3rd Person P.O.V.*
It had been a few hours sense Daddy and Mommy dearest had taken shelter in the alley and had allowed themselves to rest from the battle with the Fairest couple though they both knew they needed to get going again before the sun came up fully which would risk the two being spotted by any old enemies that may be lurking. Knowing this Mommy had gone to help her husband up as he was struggling to do so on his own because of his side being quite sensitive yet due to the blow he had taken. This of course concerned her a bit and made her worried.
Reason number one being the fact her husband was usually able to heal fairly quickly and reason number two was because of how he reacted when her fingers carefully touched his side to check on it. When she grazed over it she had gotten a low growl from him and though she could sense it wasn't directed towards her especially after she saw his eye lights flare momentarily in pain before they returned to their normal vibrancy it still managed to make her flinch a bit though she calmed herself as he got himself up the rest of the way so the two could get moving and start heading back home to properly rest and recover.
As the two quietly walked back the way they came they each took turns and had slashed at any missing posters of Benjamin as they were likely no longer needed as the two knew that the Fairest's son was somewhere within their domain and would be free of his demon parents as long as they never broke out of their individual prisons within the Dearest's couples shadow zones. After one final check of their surroundings the two teleported away together and made their way home.
/Location change: softie and toughie's apartment/
Back in the Dearest's domain, Benjamin and Pico had still been asleep as it was still quite early and the sun had barely started to rise however, that soon changed when the digital clock on the dresser had hit four in the morning. As soon as it hit four Benjamin had suddenly jolted awake as he had felt a sudden loosening in his chest as if he had just been released from a vice grip though it was quickly followed by a sudden surge in happiness as he was practically vibrating in place despite not knowing why he suddenly felt so happy and dare he say relieved as he didn't feel as if he was carrying invisible weights.
Despite this sudden happiness and new found weightlessness Benjamin knew he had to get some of the sudden excess energy out without waking Pico or it could continue to build to rather unhealthy levels which wouldn't be good for either of them especially with his adhd and autism. Realizing this Benjamin had gotten out of bed carefully and left a kiss on Pico's cheek before making his way over to his painting corner trying to be as quiet as possible so he could make some art pieces that he and Pico could try to sell when they went to their little area of the park for their designated work shift on Monday. Soon enough Benjamin was in his bubble and lost track of the time.
It was only after it hit seven in the morning that Benjamin had stopped what he was doing after he had created three new paintings before he had gotten up to make himself and pico some breakfast. Benjamin had decided to make the two of them some pancakes and as soon as he finished cooking up the pancakes he had placed them in the microwave to keep them warm before he decided to return to his and pico's bed and went to entwine himself within pico's arms once again.
Benjamin had hoped to get at least another hour of sleep now that the sudden energy burst of his had gone back to somewhat normal levels though despite his efforts he still found himself wondering why the tight feeling in his chest had disappeared though soon found himself not really caring when the warmth that came off pico had made him relax further into him before benjamin snuggled up closer as he felt pico's arm pull him in closer to himself before letting out a contented sigh. After Benjamin settled in, he couldn't help smiling to himself before falling back to sleep slotting his head under pico's chin and holding his hand.
/Shortly before Benjamin had returned to bed/
Pico's P.O.V*
It had taken me mere moments to realize Benjamin had left the bed which normally would be fine however, despite softie's best efforts him jolting up so suddenly from a seemingly unbothered sleep had concerned me especially when it had caused my arm to fall onto the bed from its protective position over top of softie's chest directly over where his heart would be. I hated to admit this but, I'm pretty sure that both I and Benjamin feared that he was still getting hunted down and could be taken away if either of us dropped our guard by his monster of parents despite the fact that they had no clue where we were now. Though it was likely very important that I brought my worry of this fear up eventually however, I had yet to do so as I didn't want to give Softie's mind wood to stoke the fire once again and cause a relapse in his fear that he had defeated back during the Fairest's Christmas performance.
He has made such great progress that I as well as Sven and Grace have noticed and despite Sven just recently becoming part of the group he seemed to be trying to make up for what he had done during the first get together between the four of us. Sven had actually reached out to me through text after the thunderstorm had settled to inform me that he had gotten Grace home safely and had felt bad for not texting earlier. He had informed me that Grace had gotten rather close to having another attack if it wasn't for the fact that he had managed to calm her down fast enough.
I had sent a reply telling him thank you and that It was ok that he hadn't reached out sooner as long as Grace and himself were okay and then had told him that he and Benjamin were safe at home as well before putting my phone back down. Unknown to Sven was just how thankful I was when I finished reading that text. Unlike Benjamin who I had saved from his parents, Grace unfortunately didn't have someone there for her until Sven had found her that fateful day at the train station.
Though Grace didn't have any physical scars that I knew of her parents seemed just as bad as Benjamin's in the regard that they had attempted to make her into a mindless slave as Benjamin put it which was concerning in itself.
Just how much did these two go through before I or Sven found them that neither had yet to tell us about. Despite my best efforts to keep that thought at the front I found that my mind was becoming cloudy with lingering exhaustion and figured some more sleep would help. Just before I fell asleep again softie had come back into the room and had slotted himself against my side again. When he got himself comfortable enough I had pulled him in close and the last thing I registered was softie placing his head under my chin before he too fell back asleep.
/in the present/
The next time I had woken up was due to the sun shining in through the gap above the window covers and it seemed it had done the same for Benjamin as he had tried to hide his face in my hoodie. His behavior had made me giggle at just how child like he could be at times before I placed my hand on his hair ruffling it up a bit which caused a contented sigh from him before I commented on how adorable his giggles were though in making that comment I had initiated Softie's playful side and had gotten a playful glare from him which was shortly followed by a slightly mischievous smile.
That had been my only warning before my side was suddenly tickled by him as he sat up to get a better position which had gotten me to fully laugh and smile whole heartedly before I tried getting my own tickle attacks in. The sounds of Softie's laughter always made me so happy that I found myself wanting to hear it whenever I could and the same seemed to go for Benjamin as he would initiate tickle attacks especially on particularly great days for him at random. It made our relationship stronger and proved to me that he was recovering.
After a good five or so minutes of us attacking each other's sides Benjamin had given the time out sign as he was at his limit and had flopped down next to me panting as he recovered from the tickling session and had informed me that he had made some breakfast earlier before putting it in the microwave for the time being sense I hadn't been up at the time. Hearing that Softie had made breakfast had my stomach growling and had me getting up to do my business so we could eat together. While I was doing that I could hear Softie head into the small walk in closet to get a new outfit on however, as I finished my business in the bathroom I had asked Softie if I could enter the room and had gotten a confirmation from him though I didn't miss that his tone of voice had changed as if he was suddenly nervous.
This of course made me a bit worried as it seemed rather sudden though unfortunately it wasn't the first time this has happened as Benjamin did get random bouts of sadness for seemingly no reason though so did I. Instead of waiting any longer I had exited the bathroom and was met with a topless Benjamin who was fidgeting with his shirt in his hand though now that I was in front of him I understood why Softie had sounded upset as I could see countless burn scars all across his shoulders, neck and upper back.
Seeing the burns fully in sight and not covered had made my heart hurt and want to take on the burns myself so he didn't have to bear them though I knew that wasn't possible however, I was brought out of my thoughts when Benjamin looked to the ground before admitting he had wanted to show me the burn scars fully for a while now though his fear had always stopped him.
Hearing him admit this I had asked if I could hug him which had gotten me a surprised look before he got teary eyed looking relieved that I didn't freak out before he ran into my arms full force sending me back a couple centimeters as he had let his tears of relief fall onto my sweater as I pulled him in close whispering calming words and saying "I will never be mad at anything you had no control over Softie and I hope you come to me if your ever in need of someone to talk to or to simply listen. I want you to come to me if your thoughts become too much for you to handle and I will try my hardest to help you through okay? I love you very much and these scars don't define you. you're an amazing person blue and I will tell you so as many times as I need to so you don't forget it."
Briefly after Softie's cries had slowed down he had promised he would come to me if his emotions became too much for him to handle again before he tapped my arm to let him go which I obligated for him. When his face was exposed again I could see he had a stray tear running down his cheek which I wiped away gently which had gotten me a small smile before Benjamin had put his selected shirt on.
The shirt he had chosen was a low cut tshirt so the burns were now visible but, to me he was the same Benjamin I fell in love with and no scars would ever change that. As he finished cleaning himself up I had decided that we should finally eat the breakfast that Benjamin had made as our stomachs growled in sync which made us both giggle before we went to the kitchen and ate our breakfast while enjoying each other's company.