[open] mortal kings are ruling castles

[altusimperius]

WHO: Benedict and you
WHAT: miscellaneous open prompts
WHEN: Kingsway
WHERE: the Gallows
NOTES: ya boyyy got his magic back (sort of)

I. Benedict's Hookah Room for Degenerate Hedonists

Most nights, the hookah is lit in its tower room (more easily now that someone can conjure flame again) and the scented smoke sifts from the open window into the crisp autumn air. It seems like he and Athessa just set it up yesterday, but over the weeks there has amassed a healthy population of cushions, rugs, and blankets cast off from every corner of the keep, which now make for a plush if stuffy little nest of creature comforts.
Anyone who happens upon it, or has been told of its existence and wants to partake, will often find him sprawled across a few pillows, sometimes with sketches strewn about, sometimes just gazing at nothing.


II. He's a Magic Man

It wasn't immediate, but after finally, finally being freed of the influence of magebane, Benedict's magic has gradually begun to return.

He uses it sparingly, mostly in the mornings before he goes into Byerly's office to work for the day, perhaps choosing the early hour to inhibit any judgment or interruption from offended parties; and it's the basics he's drilling in the sparring pitch, generating pithy flames and the beginnings of barriers, simply stretching the muscles again after a year of not having access to them.


III. Murally We Roll Along

Progress continues on the dining hall mural, with the lot of it stenciled in charcoal and beginning to be filled in with colored pigment.
High up on his scaffolding, he takes the occasional smoke break and sits with his skinny legs draped over the side, watching the room below.


IV. Wildcard

Come at me. I love you

Comments

[keenly]

Colin's first thought is to say no, but he owes it to Bene's sincerity to give it real thought, so there's a pause. And because Bene is being honest, he will be honest as well.

"I'm...afraid of..." He has to pause and think again, his shoulders hunched, hands tucked under his arms, gaze turned away. "I think I'm afraid of the same thing you are. I'm afraid you're only friends with me because I'm nice and I tolerate you. And I'm afraid if either of those things change, if I stop letting you get away with things, you'll stop being my friend. I'm scared of being used, but I'm scared I'm not interesting enough for you to stay if I'm not...helpful."

[altusimperius]

Bene watches him pointedly, and is glad to see Colin tell the truth; even if he knows he's not exactly a frightening personage, there has always been an element of their friendship that worries him, a sense that Colin is giving more than he takes and doesn't know how to do otherwise.

"Well," he muses, chewing the inside of his cheek, "...that's stupid." The words aren't spoken harshly, or even all that dismissively-- just bluntly.
"I'm afraid," he begins, hesitates, and then proceeds, "I'm afraid you're only friends with me because you'd rather focus on my life than yours."

[keenly]

The corner of Colin's mouth lifts at Bene's reassurance. His shoulders relax and he looks up at him as he makes the next admittance.

"That's...it might have been true at first," he admits quietly. "But a lot's happened since then. Now I just...like you. You're charming, funny, intelligent, and you tell me when I'm being stupid. And, um. I've actually done a lot of focusing on my own life in the past year. And it's true when you're friends with someone, there's give and take. Sometimes the other person just...needs focus."

He hesitates, gaze falling away again. "And I'm afraid that those days when I do need to focus on myself, if I need your support... I'm, um. I'm a huuuuge mess, if you haven't noticed. That's a deal breaker for some."

[altusimperius]

"Oh, a huge mess, we can't have that," Bene drawls, a gleam of amusement in his dark eyes as he starts to ascend the stairs again, since all this fabric is getting heavy on his shoulder.

"I'll try to support you," he says thoughtfully, "but I might not know how."

[keenly]

A soft laugh at the sarcastic remark. He keeps pace again.

"I know. I'll try to tell you how."

They walk in silence for a moment.

"We've both been given up on, haven't we? A lot. Is that what we're both scared of, with each other?"

[altusimperius]

"Maybe." Glancing over at him, Benedict enters the doorway to the group quarters so he can hang the new clothes on an unused bunk adjacent to his bed. Then, he turns, elbow resting on the frame.

"I think I'm afraid I'm not worth it. And I'll feel bad that you wasted your time."

[keenly]

Colin sits beside him and presses their shoulders together.

"D'you think I lose something by being your friend, then?" A little nudge with his elbow. "You're not a business investment, you're a person. And it's important to me that you're in my life." A beat. "In your words: that's stupid."

[altusimperius]

Sinking down to sit by Colin, Bene looks away when he's nudged, as though avoiding answering. But he smirks when Colin throws his words back at him, casting a wry glance Colin's way.

"Fine."

A pause.

"...now when you said 'maybe',"

[keenly]

A smile breaks over Colin's face.

"I knew it."

[altusimperius]

"You want to cause harm to my pretty bum," Bene says accusingly, feigning affront, "I never took you for a sadist, Colin."

He tosses his hair amusedly.

"As if you wouldn't just give a little pat and send me on my way."

[keenly]

"You almost wouldn't let me pierce your ear," Colin says skeptically. "After asking for an earring for your birthday."

And, because they're finally being honest with each other, in a bid to treat Bene less like he's made of glass, he goes on.

"I say this with great affection and no desire for you to have to change: you're a wimp."

[altusimperius]

"Not in front of everyone!" Benedict whines, incredulous that this is even an issue.
"You sprung it on me. I didn't know we'd be doing it right that second."

[keenly]

"So you're saying as long as you know it's coming, you're ready for a full-on spanking."

[altusimperius]

Having found himself in the rather odd and uncomfortable situation of making a bluff that Colin immediately called, Benedict has a creeping suspicion that, after all they've talked about, it probably won't go away easily.

But he can still try. "Well it's for children, isn't it?"
He shrugs, pretending at indifference, "it can't be that bad."

[keenly]

Colin squints at him.

"Want to find out?"

[altusimperius]

Leaning slightly away from that look, Bene is the picture of innocence. He starts to shake his head, but then,

"...do you think it would help?"

[keenly]

Colin thinks.

"Maybe," he says after a moment. "If you're honest with me and yourself. It might just make you careful not to get caught. Or considering how you reacted when I first suggested it..."

He leans in to whisper in Bene's ear.

"You might really enjoy it."

[altusimperius]

Blushing, biting the inside of his cheek, Bene knocks his knees together as he thinks about it.

"Well enjoying it's not really the point," he mumbles, simultaneously unable to believe they're actually entertaining this conversation, and unable to shut it down.
"Then it's the same as getting hugged."

[keenly]

"I mean to say there are three possibilities if we try it: we don't do it again, we do it because it would actually help you, or we do it because you like it. Absolutely nothing to lose, and a pretty good chance there's something to gain. I don't have to do it too hard."

[altusimperius]

A long, protracted silence, in which Benedict meditates on whether or not he is in fact a wimp (he is and everyone knows it) ((but what if he could prove that he isn't?)), then finally he shrugs, a stiff and pensive motion.

"Fine. ...but not here." Any old idiot could walk in, or at least one specific old idiot, which is to say, Edgard.

[keenly]

"Obviously not here." Colin stands up and starts to remove the blankets and pillow from Benedict's bed(edict). "And afterward, I can comfort you in a way that has proved very effective."

A wink.

[altusimperius]

Much like with the ear piercing, there comes a trepidatious "now?"

[keenly]

"If you want. We can have sex either way. ...If you want."

[altusimperius]

After a moment's consideration, Benedict gives a single nod and stands, straightening his tunic.

SO BE IT