Just a little BenAlicia oneshot I started a while back. I thought I should just finish it and get it out there, so here it is! Since I wrote it a while ago, it's not my best, so I'm sorry. Read and please review! It's the only way I get better!
Tapping two eggs firmly on the side of the bowl, Alicia cracked them open and began to whisk the yolks together with a fork. She hummed quietly with the tune of the soft music flowing through her apartment. Satisfied with the eggs, she felt for the counter and set them down to be scrambled later. She grabbed a dish towel and wiped her hands hastily before moving out of the kitchen.
She walked down the small steps that separated the kitchen from the living room and with a flip of a knob, switched the sound system from the classic music channel it was on to a news station. A voice droned from the speakers, saying something about the heroic acts of the Fantastic Four. Humming contently, she moved back to the kitchen.
In truth, Alicia's apartment wasn't that hard to navigate. It had to be that way, considering she was blind. The living room was the main room in the apartment. To the left were two doors- the right door led to her bedroom, and the left door to her bath. The right side of the room was open, with three small steps leading into the kitchen.
Often she used her living room as a sculpting studio; so to the far back of the room, the soft carpet gave way to tile, and there was a stool and a table that either held a sculpture in progress, or her tools of the trade. Her latest accomplishments were displayed on another longer table on the back wall until they were sold. She was a very gifted artisan. Even though she had been blind since childhood Alicia was able to craft beautiful clay sculptures. She sold most of her work and made a fair living off of it. And even though she was not a widely celebrated artist, Alicia Masters enjoyed what she did with a passion.
And she loved the subject of her art even more. Many of her sculptures centered around her love interest, Ben Grimm- more famously known as The Thing. He was a part of the four member team called the Fantastic Four, a superhero group that rose to fame shortly after its creation. Even before his celebrity status grew to what it was, she had cared for him. He was so unlike anyone else. Not only because he was made entirely of rock, but because he treated her like she was the most important thing in the world. He treated her like a normal person. And for that, she loved him entirely.
Just as she walked back to the kitchen, she heard her bedroom door open. Smiling, she called,
"Good morning Ben."
"Mornin' Alicia." Ben Grimm replied, yawning sleepily.
"Sleep well?" She yanked a banana from the bunch on the counter and peeled it, slicing it into the fruit salad beside the sink. He walked over to the kitchen, careful to try and soften his footstep lest he wake anyone on the floor below them. When he came up behind her, she turned and pecked him on the cheek.
"Great. You makin' breakfast?" He noticed, with a slight interest, that she was wearing the shirt he wore last night. Before, of course, Alicia made it plentifully clear that he would not be needing it. It was a blue jersey with block letters on the back saying 'Grimm' and the number 47 on the front. Given the difference between Ben's massive size and her own small frame, it would be an understatement to say it didn't fit her. It was so big on her that the hem of the shirt came down to her midthigh, and the sleeves went to her elbow.
He also noticed that she wore nothing else besides that shirt. If he could have blushed, he would have.
"Mh-hm, And I was hoping you would help. Sue says you used to make great food all the time for her and Johnny."
"Yeah, I used to." Ben said, nodding. He frowned. "But that was before everything...before the storm...before The Thing." He glanced down at the hands he had grown accustomed to seeing every day since the cosmic storm and the transformation.
Big.
Bulky.
Orange.
Rocky.
"I still- I still have to work on my touch." Laughing, she picked up a dish towel and threw it at his head. He caught it and stared down at her, suprised to find her hazy brown eyes meet his blue eyes for a moment.
"Your touch is fine, trust me. I know from experience." The corner of her mouth twitched upperward in an amused smile, as if she could see the flustered expression on Ben's face. Again- If he could blush, he would have.
She swept past him and opened a shelf, taking out a glass. "I have the eggs over on the counter, and the bacon's in the fridge. If you could take care of those then I'll set the table." Alicia poured herself some orange juice and hoisted herself up to sit on the counter, listening contently to the sounds of the morning.
Alicia never trusted herself with the stove or the oven. She was too scared of burning herself or setting something on fire. It was one of the limitations of being blind. She once told Ben this, and he promised her that he would do the stovework whenever they ate together.
"'Know from experience', huh?" Ben said over the loud sizzle of bacon and eggs. Alicia laughed.
"You are more gentle then you think Benny."
"So me puttin' holes through more walls then I can count is bein' gentle?"
She sighed and hopped down from the counter. "That's not what I mean."
"Just admit it. I'm heavy handed and clumsy."
She approached him, an annoyed look on her face. "Never." she declared. "But do want to know what isn't clumsy or heavy handed about you?" He looked at her, a brow raised.
"What?"
She stood up on tip toes to kiss him, and he responded by looping an arm around her waist and returning the kiss. She pulled back after a while and gave him a small smile.
"That."
Despite himself, he smiled back, not fulling understanding how she managed to have such a calming effect on him.
Alicia stepped back and sniffed the air, her nose wrinkling in distaste.
"Is...Is something burning?"
"Oh, crap!"
And that is how a typical morning starts for your not so typical people.