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 Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2018 7:27 am
By the time Caleb got home, he was feeling more guilty than he would have liked to admit…and just wanted to comfort of someone to cuddle with…and even though Benji had told him he would be busy tonight…he couldn’t not text the other boy. So much had happened…and enough had…not happened and the aching feeling in his chest had gone and he knew that he was okay from where he and Xi-Wang had ended things this time…
And besides. He wanted to talk to his best friend.
Wanted to tell him that his advice worked.
There was no harm in that, right?
After taking some ibuprofen, Caleb collapsed on his couch, a cool washcloth against the still stinging marks on his arm and sent a quick text message to Benji.
‘Hey! I know you said you were busy, but I’d really like to talk, talked to Xi today and I think I’m doing better. I miss you though so text me when you can…or call me…or come over…whatever. I just want to talk to you’
He sent the message and a minute later sighed, sending another one.
‘Please!!!’
There…now he didn’t sound so…demanding. That was good.
But now he just had to sit and wait for a reply which…wasn’t as good.
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Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2018 7:37 am
It took a long time for Benji to finally make it home, his eye still stinging and bloodshot from the fight and his chest burning and sore from all the coughing. He was downright miserable, muttering curses to himself and he swore that the next time he saw that senshi, he'd glue his mouth s**t to keep him from blowing out that damned attack again.
All in all though, besides internal damage, he seemed to be okay, and when he got home to his dorm, he took a nice long shower to try to clear out any more of the burning that was still in him. Sure, the magical dust vanished but the pain and aching was still there, and he could hardly keep his eye open. Thank god he had that eyepatch on, otherwise whatever the ******** that powder was would have gotten in his eye socket and then he'd be truly miserable.
When he was finished, half dressed and lounging in his bed, he finally decided to peek at his phone and saw the text... And yeah, he'd admit, he smiled a little bit, finding comfort in knowing that someone out there missed him. A small happy blush came across his face as he stood up to get dressed again. No reason not to go see Caleb after all.
'Hey... I'll come over. It'll be a bit, some ******** a*****e put some sort of burning powder s**t all over me and my ent are killing me. Ruined my night, but hey, that means business is over so I can hang out. Order something to eat, will yah? Be there in an hour.'
While normally he'd take his bike to Caleb's apartment, he figured it'd be better to just walk for now. Give his face time to clear up and hopefully feel a bit less... Burny. So, nodding to himself, Benji grabbed his coat and headed out the door. Peter wouldn't mind right? Pfft, what reason had he to anyway?
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Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2018 7:56 am
When Caleb got the text back, he sat up, suddenly excited.
Benji was coming over.
For a moment, he felt a warmth rising in his stomach as he remembered the last time the male had visited…and he was…well…not hoping for a repeat…
But he wouldn’t say no if it happened again.
Something in the text worried him though, someone had put…burning powder on him? That didn’t sound good at all…was it some kind of a hate crime? Or just…
He shrugged to himself, putting in an order for delivery from one of the many restaurants around. He wasn’t in the mood for pizza twice in one day…even though he was sure he could have managed it.
There was time for a quick cleanup of the living room, and by the time there was a knock on the door, he was ready, going and opening it with a grin. “Hey. What’s up.” Obviously Benji knew what was up…but still.
His eyes lit up at the sight of the shorter male but…they clouded with worry as they took in his bloodshot eye. “Jesus, Benji…You look like you’ve been through hell…Can I get you something? Like a damp washcloth or something? Water? Food should be here soon.”
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Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2018 8:46 am
Sadly, Benji was right and it did take him an hour to get there, being forced to stop and let his eyes rest a few minutes every now and then. A detour was made to the pharmacy for some eyedrops first, making him even more behind schedule, and he grew more frustrated by the moment.
By the time he arrived, he was agitated and cold and just wanted to be in the house, so he was glad it took no time at all for Caleb to come answer the door. Though... Honestly, he didn't really like his greeting and scowled at it.
"Yeah, yeah... Like I said, some a*****e blew this like... Chemical warfare s**t into my face and I was choking for like an hour... I'll be fine though." He pushed past Caleb and headed straight for the couch, flopping down and squeezing his eye shut again. The eyedrops were helping a little bit atleast.
"So tell me, how'd the Xi thing go? You said you're doing better so, sup dude?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2018 10:13 am
Caleb closed the door behind Benji and went into the bathroom, getting another washcloth and letting it sit for a moment under the water, before coming back out and sinking onto the couch, picking up Benji’s head for a moment, then placing it in his own lap, pressing the washcloth over his closed eye.
“We talked. He finally apologized after I told him that it was really a d**k move to you know…never bothered to say that he was sorry.”
His fingers threaded themselves through Benji’s fluffy white hair and for a moment, Caleb felt at peace.
He had given Xi a chance to perhaps rekindle something, but if he were being honest with himself…he was glad that those flames were out for good now.
This was so much more real. Benji was…
Benji was someone that he wanted to get to know better and would honestly consider a relationship with.
A nice, slow relationship.
“So…who the ******** attacked you? Should we call the police or something? I’m worried about you, Benji, I don’t like seeing you in pain.”
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Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2018 10:30 am
"Mm... That's nice..." Benji murmured softly, relaxing against Caleb's legs as he was tended to. He could get used to this, coming home with someone worrying about him and knowing that at any moment he could be kissed or... Well, it was nice.
"I'm glad he wasn't so big of a d**k that he wouldn't apologize. That's good... That's real good, I think. Now you can move on, and be sure the next relationship you're in makes you actually happy." Maaaybe he blushed just a little at that, imagining himself being by Caleb's side, but he just blamed it on the cinnamon puff of horror that he had been attacked with. He was just about to scowl again when he felt those fingers play with his hair and Benji just melted into the touch. It was fine, he told himself, that jerk was gone, and now he was here with his new friend... That's all that mattered.
"It was some frilly a** senshi. You know, those people the news calls terrorists. Most aren't that bad, but this a*****e said I did something to piss him off and then we got in a fight. I'm okay though, that guy was a pissbaby, pickin' fights then running off... What sort of person picks on another just because they were upset? But really, I'm fine... You've made my night so much better, so I'm really glad you invited me over."
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Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2018 10:44 am
Caleb felt a smile tug at his lips at Benji’s reaction. Sure the boy was crass at times but…he was so sweet when he wasn’t trying to act tough.
“I feel like I can move on now. It feels like whatever was blocking up my…uh. Feelings has gone now. And…I can think straight again…though, with you here I just keep thinking gay but…”
He paused, then snorted at his own boldness. “I’m not sure. Why I said that but. Wow. Anyway…I…”
Caleb’s words broke off when Benji said that it was a senshi that attacked him.
…A senshi…a ‘frilly a** senshi’.
No. That wasn’t possible.
“…Oh? I’m glad you’re okay…uh…” It felt as though a lump of pure dread was clawing its way up from Caleb’s stomach and he continued to rub at the white haired male’s scalp lightly with his fingertips, trying to get past a new suspicion that had started to rear its ugly head.
“What were you doing with a senshi…? Are you sure you’re okay?” Was Benji in the Negaverse? Was that why he was in a fight with a senshi? But…no…if that were the case why would he be saying they weren’t that bad…?
“…You’re not involved in all of that…are you?” He regretted the words the moment they left his mouth, working hard to keep his body from trembling.
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Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2018 10:51 am
"That's gay man." Benji snorted right back, laughing and taking Caleb's hand to give it a squeeze. "Bad joke, bad joke, but hey, we're all gay here, so it's all good. You're making me blush."
It was hard to ignore the change in Caleb's tone... Uh oh... Maybe he had said too much... But he trusted the boy so... That wasn't bad right?
He sat up, moving away from Caleb's touches and taking the compress off his eye to look at his friend properly, blinking away the blurriness and letting him self stare hard. Why did Caleb look so distressed...? In an attempt to comfort him, Benji took his hand, picking it up to press a soft kiss to the back of it.
"... Well... You know how I said I was busy....? I was out, powered up... So.. I am involved with it all... I'm a Senshi... Uh, a powered person. When I'm like that, my name is Chara... Hope that's okay... I don't power up as much as I used to but every so often I do, you know, to keep people safe... s**t, I shouldn't have said anything, should I...?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2018 11:02 am
This was his fault.
Benji laying in his lap with bloodshot eyes, sounding as though he were a chain smoker for the past fifty years…this was his fault.
For a long moment, Caleb couldn’t breathe. He didn’t even want to breathe.
And finally, tears welling in his eyes, he shook his head. “Oh my god…Benji, Benji I’m so sorry…”
The hand Benji had kissed was attached to the arm that still bore the small red patches from Chara’s attack. Still bore the large scar from the snake youma all those months ago.
He shouldn’t be wearing short sleeves, not right now.
“I’m sorry…” Caleb drew in a deep breath and clung to the hand that Benji still held. “I was frustrated. He apologized. But then it was like I was hanging out with a piece of drywall. We still didn’t resolve anything, but I just don’t care. He apologized and we said we’d stay friends but…but I wanted to talk to you so badly. I felt like a caged animal and I thought it would be a good idea to use that energy for something that…wasn’t me getting lost in my own head again and…the youma…and I just…I hadn’t meant to take my anger out on you but…I didn’t know…”
He was rambling. All of the rational parts of his brain had shut down and he was running on pure emotions. Pure regret and despair. It didn’t matter that Chara had made the first physical attack. That Chara hadn’t accepted his offer of peace…this was his fault.
“I just…I’m so sorry…Benji…”
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Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2018 11:18 am
... Maybe what he said had been too much because Caleb just wasn't responding at all. He seemed to break all at once and Benji didn't know what to do.
"You don't have a reason to be sorry, Caleb, it's not like you're the one who awakened me..." Was that the reason? Was he sad because of the fact that he was powered which doomed him to a lifetime of fighting...? If that was the case then Caleb was just far softer than he expected, and with that thought in mind Benji reached up to touch his cheek.
And yet, that wasn't the case at all, and Benji quickly withdrew his hand, both from Caleb's hand and from his cheek. He saw the marks on Caleb's arms finally, recognizing them as his own hot searing chocolate marks. And slowly he began to realize just what the ******** had happened.
In an instant he was gone from the couch, moving as far away from Caleb as he could without leaving the apartment. <********... You... You're the ******** b*****d who did this to me! You antagonized me over something so stupid then hurt me like this, not once, but TWICE!" He ignored the fact that yeah, okay, he started the fight, but he didn't think once that Caleb would be the man behind the glamour. When they were fighting he wanted nothing more than to kill the other, or atleast beat him up so he couldn't keep speaking, but now look at him, all... Broken like this...
"What the ******** is wrong with you?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2018 3:53 pm
For a moment, for one sweet, wonderful moment, Caleb thought things would be okay. Thought that Benji would be able to be understanding, when he felt the male’s fingers on his cheek, his eyes closed and he let out a small sob.
Things would be okay. This was okay...but…
But then the hand was gone, and when Caleb opened his eyes again and saw Benji on the other side of the room, his heart sank faster than he could have believed possible.
It took a long time before Caleb was able to bring himself to speak again, and even that came out as nothing more than a croak.
“Benji...no...please.”
He couldn’t lose Benji. Not now. Not when things were looking so good...this was a hiccup. A stupid misunderstanding and it could be fixed...it had to be fixed.
...This hurt worse than losing Xi ever had. “I’m sorry...I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it was you...I shouldn’t have picked a fight I...it’s just been such a crappy...I’m so ******** b*****d. He was a ******** b*****d and had more wrong with him than he could even think of...and Benji hated him now.
It was too much to handle, and finally Caleb just slumped against the couch, feeling utterly numb. The sobs hadn’t taken over, but the tears fell down his cheeks without any way for him to stop them.
“...Please don’t leave, Benji…please. We can work this out...please...”
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Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2018 3:54 pm
Benji knew he was a horrible person thinking like this, but… He kinda hated the idea of forgiving Caleb right then and there. He had spend so much damned time cultivating being bitter and angry that it felt wrong to even consider that maybe, just maybe, this all had been an accident and he could just let it go. No, he wanted to be angry and shout and lash out at Caleb, maybe throw something at him and cuss him out before storming away.
But… He wasn’t. He wasn’t angry, at least not anymore.
Okay, he was angry but the sort of angry where he knew it would fade away when the tears started.
And he was right, it did.
The moment that Caleb’s eyes turned red as tears began to fall broke Benji’s glare into something softer, kinda… Pitying.
“Come on, Caleb, seriously… This… This whole thing, yeah, I’m pissed, and you can be pissed too, but you don’t need to cry over it…” He finally said softly after letting the sobbing boy do just that for a little while longer. Yeah, to him Caleb started it so deserved to suffer for it, in his opinion but… That was plenty. Benji couldn’t take it any more and went up to Caleb, pulling him forward, slightly off the couch and half hugging him, gently pressing his head against his belly and running his fingers through his hair lightly, just what was happening to him not too long ago.
“... I get it. You were angry, you wanted to fight, I get that. I can’t even describe how much I understand it but, It’s okay. This time it’s okay, so stop crying, please… I’m not mad anymore… And I’m not going anywhere, okay?” To think someone would hurt this bad just because Benji was mad at him was both heartbreaking and… Thrilling in a way, not that he would ever say it out loud. His heart was pounding, but whether it was good or not, he wasn’t sure.
“Just… Calm down… You still gotta answer the door to get the food, remember? You don’t want to be red eyed like me, right? They’d think we’re smoking pot or something in here.” It was a bad joke, he knew, but, ********, he was doing his best to comfort Caleb… And it was truly the first time he’d ever tried to comfort anyone.
His hand returned to Caleb’s head, tilting it up from under his chin to press a tiny kiss to Caleb’s lips. It worked before to give comfort, maybe it would work now.
“I’m not going anywhere. I swear.”
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Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 9:16 am
Caleb didn’t know how to really react when he felt Benji’s arms come around him and felt the softness of the other male’s chest under his cheek...and those gentle fingers combing through his hair...he thought perhaps he might have actually died and this was heaven.
Maybe not, but it was close, at least.
Caleb’s crying stopped after a few moments of the gentle touches and he relaxed, though was a little perplexed as to why it sounded as though Benji’s heart was going wildly out of control. He hoped that Benji was feeling all right...though when the shorter male’s lips met his own in a kiss, Caleb felt his own heart break free from any normal rhythm.
“Good...I would die if I were to lose you, Benji. I mean that. I know we haven’t known one another very long...but I’ve never felt this connected to another human in my life. I feel like we’ve known on another for years and…” He reached up, rubbing at his eyes, finally chuckling a little. “I’ve never done pot.” It was a delayed reaction, but he was trying.
Caleb grew quiet after a moment, then leaned closer, pressing his lips to Benji’s once more, relaxing against the softness of them, the taste of the other boy. He pulled away only slightly to sigh. “...You meet all of the standards that I set for myself...I told my cat...She’s a guardian, she lives with me most of the time...but I promised her I would date a senshi next time so she could...you know. Not have to hide the fact she can talk and…you’re a senshi so...I suppose that puts you on the short list of people that I want to date…”
He sighed again. “...Though I suppose you think we should wait some more...I guess you’d be right...I mean...after today but…”
Finally, he managed a little smile. “That attack of yours is painful, the chocolate...bombs or whatever? They really hurt! That’s kind of cool.” Holding up his arm, Caleb examined the marks and sighed, lifting his arm for Benji to see too. “See that scar? That came from this awful bone snake youma that I fought once...the damn thing sunk his fang right into me...that was a scary night. Some warehouse...it was a big fight…”
He laughed, though it sounded forced. “...Xi didn’t even notice the blood and the wound when I came home. It was...really annoying. That’s one of the reasons I decided on having someone who I could patrol with...and protect. I can protect you…or we could protect each other…”
A moment later, Caleb kissed the male’s cheek again. “...if you wanted to, that is.”
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Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 12:00 pm
Finally... Caleb seemed to be calming down and needless to say it was a huge relief for Benji. He was terrible at dealing with crying people, but he was doing his best regardless. And Caleb was special... He could use his kisses and touches to help him relax, which was more than he could do for some of the other people he knew. The more Caleb seemed to respond, the more Benji was willing to give in, to make that crying stop and to make him smile again.
"You talk as if I'm going to suddenly vanish one day. I swear, it's not that easy to get rid of me, nice try though." Another kiss was pressed to his lips in response to the ones he gave and he used that as a bit of a signal to sit back down on the couch, beside Caleb in a less neck-strainy position.
There was a bit of sense to Caleb's thoughts... The initial attraction between them, that craving for affection and adoration they both lacked in their lives pushing them together more and more, like magnets that were held back only by a pair of fingers. He really, truly wanted to just let go and allow himself to stick to Caleb, be drawn in by his sweet words and even better touches and kisses but even Benji, for all his stupidity in things love and life related, knew that was a terrible idea.
Rather than answer it, Benji tried to avoid the question at first, fingers going to brush the little whelps and burns along Caleb's arms. Did he regret doing it? Not a chance. He had pride in what he had done, knowing that even if his attacks were called useless by many, they could still hurt. But.... There was a little bit of sympathy because it had burned the boy he liked so as a minor apology, he took the arm into his hand and placed tiny kisses on the skin between the marks.
"Your attack isn't something to laugh at either. I'm still suffering, remember?" He teased softly, fingers tracing over the older scars and frowning when Xi was mentioned again. "I can't help but wonder how self absorbed you'd have to be to completely ignore something like that... But enough about him, I said lighten up. No more sulking, only Food. And... Only me for now, okay? Maybe some food too, when that arrives."
This time Benji visibly blushed, drawing away from him with his arms crossed in a joking sort of pout.
"H-hey, I don't need anyone to protect me! I'm way stronger than you are, and if I really wanted to hurt you during that fight, you wouldn't have stood a chance! I could have kicked your a** to Canada and back! And that's why you need me to keep an eye on you, not the other way around so... Yeah. Okay, We can patrol and fight together. It's a good starting point. And... Like I said before, if things happen, things happen."
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 7:18 am
Caleb watched Benji kissing his arm and felt his heart start pounding again and he liked it. And when Benji insisted that he only talk or think about him for now well…
That request could easily be followed.
His eyes found Benji’s and he held the gaze, shifting so he was straddling the boy slightly, leaning close and kissing his forehead. “Okay. You can protect me all you want. You are stronger…but I’ll get there. I’ll work hard to be as strong as you and then nobody will be able to stop us.” His voice was soft and there was an edge of desire to it.
He wanted Benji. He wanted Benji to be his and he wanted to be Benji’s.
Finally, Caleb pressed close again and kissed the soft lips of the other boy, chuckling after a moment. “…Things have already happened…at least I feel that way…”
He was attracted to the scarred male under him. The one eyed, snub fingered…soft lipped…beautiful haired boy that was on his couch, kissing him.
And he didn’t give a crap that they hadn't known each other long…there was something there…something he wanted to explore and let grow…and if they weren’t official in title yet…
Oh well. That would come with time, he hoped.
He was about to go in for another kiss when a knock on the door made him almost jump out of his skin. “Jesus ******** uh…I guess the food’s here…”
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