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 Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 3:24 pm
Prompt While making your way through Destiny City, you wind up taking a path you’ve never taken before. Maybe you’re following directions, maybe you got lost, maybe you were just looking for a shortcut—things were going good, until you wind up needing to pass through a graveyard. It seems normal enough—until you pass by a grave and get powerful chill down your spine. When you stop and look at it, you see the gravestone has your name; beneath it, your birthday and today’s date. If you leave and return, the gravestone remains, but the name and dates look like they’ve been clawed off.
Here Lies Benji Rhodes January 13th 2000 – October 27th 2017.
Chara was on his knees above the gravestone for what felt like hours. The insanity that had wrapped itself around his mind seemed to dissipate the longer he kneeled there, leaving behind a ghostly feeling of despair and fear. The events from the past few nights made no sense as he tried to gather them in his mind, trying so hard to figure out how he had ended up so far from home.
Home… Like a dog finally realizing he had wandered too far away from home, Chara was up on his feet, walking as if Zombified back towards the DCU dormitories. He passed over buildings and roads he never even remember seeing before, only managing to find the right direction by both luck and the many scattered signs that pointed towards the city’s biggest campus. There was someone there, right? Someone who was home… Nothing else seemed to resonate in his mind as he hopped fence after fence, from shadow to shadow until finally that blessed building appeared before him and he entered in silently, as if he didn’t belong here.
Far more slowly than he needed to, Benji pushed opened the door to his dorm, feeling so more worn out and drained than he ever thought possible. The endless rage and pain he had felt in the past few days before he finally managed to get back home finally seemed to have drained away and was replaced with a numbness and just confusion… Even though at some point he tried to power down before he arrived, something was off…
His hands, his face, his pants and his shirt… All of it was splattered with blood. And it wasn’t his… Yes, his face was swollen on the same side where he was missing an eye, a jagged, dragged bite mark that was swollen and red on his shoulder, and there were several cuts and lesions on his arms and legs, but that blood… It was dried and clung to him that showed it had been on him for a long time… Somehow, he managed to avoid campus security… He had only walked in moments ago, still powered and ignorant of what he had done for a long, blank moment until the other colors began to break through his red stained vision and he saw more than just that pain and anger that held him tightly for the past three nights…
And it was this realization that caused the tears to begin to well up in his eyes, and his hands to come up before his face. For a long moment, he stared blankly at the blood there, at how dried it was and how it cracked and crumbled when he moved his fingers. Then, the shaking began and it hit him. What he had done… Oh gods, and he had brought that guilt and shame here… Chara did the only thing he thought could help, releasing a sob of despair as he called out to the one person he trusted more than anyone else in the world, hoping that somewhere in the darkness of their room the other lied there sleeping. “P-Peter… Please… H-Help me…”
Guine A Start for you! Have Fun Peter! WC: 536
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Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 9:12 pm
Peter only just gone to bed. He’d tried Benji’s cellphone; a call, and then a text to make sure he was okay. Maybe he’d gone to the library to study, or maybe to the greenhouse, or maybe even out patrolling.
Idiot...
Not that Peter had any room to talk. He went out on his own all the time, since he was very young, since he first started growing into his powers, which were still not the most powerful they could be, but they got the job done. He didn’t need power. He wasn’t a Negaverse officer that craved it, that only thought they accomplished something if they were promoted to the next rank. Senshi weren’t like that. They developed into their powers at different stages, and more power wasn’t necessary for him at that time.
But that didn’t mean he couldn’t worry about his friends. Especially his more emotionally unstable friends. Like Benji. He didn’t know what to do with that guy. He felt guilty pushing him away, but also felt weird about Benji actually taking his offer to kiss him whenever he wanted to heart. Not that it was hurting anything. Not that it changed how Peter felt about things. He still had no reaction to the kisses, which was just as well. And he could understand the loneliness and wanting to be with someone, even if that meant squeezing into a twin sized bed.
Things would have been a lot easier for Peter if he had just been an a*****e about everything.
He was dozing off when he heard his name called, his eyes fluttering open for a moment, wondering if he was hearing things, but soon he realized it was -- Chara?
“Power down,” he hissed as he rolled out of bed, hitting one of his knees hard against the floor and wincing more because he didn’t want to wake anyone up instead of the pain. It was extremely dangerous for Chara to be there, and Peter thought that he would have known that.
Which meant something had happened, or Chara had finally snapped. Or both. Probably both.
Peter pulled the comforter off the bed as he got to his feet, and tossed it over his friend’s shoulders, very much aware that he was upset.
“Hey, hey, you’re okay. Just breathe.” There was blood. Even in the dim light from the window, Peter could tell there was blood. “Power down and listen to me. Are you hurt?” he asked, keeping his voice as calm as possible, because that was the most important thing.
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Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2017 7:34 pm
A hiss wasn't the first thing that Chara expected, and he flinched, stumbling a few inches as the urge to flee hit him hard. Power down...? He swore he had already powered down... Hadn't he? When he looked down at his hands again, Chara saw the ruffles on his wrists and... Oh.
"I-i'm sorry..." The fuku melted away leaving only Benji behind in the t-shirt and jeans he had gone out in before hand. Some how he felt smaller than ever before, the heavy comforter almost making him disappear in the dark rom Blood remained caked everywhere that wasn't on his uniform, and his hands caught his eyes again. It never really registered in his mind that because he didn't have gloves on in his fuku that the blood would remain.
"It's not... I-It's not going away... IT'S NOT ******** GO AWAY!" He sobbed, voice raising enough to echo in the dorm room as he dug his fingers into palm, trying to scratch and scrape away at the dried blood. It came off bit by bit, but to him, nothing changed, and he dug deeper, with new blood beginning to well up as his dirtied nails drew fresh, crimson droplets. A much darker thought came to mind. as the voice of the screaming Negaverser began to echo in his head over and over again, pleading for Chara to stop, but he couldn't. He just had to get the blood off, so he kept digging into that rough skin of his palms.
"He won't shut up, Peter! Nothing I do shuts him up! I didn't mean... I really didn't mean to hurt him... I didn't, I couldn't stop.. I couldn't <******** stop and I tried so damned hard! H-help me... Help me! HELP ME!!"
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 9:28 pm
The flinch made him hesitate, because he hadn’t meant to actually startle an already distressed Benji. He’d just wanted to get him to power down so his aura wouldn’t attract attention. It could cause them and others in the building to be in danger.
"Hey, it’s okay," he said as Benji started to panic and apologize, the blanket thrown over him. Peter tried rubbing at his back through the comforter, but that didn’t seem to help. If anything Benji seemed to be going into a completely catatonic state. Why, Peter wasn’t sure of yet, but he wasn’t about to let his friend hurt himself in his panic.
"Stop. Hey. Benji, listen to me," he tried to say, moving to kneel in front of his friend, reaching for his hands to grab hold of them, forcing his own fingers to twine between Benji’s to keep him from digging into his palms.
"It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re right here –"
It wasn’t working. Benji was completely freaking out and nothing Peter was doing seemed to work.
He pulled away and stood back up. Two steps put him in range of his dorm room closet so he could pull out the bucket he brought with him to the showers, and a step back put him in range to lift Benji up and –
Practically fell over-
Okay, he seriously needed to start working out more, because this wasn’t as convenient as just throwing his friend over his shoulder.
"Come with me," he said, making sure Benji was on his feet before wrapping his arm around his shoulders, trying to lead him towards the door. "Let me help you."
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Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 7:56 am
As much as Benji wanted to believe Peter's words, that he was alright, none of the words could really be heard, not over the man's screams that kept echoing over and over in his head.
"I can't... I can't... I'm not.." He muttered, eyes squeezing shut tight before opening up again when his best friends fingers intertwined with his briefly. He always did seem much more receptive to physical contact more than anything else, though it didn't take long for his hands to withdraw from the others and continue at the rubbing and scraping, perhaps a little less viciously.
Things were coming back into focus the longer he stood there close to Peter, and when they arms came around him and tried to lift him up he stayed completely still and let the other struggle.
Once back on his feet, he gave Peter a confused look, trying to figure out why that didn't work right.. Ah well, he was trying... He was helping the distraught one-eyed little gremlin, and Benji couldn't ask for anything more. The other was always trying to help, whether it was him pulling the older boy into his home, or if it was just trying to keep him calm, Peter was always there.
Benji was not, and he knew this and somehow that just hit him harder than it ever did before in this moment.
Giving into the other's guidance, the arm around his shoulder, he allowed himself to be led into the bathroom, and his eyes turned to look up at Peter, actually seeing him this time. He wanted to reach out and cling to him, hold his hand and his clothes and just make sure that everything was real but he hesitated. There was still blood on him, and Peter didn't deserve to be covered in that too.
"I will... I will... I'm here... I'm here with you, and... Thank you... Ugh..."
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2017 9:35 am
With the lights turned on in the bathroom, it was easier to see how much blood Benji was covered in. And after a quick examination, Peter was fairly certain it was none of his own. Or at least the majority of it wasn’t Benji’s. Which was both good and bad, because clearly something happened that caused the other to panic like he had.
“You’re okay,” Peter said once more in reassurance, although part of him wondered if that was for his own benefit more than Benji’s. His friend was clearly not okay, and he was covered in blood, and he needed to focus back on the present.
“I’m gonna help you wash this off, okay?” he told Benji. It was more said as clarification than asking permission. While he wanted to make sure Benji knew he was still in control of things, Peter also wanted him to realize it was okay to let go and to trust him. Easier said than done, of course.
“Arms up,” he requested as he turned away from his friend to turn on the water of the shower, waiting until it was hot but not scalding, and then turned back to Benji to push the comforter away from his shoulders, and reached to tug at the hem of his shirt.
“I’m right here. We’re just going to get the blood off. Then you can tell me what happened,” he said, but paused, eyeing Benji with troubled concern. “Are you hurt?”
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Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 11:01 am
Benji's eyes finally tore away from his hands, and instead focused on Peter, watching him as best as he could. Everything the other said was responded to with a soft Uh-huh.., letting him do what he needed to and he raised his arms up for the shirt to slipped off of him. Luckily the blood didn't stick to his skin and clothes like it did to his fuku, so it came off with ease.
A small shiver shook him, and his eyes finally turned down again to stare at his hands, but he didn't move this time or try to scrape away the blood. Damn, his head was killing him more and more as he came down slowly from that panicked state he was in, sobs having quieted down to only little stutter breaths. The sight of the blood though.. It helped clear his head, and while Peter seemed to urge him to relax, he tensed up again at the sight.
"I was bit... My shoulder... My ******** shoulder..." He breathed, head trying to turn to see it but it was too low for him to make out. The wound was swollen and red, pus filling up bite marks as an infection had taken hold.. That was to be expected, though, having been missing for nearly three days... The thoughts of those days came up again, what had happened, what he had done, and the tears came back slowly, far less panicked than they had been before.
"Peter... Peter I <******** killed someone... I didn't mean to.. I-I don't think I did... s**t... ********, ******** ********!!"
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Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2017 9:49 pm
Peter hadn’t been sure where Benji went for the three days he was missing. He hadn’t answered his phone, so he just assumed that maybe he got caught up in other things. He’d been worried of course, but he tried not to stress himself out with worry every time one of his friends went to radio silence for a while. Benji was different, being his roommate. But since it was the weekend, he just thought maybe he met someone and was spending time with them.
“Benji, breathe,” Peter said, lifting his hands to place his palms against his friend’s cheeks, holding his face so he would have to look up at him. There was a long moment of silence as Peter looked at him. He heard the words, but didn’t really react. Maybe a tension in his brow but not much.
They were at war, after all. There were casualties. Things happened. And he knew Benji was probably horribly upset, but he was also highly stressed out and this was no time to be talking about what happened. He needed to calm down first.
Hoping Benji didn’t freak out more, Peter pulled him closer, moving his hands to place one against the back of his friend’s head, and the other around his back to hug him, holding him close.
“Breathe. Just breathe. We’ll talk, okay? But I need you to breathe. I need to make sure you’re going to be okay first, understand?”
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Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 1:18 pm
There had always been something strange about Peter's touch to Benji. It seemed that no matter how riled up or angry he could be, that gentle bit of contact seemed to bring him down off of whatever peak he was standing on. Perhaps not completely, but enough so that he wouldn't shout anymore, or in this case, panic. The hands on his cheeks were leaned against slightly, lips pulled between his own teeth in an attempt to stifle the sobs that came out.
Surprisingly it worked very well and when the hands came about him, pulling him that much closer to the boy he adored, it seemed as if he finally remembered how to breathe. Deep, body shaking breaths were taken then exhaled slowly, and soon he found himself feeling heavy and tired. His head came to rest against Peter's chest, his own arms coming up to hug back tightly, fingers grasping at the back of the other's pajamas, blood all but forgotten for a brief moment. Soon enough any sound he had made before was quieted except for the occasional sniff and sigh.
"I'm... I'm alright." A few lingering seconds passed before he found himself steady enough to pull away slightly, just enough to look up to Peter's worried eyes. "I think I can do this on my own.. Clean... I can do this... You don't have to help..."
Softly he muttered something about not wanting to be seen naked, and shifted around again, realizing now that he was shirtless and pressed tight against Peter. "Could you maybe get some clean clothes...? These ones are... Well... You know.."
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 1:06 pm
Everything was more complicated than it should be. Benji was emotional and needing comfort, and Peter was doing his best to show that he was there for him, even if it probably wasn’t in ways that Benji wanted. He could hug him and stay close and lend an ear, but he knew Benji had feelings for him that he couldn’t return.
“You’re not alright, but okay,” he agreed when Benji mumbled about wanting to wash on his own. Peter didn’t think it mattered, but he figured the other was self conscious for whatever reason and left it at that. “I’ll be right back with clothes, okay? And then I’m going to sit in here until you’re done, understand?”
He wasn’t going to just leave Benji to his own devices, especially not after telling him that he’d killed someone. Not after he was obviously traumatized by what he’d gone through, whatever it was. Not after he’d been missing.
Peter hugged him tight for a few moments more before pulling back, giving Benji a very stern look as though silently warning him not to do anything that Peter would consider stupid, and then retreated back to their dorm room to retrieve the clothes that were requested. And then, as promised, Peter made himself comfortable on the bathroom floor near the sinks to play on his phone while Benji showered.
“I was worried about you, you know,” Peter pointed out rather matter-of-factly as he sat cross legged on the floor, as though it must have slipped Benji’s mind.
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Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2017 8:14 pm
"Thank you..." As Peter let him go after holding him a moment longer, Benji nodded, managing the tiniest smile. It was strange, knowing that the wasn't alone this time around, but not at all unwelcomed. Had this happened when he still lived with his parents, where he had no one to rely on, he wasn't sure just how he would be handling any of this.
He stripped all things off, eyepatch included, and soon he was in the shower, letting the warm water wash over him, blood leaving his skin and tainting the water pink for a small while until it ran clean. Nothing before in the entirety of the world felt as amazing as just standing there, letting his mind go blank. It wasn't until Peter came back and spoke loud enough over the shower, startling the shorter boy who still seemed to be a bit jumpy, but far calmer than he had been.
"I didn't mean to worry you. I was trying to come home that night, back to you, back to where it's safe..." As the world became clearer, habits began to take over and replaced the moments where he had been staring at the drain. Soap, scrubbing, it was all coming back naturally, until he hit the bite on his shoulder with the wash rag in his hand and hissed softly. "s**t... ********, it hurts... Is the first aid kit still in here...? I'm going to need it."
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Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 2:58 pm
“Yeah, I’ve got the kit right here. We’ll get you patched up once you’re done and dry,” Peter said in a way that might have seemed cold to anyone that didn’t know him very well, but he was very much just to the point about things. There was no use in sugarcoating when there were things that needed to be done. Getting Benji fixed up was one of those things.
“I think you should talk to someone about what happened. Maybe not in all the details, or maybe we can find someone who is a professional and knows about the whole… war thing… and is on our side,” he suggested, scrolling through the apps on his phone to pick a game to play.
“You didn’t mean to do it, right? And it was obviously traumatic for you. Not everyone can kill someone and not feel anything,” he said, and then paused with a sardonic grin. “Guess I don’t have to worry about you being a psychopath then. You feeling empathy and all I mean.”
Not that he had thought of Benji that way. It was just one of those things.
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 4:02 pm
"Mmkay.." It felt like he was in the shower forever, picking dried blood from under his nails and out of his hair. Peter stayed by him the whole time, talking and just being there for him... It meant so much to Benji, for sure.
"Define psychopath..." With how often he had gone out to find trouble, maybe he was crazier than your average traumatized Senshi. Hell, he knew that was the case. Problems and issues up the wazoo, but he didn't exactly know how to work all that out. The mention of the therapist wasn't all that appealing, as if he needed someone to get into his head and ******** up what was already super ******** up to begin with.
After a few minutes longer he got out, wrapping one of their big warm towels around himself and tucking it in, before grabbing another to dry his ever lengthening hair and gingerly tapping at the swollen and infected spot on his shoulder.
"Of course I didn't mean to do it... There was a bat, and it bit the ******** out of me, and I just remember being really, really angry... Then some little s**t tried to fight me, and then lots and lots of blood.... How am I supposed to talk to someone about that? Do we even have a shrink on our side...?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 10:58 am
Peter frowned as he waited for Benji to dry and get dressed, making sure to give his friend however much privacy he wanted.
“Psychopath as in… unable to determine right from wrong, no feeling of guilt or remorse. You’re obviously affected by it,” he said with a sigh, unsure why Benji decided to pick that one thing out of everything else he’d said to comment on. He definitely needed therapy.
“Yes, there are people on our side who can help. I’ll find someone and make sure you’re able to talk to them. It’s not going to get better or go away by just ignoring what happened. Trauma is a serious thing. Why do you think I stayed with Michael for years? I still don’t really trust Caspian to know how to get Michael the help he needs, but it’s not like Michael listened to me, either,” he grumbled mostly to himself.
“Come on, we can talk about it if you want,” he said, standing up and picking up the kit as well. “It’ll be better to patch you up in the room. Unless you don’t mind someone else coming in.”
It was concerning, yes. Some strange bat? It could have been a youma with some kind of ability to induce anger like that, but without taking the time to flip through his research, and preferably get more information about the bat, he wouldn’t know. Now wasn’t the time for him to talk about youma, though.
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