#bennythreads

[b4rredteeth]

OPEN STARTER - @anchoragestarters ( 5 / 5 ) location: pumpkin patch

Benny couldn't help the thoughts he had surrounding Halloween. If not for the money - he did sell a lot during Halloween, people loved the other type of candy - and the fact that he felt he could always go home with someone if he needed it. And with how confusing things were with Mei, he needed that too.

But regardless, the event was clouded now. The idea that it had been a year since Matevos' murder. And nobody had been caught for it, nothing had been cleared up. He was just gone.

Meaning that even though the festivities were barely under way, Benny was already no longer sober. Definitely still sharp enough, but also in a place where he felt nice, comfortable, warm, and hot.

He was laying on one of the haystacks, feet high up in the air, head almost falling off the side, and a plate of acquired candies and snacks resting on his belly. Smiling to himself while he plopped a now cold marshmallow in his mouth.

"You know what I've never seen before in my life? Pumpkin shaped marshmallows. I saw some ghosts ones, but that's easy! Orange marshmallows in the shape of pumpkins of all sizes, I'd instantly buy a bag. Missed opportunity if you ask me." He shook his head, then held out the plate. "Want some candy?"

[b4rredteeth]

Productive-motivated, not something Benny would've ever given as a characteristic of anger. He bit his lower lip, barely, and nodded. He could live with that, he wasn't sure others could, nor if it suited him. But he'd not fight it. To him anger had never had a purpose, other than further derailing his life. He couldn't really find a good way to channel it either. "Dude, that sucks," he commented, when Bryn said he hadn't been anything but someone to mould. Perhaps he was a bit jealous of the attention, he knew his father would've never even thought him to be worth moulding into anything.

Benny chuckled and held out a hand to seal the deal. "I'm looking forward to it," he said. His grin was toothy as Bryn once again brought up something that Benny hadn't seen, had no information about, and didn't know anything of. "If the earth explodes on me... well, we're all done in that case, would be nice."

He laughed. "Haven't seen X files," he admitted. "But I know it's that weird detective show with like... urban legends and stuff. That would suit you too, bit of investigation, bit of sitting behind a desk."

"Depends on the situation, if I can walk around shirtless, I have a very good track record." He'd continue to work out just to get that high of having people look at him, to have their eyes on him, to have their attention. He wanted to be attractive to people. He didn't think he was without putting effort into it. While Bryn obviously was attractive.

“Sure. But it is also one that can make you productive-motivated. It's a subjective emotion, I guess? Letting the anger negatively impact your life isn't the only suit Anger wears, I learned.” Bryn glanced away, nodding at this, satisfied. However, he supposed most people just seen the negative of anger and left it there. As anger was often confrontational, and confrontation was, itself, deemed in the negatives, by many. Bryn squints, “Usually. Heh.” As Benny went on, he shrugged, “Yes. Just that, a kid. I wasn't really anything but a mold, then.”

“Great. Noted. I will annoy you with this every few days, weeks, or maybe several months. Depending on what I'm feeling.” Blinking at the question, Bryn stares at Benny for some time before saying, “Ah. So does The Koopa from the old Mario Bro's movie.” He grinned a bit. Tapping the mechanical pencil against his journal, he observed Benny during their quiet moment, then lifted his head as the other resigned to let the 'experts' handle space travel, “Probably a better idea for right now. We know this planet is safe… Or, hopefully, it won't explode on you.”

Twirling the pencil between his fingers, he nodded along with it. Thinking about being stuck inside, or at a place where he couldn't move, it wasn't something he gravitated to, long term. He had to move, to do something. Or he felt like he would start to rip at the seams, “Oh? Maybe in short bursts. But definitely not long periods. I'd have to do something.” Bryn makes a face, laughing, “Mulder's job, from X-Files, wouldn't be the worst. I guess.” Leaning over his journal, he scribbled some words in it, and gave a few absent nods as Benny spoke, “Is that a problem for you.” He sighed, not sure, he wasn't exactly attracted to people or was, and he just hadn't realized it. Potentially it was 'what' he could be attracted to, rather than whom he found to be, at best, good looking.

[b4rredteeth]

OPEN STARTER @anchoragestarters ( unlimited )

Two months or so had passed since Benny had learnt he was basically a bastard - hadn’t been a surprise then, certainly felt like a joke now. He’d gotten the address and contact info of the fucker who his mom cheated with, but had managed to perfectly ignore that impending disaster.

Instead he remained, as ever, doing a shit job attempting to righten his very bad image. Which included trying to be nicer to people and not doing as much booze and drugs. He’d even stopped buying cigarettes. Fine… for the past three days. Worst of all: he’d attempted to sleep around less. Which led to why he was feeling exceptionally cranky today. He worried he was some kind of sex-addict. 

He threw back the double espresso and threw the cup towards the trashcan. It hit the side and fell to the side. He stared at it for a long time.

“Don’t be an ass,” he told himself with gritting teeth and walked over to pick it up again. Couldn’t help noticing a set of eyes staring as well. He wanted to say something rude or obscene, but instead uttered: “Played soccer, not basketball, my throwing skills are shit.” 

[b4rredteeth]

OPEN STARTER - @anchoragestarters location: random street in Anchorage

Benny was starting to realise that alienating some of his best - and only - friends meant that when he actually had something to say and needed someone as a sounding board, he wasn’t able to do so. He could go to Ava, but he feared he’d already made her suffer enough with his shit. Mary was bound to have feelings about it, and he didn’t know if he’d like those. Mei and Mindy were out of the question, even if, in his gut, he felt the need to tell either… to tell both. Mindy would probably make jokes, maybe demand some riches. Mei would know what he was really thinking. 

He looked at his phone again. A message from a number not saved in his phone, but it was clearly his sister. Delivering very interesting, thought-provoking, and soul shattering news. She’d done a DNA test, taken from him last time he’d been in the hospital. She delivered the message like a true doctor, informing Benny that 1) the man who’d acted like his father was not his father, and 2) his real father was very very rich. First news: not so great. Second news: depended on how he could work with that. 

So with no friends to vent to, Benny had done the other thing most natural to him: start a fight with the first idiot who looked at him funny. 

Which brought him to the present, leaning into his car, one hand on his side, sporting a blue eye, selling Valentine chocolate out of the trunk. “Hey you, had a great or a shitty Valentine? In need of more chocolate? I got a shit ton for you if you’re interested, all on discount.”

[b4rredteeth]

@anchoragestartersLOCATION: anywhere on the street limited (4/5)

Benny wasn’t having a very good day, which… after what had happened recently, shouldn’t surprise him much. But given his track record, he figured he would’ve hit that love ache in the chest already and got back to his feet. His alcohol consumption and other vices said otherwise. He was leaning against his car, his nose stuffed with tissue paper against the blood that was coming out of it, dark bags under his eyes, and a cigarette hanging from his mouth, which he was trying to desperately light with his shaking hands. 

The longer it took, the more he was growing frustrated. Even if he knew his frustration wasn’t at the fact that the damned cigarette wasn’t lighting. He growled and spit the cigarette back into his car, turning and allowing himself to slide down to the dirty sidewalk. He’d made a mistake thinking he could cut Mei off, he’d made a mistake thinking it wouldn’t shatter him, because he hadn’t considered she might already love him. And he hadn’t thought he might actually want her back. 

“Hey you,” he said to the first passerby. “Got steady hands? I can’t seem to use a fucking lighter.” He held the thing out but didn’t get up. He was starting to realise how drunk he was.

[b4rredteeth]

Benny shrugged. It was to him. He took the easiest route because the hard route he’d tried for too long. It was too hard, it was too much. It didn’t pay off anything either. People were fuckers one way or another. “Does mean you have to decide for other people what’s the right choice, innit?” he asked. “I think a lot of people don’t help each other because they’ve decided other people don’t need their help,” he said. He’d been on that end of the stick enough times. Being in a situation where he needed help, but even when he asked, people hadn’t believed him. “It’s easier to just ignore,” he said. “Than to give help to someone in need.” He didn’t help people because he didn’t think people wanted his help. And he’d long since stopped giving it without wanting something in return. He wasn’t a charity. 

He shrugged. “I mean… depends on how you bring it, doesn’t it? If you bring it as fact because you heard it from someone else, instead of saying ‘heard this from some bloke’, yeah.” Benny felt like he’d been through the wringer in this conversation trying not to be the asshole he definitely was. Fucking conversations were hard. He bit his lower lip. “But if you genuinely wanna know, that’s not bad. Sorry to make you feel like it is,” he offered. Least he could do. Though he still hated anyone comparing Jazz to popular music. It wasn’t. Jazz was in a league of its own. But people who were unfamiliar with Jazz wouldn’t understand that. It was why he never spoke to anyone about Jazz, why he kept his own interests close at heart. 

He offered a grin at the giggle. “It would look pretty bad,” he agreed. “Usually with the classicals, gotta fix to the pace, not something you can change. Though I’d pay for an alternative ballerina show if all of them suddenly started to let go and swing differently to the music. More likely with dance than with classical music for sure.” He nodded, not sure if she’d gotten his point, because he’d never said a math-crazy guy couldn’t feel like letting go, or anyone performing their passions. Maybe because Jazz had once been his passion - perhaps still was - that he felt so strongly for it, so defensive of its cultural importance, of its importance to him. He shrugged. “Yeah, course, anyone with a passion can let go like that,” he agreed. “Same with cooking. You can lose yourself in anything you love.” He smirked. “Like sex. Sex can be like Jazz.” Though the distinctive part still remained that you didn’t need to master an instrument to lose yourself in it with another person. Unless of course if you wanted to claim certain body parts as instruments, but then the same could be said about dancing. “But I can’t think of anything off the top of my head that is exactly like Jazz. Except for Blues music.” Though he wasn’t as familiar with blues as he was with Jazz. 

"I don't agree," said Mio, with a light shake of the head. "It's not about what's easiest to deal with, at least not to me. Sometimes ignoring someone who needs help and refuses to accept it is the hardest part but, because it's the right thing to do, you do it anyway." Leaving behind her life as a professional dancer in Tokyo had been far from the easiest thing she'd ever done. For a while, she would find herself awake in the middle of the night, wondering if she'd made the right choice in coming to this small city tucked away admidst the mountains instead of staying on the stage, but she would never regret coming to find her sister. Even if Rei had already disappeared once again, Mio knew she'd done the right thing and that was enough. "I think a lot of people actually avoid helping each other because it's harder, especially if it's someone they don't know." She would never say it out loud, for fear of tempting fate or jinxing herself, but Mio wanted to believe she'd take the difficult path every time.

It was the second time this conversation that he'd gotten upset about her asking a question and she was forced to consider that he might already prepared to take things in the worst possible way. Although it was true that everyone had their different outlooks on life and their own reasons as to why they behaved the way they did, Mio couldn't help but feel a little hurt. "Even if it was just something I'd heard from someone, would that be so bad?" asked Mio, cocking her head to one side. "Is it really that awful to be wrong about something?" She was an inquisitive person at heart and she liked asking questions. That, she'd always found, was the best way to learn about people and help them feel like they were being heard. He'd started speaking to her at length about a topic she barely understood; what else could she do but ask questions to help her make sense of it all? "I mean, I don't know shit about jazz! And that's okay! There's lots of stuff I don't know, and there's gotta lots of stuff you don't know. But I think asking questions helps us grow as people, right?"

Mio found herself struggling to stifle a giggle. "I don't know, I feel like it probably depends on what you're doing, huh?" she said, amused by the images she was conjuring in her own mind's eye. "It'd look pretty bad if some guy in an orchestra just started doing whatever because he wanted to let go. Or a ballerina." And, then, she thought of Rei again. How graceful they'd always been on stage, the spotlight casting its moon-like glow on their skin as the glided across the floor. She used to watch them in total awe but looking back on it all now, Mio wondered how restraining it must have felt for them. (Weird to think that the very same things that liberated one person could act as a cage to another.) "I think I get what you're saying but maybe everyone feels that way about their passions, you know? There's probably some math-crazy guy out there doing sums on a black board and thinking, 'Whoah, I'm so totally one with these numbers.'"

[b4rredteeth]

new years eve ; benny & mei

Benny had zero interest in celebrating New Years eve, he wasn't looking back too kindly on 2023, and he was bound to find ways to be annoyed with 2024 already. It seemed like the person who had gone into 2023 the year before had been much more confident and far happier. Now he was down part of his business - since he'd cut himself off from selling coke completely - up in hospital debt again, down in number of friends, and had almost been in a relationship but instead had been fucked by his own dumb beliefs.

He'd fought with Stella, with Fallon, with Atticus, with Mei, and with Mindy. He'd fucked plenty of people as well, but that seemed a small solace.

Mei just threw a city-size shadow over the whole ordeal as well, and meanwhile Matevos' passing made his heart feel heavier than a whale.

Regardless, Benny acted no different than he would other days. He was wearing sparkly golden pants, and a sparkly golden jacket to match - with nothing underneath - a shit-eating grin on his face, and a pair of 2024-glasses on his head. He was flirting and selling pills all evening, And as midnight neared, he was looking for someone to snog with.

Through the huge crowd and the haze of weed, Benny hadn't spotted Mei, hadn't until they were starting the countdown and suddenly she manifested next to him, as if the world was playing some cruel joke.

9-8-7-6-5--

[b4rredteeth]

with @fragilcline

Benny wasn’t one who actively sought to change himself for anyone. He’d slowly slid away into being a little shit because it had been easier. He’d turned his back on any version of himself that could’ve had a future outside of the criminal one he spotted now. Though he knew his parents had created him, that the lack of love and the bad expectations had led him down that path. Though he’d never say it out loud, he’d never blame anyone else now that he’d gotten so good at blaming himself. 

Take the full blow, the full responsibility for his actions, knowing he made decisions, they didn’t just happen to him. He bit down on his lip when he saw Mei leaving the bookstore. He knew her timetable, she hadn’t switched it up. He hated this post-internet world, he hated how difficult it was to do his deals, to get clients, to be contacted about flooded drains or broken showers. He hated that instead of Duolingo he was listening to language CDs in the car, filling out worksheets from the library, and in order to keep up with the languages he did know, he had to hold actual conversations. 

He hated this post-internet world because he’d lost all the possibility of distractions. 

And he needed his distractions, he needed to get things in order, he needed to do better. He could feel panic take hold, but he ignored it. It was more prevalent now than the chaos. This new being growing within him as he attempted to actual change himself. 

To do that for her. Less drinking, less hook-ups, less smoking, less drugs, less chaos. Less, less, less. Just for more Mei. More more more. Something, not more. Just anything. He didn’t give himself a moment to think, acted on instinct rather than careful consideration, walked until he’d caught up and was walking beside her, holding out a coffee between them, offering a smile. Acting. Because all he could do was act. “Coffee?” he said it as if he’d happened to walk here, same as her. Just on his way to nowhere. 

Could she see his inner turmoil, sense that he was trying, could she see that he hadn’t touched weed since Diwali, hadn’t had a drink since the Halloween party, and that he felt so so so sorry for all of it. 

That he no longer wanted Mei to hate him.

[b4rredteeth]

@tea-rcses ft. Mary - november 15th

Benny sat down next to Mary on the hood of his car, putting the box with sweets between them. He was in a mood, but that didn't mean he didn't want Mary around... or well, he wanted to be around Mary. Because he was having trouble breathing, and if he focussed on her, he didn't have to give a moment to his thoughts.

"They're Mithai, Indian candy for Diwali. This is what happens when I tell people I'm Gujarati." He opened the box and held it out towards them. In the meantime he got a joint out, his bad hand slightly shaking.

He felt out of it. Not just because he'd figured out that his stash of cocaine had been laced with rat poison, which he'd unintentionally sold to Annaki. Revealing that someone had it out for him, or they had it out for Annaki and weren't worried about throwing him in front of the train as well.

But because of Matevos fucking Hakobyan. Benny wasn't quick to admit that he was once a part of the Bastards, that he'd run with the likes of them and worked at their side. He would never admit that he considered some of them as friends, because it was much easier to hate them now. Of all of them, however, the last one he expected to be murdered was Maty. The dog-loving idiot who washed with dog shampoo and doubled as a veterinarian. The one he'd had plenty of discussions with regarding pets, even though Benny had zero interest in getting one himself.

The one he'd considered the most unpredictable, except when he hurt someone who Maty loved, then he could be sure he would be crawling home. He had on several occasions.

He hated the Bastards, he loathed them because he felt like they'd never cared one bit about him. But how the fuck could he be a shit to them now that Matevos was gone?

And he was shit with loss and grief, the only person he'd ever lost was his grandmother. He didn't know how to handle himself. He wasn't even capable of admitting that maybe he was sad too.

"You like sweets, yes?" He gritted his teeth as he put the box down and lit his joint.

[b4rredteeth]

Benny shrugged. His relationship to Spanish was somewhat difficult: he’d never meant to learn it, not like French, German, or even Mandarin. He’d simply had a brush of it at school, and thus he felt like he needed to perfect it, even if he hated how it had so many rules that seemed ridiculous. He could speak it, sure, he could hold a full conversation with any Spanish speaking person, but it didn’t feel the same as his knowledge of English, Indonesian, and Gujarati. “Pero tu ya puedes hablar?” he asked. “Esto es lo mas importante.” It was nice to talk languages with a not-librarian for once, even if it wasn’t a sexy librarian. 

The handyman nodded. “It’s the same for me,” he agreed. “Speaking it is much easier… at least if you don’t mind making mistakes and learning from them, which I really don’t. Best way to learn, if you don’t try it, it will just go to waste.” Benny’s accent in French wasn’t the best, but it was clear enough, bordering more on Canadian French, a language he’d heard plenty as well growing up. He grinned when French was returned to him, it had been a while since he’d last spoken to someone in that language. He nodded. “So you don’t think everyone should just pick the easiest language?” he asked. “I grew up with three, but I’d honestly not know which I’m most comfortable with. Probably English because everyone speaks it, but some things really are hard to explain, despite how many words English has for everything.” 

As someone that had a brush with the foster care system as a child, Bernadette quickly discovered her proclivity for languages, often finding herself in situations where she had to communicate on behalf of herself and her younger sister with people she barely knew, oftentimes from other corners of the world than from the Korean American household she was raised in. She'd always found a way, adapting quickly to whatever life threw at her. Luckily, salvation and stability came in the form of Eliana Okin's loving home, where the dulcet tones of Spanish (not to mention the Greek spoken by her foster siblings) became familiar background music. And if there was one good thing that came of her marriage and time spent overseas, it was the illustrator's firsthand exposure to languages she was unfamiliar with, nurturing her curiosity on the subject. "I am still learning!" she affirmed, her tentative grin widening. "It's difficult, but I think that makes it all the more interesting to learn."

Nodding along to his observation about Mandarin, a language she was still dead set on learning, Bernie took his advice in stride. "I think learning to speak a language is much easier than making sense of written syntax and unfamiliar grammar rules, so that's always the most challenging part for me," she agreed, but that hardly stopped the brunette from exploring the world of linguistics in the past. As far as Bernadette was concerned, anything to help her make herself heard and understood was a good thing, no matter how long it took to master. Her ears latching onto the familiar cadence of French, reminded fondly of her older brother, she broke out into a genuine smile. "Oui, mon frère vit en France, donc je le parle souvent," she gushed, her passion for the subject hard to fully tamp down. "I just think it's nice to be able to speak to people in the language that is most comfortable for them. It opens up so many avenues, understanding people like that."

[b4rredteeth]

@fragilcline (ft. Mei) - before 11.30 pm

Benny had tried not to think about Mei. For the past few weeks he’d tried to focus on his two jobs, on partying, on sleeping with other people. Simply on the life he had before he’d become so used to spending all his free time at the RV. 

He figured he could forget all about it if he just thought of their relationship as a summer fling. But he couldn’t ignore how his heart jumped when he saw her at the Halloween party. Why even would she come to the party? Why would she be here when partying was so far from her thing to do? He tried to ignore her by flirting with other people, but it meant that he lost where she was, and then suddenly: he was standing right next to her, drink in hand, eyes slightly bloodshot from the alcohol he’d already consumed, his body sweaty from the heat of the place, and every part of him completely aware of her proximity. 

And every part of him wanted to reach out. “So, what are you supposed to be?” he asked, trying to act as if she was nothing more to him than a regular hook-up.

[b4rredteeth]

LOCATION: Lou, Mindy & Mei's RV TIMESTAMP: 8th of October @fragilcline

Benny sat at the edge of Mei’s bed, his body still comfortably sweaty after what they’d done, his mind spinning, but there was so much in his heart that made him feel heavy. He knew he was going too far, he planned to cut it off but found himself sleeping with her again. And now his true intentions were back on his mind, and this would truly be the worst possible moment to tell Mei things were over between them… truly the worst. But maybe… that was perfect given the situation. He needed her to hate him, because if she hated him, then she wouldn’t think twice about going back to him again. If she hated him, then she couldn’t fall in love with him. And it was just easier that way. It had been that way with Stella, he hadn’t been able to cut it off himself, he had done things behind her back, hoping those would lead to them breaking up, because that was bound to happen. He knew whomever he was with would come to hate him, so he would make sure it would happen himself. But he didn’t have time or patience when it came to Mei, because Stella had never loved him, their relationship had always been one of passion and of struggle. Mei was starting to catch feelings, and he couldn’t afford her catching up with his own, because they didn’t work. He had too many enemies and he wasn’t a good person. He certainly wasn’t a good enough person for her. He stood and grabbed his shirt, then took a look outside through the blinds. “Alright, much as I loved our summer fling, I think we should stop doing this,” he said, his heart beating rapidly as he said it, but his face was neutral and sober. “Your colleague is starting to notice and neither of us is gonna survive is Mindy finds out, so it’s best if we go back to being… well, no clue what the fuck we were.” He shrugged. At least with Stella she cut him off because she’d overheard him boasting to others, about how it didn’t matter to him. That had done the trick, not the cheating. It was bound to work with Mei as well. We were just fuck buddies, this meant nothing more to me. Maybe if he repeated it enough times in his head, he would start to believe it himself. And Mei kept them a secret too, so she knew as well that they had no future. He figured she’d be sad about it, but hopefully her anger at the situation would make her realise that he wasn’t worth it, that everything she thought about him was right.

[b4rredteeth]

Benny nodded. Reason why this one job wasn’t going to last him long, and why he did drug dealing on the side, people definitely still had the skill to do things themselves, at least the regular people did, they had no other choice. Meanwhile rich people couldn’t be bothered. It was mostly the business hiring family or friends that cut into his income. “Ait, thank you,” he said in response, hoping that it came off kindly enough. Good manners definitely wasn’t his thing.

As he waited for them to return, he cleaned the inside of the backside a bit, it wasn’t that dirty, but enough that it bothered him, and his phone showed zero messages, so that had quickly lost his interest. He nodded in thanks and picked up the bucket, pouring the water down the backside of the toilet. He then put his gloved hand into the water and pulled at the piece that had gotten stuck, then pulled off the gloves and hit the flush. The sound of perfect flushing sounded through the toilet and his job was done. He listened to Nisa while he worked. “What kind of dance style do you do?” he asked, as he picked up the ceramic again and placed it back on top. He emptied out the bucket in the toilet for good measure and tested the toilet again. He must’ve been able to make it at least ten minutes, which meant he’d write down fifteen. “Fixed it.”

Giving a small nod, they didn't really have much else to say but the silence felt awkward so they said "Uh, I usually just get my brother to help me with stuff around my apartment, so..." When he said he wasn't sure how long it would take, they shifted their weight from one foot to another. They didn't want to just stand here and bother them but they felt weird just walking away. However, when he requested a bucket of water, they felt a little relief. They could be helpful and they wouldn't have to just stand there in awkward silence. "Uh... Yeah, I can look for one."

It took a bit of rummaging around but Nisa eventually found an old mop bucket in the back of a supply closet. Heading back into the bathroom, they went to the sink to fill it up with water. Once it was full, they picked it up and placed it beside him. "There ya' go." In response to his question, they shook their head and said "Uh, no, I'm actually not on the clock today, I just came in to practice some choreo I'm going to be teaching next week."

[b4rredteeth]

@fromanchor (jasper)

Benny was enjoying the last days of summer, in September, the world was crazy. Technically it was far too cold to be walking around with no shirt on, but the club had made him sweaty and he was riding on four glasses of whiskey - his absolute limit - so his skin was as hot as a little furnace. And feeling far too comfortable, meant Benny was eager for some chaos. Either to be felt like he was needed, or to feel the rush and adrenaline of a possible confrontation. It was hard to accept life didn’t want this from him, ever. 

The first person he spotted became the single target, he’d heard this kid speaking in a strange accent before, so he was too easy to remember. “What’s that accent, kid? Sounds British but not British enough,” he commented, grinning, as he leaned nearer to the other, his skin prickling at the closeness.

[b4rredteeth]

@tea-rcses ( Mary )

Benny pressed the cig to his lips as he flicked the lighter on, taking a deep breath in and waiting for the flame to catch. The end of it turned a dark red and then started smoking, he beamed as he gave the cig to Mary. His cheeks felt warm from the whiskey, and whatever else he had working through his system. He leaned against the wall of the club and let out a sigh. It hadn’t been the first time in his life that he wished summer could last forever, not that it was that warm in Alaska, but he didn’t know any better. To him: this was the warmest it could be. Warm enough to be walking around in a t-shirt and shorts, warm enough to not wear a shirt at all during the day. He loved that especially. 

Even if walking around shirtless meant showing off the few remaining cuts he had from his fight with Fallon, he figured most people thought scars were hot anyway. It did usually lead him to either getting kicked from the club or sparking a trend. 

He turned his head to face Mary, arms crossed over his torso. “So, did you think about how you’re going to play this revenge on whichever fucker scared your mom? Because if you’re still looking for some inspiration, I’d gladly supply you some.”

[b4rredteeth]

@jofms

It was two months since his fight with Fallon. Two months in which his bruises had completely healed, the broken bones had healed, and only the larger cuts were still visible on his skin. He’d been back home since, as slowly the fear disappeared. Fallon hadn’t talked. Neither Cyrek nor Stella had been at his door since, nor Matevos. His place was left alone - though cleaning up after the fight was a bitch. 

Meanwhile he was having a solid fooling around with Mei - which was getting too serious and he needed to cut it off - and taken his month of vacation from his work as a handyman. All in all, Benny felt fantastic.

He leaned against the side of his car as he waited for his usual clients to show up for their drugs, instead he spotted Josette. He frowned. “Been a while since I’ve seen anyone look as much like a mess as you do now. Which helps, you're kinda putting things in perspective. Need anything?”