'Really?' asked Rook, his arms crossed casually as he watched Big Chill flash back into being Ben again. And Ben felt himself grin up at him, rapping his knuckles against the mountain of ice that now slid up to touch the ceiling. For inside, caught between the twisted gleam of a thousand slanted window-like panes were the stacked smoothies, trapped not only by cardboard, but also the tight structure of ice wedged into their sides. It was like some glorious museum exhibit, only much more interesting and with a million more little prisms to boot, the sunlight helping to form tiny rainbows that slid and shivered down into tatters on the mirror-like edges. Prisms, and they were pretty if nothing else.

But Rook didn't seem to be impressed. 'Oh?' he drawled. 'And what happens when all this ice melts, and your bedroom turns into a pond? Forgive me if I do not think your parents would approve.'

Ben waved his hand. 'Don't question genius, Rook. Why do you think I put the plastic tarp on the floor before we started? We can go and rest some buckets against the side if it makes you feel better, you big worrier. And besides, I can always turn into Heat Blast or Swamp Fire and evaporate everything if something goes horribly wrong.'

'...thus promptly turning your bedroom into a sauna instead of a pond,' Rook pointed out dryly. 'And also, of course, ruining all the smoothies you have now foolishly wasted money on.'

Ben frowned. 'Foolishly?'

'Well, you do not really think that they will taste the same after being frozen, do you?' Rook asked, though there was now a familiar note of curiosity in his voice.

Ben's frown deepened slightly at this, before he shrugged. 'Maybe not, but look, doesn't everything feel cooler already? And yes, it's going to melt gradually but when it does, we'll have something to drink, plenty of somethings actually, somethings that even if they're more popsicle than smoothie, will. Taste. Awesome.'

Rook paused. And Ben could see the thoughts flashing reluctantly through his head and the strain taking place on his brow in that familiar crinkle of muscle that meant that he didn't want to admit Ben was right, because the temperature had dipped down into something a lot more pleasant as soon as the ice had sprung out of Big Chill's breath. And honestly, Ben thought, it had gotten to the point where squelching over a sodden carpet in the morning was something to look forward to, rather than the usual raking his toes got against the sun-baked one each day.

'C'mon,' he said, stepping forward and in one smooth motion gliding a finger down one of the armoured blue plates that mirrored the outward thrust of Rook's chest. 'I'm already feeling a lot more lively. How about you?'

Rook stared at him, then swallowed.

And Ben grinned again, knowing that he had caught him.

As it turned out, Rook wasn't quite right to fear the deluge of water that would, in the future, split the sides of Ben's crystal-glazed mountain. True to Ben's word, the melting was somewhat manageable and the added precaution of placing buckets round its sides seemed to prevent the carpet from becoming a flood zone. This didn't however, prevent the thing from looking like some manic giant flower, at least from the sort-of-but-not-really-bird's-eye-view Ben's bed offered. If you squinted, the upmost point resembled a pollen centre and the curl of stamen with its uneven dip of half-melted lines, while the plastic buckets dotted around its base spat themselves out into the cartoonish contours of flower petals. Impossibly round ones, that was.

And indeed his mum, having quickly swept her head round the door earlier, had commented on 'what a nice art project' he had going on and how 'good' it was to see him branch out into other interests. He had giggled for a while at that one, ignoring Rook's dirty glower.

'It is too bad you have no real appreciation for art outside of video games,' Rook said testily.

Ben rolled his eyes. 'Oh calm down, alley-cat. It's not like she walked in on us doing stuff. You know, naked stuff.'

Rook scowled and yanked the bed sheets closer to his chest. 'I am naked under here,' he pointed out testily.

'Well, maybe if you didn't wear Proto-Armour all the time, you would have had something else to slip on into when you heard my mum coming down the hall,' Ben commented dryly. 'Besides, she's not dumb. It's not like she doesn't know what you're doing here.'

Rook's face twisted up, rather like he wanted to snarl. But instead he threw off the sheets, wrenching his arm back with a groan as his hand thumped down against the pillow nosily. Not that Ben was complaining. For Rook was sprawled out in all his naked glory, after all, fur ruffled and mussed not only with sweat, but with all the places Ben had held onto him a half-hour ago, sometimes viciously, as though if he only pressed down hard enough he could feel a heartbeat through all that fluff. Whether he actually could or not usually depended on his state of mind and well, back then, he had been unable to focus on much of anything at all.

'Mmm,' he agreed, running a hand back to carefully smooth away the sweat dripping over Rook's forehead. 'Something tells me you need a smoothie, big guy.'

Rook smiled, the traces of his temper vanishing as they always did under the show of affection. 'That would be nice.'

'Of course. I'm always nice,' Ben teased, removing his hand and wiping his now sticky fingers against the edge of the crumpled sheets. With a sigh, he drew himself up and off the bed, making his way to the diminished ice-mountain, where, after a few seconds of fruitless yanking, he managed to free a mango and peach flavoured 'Passion Burst'. The cup crunched against the slide of his fingers, the contents rattling rather like the change inside a money box as he drifted back to the bed and with a mischievous smile, pressed the wrinkled cup to the side of Rook's head without warning.

The effect was instantaneous; Rook jolted, all of him tensing as his eyes sprang wide open, and Ben laughed and laughed as those eyes raked him over with a look of abject betrayal. Ben shook his head, still laughing as he pulled the cup down, cranking both the straw and lid away with one tight squeeze of his palm before tossing them over his shoulder. Then, with an easy smile, he lowered the open sleeve of the cup to Rook's lips.

'See,' he said softly, a hint of teasing still running beneath his words as Rook's tongue came out to lap eagerly at the bristling gleam of orange ice inside. 'I am nice.'

Rook didn't answer and for a while Ben watched as chunk after chunk of frozen 'Passion Burst' left tracks of tangy juice against the fur of his boyfriend's chin, slipping between the quick flashes of teeth like a nest of small rivers escaping the mountainside. The sound of Rook's tongue seemed obscenely loud in the quiet of the room, scraping like a brush over the side of the crystallised smoothie and whittling it down into shards that easily rode down the hole of his throat in mere seconds.

Ben shivered. Sometimes he forgot just how big Rook's mouth was, the jaws stretching wide and open the way a big cat's did on TV. Hell, even small domestic cats could yawn wide enough to have them labelled as alien rather than the Earth mammal they truly were. He was reminded of this sometimes when they were kissing, but Rook was usually careful at that time, his jaws never stretching any wider than Ben's own could manage to cover, and his strong tongue shoving Ben's own away whenever he got too adventurous and stroked the very tip of Rook's canines.

Heck, it was at moments like that that he could understand why Rook brought up compatibility issues.

'Ahhhh. ' Rook's sigh came out, long and awed, as he swallowed down the last of the frozen smoothie. 'That was nice. Not as nice as Amber Ogia admittedly, but still good. But do you know what would be even more pleasant? '

Ben shook his head, mute.

Rook grinned.

'If you removed your clothes, once again.'

Ben stared at him for a moment. And then burst out laughing.

Rook's brow furrowed. 'That...was not exactly the reaction I was hoping for,' he said slowly.

Ben shook his head, his fist already crumpling the now empty cup into a tightly folded wedge of what felt to be thick paper. He tossed it over his shoulder, hearing it bounce off the rim of his bin, but not, judging by Rook's raised eyebrow, actually managing to make its way inside.

'Nah, I'm game. Just wasn't expecting you to be in the mood again, that's all.'

'I will never understand your sense of humour,' Rook remarked dryly, though Ben noted that was already leaning up on his elbows, a few fingers absently hooking on the ends of Ben's shirt. Then they gave a rather firm and deliberate tug, and Ben was forced to amend that observation, especially as Rook rapidly pushed the rest of himself up into a sitting position, his eyes now heavily alert.

'Lift your arms,' he instructed, both hands now wedged into the sides of Ben's shirt as he started to shimmy it up above the line of Ben's stomach.

Ben rolled his eyes, sighed. And then obeyed.

'I feel like a little kid,' he complained, wincing as his nose was briefly squished by the traveling rim of his collar. He felt it sail up over his hair, and then he was free, the rest of his shirt following suit before it was smoothly tossed over the back of his desk-chair. It even managed to land there somewhat folded and Ben shook his head, amused for once by what a talented bastard Rook was.

'I am sorry, but I could not hear you just then,' that same talented bastard said cheerfully. 'Your voice was a little muffled. Did you say anything important?'

Ben narrowed his eyes, mostly to show he wasn't fooled by the twinkle in his partner's eye, before he shucked off his boxers in a few quick seconds. 'Yeah,' he added, 'I said I can take care of this next part myself.'

Rook hummed, either at the lie or in acknowledgement of his own, before settling his hands on Ben's hips. Then, with a rapid twist of movement, he lifted him up, unhooking his legs from the sheets and smoothly raising his knees, just enough to give Ben a bit of a sloped seat as he resettled him in his lap.

Ben raised his eyebrows.

'You wanna do it like this? Okay.'

'We are closer to eye-level this way,' Rook muttered, frowning as his arm stretched out, his hand already dipping into the small jar of oil that was still propped up on top of the dresser from where they had left it a half-hour before. 'I cannot believe we just left it open like this...'

'I can,' Ben said, rocking forward a little, just enough for his crotch to brush down and glide against the ruff of fur that fell away to reveal Rook's own. He let out a sigh, eyes half-lidded as he witnessed a similar shock traveling through Rook's body, resulting in the slight shake of that outstretched arm. 'But then, I don't really think we were doing much, um, thinking at the time.'

Rook sighed, but didn't complain, his fingers already coated with a few globules of lubricant. They hardly shook and Ben had to admire his partner's self-control as he watched them travel down to the small cleft of space that opened up between them, Ben rocking back slightly to accommodate.

'We should not require too much, ' Rook murmured, that small crinkle in his nose forming as Ben raised himself obligingly, the other's fingers already beginning that familiar tickle of movement at his opening. 'You should still be quite loose from earlier.'

Still, he took his time, careful as ever, as his finger dove in with a slight thrust to the motion, slowing into a wriggle as it curved and probed.

Ben's hips shook and he closed his eyes, counting slowly backwards from twenty, every even number or so jolting into a white flash of distraction as one finger was joined by two, and then a soft spurt of fur or wrinkle in the joint beneath brushed against something inside him, a nerve or a pucker of his own. Sometimes he stiffened, tense despite himself, and he felt Rook lean in to dab a slight wetness against his cheek, or to carefully rake his lips against his own.

'Tell me if it hurts,' said his partner, a little exasperation colouring his tone. 'We do this every time, and yet every time you neglect to-'

'I don't...neglect,' Ben breathed. 'You'd just...way too cautious, man...if I left it up to you, you'd give up, ahh, every time I grunted.'

Rook licked his cheek again.

'There are reasons for that,' he said, more softly this time, and Ben didn't bother to nod or to otherwise acknowledge him. Because he knew. Rook didn't have to say it.

He cracked open an eye. 'Think you can make me say your name, this time?' he teased.

Rook smiled confidently. 'I always do.'

They grinned at each other. Rook looked like a dork, Ben thought fondly, which probably meant that his own face didn't look much better in comparison. But even so, he couldn't really bring himself to care. Besides, it was tradition at this point, to mock-dare Rook into doing something they both knew he'd succumb too. There was even a form of weird comfort in it.

'I won't make you say it,' Rook promised, the contraction coming out low and breathless in a way that made Ben lose track of his own for one heart-stopping second. 'I will make you scream it. '

Ben couldn't help it. He leant forward, close enough to feel Rook fumble inside him at the shock of movement, leaving electricity to trail across his insides in a quick rush of motion. He fought down his gasp, eyes closing long enough to re-gather his breath before they flashed open again, quick enough to see the widespread darkness in Rook's own and he watched, enchanted, as this billowed out, the ink in the pupils swallowing gold like an excited cat's.

'Hey there, Blonko,' Ben whispered, enjoying the way that seemed to create two full eclipses in front of him.

Rook stared. Then scowled. 'You are cheating.'

Ben giggled. And Rook...didn't growl. Not exactly. But he did tug his fingers out with a slow, sliding twist, one that made Ben jerk in his lap like a puppet. And then, with one broad stroke, they sought out the gleam of the jar on the dresser, Ben watching, amused, as they dove back down inside. Rook's eyes never left his face as those same fingers became waxed with a greasy shimmer, not unlike the one that ran off honey and Ben hummed, sneakily conjuring up future remarks in his head, ones pointedly designed to remind Rook that, oh look, they had once again forgotten to screw the lid back on the jar. His hum came to a stop though, as those now-glistening fingers returned to the space beneath them, no doubt to trace out familiar lines along Rook's cock.

'I could've done that,' he pointed out.

But Rook didn't reply, not even to remark on the logical fact that his arms were longer and therefore better able to reach the lubricant in the first place. That was how Ben knew he was in trouble.

No sooner had he thought this then Rook's two palms slammed down on his human hips, supporting them firmly and squeezing slightly at the half-meant 'gross' drifting up from Ben's lips. Ben felt himself make a face, the cool slide of Rook 's lubricant-coated fingers leaving a squelching mark on his right hip bone, before they cupped the rounded edge with a tight firmness, and then, and then-.

Rook suddenly slammed up, something hard and thick and prying stretching its way inside, the same way his fingers had breached moments before. And Ben crashed down on his shoulder, teeth tangling firmly into his fur in retaliation. Annoyingly enough, his partner didn't so much as flinch. At least not the way Ben wanted him too. Instead he heard a groan thrum up from beneath, passing through him, that seemed to echo out into his very teeth.

Not that it wasn't a two way street; for Ben could feel a fire of its own wage its way through him, spiralling up from his stomach and pouring out through his mouth. He bit down harder.

This time there was a reaction. One of Rook's hands curled away from his hip to stroke at his hair. It was not a 'there, there' motion, but it was close enough to sting.

'Ben? '

Ben blinked and removed his teeth, feeling not unlike he'd recently flossed. He just hoped he wouldn't be spitting out mouthfuls of fur later on. He lent back, feeling that odd spasm of tightness shifting through his gut and that even odder shift and roll of his nerves as they ignited at the touch of Rook inside. It felt familiar, like another small spine coming to root at his core.

Ben chuckled. 'Honestly. You worry so much about hurting me and then you just slam into me like that. '

Rook's face froze. 'I-' he started, then stopped.

Ben sighed and tried to relax. 'It's alright,' he murmured, fingers coming up to drift through the fur he'd just shoved into with his teeth. 'Like you said before, I was already loose. Besides,'- and here he grinned, just enough to lift the buzz of hurt from the atmosphere -'it's kinda hot when I make you lose control like that. Ben Ten's still got it.'

Rook sighed. 'Ben Ten should learn not to shovel his way under the skin of another,' he said, as dryly as he was able. But it was difficult, Ben could tell. Pleasure was blunting his words, making them soft when they should be sharp. And because of that, he didn't have the heart to correct the misremembered expression.

'It's a bit late for that, ' he said instead, bringing his hand down to scrape against the space above the chest that held, if he concentrated hard enough, the rhythm of Rook's galloping heart. 'I don't think I'm simply under your skin anymore, dude.'

Rook moaned.

'Please... '

Ben sighed, giving one experimental roll of hips to make sure...yep. They both shivered at the movement. If Rook was anything like him, fire was attempting to lick its way up, through his organs to his very heart. It felt kinda like light and sound crashing into each other.

'Okay, ' said Ben with a shaky breath, as he ran his thumb along the side of Rook's throat. 'You can start, Blonko.'

And Blonko did. Or rather he groaned, right into the side of Ben's neck, teeth just nicking the firm slice of muscle than ran beneath, his fingers tightening into Ben's hips as though they could run grooves into the bones underneath. And then Ben felt a jog of motion catch his hair, supporting all of him as he rose and fell, with a wet slap that on any other occasion would be funny. But he wasn't laughing, couldn't laugh, not with that weird moan bubbling out of his throat, the one that Kevin would probably say was girly, so thank God he wasn't here, especially with Rook like this, staring up at him like he was a god himself, before his chin turned down, a growl tumbling out of his throat as Ben sunk down on him again, everything slamming into blissful, hot, focus-

Rook quickly lent forward and dug his teeth into Ben's neck, a shallow reprimand for thinking. Or perhaps it was because he was just as caught in the moment as Ben was. And Ben, though he didn't have any pointed canines himself, managed a growl all the same, seizing Rook's hands and then tugging at the wrists attached, feeling them fly off his hips with just a touch – God, he loved how obedient Rook was at times.

But there wasn't time to catch his breath, to re-balance himself without their aid. Instead Ben shot up and then thrashed down, legs shaking a little from the force.

'My turn,' he spat out, thoroughly immersed by the pattern of emptiness followed by heat, a detached part of him arriving in the very hollow breath before the storm as he raised himself up, slipped himself free, and then crashed down, grinding down on that thick strip of flesh that pried him open, that helped twist heat through his guts, right up to his head, to his lungs, to the inside of his very breath-

'Oh yes,' he gasped, 'right there, right there, yes, yes, please Blonko, please-'

Blonko, or Rook, as some part of his sentimental heart cried, growled again, hands ramming down on his hips with a fury that left him sore and gasping. That large head curled inwards between them, soaking up what little space remained and ganging, as usual, Ben's flushed face.

Up, down, up, down, racing against the sky, even if the ceiling was in the way, Ben pulling, Rook pushing, and it felt like them, was them, enough for the heat to rise up inside, to feel as though they were fusing together, the bones in Rook's hands, his very fingers, melting into the larger ones cradled within Ben's hips.

'Close,' Ben gasped, his chest seizing, as, for a moment, one of Rook's hands managed to free themselves from this cruel symbiosis, fingers quickly twisting over Ben's own straining dick. 'God, stop that, I'm so close-'

'My name. Again,' Rock managed, his words spat out into animalistic chunks, such a far cry from his usual thesaurus-wielding self, that Ben wanted to laugh.

'Blonko,' he said lowly, the thrum of the word traveling down his spine as it flexed, jumping up before the rest of him had the chance to be pulled open again. 'Blonko,' he repeated again, enjoying the power he felt rolling over them both. 'C'mon, c'mon, you gonna make me scream?'

Something churned, broke free as fingers tightened on his hips again and he was shoved down with a force that felt as though it was enough to shatter bone. But something else shattered instead and Ben cried out, riding it down as his cum splattered out to stain the fur in front of him with an even dirtier white. He felt himself slow, the roll of his hips stuttering slightly as Rook pushed in one last time with a great force of movement, shoulders shaking before he tugged himself out, white sputtering from his own cock as it jerked, once, twice, against Ben's thigh.

For a moment a haze hung about them, heads lowered as Ben's hair drifted just under Rook's nose. Both chests heaved, trying to refill with air and shake away some of the emptiness that still clung inside. Rook, naturally was the first to recover, Ben could feel it in the way he felt the legs beneath him stiffen, not in a tense way, but in more 'I am alert and here' fashion. And then Rook's fingers were diving into his hair line, wrapping against his cheek to find his chin and prop it up, just long enough for Rook's mouth to find his own and linger there, chaste and suitably soft.

Ben moaned a little, more at the show of tenderness than any residual heat behind the action, and then tried not to feel too embarrassed as Rook pulled away and smiled at him knowingly.

'Don't get all smug, man,' Ben warned.

'I believe I am entitled to it,' Rook said, suddenly sounding formal as hell. 'I kept my promise; I made you scream.'

Ben huffed, though he only half-meant it and reached up to thread his fingers up round Rook's ears, letting them dip down to rub against their rounded base rather than the pointed tips. Rook was quite sensitive there and it showed in the way his eyes briefly closed and his head lent forward, pushing further into the touch.

'Alright, tough guy,' Ben said, amused at how much weight Rook was placing in his hands, 'next time, you can be the one to ride me.'

'I fear I would crush you.'

Ben frowned. 'Just how weak do you think I am?'

Rook sighed impatiently and raised his head. 'I simply do not want to see you uncomfortable. '

'Dude,' Ben said flatly. 'At times like these, you're meant to shut up and enjoy the moment, rather than try to be all clever. You're just digging yourself into a deeper hole.'

Rook frowned and Ben enjoyed seeing the way he could see the other raid his memory, before Rook's eyes widened, pupils swinging back to Ben with alarm.

Ben sniggered. 'Guess you've heard that one, huh?'

'Yes, I...but how am I getting myself-'

Ben rolled his eyes and lifted up a hand, letting his palm collide smoothly with Rook's face before he pressed it down firmly towards the pillow.

'You get yourself out of the hole by shutting up and letting me sleep on you.'

Rook grunted, and Ben smiled to feel the air pushed out beneath his fingers in a ripple of heat.

'You will wake up sweaty and overheated, as usual,' the Revonnahgander warned.

'Don't care,' mumbled Ben, 'you're supposed to sleep in the same bed as someone after you've had sex with them. Otherwise what's the point?'

His mind was drifting, falling into a lazy black, but he could still feel the buzz of Rook's brain at work.

'C'mon,' he murmured, 'pleeeease...'

It really was magic word. Because at times, like now, it really did make Rook sigh and shut up. Ben smiled as he felt a few fingers twist into his hair, cradling the back of his neck with a dim possessiveness and decided there was nothing to worry about.

Two hours later, Ben woke up sticky, a little flushed and then feeling thoroughly dismayed as he looked over to see the crinkled, collapsed tower of Mr Smoothies. A dull scent of lime, lemon and peaches flooded the bedroom, all from the crushed ice that had managed to scatter not only into the buckets, but out past the perimeter and into the carpet. And of course, it wasn't so much ice anymore, as it was a stain of dried liquid.

'Aww, man!'

To his side, Rook pretended to sleep, a slight smile on his face.

Ben shook his shoulder. 'C'mon Rook, looks like we're on cleaning duty!'

The smile turned into a scowl as Rook buried his head further into the pillow.

'...I know you're awake.'

Rook groaned and prayed for autumn to come early that year.

Notes: I'm not sure whether Ben would ever call Rook by his chosen name, even if they did get in a relationship. I suppose it's possible that he could gradually transition into it, especially if Blonko himself insisted on it, but then again, I'm not entirely sure if that's what would happen? It's clear canonically at least, that Rook is essentially what Ben identifies him as, despite learning at some point that's it's his family name, (when I assume he thought it was his proper name at the beginning of their partnership?).

I suspect I may be heavily influenced by the way another pairing in a different show I liked went down, one where for years of their acquaintance both people referred to each other by their surname. They do, in moments of emotional vulnerability and so forth, refer to each other by their first names, but those moments are few and far between. And once they do get together, they still mostly label each other by their surnames, though they do, or at least one of them does, feel more comfortable addressing each other by their Christian names in certain moments. I guess they've corresponded to each other in a certain manner for so long, that their surnames have, as a matter of course, become their actual names for each other. The emotional significance is bundled in there, in a way it perhaps wouldn't be for other couples.

And I guess I kinda see the same thing happening in relation to how Ben addresses Rook.