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Minkar
The first thing they did when they found out Bad Cop hadn't been eating more than a cracker a day was place him with Benny. He wasn't quite sure why--a few moments of encouragement were nothing to run off, and Emmet was honestly better making people feel better.
Certainly, Benny could put things back together--and did, frequently, though the occasional repercussion was that the objects might or might not have the sudden ability to hover--but he wasn't the emotional fixer-upper he had apparently been deemed.
Regardless, they were standing in his apartment now, Bad Cop looking around only once before quietly asking where he should put his things. Benny had cleaned out his room and set his things in the spare room, already made into his personal escape room.
He didn't have a roommate in his two-bedroom apartment. He hadn't needed one. He'd long grown used to loneliness in space, despite preferring company. He'd long grown used to silence, though he often filled it with background noise on Earth.
Even as immersed in his thoughts as he was, he was smiling on the outside, absentmindedly but cheerfully pointing out which doors lead where and the like. Drawing himself from his own mind, he opened the door to his room with a sheepish smile. "We can take down the glow in the dark stars if they'll bother you. I have the ceiling marked under them, so it would be easy to put them back where they were." Painstakingly, he'd drawn constellations in pencil and fastened the stars up over them. He'd hate to take them down, but he wouldn't be too sore if he had to put them back up after Bad Cop left, whenever that might be.
And he didn't know when it might be. It was a good thing his couch was a pull-out.
"I'll be fine," Bad Cop murmured as he slipped through the door, too bone-tired to put on a grouchy façade when he felt absolutely nothing. Lost for a response, Benny nodded.
"Feel free to settle in as much as you'd like," he managed, expression bright. "I moved my clothes into the other closet and left hangers for you, so you can hang up whatever you need to."
It was Bad Cop's turn to nod, and when Benny pulled away from the doorway, he slid his bag from his shoulder and quietly closed the door. Shut out of his own room without any questions or thanks, Benny decided he should make some food.
-
Gamma Hydrae
Eating regularly was difficult to get used to again, he could tell. He wasn't an imbecile, as most people assumed because of his chipper nature--he knew better than to try and force heavy foods on Bad Cop from the start. He offered him small servings the first week, and felt a little encouraged when he tentatively began taking seconds.
Benny asked often if there was anything in specific he'd like to have. If Bad Cop was going to be made to eat, he should at least get to pick what it was.
There was a long string of days in which he wanted nothing but soup, and Benny knew better than to push him into an explanation. When one needed comfort, comfort foods were required.
Every morning he told himself that he'd could just deal with potato soup another day.
-
Almaaz
Bad Cop didn't speak much. His responses were always gruff and short, almost clipped, as if he didn't think he deserved to say anything at all.
Benny didn't mind--there was an unease between them that was easily explained, though neither was likely to want to talk about it. His friends had been hunted down like animals, and Bad Cop had been instructed to do the hunting. However long ago it was, Benny still winced when he thought of what had become of those friends.
Maybe Bad Cop did too. Maybe that was why he wouldn't speak.
The silence had to end, though, inevitably. Things were going slowly on the recovery field, and though he'd been super patient for a long while, Benny was getting a smidgen agitated as they approached a full month. It wasn't like Bad Cop was a messy person or anything--he was actually kind of scary clean, actually--but if Benny wanted creepy, ringing silence, he'd visit space.
And so he declared 'frig it!' and set up his record player once more. Pleased as music filtered through the speaker, he went about his daily routine.
When he floated into the living room, half-shouting, half-singing along, he found Bad Cop sitting on the couch with an odd expression. Having forgotten entirely about the other being there, Benny was smiling and sheepish as he settled into the floor. "Sorry," he managed, "I didn't mean to disturb you."
"No," Bad Cop murmured, "It's...it's fine, Ben." His voice was strangely soft, still lilting in that way of his, and Benny didn't push. If he was fine with the noise, he wouldn't refrain, and so he set about remembering what he was doing and sang all the way.
-
Sadalsuud
Benny didn't know about the nightmares. He'd been sleeping on peacefully in the next room over, assuming he would hearing Bad Cop would say or do and wake up.
He didn't discover until he'd had a nightmare of his own that Bad Cop was sleeping terribly. He stumbled into the living room half-asleep, trying to find his helmet. He couldn't breathe, couldn't breathe, needed his helmet, couldn't breathe--
He was actually gasping for it by the time he realized the light was on in the room, and the helmet was handed to him.
The room smelled like coffee, and he caught traces of smoke--oh, the window was open, the window was--the airlock wasn't engaged, it--
Benny slammed his helmet on, ran to the window, and locked it. He rushed to the other entrances, locking them systematically, before slumping on the couch. He could do this. He was safe without his helmet now.
And so he took it off, tucking it against his side and looking up at the ceiling.
It was many long, long moments before Benny murmured, "Thank you. For finding my helmet, I mean." It struck him then that it was near three in the morning, and he knew for a fact that Bad Cop was supposed to be patrolling later, as a test run.
"What are you doing up?" he asked, looking over at him as he settled in the couch.
"The same reason you are, I suppose." Benny frowned, but nodded.
"Is there anything I could do to help? I mean, I had no idea you were having... Are you alright?" It was said with such curiosity, such concern that Bad Cop had to let out a soft, huffing laugh.
"I'm serious!" Benny mumbled, and then added a bit more loudly, "Wake me up next time, alright? We'll figure out something that'll make it easier to sleep."
It took several moments, but Bad Cop nodded. An hour or so later they went to bed, silent save for mutual wishes for good dreams and restful sleep.
-
Alcyone
The next time Bad Cop had a nightmare, he did as he promised.
The day had been a long one--full of preparations and training for the trip to space Benny would be taking in a few months in addition to the rebuilding of the city. Benny had been grateful to come home and absolutely collapse on his bed, not even bothering to pull his blankets up and over his body. Regardless, his sleep was interrupted by a soft tap-tap-tapping on his door, and he dragged himself from the comfort of his blankets to answer the bedroom door.
Bad Cop looked like he'd been running for his life, breathing heavy and expression terrified. Knowing why he'd been roused from slumber, Benny managed to ask, "Would you be more comfortable talking this over in here or your room?" He'd long since stopped calling it his room--maybe Bad Cop had only been there for a little over a month, but he was welcome to stay as long as he wanted and wasn't allowed to leave until he could be trusted to take care of himself.
After mumbling that he'd be more comfortable in a more familiar room, Bad Cop lead Benny back into the other bedroom. At ease and still too half-drowsy to care, the astronaut climbed into the bed and looked to the ceiling, gesturing for Bad Cop to join him. A moment revealed that having the lamp on was too much light for what he was wanting to do, and Benny asked, "Is it okay if I turn out the light, or was your dream one that had a lot of darkness to it?"
Referring to it as a dream almost seemed to put Bad Cop at ease, and he shrugged a bit. Benny got up and turned the lights' slider down as low as it would go, as a happy medium, and laid back down on the bed.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not really."
"Would it help to talk about it?"
"...probably." The answer was grudging, Bad Cop's lilting voice bitter as could be, and Benny folded his hands over his own stomach.
"I'll tell you about my reoccurring nightmare in return, if you want." He didn't mind, now that he wasn't freaking out about it.
Still, in the dim light, Bad Cop seemed touched by the offer. "Thank you, Ben."
It took a little while, but Bad Cop set about detailing what had happened to him during Lord Business' takeover. His burgeoning building capabilities had been put to a halt, his family threatened. He was made to hunt people like himself, trained to be proud of it. With a bitter laugh, he noted how he'd been told he did badly often, and how the compliment, 'acceptable', they'd heard in the Think Tank was the first one he'd gotten in years.
"...I was hesitant in the beginning," Bad Cop mumbled, "I threw myself into it, though, because it meant keeping my family safe. In the end, though... I was questioning it again. Was I doing the right thing? Were you all really ruining our universe? I didn't understand how you could be--you were making it better, taking better chances than we were, honestly. I started slipping up. He started punishing Good and I again, it--it was awful. I tried to take the brunt of it, I did, but sometimes I...I couldn't do it. He'd take over and I'd pass out in our mind."
Benny nodded, moving his hand to gently squeeze Bad Cop's arm. "We'll have to get you proper training sometime," he told him quietly, "And I'm sorry all that happened to you. None of us...none of us knew. And I'm not going to tell, unless you want me to, but point is--I'll vouch for you."
Benny let the silence go on for a moment after that, staring up at the ceiling.
"...before the cryostasis," he murmured, "I was on a routine flight. No big deal--checking on some satellites, was all. One of them was broken, and we were supposed to fix it." He sighed, closing his eyes. "The debris hit the ship, busted it apart. Something hit my helmet, broke the bottom and cracked the visor. I was losing oxygen--I thought I was going to die. My vision was going, I couldn't breathe, it was..."
He paused, opening his eyes to give the glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling a fond look. "It was terrifying, and beautiful. The earth, big and blue and gorgeous below me--what a last sight, right?
"And then I looked at the wreckage. And I could see everything--I could see a hundred different ways to get out alive, I could see thousands of things I could make from the rubble. So I made a spaceship and went home. They rushed me to the hospital, and it wasn't too long after that that I found myself being trained to be a proper Master Builder. That's what my nightmares are about. What would've happened if I hadn't... awakened, I guess you would say. What would've happened if I didn't have anymore booster fuel? What if the wrong pieces had survived the crash?"
Neither of them spoke again after that. Benny thought to point out that he'd chosen these specific constellations for his ceiling because they were what he would've noticed behind the wreckage that saved him, but he thought maybe the silence was more comforting.
-
Merak
They came up with a routine. One would go to the other for nightmares, they'd lay under the glow-in-the-dark stars, they'd drink warm milk in the living room and watch infomercials, and they'd go to bed.
The routine was brought to a screeching halt when Benny couldn't get the crash out of his head one night. He quaked the whole time they looked at the stars. His hand trembled as he brought his glass to his lips. His shoulders slumped the further they walked down the hall.
Things had been easing up--they'd been getting comfortable with one another. Benny found that when he nudged into Bad Cop's space, neither of them froze up anymore. They reached across each other for things instead of asking each other to pass them. They didn't huff at the other's choices in music or tv or food anymore. Bad Cop was eating regularly and Benny had stopped constantly eating microwave meals. The time together had been good for both of them. Benny hadn't even realized how lonely he was before.
Taking comfort in those facts was what prompted Benny to ask, "May I stay in there with you?"
To say Bad Cop reacted strongly would be an understatement. He whirled to face Benny, brows raised over his bared eyes. His expression was clearly confused but not opposed, and he was silent for a moment, obviously trying to find words.
"It's okay if you don't want me to--I understand wanting some alone time--but..." But what? 'But even though tonight's nightmare was the same, I can't get it out of my head'? 'But I still feel like I'm only half-breathing, I still feel like I'll up and float away any second now'? 'But I'm pathetic and I need--'
"Sure thing, Ben," broke him from his thoughts, and his face must have shown precisely how vulnerable he felt because Bad Cop's expression was sympathetic and gentle. "Of course. There's enough room for both of us, you'll just have to get a pillow."
Relief washed over Benny, and he trudged into his room to grab his pillow. He didn't take his helmet off until they were both in Bad Cop's room--which he'd long since stopped thinking of as his own room, or even his old room--but once he did, it was set in it's old place in the nook under the bedside table. He was polite enough to wait until he was gestured toward the bed to crawl in, and Bad Cop turned out the lamp before getting in the other side.
He also broke the silence thirty minutes later, sighing, "Is there anything I can do for you, Ben? Anything at all? I'm almost a foot away from you and I can still feel his tense you are."
Almost ashamedly, Benny shuffled closer, reaching out to tangle his fingers into the cloth of Bad Cop's tank top. "I feel like I'm going to float away," he replied, voice soft as could be, "If...if you could just... Hold onto me like this and make me feel like if I did, I wouldn't get far... That would be nice."
He went a step further, moving so they were side by side and rolling into his side to throw an arm over his side. He managed a tired grumble that he his fingers would've relaxed once he fell asleep and that this was the way to go before trying to fall asleep again.
Benny didn't stay awake more than five minutes after that.
-
Naos
Benny hadn't been kidding about seeing to Bad Cop having proper building training. He just also hadn't expected Unikitty to tell him he was going to be the one to train him.
"You're ready," she'd assured him cheerfully, nuzzling against him. "Look how well you're doing! Sure, things float away sometimes, but you're doing so much to help rebuild the city! And you did really well when you were training."
He was still scared he'd mess up.
Regardless, he came home with armloads of books--various items and nicknacks, from flowers to buildings.
"Okay," he sighed as he set then down. "Do you feel up to going out, B? Because we can start your training, if you want to, and Emmet told me about an abandoned lot we can use."
From his place at the table, marking what seemed to be patrol routes on a map of the city, Bad Cop looked up, suddenly alert. "Really?" Unable to help but grin at his excitement, Benny nodded.
"We can wait a little while if you're busy, though--that looks pretty important."
Bad Cop shook his head, rolling up the map and putting a rubber band around it. "The patrols the Secret Police did covered a lot of ground in a short amount of time--I'm marking them down to suggest for the department." The astronaut nodded, and picked up the books once more.
"Princess Unikitty helped me move some blocks there--all different colors, so you can make what you want look like what you want it to." Benny didn't think he'd ever seen such a genuine, bright smile on Bad Cop's face.
He could definitely get used to it.
-
Mintaka
Benny was solidly impressed.
As all master builders tended to, Bad Cop generally stuck with a color scheme he knew--his creations were black and white with bits of red and blue. When Benny challenged him to use every color BUT those, his creations had clashing colors but worked excellently--the car most certainly ran, the radio worked, the tiny toy spaceship blasted off beautifully.
Try as he might, Benny couldn't deny he'd actually screeched upon seeing the last one, drawing a chuckle from the police officer.
He'd been so exited by his progress that he'd pulled out his uselessly complicated phone and tried to take a video. That had failed spectacularly, but once Bad Cop came over and pressed a few buttons after Benny whined about it, all ran smoothly. They simply began the video with Bad Cop walking toward the blocks from where he'd started the video and ended it with him walking back to Benny so they could bring the recording to a stop. It was sent off to Emmet quickly enough, and Benny cheerfully read his comments off as they took a break for a snack.
Bad Cop was the one who failed to hide his reaction then, smiling behind the rim of his coffee cup.
A few hours saw the finally-exhausted pair coming back to the apartment and collapsing on the couch, settling for Benny's stash of freeze-dried foods because both of them were too tired to make anything.
As soon as he could stand to stand, Benny put the toy spaceship on his bedside table so it would be the first thing he saw each morning. He wrote off the rush he felt when he brushed his fingers against it as the pride of a teacher with a successful student.
-
Girtab
Inevitably, the months they'd been spending training and building and growing more and more comfortable with each other lead up to Benny's next trip to space. With a sigh, he'd set about packing, bringing a few changes of clothes--he was going to be grungy and disgusting when he came back, he knew, because they couldn't wash clothes up there, but he'd be comfortable, darn it. Once his bag was filled with soft shirts and pajama pants, he lugged it to the door and set it beside it, going to sit on the couch.
There was a required sanitation period, a required break from the world, and he knew how badly he was going to worry the whole while.
"You know where the grocery money stash is, right?"
"I'm the one who got the groceries last week, Ben. Yes, I know where our grocery money stash is."
"You promise to eat regularly?"
"I swear."
"You don't need anything before I leave tomorrow morning?"
"I'm all set."
"Will you please water the plants?"
"Of course. The marigolds outside the window are blooming--it'd be a pity to see them wither now."
"You know you can message the others if you get lonely? I'll be able to send texts and all that up there, but it'll be pretty sporadic since I'm going back up there to put things back together."
"I know, Ben. I'm going to be fine, I promise."
With a heavy sigh, Benny flopped back against the back of the couch. He'd never been so concerned when leaving before--but he supposed he had a bit more to worry about this time than just asking his neighbor to water his plants.
It was going to be weird--to be scary--to be in space again, properly. What was Bad Cop going to do when he had nightmares? What was Benny going to do? Sure, the other astronauts would relate to his bad dreams more, but he'd grown used to tumbling out of bed, checking the airlocks, and waking the Irishman to calm down.
"Message me," he managed weakly, "when you have bad dreams. Keep sending me things until you get a reply or feel good enough to sleep again. I'll stay close by the computer when it's nighttime down here."
Bad Cop nodded, and he was silent until they padded off down the hall to get some sleep. "We'll get up early and get some breakfast before you have to be at the base," he mumbled, "I'll set my alarm and make sure you get up, too. Sleep well, Ben."
"You too, B."
The next morning before they left, Benny got a bone-crushing hug. Even as he climbed into the shuttle the next week, he didn't know if Bad Cop had chosen then for goodbyes because he hadn't wanted to tarnish his rough-and-tumble public front or because he'd wanted the moment to be a private one.
-
Bellatrix
"Blu!"
Benny startled awake, blinking sleepily at Red, who was grinning like a fox. "You've got a message. Actually, you have like, ten. Someone has spaceman fever something terrible."
That had him darting to the computer, utterly ignoring the obvious taunt Red was dishing out.
> Ben?
> I know it's only been a few days, but this one was...
> Rougher than usual.
> I don't think this memory was mine.
> I'll be alright, but I promised I'd message you.
> I had to wing the warm milk recipe a little, but this one is kind of nice too.
> I might've stubbed my toe when adding the vanilla.
> Alright, I might need to speak to someone about this.
- hey!
- red woke me up--i think you caught him in the middle of talking to yellow. do you think you're remembering things that happened to g?
> Oh. You'll have to tell him sorry for me.
> I think I might be, yes. I checked and some of the marks are there.
- gosh, b. i'm so sorry.
> It's not your fault, Ben.
> But thank you.
- thank YOU. i'm glad you messaged me!
- if i'd known how everything was going to pan out, i wouldn't have taken this offer up.
> No--you missed being out there, didn't you?
- well, yeah.
> I'll be alright. Don't apologize for doing something you love.
- how are you feeling?
> I'm breathing normally again. My heartbeat isn't skyrocketing anymore, either.
> I'm not quite calm yet, but I'm getting there.
- have you attempted the tried and true infomercial trick?
> I'm watching something about "magic sponge-like rags" as we speak.
- where did the good quality infomercials go, b?
- it's moments like this that make me miss billy mays.
> It's not fair to take my answer before I can type a reply.
- sorry! :)
- current emotion: white people in infomercials
> Ben, your constant emotion is white people in infomercials.
- that was one time!
> May I remind you whose creations float.
- shhhhh, young grasshopper. someday i'll teach you that trick, but not today.
"Wow, you're lit up like a Christmas tree. The way you hopped up earlier, I thought someone might've been on their deathbed." Again, Benny ignored Red, rolling his eyes a little.
"You might want to grab another computer--this might take a little while. It's not life-or-death, but it is pretty important, so is it okay if I keep talking to him?"
Later, Red would rag on Benny about 'his boyfriend' until they splashed into the ocean. Later, Benny would inform Red that the 'boyfriend' in question was Bad Cop, who most definitely did not have spaceman fever.
-
Castor
When Benny was on the ground again, Bad Cop didn't even wait to get home to hug him again. His grip was tight and warm and Benny was grinning as B hummed, "Welcome back, Ben."
It'd been a long time since he'd been greeted on the ground by anyone other than the ground control crew, and he didn't stop smiling even as they stopped for some real food on the way home.
The first thing he did when they got home was take a shower, scrubbing at his skin until he felt clean--the water went cold, but it was kind of nice. He scrubbed his teeth and emerged from the bathroom in ratty jeans and an old teeshirt, feeling like a new man.
"How were you when I was gone?" he asked, plopping down on the couch.
"You're asking as though we didn't text every day," Bad Cop chuckled, snagging up the remote.
"It's nice to hear it too!" Benny curled up against the arm of the couch, unable to help smiling.
-
Regulus
For two days, Bad Cop insisted he rest. He'd wake up, be coaxed into the couch and given whatever food Bad Cop had thought up for breakfast (which was never perfect, as breakfast wasn't B's strong suit, but he was touched by the thought), and pretty much be waited on hand and foot. It was weird, but kind of nice--instead of still working at half-steam for a month after the trip, he had his regular spring in his step by the second full day he was home.
Come day three, Benny was confused. He looked everywhere for Emmet--they had things to build, stuff to do! Surely in the few weeks he'd been gone, the work hadn't been all done?
Just when he was about to start asking Wyldstyle what was happening, he got a text.
> Hey!!! Would you mind stopping by? Ive got some plans we need to go over.
- sure thing! i was trying to get ahold of you, actually!
> Awesome timing huh?
- absolutely. where are you?
> Mine and lucys house!
- be there asap.
Well, that explained why Emmet hadn't taken Bad Cop in to begin with, certainly. He thought to tease him about it, but he'd leave well enough alone--sure, Emmet would get that Benny was kidding, but Wyldstyle...
She'd know, but it was better not to cause a fuss. She'd respond with exactly what Red had been throwing at him, and while he wasn't exactly offended by it, just the thought had his face red. Ahaha, like B would ever agree to that.
Shaking his head to clear it, Benny pushed his chair away from his desk and stood, calling, "I'm heading to Emmet's! Be back in a little while!" Silence greeted him, and his brows furrowed. Well, Bad Cop must've been out or something. He hadn't thought he'd had a patrol or anything, but maybe he was wrong.
Either way, he took public transport over to Emmet's house (and Wyldstyle's, he supposed), and with a spring in his step, he headed for the door. There was a note--'come on in, I'm pouring over the papers - E.'
Shrugging it off--it wouldn't be the first time Emmet had been so absorbed in his work that he just asked him to barge in--Benny did just that, just about jumping out of his skin as he turned the lights on and the room exploded. "Welcome home, Benny!"
It seemed as though every Master Builder they could squeeze in was there--and the other four astronauts he'd trained with. It seemed Bad Cop must've gotten the idea to keep him resting from Red, because he was there and beaming brightly with his arm slung around Yellow. "I... Thank you!" he managed once he realized they were all staring. "This is--this is incredible!" He certainly hadn't been expecting it, and warmth bloomed in his chest. Gosh, he had amazing friends.
Music started up, and he found himself pulled toward the kitchen by Emmet. "Here--it's your coming home party, you get to cut the cake."
"Cake?" Foods of all kinds lined the counters and the other half of the table was covered in empty paper dessert plates. He couldn't quite argue, and his smile was bright enough to power a small city when he saw the confection. Sky blue, like his suit, with yellow letters that said 'Here's to another successful flight!' The station's logo was done in painstakingly perfect piping, and he decided to cut the little red ship--at the corner, no less--out for himself. He tried his best to be quick and efficient, slicing rows and columns and scooting out of the way to let Emmet scoop them onto the plates with a spatula.
He didn't think he could be any happier, and then he saw Unikitty and Bad Cop over in a corner, having what appeared to be a comfortable, light conversation. He balanced two plates of cake in one hand and took one in the other before heading over, forks held between his fingers. The solo piece was slipped in front of Princess Unikitty, and he smiled as her expression brightened. He handed the piece without the ship to Bad Cop, offering both of them a fork before taking a bite of his piece.
"This is awesome!" he laughed over the music, "Who did this? I want to give a proper thank you!"
"That would be Unikitty," Bad Coo replied, gesturing to her and getting a scoff even as Benny set his plate to the side and wrapped his arms around her. "Please, it was your idea! Sure, I got everyone here, but you came up with it!" The spaceman's attention shifted, then, and he offered Bad Cop a blinding smile.
He saw a shift in the officer's expression--from exasperated (had he not wanted him to know?) to gentle--but it didn't really matter, because he grabbed him up and hugged him next regardless. He could've had the scariest expression he ever worn and Benny still would've done it. "Thank you both, then," he chirped as he pulled away, "How did you convince everyone to come?"
"We didn't have to convince anyone to do anything!" Unikitty replied, eyes bright, "That's the best part! No-fuss help with the decorations, the food, keeping Emmet from telling you--though, for the record, keeping you home to avoid the situation all together was one of the astronauts' plan and Bad Cop's doing! They wanted to make sure you felt up to it. You're always so tired when you come back down, we weren't sure about it happening so quickly."
His heart all but ached with affection for everyone--he had so many people to thank and to hug and to make it up to--but all he could do was smile and nod and finish his cake.
He made it a mission to talk to everyone before the party was over, and managed it. It wore him out, but it was worth it. By the time everything was cleaned up and everyone had left, he was asleep in a living room chair.
Bad Cop carried Benny out of the house and into his squad car without waking him, heading for home.
-
Mimosa
Things slotted back together quickly. Bad Cop got him to take one more full day of rest after the party, promising the work would still be there the next day, and Benny was ready to take on the world--but all the tasks he needed to do would work. He helped Emmet plan out more of the city, plotting out schools--actual schools, legal schools--for future Master Builders to train in, with lots of room for building around them.
He and Bad Cop fell back into their familiar routines, and Benny was glad to have discussions over dinner face to face instead of over text, munching with one hand and replying with the other. They watched reruns of shows from before Lord Business' takeover before going to sleep each night, sometimes crashing right there in the couch together without meaning to. Many a morning, he'd gotten up to find a blanket over his shoulders and a note on the coffee table which read the usual morning debriefing Bad Cop gave him--Benny's plans were fairly concrete, despite his increasingly erratic schedule, but Bad Cop's could change in a few hours. They'd gotten to the point that keeping each other in the know was just the thing to do, right or wrong or normal or strange, it didn't matter.
Nightmares were becoming more frequent for Bad Cop, and most nights, Benny wound up laying beside him just for comfort, squeezing his shoulder and patting his head and on occasion, gripping him tight. It seemed the logical thing to do just to stay in there with him, at that point, and so they began what Benny referred to as the incredibly long string of sleepovers. All it did was add moving from his room to B's once he'd brushed his teeth and put on pajamas, honestly--the nightmares didn't lessen, but they didn't increase, either.
Perhaps this was why Benny hadn't noticed a shift in things until it was too late to do anything about it. He had unconsciously started pushing his boundaries--sitting right next to Bad Cop on the couch, snagging his hand when he was leading him somewhere, curling up close when they went to sleep. The thing that set off alarm bells, though, was that he'd almost given in to the urge to kiss him, once.
The situation was normal enough--they were on the couch, sprawled all over each other mostly because of Benny's proximity, and he'd found himself leaning in when Bad cop offered him a smile. He'd managed to catch himself before he could do any more than shift a little, but his face had been red for the rest of the movie they were watching.
Oh, it was awful. It was the worst thing that could happen--Bad Cop was only his friend, and he was well again and taking care of himself, and soon he was going to want to move out and be on his ownagain.
Bad Cop hadn't even mentioned it, though. He'd started referring to the apartment as home, calling his own apartment 'the old place'--which he only dropped by once a week, to grab his mail. He had his own little hook by the door for his keys, his own place for his shoes. He'd long stopped living out of his suitcase, utilizing the closet for nicer things and using the drawers for teeshirts and jeans.
Benny sat at the table contemplating all this, but when Bad Cop rested a gentle, callused hand over his and asked if he was alright, he let it go.
-
Pollux
It took a while for Benny to realize he wasn't the only one reaching out.
Instead of asking him to move, Bad Cop would grab him by the shoulders or waist and nudge him aside, whether it was so he could get somewhere or someone else could. On the rare occasions they went out using public transportation, Bad Cop wound an arm around his waist if they were made to stand and hold onto the rails, as though anticipating a fall. He slung his arm around Benny's neck when pointing things out, drawing him close so he could see whatever it was from his point of view. On the nights Benny was the one with a nightmare, he squeezed him tight as they drifted off, and on particularly terrible occasions, he'd press his lips to his forehead.
It wasn't much, but it was enough for hope, and hope was enough for Benny.
-
Antares
Benny was impressed with the master builders, honestly.
He hadn't really paid attention at the party--preoccupied with making sure Bad Cop didn't look too terrified--but they were accepting him into their circle. He'd been asked to help rebuild part of the city--and once he'd asked for an extra day off per week, he'd started in on it.
Sometimes Benny heard them offering him little tidbits of advice, little mind tricks that they'd all had to halfway figure out by themselves, and it brightened his day to have B ask about them on the drive home.
-
Vega
Three days before his next base lockdown period, Bad Cop kissed him. After their warm milk and treasured infomercial destruction routine, he'd pulled his arm from around Benny's shoulders and stood, offering him a hand and padding toward the hallway. They stopped to scrub their teeth, and Benny was so tired he thought he'd fall over--but Bad Cop put his arm around him again, waiting for him to finish up before gently steering him toward their now very much shared room.
They pulled apart so Benny could slip under the covers, but before he could even turn them back, Bad Cop gently grabbed his arm. Benny turned to face him, expression curious, and Bad Cop leaned in, pausing for a moment to search Benny's face. Finding no disgust or cause for alarm, he pressed their lips together softly, but so quickly that it was almost as though he couldn't help himself.
Benny raised his hands to cup his cheeks, kissing back just as carefully. Half-asleep he might've been, but the kiss was still wonderful, still brought a relief that their silent affections couldn't quite.
He wasn't alone in wanting this.
A several minutes (and as many kisses) later, they fell asleep with Bad Cop's face pressed to Benny's neck, one of Benny's hands buried in Bad Cop's dark hair. Neither of them had any more nightmares that night.
-
Sirius
Nights saw them curling close together purposefully from that point on, halfway taking turns at being the big spoon and halfway just wrapping their arms around each other and smiling tiredly at one another until sleep overcame them. They'd speak to each other in soft tones, Benny all but curling up in the warm lilt of Bad Cop's voice. Their discussions varied as their daily tasks did--sometimes, Benny brought home tales of his and Red's banter; sometimes, Bad Cop brought home the shenanigans of the reforming police department.
Their fingers were laced all the while no matter who was where, and though Benny knew they were still in the midst of their fawning stage--"honeymoon stage", as Wyldstyle described it--he still wished that this, at least, would never change.
The trip here had been a bit lengthy, but Benny was to content with the final destination to care.