AN: Chapter twenty-one! :D
BethanForever, I totes understand! Waaaaasss just curious is all. I don't watch Shadow Hunters, mostly because I've read the Infernal Devices, and some of the Mortal Instruments, and I know that the movie/TV adaptations usually don't do any justice. But I LOVE Magnus, you know, he went out with a werewolf once too! lol, anyway, hope you're doing well, and happy writing :)
MBAV fan66, excellent analysis :D lol you're always so insightful, I enjoy you're reviews immensely. Yes, I guess slash isn't some people's cup of tea, and it amuses me more than anything, but...yeah, I do put warnings on the chapters and in the summaries, so it is kind of annoying. :b Hope the pools open up soon!
TeamEthanMorgan, dude you totally have a place in the fandom :b and thanks! Even if I am lazy, I am going to try and update more frequently, if not for anything else, to get the guilt off my back. I feel like I've lost some thunder in the last couple of years Dx this fandom has surely died down a little. And thank you, I do try to keep my writing style consistent and easy to follow, and I'm glad it's one you find enjoyable.
Just wanted to give a few shout-outs to a few special reviewers who appear to read my AN's! Thanks for still being into the story, even if my lazy ass has neglected it for a long time, and thank you for your continued support. I can't promise I'll do this shout-out thing every time, but figured I'd try it out. :) Anyway, it may be an odd chapter this time, but I just need to stretch my literary wings is all. I'm working on Vampire Blood and Five Night's At Jesse's as well, (and others too, but these three in particular) so I plan on being at least a little busy this summer.
See you at the bottom!
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Ethan looked around for a tree to climb and do what he had with Cody, but, as he'd fought and argued with the smoke-man, all of the trees had been engulfed in the flames, which seemed to grow hotter with each minute. There were no trees to climb, and he knew that the further he ran away from this wall of unforgiving flames, the further he got from the Weir house.
There was no where to run.
"What can I do?" Ethan asked himself quietly. It had been so long since he's heard even a word about an emergency fire drill...and it would have been so much easier if this were a normal fire! Then at least, Benny could be thrown or carried across safely. What the hell did people even do in cases like this? Or did they all just die?
Hysteria pushed a short chuckle through his lips as he briefly contemplated dropping and rolling in an attempt to out a path in the flames.
Think, Ethan! The boy shook his head slowly, his thoughts a jumbled mess and making his head hurt more. You're the one to always think of a way out when Benny's whims fail. That's just how it goes. Why are you flaking out now?!
"There's always a way." Ethan looked up and around and tried to hold his breath. If Benny had only had his spellbook with him...if Ethan only had magic of his own. Discounting his visions, but he wasn't about to stick a hand in the fire now, he'd only hurt himself, and a vision would do him no good now anyway.
Fire drills, Ethan thought hysterically. Surviving a fire! What were the steps...one, decide whether to fight or die, but that was in any case...step two, children are a priority, three don't open hot doors...and if all else failed, cry for help.
"C-Cody!" Ethan grated out harshly. But he knew somehow, that Cody wasn't coming, that he couldn't even if he were conscious. The thud he'd heard earlier had to be the older man falling to the ground. That meant that unless Cody healed miraculously and woke up to crawl away on his own, he was in danger too. "Gran...Gran-ma Weir!"
Ethan stopped in place and stumbled, desperate not to fall. They weren't normal people, so of course a normal course of action wouldn't work...his werewolf stamina was almost nonexistent now, but what other abilities did he have?
A brief image of Katee's tongue against his irritated skin flashed into his mind and he looked down to where he grasped Benny's wrists, which were still slick, but drying quickly. He could...take off his shirt and cover Benny's face with it, and then...lick his arms and neck until he was fire-proof? Was werewolf spit something special? He knew it had numbing properties, maybe even mild healing properties, but he didn't know if it would work.
Ethan blinked a couple of times, owlishly, before he tried to force his eyes to change, to become those of a werewolf's. He hissed at first, the brightness of the fire searing his sensitive, super-canine retina's, but then blanched when he saw the outlines of two figures through the thick flames. Two figures, one limp and being dragged by the other.
Just as the two figures reached safety from the fire, the figure standing upright turned and looked at him. Then, he disappeared, just...disappeared.
Mentally contemplating how long it would take him to slaver Benny in his spit, Ethan prepared to call for the person to come back. If they, by chance, weren't an enemy, then...
"Ethan." A voice asked from behind him, and Ethan turned slowly, disbelievingly to see a blonde-haired male standing right beside him.
"Rory...?" Ethan asked in astonishment, and it only took a moment for him to have taken Benny off his back and shoved toward Rory's arms. "Get him out of here!"
"Hey, it's chill." Rory smiled and slung Benny over his shoulder, reaching out for Ethan as well. "I can carry you too! It's a good thing I was doing runs for the council, huh?"
Sighing in pure relief, Ethan sagged against his blonde friend, once again being grateful beyond belief as the vampire put him at ease.
"Yeah, Ror. Thanks."
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"I can't belief you set the theater's fire alarms off." Ethan laughed as Benny shook out his hair, dripping water all over the table. "It's really a good thing you've been practicing that camouflage spell or we would've been done for."
"Yeah, well." Benny smiled and dumped an unhealthy amount of sugar into the coffee that had been brought to him. "That's me. Always good to have around."
'Can't argue with that.' Ethan thought and stared openly and fondly at his friend, who promptly burned himself as he sipped from his mug.
"So, what do you think about checking out the new zoo next week? Or maybe tomorrow?" Benny asked, then sucked on his bottom lip, nursing the burn from drinking his coffee too fast. "I need some elephant hair to replace what I took from Grandma's stash last week."
"Okay, first of all, this is going to end up just like it did in Tarzan." Ethan held up a hand with an eye-roll. "I just know it, and what did you need elephant hair for anyway? Were you trying to grow a beard again?"
Ethan chuckled and, for a reason he didn't know or comprehend, reached out to trail the backs of his fingers lightly over Benny's damp and completely hair-free face. Even slippery, his skin felt nice- and suddenly, Ethan realized that there were things he didn't quite know about his best friend.
He also didn't know that the simple act of touching someone else could bring him such contentment- and Benny's face had warmed under his ministrations.
Benny, however, didn't seem too bothered by it, and only 'hmph'd and batted his hand away playfully. Ethan pulled his hand away, wondering what exactly had gotten into him, to be so bold.
"No, but that's a good idea." The spellmaster's spine straightened, and if he were a cartoon or comic, Ethan swore there would have been a lightbulb flashing above his head. "Facial hair is so going to be in this summer, E, you'll see."
"Yeah, whatever." Ethan shook his head and then nodded to their waitress, who had placed a hearty helping of what appeared to be lasagna in front of the two. "Don't let Rory hear that, he'll be chopping off his dad's hair again to super-glue it onto his chin."
"Again, not- well, yeah, that's pretty bad." Benny made a face, and then dug into his helping of Italian food. "Hey, well maybe we can just watch a movie or play video games when we get back home. Oh my god, this lasagna is amazing! It tastes like pizza!"
"Huh?" Ethan blinked, and then looked down at his plate. He took a small bite, and was surprised to taste that it was just like pizza, except in lasagna form. "Oh, yeah, check that out. Cool...and a new movie with candy and popcorn sounds great, the last test Mrs. LOL gave us was brutal. I never understood Hamlet."
"Yeah, literally a whole other language." Benny agreed, and gestured wildly to his plate as he chewed. "Wow, they even got the gumballs in there, and the extra garlic. Weird, but awesome! I didn't even know they sold lasagna at Moonbucks."
Startled, Ethan halted with his fork half-way to his mouth and looked over at Benny's plate, and could see his plate suddenly overflowing with colorful gumballs and garlic cloves. Ethan blanched, and looked down at his own plate- which was clear of lasagna, and now had a peanut butter-cup pizza on it, shaped perfectly into a heart.
"What?" Ethan asked himself, looking over to find that his fork had suddenly turned into a ladle. "Huh? Benny-"
"Yeah, E?" Benny asked, blowing a bubble, and wearing a suit and tie. This time without the flamboyant colors and bow he usually donned. His dress-shoe clad feet were crossed and propped up on the table, and he was also sipping coffee with a newspaper magically turning itself in front of him.
"Dude! This is Star...uh, Moonbucks, and what are you doing with that newspaper?!" Ethan ranted and swatted it out of the air. Beside him, it began rolling itself into a long paper rod. "And why are you dressed like that?" A pause. "How could you stand to eat so much garlic?"
"Ah, good points, all good points! The pizza does have a lot of carbs, doesn't it?" Benny swung his legs off the table and stood up, reaching a hand out to grasp Ethan's hands. "Don't worry about it, E. Don't you trust me?"
"Well that doesn't have anything-" Ethan was shocked into silence when Benny suddenly pulled him flush against him. The hug was warm and genuine, briefly arising uncomfortable thoughts the seer wasn't sure he enjoyed having. Ethan would have found himself flustered, if it weren't for Erika, approaching from the entrance to the shop in a stunning red dress.
"Benny, what-?"
"I knew I could count on you, E." Benny pulled away and smiled brightly, slapping him on the shoulder and squeezing.
"For this much, at least! But hey, the garlic thing reminds me-" Benny held up a hand and sprayed something in his mouth, which smelled a lot like a weird, rusty cologne. "I should lay off. After all, no girl will kiss me if my mouth smells like Italian pizza all the time, especially my hot blonde babe."
"..." Ethan couldn't believe his ears. Or his eyes, which almost popped out of his head as Erika walked up and draped an arm around Benny's tall form.
"Did you ask him yet?" She asked lowly, blue eyes shining like the sky. Ethan's own eyes narrowed as Benny's arm encircled her waist. Surely, Erika would throw him off at any moment now, for daring to touch her- like she'd done in the past. Maybe she's even go through with her threats and make a meal out of him.
Ethan hesitated. "Ask me...what?"
"To be my best man, E! Erika and I are getting married." Benny stated, just as the rolled-up newspaper began whacking Ethan violently over the head, and although Benny was now passionately making out with the blonde vixen, Ethan could hear his words like they were being played through the ceiling-speakers of the coffee shop.
"I knew I could count on you, E- for this much, at least!"
"No girl will want to kiss me-"
"Don't you trust me?"
"Hey, what's up?"
"I knew I could count on you, E-"
"Dude, what's going on?" Abruptly the world seemed to shake with the new voice. "E? Ethan...?"
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"Don't! No...too soon for marriage..bite you!" The seer was murmuring. Blue eyes, gentler than Erika's, blinked down at him.
"Ethan?" Rory was shaking him gently by his shoulder, and Ethan came to, feeling sick and groaning in pain. The blonde's face was thoroughly confused and curious. "Dude, what's up with you? Who's getting married? And when have you ever worried about carbs?"
"Huh..." Ethan woke slowly, and then shot up in bed suddenly. "Ah!"
"Ahh!" Rory yelled back, stepping away as Ethan sat straight up on the mattress, and then lied back down just as quickly, coughing violently. "Man, your eyes are freaky! Don't do that to a guy!"
"Oh, like you're one to talk." Ethan grated out, and shifted on the bed. "Ugh, everything hurts...what happened?"
"Well..." Rory scratched the back of his neck. "After I carried you and B back to his Grandma's house..you know, where we are now, you screamed at everyone not to let Benny die, and then collapsed on the porch. Well, you would have yelled, if your throat hadn't have been smoked raw, so it came out more as a weird zombie noise."
"Oh man..." Ethan slumped against the bed he was laying in- Benny's bed, he realized, now that he looked around. "I suck. I passed out again."
"Yeah, it was pitiful." Rory said in that way of his that managed to make the comment non-insulting. "But it's totes okay, Benny's grandma had everything under control. She patched up that goth dude and had Benny's breathing back to normal in no time. Yours too, though she said that it was some weird healing mojo you'd been infected with that did most of the work...you know, I don't think they know that I know about you being a dog."
"...huh..." Ethan's eyes drooped tiredly. He was sure if he didn't have the nightmare he just did, he would still be sleeping. What had he dreamed about? The weirdness was already slipping away from his memory, and Ethan was kind of glad it was. "Well...that's good."
"Yeah!" Rory smiled brightly. "Oh, and hey, once you feel up to it, you have visitors! Though Benny's grandma said they have to be gone by nine, and on of them needs to wait outside."
"Visitors?" Ethan asked, and then sighed. "So Grandma finally went the extra step and set a visitors schedule, like an actual hospital..."
"Well, anyway." Rory stood up from where he'd been looming over the brunet. "Benny's out, and I don't think his grandma's going to be making cookies anytime soon. So, what should we do now?"
All Ethan could do was smile slyly and pull Benny's comforter over his head.
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"I think I should just go alone." Someone was murmuring, making the words especially hard to hear as consciousness slowly seeped into the teen's mind and body, like molasses through gauze. "No one but me and Grandma Weir is in any state to walk, let alone come along."
"Like you're in any better shape than I am." Another voice answered. "Listen, don't be a hero, especially so soon after what happened. We've still got time, we only just found out about it a few hours ago."
"Yeah, but I'd rather do it now while the notion is fresh." The first voice sighed, and as Benny slowly came to, he realized it was Ethan's gentle tones. "Otherwise it'll be hanging over me, and we might lose it like we lost a couple of others."
"Senna can go with you, if you really need someone." The second voice- Cody, answered, and Benny cracked his eyes open to see a dark ceiling, and a rotating ceiling fan. "Which I think you do. I'm sure that idiot dick-face would want to come with as well, but I wouldn't mention anything."
"I need to talk to Tyson, but not right now."
Benny turned his head painfully towards Ethan's answer, and found the door to the guest bedroom cracked open. Near thew bottom of the door, he could see shadows.
"You need to be careful more than anything." Cody sighed. "You're not even at half optimum power, Ethan. The burns on your arms haven't even gone away yet, and that's saying something, considering..."
"It's barely been a day." Ethan retorted. "These are the first injuries I've sustained since I've become a werewolf, I don't know the extent of my healing ability. Jason's told me I'm still developing...I feel fine."
"You're developing, alright." Cody hissed. "Developing into a basket-case! You're a newly turned werewolf, not Superman! Just sit back for a minute and let us think this through. We still need to analyze that stupid fire symbol- and you need to draw it, since you're the only one who saw it."
"I agree with Cody, Ethan." Grandma's voice joined the conversation. "It's just too soon, would you please not worry an old lady? It would be best to wait until someone else is fit to go with you."
"Can everyone please stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Benny rasped in barely a whisper and right away the door had creaked open to reveal three anxious faces.
"No one was talking about you." Ethan rolled his eyes, but smiled ruefully as he eyed Benny, sitting semi-upright on the bed. "You goof."
"What are you doing awake anyway?" Cody grumbled, dressed in a black muscle-shirt, boxers and a head towel. "You were supposed to be out until at least twelve."
"Oh, hush, both of you, and get out of the way." Grandma shooed them both aside, and Ethan stepped into the room as well. "I need to refill the humidifier water anyway."
"I'll do that." Ethan stopped her from going to the dresser on the other side of the room. "You just go lie down. I think out of all of us, you need the most rest."
"I'm old, Ethan, I'm not invalid." Grandma sighed, but handed the jars of herbs over to Ethan as she turned towards Benny. Coming closer, she laid a hand on his warm shoulder and spoke in a gentle voice. "It was a fine and brave thing you did today, son. Your magic is developing nicely and in a most fascinating manner, but we'll save that conversation for another time. You'll be a fine sorcerer one day."
Benny smiled softly and let himself be comforted briefly by his grandmother's tone and praise. "So, everything turned out okay? And I'm not in my death bed?"
Grandma rolled her eyes and leant down and ruffled his hair. "Everything is gonna be alright. You'll be fine, you've just gotta clear all that smoke out of your lungs, and get some bed rest."
"We'll see to that personally." Cody added from the hallway. "So no sneaking around, Benjamin, or we'll sic Ethan on you."
Grandma smiled back at him as she left the room. "Brace yourself, boy."
"Yeah, brace yourself." Cody popped his head in the humid room and smiled playfully before walking back down the hallway with Grandma close behind. The door softly clicked closed behind them.
"Huh?" Benny wondered aloud. Confused, he looked over to where Ethan was emptying a bottle of pink liquid into the humidifier. He also poured a tiny amount of green syrup and crushed a few dried purple flowers in his hand before throwing those in as well. The last thing he dropped inside was a small, thing stick topped with a clear fluid that Benny didn't recognize.
"Did I miss something?"
"Nah. Not really." Ethan answered, sighing as he screwed the lid back on the humidifier and started to clean the surface of the large chest that sat at the end of the bed. "Just a lot of chasing our tails around like a bunch of fools."
"...so it's been a day so far?" Benny asked quietly, holding a hand against his aching chest. "Since the smoke man..."
"Yeah, about that." Ethan looked up and gave a small smile. "You passed out right before Rory showed up and flew us away from the fire."
"Rory saved us?" Benny asked incredulously. "Man, we're getting rusty if vampire-dork has to fly to our rescue."
"Well, can't argue there. But Rory did come through, and it was completely by chance, so I thanked him for both of us. He saved Cody too, and helped your grandma install new seals on the roof."
"Surprise, surprise. We'll have to buy him a yo-yo or something as a token of appreciation." The spellmaster winced as he sat up, and was glad to find Ethan ready to help him, arranging his pillows behind him to make sitting up easier. A cool glass of water was soon pressed into his hand. "Thanks."
"No problem." Ethan sat down next to him. "By the way, you need a shower, and some new bandages. Surprisingly, you're hands came out almost unscathed."
Looking down at his hands with furrowed brows, Benny noticed a faint and greenish-gray residue on his skin, just beginning to flake off. It must have been one of Grandma's special ointments.
"Weird..." Benny echoed his thoughts and turned his hands around again before reaching out and taking another sip of the water, grimacing as it burned in his throat.
"It must have been the gel that covered your hands after you did that thing with the ice." Ethan shrugged, but had a very pleased look on his face.
"Hey," Benny started suddenly, wanting to talk about his use of random magic as well, but wanting to know something else more. "You're not planning on leaving, are you?"
Ethan blinked, surprised. "Leaving?"
"Well, Cody and Grandma sounded like they were trying to get you to stay." Benny elaborated. "What for? Are you going somewhere?"
"Oh, well." Ethan smiled sheepishly and stood up. "Yeah, kinda. Jason found something, and he needs my help with it. Actually, he found two things, and while he and the girls pursue one, he wants me get the other."
"One, two...what, now?"
"Um...the artifacts I was talking about." Ethan smiled. "So far we know of...five? Anyway, they aren't very fantastic looking, or particularly special just by looking at them, but they hold a lot of magical power. They're really valuable, and the recent recovery of several of them is stirring things up."
"And that's what you're after?" Benny asked after a moment.
"That's what everyone's after." Ethan nodded. "Power. Jason just wanted to destroy them on sight once we began finding them, but Tasha thinks they'll be useful, and so does...well, anyway, there are probably too many of them to count, and most are probably irretrievable. The small vase Cody has was one that Jason and Tasha were trying to get for weeks. Some known others are a dagger, a ring, and a necklace."
"Family heirlooms. Things easy to conceal." Benny nodded thoughtfully, and then sat back on the bed, letting out a sigh. "So...which one are you after now?"
"Umm...I don't know." Ethan answered intelligently, and took the glass from Benny once it was empty. "But we do know the general power of the thing. The theory is that this object can repel dark energy."
"Pretty vague, don't you think?" Benny asked, rather snidely, and Ethan blanched from where he stood at Benny's bedside.
"Uh, Benny?" Ethan smiled uncomfortably, feeling a little awkward just standing there. He wasn't expecting Benny to want to talk so much. "You okay?"
"Yeah." Benny's eyes drooped and he began painfully arranging himself in his bed to lie back down. "Sure. Why wouldn't I be?"
"...As long as you're sure." Ethan's voice was hesitant. "You tired?"
"Not really."
"Are you...hungry?"
"I'm dirty."
"What?" Ethan let out a small laugh, watching Benny stroke the pillow next to him casually. "What was that?"
"So, when are you leaving?" Benny asked, changing the subject suddenly. "From the clock I see it's...only eight in the morning. Is this place far?"
"Just...across town, actually." Ethan shook his head at his friend's odd behavior. "Not far, but I needed to run and get something from the library first. Also, I think I may need to make a run to the store for your Grandma. With all the work she's been doing, she hasn't had time to do much of anything besides brew weird-smelling potions and steam everyone out with healing tonic."
"Uh-huh." Benny answered, burrowing deeper into his blankets, almost completely covering his head, though he was feeling really hot as it was. "So, what am I supposed to do while your gone? I thought you said you wouldn't leave any loose ends."
"You don't exactly count as a loose end, Ben." Ethan sat back down on the bed. "And I'm healing up well, it's just your grandma and Cody worrying too much."
"Not too much." Benny winced as he shifted and his throat and chest burned. "Besides, you still have some explaining to do...like, what the hell happened outside? And...who was that girl in the picture? I'm thinking of holding you to that promise."
"Girl in the picture...?" Ethan wondered. "Oh, you mean Danielle."
"Yeah, her." Benny peeked over his shoulder. "And those other three, Jason, Kate and Sasha. You didn't explain them too well either. Have you got an entirely new crew now, or what?"
"You know that isn't it." Ethan didn't bother to correct him.
"Do you have a girlfriend I should know about?"
"Of course not. Katee is too motherly and Tasha's...well, you'll know once you meet her. And Danielle is literally nothing, Benny. I met her twice. Erika hates me, and I think Sarah just pities me. So, no girlfriends...and I'm not even sure I would even want one, with all that's going on."
Ethan sighed and slumped on the bed. He wondered what had caused this odd behavior in his best friend...couldn't be delirium, or drugs, because his grandma never used anything like that. Could Benny be having heat stroke from all the blankets and steam?
"Anyway, why the thirty questions now?" Ethan tilted his head to the side and reached out to feel Benny's forehead. "I won't be gone long, or that's what I'm hoping. I could be back by this afternoon or early evening."
"I know..." Benny shifted under Ethan's touch and gaze. "You know what? Never mind...I must still be tired, that's it."
"You must be. I was pretty tired too...I swear, I can only sleep normally after an injury." Ethan tried to offer a small smile to his friend, feeling that he didn't feel any warmer than he should. "You aren't acting like yourself, Ben."
"I don't feel like myself..." Benny whispered, so silently he might as well have just mouthed the words.
There was silence in the room for a moment before Ethan sat back and considered what might have been the issue here.
So...before the "smoke man incident" they were trying to get back to some semblance of normalcy, right? Did Benny miss the days before his change as much as he did? Could that have anything to do with this? Because, now that he thought back on it, pre-werewolfism, the teen never would have left the house for a supernatural adventure without Benny by his side.
The old him was afraid of everything, always needed Benny there to feel comfortable, in every situation...
"Is that what this is about?" Ethan asked quietly, sadly, to the silent room that reminded him too much of when he'd woken up from being assaulted by Sylvan. He eyed the bedspread sadly. Spellmaster or not- big, crazy goofball or not, Benny had been through an ordeal.
Something had taken advantage of Ethan's thoughtlessness again...and Benny had thrown himself into the consequences. Again. And here Ethan was...all okay and healing quickly, and wanting to take off again, and there Benny was...
"I had a weird dream earlier." Ethan smiled a little, leaning back against his best friend and slumping over his body like a sack of potatoes. Benny grunted and tried to push him over with his hips. Ethan only chuckled and stayed where he was. He couldn't have been hurting Benny, he'd only been injured at his arms and throat.
"They had weird pizza lasagna at Moonbucks." Ethan elaborated. "Pizza lasagna with huge chunks of garlic and gum balls."
"...Moonbucks?" Benny asked confusedly. "You mean Starbucks?"
"No, Moonbucks." The seer clarified. "Definitely Moon-bucks...that's not really what that place is called is it? That would be weird."
"No E, it's always been Starbucks." Benny said in a patronizing way that had Ethan smiling. He had a feeling his best friend was beginning to feel a bit better, just by a simple shift in conversation, and was immensely relieved. It was progress. "But coffee shops don't...usually serve entrees do they?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Not a bad idea though." Benny pondered.
"I think that's what dream-Benny said too." Ethan laughed. "And you were getting married to Erika."
"Married? To Erika? Dude, I'd have to become an immortal being first, or I'd be all old and wrinkly while she's still a total babe. All that smoke really went to your head." Benny shook his head and allowed himself a smile.
"Anyway." Ethan looked over at Benny and studied his face. Although the spellmaster seemed to want to keep up conversation, he looked worn, and tired. "Why don't you just rest up a little? You look tired...and I can wait to go and find that stupid magical relic..."
"I thought it was urgent." Benny muttered, but seemed secretly pleased nonetheless. Ethan got off him and the spellmaster settled more comfortably into the bed.
"Ah, what's really urgent these days?" Ethan waved it off and glanced over at the humidifier, steadily leaking steam into the air.
"Ah, something weird happened earlier anyway." Ethan went on, realizing he forgot to tell Benny about his other visitor. "Really weird. Before Jason came over, Sarah showed up asking for me. I guess Erika is on a new dating binge and Sarah wants to keep tabs on her. So Sarah asked me to go on a double date with them and Erika's latest bite."
"A double date..." Benny couldn't describe what he felt like just then, except that it felt something like disappointment, even when he knew he should have been happy or excited for his friend. "Dude, you just got asked out by Sarah...Sarah's pretty hot you know? Smokin' hot."
"Well, yeah." Ethan scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I guess...?"
"Dude, Sarah asked you on a date. There's no guesswork about it." Benny stated again, almost monotonously compared to his usual enthusiasm. "Your beautiful, smart, vampire babysitter asked you on a double-date. The girl of your dreams..."
"Come on, she isn't serious." Ethan paused and then sighed. "As if anyone would want to date me...especially now that I'm a freak. I was a geek before I was a freak and I was fine with that, sort of...but now I'm both. Now I know what Sarah's been going on about since becoming a vampire. I guess I just didn't understand until it happened to me too."
Ethan sounded so downcast, it coaxed Benny out from under his fort of blankets. The spellmaster eyed the seer from his position on the bed and closed his eyes.
"You're not a freak, E." Benny stated, then pretended to consider. "Or, at least no more of a freak than you were five months ago, before all of this happened.
"Thanks Ben." Ethan looked up at his best friend and smiled a small but sincere grin. "So, does this mean I'm forgiven?"
"Forgiven?" Benny shifted to look at him more clearly. "For what?"
"I don't know. Everything?" Ethan shrugged. "I've been a pretty bad friend lately."
"Oh, whatever." Benny waved him off, and Ethan breathe a sigh of relief. "Just no more getting kidnapped, E. You'll give me gray hairs before I turn eighteen."
'I really should stop being such a weakling, if it's making Benny say things like that.' Ethan thought.
"I'll do my best." Ethan stood up and turned off the lamp that had been left glowing after Benny had been taken into the guest bedroom. Sunlight was now seeping through the cream-colored curtains at the window on the other side of the room. "So, how's about you stay here, and I go upstairs, and after we both get a few more hours of sleep, I haul ass down here with Undead Black Ops, and we order out?"
Benny only looked back at him wordlessly and with a raised eyebrow of disbelief.
"I'm thinking Italian Deluxe." Ethan laughed a little. "Or pizza lasagna with iced tea, if you're up to it."
"Italian sounds great." Benny answered after a moment. "Though I think I'm gonna have to pass on the lasagna, because we've been out of ancient pancreas since last October."
Ethan grinned, and Benny found himself chuckling, which quickly turned into a hacking cough. Not two moments later, Ethan was on his feet and exiting the room with an empty glass, with a promise to be back in a second. In the meantime, Benny sat back in his cocoon of blankets and pillows.
"I could go for that." Benny smiled and closed his eyes as he heard the much gentler tones that Ethan and Cody spoke in, as compared to their last conversation. It seemed Ethan was willing to stay for a while...so, did that also mean that he was willing to wait until Benny could stand on his own two feet?
It might take a while, Benny knew. But he would become strong enough to protect E. Maybe one day, preferably soon, he could successfully stand up to enemies for Ethan, like the seer had done for him.
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.
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AN: So, there it is! Another chapter down, over 6,000 words, and the twenty-first chapter! But I feel like the story is just now beginning, and I know it's gonna be challenging but fun to see it through. It's a journey for sure.
What did you guys think about the crazy dream sequence? Originally, I wanted Ethan to be struck by dreams of simple, mundane things like pulling pranks and eating pizza with Benny or something, and then I realized that I don't do casual conversation well...or romance. 0_0 So, I decided to make it confusing as well as completely random, as most of my dreams are. I had a dream once that a crush of mine just randomly came and gave me a hug, and it was the best thing ever, lol. So that's where that came from. I'm also trying to both build and release tension between the two.
I know this is a slow-build story, but bear with me! Hopefully it will be worth the wait. I want to capture the transition of blooming romance, not the jumping without looking thing that's so popular these days. (: No judgments, lol and I admit that I have written other stories with the "leaping before looking" romance theme, but I believe successful relationships are built on trust and true love. Infatuation is instant, but I believe trust and love are earned between two people over time.
Anyway, sorry this chapter was kinda boring! I just didn't want to pack so much action into a small space, lol and now that the dog's out of the bag, things will begin to pick up faster in the action and tension department.
As always, please point out any mistakes I very well may have missed. Hope you enjoyed! Reviews are awesome!
Updated May 26th 2017, approx. 5:00am (bags under eyes, hashtag entering summer-time).