Servings - Ben tags Ben

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Yulia had tried her very best to take care of Ben when he got sick but the middle-aged man could see how she struggled to show she cared. It had amused the psychologist even in his mostly drugged up state throughout the week but he was recovering faster than he had anticipated so there he was in the kitchen, still sniffling as he chopped some chili for his quesadilla.

He called out to Yulia, asking if she was going to eat dinner with him but there was no answer. He shrugged and continued chopping up the chilies. The roast chicken in the oven was giving off a very nice smell and the clam chowder was boiling quite nicely in the pot. This was what Ben did after a bout of sick, serious or not. He'd cook up a storm, invite everyone he knew and called it a party.

But the people he knew had plans. And Yulia seemed to be gone, as was her pattern lately. His housemate had been coming home late and leaving early and even on the weekends it seemed as though she just didn't have time. Ben didn't take it too much to heart.

Seeing that he was still avoiding Cobalt - like the child he was - after their blowup about two weeks ago, Riley, Miles, Josh and Sean were the only ones he could call but as he learned earlier, they were all busy. With what he didn't know but apparently he was the only one who was staying at home on a Thursday evening, cooking for an army.

Grabbing his phone as his hand stirred the clam chowder, he scrolled down his phonebook until he saw his own name in the contacts and for a split second he wondered why he put his own name in his own phone. He rolled his eyes before realising that wasn't even his number. He pressed on the name and contemplated on asking the man to come over and at least clear out half of the things he had cooked.

"Screw it." Ben sighed before pressing the green call button as he tweaked the heat dial on the stove.

When the other line was finally picked up, Ben sort of froze for a second before clearing his throat. "Hey, Ben." He tried not to laugh at the absurdity of calling someone else by his name. "It's me...Ben." He then chuckled. "Did I catch you at a bad time?"

[Oberon Sparks]

Yes. He had caught him at a bad time. Luckily, they had a system for this.

Ben wasn't spawned, and Oberon picked up Ben's phone. (Yes, they had six copies of the same phone. It was on a shared family plan, and there was a reason all their phones were so cheap.) "Sorry, my hands are full. Give me two seconds." And he put down the phone and a moment later, a naked copy of himself appeared beside him. The phone was shoved over, as Ben blinked, bewildered. "It's someone named Ben. You didn't tell me." He whispered.

"Sorry." But he wasn't. He just took the phone, grinning. "Hey, yeah, sorry about that, Ben. No, it's not a bad time."

Oberon looked at his duplicate and rolled his eyes. It was goofy, the way his twin was smiling, but he figured he'd looked the same way when he'd first started talking to Rose. So he didn't say anything else then, and he just grabbed a pair of boxers from the pile of clean laundry Ronnie was folding on the couch. Then he wrote on the white board on the room, the one they used to leave notes to each other when not all of them were spawned. In large blue letters "BEN?" was scrawled across the other words on the board.

Ben ignored him and turned away, still grinning. "What's up?"

[Benjamin Rhodes]

The subtle change in the other Ben's voice didn't go unnoticed by Ben but after a little scuffling noise on the other hand, he came back and sounded more like how Ben remembered from the coffee shop. He didn't know what that was about but he heard an interesting lilt in the other man's voice which made him smile.

"Uh, nothing much. This is kind of last minute but I cooked. A lot. Like...for an army. But my house mate isn't home and I sure can't finish all of it on my own." This was ridiculous. Just ask already, Benjamin. "So would you like to come over and help me finish it up? Or at least finish half of it?"

Well, that wasn't awkward at all.

[Oberon Sparks]

If there was a difference between Ben and Oberon's voices, it had to have been in inflection, because they were identical. Still, Ben was grinning that same grin he'd worn when he'd left the coffee shop. He tucked the cell phone between his ear and his shoulder, and pulled on the boxers and a pair of jeans from the pile of clean laundry. He hadn't been sure if he'd ever hear from the older Ben, so he kept grinning and merely made a rude gesture at Oberon, who was still there, smirking.

"That sounds pretty cool, yeah." He turned his back on the other man in the room to avoid the amused look on his face. "Do you live in Pilot Ridge?"

[Benjamin Rhodes]

When the younger man agreed to coming over, Ben admitted that he was kind of excited to have him over. Rush from recovery? Childish spite from Cobalt's rejection? Who knew, Ben was happy he was getting the younger man's company anyway.

"Yep, I'll give you the address. Do you have a pen and paper?" Ben asked before giving his address. "Mine's the one with the red door. Hard to miss." He smiled over the phone. "What time should I be expecting you?" He figured the roast was about done but he could just lower the heat and keep the clam chowder on the stove and heat it up once a bit once the younger Ben arrived.

[Oberon Sparks]

"No, lemme grab it..." He had to dodge around the smirking Oberon to do it, but he grabbed a marker from the whiteboard and scribbled out the address on the board. "Okay, red door. I can do that." Then he started shifting through the shirts hanging off the back of the couch, trying to find a nice-looking one that wouldn't make him look like a kid next to the older man.

"That isn't all to far away from me. Is twenty minutes okay with you?" Was he too eager with this? He rolled his eyes as Oberon took the marker and added a few more question marks at the end of BEN? When Ben flipped him off, Oberon wrote DATE? under it, and underlined it a few times.

Ben's grin answered that.

[Benjamin Rhodes]

"Alright," even Ben was catching on to the younger man's enthusiasm as a grin spread across his lips. "Sounds good. I'll see you then. Bye." Ben hung up with a grin before working on the rest of his quesadillas with a good ten minutes to spare. He decided to change into something more presentable than a ratty hoodie and sweatpants.

--

He didn't do much with the plate setting, avoiding any embellishments simply to avoid clutter and as he started to heat up the clam chowder and making sure the roasted chicken hadn't burned or anything, Ben heard the doorbell.

Answering it with a smile, he found the younger man at his doorstep. "Hey! You find the place all right?"

[Oberon Sparks]

Ben finally settled on a dark blue, button-down shirt over his jeans and found a belt to put on as well. He didn't want to look like the hipster kid the Sparks so often were. Smart, educated, living in an eclectic house with an eclectic roommate in an eclectic New England town? Now all they needed to do was grow ironic facial hair and they would be the ones who would have hated when they were in college.

It didn't take him long to make his way over to the older Ben's house. It was a short hike, and once again he marveled at the number of people he didn't know in the small town. He'd had roots there since Hammel, but they hadn't lived there again until the past three years.

When he reached the address--conveniently moved from the whiteboard to his phone--Ben double-checked for the red door, then went up and knocked. This was pretty unusual for him, as the duplicates had never had much of a dating life outside of whoever Oberon was interested in. When he got to the door, he took a deep breath and checked his reflection again in the glass in the window by the door, then he rang.

Ben looked better than he remembered, but then again, he didn't look sick anymore. "No, I'm sorry. I'm terribly lost."

[Benjamin Rhodes]

"Oh you're funny too," Ben chuckled, leaving an easy smile on his face as he ushered the younger man in. He looked pretty good in the fitting coat he had on. Ben only took a moment to take it in before blinking away his creeper vibe. This was not awkward. Not at all. "May I help with your coat?" The psychologist smiled, extending his hand.

He closed the door behind the younger man, pointing out the dining room. "The dining area is right in there. I'll bring the food out. Would you like something specific to drink with dinner? I've got beer, wine..." the forty year old walked into his kitchen, letting his voice trail, leaving the suggestion open to the other man.

"I hope you're not allergic to seafood or anything really." Ben called out as he got things ready. "I've got clam chowder, roast chicken and chili cheese quesadillas."

[Oberon Sparks]

"I try to impress." Ben grinned back and stepped inside. It was a nice place, and significantly cleaner and better arranged than the firehouse. But that was to be expected. Ben didn't live with five versions of himself or any number of versions of Jude.

"Beer's good, but I'm not picky. Whatever you're having." It had been a long time since he'd gone out on a date with anyone, and honestly, he wasn't even sure if this was supposed to be a date. (He hoped he'd gotten that across before, at the coffee shop. Dammit, when did he get so out of practice? He was acting like Oberon, for crissakes.)

He followed behind the older man into the kitchen. "Nah, no allergies." Ben sniffed the air, still grinning. The duplicates didn't always eat; usually Oberon would absorb them before eating, then respawn them after. It cut down on their grocery bill by a lot. "That's an interesting spread. Are your meals always schizophrenic?" He couldn't help but tease the older man. "It does smell good, though."

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Ben was quick to laugh at the younger man's humor. And if he knew the younger man was impressed by the state of the house, Ben would have been humbled by the fact. He was rather proud of his cleaning skills to be perfectly honest. And it may make him sound like a complete woman but he took pride in the beauty of his home.

"Beer. Wise." Ben rummaged through his fridge for a couple of cans of beer before leading the accountant to the dining table. He laughed again at the younger Ben's remark about his food. "Hey, cut me some slack. I haven't been able to eat properly for the past week, my stomach wants what it wants." He shrugged as he brought out the food to the table.

Scooping out some chowder into his and the younger man's bowl, Ben smiled at the man's compliment. "Doesn't it? I'm just glad I finally get my sense of smell back." He chuckled, handing Ben his bowl. "So how long have you been a number cruncher?"

[Oberon Sparks]

There are plenty of manly men who could keep their houses spotless and free of clutter. But none of them lived at the firehouse with the Sparks and Jude. Not too many "manly" types lived there either. Ben actually liked the chaos of his home, at least a little. Even if they were still living like college kids. (When he'd left, Oberon had gone back to his game of MarioKart against Jude.)

"I'm just saying." Ben shrugged, still grinning. "It's still more impressive than anything I can do. Except hamburgers. Those I can do well." He sat down and popped open his beer, then took the full bowl from the other Ben. Damn, it really did smell good. Not all fishy like it did when his aunt had made it when he was little.

"Six years now. I managed to get a decent job right out of school with a company from Burlington, but they contract me out in the area." Ben tasted the soup, and it was just as delicious as it smelled. He didn't say it, but his grin probably got the message across just fine. "What's your field?"

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Ben's almost obsessive need to keep things clean had been indoctrinated since he was a little boy, no older than five. His parents did not give in to his whines when he refused to clean up his spaceship themed bed and made sure he could not get his good dose of breakfast until there wasn't a crease in the sheets. Ben was now pretty glad his parents pushed him then.

"Hamburgers huh?" The older man grinned as he took in a spoonful of chowder. Ben refrained from grinning too happily at the fact that he could finally taste his own food. But he did allow a small one when the younger Ben seemed happy with the food. Well isn't that a relief? "You're going to have to prove that to me someday." The psychologist said, looking at the younger man with a grin.

"My field? Oh, I'm a child psychologist. I've got my own practice downtown. It's been...god, fifteen years since I graduated." Ben suddenly felt really old compared to the man in front of him. "I am embarrassed to ask but...you can't be any older than twenty-five. Are you...twenty-five?" Ben asked, a small smile on his lips just to ease the awkwardness some.

[Oberon Sparks]

"Yeah, and pretty much anything else on the grill. My housemate and I live in the refurbished firehouse, on the corner by the park?" The building was hard to miss; anyone who had lived in Pilot Ridge long enough knew it. "Ironically, our kitchen overheats whenever we have the oven on, so we cook outside for most of the summer." Actually, as soon as they stopped getting snow, that was when they would get the grill out of the garage again. "I guess I'll have to. There is room for more than one Ben who can cook in this town."

"I suppose that'll be flattering in a few more years," Ben said, grinning back. "People thinking I'm younger. I'm twenty-eight." So he was fudging the numbers by a few months; he was almost twenty-eight."Fifteen years since you graduated....believe me, I am good at math, but I don't know how long you were at school for, so I don't know how old that makes you" Unless he was remarkably well-preserved, there was no way Ben was older than what he considered acceptable to flirt with. But if that was something that made the older man uncomfortable, it was good they were getting it out of the way now.

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Noting that he had said housemate, Ben nodded with a smile at the younger man's living status, laughing lightly at the irony of his statement. Ben did remember the firehouse as a child. He used to play in that area and had always messed with his friends, daring them to go in there by themselves. He had a simple childhood, Ben did.

"Yeah, that is ironic." The child psychologist uttered, apropos of the other man's previous statement. "And are you challenging me to a cook off?" He chuckled, not meaning anything of it. "Bring it on, Ben. Bring it on,"

Twenty-eight was rather young. Leila was that age wasn't it? And Cobalt treated her like a daughter. Then again, Cobalt was five years older than Ben. Yes, he was trying to justify the fact that he was attracted to a man Leila's age. Shaking the thoughts out of his head, he gave the other man a grin and a shrug. "I got out of uni earlier than usual. I think they saw that I had no patience to continue any longer." Ben chuckled.

Truthfully, all it was was him starting early and going faster than his peers, landing him in an advanced class where half of his classmates were five or six years older than him. He didn't mean to brag, but he was rather brilliant when he was younger.

"I'm turning forty-one in a couple months. And you're not too much younger I guess. At least you're not illegal." Ben joked, keeping the part about him thinking the other Ben was pretty damn cute to himself. No need to be the creepy older guy.

He was finished with his soup so he made quick work of the roasted chicken. Man it was good to have his tastebuds back. Living on plain crackers and water was definitely not his cup of tea. "Chicken?" He asked of the other man as he cut pieces of the chicken for the ready. "Oh, you know there will be a community field day in a couple days time. Hope you come. My family will need all the help they need with the refreshments. You can grill hot dogs and whatnot."