A little sleeping ball ( Tag: Reece )

[Reece Morgan]

Reece smirked, surprised that he actually contained the snort that was just threatening to come out.

"Oh come on, it's a little funny." He showed Benny the space between his thumb and his forefinger, smirking as he continued. "That's where I'm coming from though. You were so warm and soft before you woke up. I had such fluffy dreams." Reece sighed dreamily, heaving his body up and down to emphasise on how good he felt.

"You were such a good pillow." Reece leaned forward and ruffled the other boy's head good-naturedly. "Come on, get to the showers. We should get breakfast." He got up and pulled Benny along with him. His morning glory had slowly gone down in their interaction but had Benny looked properly, he probably would have seen a hint of it still there. "Or...do you need extra time to um...cool off?"

[Benton Barrett]

He fake-coughed. “Not little.” Because clarification.

After all, his forefinger and thumb weren’t too distant. That was a problem. Even if it was not a problem Benny wanted to discuss. Or acknowledge. Or… anything ever.

“Well, I’m glad I can give you good dreams.” He replied, though his tone didn’t sound near as sarcastic as it should have. Maybe a touch, but perhaps Benny was serious and he did like the fact that he had that effect on someone. It was better than nightmares, at least. “Plus you totally forgot about your cold-cut need.” Yes, Benny remembered that.

Reece reached out and fluffed at his hair, and Benny couldn’t help but laugh a little bit at the friendly gesture he didn’t typically get out here. He didn’t flinch, but he did move his head away from the hand slowly.

Maybe that was why he didn’t notice the arms wrapping around wrists, and tugging him up.

He’d just started to return to a more normal complexion. It was times like this that he wished he was about three to ten times his current size. By reflex more than anything else, he got up, not becoming dead weight like he should have.

“Oh fu—“ He managed, even though Reece was still talking good-naturedly. The look on his face was as mortified as the rest of him.

While it might not be quite as bad as it had been before he’d woken up, there was still clearly a bit of a problem. Luckily, embarrassment was taking care of it. “Shower. Shower is good. Yes, shower.” Play it cool.

Freaking. Seriously.

[Reece Morgan]

Reece did not hold back the snort or laughter at Benny's response. Did he find his best friend? He sure hoped he did! It was a good thing, a really good thing that Benny, though awkward, was not the type to just walk away from a joke. Reece would actually be really disappointed if he did!

Speaking of cold cuts, it was an opportune moment for Reece's stomach to growl. "Holy crap, you had to remind me." He chuckled, rubbing his stomach. "I'll go get you some food soon, don't worry."

Not looking into the head move too much, Reece continued with bringing Benny into a standing position. The heat consumer's response made Reece smirk. "Uhuh, I bet it is. Okay, I'm gonna go sneak into somebody else's bathroom to shower. Meet me outside in ten."

Ten minutes passed and Reece was waiting for Benny to join him. He had changed into track pants and a hoodie, seeing as he was going to run after eating. He wondered if Benny was a runner.

[Benton Barrett]

He couldn't help but smirk, because Reece laughed. No, he wasn't being evil, so friendly banter was okay. It at least meant Reece wasn't laughing at him. Laughing with him was tolerable.

"Ten minutes?" He bit his lip, but nodded "Yes, ten minutes. Go." He took off ( to sneak into someone else's bathroom? How did that work? ) and Benny darted to his room. It took a bit of decisionmaking, until he had an outfit that he deemed acceptable. A couple of minutes later, he was flailing because ten minutes had passed, and he was running late.

In his towel. Blah.

It took him another couple of minutes to make his way out, dressed in a grey thermal long-sleeved shirt, and a pair of jeans were a bit bigger than he should be wearing. They let show the red boxers he'd opted for today. He paused, looking at him. "You look... like you're ready for a training montage." He smirked, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Sorry, I like long showers." He looked sheepishly down the hall.

"Think it's too late for bacon?"

[Reece Morgan]

When Benny finally came aroud, Reece couldn't help but smirk before laughing at his friend's choice of words. He decided to concentrate on the first statement first.

Putting up both his fists after pulling his hoodie up over his head, he started to go through the intro to Eye of the Tiger as he danced around Benny punching the air as he went along.

"I dunno. But nothing a couple of good looking guys can't fix. I mean, lunchladies are my bread and butter. They're putty in my hand and if you're there, it'll totally bring up the cuteness factor. Between the two of us, bacon strips would be our best friends in a hot minute." Reece chuckled, walking down in the direction of the cafeteria.

[Benton Barrett]

Benny watched him as he tugged his hood over his head, and started shadowboxing around him, throwing little jabs that looked almost like he knew what he was doing. The smile that tugged at his face was implacable – he couldn’t make it go away if he wanted to. He laughed a little bit, as Reece finally settled down.

“Okay, mister Balboa. The cows are for eating, not for punching.” Because who couldn’t go with meat-movie metaphors?

He lifted a brow skeptically, as Reece laid down the bacon-acquisition plan.

“Your bread and butter? Good to know that if I ever wanted to seduce you, I’d just need a hair net.”

Benny’s brain set off just about every alarm it owned. What the hell was he saying? “Just kidding, of course.” Because he always thought shouting ‘No Homo’ was too much – he was sure that usually meant ‘ALL THE HOMO!’ Then again, Reece had said he’d be bringing up the cuteness factor, so maybe he could just play it off as that’s what he was talking about? Being cute?

He didn’t want that. He just needed to push that really far down, and let it go away with time, because it would. He’d make sure of it.

“Bacon strips are always my best friend. It’s just a matter of meeting them on time, which is not my specialty – as you saw with the ‘ten minute’ thing.”

[Reece Morgan]

Reece playfully punched Benny in the arm when he made the reference joke. "Why waste a perfectly good cow and bruise it before eating? Makes no sense yo." He shook his forefinger at his roommate before walking beside him to the cafeteria.

Upon hearing Benny's future plans of seducing him, Reece playfully shivered and rubbed up against the other boy's arm. "It gives me tingles in my special place." He fluttered his eyelashes at Benny before chuckling. "Good to know you're even thinking of wanting to seduce me."

At the heat consumer's attempt to play it off as a joke, the Californian rolled his eyes. "Quit playing games with my heart, Barrett. I may look like a tough son of a bitch but I'm fragile inside. Fragile I tell you!"

"You're a disgrace to the bacon loving community, ese." Reece chuckled before throwing his arms around Benny's neck, pulling him close and ribbing him a little. "Oh man, I can smell the eggs and waffles already."

They arrived at the cafeteria, finding it filled with quite a crowd. At least the line wasn't too long. "Get us a seat. I'll get the food." Reece offered with a little shove at Benny.

[Benton Barrett]

Reece actually moved closer, pressing himself against Benny's side...

And despite everything he was telling himself, he liked it. It might have been a joke, completely unintentional, but as it happened, Benny felt something in the pit of his stomach that was hard to focus on. He didn't want to focus on it. He was already enough of a freak that he didn't need this lumped on him, too. He'd paused in his steps, as Reece plainly said good to know you're even thinking of wanting to seduce me.

No... he didn't want Reece to think that. He didn't want to like any of this. It was easy to imagine. It was easy to think about, as he had in the shower. But damn if he didn't want to pretend it wasn't there.

He didn't feel it coming, and he should have. To most people, it would look almost like an asthma attack. He was suddenly out of breath, his gaze no longer focused on Reece. He was looking down, trying to focus on a single place on the floor. But it wasn't working. His heart was beating faster, and he felt that instinctual urge to run. To just get away from this situation because this was bad.

His legs started to move, but they didn't do much. The trembling in his limbs had him instead practically crashing into the wall. He couldn't keep himself upright - he just let himself pull inward, as though he could curl into a ball and make it go away.

He wanted to say something, but his gasps for air weren't permitting him much latitude. His eyes were wide and looking almost terrified, still trying to focus on just one thing, to try and anchor him back to the real world. That wasn't working, so he squeezed his eyes shut, and tried to at least stop himself from crying.

None of this was Reece's fault. Benny was just... wrong.

[Reece Morgan]

One minute they were walking along the hallway to the cafeteria and the next, Benny was on the floor, having a panic attack.

Part of Reece panicked as well as he looked down at the other boy, gasping for breath.

Approaching the boy with caution, Reece dropped down to his knees and held Benny up by his shoulders. "Ben...what's happening?" He asked, his eyes searching Benny's. He bit his lower lip as concern for his new found friend outweighed the urge to flee.

[Benton Barrett]

As if his muscles weren’t already tight, there were hands placed on his shoulders, which only made him flinch as though he was expecting something worse to follow. But Reece’s voice cut through the thoughts that were racing through his mind, trying to find out what had happened.

But how could he tell him what was happening?

The only thing he could do was shake. “I… I can’t…” He said, trying to formulate words. He was neither fighting nor flighting, so the adrenaline dumping in to his system had nothing to go with. He was just trying to tighten himself into something defensible. But there was no blows, no pain that needed to be dampened by endorphins.

It was all just response to stimuli that wasn’t in the outside world.

His eyes were wet as he looked back into Reece’s. “I just… I have…” What? Benny couldn’t tell what the right move was in this situation. “I’m sorry.” He said, between each ragged, gasping breath. He didn’t want Reece to go, but wasn’t Reece the trigger to all this? Dean had said it himself, he’d run in to triggers for the rest of his life.

So why not hold on to one that made him feel okay most of the time?

“Reece… just don’t leave.” He finally managed. He wasn’t staring at his face any more, he was looking down at Reece’s chest, as it rose and fell, and he was trying to do one of the old techniques he’d learned to try and help cope – force himself to slow his breathing, to match someone else. It was hard, and it made his heart scream at him, but it was all he could think to do.

[Reece Morgan]

This was uncomfortable territory.

Had it been a year ago, Reece would have just dropped Benny in a heartbeat. He still had the urge to leave the heat consumer. A huge part of him was screaming to run. His body was involuntarily jerking to get him away from the scene but Benny seemed so...fragile. He didn't know what else to do.

When Benny apologised, Reece got confused and wanted to ask why but the heat consumer was having enough of a rough time trying to catch his breath that he didn't want to make it any more difficult for him.

It took awhile for Benny to respond and Reece was about to give up when the younger meta told him not to leave, as though he could read Reece's thoughts. He gulped inaudibly before sitting down in front of Benny, concern now pretty evident on his face.

"I'm not going anywhere." He finally breathed out, not believing in it himself but wanting Benny to stop hyperventilating.

[Benton Barrett]

Reece sat down, and reassured Benny that he wasn't going anywhere. That on its own was something of a relief, though it wasn't breaking down the edge of it. He just watched Reece, forcing each breath to match the other guy's. He hated it, hated this whole situation, and wished he could push it away.

It took a little over fifteen minutes, but Benny could feel control starting to creep back into his muscles. His heart rate had dropped much closer to normal, and forcing himself to breathe that way was not as hard as it had been.

"I'm sorry." He said, again, now that it was less of a struggle to deal with. "I should..." He shook his head a little bit, as he brought his hands up to rub at his eyes. "You shouldn't have had to deal with that." He finally said, the muscles in his shoulders finally losing some of the tension there.

"I wasn't paying attention." He said, trying to redirect any attention from the negative away from Reece. "That's what I get for making bacon wait." He joked, lamely, even as he averted his eyes, so as to not look at Reece. He didn't need to see whatever look the other guy would have in his expression. It wasn't Reece's job to deal with Benny's psychosis.

[Reece Morgan]

Sitting there, silent, for fifteen minutes, was a feat for Reece but he glared down anybody who gave them a wrong look. For one brief moment, he remembered how his brother had been when they were younger. Reece didn't have panic attacks but he sometimes had little moments where he felt things just weren't going his way. He remembered how his big brother would not let anybody touch him when he was in those moments.

When Benny apologised again, Reece shook his head, trying to reassure Benny that there was nothing wrong. He didn't know why he was trying so hard to make sure Benny felt safe.

"Paying attention to what though?" Reece asked, not sure what could have triggered such a huge reaction. As far as he knew, the only thing Benny was in close contact with was him.

The joke fell flat but Reece forced a laugh anyway. "I told you. Disgrace to the bacon community." He summoned up as much of his energy and threw it all into making the situation a little lighter. "You stay here, okay? I'll get the food and you can eat in the dorms."

[Benton Barrett]

The question...? Benny expected Reece to leave it alone. That he wouldn't pry in to what had Benny such a mess. But he should have known better - after all, Reece had sat there with him, though he certainly didn't have to. In the back of his mind, something told him to just say it. To let it out, because that would be easier in the long run.

Benny considered listening.

"I..." He started, though years of denial flooded over him, almost on instinct. "I forgot to take my medicine last night. I was so freaked out about Kodi being able to get in to my room, I just... forgot." The whole thing was only partially a lie. He hadn't been on medication in a while. They'd thought he didn't need it any more. Maybe he should call home and tell them his panic attacks had returned?

Reece went with the joke, even though he clearly hadn't thought it was funny. Benny actually found himself hesitantly smiling - and he nodded. "I should turn in my bacon card." He replied. "Thanks..." He added, as Reece offered to run and grab the food. It'd give him enough time to pick himself up, and get his legs back under him.

He rubbed at his eyes, forcing the dampness away. "Thank you. For staying with me. You didn't have to - this is definitely not what you signed up for when you mauled me day one." He said, his voice quiet, but sincere. He looked at Reece, finally willing to meet his eyes again. "I made a mistake. It won't happen again."

[Reece Morgan]

When Benny started to explain what happened, Reece listened intently. For some odd reason, he felt as though Benny was holding back. The lines seemed legit but it didn't seem natural. Reece didn't like over-analysing speech patterns because he always felt like a hypocrite, since he lied a lot. And it took a bit from him not to call Benny out on his bullshit. He didn't want the other boy to suddenly start hyperventilating again.

"Does he do that a lot? Kodi? I knew he was a creep but I didn't know he...I'm revisiting the idea of giving him paper cuts."

Relief washed over the telekinetic when the other meta smiled albeit hesitantly. The tears unnerved him but Reece kept quiet while the other boy wiped them away. "Don't tell me what I signed up for." The Californian reprimanded teasingly before giving the other boy a small smirk. "Just let me get the food. You wanna wait for me here or in the dorms?"