Room 424 [evening]

[momslilassassin]

An afternoon thinking he was a little girl had not been exactly what Ben had been planning, though the distraction had been kind of a relief.

...not that he'd admit that.

He was in his room, carefully examining his air vent to see how the gremlin had gotten in and looking to see if there was a way to discourage them from returning without breaking the terms of the treaty.

The door was open a crack.

[OOC: Post is open completely!]

Comments

[momslilassassin]

Ben froze, then realized that was an extremely stupid reaction.

"Yes," he replied. "You're not going to throw anything gross at me?"

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"I promise, nothing gross here," John sighed, pushing the door open. "I'm real sorry about that."

[momslilassassin]

Ben made a face. "Yeah," he said.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," John made a face in return. He thought it was pretty gross, too.

[momslilassassin]

"It's good to see you with all of your bits attached," Ben said. "Let's not do that again."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"I'm not planning on a repeat event," John assured him. "But I did bring you a present to try to make up for it?" He held up a disc bearing a copy of Jaina and Tahiri's gremlin bite performance.

[momslilassassin]

Ben flinched before he could stop himself.

"Sorry," he muttered. "Little jumpy."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

John hadn't thought he could feel worse. "I'm really sorry, Ben. Maybe I should just give you some space."

[momslilassassin]

And now Ben felt guilty for making John feel bad. "No, stay," he said. "I'm not ready for big crowds, but being by myself isn't any better."

Ben was a mess. He thought he was covering well.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

And then John remembered that day in Flight Club that felt like ages ago. "It's more than just the zombies, huh?"

[momslilassassin]

"Let's say I'm suddenly very grateful we burn our dead," Ben said softly. "Because the combination of this weekend and the one before would give me nightmares."

If he slept.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Jesus, and I thought this weekend was bad enough," John murmured, slowly leaning against a convenient piece of furniture.

[momslilassassin]

"I'm an overachiever," Ben said with a completely humorless smile.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Sounds like," John frowned at the weird smile. "Sometimes talking helps. Jaina likes to make me try when I get all weird."

[momslilassassin]

Ben snorted. "Jaina tries to make you talk?"

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, she's big on me sharing. Ironic, huh?" John verified.

[momslilassassin]

"Completely," Ben said. Oh, look at him trying to change the subject.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

John looked at him for a moment and decided to just ask. "What happened back home? I know you said everybody died, but you didn't say anything about your Jaina and that worries me, being as I have a bit of an attachment to this Jaina and who knows how your present and her future are tied."

[momslilassassin]

Ben stared at his hands for a long, long time.

"She killed him," he said softly.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

Pronouns were not useful. "Jaina killed Tenel Ka's dad?"

[momslilassassin]

Ben blinked, then shook his head. "She killed Jacen," he whispered.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

John blinked. He opened his mouth as if to speak and stopped.

That was...something.

[momslilassassin]

Ben curled in on himself. "Yeah."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"How is she?" Why was he asking that? John should not feel for a Jaina that was not his and yet.

[momslilassassin]

"Dealing," Ben said. "I didn't see her much before I left. She was in the clinic."