Ben Dover [...Dr. Rhodes]

[Clement Evans]

Back in Cali, Clement had gone to Lunar New Year and Chuseok festivals with the Lees, but they'd never had rides or animals or stuff like that. The whole... government assistance allowance stipend thing was still blowing his mind. Clement didn't want to squander it on a stupid thing like a fair, but anything was better than doing the pile of schoolwork he had. Besides, there was wasting money and being one of those penny-pinchers. Clement wanted to be careful with his money, but he didn't want his favorite brand name to become 'Clearance'. Besides, it wouldn't kill him to have a little fun.

The Ferris wheel caught his eye, but he was small enough that someone would probably get put in with him and he didn't want that. The games he dismissed as rigged, and though he looked through some of the booths, none of them sold anything he was interested in, and Clement didn't want to be told to get away from the goods the way he had been back home. He'd brought water from a fountain at the school in the thermos Ajima had filled with sujeonggwa... but some of the fair stuff smelled really good.

To get away from spending money, Clement had handed over one of his tickets to the petting zoo. There were little goats and some baby sheep, piglets and bunnies. The bunnies reminded him of Tyrone, and after he spent some time with them, he went back to the goats. They were soft and enjoyed the same ministrations, having their chins and behind their ears gently scratched. But while most of the other kids were laughing and smiling, Clement regarded all the animals thoughtfully, which meant he frowned. He knelt in front of a little black goat, thermos handle through one thin wrist, giving little scritches around the animal's nubby horns.

"I bet no one cares if you read for fun," he said, low, to the goat.

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Ben had woken up extra early that day to help his parents out at the fair. They had opened up a food stall, as always, and had also recruited his siblings to help with the entertainment for the adults and the children. He was also helping around with those booths as well.

He loved the fair. The sights, the smells, it reminded him why he loved Pilot Ridge. And despite the shortcomings of the small town, what with the ever looming danger of outsiders who want to shake things up in a pretty bad manner, Ben thought Pilot Ridge deserved these little shindigs to calm the residents down.

Artie had asked him over to the petting zoo once he had settled his parents' booth because he needed some hands on the antsy children and the equally antsy animals.

Ben was trying to wrestle a particularly jittery sheep when he accidentally bumped into a small boy talking to one of the goats. "Art! A little help!" Ben yelled out before turning to the small boy. "Sorry for bumping into you like that. That's Daisy by the way. She...usually doesn't let anyone touch her." The child psychologist joked as he rubbed the neck of the sheep he was holding to calm it down. It seemed to be slowly working.

[Clement Evans]

Nothing in Clement's life had led him to believe he was either particularly good or particularly bad with animals, but since his general practice was to back off anytime one made a fuss and to pay attention to the ones that came to him, he was unknowingly already somewhat ahead of the curve. The little goats were inquisitive and lipped his shirt hem and sniffed his thermos. Their hooves made little clacking sounds on the parking lot surface, like wood on wood.

The bump sent Clement onto his butt from his kneeling position but didn't do much harm past surprising him. Luckily everything stayed person-colored, but both Clement and the goat gave the offender a look of annoyance.

"Sorry for bumping into you like that. That's Daisy by the way. She... usually doesn't let anyone touch her."

Clement thought that characteristic would've kept her out of the whole 'petting zoo' demographic, but he didn't say anything. She seemed to get along fine. He gave her another light scratch around her horns and ears and stood up, noting that this guy was stupidly tall the way Xavier had been. And it looked a little ridiculous, a guy that size handling something that maybe came up to his knee. Daisy seemed content enough, so Clement let her go and found one of the other little sheep who seemed to be out of sorts, about to butt into the one the tall guy was calming down. He waved a hand to distract it, and when it came over to him he petted it gently under the chin and behind the ears.

"Little kids are stupid," he muttered. "There should be a petting zoo for people with sense."

[Benjamin Rhodes]

The young boy’s opening statement made Ben laugh boisterously, scaring the sheep in his arms. “Shh shh shh, it’s alright, I’m sorry.” He soothed the sheep softly before turning to look at child. “You’re a happy camper, aren’t you.” He teased before kneeling down to set the sheep free. It hesitantly moved away from Ben before joining his friends, a little calmer it seemed.

“So, what’s up with the whole doom and gloom, sunshine?” Ben asked as he let one of the baby rams bump into his thigh with its curved horns. Art was nowhere to be seen so Ben figured his brother had left him there on purpose. Thank you Arthur.

“You’re a little too young to be this jaded.”

[Clement Evans]

Clement didn't like being laughed at, especially when he thought he hadn't said anything funny. The look he favored the tall man with was very akin to one from an unamused cat. And then the guy apologized to the sheep. Clement felt his ire rising, but for once he held his tongue, since the only thing there was 'fuck you'.

“You’re a happy camper, aren’t you.”

Rather than take the joke, Clement answered literally, with a flat, "No."

And he noted that he was only a little taller than the man was when he was kneeling. Clement ran careful fingers over the little lamb's ears, feeling the velvety softness. He considered leaving, but he'd paid a ticket and he wasn't going to let some stupid doof bother him. He felt his tongue press against his front teeth the way it did when he wanted to push the stutter out, except this time he was trying to will away the cuss words building up.

“So, what’s up with the whole doom and gloom, sunshine? You’re a little too young to be this jaded.”

Inside his mouth, Clement bit the tip of his tongue to keep the 'FUCK YOU' from exploding out, but when he finally spoke it was to be rude in the other language he knew. "Neona jalhae!"

Well... that was still better than what he'd wanted to say in English. Clement let the little sheep go so his fingers didn't accidentally pinch or startle it and he stood so he'd feel... marginally taller. "Maybe I'm tired of adults f... screwing with me." He felt an eyebrow raise. "And maybe I'm older than I look."

Which was twelve on a good day. On bad days Clement was mistaken for ten.

*neona jalhae - none of your business. informal.

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Ben kept his jovial front even as the boy replied with a 'No' but he did move back a little to give the other boy space. So he was not a joker, that much Ben was sure of the young boy.

Blinking at the exclamation in a foreign language, Ben quickly kept his distance. He was used to children yelling but he didn't quite know what to do with one that spoke in a foreign language.

And when the young one started to speak in English again, Ben listened and gave an awkward smile. "Maybe you are. Is that a normal thing? Adults...screwing with you?" He asked, looking down at the baby ram that had decided his foot was a good resting place.

[Clement Evans]

When the man backed up, Clement felt himself relax a little, enough to squint up into his face to try to see him better. He sourly noted the hair was a sort of dark blond and that the man was still smiling, the latter of which was at least something new in his dealings with taller, light-haired males.

Clement wasn't going to ask how old the guy thought he was; it wouldn't do anything for either of them. But was adults screwing with him a normal thing? He thought about that for a moment. Back in Cali it had been an accepted part of life, but in Vermont... it was more the other kids than the grown ups. Now that he thought about it, the adults in Pilot Ridge had all been pretty above board. So he said, "It... used to be." He squinted up at the man. "Why?"

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Ben frowned slightly. "Used to be" meant it happened before, probably more than once that the boy was now resorting to this much wall-building. And that did not sit well with the child psychologist.

When the young boy asked why, Ben looked down at him with a curious frown. "Nothing. Don't worry, I'm not screwing with you." He shook his head.

He felt that he should leave but he also felt like he couldn't. Something about the boy was grounding him there. "Are you local?" Ben asked, deciding staying was better.

[Clement Evans]

Well... he wasn't screwing with Clement any more, the way Clement saw it. Just as well. He wasn't ready to put up with teasing outside of Hammel. The drastic change in locale and removal of his home situation meant that Clement had been off-balance since June, and add to that the fight, the stipend, Mia, Lyra, and Jesse (and Tyrone), and Clement didn't know what to think anymore. His temper had been much less active since coming to Vermont, and it wasn't as big a comfort as it once had been. If he'd bothered to think much about it, it would've confused him more than he already was.

Unlike some who feared metaphobia or discrimination and thus termed the reason why they were in Pilot Ridge more obscurely, Clement didn't care and just said, "I go to Hammel."

Then, because he didn't want this guy to think he liked Vermont or anything, he added, "I'm from Los Angeles."

[Benjamin Rhodes]

At the mention of Hammel, Ben nodded understandingly. The additional info was something he may have expected. Maybe it was more of a stereotype but Ben always thought people who came from a big city were less inclined to be...friendly. But this was a child. He shouldn't have that as an excuse to be surly and well, jaded.

He said nothing to that effect and simply nodded at the afterthought.

"I have a few friends up there. My cousin was from there. My partner too." Ben's smile softened a little at the mention of his better half.

He adjusted his sitting position to an Indian fold, making sure there weren't animals behind him before doing so. "How are you doing there so far? Dr. Neville treating you well up there?"

[Clement Evans]

Since he was from Los Angeles, Clement didn't blink at the mention of a partner, though sexual orientation and the like had never been high on his list of things he'd thought much about. The guy could also mean partner in other senses of the word like business partner, though from the look on his face that wasn't the one he had in mind. Clement also guessed that they didn't know any of the same people, till he went on and mentioned Dr. Neville.

While Dr. N was a stellar example of an Adult Who Did Not Screw With Him, neither meeting had been very comfortable for Clement, who had been naked and beaten the first time and accepting punishment the second. So he skirted. "It's weird. How do you know Dr. Neville?"

With the guy sitting, Clement sat down himself, on a hay bale. It kept them in conversing distance but gave him space. Daisy ambled back over and nudged him with her nose, and Clement gave in and scratched her behind her ears and under her chin again.

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Ben simply smiled at the young boy's description of Hammel. At the question about how he knew Sean, Ben shrugged. "We've been friends for a while. I started volunteering at the LGBTQ center a few blocks from here where he volunteers too. " He explained without fanfare.

Smiling again at how Daisy seemed to have bonded with the boy, Ben patted the goat's bottom and reached his other hand to the boy before introducing himself. "I'm Ben, by the way."

[Clement Evans]

Considering Clement's rather paltry English vocabulary, it was unsurprising he didn't know what anything past the G in what the guy said stood for, but did know what he was talking about. A place for non-straight kids. Clement didn't think a town as small as Pilot Ridge would have something like that, and he also didn't think there had been a Q on the end of the jumble of letters the last time he'd heard it.

Either way, there wasn't anything he could do with what the man had said, so he just nodded, running his hand over the fur around Daisy's... shoulders? To see if it felt different.

He looked at the offered hand for a moment before he remembered what to do. Clement had probably tripled the number of times he'd shaken hands since becoming meta, and it still felt weird. Taking the hand hesitantly, he clasped it briefly and let go.

"Clement." And since it was only fair, "Are you local?"

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Ben considered it a personal accomplishment when a child trusted him enough to shake his hand. Now especially, coming from someone like Clement. It was a silly thing to be proud of, Ben realised, but it was still a big enough accomplishment that he grinned like the big dork that he was.

"Yep! Born and raised right here." He responded proudly. "Along with four brothers. And a cousin. Who is a brother anyway." Grinning affectionately, he looked down at Clement. "I don't suppose you have any siblings?" He asked, his tone gentle.

[Clement Evans]

Unfortunately it wasn't so much trust as manners that made Clement shake Ben's hand. Clement knew he was old enough to be doing things like that (however old the guy thought he was notwithstanding), and moreover, that he'd have to get used to it if he was going to do things like get a job and not look like some punk kid. Still, the action made him uncomfortable without knowing why, and he knew he'd made a sort of half-assed job of it. But Ben didn't seem to care.

Four brothers and a cousin-brother and Ben... made a hell of a lot of boys. Clement didn't know if having siblings would've made things easier or harder, but knew it would've been one more kid for his dad's friends to push around, and who knows, maybe push him around too. Minho though, Clement considered him a brother, but it was different when they lived in different houses under different parents. Better for him, but not the same.

"I have a hyung, but he's in California." Then he blinked and realized he'd have to translate. "A... older brother. Sort of."