"Hey, Dave, how are you today?" Benson asked. Dave turned to Benson with a happy grin upon his face, feeling pleased that he had been noticed. He was almost beginning to believe his master wasn't even paying attention to him.
"I'm doing fine, master. How are you then? I hope you're doing well." Dave chimed. Benson shifted his position.
"Eh, I'm okay. What's with the scissors?" Benson asked, taking note of the object in his student's hands. They were nothing very impressive. Just a standard pair of scissors. Most people have a pair quite similar sitting in their kitchens. However, the item was out of place considering it was sitting in Dave's hands during a midday walk.
"Oh, these? Nothing important..." Dave replied. Benson raised his eyebrow in confusion. He shrugged it off anyhow, quickly changing the subject.
"Listen, I'm sorry about what happened to you, all those years ago..." he quickly apologized. Dave shivered at the memory of his death.
"No, no, it's okay. I don't even care anymore. I'm here again now, right?" the orange gumball machine said. His teacher smiled back at him and nodded.
"Yeah, that's right. It was pretty lonely without you, though." Benson replied. Dave perked up, his smile becoming a bit more broad.
"Oh really? That's good to hear. Very, very good..." he said in a slightly darker tone. Thoughts of becoming alone had begun to fill his head.
"You sure you're okay? You look a little tense..." the red gumball machine asked. Dave looked towards him with an even happier grin.
"Of course I'm okay. I don't know what you're talking about..." Dave said. He held the scissors close to him.
"Dave, please put the scissors down..." Benson said in a hushed voice. Dave cocked his head and lowered him slightly. He couldn't disobey his master, after all.
"Why?" he asked. Benson became tense as he started backing away from his friend.
"You're scaring me, Dave...". Dave twitched. Him? Scary? He didn't understand what he was being told, nor did he like it. He turned towards his master, walking closer to him.
"I'm scaring you? Really? I've got a perfect idea then. Why don't you call that NEW student of yours to come and protect you?" Dave asked defensively. Benson's face retained a shocked expression.
"Wait, what are you talking about?! New student?" he asked. Dave felt his face warm as his gumballs turned a shade of bright red. He clutched the scissors in his fist, wanting nothing more than to relieve his anger.
"Don't think I didn't know. DON'T THINK YOU CAN HIDE ANYTHING FROM ME." Dave shouted. He could feel his teeth grinding at the thought of his master lying to him.
"I d-don't know what you're talking about, Dave! Honest!" Benson stammered. Dave stepped backwards in disgust. How dare his teacher try so hard to keep things from him, even when he already knew what was happening?
"Ha! I knew it! You ARE lying! I can see your nervousness!" Dave cried out, positive that he understood the situation. He slowly raised the scissors, pointing the open blades towards Benson.
"I'm not lying, y-you're just scaring me right now... Those scissors are awfully close..." Benson whispered.
"WELL MAYBE YOU DESERVE TO FEEL SCARED."
Benson backed up further until he found himself against a wall. Dave closed in on him quickly, effectively trapping him.
"Why do you separate yourself from me so much? Why do you ignore me? Do you really hate me so much you can't even be seen with me?" Dave asked, an air of sadness in his voice. He seemed so delicate and fragile in the tone he used. Benson reached out his hand to pat Dave on the head.
"What? I don't hate you! I'm just... so busy nowadays..." Benson said, trailing off. Dave's anger returned, and he shoved Benson away forcefully. Benson couldn't understand what was happening to Dave. Never in his life had he seen him acting in this awful way. He stumbled back in surprise.
"Busy? BUSY? I guess that's why you wanted me to die isn't it? You were too busy for me." Dave said as he started to tear up.
"I never wanted you to die, honest!" Benson cried out. Dave perceived everything he heard as straight up lies. He simply couldn't figure out what he did to deserve any of this. With these thoughts jumbled in his mind, he lost control and allowed tears to flow from his eyes as a few muffled sobs made their way out as well.
"Yes you did! You were so tired of me you didn't even want to remember me!" he hollered. Dave dried his tears quickly, preparing for the next plan of action. He gripped Benson by the wrists, harshly shoving him against the brick wall. The red gumball machine grunted as his head smacked against it. He was thoroughly restrained.
"STOP LYING TO ME! I'M NOT STUPID LIKE YOU THINK I AM!" Dave shouted out.
"Dave, you're hurting me..." Benson moaned. Dave possessed an evil grin as he brought the scissors towards his victim's face.
"What, do you mean this?" he asked mischievously as he gently placed the blades in Benson's mouth. The red gumball machine shook nervously, unable to say anything.
"Tell me." Dave demanded. Benson looked back up at his tormentor.
"I-I'm serious, I haven't even really touched a stick hockey table since you died!" he whimpered.
"Oh, of couuuurse not... I guess Chong just backed off and allowed himself to be killed without putting up a fight, then?" Dave said sarcastically.
"That was one time... and some friends of mine were in danger, okay?" Benson asked. Dave came to a halt. He paused, becoming blank for a moment. Then it all came back to him, intensifying the moment.
"...Two of them!?" he squealed. Dave scraped the inside of Benson's right cheek out of sheer anger.
" I was only trying to prevent any more deaths!" Benson cried out desperately.
"SEE!? YOU BROKE YOUR OWN PROMISE! YOU TOLD YOURSELF YOU'D NEVER PLAY AGAIN AND YOU DID IT WITHOUT HESITATION!" he yelled. Benson somehow managed to get the sharp weapon's blade to leave his mouth.
"Neither of them meant as much to me as you did, though!" Benson said. Dave's teeth gnashed together, white, blistering fury taking over him. Using all his strength, he wrestled his teacher to the ground.
"Oh yeah? Then I guess that's why it took you so long to make your decision to acknowledge my death?" he whined. Benson looked up at him, then turned away.
"I... I don't know why I did that..." he moaned. Dave froze. He'd never felt so betrayed in his life.
"LIAR!". Dave held the shears above his head, not sure of what he'd do with them. Benson shook with outright fear, becoming paralyzed.
"...I don't know what's going to happen now... Doing anything violent would breach angel code." Dave confessed. Benson gave him a hopeful look, wondering if he'd be let go.
"...But then again, I feel this would be justified." he said, changing his mind quickly.
"Dave, please..." Benson whimpered.
"Just know that while you're still my master, this is your fault." Dave said with an air of finality. He began to carefully place Benson's tongue between the open blades of his scissors. Benson stared at what he could see of them in a nervous sweat. The cold, sharp metal began to slowly slice through the soft and squishy matter of his tongue. As much as he wanted to scream in pain, Benson knew that if he did he'd only injure himself further. Pulling all his willpower together, he let out a moan and attempted to stay still. Much to his luck, it didn't take too long for Dave to finish.
"Does this hurt?" Dave asked. Benson nodded very slightly, continuing to shake violently.
"Ah, but what hurts more? The physical pain or the feeling of betrayal?" Dave asked in a mocking tone. He chuckled quiet;y to himself. Benson attempted to reply, but all that came out was a soft, gurgling noise.
Dave examined his work, wondering just what he should do next. Then he had it.
"...Eat it.". Benson looked up questionably.
"EAT IT!" he commanded. Benson looked down at the ground knowing he had to do it. It was either that or possibly something worse. Reluctantly, he swallowed the chunk of flesh. A look of disgust was painted on his face. Pleased, Dave began to trace little circles in the blood pooling from his master's mouth.
"Do you remember when I told you some things are best left unexplained? This is why." Dave said. Benson tried to reply, but he coughed on the blood in his mouth.
"I think you should sit up before you start to choke on all that blood." Dave declared as he helped Benson to sit up. Benson complied and followed his instructions, but once he was sitting he looked towards his friend with a look that read "Now what?". Dave wiped away a bit of the blood from Benson's mouth before more came flooding out.
"This is nice, isn't it?" Dave asked. Benson grunted in a questioning way.
"I think I like you better this way. You're so quiet." Dave pointed out. Benson moaned, unable to address his thoughts. Dave giggled. "Looks like I get to be YOUR master now! For the time being, anyway." he said. Benson whimpered at these implications.
The angel snuggled against his bleeding friend, cling to him like a child clings to its mother. He almost appeared like a security blanket to him. Dave took a few extra minutes to cuddle with his master before standing back up.
"Oh well, this was nice, but I need to finish up here. We wouldn't want you bleeding to death, now would we?". Benson shook his head. Taking careful hold of him, Dave laid his friend back down very gently. Meanwhile, he pulled out the bloody scissors again. Benson blinked, hoping that he could prepare himself for what was about to happen.
"I promise I'll try to make this as fair as possible." Dave said as he took careful aim. Benson stared at the blades, whimpering. Tears started streaming out of his eyes. The other man delicately wiped them away in a poor attempt at calming him down.
"Shhh... this will all be over soon. And when it is we can be together again and you won't be too 'busy' for me. You can stay with me forever." Dave assured him. Benson's eyes widened at the last word. Without any further hesitation, he brought down the force of the open blade into Benson's throat, repeating this process multiple times. With each strike his gags became less audible until all the life faded from him and Benson was no more.