Souhm... things have happened. (fortidsemne) - Ben

Well now. This had really taken some getting used to, but, after all, it had appeared almost instantly, unlike his other tattoos. Really, someone who didn't know him, might think it was just a tattoo like any other. Which, of course, it wasn't at all. A lot more magical than that. Damien looked at himself in the bathroom mirror, standing there in the middle of the night as he'd taken a bathroom break from playing on the playstation in the joint living room, that joined the bathroom and the three rooms he and his three roomies were in.

His eyes were fixated on the black ink now adorning his left collarbone, where it formed the name 'Stephen', in a pretty, swirly writing. Almost as if the magic knew he had thought about any text he'd get tattooed, was to be in a font sort of like that. Magic was really nice, but weird at times, too.. He rubbed it a little, still amazed at how much it looked like a regular tattoo, but of course, lacked the soreness from a new tattoo even though it'd only just gotten there within the last week.

Anyway, he shrugged it off, and washed his hands and quickly splashed his face, too, before he tied his pajama pants again, and went out the door, back into the living room, where he threw himself back down into the couch and grabbed the headset and controller, to play some Fortnite, taking a sip of Mountain Dew as he got into the game. Now, he did love his Overwatch, but it was still nice to be allowed a small break from the game, so visit other games.

No matter how hard Ben tried, he couldn't fall asleep, even though he was absolutely exhausted and silent tears kept rolling down his cheeks. But was that really a surprise? It had barely been a day since everything with Cody had happened, but it felt like says or even months had passed. Ben avoided his job like the plague, although it really wasn't any solution to anything, and instead used his time trying to call and message Cody in hopes that he hadn't gone out to do what he had said, and also to apologise for the terrible shit he said. In fact, he had pretty much stayed in his room ever since the fight, and no one could really get him out of there, as he kept trying to get a hold of Cody. But of course, the angel didn't pick up, no matter what, and Ben was scared that it was already too late. But what could he do? On land, he wasn't able to do a whole lot. He could run and hide, no problem, but he couldn't defend himself against a vampire or demon. He could try to talk to them, make a bargain to get out of it, but he was honestly terrified of what they might want, and he didn't want to risk it.

Ben sighed deeply, as he rose from his bundle of blankets and pillows and dried his eyes the best he could. Only in his underwear and with a deep blue blanket around his shoulders, he walked out from his bedroom, in hopes that the cooler couch could maybe help him fall asleep, but as he walked out, he saw the TV was on, and that Damien was playing. A quick decision later and he was headed to the couch, sitting down next to him in silence, moving over to lean his head lightly on the hybrid's shoulder. He knew he looked like crap, with red eyes and pink splotches on his cheeks from crying, but Damien was one of the few people that he didn't mind seeing the mess that he was.

Damien had just been doing his usual stuff, really... The table was decked out with a sixpack of mountain dew, two (now empty) energy drinks, and lots of chips and sweets of all kinds. As in, just his usual gaming setup, but brought out here, away from the computer. He was still using his headset, though, so as to not make too much noise for the others. It was wireless, after all, so it was no problem pairing it with the console to start playing, along with the wireless controller. So he was sitting there and hadn't really paid too much attention to anything else, not even when Ben stepped out at first - his smell was familiar, after all, and not something to alarm him in any way, so he simply continued gaming, biting his lower lip in concentration as he killed a couple other people.

Therefore, he got just a little startled when Ben suddenly sat down next to him - but he just gave him a quick smile, and put one arm around him, hugging him close enough that he could grab the controller again, after pushing one of the cups of the headset off so he could hear him, too. Perhaps it was just a tad more animalistic than most people were used to, but Ben, knowing him as well as he did, well... It probably wasn't that unusual to him that the hybrid, eyes still trained on the tv, leant down to calmly sniff him - well, his hair, mostly - picking up on the sadness the red eyes and cheeks also conveyed. He went back to main menu after he died, and with a snap of his fingers, Ben would have the small bags of sour patch kids and sweet licorice in his arms. Fairy magic coming in handy. "You'll probably feel a tiny bit better if you eat a little," he then said by way of explanation, smiling softly at the siren.

Ben had to admit, being pulled close to Damien was one of his favourite things. Not that he liked the hybrid as more than a friend, but the close proximity, without the pressure to do more, just calmed him down a little. So when his roomie put an arm around him before resuming the game, Ben curled up closer to him, and rested his head on the hybrid's shoulder. He pulled his blanket closer around his body, just as Damien sniffed his hair, and just watched Damien play in silence.

At least, he did until Damien died and he soon had his favourite candy in his arms. A soft chuckle left Ben's lips at Damien's words because of course the hybrid would tell him to eat when he was upset. "Thank you," he muttered hoarsely, digging into the sour candy first. He didn't move away from Damien though, he stayed close.

Damien smiled softly when he could feel the siren relaxing just a little bit more. It was nice to know that Ben trusted him enough to let him see him like this, too... Even as broken down as he was right now. He really did look like a mess. But Damien finished his game - well, he died - and got him his favourite candy, smiling softly down at him. "No problem." he said, gently and lovingly brushing a hand through Ben's hair, before he scratched a little at the skin on his other collarbone. Now, in most ways, the mark didn't act like a normal tattoo, so it might really just be his mind playing tricks with him here, but it did itch a little once in a while.

So he scratched over the black letters on his collarbone, looking down at it shortly, then smiling before he looked back at Ben again, still having the arm around him to keep him close enough to comfort him, since it seemed he just needed the silent comfort right now. He didn't want to step over any boundaries by asking questions the siren would rather not answer.

Ben felt safe and comfortable or the first time in a long while. He let out a soft sigh, when Damien ran his fingers through his hair, and moved, if even possible, closer to the hybrid, by draping his legs over Damien's lap. Sitting so close together while eating candy, was definitely a huge help, even if Ben still felt shitty. If he had been able to fall asleep, he probably would right then and there, but he felt too awake for that - which might be a good thing? Because if he hadn't stayed awake, he wouldn't have followed the hybrid's hand when it moved from his hair over to his collarbone, where a new tattoo had appeared.

In curiosity, Ben straightened his back a little, moving far enough away from Damien to see the tattoo - and to his surprise, it was a name. Stephen? He remembered Damien had talked about a witch, who was apparently his mate - what a lucky bastard - and while Ben didn't know a lot about mates, he knew that mate tattoos were a thing. And that meant... "Holy shit, you've fucked your mate?!" he asked, probably a lot louder than he should, given the time.

Damien reached out to grab his can of mountain dew, downing the rest of it while they just sat close like this. It was good, he could already smell that the siren wasn't quite as sad as he'd been when he got into the room, so, after all, it seemed like the snuggling worked. Which was why, after scratching at the tattoo, his arm went back around Ben to pull him closer - but apparently the siren's gaze had followed his hand, as he leant back, so Damien couldn't quite pull him as close as he'd wanted to.

The instant Ben had blurted it out, Damien's cheeks went beet red, and he put a finger to his lips as he shushed him. "Shh! Seriously, don't say it that loudly..." he muttered, the blush spreading over pretty much his entire face. But he should've known, of course Ben knew that detail about witches... And exactly what it meant that Damien had that tattoo, now. "Butuhm... Yeah." he then said, coughing just a little discreetly, awkwardly rubbing his neck. "Or well, more like, he fucked me, but..... Yeah. Weuhm. We did that. Thing." he wasn't at all sure how to address it, and he knew that of all people, maybe Ben was one it should be easier to talk about this particular subject with, but it was just hella awkward, too. And since they'd breached that subject once before, he did know that Ben knew he'd been a virgin up until now...

Ben couldn't help but chuckle a little when Damien got flustered and tried shushing him, which only helped to confirm that he was right before Damien even got around to saying it himself. But even so, he let the hybrid say it himself, before commenting on it. It was odd to think that Damien had actually done it with someone though, and Ben tried not to think too much about it. Hopefully, it wouldn't change their status as cuddle-buddies though - even if making out on Damien's bed was off-limits now for obvious reasons. But even so, he was happy on the other's behalf, maybe a little proud of him, for actually having found someone who could make him happy - goodness knows the hybrid deserved nothing less than the best.

"So... did you like it?" he asked, a little curious. Damien's sexuality had been something they'd talk about every now and then, so Ben knew he normally didn't really have the attraction to other people and because of that, he was still a virgin - up until now, that is!

The chuckle, even though he knew it was good-natured, managed to make his blush deeper, and he looked away for a moment, scratching the back of his neck a little awkwardly. And, well, he could've told himself Ben would inquire further about it. It was just all such a new territory that even though Ben was by far his best friend, it was still difficult putting words on everything, and therefore, it took a little while before he actually knew how to say it... Sorta.

"I... Well... The short answer's 'yes', I guess... 'Like' just doesn't feel like a strong enough word," he murmured, a little shyly. "A lot of magic involved, too, though, but yea, I guess that's just natural with a witch. And one as strong as he is..." but a soft smile still spread on his lips as he looked back down at his lap, thinking about Stephen and that night they'd spent in his small apartment. It was probably only all too clear from the way he smiled, the way his eyes had softened as he remembered the night, that he had indeed fallen in love with the witch. "Like... Y'know... When... Yeah, when the thing happens, like... There's a lot of magic involved for this," he gestured to the mate-tattoo now adorning his collarbone, "... to happen. Anduhm. Some biting... I think I bit a little too hard tho... He was, uhm... Bleeding a bit..." he admitted, with the blush still going strong.

Ben's smiled softened a little as Damien told him about what it was like with Stephen, and honestly? The guy deserved that. He was so sweet and kind, even to an asshole like Ben, so for him to find love in someone was greatly deserved. But as he listened to the hybrid gush about how great it had been, Ben couldn't help but feel a little odd in the situation. Was he too close to Damien? There had never been anything sexual between them, let-alone romantic, and this wasn't closer than they'd been before, but now... maybe it was a bit too close? His thoughts quickly wandered to some of the things Cody had said, how he should be a little less touchy-feely with other people. Ben sat up a little straighter so he wasn't leaning on the other, thereby pulling a little bit back from the hybrid, but he didn't look away from the other, not even for a second. If anything he probably looked a little more awake.

"You? Bite? That sounds fake, but okay," he said with a light chuckle, before pulling his blanket tighter around his own body. "But I'm glad to know he takes good care of you. You just tell me when - yes when, not if - he needs a little man-to-man talk about how the police can't prove anything if they can't find his body," he then said with a wink, obviously a little playful.

Damien's gaze wandered back to the siren when he pulled back a little, clearly confused for a second or two - he hadn't done or said anything he shouldn't, had he? Or did the siren simply need a little space? Anyway, he brushed it off again and another smile pulled at his lips, before he chuckled and shook his head slightly at Ben's words. "It's a part of the ritual. To make the mark," he explained. "I just... Got a little carried away, I guess." he then said, shrugging though still blushing ever so slightly. But he didn't blame Ben for thinking that it didn't really sound like him, cause... Yeah, other than that, he had tried being as gentle as he could whenever he touched Stephen, even though the witch seemed to have liked the red stripes down his back that he'd accidentally caused, too...

But anyway, his full attention was back on Ben again with the half-joke he made, and he rolled his eyes, smiling a little. "There's no need, Ben, really. He's a lot nicer than I thought he'd be, at first. Plus, even if things would go bad, I probably wouldn't ever want you to harm him, and you know that." as close friends as they were, Ben would, after all, know very well by now that he in general really, really disliked violence in any way, shape or form. Of course he tolerated it when you had to do it - like Ben killing to eat - but other than that? No.

Ben couldn't help but aww a little when Damien blushed after admitting that he got a little carried away because again, he was just so damn happy that someone was taking good care of the hybrid. But that didn't mean he trusted Stephen completely. Ben had yet to really meet the guy, he had just heard about him so far and maybe seen him for a few seconds before heading out the door, but he honestly didn't have a lasting impression of the guy.

So when Damien said he didn't want him hurting the witch, Ben just pouted a little. "I'm not gonna harm him! I'll just tell him that I can harm him if he doesn't treat you right," he whined, mock-offended by the thought that Damien would even think that he'd hurt the witch - because both of them knew, that if Ben's temper got away with him, he definitely would. "Besides, all men are dickheads to some degree - you're just the exception that proves the rule," he added, very matter-of-factly.

Damien chuckled softly, and rolled his eyes at the siren - cause yea, he knew that Ben wouldn't be able to just keep to telling him if Stephen did something to poke at his temper... And judging by how he'd seen Stephen act towards a lot of other people, he might just do that. So... Probably for the best that they hadn't really met just yet. The guy had been as ass when they'd first met, too, after all, it was only... Later on that he seemed to soften up.

"You didn't meet teenage-me," he then just laughed. "If you had, you wouldn't say that." that out-of-control temper... Oh dear. He felt sorta bad his mum had to deal with that, back then. Especially since nobody else on her side of the family had ever had anything to do with werewolves, so they hadn't had the slightest clue how to help him with the anger issues. It'd only been solved later on, really, when he started doing things to distract himself from him.The work he'd had before, and in more recent memory, all the gaming. Speaking of which... "Oh but anyway, that's not all that's happened! You remember me talking about maybe getting to be on the world cup team, yea?"

Ben opened his mouth object when Damien said he wouldn't say that if he had met teenage him, because could he really be that bad? But then Ben remembered picking fights with werewolves on purpose, because of their temper and if Damien had just a pinch of that temper on top of being a teenager? Boy, that was probably a bad combo. So as he opened his mouth, he didn't say anything, but shut it again with a shrug and an affirming sound to show that the hybrid was probably right.

Ben looked curiously up at Damien, when the other talked again, asking if he remembered that he had talked about the world cup. Digging through his braing to figure out what the hybrid could be talking about, Ben quickly remembered and nodded. "Yeah, I do, why?" he asked, cocking his head slightly to the side in curiosity.

A soft snicker still left him when he saw how the siren was about to disagree, but then seemed to just go with it. Cause yeah, it was only really these past ten years Damien had really had a proper control of his temper, if he was to be honest with himself. Physical labour had helped somewhat, but the shooter games had been the best thing for it, really. First the old shooters like Duke Nukem and Doom, later on a bit of Quake, Counter Strike... And now, of course, Overwatch. And a bit of Fortnite when he took small breaks from Overwatch.

Speaking of which, a happy smile spread on Damien's lips again. "Weeeeeell... Hang on, stay here," he said with a soft grin to his voice, as he got up and wandered into his room, rummaging around for a bit... And when he got back out, he had his official Team Canada shirt on, with his gaming tag, 'Agilities', and the logo for the Overwatch World Cup 2018 on it. "Tadaa! I friggin' made it! Got it in the mail yesterday!"

// Le top

Ben pulled his legs off of Damien's lap, when the hybrid moved to leave, and took the opportunity to rearrange his blanket a bit around his shoulders, and pulled his legs up to his chest, while waiting. If he was less tired, he might've been able to tell that Damien was on the team, but right now, he wasn't thinking that far. He was too sleep deprived for rational thinking.

So when Damien stepped back out he was actually pretty surprised, but a smile lit up his face as soon as he realized what that shirt meant. Honestly, if it wasn't in the middle of the night, he would've probably squealed, but instead he settled for hyrring (and almost falling because he was stuck in his blanket) over to Damien and wrapped his arms around his neck. "Oh my god, I'm so happy for you- I knew you could do it though!" he whisper-yelled, before loosening his grip so he could look up into Damien's eyes. "So, when are you going? I'll have to mark my calendar so I know when to keep an eye on my computer for how you're doing," he said with a wide grin, before pulling back from the hug completely, as he once again reminded himself of what Cody had said. Maybe his smile faltered for a second at that thought, but not for much longer than that, because right now he just wanted to focus on this! Damien really deserved it after training so hard after all.

Of course it didn't take long to find the shirt and put it on, but he was just making sure it sat fine enough - he'd opted for it being form-fitting, unlike most other gamers he'd been on teams with, he didn't prefer his shirts being loose. No, he wanted them form-fitting, thank you very much. Then again, he was probably less self-conscious about his body than many of the others were. Then he re-entered the room, and Ben's reaction just made him even happier - enough for his skin to start softly glowing again, at least, all the clearer in the rather dark room, now the television was the only other real source of light in the room as of right now.

But he rather happily returned the hug he got from the siren, chuckling slightly at his eagerness. "Please don't fall," he snickered, hugging him close, but also loosening his grip again when the siren did so, smiling down at him. "Well, we're in the US group, so playoffs aren't until the start of September... 7th to 9th, to be precise. But I think I'll ask for the entire week off so I can go meet the others and train with them in the same room too, for a bit, before we get to the stage... So, if they let me, I'll be gone from the 3rd... No, maybe the 1st. But the matches will be 7th to 9th, yea. I'll tell you the exact times as soon as we get to know 'em, tho!" he promised the siren, still smiling brightly - there was probably nothing really that could damper his spirit right now.

Ben chuckled a little when Damien asked him not to fall, and muttered a soft "I'll try not to," before hugging the man closer for just a second before pulling back. The soft glowing of the hybrid's skin, made Ben's heart flutter for a little moment, because he knew what it meant, and his smile widened a little if that was even possible. Normally Ben didn't care about other people's accomplishments, but Damien was an exception - which was also why Ben was as supportive as he was. Damien was just... too nice for him to not care. That was all it was, really.

"Got it, I'll make sure I don't have work so I can follow along no matter what time it is. Where are the playoffs located?" he asked, genuinely curious. Ben wasn't a gamer himself per se, he just played random games on his PS3 every now and then, and he didn't care too much about PwP competitions either. But since he was sharing his dorm with one as good as Damien... well, could you blame him for being curious?

But before the hybrid could reply, Ben easily recognised the sound of his phone ringing. He made a hand gesture to say he'd be back in the moment, before walking back to his room, to get his phone before it'd wake Miles. He walked back out with it, looking a little confused. "It's... It's Cody, should I pick up?" he asked, a little unsure of it. Damien knew of his troubles with Cody - at least on the surface. He hadn't told him about the confession he got, but how he had been treated prior to that, with the cold shoulder and Cody then immediately leaving to go on a vacation... well, Damien knew about those things. When Ben got the affirmation that yes, he should pick up, he did so.

"Hello?" he asked, furrowing his brows. "Uh yeah, it's Benjamin Beckett, is Cody alright?" As he talked, he started pacing back and forth a little, before heading very quickly into his room to pick up some stuff. "But he's gonna be fine right?... Uh yeah, of course, I can- uhm... I'll get there right away... Alright, thank you- goodnight," as he talked he quickly getting into the sweatpants he had found, before ending the call. He then shoved his phone into his pocket before getting the hoodie over his head and slipping his arms into the sleeves.

"I- I need to get going, I- Cody's- I think he went to my workplace and- fuck, I gotta go to the hospital, he hit his head somehow and I don't know how severe it is- why didn't I ask her that? She said he's stable but-" he kept rambling, barely making sense as he shoved his feet into his socks and then into his shoes. "I got my mom's car so it won't take long, but I probably won't get home until tomorrow - or, well, later today I guess, unless maybe he's worse off- I-I'll call when I know?" he said, looking up at Damien with obvious worry in his eyes. "I'll- uhm, when I get home, I'll get us some pizza to-uhm to celebrate that- your uhm your thing, yeah? It's on me," he said, before quickly disappearing out the door, without more words.

//Out <3

Damien had of course still been all excited and smiling, and was just about to answer Ben that, well, he'd be going to Anaheim in California - but then he got the call, and Damien just closed his mouth again, looking after him, and sighing when he got back inside and asked if he should pick up. To Damien that was a pretty obvious thing to do, even with all that'd happened between the siren and angel as of late - at least the parts he knew about.

"Of course you should. You never know if it's really important or not." he then simply said, and sat down as ben then answered it. When Ben just suddenly went to his room to start packing though, he looked after him with slightly furrowed brows and just a mildly worried expression, too.

He quietly observed Ben getting ready to leave, and let him rant. If he was ranting like that, it had to be at least mildly serious after all, and from what he could hear, from what he said, it very well might be. Damien hadn't yet been to the place Ben worked - but he knew enough about the rumours, and had also heard enough from Ben, to know what kind of creatures usually frequented that place. Not... Really a good place for any angel to be. Damien just nodded and swallowed. "Yea... Seeya." he only just managed to say before Ben was gone. He sighed, picked a little at his shirt, and tried to game on, but this had distracted him enough that he just shut off the console and finally went to bed.

//Aand done <3