Time Warp - Alice Alive - Ben & Alice

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Set ten years into the future. Ben and Alice are still in contact after years of holding a professional relationship.

David was squirming in his seat as Alice's solo piece finished. "Big Ben, I need to pee." The seven year old boy whispered just as everyone clapped while Alice took her bow on stage. Cobalt squeezed Ben's hand at his side. "I'll take him. I need to go too."

Happily, David trailed Cobalt's footsteps before catching up and grabbing the other man's hand, squeezing it protectively as they disappeared into a corner with the rest of the audience as they left the concert hall.

Yulia and Andrew excused themselves from Ben, thanking him for inviting them to the recital. "I'll be out with you in a moment. Just want to say hi to the cellist." The psychologist smiled and waved down the couple.

Ben walked down the steps to go to the stage where Alice was standing and waving at him. "Alice, you were brilliant." Ben extended one hand up for her to grasp as she came down the stairs.

[Alice Perette-Johnston]

Alice let out a heavy breath as the last note of her solo rang through the hall. After a wonderous moment of breathing the echo back in, she closed her eyes and stood, taking her bow and receiving her applause. The applause was nothing compared to that hanging silence just after the last note: proof the audience was listening, that they were captivated. There was no greater applause than that silence.

As the audience filed away, streaming out of the doors, Alice put away her cello and stood near the edge of the stage, searching for a long awaited guest. She hadn’t seen Ben in a few months, so she was excited when she caught sight of him. Waving frantically, she hopped a bit, though she was certainly tall enough to be seen over the crowd. She leaned excitedly against her cello case, her eyes sparkling with glee.

“Ben!” She greeted warmly, taking his extended hand and shaking it before pulling him into a quick hug. “Thank you! Thank you.” She accepted his praise graciously, dipping her head in a quick bow. It left her wispy, near-white hair flung into her face. Alice shook her head like a horse to clear it. “I’m so glad you could come. I hope you and your family enjoyed the show.”

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Ben returned the hug whole heartedly and grinned at the young woman as she bowed a little. It really had been awhile since they spoke. It was good seeing the dream walker happy in contrast to the 'happy' that she was when she was younger. The spark he saw in her was undeniable.

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it for anything." Ben said, genuinely meaning it too. Barring anything family related and natural disasters, he was sure he would have cancelled everything to attend this recital. It was just fortunate that the whole family could attend it. Even Ruthie even though she would rather be sitting with her girlfriend somewhere in the back.

"Oh we did. I'd have to introduce you to my nephew. Which reminds me, we're getting dinner. I'd love for you to come if you don't have any plans." He offered with a smile. If she couldn't come, it would be just as good to have this time to catch up.

[Alice Perette-Johnston]

Alice laid a thin hand over her heart, moved genuinely by his assertion that he wouldn’t have missed the concert. The blonde woman had few friends left over from her time at Hammel as well as her phase of mistaken identity. Ben was one of those that she cherished dearly as both a friend and a sort of savior. His work was what had helped her come to terms anyway. “That means a lot, Ben. Really it does.” She said, grinning broadly.

She tilted her head and blinked. Nephew? “I thought the little one was your son.” She said stupidly. Alice still retained a bit of her ‘no brain-to-mouth filter’ personality, blissfully unaware of most social graces. She had simply assumed that now that Ben was married, he had children. Oh well. Alice giggled and shook her head. “Son or Nephew or pet parrot, I’d love to meet him.” She sighed and looked with a pout to the backstage area.

“Unfortunately I have to decline dinner.” Her face fell. “I have a previous engagement with the stage-crew.” Alice paused for a moment, filtering back through her thoughts from earlier.

“You are married now, aren’t you Ben?” She inquired.

[Benjamin Rhodes]

There was no hiding the wide and proud smile on Ben's face to see his patient - and eventual friend - doing so well after all these years. And she still retained her innocence too. It was something Ben hadn't thought was possible for people but then again, people surprised him. A lot.

"Ah, no. Unfortunately David's not mine." He chuckled. "But he might as well be. I love him as one for sure." Ben smiled. His whole body emoted his adoration and love for his cousin's young son. He laughed at Alice's enthusiasm but cut it short when she sighed.

"Oh," Ben waved her down. "It's no big deal. I'm just glad we got to run into each other." He continued to reassure her. "And," he gave her a quizzically amused look at her question. "Yes, I am."

Almost as though he heard the question, Cobalt appeared by his side with David tagging along. "Ben? Yulia just told me Colbie got sick at the camp so they're bringing her back. And they took the car. Don't worry, Andrew's driving." Cobalt grinned at Ben's horrified look that turned to relief at Andrew's name.

Ben gave a little chuckle and elbowed Cobalt. "Thank you for giving me a heart attack. Alice," he turned to the girl who must think they were odd. "This is my husband Cobalt Weaver and this," he paused to grab David and ruffle his hair. "This is my nephew David. Say hi to Alice."

The boy shyly rose a hand and quickly set his hair back to how it was. "Hi Alice."

[Alice Perette-Johnston]

Her face broke into an enormous grin when Ben confirmed he was married. “Good. You’re too good of a man to be loose in the world.” She teased. Her dusty green haze turned to the two near appearances. The little boy that must have been David, and a man Alice assumed was Ben’s husband. She…vaguely recognized him. She vaguely recognized lots of people these days.

Alice didn’t have any place thinking anyone was odd. She simply waited patiently for their conversation to finish, a dreamy smile on her face.

“Cobalt. Nice to meet you!” She chirped, shaking hands with the man. Alice crouched slightly, folding with an odd grace, in order to extend hands and shake with David. “Its nice to meet you too, David. I hope you enjoyed the show.” She leaned forward and whispered. “And I hope I didn’t bore you too much. Ben’s old…he likes this kinda thing.” Alice teased, peering up at Ben with a grin when she straightened.

“Should I let you go? I don’t want to keep your happy family waiting.” She offered, a little distraught that her own family still didn’t bother to talk to her. Well, with the exception of Peter. Now that both siblings were grown, they’d had time to reconnect. She had plans for a phone chat with him later this evening.

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Alice's grin brought an equally huge grin on Ben's face, coupled with a blush from her compliment. "Thank you Alice. That's very kind of you. What about you? Found anyone special yet?" He asked out of curiosity.

The way Alice spoke to David brought a soft smile on Ben's face, his hand wrapping around Cobalt's waist, squeezing him lightly.

"Hey now," Ben adopted an affronted look. "There's no need to call me old." He broke into a grin when David gave him a look. "I enjoyed it. It was pretty cool of you...you know how to play an instrument." David turned back to Alice with a little smile.

"David's learning how to play the violin." Ben said proudly. David blushed and nodded. "Yeah, two years already." He held up two fingers as Cobalt ruffled his hair. "That's my boy." The older man beamed proudly.

When Alice offered to go, Ben felt bad for not having her over for dinner. "You should come and have dinner with us," Cobalt said. "Oh, she has plans." Ben patted the other man's back lightly. "That's really too bad. Seeing you again has been all Ben's been talking about the whole week."

"That's true," Ben grinned sheepishly, his free hand traveling to the back of his neck, rubbing it slightly. "I got a little excited getting to see you again. It's really too bad you can't join us. But it has been so good to see you again, Alice." He held his arms out to the girl for another hug. "I really hope we get to see each other again soon."

"Maybe next week? The twins' birthday is next week." Cobalt suggested. Ben's eyes widened as he nodded. "Yeah! Absolutely! I'll give you the address."

They parted ways after promises each knew would keep. It had been a good evening. A good evening indeed.

[OOC: Wrapped for Ben. Thank you so much for indulging me, Lynx >_< You're a complete doll! And Alice is WONderful!! ^^]

[Alice Perette-Johnston]

Alice smiled slowly, her grin enigmatic and vague. “My music is special enough for me.” She replied. The answer probably wasn’t what Ben was looking for, but the clear answer was no: Alice hadn’t found anyone to settle down with. Or really anyone she felt she was in love with. She’d seen love: in Ben, in friends who’d gone on to get married…it seemed something that Alice wouldn’t be partaking in for a while. She was, after all, just discovering who she was.

Her conversation with David took precedence over whatever the adults were saying and Alice raised her eyebrows, impressed. “well, strings are the way to go.” She said, patting her case.
“Their color is better…richer than the rest. More robust.” Alice had been quote ‘sane’ for several years, but the synesthesia side-effect of her power was still potent enough to effect her description of certain things. She blinked and then giggled a bit at herself. “They just sound better.” She added for clarification.

Waiting quietly for the two men to finish their discussion, Alice absently ran her spindly fingers through her thin hair, her glassy eyes drifting off into whatever dreamland Alice still held dear to her. Being married seemed like quite an effort…though she was rather fond of children. Their imagination had yet to be tainted. They were pure, and fun. More interesting in conversation than most adults or her peers.

Her eyes softened at the dinner invite. “I’d love to come. And I’ll be sure to bring the best gift in the whole place.” She said, winking playfully at Ben. She embraced him one last time and sent him off with a heartfelt farewell, willing the next time they’d meet to come as fast as possible.

[CLOSED]

[Event !]

Thank you for your participation, the Time Warp has now ended.