Let Sleeping Bunnies Lie... (Benny)

[Forrest & Skye Cheng]

"I hate getting up this early every day," Skye grumbled, stifling a yawn as he and Forrest made their way to the cafeteria for breakfast.

"You say that every morning," the darker-haired twin rolled his eyes, though he, too, was exhausted, and doubly so because Skye had stayed up later than him and his lethargy was infecting Forrest. "You gotta start going to bed earlier, it'll make both of us happier."

Skye just stuck his tongue out, but their moods both lifted as they caught a whiff of breakfast and zoomed over to the serving area, piling their trays with food before beginning to scope out where to sit. They tried to choose somewhere different every day; switching things up was fun, and they made a lot of irritated people friends that way.

"Hey, that guy looks like he's falling asleep," Forrest announced, pointing towards a smallish brown-haired boy that looked like he hadn't slept a wink last night.

"Aww, poor baaaby," Skye replied in a pout. With silent agreement, they approached Benny, not recognizing the new boy and thus putting on their brightest smiles in greeting.

They sat on either side of him, giving him a long stare to determine that yes, he was as adorable as he had looked from a distance; probably even more so now. Definitely the type they would like to cuddle up to and get to know. "You okay, cutie?" Forrest asked, genuine concern in his voice as he tore into a bread roll.

"You look like you could use a nap," Skye chimed in, giving him a sympathetic glance.

[Benton Barrett]

He had bacon and eggs, because when you could have bacon and eggs, why wouldn't you?

Oh, right, when you were almost using them as a pillow.

Benny was, unfortunately, exhausted. Since he'd been woken by Kodi, he hadn't been able to get back to sleep, and had instead wandered around the school. He knew better, but it wasn't as though he had anything else he could really do. He didn't know anyone well enough to ask for a spot on their floor, and it wasn't as though he could just go and sleep on the roof or a bench or something. He considered going to the infirmary, but he wasn't about to pretend to be sick for that. Besides, they'd just send him back to his room. 

Still, he'd gotten breakfast, and he'd considered coffee - he didn't drink the stuff often ( and usually it was Starbucks or an equivalent, because coffee that had no extra flavors? Blegh ) but he could definitely use a pick-me-up.

Of course, he hadn't expected any sort of pick-me-ups in the form of two people sitting on either side of him, effectively boxing him in. He wanted to whine - it threatened. But he was not a jerk ( most of the time ) so he simply reigned it in. He'd have to address each one in turn, because that's how you were supposed to handle a conversation. 

Even if that conversation was barely cognizant. He speared a mouthful of scrambled egg, and ate it, swallowing before he actually started talking. 

"Totally not cute. But yes, I'm okay. Just wiped. Didn't really get much sleep last night. I'll get over it." He replied - though he realized his voice was a little more gruff than he'd intended. He let out a sigh. "Sorry, like I said. Tired, I don't mean to be a dick." He offered, though he had yet to look at either of them, yet. He broke off a piece of bacon and chewed it, slowly, to prevent any more random acts of growling.

[Forrest & Skye Cheng]

Poor kid seemed to be having a rough morning. Which, had the twins known what he had gone through, would have made them even more sympathetic than they were already. Oh, they knew Kodi - and the little scaredy-cats they really were (as much as they feigned otherwise), they kept veeeery clear of that piece of work.

Still, when Benton spoke, Forrest and Skye met their gazes and thought in tandem. Totally cute. But they wouldn't press the matter.

"Sucks, man, Forrest sympathized, prodding his fork in his brother's direction. "Skye was just complaining about having to get up early. 'Least we got a pretty full night's sleep."

The blonde made a whiney noise, stabbing into a waffle. "Until your studious, nerdy habits get to me, I'm gonna continue to complain." He stuck his tongue out before turning his attention back to his food.

Forrest rolled his eyes. "No need to apologize. Are you new to Hammel, or have we just not met yet?" If he was new, Forrest wondered if he knew about gestalt pairs, or would be thrown off by the two chewing in almost perfect unison, making similar movements with their hands, and other such sort of off-putting things. It came naturally as the two started to become more synced into one. "I'm Forrest, by the way. And the sleepyhead is Skye."

He offered a friendly smile that Skye copied through a mouthful of food.

[Benton Barrett]

Skye? And Forrest? Seriously? Those were either sadistic, or still very hippy parents. He didn't know, honestly, it was one of those things that he was most certainly not going to press too deeply in to. He was, however, jealous of their ability to get a full night's sleep. It could have been him sleeping all night! He chewed on his bacon quietly, nodding a bit. 

"Yeah, I'm new. I've only been here a little over a week." He added, softly, wishing vaguely that he could will more bacon into existence. Or coffee. 

He groaned, and shook his head. "Sorry. I'm really tired. Do you know where they do coffee? Because I don't, and I am going to be in so much trouble if I fall asleep all day in class." he was already going to get odd looks for wearing the same outfit - or he would, if he didn't always wear the same hoodie. He could just keep it zipped up, and no one would be the wiser. But damn if he couldn't wait for gym. He was going to start smelling up the place if he didn't get a shower.

Luckily, gym class was relatively early. It just sucked that he was going to have to survive gym first to get there. He could use a nice hot shower to ease his muscles and his mind. 

Actually, he might just do that after breakfast, and to hell with not going to the gym early. 

"Um. And my name is Benton. Nice to meet you both." He said, finally looking up at them - first at Forrest, then at Skye. Well, that was interesting. No, he was not thrilled to have two guys on either side of him, but he also wasn't in much of a position to argue. The only position he was in was the one that got him coffee. 

And maybe a filched waffle from his new friend's plate.

[Forrest & Skye Cheng]

Benton may or may not have been interested to know that it was a tradition in their extended family for parents to name their children after their own abilities. Forrest and Skye's mother was an ecological empath; hence, their names. River and Rain, their cousins, were named after their hydrokinetic and weather manipulating parents; Sparky and Melody after electrokinesis and song manipulation. It was a fun fact that they liked to share with people who asked about their names.

Forrest nodded. "Thought that must be the case, otherwise I'm sure we would have met by now." He smiled again; he and Skye had a habit of tracking down people they deemed adorable or cute, and Benny was already high on that list.

"Do you want me to get you some?" Skye asked in response to the question about coffee, his eyes lighting up. "I can do that!" Before Benton could respond, he was gone in a flash, eager to get their new friend some refreshments.

"Heh. We have to stay away from coffee usually, otherwise our teachers tell us we're unbearable in class," Forrest commented, nibbling on an apple. "Skye loves it, though. Energy drinks are even worse." They hadn't had one in months, for very good reason.

Forrest was the only one there to hear Benton's introduction, but Skye knew it the instant he did, and appeared in a few moments with a couple drinks in hand. "Your beverage, Mr. Benton sir," he announced with a giggle, offering a steaming cup of coffee as he sipped on some hot chocolate. He handed another one over to Forrest.

"A pleasure to meet you too," Forrest replied sweetly, taking a happy gulp of the stuff. "So, besides not sleeping well, are you settling in at Hammel alright?"

[Benton Barrett]

He couldn't help but chuckle a bit at Forrest's comment about how they would have met by now. They were meeting by now. Maybe it was just how tired he was - little things that weren't really funny were actually making him kind of giddy.

"I--" But before he could argue, Skye was gone, dashing away to bring him a drink. Well, that was nice of him, though it made Benny feel almost a tad guilty. After all, he wasn't the kind of guy to order anyone to do anything - most of the stuff he could do himself, he did. But he hadn't told Skye, he'd just volunteered... so maybe it wasn't so bad?

Shaking his head, he turned his gaze over to forest, grabbing another sliver of bacon to chew on. The cooked meat crunched, and no matter what, Benny could at least enjoy that. Bacon could cure a lot of problems. Maybe not any major ones, but any problems involving tastebuds.

"I only drink coffee on occasion - like... now." He had to fight to keep himself from pouting. Ugh, was he allowed to call in sleepy to class? Probably not in the first week - he didn't want to be known as a troublemaker when he was just tired. "But I won't touch energy drinks. Those things are like... condensed rocket fuel or something. I had half of one, once, and it did nothing good for me."

Well, aside from make him clean his house because he couldn't sit down.

He blinked, as Skye returned - saying his name even though he hadn't been here to hear it. They both seemed to have not known him at the beginning of the conversation, even by hearsay... so...

He looked a little confused, but he accepted the coffee, determining himself too tired to properly put puzzle pieces together just yet. He sipped at the bitter beverage, and though it wasn't a Starbucks mocha frappuccino with a shot of espresso? It would do in a pinch for keeping him conscious. Unless Skye was secretly evil, and this was decaff.

"More or less. "It's definitely different. I went to public school most of my life, and now I've been sucked in to the glamorous world of boarding school. My friends think I ditched them, and I miss my family. Other than that? Pretty good." He didn't want to sink into a funk, and he was already tired so he was halfway there. "I've met some pretty nice people here, though. How long have you guys been here?"

And some pretty scary werewolves, too.

[Forrest & Skye Cheng]

Forrest eyed Benny's bacon, his mouth watering over the crispy strips of meat. He had nabbed a handful of the stuff himself, but his appetite for the delicious food was never satisfied. Still, he chomped away at his own breakfast, quickly emptying his plate.

He nodded sympathetically as Benton spoke, keeping half of his mind on the conversation while the other half followed the thoughts of his twin, who was humming happily as he poured the drinks. Forrest giggled at his comment about energy drinks. "No kidding! We couldn't sit still for the entire day last time, nearly drove our teachers mad." Even if only one of them consumed the beverage, they both got the effects.

And then Skye was returning with drinks and smiles, settling down by Benton's side once more as he dug back into his breakfast. If he noticed their new friend's confusion, he didn't say anything - they would see how long it took before he either figured out what they were, or simply asked.

They each fell silent for a moment as they chewed and drank, until Benton answered Forrest's question. "We're from a little north of here, in Canada," Skye offered. "We know how you feel. Adjusting was really hard at first."

Forrest nodded. "You'll get used to it, though. Starts to feel like home after a while. Especially if you manage to make some friends along the way." Both of them smiled then, bright, innocent gestures that assured Benny they were free to be deemed 'friends' whenever the adorable boy wanted.

"Lessee... Just about two years now," Skye replied, swallowing his last bite fo food. "We have a lotta cousins here too, luckily, so we knew what to expect."

"Yeah, if you need anything at all, let us know!" the darker-haired twin chirped, giving Benton a friendly pat on the shoulder. "There's a lotta cool stuff at this school if you know where to look."

[Benton Barrett]

He grinned, though it was halfhearted. He could see both of them having an issue sitting down for any length of time - even now, even with Skye seemingly not a morning person? He seemed to be having a pretty easy go of it. Benny, already not a morning person, didn't have any sleep to go on - so he was a barely functional zombie. Shaking his head a little bit, he glanced over as Skye spoke.

They were from Canada? That had to be a little interesting. He was half-tempted to ask them if they spoke french, though he withheld that particular remark, because it was probably not very nice. Or a little racist. He wasn't sure, so it was safer just to keep it bottled up for later.

"I don't think it'll ever feel like home." He said, and he knew that his words had been far more flat and bitter than he'd meant them to. "I mean... I'm from North Dakota. My family is there. That's where my home is, is what I mean." He shook his head a little bit, apologetically. "I don't want this place to feel like home."

After a second, he added: "I want to make friends, yes. But... home is where my family is. I don't want to lose that." He finally felt like he might have explained that without him sounding like a giant dick in the process.

The touch, as friendly as it was, had Benny flinching away from him - and in to Skye, because he wasn't thinking. In turn he practically jumped backwards, out of his seat - and if he had been drowsy, before, it seemed that wasn't the case any more. His eyes were wide, and he looked pretty much ready to bolt.

"Don't do that. Please." He said, softly, a sense of urgency to his voice.

"I don't know everything about how it works, but my power can hurt people when they touch me. I would feel really bad if I hurt you, okay?" He added, trying to explain, so he didn't look like he was just flinching away from them for no reason other than disgust. Touching was something he wasn't ready to get in to yet - not until he was sure he wasn't going to accidentally murder someone in the process.

"Sorry." He added, as he tried to take his seat again, face red, and feeling distinctly uncomfortable with the events as they had transpired.

[Forrest & Skye Cheng]

The twins, interestingly enough, both knew a spattering of French, but were much more engaged with Chinese culture growing up, so English and Mandarin were their choice languages. They were hard to offend, though, so had Benton asked, they probably would have just laughed and told him.

They both gave him sympathetic looks as he spoke about home. It was true, though - nothing could really replace where you came from. "Well, whatever the case, it should at least get easier and more familiar with time," Forrest told him, finishing off the last of his breakfast.

"It may never really seem like home, but... It can definitely become a comfortable place, as long as you... Get the right opportunities and take them," Skye added. He had no idea about Benton's roommate situation, though, so his advice may not have been so great.

"And as for friends, well, we love to make new ones," Forrest added a little cheekily, as though they hadn't been obvious enough already. Especially cute ones, he wanted to add, but thought it probably not best to.

They didn't think he sounded like a dick. He just seemed tired and a little moody, which was completely understandable. They didn't blame him in the least.

The series of jumps, though, from Forrest's touch startled both of them, and they automatically retracted from Benton and hoped they hadn't done anything horribly wrong. They leaned away from the boy to give him some room, waiting for him to calm down a bit before sitting up again.

"S-sorry," Forrest stammered, unsure of what else to say. Though, as soon as Benton explained what was going on, they both relaxed, understanding what the problem was. "Ah man, I didn't know you had a, uh... A tangible ability," Forrest apologized, rubbing the back of his head. "My bad."

"It won't happen again," Skye chirped lightly, guzzling down the last of his drink. "And don't worry, we get it. We might not have abilities that are affected by touch, but we've had experiences with it."

Forrest nodded in agreement, his smile slowly returning. Benton looked awfully cute with a little blush. "Well... We should probably be heading off to class pretty soon..." He looked pointedly at Skye, who rolled his eyes.

[Benton Barrett]

He listened to Forrest, Skye, then Forrest again. They seemed like genuinely kind people – he was being hostile towards people who were being nothing but nice to him. It might not have been intentional, and only an issue of sleep deprivation, but he still felt a bit guilty about it.

“Well, I’ll be glad to be friends with you guys. I already feel more comfortable. He smile at each one in turn. “See? Totally the picture of comfortable…ness…” He shook his head. “I may fail English for that one.” He snickered, trying to put himself back into a better mindset. Another sip of coffee, and he was starting to feel the first jolts of delicious, delicious consciousness.

Then of course, he spazzed out all over the both of them, and probably dashed any chance of doing the whole ‘friend’ thing…

He shook his head. “No, don’t be. You didn’t know. I need to wear a sign of something. ‘Beware of Spaz’ might get the point across.” He murmured. “Like I said, I just don’t want to hurt anybody, and I don’t know exactly what’ll happen. Sometimes it’s faster than others, so until I can make sure I’m not gonna hurt someone, I just kind of freak out a little bit. Totally not your bad.”

Skye spoke, easing the tension a little bit, and Forrest seemed to feel a little better, too. Okay, maybe it wasn’t a total wash. They didn’t seem ready to hurl him into a volcano yet, so that was good.

“Ugh class.” He mumbled, looking at his barely touched breakfast. “Do you get sick days in your first couple of weeks? ‘cause I could totally call in and only feel mostly like a horrible person.” He frowned, but only because the inevitably was approaching, and he still wanted to hit the showers.

“So, what’s your powers? I’m thinking you’re telepathic…” He glanced at Skye. “But I don’t know about you.” He added, peering at Forrest, mostly trying to make sure that the two of them weren’t about to run for the hills and never look back

[Forrest & Skye Cheng]

The twins both beamed at their new friend, glad that he was willing to befriend the two rather goofy boys. "Sounds great!" Skye chirped, resisting the urge to give Benton a hug. "And we're glad. We like to prank and tease a lotta people, but we'll keep you on our 'be nice to' list."

"For now," Forrest added with a sly grin, raising his brows. They both giggled at his smile and 'failure' at words. At least the boy was seeming to lighten up a bit. Energetic people and coffee tended to do that.

The spazzing was understandable. Neither twin looked down on their new friend for that.

"Beware of Spaz," Skye chuckled lightly. Both of them were trying to make the situation more comfortable for the meta newbie.

"Do you mind if we ask what it is you can do?" Forrest asked softly. "If you don't want to say, that's totally fine. We understand." Skye nodded in agreement. They were both very, very curious, though, as was probably obvious in their eager expressions.

Skye nabbed a piece of bacon from Benton's plate and nibbled on it. "I wish we got sick days," he smirked, though Forrest sighed and shook his head good-naturedly. "But if you really don't feel good, they understand. Maybe you could talk to someone in the infirmary to see if they can suggest things to help you sleep?" He shrugged. Neither of them knew what his sleeping situation was really like, though.

They both grinned widely as Benton asked about their abilities. "Good guess," Forrest replied, stretching his arms above his head. "But we're actually gestalts." He wasn't sure if Benny had heard of that ability yet, so he continued,"Basically, we're slowly merging to be one person in two bodies someday-"

"-and that means we know what the other is thinking all the time. We're extra strong and ~apparently~ super intelligent around each other, too," Skye finished, chuckling. They both knew a lot of people were weirded out by gestalts, so they hoped Benton wouldn't freak out. "It's kinda hard to really explain. But we're still learning how our abilities are gonna work."