Chapter 3: Nightfall
I Don't Own Ben 10 or Any of the Respective Characters, The Rights Belong to Man of Action Studios and Cartoon Network
Author's Note:
* Hello everyone and welcome to Chapter 3 of CWN Version II!
* So, this chapter is a bit of a longer one for you guys and I hope that you enjoy it. I decided to release this chapter a bit earlier than I normally would because the next two chapters following this will be pretty short, so take this as an equalizer, I guess?
* Um, I can't really think of anything I have to say right now. Actually, I will say that if any of you guys are readers of my other two primary Ben 10 stories, the updates will still be coming at some point in the future. I'm still just really struggling to find the time to properly map out how I want to post all of these backlogged chapters of mine.
* I got nothing else, so with that having been said, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
Ben
Sunday, December 24th, 2017
The Tennyson House
I headed up the stairs to the dining room to get ready to eat dinner with the rest of my family. Once I got in, I saw that everyone else besides Gwen had already sat down with their plates and were eating. My mom noticed us enter and looked up at us as we came in.
"Ah, Ben, Gwen. How nice of you to finally join us."
"Sorry, we were just catching up." I replied.
Not a total lie, I thought. Just not the full truth, either.
"You guys have all night to catch up. Now, make your plate and come eat."
So, Gwen and I both made our plates, taking our fill from the platter of ham and the side dishes that were out: mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet corn, sweet peas, and green beans. Gwen and I ended up sitting down next to each other, seeing as there were only two seats left at the table. As soon as I sat down next to her, Gwen's face turned a bit red. I just kind of gave her a side glance of confusion.
Why is she making a big deal about this? It was just a meaningless kiss! And it's not like either of us wanted to! But it's Christmas tradition to kiss under the mistletoe!
I decided that I wasn't going to let it bother me that much, so I just started eating and shook the mild annoyance from my mind. The rest of the table was much livelier than Gwen and I were. Dad and Uncle Frank talked about work, while Mom and Aunt Natalie talked about an apparent New Year's party that they were planning. Ken chimed in every once and a while. I kind of just tuned them all out. That is, until Aunt Natalie started saying something to me.
"So, how's school going for you, Ben?"
I looked up at her.
"Well, I see Ken all the time." I replied. "Doesn't he ever tell you guys about me?"
As soon as I said that, I could barely see Mom giving me a look, signifying that she was not amused by my attempt to avoid conversation with my aunt who had a history of not being that nice to me for some reason. So, I relunctantly answered differently.
"Well, my classes are all going fine. That's it really. I'm not playing sports or anything. I don't really have the interest in it."
She nodded.
"That's good. Gwen enjoys playing basketball and attending martial arts classes."
"He knows, mom." Gwen chimed in. "We talked about that while we were downstairs."
"And what about after high school? Do you know what you want to do with your life?"
I found myself shrugging in response.
"I'm not really sure yet. I think that I just want to help people in whatever capacity that I can."
"That's very nice. It's good that you want to help people."
Dad and Uncle Frank were still talking about work stuff, so they seemed disinterested in this conversation. After that, all talk at the dinner table seemed to die down and we all finished eating in relative silence. After dinner was over, Gwen volunteered for dish duty, so I decided to help her while Ken and the grown ups went into the living room to talk. We were silent the whole time we worked.
There was no interaction between either of us, besides me handing a clean dish for her to dry off. I understood why she wasn't saying anything, but was she taking this a little too seriously? I mean, it was awkward that we "kissed", I totally get that. But you can't call it real kiss. It was just a quick peck on the lips, you know? Who knows, maybe I was just looking too far into it. I cleared my throat, feeling the need to speak.
"I'm sorry." I whispered.
She dropped the dish that she was working on into the warm, soapy water and turned to look at me.
"Sorry about what?" she asked.
"Sorry about—You know what!" I asked as I felt my cheeks heat up again.
She just shook her head at me as if she had no idea what I was talking about.
No, it's not that, is it? Is she purposely avoiding this topic?
I let out a sigh of annoyance. I then put the dish that I was drying off to the side, turned toward her and pointed at my lips.
"This. I'm sorry about this."
She just stared at me, before eventually going back to washing dishes.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
I rolled my eyes as I got back to the dish that I had been drying.
"You can just accept my apology and then move on. You don't have to pretend that it never happened."
She didn't say anything in response.
Fine, I thought. Be that way then.
Forty Five Minutes Later
After Gwen and I finished doing the dishes, the adults decided to wait just a bit longer for us all to start opening our presents. I had sat in the spot that I usually sat in when I opened up presents. This was just for our extended family. Mom, Dad, and I would open all of our presents tomorrow morning.
I will admit that I was slightly disappointed with what I ended up getting. Ken got me a twenty dollar gift card to GameStop, which would probably only be enough for a used game, if I was lucky. Uncle Frank gave me fifty dollars, which came in a Christmas card. And Aunt Natalie got me a book she said was a classic: Moby Dick. I was aware that it was a classic, but I was also aware that it was long, complex, and difficult to read. So, it was unlikely that I'd actually read it.
And I didn't even get a present from Gwen! After feeling that slight disappointment, I decided to go to my room to be alone for a while. I had turned on my T.V. and had changed the channel to the A Christmas Story marathon on TBS, but I was hardly paying attention to it. I stood at my window, watching the fresh snow falling. As I stood there, I heard a light tap on my door. I didn't even turn around to look at the door.
"Come on in." I said.
The door opened and then closed a few seconds later.
"Are you doing okay?" I heard Gwen's voice.
I turned around to look at her and walked over to my bed to sit down. I shrugged.
"I'm okay, I guess."
"You seemed kind of bummed out after we finished opening presents." She pointed out.
Wow, it was really that easy for her to tell?
"God, am I that easy to read?"
She smirked at me as she sat down on the bed next to me.
"I've always been able to read you, Doofus."
"Thanks Dweeb, that means a lot coming from you."
Gwen chuckled in response.
"God, look at us. Eighteen years old and we're still talking to each other as if we're kids."
"Yeah, I guess we are."
Both of us went silent for a few moments after that and once neither of us spoke for a few seconds, I cleared my throat.
"Is there something you wanted?" I asked with a curious tone.
"Just to see if there was anything bugging you."
I began to nervously scratch the back of my neck.
"Um, yeah, I uh... Was kind of disappointed with the presents that I got. I know, it's childish and I should be grateful that I got any presents at all, but there it is."
To my surprise, Gwen didn't call me out for that.
"Not at all. You're never too old to be disappointed about something, no matter how childish it may seem. Everyone's different."
"Thanks for that."
She nodded before speaking again.
"And part of that is my fault. I did get you a present, but after you kissed me in the basement, I thought about withholding it from you. Now I see how petty that is and I would like to apologize for being so difficult."
"I told you it was just a tradition! Neither of us wanted to do it and—"
"Ben!"
She raised her voice when she said my name, however, the look on her face brightened and she chuckled.
"I know, I know."
She pulled out a small package wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper that she must have had behind her back this entire time.
"Here you go. Merry Christmas, Ben."
I took the present from her and began tearing away the wrapping paper until there wasn't any left. It was a copy of Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
"I had no idea what to get you for Christmas, so I asked Ken for some advice and he recommended that."
"Interesting." I replied as I flipped the case over to look at the back. "I never intended to play Halo 4."
"Halo 4?" Gwen asked with audible confusion. "I thought it was called 'Halo: The Master Chief Collection'?"
"It is. But it's a collection of four games on one disc, Halo 4 being one of them."
"Oh, I see."
"That's really interesting. Once Bungie stopped making these games, the series was over to me."
"What's a Bungie?"
"Bungie is the name of the development company that used to make the Halo games. They decided that they didn't want to do any more games after Halo 3 came out. They were contracted to make two more games, which I never played because Halo 3 was my last one. Now a different company called '343 Industries' makes the Halo games, but I've never played any of their releases."
"I see."
Even though the gift wasn't something I ever would have expected, I smiled at her.
"Thanks, Gwen."
She nodded.
"Of course. You don't need to thank me."
That's when it dawned on me.
I forgot to give Gwen her present!
The grateful look on my face disappeared completely as I thought about that. Gwen noticed this and a confused expression appeared on her face soon thereafter.
"Is everything okay, Doofus?"
I nodded as I got up from the bed.
"Yeah." I said as I walked over to my bookshelf where I had put her present. "I just kind of almost forgot to give you your present."
When I turned back to look at her again, I saw a surprised look on her face.
"My present?" she asked as she pointed at herself.
I nodded as I walked back over to her.
"I wasn't expecting this." She spoke as I gave her the present.
She gently tore off the wrapping paper and once she saw her gift, I was happy to see the look of astonishment on her face. She looked up at me.
"My favorite book? Signed by the author herself?"
Her favorite book being Among The Hidden, written by Margaret Peterson Haddix. As she looked at me, an unpleasant memory began to surface. I was ten years old and on summer vacation again.
I chuckled to myself as I filled up a water balloon using the faucet inside of the Rustbucket. I looked out the window above the faucet to see Gwen outside, sitting at the picnic table, reading her favorite book.
"Dweeb won't see this one coming!" I said to myself as I chuckled still.
I tied off the balloon and walked to the exit of the Rustbucket. As soon as I stepped outside, Grandpa Max immediately noticed me with the water balloon and spoke up.
"Ben, what do you think you're doing with that?"
I dismissed his question.
"I know what I'm doing, Grandpa."
"Ben," he spoke in a stern tone. "if you do this, I won't help you talk your way out of this one."
"I don't need help, Grandpa. I'll be fine."
And so, I threw the water balloon at Gwen, who was still oblivious as to what was going on, as she was self-absorbed in her book. The water balloon exploded upon impact, drenching her clothes and her book with cold water. It took a few seconds for her to react, but she eventually looked up at me, her emerald eyes burning with anger.
"Ben, you brat!" she exclaimed with anger. "That was my favorite book! And you ruined it!"
"Oh, come on! Don't you have more books at home?"
"That's not the point! You ruined my favorite one, you—Come here!"
She got up from the picnic table, grabbing a stick from the ground as she went. I had a good idea of what was about to happen, so I started running.
"I told you I wouldn't help you." Grandpa Max remarked. "You did this yourself and now you have to face the consequences."
I ran off into the woods as Gwen chased after me.
"You're such a brat, Ben! You're going to pay for that!"
I shook the memories away and looked back at Gwen, who was still looking at me with confusion. I let out a nervous chuckle as I scratched the back of my neck.
"I just remember that I ruined your copy of that book when we were ten years old. It was only years later that I realized it wasn't a prank, it was just me being a jerk. So, I did some searching to figure out what your favorite book had been and when I heard that the author was in town for a book signing, I thought that would be the perfect Christmas gift. So, there it is. I hope you like it."
She put the present off to the side as she stood up. She just continued to stare at me, which was kind of confusing.
"Um, Gwen?"
"I think that's the nicest thing you've done for me." She finally spoke in a sincere tone. "Thank you, Ben. I really appreciate it."
She then surprised me by hugging me, wrapping her arms around me as she pressed herself against me. I was so shocked by this (seeing as we had never shared a hug when we were kids), that it took me a few seconds to wrap my arms around her to return the hug.
Mission accomplished, I guess?
The hug didn't last for very long, it was over just as quickly as it had started. She pulled away and looked at me with a sincere look that matched how she spoke to me just now.
"Really, Ben. I love it. Thank you."
It could have been just me, but I could have sworn that I saw tears forming in her eyes. I just smiled at her and nodded.
"Of course." I replied. "I'm glad you like it."
After our brief exchange, she sat back down on the bed and I followed suit. If I hadn't made it clear by now, Gwen and I had a history of fighting when we were kids. Like, we really did not like each other. Well, actually, that might not be entirely true. We definitely acted like we didn't like each other, because that's just how kids act with certain family members sometimes. But deep down, I think both of us actually liked each other a little bit, but we just weren't willing to express that.
And we fought over pretty much everything. One big reason for our "childhood rivalry" was that we were born on the same day, causing us to fight and bicker every year, until we were about eleven years old. That wasn't the only thing, though. I remember that once we didn't speak for two months because of an argument that we got into over a stick of gum. Yes, that's right. We didn't speak for two months over a piece of gum. That's how petty we used to be toward each other. But I had a hopeful feeling that all of that was behind us now.
"I miss Grandpa Max." Gwen finally broke the silence between us.
I smiled as I shut my eyes and nodded.
"Yeah." I replied. "Me, too."
I just continued sitting there with my eyes closed, trying to fight back that feeling as though I was going to cry. And Gwen really could read me, because she saw right through me.
"Ben, are you okay?" she asked in a concerned tone.
I nodded, even though I didn't feel okay.
"I just wish that I could go back to that summer. I wish that I could have been more like I am now and less like I was then."
"Ben?" she once again spoke in a concerned tone.
I opened my eyes and wiped my eyes with my sleeves, even though no tears had come.
"I ruined that summer for all of us."
She shook her head.
"No, it was a good summer. You didn't ruin it."
"But we fought so much that Grandpa Max had to end the trip early and take us both home!"
"That's on both of us. We were both impulsive children back then. You may have been more prone to act before you thought something through unlike me, but I was still impulsive. Kids are impulsive sometimes, it happens."
"I see."
"And even given that, it doesn't change the fact that we got to spend time with him that summer. That's all that matters."
I couldn't help but smile after what she said.
"Thanks, Gwen. That reassures me a bit."
She smiled back at me.
"It should, Doofus."
Both of us sat in silence for a few seconds after that until she spoke again.
"Um, I actually meant to tell you this earlier, but the whole mistletoe thing surprised me so much that I forgot to say anything."
I looked back at her with curiosity.
"Tell me what?"
She began to twirl a strand of her fiery red hair around her index finger, as if she was nervous.
"That I'm going to start going to school with you."
"Wait, really?"
"Uh-huh."
"But I thought that you went to a private school?"
She nodded.
"I did, but not anymore."
"What changed?"
"I decided I didn't like attending a private school anymore. Everything just seemed to move too fast. So, I argued and argued with my mom until she gave in and allowed me to attend a public school."
"And you don't live that far away from us, so you'd be going to school at Madison High."
"Yeah. And honestly, part of it is that I want to be able to see you more."
"Okay."
Before either of us could say anything else, there was a knock at my door. I turned to look at the door.
"Come in!"
My door opened and Ken poked his head into the room.
"Sis, mom and dad are getting ready to leave. Do you have everything you need?"
"Yeah, I do. I don't need anything else."
Getting ready to leave? What are they talking about?
"Wait. What's going on here?"
They both looked at me.
"We're sleeping over tonight." Gwen replied. "So we'll have more time to catch up."
I just stared at them.
"And you uh, just decided not to tell me?"
A sheepish look appeared on her face.
"Um, I guess it slipped my mind?"
I let out a sigh and found myself chuckling immediately thereafter.
"It's fine. No big deal."
One Hour Later
After Ken and Gwen's parents left, my cousins took the guest room. The room obviously only had one bed and Gwen took the bed, while Ken decided he would make a pallet of blankets on the floor for himself. Right now, the three of us were all chilling downstairs. Ken and I had started playing the cooperative campaign of Halo 4, while Gwen sat on the couch behind us, reading her book.
"You seriously never played this game?" Ken asked.
I shook my head.
"No, I considered the series to be over once Bungie stopped making these games. I never even played Reach or ODST."
"I get that and respect your decision, but I still find it a bit odd, I guess."
"Well, from what I read through reviews, it doesn't seem like I've missed out on that much."
"Yeah, I suppose you really didn't miss much."
"What's Reach and ODST?" Gwen spoke up.
Ken and I answered without pausing our game.
"Halo: Reach is a prequel to events of the first game, Halo: Combat Evolved."
"And Halo 3: ODST is an expansion to the third game, which also kind of acts as a prequel to the game's campaign."
"Oh, I see."
I kind of felt bad for leaving Gwen out. Like, what if she wanted to play with us? Besides what she had just said, she had barely interacted with us while we had been down here. So, I paused the game to ask if she wanted to play with us.
"What are you doing?" Ken immediately asked.
I ignored him and proceeded to ask Gwen my question.
"Gwen, do you want to play, too?"
"You're wasting your time, man. She's a girl, she's not into video games."
I once again ignored him and awaited her answer. However, I would be surprised by said answer.
"You boys have your stupid video games and I have my book. I'm fine, thank you."
Stupid video games? But didn't you tell me...
"Why are you being like that? You told me that I shouldn't let people make fun of my hobbies!"
"Just because I told you to support your hobbies doesn't mean that I understand them."
"But that doesn't make sense when you're—"
Ken nudged me in the shoulder, cutting me off.
"Give it a rest, dude." He whispered to me. "You and I both know that you can't win an argument with her."
"I heard that."
Ken didn't reply this time and I unpaused our game so we could resume playing. It took a few more minutes for either one of us to speak again.
"The art style has definitely changed." I said. "It's not like how Bungie did the art."
"Yeah, I'm not sure if I like their art style. It looks too... real, I guess?"
"I couldn't have said it better myself."
We continued playing and eventually after another minute or so, Gwen spoke again.
"Hey, what are these?"
I turned, surprised that she was no longer on the couch behind us, but standing to our left by the corner of the basement where I kept my boxes of comic books. She currently had one of the comic books in her hand, looking it over. I paused the game once again.
"Those are my comic books, they go into those long boxes for storage. Can you please be careful with those? They're important to me."
"Okay, sorry."
She then pulled a chunk of the comic books in the box forward and put the comic in her hands back in a random spot.
"Not there!" I remarked as I dropped my controller to get up and put it back myself. "I want them in order by their release dates so that they'll be easier to find!"
I walked over to the comic book box and found the comic that she misplaced, making sure that it went back to its original spot.
"If this stuff is important to you, then shouldn't you be able to find them regardless of how they're ordered?"
I let out a sigh.
"If you don't understand by hobbies, that's fine. But you could you at least try to respect them? And don't go thumbing through my belongings without asking first."
"Okay, okay! I'm sorry."
I put the lid back on the box and went back to my spot on the floor.
"It's fine. Just don't do it again, please."
I unpaused the game and we resumed once again. A few seconds later, Gwen spoke again.
"I think I'm just going to go upstairs."
I turned away from the T.V. screen to ask her why, but once I turned to face her, I saw that she was already heading up the stairs. I turned back to the game, now feeling a bit weirded out. We didn't even get to play for ten seconds before Ken paused the game again.
"What is it?" I asked as I looked at him.
He just shook his head.
"You shouldn't have talked to her like that."
"She shouldn't have gone through my stuff without permission." I stood my ground.
"No, she shouldn't have. But that still doesn't give you the right to talk to her like that."
He then unpaused the game and dropped the subject.
I don't think that I spoke to her that harshly, I thought. But that does make me think. If we're still getting into fights over things as insignificant as her going through my things without permission, have we changed at all?
Gwen
Late That Night
Everyone was in bed by about nine o'clock. It was supposed to get a little colder tonight, so everyone had an extra blanket on their bed. And if that wasn't enough, Ken and I were told that there were spare blankets in the hallway closet. And so, here I was laying in bed within the guest room, shivering and unable to sleep. Even if I was warm, I still wouldn't be able to fall asleep.
And that was because when I slept at home, I had a big pillow that I kept in bed with me, which I would cuddle to help me fall asleep. I had kind of become dependent on it in order to sleep. It was so bad to the point that I almost couldn't sleep without it. But I didn't have that here. I couldn't ask Ken to share the bed with me just so that I would have someone to cuddle with to help me sleep, that would be too weird.
Ben's parents were also off limits for what I think would be obvious reasons. That left only Ben. And I didn't exactly like the idea of going to him for help, but even after the couple of things that happened between us today, I thought that he was somehow the person I would be the most comfortable with. If that makes any sense. So, I got out of bed, careful not to wake Ken on the floor and then left the room.
I silently made my way down the hall toward Ben's room, expecting for the room to be dark, but was surprised to see a slight sliver of light coming through the crack of the door. I lightly pushed the door open, to see Ben asleep in his bed, with the T.V. going. He had A Christmas Story on in the background and Ben himself was currently asleep in his bed. I smiled in spite of my self as I approached his sleeping form.
"Ben?" I quietly called out his name. "Are you awake?"
He didn't respond, so I bent down and put my hands on him, gently shaking him. Eventually his eyes opened and he let out a yawn before speaking.
"Gwen?" he asked in a groggy voice. "Are you okay?"
I nodded.
"Yeah, but I'm cold." I whispered as I hugged myself.
"You didn't bring any thicker pajamas?"
I shook my head.
"I don't have any. It's usually warm enough at home for me to wear these types of pajamas."
"Why are you in here, though? There are spare blankets in the hallway closet."
"That's not what this is really about. I have another problem."
"Okay?"
"Um, I have a big pillow at home that I'll cuddle to help me sleep. I've become quite dependent on it. But I don't have that here."
Even on his tired face, I could see a look of confusion form.
"Are you seriously asking me to—"
"Ben, don't make me say it out loud. Please? Just so I can warm up and get to sleep?"
He looked back at me as if he were uncertain about this. Seeing as I was doubtful that he'd actually say yes, I leaned in close and looked at him with puppy dog eyes.
"Please?"
He continued looking at me before he caved in and sighed. He then pulled back his blankets and top sheet before speaking.
"Fine, just this once because it's the only way you'll get to sleep."
"Thank you, Ben!" I whispered, before going back to close his door again.
"Shh!" he silently called out. "It's alright, just try and keep it down."
I turned back around after shutting his door and walked back over to his bed, as he scooted over to make room for me.
"Wait, stop. I don't want to lay next to you."
"What? Where else are you going to lay?"
I surprised him by crawling over him and settling down in the bed behind him.
"What are you doing?" he asked as I pulled the covers back over us.
"I think this will be less awkward for us both if we don't have to look at each other."
"Well, I guess you have a point." He replied as he turned off the T.V.
I then snuggled up against his back and wrapped my arms around his midsection, which made him jolt a little bit.
"What the hell, Gwen? You're really going to spoon me?"
"I already told you that I just want to cuddle with someone! What, did you expect me to just lay next to you?"
He let out a sigh after I said that.
"Fine, whatever. Just try and quiet down before we wake someone up."
"Okay, I'm sorry."
"And Gwen, I swear that if you tell anyone about this—"
"I promise I won't." I interrupted him. "Why would I?"
He let out a sigh.
"I don't know." He replied.
He seemed to have calmed down a little bit, so I snuggled a bit closer to him.
"Just relax, okay? I know that neither of us want to be in this situation, but it just can't be helped, sorry. So, just shut your eyes and it'll be morning in no time."
He stayed silent for a few seconds.
"Okay."
Both of us seemed to relax after that. Or at the very least, I did. As uncomfortable as the situation may have been, Ben was really warm. I wasn't cold anymore. And after a few more minutes, I had fallen asleep with relative ease.
Author's Note:
* And that's it for this chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed.
* So, was there anything in particular that stuck out to you guys in this chapter? What did you think of everything said between Ben and Gwen in this chapter? And how did I do with the ending of the chapter this time around? Did I make it feel more natural?
* Is there anything else that I haven't mentioned? Please, let me know your thoughts on anything in a review or even a PM would be okay, too. Anyway, that's all I got. Again, I hope that you really enjoyed and thank you for reading! That's going to do it for me, so have a fantastic day and bye.
Review Responses
jasongd (Chapter 2): And another great chapter congrats I'll be waiting for the next chapter Bottom line I got a little interested in manga And not long ago back into fanfiction So nice to get back into it Apparently you did a Ben 10 Bride To Be reboot I'm going to start reading that too
BWEN FOREVER
Thank you, Jason. Cool that you got a little interested in manga. I also got kind of interested in manga, but I don't really stray far from four or five particular titles. Yes, I did do a reboot for Bride to Be, but it's only going to be for Volume One and maybe, maybe Volume Two, depending on how things go. That reboot is on hold now, as is my other two primary Ben 10 stories on the site. Well, anyway, it was once again cool to see you back here and even if you duck out again soon, it's always nice to see a friendly face. Thanks for the review, as always.
Slayer 606 (Chapter 2): It would be interesting to see how they handled having kids, by going passed from it being incestuous and the rest of their family settling on the whole idea. Maybe a chapter would be nice on it. It doesn't matter if you put it in the original or the remake, but it would be intriguing. It would be more interesting if you dove into their relationship, like diving into comprehension of it being incestuous and they're trying to sort it.
Like denialism, such as forcing themselves to date others to escape it. Hell even some awkward moments of built up sexual and emotional tensions such as dreams, nightmares, ect. An idea of both being heavily drunk of blocking out those feelings and accidentally relishing their feelings out by sexual intercourse. Forgeting both of any protection later on Gwen fears of pregnancy so they both comprehend on pregnancy tests and abortion, eventually realizing it was false.
Then they both force themselves apart onto others eventually realizing their feelings later on. Just some ideas. I though Ben and Gwen were great as sibling like cousins, but the idea of them being in a relationship is interesting. Yes it's gross and incestuous, but cousin relationships were the least incestuous and the most comprehensive in history. It would've been nice if they ever seriously explored it in the series, but hey what can you do. Anyway those are just some suggestions, ideas and my ideas. Keep up the work your good writer.
Thank you, Slayer. As for the kids part, that isn't entirely off of the table. With the families settling on the whole incestuous idea, well, I'm not so sure about this one. All I will say is that while that happened in the original, the original was a fantasy and I want this story to be more of a reality, if that makes sense. And unfortunately, the original is done. There's no going back to version one of this story for me. Now we reach the topic of the two of them forcing themselves to date others and I would say that this isn't entirely unlikely, either.
Though, I will say that Ben most likely won't be dating anyone else, but this will come up later on in the story. I can't say that I really like your idea of them being heavily drunk, accidentally having intercourse and everything that follows, it's just not for me. Also, I really, really, really don't like writing lemon scenes, they make me feel incredibly uncomfortable when I attempt to write them. I might, might write one new lemon scene for this story, but that is never a guarantee.
The most it will probably end up being is the lead up the sinful act and then cut away to after the fact. The creators exploring the incest angle (if that's what you meant), was never going to happen in a million years, I think for obvious reasons. I am really not trying to bash your opinion, but I'm trying to be logical with my opinion about it, so please don't be offended by it. Anyway, thanks for the review, as always.
VlaudFenikkusu (Chapter 2): I gotta say, major improvements all around. I really made myself read through the entirety of the first obe ( i feel bad not finishing stories), and i didn't want ti review it cuz, i saw it was 6 years ago- (coincidence?). But, this one, so far, a lot less, still some, repetition in what you write/what people say without wording things differently. The characters feel so much more like themselves, and more importantly, like people, and not ai generated bot text.
Lastly, though i understand au's are a thing, and ben 10 without the watch seems redundant, it can be done, but ngl, the origional version, real felt extra pointless to be ben 19, like literally just swap out the names for generic ones and the characters could be john doe and sue doe, but having the watch definitely helps lol, especially in tandem with my previous statements of these characters actually feeling more alive. I actually want to read more, so i'll keep an eye out for the next chapter
Thank you, Vlaud. I'm glad that you see major improvements. Um, I don't really see what you mean with the whole six years – coincidence. Maybe I missed something. About the "ai generated bot text", I have improved in recent years and I am still trying. That's all I will say about that.
As for your opinion on Ben 10 without the Omnitrix, I simply made that decision for the first version of this story so that it would be more grounded and realistic. Although, once you start with "...ben 19...", I unfortunately have no idea what you're talking about. But regardless, thank you for your kind words and as always, thanks for the review. I'm glad that you're looking forward to reading more.
Next Chapter: The week following Christmas, Ben hears word of a series of robberies at the mall that occurred in the dead of night.