TITLE: Stamped!
AUTHOR: Otaku Maiden
SUMMARY: A little ink on a certain brunet hero shocks everyone!
RATING: Teen.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any aspect of the Ben 10 franchise. They belong to Man of Action (and I guess Dwayne McDuffie , to a certain extent, since he's the main writer for Alien Force and Ultimate Alien). I am simply borrowing the characters for some warped humour.
Stamped!
Ben was getting slightly irritated with his cousin's relentless questioning. Day after day, as he tried to study for his physics final, Gwen would enquire about his love life.
"Come on, Ben you have to tell me who this mysterious boyfriend of yours is!" Gwen gushed as they sat outside of Mr. Smoothy. 'Note to self,' Ben thought, 'if I really need to study, go wherever Gwen can't find me.' As Ben tried to tune her out, Gwen's voice became shriller as she pushed for more details. "Seriously, Ben, spill!" She sounded a little too happy about this. "Is he tall, dark and handsome? A bookworm? Come on! I'm family...you can tell me!"
Ben let out a frustrated sigh. 'God, Gwen can be persistent!' Simply because they went through many milestone moments together – Sweet Sixteen, devastating heartbreaks, coming out of the closet (in Ben's case) – did not mean that every private detail had to be shared. As the brunet continued to glare at the redhead, Kevin joined the Tennyson cousins during their gossip/study session.
"Yo, wassup?" Kevin greeted them.
Gwen smiled at her ex-boyfriend, and then turned her mischievous gaze back to her cousin. "Ben was about to dish the dirt on his secret new boy-toy that's been circulating on all the gossip shows!"
"Oh, really?" Kevin raised a suggestive brow, looking at the petit brunet. "So what can you tell us about this 'so-called' boy-toy?"
Ben gave Kevin a deadpanned expression. "Gwen doesn't know what she's talking about." The brunet glared at the redhead, who began to stifle her giggling; the raven couldn't help but hide his own amusement in torturing the youngest member of their team.
"Alright, Tennyson; if you won't talk willingly," Kevin grabbed Ben's text book, stood up from his seat and raised his arm up, keeping the book out of Ben's reach. "I'll just keep your Physics book hostage until you sing like a canary!"
A low growl resonated from the young hero, as he tried to stretch against his friend to get his book back. "Kevin, don't be an ass! I need to pass this exam or else my mother will ground be for life!"
As Ben continued to attempt jumping and grabbing Kevin's arm to get his book back, a few catcall whistles were heard. "Way to go, Tennyson!" Came Cash's obnoxious voice. "Nice tramp stamp!" Ben froze hearing this; Kevin and Gwen were stunned, their jaws dropping.
"Tramp stamp?" Kevin muttered, gawking at Ben in shock. The last person Kevin expected to get a tattoo was Ben.
Gwen managed to see slight markings at the small of Ben's back, as his black shirt rose during his jumping retrieval of his book. "Ben, how can you be so irresponsible for doing something so stupid?" She lectured.
Brown eyes glared at green eyes. "Tennyson, what the hell? Tattoos are permanent and can be dangerous!"
"Is this because of your boyfriend?" Gwen questioned. "Did he talk you into getting that? If he is the reason, then you need to get rid of him!"
Between the yelling and lecture from his team-mates, Ben managed to get his Physics book from Kevin's grasp, walking away from his supposed friends. "I don't have to listen to this!" Ben walked away, heading towards the bathroom to readjust himself. "Between the two of you, there is no way I'm gonna study properly for my test. And FYI, it's my body and I can do whatever the hell I want!" As Ben entered the boy's bathroom of Mr. Smoothy, Kevin followed him.
Ben was leaning against the sink, letting out a frustrated sigh. Looking at his reflection in the mirror, he saw that Kevin followed him. "Kevin, I really don't want to hear anymore about I was reckless for getting a tattoo."
Kevin heaved a sigh and walked behind Ben. "Let me see it."
"What?"
The older teen glared at the younger male. "I said – let me see the tramp stamp..."
Exhausted from the arguing, Ben raised the hem of his shirt and lowered the waist of his jeans to reveal the ink work that caused the quarrel in the first place. Kevin looked at the work. There were delicate swirls adorning the small of Ben's back; a hybrid design of a heart and sun. One detail that caught Kevin's attention was the initials inside the heart. Unconsciously, Kevin moved his hand to the design, a finger lightly touching the design.
"Well," Ben exhaled, not realising that he was holding his breath the entire time Kevin was examining the tattoo. "What do you think?"
Kevin cleared his throat. "Even though I'm not a fan of tattoos, this is kinda hot!"
Ben turned around to face Kevin and smiled shyly, "So, I guess my secret boy-toy approves?"
Kevin smiled wolfishly at Ben, kissed him, and whispered. "Yeah, I approve."
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I figured I'll throw in a few one-shots while working on Seduced.
Well, what do you think? Ben getting ink is definitely something no one would expect...Constructive criticisms are always welcome.