take it easy or whatever, right?"
It must have been something in his voice, but Toby glanced up, looking like a scared little kid; his cheeks, nose and eyes were all glowing pink, a sure sign of restrained emotion, but Benji wasn't really the sympathetic type. "Dude," Keith interjected, before anybody could start brawling, "Chill out. None of us feel up to dealing with this s**t, so just calm down, alright? I can't do anything either, man, and it sucks, I know. But seriously, get some water or whatever when Theo gets back and just go back upstairs."
[******** you I'm going back upstairs," Benji snarled, palming Keith, who was bigger, hard in the chest, though his fist barely had any impact on the other boy. "Don't tell-"
"Do you even have any idea what's going on outside?" Toby said suddenly. Benji glanced to Will uncertainly, then returned his stony gaze to the other boys. Toby pushed himself up from the floor, and pulled Keith to the side so he could glare at Benji and Will. Toby wasn't usually like this, Benji found himself thinking in some detached, serene part of his head. He'd never stood up to anybody in his life; it was why he followed Benji around, after all, because Benji could do it for him.
"Yeah," Benji said after the buzzing mismatched chanting that filled the silence between the four of them started getting on his nerves. "I know." Of course he ******** knew; Toby had BEEN there when Theo was telling all four of them.
"Come here," Toby said, pushing past Keith and skirting around the busy center of the living room to the stairs. Benji had to push his glasses down his nose to give Keith a dirty look before he nodded to Will and followed after Toby, big, annoyed Keith bringing up the rear with scruffy, kicked-puppy face. Benji was hesitant to follow this (according to him) slightly deranged Toby when he started up the stairs, partially because he'd just come from there, damnit, and he was too tired to try and mount them again, and partially because he didn't really trust Keith or Toby anymore. Benji's loyalties were easily lost.
The three of them paused at the foot of the stair, traffic jamming against Benji's stubbornly still frame as Toby marched upstairs heedlessly, pausing only when he got to the large, open landing to look down ferociously at the three of them. Benji didn't tolerate ferocious looks from anybody. Not after dealing with his father for so long. "What the hell do you want me to do up there," Benji shouted, his volume control a little faulty, though he attributed this to his constricting throat and his fluttering heart. He glanced over his shoulder at all the people that were looking at him, and gave them the finger.
[******** you," Keith hissed, grabbing Benji's fist and slamming it back against his side. Benji, who realized a moment too late that it wasn't particularly wise to insult the people that were slaving away at saving his life, decided to let Keith's boldness slide, considering it really was in everybody's best interest. He turned his attention back to Toby instead. "Seriously, what do you want. I'm not going back up those stairs when I just got down here," he explained in his best inside-voice.
"Just come look out the window. Please," Toby said softly, almost pleading, which put him back in Benji's good books almost immediately. Benji liked it when people had to beg for him to do things.
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