The first time Ben notices Mike Morningstar's interest in Gwen, he brushes it off as a passing thing. Mike flirts with any pretty girl that comes within his massive orbit. It's normal.
Mike has shown interest in plenty of girls who have passed in and out of his life. The joke amongst his team was always who the new girl of the week was. Ben knows this because Manny can't keep the team gossip to himself.
Ben appreciates this because it keeps him ahead of Rook on placing bets about their coworkers. Ben can't help that he loves invading on his coworkers personal lives.
So imagine the surprise on Ben's face when he notices Mike's continued advances to openly flirt with Gwen, right in front of Ben by the way. This past week alone Ben has clocked Mike saying the most textbook flowery compliments to Gwen at least ten times. Not to mention the small touches he's passing on Gwen's arms.
Now Ben's not interested in Gwen, she's like family at this point. It just feels weird to him how openly Mike flirts when Ben is less than a foot away. He acts like Ben isn't there half the time. Which is hard considering Ben makes the most obnoxious fake barfing noise when Mike drags on for too long.
Gwen calls him annoying and insanely immature; he calls it strategic use of ending a conversation when they have somewhere to be.
"How old are you again?" Gwen asked him the last time he did this.
"I think twenty last time I checked." He smiled at her innocently. "Why do you ask?"
Gwen smacked him in his chest, hard, "Because I don't think men who are twenty should be making gagging noises when their friend is chatting up someone!" she hissed out at him.
Ben smiled even more at her, "Actually if you must know, I take great pride in being this obnoxious at such an old age. Keeps me young. It's a gift really."
Gwen rolled her eyes at him, "Then you need to ask for a gift exchange and take it back." she brushed by him fuming. If he squinted he could see the steam coming out of her ears.
The second time Ben notices Mike's interest is a few weeks after Ben introduced Gwen to him. Manny tells Ben about the new girl Mike is seeing. The news of a girlfriend isn't anything unheard of, but when Rook comes back after his day with Gwen, he mentions how Mike interrupted their lunch with a human courting ritual.
That just sends red flags up for Ben, but he doesn't push the subject. He decides to wait. Gwen is probably just a passing interest for Mike, most girls were.
Then Mike decides to start crashing most of Gwen's lunches, either with Rook or Ben. Today happens to be the first lunch in a while that Ben, Rook, and Gwen can share, and Ben spots the blonde man from across the dining room waving at Gwen.
She smiles politely at him, and as if that was an invitation, he makes his way over.
Ben rolls his eyes and nudges Rook next to him.
"Here comes Morningstar...again." Ben mutters as he shoves food into his mouth.
Gwen turns and sends a sharp look to Ben, "He's just being friendly don't be rude!" She whispers at him.
"Yeah, he seems to be real friendly as of late." Ben replies in a laugh and looks at Rook beside him.
Rook nods in agreement but doesn't open his mouth.
Ben feels Gwen swiftly kick his shins under the table.
"Ow! Gwen! What was that for?" Ben screeches in pain.
"Could you be any more immature!" She says stabbing her own meal with her fork.
"What's wrong with him showing a little interest in me?"
Before Ben or Rook can open their mouths Mike glides over and sits in the open chair next to Gwen.
"Hello lovely Gwen." He smiles at her, lifts her hand to his lips and presses a light kiss on it. Gwen's face flushes bright pink.
Ben turns around to make a gagging motion towards Rook. His partner just frowns at him.
"Ben, I do not think Gwen is wrong here." Rook whispers over to him.
The two look across the table to see Gwen talking animatedly about some new mana tricks she's learned and the spell she's recently trying out. Mike's giving her his full attention, hanging off her every work.
"He looks to be very interested in Gwen and their shared abilities. Why should she not be excited about it?" Rook says as he watches the two before him, completely oblivious to fact they are being talked about.
Ben rolls his eyes at Rook, "Because I heard from Manny, he has a new girlfriend. If you lay with dogs don't be surprised when you get fleas." Ben replied. He crosses his arms and eyes Mike like he was about to pounce on Gwen at any moment.
Rook is quiet for a minute before he responds, "I do not think Mike has fleas Ben." Rook mumbles quietly.
Ben sighs, "Not what that expression means Rook."
Rook looks confused, "Why do humans have such weird sayings? What does laying with dogs mean?"
Ben just shakes his head at Rook, "I'll tell you later, but just know it isn't a good thing."
Rook nods his head in agreement with Ben before the two continue to watch Gwen and Mike talk enthusiastically about something the two men missed during their own conversation.
Ben stands and slams his hands on the table, interrupting the flow of conversation.
"We have to go Gwen; we have a meeting with Kevin soon." Ben says grabbing the plates off the table to discard them.
Gwen gives Rook a questioning look and he just lifts his shoulders and shrugs in response.
"He is right Gwen, we have a few things we need to get done today." Rook replies.
"Meetings with our big gruff prince? What could you possibly be discussing with Kevin?"
Gwen's face twists into one of discomfort and slight irritation. Mike can see that he's messed up and starts peddling back.
"Not that you aren't important enough to meet with him," he says, "just that you had a meeting with him yesterday didn't you?" Mike flashes a bright smile at Gwen.
"Not that it's any concern to you Mike," Gwen starts and moves to stand up. "but what I talk about with Kevin is private information."
Ben and Rook are standing and watching Gwen as she speaks, her face is stern and any joy from the previous conversation she had was gone.
Gwen moves past Ben and Rook and starts leaving toward their next destination. Rook immediately moves to follow her, but Ben lingers slightly watching Mike's baffled reaction.
Ben sees Mike's face contort in anger slightly and he just laughs. "I know your job is intel and to find information Morningstar but flirting with Gwen won't get you closer to working directly with Kevin."
Mike's head turns quickly to glower at Ben.
"That's not what I'm doing Tennyson-" Ben cuts him off and waves his hand at him dismissively.
"Sure it's not. I've seen you work for years Mike; I think I can tell when you're up to something!" Ben continues to laugh as he leaves to follow his partners.
Ben leaves behind a fuming and red in the face Mike Morningstar. He feels slightly better knowing that Gwen can see through him in moments like that.
He decides to just observe Gwen and Mike from a distance and if he hears anything else, he'll mention it to her. He trusts her to make smart choices on her own.
Ben hasn't known Gwen for longer than a month, but he thinks he has a decent understanding of her. Watching her constantly can do that to a person. He finds Gwen to be a friend first and someone he guards as his duty second.
Kind of like Kevin.
He smiles at that thought. He thinks Gwen has gotten close to all of them. She's wormed her way into their group dynamic well. She's even spending time with Kevin doing who knows what, once a week. Kevin hates spending time with anyone other than Ben or Rook. Ben's always on thin ice with Kevin's patience anyway.
It feels nice, he decides as he walks into Kevin's study and sees Rook, Kevin, Grandpa Max, and now Gwen are all looking at him, waiting.
It feels like his weird little family is complete.
"So, what are we talking about?" Ben smiles widely at the group and closes the study door behind him.
