Archive of Our Own ^beta

Benny found everything Emmet did endearing if he was honest. He was just so... good. Benny liked that about him. And everything else. He would do nearly anything to be with Emmet and revel in the feeling he gets while he is around him. Work outs were within the boundaries od how far Benny was willing to go.

Early work outs? That toed the line, but Benny seemed to be willing to make that sacrifice. He was invited to tag along with Emmet on one at lunch one day and he couldn't say no.

"Why do you wake up so early? Do you like to sleep at all?" Benny has his head resting on the heel of his hand. He at Emmet with curiousity bright in his eyes while he stirs his milkshake with the straw with his unoccupied hand.

"Oh, I work out in the mornings! I'm more ready for the day after I work out!" He pops a fry into his mouth and smiles. 

Benny, at the time, had no idea that Emmet worked out and was delighted yet horrified to find this out. This meant Emmet was jacked beneath the unshed baby fat. He looked soft, but now Benny was sure that if he had a shot to ever witness such a sight, he would find that Emmet was ripped. Benny wasn't sure he could handle it.

He suddenly feels his face run hot and he leans over fast to take a drink of his milkshake to recover. Too fast, he gets a brain freeze. His face skews in pain, "AhH!" His hands flail in a desperate attempt to get the pain to subside.

Emmet's eyebrows furrow in worry. "Press your thumb to the roof of your mouth. That's supposed to help?" 

He didn't sound too sure, but Benny gave it a shot anyway. It seemed to work, so Benny pulls his thumb out of his mouth. The entire situation was a embarassing, maybe more so than thinking about Emmet's abs beneath his chub in front of Emmet. He shoves any thought of it beside and looks back up at Emmet with an awkward smile, his face still darkened from blushing. 

Emmet didn't seem to notice his embarrassment. "Are you okay?" He asks, too genuine for Benny's heart not to ache with love.

"Yeah! I'm great. You were talking about your workouts?" Benny says, closing his lips around the straw of his milkshake again, sipping it slower this time.

Emmet brightens, "Oh, yeah! Do you want to come along sometime?" He picks up his burger and takes a huge enthusiastic bite. He chews and waits expectantly for an answer.

Benny was never the type to work out. He was fit, sure. He had to be for his missions, but working out unnecessarily and not to keep your muscles from decaying in the recesses of space because of anti-gravity seemed... stupid. He would never work out without a purpose like that. But gravity worked fine here, so there was really no need for it and he was hyper aware of that fact.

That didn't stop Benny from nodding and saying, "Sure, sounds cool!" No hesitation, but a brief regret claws at his stomach. He really didn't want to deal with working out. Pointlessly and at 5 AM made things even less appealing. But then he remembered that while working out clothes weren't always required. The regret dissipated at the idea that Emmet might not wear a shirt. At least if Benny had any luck.

"Great! Is tomorrow morning okay?"

Benny nods and grins. He feels his face warm again at all of the thoughts running through his mind. He needed to get home soon, thinking these things in front of Emmet seemed... wrong. He takes one last sip of his milkshake and stands. "I should go, I have to pick up a part for my ship! It broke off a couple days ago and the place said they got their newest shipment of the part in!" Benny bounces, happy to have a decent and real excuse to leave but also excited that he could pick up the part. It pained him when his ships weren't in the best condition.

"Good! You've been talking about that part for days! I'm glad it's finally in." Emmet smiles and Benny's heart melts.

"Me too!" Benny slides out of the booth, doing his best to suppress the urge to continue talking about the piece for the ship. It would do him better to get out of there as opposed to lingering due to his favorite conversation topic. But sometimes he couldn't help it. "Now the ship can run without hot boxing my garage before I leave! It's better for the planet which is also good, and that means it will be better for everywhere else I go, too!" 

Emmet grins, "Why don't you go get the piece and save the world?"

Benny had almost forgot that getting the part was what he was meant to be going to do. "Oh! Yeah! Thanks! See you tomorrow then?"

"Mhm! I'll pick you up bright and early!"

"Bye!"

"Yeah?" He says, stifling a yawn, unaware of who it was and why they were here. 

Emmet doesn't know what to say for a moment. "We... were supposed to work out this morning?"

Realization strikes Benny and he snaps awake. He pushes the hair out of his face to get a better look at Emmet. "Oh! Yeah, sorry! Here, you can come inside I'll go get dressed." He steps off to the side to let Emmet inside.

He steps in slowly, "Shoes?" Asking Benny about his policy. On or off.

"Doesn't matter! I'll be back!" Benny speeds off in the other room to get dressed. He wasn't sure he owned anything that would be fit to work out in. He slips into his shortest shorts and pulls on a shirt with a rocket embroidered on the breast pocket. He figured that would be enough clothing to shield from prying eyes and little enough so he didn't pass out of heat stroke. Benny looks himself over in the mirror briefly, slipping star barettes into his fluffy hair in a rush.

He runs back out into the living room. Emmet had taken a seat on the couch and was staring stiffly in front of him, though nothing was there. He looks up when Benny re-enters the room. His eyes catch on the hem of Benny's shorts, but before they trail any further up Emmet's eyes snap up to his face. He stares at Benny, willing his gaze not to fall away from his face to somewhere more compromising. Benny doesn't seem to notice. 

"Sorry about that! I don't usually wake up this early." It was still dark outside and it made Benny realize that he could still be asleep, but this would be worth it. Emmet's arms... His thighs... Chest... All on display and it would be gorgeous.

Was this weird? Maybe it was. Benny was too caught up to care. There was no going back either way. He was far too awake and jittery to go back to sleep now.

"No problem! Are you ready?" Emmet asked, visibly more comfortable now that Benny was around again. 

"Mhm! Let's go!" 

They head out, hopping into Emmet's small car. The drive was easy and comfortable. Benny was fidgeting around with anything he could find and Emmet was glancing over at him occasionally with a smile. The pop music that poured from the speakers was turned down to a low volume which made it sound softer and easier to listen to this early in the morning. The dark sky was still gray, the first signs of morning light a subtle tint of pink peaking out from beyond the buildings of the city. 

They arrive fairly quickly, a bit later than Emmet usually arrived but he doesn't mention it. The man on the inside who takes Emmet's membership card to inspect it, does. "A bit late today, hm?" He smiles, meaning only to tease. Emmet was not very close with this man, but they saw each other everyday and he could be friendly enough. He was a bit frustrating to deal with at times, but it wasn't anything Emmet couldn't handle. 

Emmet smiles back, "Had to pick up a friend." He gestures behind him, where Benny was walking around looking through the window at the sky.

He slips over to Emmet, not really noticing that the man was looking at him. "Emmet! Look at the moon it's still so bright!" Benny bounces back over to the window with Emmet's hand in his own.

Emmet looks apologetically at the man, but turns back to Benny with a smile. "It's pretty!" He says. He was glad Benny was here to point it out, usually he didn't have anything else on his mind besides the thing he was doing. Benny was always good at noticing beautiful things.

"Yeah!" They stare at it for a couple seconds longer, forgetting that their fingers were still intertwined and that they had the man at the desk waiting for them.

The man at the desk begins tapping at his keyboard, and Emmet was snapped back into reality. "Oh! Right, I have to go get us in. Thank you for showing me!" He lets go of Benny's hand to put his hand on Benny's shoulder for a second before turning away back to the desk.

Benny was no longer paying any attention to the moon, but he was glancing more and more back at Emmet. He realized that his work out apparel was a lot less revealing than his own and he suddenly felt uncomfortable. He tugs at his shorts to make them cover more of his legs, but it doesn't help. He shifts in his spot for a moment, then walks over to Emmet. He doesn't want to interrupt, but he didn't like being out on display. The man kept looking over at him and he couldn't really gather what the looks meant. Rather than saying anything he simply stands as close to the desk as possible. Near enough to Emmet to touch him but far enough away to be comfortable.

Once their conversation is over and they were all set to go in Emmet turns to Benny. "Ready?"

Benny nods and tries to smile, looking at the man one last time whose lips curl into a smile that makes his stomach flip.

They head into the room with all of the equipment inside and then they turn to go into the locker room. Benny realized that he could have changed here. Frustrated that he didn't have to go through the trouble of being uncomfortable, he grumbles a little not really meaning anything by it. Emmet notices though and turns to Benny after he sets his bag down on the bench inbetween rows of lockers.

"Are you okay?" 

Benny nods, "Yeah! The fella at the desk was giving me weird look. I didn't really like it." He scowls and crosses his arms like he was trying to protect himself.

Emmet nods, "Yeah, he... he does that sometimes. It happens to people who don't wear enough to get him not to pay attention to. Sorry, I should have warned you. That's why I change when I get here." Emmet rubs the back of his neck and gives Benny a worried smile. Emmet decided he would have to make it up to him later.

Benny nods. He doesn't seem terribly upset anymore and moves on quickly. He was never the type to simmer.

Emmet begins to dig around in his bag for a moment and brightens when he finds something. He pulls it out of his bag as he says, "It might help to pull your hair all the way back? If you don't, you'll get hot and it's not fun." It was a bright pink scrunchie, which Benny takes with a smile. 

"Thanks!" He says, and steps over to a mirror to get a better look at what he was doing. 

"I'll be right back!" Emmet pulls the clothes from his back and disappears into the biggest bathroom stall, leaving Benny sort of alone.

He does as he was suggested and pulls his hair back. He doesn't very often. It was already rare that he didn't have his helmet on let alone rare that he did anything with his hair at all. He wasn't sure that he liked it, but he didn't know how great working out would go. He had to trust Emmet on this for the time being.

Benny continues to stare at himself in the mirror, scrutinizing his appearance. He tries to put the barettes into different places to keep his hair up all the way but it wasn't really working. He was becoming frustrated enough to be fuming and not notice that Emmet had reemerged from the stall with his clothes changed.

Emmet had never seen Benny with his hair up. As much as Emmet liked the fluff typically contained by the confinement of his helmet, this new style was great too. And Emmet liked it. A lot. Benny's hair didn't stay up in the scrunchie easily, so curls fell from it every so often. He blows a curl out of his eye, his perfect lips stuck out in a sort of pout  to exaggerate his frustration. He slips a barette in with his tongue stuck out, he was very focused it seemed.

"Your hair is cute when it's up like that." Emmet says, moving to put his clothes he wore to the gym into his workout bag. He keeps glancing over at Benny who finally turned from the mirror.

In a different circumstance he would have simply said thanks, but he was tense. He was about to spit out a comment in anger for his hair not cooperating, and this was why he didn't do anything anyway, but when he turns he finds Emmet in less clothing than he had ever seen before. Benny thanked the stars and moon above. 

Emmet had changed into shorts that were so short that they had a tendency to ride up when he walked to where his gym locker was. His shirt was tight and hugged his sides in that perfect sort of way that showed off Emmet's curves. He was not an sharply built sort of guy, and Benny was thankful for that. Sharp jawlines and hard chests were nothing compared to round faces and soft bellies. He liked to imagine how it would feel to lay against Emmet for hours, his hands intertwined with Benny's--

He cuts off his own fantasy, suddenly remembering that there was no way that would happen. He should just give up hope now. Emmet had liked Wyldstyle from day one. Benny suddenly feels bitter, he no doubtedly would have fit more perfectly with the curves of his body better than she ever would. He pushes those feelings aside. He should just enjoy the moment. Maybe it was early and Benny could have thought of a much better way to spend this time, but at least he was here and not Wyldstyle. He had that going for him at least.

Emmet turns to Benny after placing his things into his locker, he doesn't really notice that Benny was no longer in the gym. He was taking refuge in his own mind.

"Okay, let's go!" Emmet hops and starts walking out of the locker room. 

It takes a moment or two to get Benny to pull himself from his thoughts and to follow.

"I don't really work out is there like... an order to the things?" Benny glances back into the locker room for a second before turning fully into the gym. 

Emmet laughs. It was a good full sound and Benny wished he could hear that sound all of the time. "Just follow my lead!" He says, and moves over to the treadmills.

Benny follows hesitantly, he was glad that no one else was in the gym yet. It was far too early for anyone else to bother, so no one could see Benny probably fail miserably at using every piece of equipment involved  in Emmet's work out routine

"I'm not really built for running... So this is just a warm up." Emmet says, subtly teaching Benny what the thought process was behind everything. He steps onto a treadmill.

Benny nods and steps onto one, too, watching Emmet turn on the machine before he turns to his own. Emmet was on speed two, Benny saw, so he set his own speed to the same. 

The treadmills whir together, the sound of them was unpleasant and grating. Benny did his best to ignore it. Of course it didn't take long for him to no longer have the energy to notice. Once he was starting to wish they could slow down Emmet knocks the speed up to three and Benny follows suit.

It was miserable. Benny was not ready for speed three. He was huffing and puffing, glancing over at Emmet occasionally who was humming. He hadn't even broken a swear yet, while Benny was drenched.

Emmet tries to start a conversation while still facing foward, still unaware of poor Benny. "Did you put the part in your ship yesterday?" He finally turns, looking for a response. He was a bit taken aback when he finds Benny struggling to keep up with the platform beneath him.

Emmet gasps and reaches over to stop Benny's treadmill, then stops his own. "Are you okay? You're breathing pretty heavily, we've barely started."

Benny steps down from his treadmill and bends over, trying to catch his breath.

Emmet puts a gentle hand on his shoulder. "That makes his harder to breathe, put your hands on your head that'll help." 

He demonstrates for him and Benny follows suit. "Thanks," He says, he wants to answer Emmet's question but he's too hoarse. "Sorry," he wheezes instead.

"No, it's okay! I forgot that you don't work out. I was just excited for a workout buddy. I should have started slower." Emmet smiles, doing his best to mask his worry.

Benny smiles back, but continues to wheeze.

Emmet nods thoughtfully. "I think we're warmed up now. Do you want to take a break?"

Every bone in Benny's body cries out 'yes! please!' but he shakes his head. He didn't like how unimpressive he was being in front of Benny. He wanted to be cool around Emmet, and be the best work out partner ever. It was what Emmet deserved! 

"Are you sure? It's no problem if we need to stop."

Benny nods again, his legs shaking. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stand, but he holds steady.

"Okay..." Emmet hesitates, but begins walking over to the weights. In a sort of attempt to save Benny from pushing himself any further he suggests Benny spots first.

Emmet pulls weights from a rack to add to a barbell. The entire weight of it all totaled to 175 pounds. Benny was sure he weighed less than that. Would Emmet be able to scoop Benny into his arms and carry him as if he was nothing? Benny liked the thought of that. Being pressed up against Emmet's chest, engulfed by his soft arms.

He shakes his head. This was a disaster, he was still out of breath. His fantasies were not helping him breathe any easier.

"Just keep an eye on me, okay?" Emmet begins to lift the barbell and Benny didn't have any issues with keeping his eyes on Emmet. His muscles were suddenly very visible. Any evidence of his soft arms was gone. Benny was intimidated and turned on at the same time.

He shifts in his spot, watching Emmet forgetting that there was a purpose to watching Emmet lift. Safety. Which Benny found was way less fun then his fantasies about being touched by those gentle but strong hands. Calloused but soft at the same time. Everytime his arms flex Benny imagines something new. His hands on them, his lips on them...

He does, with some difficulty focus on the task at hand. He isn't really sure what he would do if Emmet were to be in any danger, but Emmet seemed to have it covered anyway. He probably had been here often enough on his own not to put himself in any danger. At least Benny hoped.

Emmet sighs in a sort of relief when he sets the bar down. His face drips with sweat and he breathes heavily. "Do you want to try?" Emmet asks, figuring that there had been enough time for Benny to catch his breath while he lifted.

Benny hesitates. He was probably not going to be able to lift anything more than the bar itself. 

Emmet smiles, trying to make Benny feel a little bit better about lifting. He speaks as he puts the weights back on the racks and the bar against the wall. "You can try a bench press if you want, I can help you with that one a little more." 

Benny figures he would have to work out more in one way or another. Bench pressing would probably be fine. Having Emmet helping there put him at ease. He relaxes his shoulders and nods at Emmet. 

"Here!" He moves to the benches, a bar was already laid in its place on the attached rack. Emmet pats the bench gesturing for Benny to sit. "Do you know how much weight you can lift?"

Benny lies down beneath the bar. He felt compelled to lie and to make the number higher than it really was, but the bar hovering directly over his face and neck was disconcerting to say the least. He would have Emmet there to save him if need be, but in reality he would rather not drop the bar period. No need for a pointless scare. "No, I don't." Benny pauses for a second before continuing, looking past the bar at Emmet who was looking back down at him. "Not a lot." 

Emmet doesn't seem to mind his lack of strength. "Try picking up the bar first. If it feels heavy but you can still lift it that's good. If it's too light we can add more weight!"

"Okay!" Emmet's confidence filled him with determination. He hadn't used a single word of encouragement, it was only advisement, but Benny felt better that there was no need to lie. Emmet didn't seem to mind either way.

Benny picks up the bar and lifts it once. It weighed less than he expected and he was surprised at his own ability to lift it. He forgot how pathetic that was compared to how much Emmet had been lifting earlier and was filled with a sense of self accomplishment.

"It's light." Benny comments, smiling a bit to himself in pride.

Emmet nods with a small smile that seems to understand that this was big, for Benny at least. "I'll add 5 pounds on each side and we can see how that feels." Emmet, upon seeing Benny nod in approval, adds the weight and secures it. "All good, give it a go!"

Benny, who was on a pride high, was expecting this to be light, too. Unfortunately it was not. Apparently 10 pounds was just right. He didn't need to go any higher with the weight. He sets bar back down and lets out the puff of air he didn't realize he was holding.

Emmet catches Benny's eyes again. "Good?" 

"Yeah." He responds, a bit disappointed. He shakes it off.

"We're gonna have you do 3 rounds of 10 reps each. If that's too much, tell me and we can have you stop early, okay?" Emmet sees Benny nod, "Don't forget to breathe!" He says, and helps Benny get the bar off the rack again.

Benny counts under his breath, 10 seemed like too many in one round, but he didn't say anything to complain. Once he finished round one he was too out of breath to say anything anyway.

"You're doing good! Two more to go." Emmet grins down at him during his small break inbetween rounds.

Benny takes the bar again, and squeezes his eyes shut. He wished it got easier the longer he lifted but it worked just the opposite. Everything else became better with time, why not lifting?

The bar clanks down on the rack after he completes his 10. His chest heaves and he briefly regrets coming along, but then he opens his eyes to see Emmet looking over him in encourangement and Benny nearly melted on the bench.

"One more! You've got this!" Emmet spoke like a personal trainer, and if anyone asked him to be one for them there was no doubt he would say yes. Helping people was his favorite thing to do, and working out was a close second. Had Benny asked him for more consistent help with working out and becoming stronger he would have dropped everything to help him out.

Benny knew all of this and almost wanted to. It meant he would spend more time with Emmet, but there were loads of catches. He would have to wake up early. He would have to work out more. And the worst of all? Spending more time with Emmet meant nothing in terms of growing their relationship. At least in the ways Benny wanted. He was too sure that there was really no point in getting his hopes up in that department. He was aware that it was his end goal to be with Emmet, rather than just around him.

Benny takes the bar again, frustrated with the direction his thoughts took. Thanks to the weight and impending doom if he dropped the bar he forgot what he was thinking about. Slowly but surely pumps out the last 10 he had to do. 

Emmet grins in pride. "You did it!" 

Benny sits up, avoiding the bar on the way. "I did! My arms hurt...and my legs...My body hurts!" He tries to lift an arm, but it doesn't go well. It flops back against his body.

Emmet smiles sympethetically, "Yeah, you'll be sore for a while. Do you want to call it?" He asks, for Benny's sake more than his own. He clearly had the energy to keep going.

"How much more do you usually do?" Benny was pretty sure he wouldn't like the answer, but he asks anyway. Trying to make sure he seemed interested in staying, at least for the moment.

"Oh, usually I do a bit more weight lifting. Sometimes the spin bikes since I should do more cardio to work off--" He pauses and gesures vaguely to himself. "But I...don't like it at all." He smiles awkwardly. 

Benny hated that. Cardio, if it meant that Emmet would loose his soft chubby exterior, was Benny's biggest enemy. There was nothing in the entire universe Benny wanted to encourage less than cardio. "Cardio sounds horrible!"

Benny barely knew what it was, and Emmet knew that. His face goes red when he realizes what Benny was saying. He looks at the floor with a small smile. He looks back up, his face still darkened with blush. "Does that mean we're done?"

"If you want to be! I can stay as long as you want to keep working out." Benny actively avoided saying he would work out too. Now that he had been sitting down and letting his legs rest, he was more aware of how little they wanted to hold steady. If he stood up, Benny felt he may collapse. He ignored that. 

Emmet looks at Benny for a moment, he looked exhausted. Emmet didn't want to push him any further than he already had. "We can go. I think there's a new diner near your place that we could check out if you wanted."

Benny brightened, "The sci-fi place? I've been meaning to go! Jenny works there and I haven't seen her in a while! Can we go?!"

"Yeah! I have to get changed first, I borrowed an extra set of clothes if you want to change, too." 

Benny tries to stand, forgetting that his legs couldn't handle his entire weight yet, and nearly crumples under himself. Emmet had been there to catch him. His arms wrapped around Benny's waist to hold him up. Benny had instinctively reached for whatever was nearest, which was Emmet. With his hands splayed on Emmet's chest his eyes widen in embarrassment. "Sorry!" He tries to stand on his own, letting go of Emmet in a panic. 

Emmet on the other hand doesn't let go. "Hey hey, It's alright! Here." Emmet pulls Benny close to keep him steady as they walked back into the locker room.

Emmet sets Benny gently down onto the bench. "Are you okay?" He asks, a bit worried. Benny was blushing and it was very obvious. Emmet didn't want to say anything about it, but he felt extremely guilty. He had made him work out too much, which made him fall. If Emmet hadn't been right there Benny could have gotten hurt.

Benny covers his face with his hands, and pulls his legs up onto the bench with some effort. He was curled up in embarrassment. "I'm sorry..." He says, he wasn't sure what he was apologizing for. It could have been for falling onto Emmet. It would have been the most simple and most logical answer, but Benny knew it ran deeper than that. His brain ran rampant with fantasies about being dipped and kissed and touched and it wasn't fair to think about those things when Emmet was never going to like him back. He could have been apologizing for that. Liking him in that way at all could have been enough reason for an apology.

"Sorry for what? You didn't do anything wrong." Emmet reaches over to put a hand on his shoulder, but Benny pulls away suddenly.

"But I have!" He lays his head on his knees, curled in on himself, with his shivering arms barely keeping his tired legs tucked in. He doesn't look up at Emmet. "This whole time I've... You're very pretty. I like you a lot, but its not fair to." He raises his head to look at the floor, tears well up in his eyes. "You like Wyldstyle? But I think about you a lot anyway." He does his best not to go into specifics, but sometimes the words just fall from his mouth. "Holding you, being held by you, kissing you, being kissed by you. I want it to happen but it can't. I try to make the feelings go away! I really do! But they won't." He was shaking, crying openly now. "So I'm sorry. For falling, for thinking about you, and feeling the way I do."

Emmet doesn't respond for a second, he was taken aback by all of the things Benny had to say. His face was dark with blush now, too. Benny looks over at Emmet and opens his mouth to say something more, but Emmet speaks first. "I liked Wyldstyle. She didn't like me back, we're just good friends! That's all." Emmet figured that was a good place to start. He pauses for a moment. "I like you, too. A lot." He says, he doesn't know how to continue so he just leaves it there.

Benny blinks the last of his tears away and they roll down his face. "R...Really?" 

Emmet nods with a smile, reaching over to wipe them away. "Really. Do you still want to go to the diner? Or do you just want to go home? You should rest."

Benny thought about it and weight his options. "Home sounds good." He sniffles.

Emmet hums in agreement. He grabs the bag from his locker and shuts it. He pulls his out the sets of clothes, one for himself and the other for Benny. He turns to head toward the stalls, but slows down for a second. He turns his head back to Benny who had uncurled from himself. "Maybe when we get there you can show me all of the things you thought about today." He winks and smiles, leaving Benny with his face red and a bright excited smile.