I Don't Need Help! (Benny)

[Benton Barrett]

So Kodi had noticed his absence. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that – but whatever he’d feel, it wasn’t reassurance.

“I don’t know.” He replied, simply. He needed to, to get some form of regular sleep again. It was playing hell on the rest of his life, not coming back to his own room, even if there had been some interesting encounters because he didn’t. But he wasn’t going to look at the positives of being ran out of the room, nor was he going to lie and say all was well enough for that.

Then again, if he were to come back? Now would be the best time, when Kodi would require nothing more than a swift kick to the shin to make him go away. That thought alone made him smirk just a little bit. So there.

“Have you seen you? You’re a lumpy mass of black and blue. Not even remotely attractive, if I were even in to that sort of thing.” He shot back, but his face had reddened significantly at being caught intentionally looking away. Finally, he did let himself look back at the other guy. However, he actually looked a little hurt, as Kodi called it just the way it was. Benny was an ice cube. He wasn’t sure how that was going to play out for the rest of his life – if he’d be forced to forgo any sort of physical relation because of it? That was a pretty big fear of his

Maybe he’d need to find a nice penguin to fall in love with.

“I’m going to figure out how to control it.” He muttered, unhappily.

But the subject was on Oriel, and he was fine with that. “And what did you do to make him berserk? I know you’re not a sparkling example of sainthood, and even if he is a creeper – no more or less of one than you, of course – I don’t see him flying off the handle for no reason.”

After all, as far as he could tell, after he took off, there was no additional fight in his room. Hopefully.

“Everything I’ve ever heard of points to yes, you could fall asleep and never wake up. That’s how concussions work.” He said, plainly. As far as how much room there was? Benny shook his head. “How about I read you a story instead, since you’re clearly so in to them?”

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Kodi grunted. "Yer a more... Entertainin' roommate than our others," he growled, which was the biggest compliment he had paid anyone in a very long time. What he meant by 'entertaining' could be interpreted different ways. But of course he had noticed Benton's absence - he hadn't been able to torment the guy for the past several days. It made him sad.

Although now, with Benton knowing his secret and Kodi in such a vulnerable place, he didn't know how he felt about the boy coming back. The tides had changes far too much for his liking, and if Benny started getting uppity with him...

He snorted, rubbing blearily at his face. "An' here I thought wounds were attractive," he mumbled, not really hurt by Benton's words, and quite amused by the flush that had lit up his cheeks. "I think yer lyin' t'me, though." Another thing Kodi wasn't good at - letting obviously uncomfortable subjects drop. As soon as the young boy gave him that sad look, though, he scoffed and waved a weak hand. "Yer abilities just manifested, ya can't expect t'be able t' control them. That's why yer here. Don't freak the fuck out about it." Was he... Reassuring Benton? Ugh. Stop, Kodi.

At the question about Oriel, he sneered and looked away. "I... Played with somethin'a his that I apparently shouldn't have," he replied vaguely, making it sound like Phoenix was an object to be manhandled. And though he wouldn't admit it, the use of the word 'sainthood' struck a chord with Kodi, and he might have flinched just a bit at the word. No, he was nothing like that.

"Huh..." Kodi seemed to ponder this information. All that he had learned growing up taught him that, as sinful a creature he was, he would definitely be going to Hell when he died. And he wasn't thrilled to go there yet. Although, when Benny mentioned stories again, his eyes lit up angrily once more. "Shut the fuck up about that," he snarled. "I'm goin' t'sleep, stay here an' make sure I don't die if y'want to, otherwise I'll see ya in Hell." That said, he closed his eyes and pretended to try to sleep, but he was too full of thoughts to really be able to settle down yet.

[Benton Barrett]

He lifted a brow at Kodi’s explanation. Entertaining? So far, he’d felt more like prey than entertainment, and frankly, that wasn’t a great feeling to have, no matter the situation. But he wasn’t going to argue – ‘entertaining’ was at least a little better than ‘annoying’ or ‘obnoxious.’ Even if it were a little bit on the pedobear side of things.

“Yeah, scars, maybe. But nothing that makes you lumpy.” He was trying to maintain his tenuous control of the situation with as many little quips as he could come up with. Unfortunately, no matter what he came up with, the subtle jabs that Kodi kept popping out tagged him deeper than anything he was saying to Kodi. When the werewolf said he thought Benny was lying, the younger boy just crossed his arms over his middle, somewhat defensively.

What he hadn’t been expecting, though, was Kodi trying to make him feel a little better about one of the various insecurities he’d developed since finding out he wasn’t a normal person. “Yeah.” He mumbled, not particularly reassured, but glad that he said it nonetheless. The dentokinetic actually did give up a detail as to why Oriel had responded the way he had. Benny’s brows furrowed thoughtfully. The way Oriel and Kodi both had treated him like a thing to be fought over… the way Kodi practically claimed him..?

Led him to believe it wasn’t a thing, but a person. Someone who was ‘Oriel’s.’

Kodi practically snapped at him – so Benny, of course, reaffirmed his newfound position as possible blackmailer. “Okay, okay. I’ll be quiet.” He replied, though, as Kodi rolled over, Benny headed back over to Kodi’s closet. Considering the way Kodi had a tendency to just walk in to his room, he was going to exercise his own roommate authority and do the same.

He opened the door to the closet, and started looking over the collection. It didn’t take him long – he grabbed the first Game of Thrones book, and closed the door once again. Benny settled on the floor next to Kodi’s bed, putting his back to the bed. At least this way, Kodi could get a little rest, and Benny could make sure he didn’t… well, die.

[Deleted]

Kodi grumbled at the word 'lumpy'. Was it really that bad? Bleh... "Well, y'better make sure t'help me get unlumpy as fast as possible, then," he huffed. "Got things t'do and people t'bang." He vaguely wondered if Erik would be too repulsed by his bruises to give him some relief. Nyeh... He stuck his tongue out as Benton just crossed his arms over his chest, a little bummed he didn't get more of a reaction, but amused nonetheless.

But ugh, he needed to shut up about this powers thing. He didn't give two fucks about whether or not Benton gained control over his ability - or so he told himself. That was the kid's problem to deal with, not his. Kodi shifted in bed, grimacing as he went to rest he hands over his chest. Maybe he had given too many details. But that scrawny Korean druggie seemed hardly a person to him, always hovering around his lover and looking at Oriel like a puppy with its master. It made him want to vomit. He didn't want someone to look at him that way, nope...

He tried to ignore Benton's presence and let sleep come over him, but as soon as he heard the boy shuffling around in his closet, his eyes snapped open with a growl. "What d'you think yer doin'?" he snarled, watching as his roommate came back over with a book in hand - the first of the Song of Ice and Fire series. Good pick - no! He was angry! "I swear if I see a single tear or bend on those pages...." he threatened, which was proof of the fact that he knew he could do nothing if Benton actually wanted to read his books.

Fuck his life.

He huffed out an angry sigh and closed his eyes again. For several moments he was silent, then,"If you read those, yer gonna want t'watch the show too. Lotsa sex an' dragons." Which, of course, were the main reasons why he bothered to actually watch the show - the books were better, in his opinion.

[Benton Barrett]

Things to do? People to bang? Seriously?

He rolled his eyes. “Sorry, man, I’m not a therapist. I can keep you alive, I can’t keep you pretty.” Benny was trying, at least, to keep himself pretty even-keel, and he felt like he was doing a pretty good job of it, now. Though the fact that Kodi stuck his tongue out at him made him genuinely smile.

The other boy let out a growl with his words, and Benny couldn’t help but shake his head. “You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were a werewolf. I know you’re not, but you’ve got that sniffling, growling thing down to an art.” He said – only because, to be perfectly honest, he had thought Kodi was a werewolf for the first several days after their introduction.

“As for what I’m doing – if I’m going to be babysitting an unconscious person, I want at least a little bit of entertainment.” He gave him a cheeky grin, and added: “Don’t worry, I only dog-ear parts I want to come back to.” Which was true… for his text-books. But he didn’t have to tell Kodi that, now, did he?

Despite his settled position, Kodi spoke again, and Benny looked up from his book, uncertainly.

“You know, you’re the only one in this room that’s really worried about sex.” Benny was a lying liarface from liartown. He was fifteen – he wasn’t about to make anyone believe it wasn’t on his mind at least as often as Kodi. He was just better at blushing and shutting his face about it. “That’s not why I watch TV, or read books.” He let out a little huff.

“It’s not that important.” His… Nose… would be growing, were his name secretly Pinocchio. “But dragons are cool.” He added, to hide the fact that he had, really, just been talking to Kodi about a subject that clearly made the kid a little uncomfortable.

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Kodi's features tightened as he sneered. "Well, yer not a whole lotta use then," he grumbled, as though being attractive was more important than being alive. At least he was able to keep up this snarky conversation - had to mean he hadn't gotten too much brain damage, right?

He blinked, then let out a painful laugh as Benton mentioned him being a 'werewolf'. After he was done wheezing, he asked,"Well, how d'you I'm not?" He took pride in coming across as sort of feral, so if anything, it was a compliment. "But thanks. I try." He smirked and flashed his teeth again just for grins, but unfortunately he was too weak to willingly make them any more intimidating than they were normally.

Though when his book was brought up, he was scowling, pretending like he didn't think reading was one of the best kinds of entertainment there were. "S'not fuckin' babysittin'," he growled, though... Okay, yeah, it kinda was. But fuck that shit! Made him feel like a damn toddler or something. "An' if you dare dog-ear my books, I'll make sure you lose one'a yours." Why was he still bothering with the threats? Ugh...

However, he couldn't help but snort again as Benton spoke. "Yer what, fifteen? An' your abilities just manifested, so yer smack in the middle of puberty. All those hormones screamin' through your body... Y'ain't gonna fool me an' pretend it doesn't cross yer mind on a regular basis." Logic, he had it sometimes. "Y'ain't gotta be ashamed about it," he taunted. "S'natural parta growin' up." Even if he had been taught when he was younger to suppress any sort of sexual urges he had because it was unclean and sinful. Doubly so because it had always been directed towards boys.

"Y'say that now," he snickered. "I could change yer mind." He had no idea if Benton had any gay thoughts or not, of course, but it was fun to tease. "Mmm... Dragons are cool." Yep... Inner nerd talking. Dragonriders of Pern, anyone? Kodi kept his eyes shut, slowly easing his wheezing breath into a slow, steady pattern as he began to lull into sleep.