Room 204 [afternoon]

[momslilassassin]

After his daily run and trip to the gym, Ben had retreated to his room (not that he would see it that way) to continue working on the Thor helmet he'd been making for Jono.

Which was why Ben was currently hovering a good foot off of the ground and looking quite pleased with himself. The motor to make the wings actually serve a purpose was working!

The door was cracked open.

[OOC: And the post is totally open!]

Comments

[glacial_queen]

After the awesome surprise in Dinah's room, Karla was being extra careful now. So rather than taking the partially-open door as an invitation, Karla gently tapped on the door. "Ben? Ender?" she called. "What're you up to? Can I come in?" She barely resisted the urge to add Are you fully dressed?

The last thing she wanted was to be surprised by a half-naked Ben working out or something. Mostly because her equilibrium couldn't handle it.

[momslilassassin]

Ben yanked the hat off of his head and fell to the bed with a thump. "Come in!" he called back.

[glacial_queen]

Karla entered slowly, partially to give Ben a chance to get himself fully presentable if he wasn't already (fishnets!) and partially because she hadn't seen him since Monday night.

"Hey," she said, coming into the room. "You okay? I thought I heard a noise."

Next, she would be commenting on the weather. Yay awkward!

[momslilassassin]

"I was working on something mechanical," Ben said, blushing to his hair. "Nothing important. Hi! How are you? Want to sit down?"

Stop babbling, Ben.

[glacial_queen]

"I--sure, yeah," she replied, Totally Sounding Casual.

Dammit, it had been less awkward after she'd accidentally confessed her crush in a burst of song.

"I'm okay," she said, sitting on a clear spot at the foot of his bed. "How are you?" She tried not to sound worried, but probably failed. Okay, failure was practically assured since Ben would be able to feel her worry--as well as all those other emotions that didn't exactly equate out to 'okay.' She increased her shields a bit. Not enough to shut him out completely, but enough to make sure that he could ignore her feelings if he wanted to.

[momslilassassin]

"You're not okay," Ben said, watching her eyes. "Want to try that again?"

[glacial_queen]

"I'm about as well as can be expected after not only experiencing that all for myself but then dragging in nine of my closest friends to enjoy it, too," Karla snapped. "And now let me ask you, just how well are you doing?"

[momslilassassin]

"I'm worried about you," he replied, "so I'll be better when you're better."

[glacial_queen]

Way to take the wind out of her sails there, Ben. "I am doing better," she muttered defensively. "I even baked cookies last night."

Rather than sleeping. Because sleeping was overrated.

She called in a big paperplate full of...cookies, covered in plastc wrap. Clearly, a lot of effort had gone into them. They were painstakingly decorated with frosting, baking gel, sprinkles, anything Karla could find. The decorations showed that they were meant to be jack-o-lanterns, which was useful since the otherwise hard, gray lumps weren't actually indicative of cookies, never mind anything more complicated than that.

[momslilassassin]

"They look great," Ben said with a quick smile. "Thank you. Are they just for me, or do I get to share with Ender?"

[glacial_queen]

"For you to share with Ender," Karla said, tucking her knees up under her chin. "And so are these." A big, white bakery box appeared next to her on the bed. "They're from J,GoB. I got these just in case, though 'Dite tried a cookie and said they were delicious."

'Dite was also a goddess who could change reality with a thought. But details.

"I wanted to say thank you to everyone and Dite told me that homemade cookies are a really good way to say thank you." Because 'Dite apparently had a death-wish or something. "So I made cookies. But since I made them by mself, without Merlin's help, I decided to get some other kinds of pastries, too. In case they came out like most of my other baking experiments."

[momslilassassin]

"Thank you for both, then," Ben said with another smile. When he was hungry again, he'd try some. "But it really wasn't necessary. I didn't help because I thought I'd get cookies."

[glacial_queen]

"I didn't think you had," Karla said, shaking her head. "But that doesn't mean I can't feel grateful and want to come up with some way to say 'thank you' for it. Especially since no one seems to want me to actually say 'thank you'." She looked away, not wantin Ben to see the tears that were welling up. "You went into Hell for me. Just because we're friends--and have been friends for less than half a year. You brought me back to myself. There aren't words for what you all did. And I'm going to feel appreciative and grateful no matter what anyone says."

And, because she was Karla, regardless of circumstances, she added, "So there."

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri wandered by on her way back up from a trip to the gym and paused by the doorway, peering in through the crack. "Should I ask?"

Some people say hi first. Her, not always.

[momslilassassin]

Ben gave her a sheepish smile. "It's a thing for Jono," he said. "Stylish, huh?"

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri grinned at him through the doorway. "By some world's standards, sure." Kind of not by hers, though. "You're lucky I already think you're weird, you know."

[momslilassassin]

Wait until she saw the metal pants Jono was threatening to get for Ben.

"This wouldn't have swept you off your feet, huh?" he teased.

[weetuskenraider]

That would be terrifyingly amusing. Or amusingly terrifying. Or both.

"Not really, no. But I wouldn't say no to the laugh."

She wasn't making a move to try and come in; stupid reflexive twitchiness. Couldn't the Yuuzhan Vong have had an aversion to something else besides technology?

[momslilassassin]

Ben gave her a quizzical look, then blushed red and shoved all of the extra parts under his bed with a bit of help from the Force and put the hat down on the desk.

"Better?" he asked.

[weetuskenraider]

Looking very annoyed with herself, Tahiri nodded. "Yeah. Sorry. Stupid . . . sorry."

She edged into the room, leaning against the wall. "I'd ask if you've been busy, but I know you."

[momslilassassin]

"A little busy," he said. "Do you want to go somewhere else?"

[weetuskenraider]

"It's okay," Tahiri said with a bit of a stubborn set to her jaw. "I'll be fine. I just wanted to see you for a little bit."

[momslilassassin]

"You can see for a long bit," Ben replied, getting out of the bed and moving across the room toward her. "I don't have anything planned for the rest of the day."

[weetuskenraider]

"Funny. Me neither." Just so he didn't have to do all the work, Tahiri decided to meet him halfway. "Just in case you thought I had a hot date or something."

[momslilassassin]

Ben smiled down at her. "Well there are a lot of options around here," he said, "so I appreciate it."