From Beacon Hills, CA. I've tried a lot of things and lived in a lot of places. Archery, history and gymnastics are some of my hobbies, but I'm always ready to try something new.
[ it's probably just as well that she can't see him because when he says too good, he means his thoughts about her and where they've strayed. it's a risky line he's crossing here. ]
I have a vivid imagination. You can thank years of hiding behind books for that.
What makes you doubt it?
[ that anything can be too good, his words, whatever. ]
[ it doesn't take her long to get there. she's already basically out the door when she gets the response, not really thinking about it as she makes her way to his house. part of her feels a little nervous, but in a more excited way. another part recognizes that it's been a long time since she's been able to feel this way - uncomplicated, easy, happy.
allison doesn't want to think too much about it, considering the circumstances. where she is. instead, she just keeps walking, making it up to his door about ten minutes later and knocking. ]
[ when he was younger, he thought his neighborhood's houses couldn't be closer together. there were fences and doors, but ultimately, everything was clustered. he'd wanted more privacy as any teenager would. now he finds himself grateful that it only takes fifteen minutes maximum to get nearly anywhere in Eudio. there's always noise. someone is always awake to have a conversation with. it amazes him, sometimes, that he grew out of burying his face in a book and rolling his eyes and grew into participating in his life. he's doing it right now and trying to remain normal. it doesn't have to be weird because they both checked yes, doesn't have to mean anything more than that's what they're here for.
Ben's trying not to read into it, into anything while he circles a building on his map from city hall. he's drawn over places, marked others. he has a corresponding journal that he takes notes in to document his memories and to provide commentary for his brothers, should they arrive.
the knock at the door has him snapping the journal shut in his hand and staring with baited breath. should he have changed? he can't remember the last time today that he glanced in the mirror to check his hair or to make sure there's nothing on his face. too late now. at least he doesn't have coffee breath. he wipes his palms on his jeans and hopes that she doesn't mind that he's more or less in lazy clothes. he's wearing a sleeveless hoody, which he obviously cut the arms off of himself. it's a lack of layers he never would have dared to wear back home. ]
It's open, [ he calls, but he still crosses the living room to greet her and/or get the door for her if she's too shy to barge in. ]
[ allison never really spent enough time in one place to get used to any kind of living. some urban, some rural, some neighbors, some trees. she was always used to the change of it - if she didn't like the girl who lived next door, she'd be in a new city in a few months, maybe a new town. some stretches she was homeschooled, others she wasn't, and it was her own adaptability that kept her going.
beacon hills was the first time she really felt at home. like she had people, like she had friends, who wouldn't actually move with her when she left the next time.
eudio felt a little bit like that. like it was only temporary, only a place for her to be for now, before moving on. but that's not quite right, is it? because she's found more than that. because she has more people than that - not that she's sure she's ready to think about it.
allison hears ben call out to her, and opens the door without issue, looking around once she gets the door open. when she looks up at sees him walking towards the door, she smiles - bright and easy. because this is easy. easier than anything from home, than anything else she's done here. ]
Hey. [ smiling is natural with her. seeing her warms him from the inside out. he doesn't know why. yes, she's beautiful and yes, she's been kind to him but it's more than that. or it could be, if they keep spending time together like this. he dips his head and gestures with his hands, once he recognizes that he's staring at her. don't be such a freak, he chides himself. ]
Um—please, come in. Make yourself at home. Can I grab you anything to drink or eat?
[ his apartment isn't messy. it's semi-organized even if one half of the coffee table has a small stack of library books and the kitchen table has turned into a project station. when he strides towards the couch to grab a throw blanket and fold it up, it's only to make room for her to sit. Ben glances back over at her, curiosity clear on his face. he doesn't have much, but what he does have he's more than willing to share. he's used to rationing and living simplistically—he hasn't been able to shake that off just yet. ]
[ she catches a little bit of the stare, and she holds it, feeling something oddly familiar about the look in his eyes, something that has her stomach turning in a way it hasn't for a while. she probably doesn't notice, that the open-eyed stare he's giving her is so much like the one scott used to give her, before they started dating, but she can appreciate the feeling it gives her all the same.
but then ben is being a host, and allison just keeps smiling (something that, for whatever reason, is a lot easier to do around him than wherever it was she was before this), closing the door behind her and stepping inside. ]
Thanks, but I'm okay. [ she lets her eyes wander a bit as she keeps walking in so that she's closer to him rather than right inside the door. ] Your apartment's nice.
{ awkward smalltalk, this is definitely what they need. especially since she's full of antsy energy of not being able to sit in her house with everyone back home looming over her, and that conversation they just had. she fidgets a little with the hem of her sweater, hovering at his side. ]
[ she's fine and while he's glad that she isn't left wanting, it leaves him not knowing what to do with himself. there had never been much time to reflect on his own thoughts three months ago, let alone to stand in a room alone with a girl. it's a welcome change but the newness has him feeling parched and fidgety. instead of focusing on the tension he's introducing to the room, he follows her gaze around his living room, as if to confirm her validation of his apartment.
he supposes it is nice as accommodations go. ]
I don't actually know what to do with it. [ he tells her frankly and without reserve. ( she's really close to him and she's playing with the edge of her sweater and Ben's tempted to grab her hand just to get her to stop doing that. ) ] This is the first time I've had a place of my own.
[ it explains why the television's on as background noise and why he isn't immersed in it. the volume's low enough that it blurs as white noise, faded but there. without further ado, he takes a seat on the couch and makes room for Allison. he's sitting on the middle cushion and it's her call if she sits next to him or scoots all the way to the arm of the couch to carve some space for herself. he's not preoccupying himself with what she picks because he's leaning over to grab the remote. ]
Don't feel obligated to find out if the T-Rex and Stegosaurus showdown gets a round two. I'm not really watching it.
[ it's funny, in a lot of ways, how they both can come from a place so hard and so awful, and somehow still fall victim to easy teenager awkwardness. it makes her smile, just knowing this doesn't change. not for ben, not for her, not for anyone. ]
I can tell. [ it's just a little bit of teasing. but when she looks back over to him, the smile should be enough for him to tell. ] I didn't really have a choice. I moved in with my friend from home when I got here. [ not that she's lived on her own, either, but she didn't have to worry about it even when she got here.
but it's not bad. bare, maybe, but clean. organized. she knows that he's from a place where he's not sued to having things, so having them even here must be hard for him.
( she can't help but wonder what she could add, how she could help, but then has to stop herself because that's stepping in way too fast and way too hard and she's not sure if either of them need that )
that's when ben goes to sit on the couch, settling in a way that makes it obvious he's letting her choose where she wants to sit. the thoughtfulness of it has her smiling, walking over a couple of steps behind him and settling directly next to him on the couch. directly next to - but with a couple of inches of space between them. she's curious. ]
See, I was excited to see the comeback. You can't get my hopes up like that and not deliver.
[ Ben scoffs, as if greatly injured by her mockery, but a grin shortly follows. if it dims, the difference is slight and he hopes it isn't enough for her to notice. she says it almost like she's taking it for granted ( or maybe that's his biased hearing ) because she doesn't know how lucky she is to have someone from home here with her. but, Ben thinks, he'd probably do the same the instant his brothers were here and they were around to argue with him daily. ]
Believe me when I tell you that you have the better of the two deals. [ he's not envious of her, per se, but there is a pang. ] The quiet isn't everything it's cracked up to be. [ nope, not a good note to leave that sentence on. ] And I bet your neighbors don't watch Fantasia every night at two AM.
[ he keeps daydreaming about a normal life where Lexi locks herself in the bathroom for hours and Matt and Hal bang on the door, irritated, bickering as siblings do. Anne and Tom sitting somewhere in the living room, rolling their eyes to the heavens, having kissed silence and lecturing their children on being kind to each other behind. it sounds awful but it makes him smile fondly.
which is neither here or there when Allison sits down beside him, pulling him out of reflection and straight into hyperfocusing on how close she is to him. ]
Oh, in that case, I hope you brought eighty bucks with you. [ ..god, the T-Rex is going to win. ]
[ she doesn't necessarily relate the scoff to her taking her living arrangement for granted, at first. if anything, she just thinks he's reacting to her teasing. it's not until he mentions how much better off she is that it connects for her, bringing her eyes back over to watch him. she feels bad, sorry, for having mentioned it in the first place - and even when he kind of shrugs it off with that last comment, there's a moment where she's left wanting to help.
( which is a selfish enough notion in itself. she can't bring his family or friends here for him. she can't replace them either. no matter how much she might want to spend time with him, she's never going to be that for him, and something small and hidden inside of her hurts for it. ) ]
No, our neighbors are a little bit more the sleeping type. [ she watches him move over to the couch and she watches him shift his focus and she still can't really shake that feeling. but as time passes, it does end up shifting a little. brings her to the couch with a soft smile and settling in next to him. it has her noticing how he gets a little tense and after a moment, has her sliding just a bit closer, just enough that her thigh is pressed against his and her shoulder is leaning against his arm.
he can easily slide away from her if she wants to. she won't call him out on it, or really follow. she's just...testing the water. ]
Don't worry about me. My money is in the right place. [ and then she smirks at him again, easy and light, as her attention turns back to the tv. ] I hope you have eighty bucks on hand, too.
[ she has nothing to be sorry for. he doesn't resent her for having people that mean something to her. he's happy for her. there's nothing for her to fix that he hasn't already considered as a solution for himself. he's putting himself out there and something good has to come out of it. he might not see his family again for a long time but that doesn't mean he has to remain lonely in an empty apartment while he waits to return to them. there's more to life than family, isn't there?
there's experiencing everything he never had the time for without feeling like he has to push it away and avoid it because there's no time for slowing down, for wanting a normal life.
Ben doesn't leap away from her like a startled rabbit. she makes his heart beat faster, makes his breathing something he has to focus on for five seconds or so, but she doesn't scare him. quite the opposite actually. he chooses to fish in his pocket to empty its contents rather than draping his arm around her like he wants. ]
I've got thirty-five dollars, some pocket lint...and a stick of gum that has seen better days.
[ he tosses it on the coffee table with a shrug. ]
[ no, he definitely doesn't have to remain lonely. if anything, allison attaches onto that idea - he's basically, in simple terms, a new kid in class. he doesn't have that base of family, or friends, and she knows how the feels. knows just how important it is, how much of a difference it makes, to have someone put forth a little effort for you.
if she hadn't decided before then, it was officially done. ben isn't going to be someone she lets sit alone in this overly clean apartment. not if she can help it.
allison waits for him to do something. put his arm around her, tense up, pull away - anything at all. when he goes with that middle option, and not in the negative way, she can't help but smile.
( it reminds her so much, so so much, if scott. in that place in the back of her head that she doesn't acknowledge, the place that hurts too much for her to really accept, that misses more than anything else, she thinks of him. of how similar this is. of how ben makes her happy, and comfortable, and think of a time when this was all she had to worry about. all she needed to worry about. she feels a little like laughing, despite how out of place it might be, but decides not to. decides to ignore the feeling and go back to here. now. )
when he leans forward to set the money and gum on the table, allison watches, thinks. then it's her turn to reach in her pocket, so set its contents down on the table next to his. ]
Thirty-seven dollars, a phone, and a receipt from yesterday. [ she pauses, then grins as she turns back to look at him. ] So to make up the difference, loser takes the other out for lunch tomorrow. Maybe a movie or something after. I win, you pay for it. You win, and I will.
[ she's leaning forward slightly, so he doesn't have to worry about the placement of his arm- challenge bright in her eyes. ]
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I have a vivid imagination. You can thank years of hiding behind books for that.
What makes you doubt it?
[ that anything can be too good, his words, whatever. ]
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don't underestimate my imagination either
[ she doesn't exactly know how she wants to answer his question, though. so instead she gives a question of her own. ]
what are you doing right now?
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[ dream of underestimating her, that is. he's totally going to dream about Allison thinking about him, whether or not it has grounds in reality. ]
Watching the history channel, finishing some touches on a project, and wondering how people sit in their apartments this long. Why?
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because I don't want to be in my house anymore
what special are you watching?
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Jurassic Fight Club. I wish I could make this stuff up. It's background noise until something better comes on.
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I don't want to interfere with your tv watching
[ it's a joke. she's already getting ready. ]
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[ clearly, the most serious history channel viewer right here. ]
If we're still speaking honestly, I'd rather watch you.
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I'll be over in 10 minutes?
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I'll be here.
action spaaaammmmmm
allison doesn't want to think too much about it, considering the circumstances. where she is. instead, she just keeps walking, making it up to his door about ten minutes later and knocking. ]
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Ben's trying not to read into it, into anything while he circles a building on his map from city hall. he's drawn over places, marked others. he has a corresponding journal that he takes notes in to document his memories and to provide commentary for his brothers, should they arrive.
the knock at the door has him snapping the journal shut in his hand and staring with baited breath. should he have changed? he can't remember the last time today that he glanced in the mirror to check his hair or to make sure there's nothing on his face. too late now. at least he doesn't have coffee breath. he wipes his palms on his jeans and hopes that she doesn't mind that he's more or less in lazy clothes. he's wearing a sleeveless hoody, which he obviously cut the arms off of himself. it's a lack of layers he never would have dared to wear back home. ]
It's open, [ he calls, but he still crosses the living room to greet her and/or get the door for her if she's too shy to barge in. ]
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beacon hills was the first time she really felt at home. like she had people, like she had friends, who wouldn't actually move with her when she left the next time.
eudio felt a little bit like that. like it was only temporary, only a place for her to be for now, before moving on. but that's not quite right, is it? because she's found more than that. because she has more people than that - not that she's sure she's ready to think about it.
allison hears ben call out to her, and opens the door without issue, looking around once she gets the door open. when she looks up at sees him walking towards the door, she smiles - bright and easy. because this is easy. easier than anything from home, than anything else she's done here. ]
Hi.
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Um—please, come in. Make yourself at home. Can I grab you anything to drink or eat?
[ his apartment isn't messy. it's semi-organized even if one half of the coffee table has a small stack of library books and the kitchen table has turned into a project station. when he strides towards the couch to grab a throw blanket and fold it up, it's only to make room for her to sit. Ben glances back over at her, curiosity clear on his face. he doesn't have much, but what he does have he's more than willing to share. he's used to rationing and living simplistically—he hasn't been able to shake that off just yet. ]
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but then ben is being a host, and allison just keeps smiling (something that, for whatever reason, is a lot easier to do around him than wherever it was she was before this), closing the door behind her and stepping inside. ]
Thanks, but I'm okay. [ she lets her eyes wander a bit as she keeps walking in so that she's closer to him rather than right inside the door. ] Your apartment's nice.
{ awkward smalltalk, this is definitely what they need. especially since she's full of antsy energy of not being able to sit in her house with everyone back home looming over her, and that conversation they just had. she fidgets a little with the hem of her sweater, hovering at his side. ]
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he supposes it is nice as accommodations go. ]
I don't actually know what to do with it. [ he tells her frankly and without reserve. ( she's really close to him and she's playing with the edge of her sweater and Ben's tempted to grab her hand just to get her to stop doing that. ) ] This is the first time I've had a place of my own.
[ it explains why the television's on as background noise and why he isn't immersed in it. the volume's low enough that it blurs as white noise, faded but there. without further ado, he takes a seat on the couch and makes room for Allison. he's sitting on the middle cushion and it's her call if she sits next to him or scoots all the way to the arm of the couch to carve some space for herself. he's not preoccupying himself with what she picks because he's leaning over to grab the remote. ]
Don't feel obligated to find out if the T-Rex and Stegosaurus showdown gets a round two. I'm not really watching it.
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I can tell. [ it's just a little bit of teasing. but when she looks back over to him, the smile should be enough for him to tell. ] I didn't really have a choice. I moved in with my friend from home when I got here. [ not that she's lived on her own, either, but she didn't have to worry about it even when she got here.
but it's not bad. bare, maybe, but clean. organized. she knows that he's from a place where he's not sued to having things, so having them even here must be hard for him.
( she can't help but wonder what she could add, how she could help, but then has to stop herself because that's stepping in way too fast and way too hard and she's not sure if either of them need that )
that's when ben goes to sit on the couch, settling in a way that makes it obvious he's letting her choose where she wants to sit. the thoughtfulness of it has her smiling, walking over a couple of steps behind him and settling directly next to him on the couch. directly next to - but with a couple of inches of space between them. she's curious. ]
See, I was excited to see the comeback. You can't get my hopes up like that and not deliver.
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Believe me when I tell you that you have the better of the two deals. [ he's not envious of her, per se, but there is a pang. ] The quiet isn't everything it's cracked up to be. [ nope, not a good note to leave that sentence on. ] And I bet your neighbors don't watch Fantasia every night at two AM.
[ he keeps daydreaming about a normal life where Lexi locks herself in the bathroom for hours and Matt and Hal bang on the door, irritated, bickering as siblings do. Anne and Tom sitting somewhere in the living room, rolling their eyes to the heavens, having kissed silence and lecturing their children on being kind to each other behind. it sounds awful but it makes him smile fondly.
which is neither here or there when Allison sits down beside him, pulling him out of reflection and straight into hyperfocusing on how close she is to him. ]
Oh, in that case, I hope you brought eighty bucks with you. [ ..god, the T-Rex is going to win. ]
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( which is a selfish enough notion in itself. she can't bring his family or friends here for him. she can't replace them either. no matter how much she might want to spend time with him, she's never going to be that for him, and something small and hidden inside of her hurts for it. ) ]
No, our neighbors are a little bit more the sleeping type. [ she watches him move over to the couch and she watches him shift his focus and she still can't really shake that feeling. but as time passes, it does end up shifting a little. brings her to the couch with a soft smile and settling in next to him. it has her noticing how he gets a little tense and after a moment, has her sliding just a bit closer, just enough that her thigh is pressed against his and her shoulder is leaning against his arm.
he can easily slide away from her if she wants to. she won't call him out on it, or really follow. she's just...testing the water. ]
Don't worry about me. My money is in the right place. [ and then she smirks at him again, easy and light, as her attention turns back to the tv. ] I hope you have eighty bucks on hand, too.
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there's experiencing everything he never had the time for without feeling like he has to push it away and avoid it because there's no time for slowing down, for wanting a normal life.
Ben doesn't leap away from her like a startled rabbit. she makes his heart beat faster, makes his breathing something he has to focus on for five seconds or so, but she doesn't scare him. quite the opposite actually. he chooses to fish in his pocket to empty its contents rather than draping his arm around her like he wants. ]
I've got thirty-five dollars, some pocket lint...and a stick of gum that has seen better days.
[ he tosses it on the coffee table with a shrug. ]
What's the bartering system like these days?
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if she hadn't decided before then, it was officially done. ben isn't going to be someone she lets sit alone in this overly clean apartment. not if she can help it.
allison waits for him to do something. put his arm around her, tense up, pull away - anything at all. when he goes with that middle option, and not in the negative way, she can't help but smile.
( it reminds her so much, so so much, if scott. in that place in the back of her head that she doesn't acknowledge, the place that hurts too much for her to really accept, that misses more than anything else, she thinks of him. of how similar this is. of how ben makes her happy, and comfortable, and think of a time when this was all she had to worry about. all she needed to worry about. she feels a little like laughing, despite how out of place it might be, but decides not to. decides to ignore the feeling and go back to here. now. )
when he leans forward to set the money and gum on the table, allison watches, thinks. then it's her turn to reach in her pocket, so set its contents down on the table next to his. ]
Thirty-seven dollars, a phone, and a receipt from yesterday. [ she pauses, then grins as she turns back to look at him. ] So to make up the difference, loser takes the other out for lunch tomorrow. Maybe a movie or something after. I win, you pay for it. You win, and I will.
[ she's leaning forward slightly, so he doesn't have to worry about the placement of his arm- challenge bright in her eyes. ]
Deal?