He was currently in the midst of typing out a report for the leaders that were keeping an eye on their humble little space ship in the solar system. It wasn't easy, portraying Ben as a responsible, adult-like figure, worthy of having one of the most powerful weapons in the universe in his possession. But try he did, and he figured his portrayal was fine, even if it did stretch the truth a bit.
"Whatcha doin?" a voice asked from somewhere near his elbow.
Hoverboard jumped in his seat and winced as he felt the synthesized plastic creak beneath his weight. "Ben?" he asked, turning his chair so that the ten year old came into view.
Ben grinned and waved in that childish way most four year olds wave by flexing the fingers of the hand open and closed without actually moving his hand at all. "Hey there," he said amiably with a grin.
"Ben, what are you doing here?" Hoverboard asked while slowly settling down from Ben's sneak attack. It was amazing how quiet he could be when he wanted to.
"I was bored," Ben replied simply. There was nothing behind his reason, no particular need to be there at that moment. Just, he was ten, he was bored and he was probably a little homesick and a familiar face, even if not that familiar in retrospect, went a long way in helping Ben cope with his current situation.
"I… see," Hoverboard said with that wise tone adults use when they really have no idea what the child just said.
"Uh huh," Ben replied with a raised eyebrow. He knew, and Hoverboard knew that he didn't see at all and for all how much Hoverboard understood Ben; Ben may as well have been singing the A B C's in Greek. But, whether or not they were human, crystal being, underwater creature or any other type of physical being, the relationship between children and adults could be summed up in the classic phrase 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.' And neither one would say it out loud, even if they were both fully aware of it.
"What do you want?" Hoverboard asked, trying desperately to think of a way to get Ben to go off somewhere else.
Ben frowned, not sure of the question or his reply. "I don't know," he said slowly. "Something to do, I guess."
"Oh," Hoverboard said lamely. He didn't know how to answer and he didn't know how to deal with Ben so he sat there and looked at Ben while the child stared back with his own inquisitive gaze. They stood there for a full minute while thoughts raced through Hover board's head. 'Why is he staring? What am I supposed to do?'
Ben blinked suddenly and the next question came out of his mouth before he even could let it process in his own mind. "How old are you?"
Hoverboard visibly relaxed as Ben broke the tension that he had unknowingly created. "Old?" he asked.
"Yeah like… how many years have you been alive or whatever you use to measure age," Ben added as an afterthought.
"I do not think I am able to calculate my age in your earth years," Hoverboard said thoughtfully, giving the question serious thought. "However, on my planet we measure age by what stage of life we're in," he noted. "With each stage of life comes a new appearance, new abilities and new responsibilities."
"Wow, cool," Ben said in awe. It was neat to learn how the other aliens lived and what their lives were like. Their lives were so very different from his own. "So, what stage are you in?"
"I am in my 1,253rd stage starting in two hours," Hoverboard said with a smile.
Ben's mouth dropped open and he found himself at a loss for words.
"I never said that they were obvious changes," Hoverboard noted. "A lengthening of a spine here, or gaining the ability to use the crystal as weaponry. It's all a part of growing up."
"That's like celebrating my age every time a new cell is made in my body," Ben blinked.
"No," Hoverboard replied bluntly. "I do not have cells. I am not alive in the same way your human body is. We grow and mature differently, the similarity is that we both have consciousnesses. That's about it."
"So then, do you have birthdays? Or parties or anything?" Ben asked.
"We celebrate the very important 'changes' with rituals and what you could call 'parties,' why?" Hoverboard asked.
Ben frowned and crossed his arms, looking as thoughtful as a ten year old could. "I have an idea," he said slowly and looked up with something of a mischievous grin on his face. "But you can't come into the kitchen for a few hours, okay?"
"You mean the eating quarters?" Hoverboard asked.
Ben waved a hand carelessly and was already halfway to the door. "Whatever," he called back. "Just don't come, okay?"
Hoverboard shrugged and didn't think of it as he turned back to his work, slightly glad to be rid of the distraction and slightly lonely for the lack of conversation.
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Ben ran into the kitchen and began to sift through the computer, looking for the things he knew he needed. As he gathered several of the supplies on the counter Tech came in and peered up at Ben through his bulbous eyes. "What are you adhering to, may I inquire?"
Ben made a face as he sifted through the alien's speech patterns. "You mean, what am I doing?"
Tech paused then nodded. "Yes, what are you doing?"
"I'm making a cake for Hoverboard," Ben said as he pulled a sack of flour out of the computer.
Tech blinked slowly, digesting this information. Logic dictated his next question, as it always did. "Why?"
"Because, today is his birthday," Ben said simply, offering no further explanation beyond that. In his mind, it made perfect sense. Hoverboard had basically told him that in two hours he would celebrate what he knew to be his birthday. So, why not spice it up a little? And kill his boredom in the process.
"Okay," Tech said slowly, not quite understanding, but accepting it nonetheless.
"Wanna help?" Ben asked cheerfully as he took out a bottle of vanilla.
"Very well," Tech replied and used a small elevator that was installed in the side of the counter for his use to get up to where he may be of some help to Ben. "Do you know how to make this… cake?" he said, testing the word out and searching through his memory to see if he knew what a cake was to begin with.
Ben nodded, "Kinda," he admitted. "Mom taught me. She said if I was going to eat so much sugar, I may as well learn to make it on my own." Ben laughed a short, sad laugh and Tech could tell that Ben missed his family on earth. "So, is there an oven around here at all?" he asked while looking around.
"We do not have this 'oven' as all of our food comes to us ready for consumption," Tech explained.
"Right… right…" Ben said slowly, trying to think of a solution. "Homemade cakes taste so much better though," he sighed.
"What tastes better?" Sun asked as he wandered into the kitchen.
"Cake!" Ben said happily. He looked over the alien and a slow grin spread over his face.
Sun glanced uneasily back as he got some food out of the computer. "I've learned about that look. You're plotting something. What do you want?"
"Wanna help me bake a cake?" Ben asked, meaning the question literally.
"Cake?" Sun asked.
"Yeah, it's really good and I'm making one for Hoverboard. We don't have an oven and it needs to be exposed to heat in order to cook," Ben explained as he began to dump flour into a bowl he fished out from a cupboard.
Sun chuckled, "Well then, I'm your person," he noted while forming a fireball in his hand.
"Can you make your fire a specific temperature?" Ben asked.
"Is that too much?" Tech asked quietly as Ben poured nearly a quarter of the sugar bag into the bowl.
Ben shook his head, "No. Cakes have sugar, lots of it."
Tech glanced at the mound but didn't say anything in reply.
"Yeah, probably," Sun answered Ben's question. "Why?"
"Can you make it 400 degrees?" Ben asked while he concentrated on putting a little of vanilla into the mix without measuring tools.
"Degrees?" Sun asked.
"Yeah like…" Ben stopped short and frowned. "I uhhh…"
"Farenheit?" Tech asked.
"I think," Ben replied.
"Sun, he wishes for the temperature to be 2.456 megaunits," Tech said, doing the math in his head.
"That's kind of cold," Sun said with a frown.
"Yeah, but if you turn the heat up while making a cake it doesn't cook faster," Ben said wisely while adding milk to the mix. "Trust me, I tried. I ended up setting off all the fire alarms in the house and mom got really upset at me."
"That's not what I meant," Sun sighed. "I mean, I don't know if I can lower my temperature that much."
"Externally?" Ben asked. "I don't remember being too warm when I went alien in your form," he noted while looking at the ceiling thoughtfully as he poured in the vegetable oil.
"Well, externally is a different story," Sun noted. "How long?"
"I think something like… 30 minutes…" Ben said slowly as he looked around for something to mix the cake batter with.
"56 micros," Tech said in response to Sun's questioning glance.
"That long?" he asked Ben.
Ben banged his head as he came up from under the cupboards while looking for a mixing tool. "Ow! Yeah, they take awhile to make."
"What does?" Red asked.
Ben looked at Red and grinned. He pulled out a larger bowl and placed it over the bowl he had used and handed them to Red with a broad smile. "Shake these really hard and you'll find out."
Red nodded and did as he was told.
When Ben pulled the lid off, the four of them peered into the bowl to look at the mixture. "It looks kind of like… soulath," Red said slowly.
"It's not done," Ben replied and poured the batter into the lone circular pan he had managed to find. He handed it to Sun and nodded. "Please?"
Sun sighed and held the pan between two hands and regulated the temperature evenly through it. Meanwhile Ben went back over to the computer and pulled out water and powdered sugar. "More sugar?" Tech asked.
Ben nodded, "Yeah, for the icing," he said and promptly poured the contents of the bag into a new bowl. The fine power rose up into the air and settled over the boy in a fine layer but he didn't seem to mind as he poured the water in and a little oil and began to mix vigorously.
After that was done, he wandered around the kitchen cleaning up things as best he could while making even more of a mess. He dropped the flour twice and the sugar once. The oil somehow ended up on the floor and the lone egg that was left over ended up smashed on the counter. Ben was covered in powder and batter as he stacked the dirty bowls but he looked immensely happy for some reason so the aliens that were scuttling after him didn't have the heart to tell him that he was only making things worse.
Finally, Ben deemed the cake to be done and Sun set it on the counter. It was a beautiful golden brown and it smelled delicious. "Mmm," Ben said happily as he spread his own icing over the cake. "Awesome," he said happily and waved the pan to try and cool it down.
"I got it," Red said and picked up the pan. "Where to?"
Hoverboard heard the little procession come into his room before he bothered to turn around to see who was there. When he did, he merely gawked at the messy boy in front of him. Ben held out a small brown something or other, covered in goo in a pan and he himself was covered in god knows what, but he looked happy as he said, "Happy Birthday Hoverboard."
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laughs I'll do a follow up chapter I swear. This just seemed like a cute place to stop. God, Ben is so damn evil when he wants to be, cooking like that XD Sorry if I went OOC at all, I tried not to