Chapter Text
Benrey let out a frustrated sigh as they lounged on the couch. They were lying comfortably on their back, using Tommy’s thighs as a pillow. Benrey had pretty much moved in with the man after the events of Black Mesa. Tommy had been the only member of the Science Team to welcome Benrey back from the dead after they’d clawed their way to the land of the living.
The other’s lack of acceptance was probably due to the fact that it was the Science Team that had killed them in the first place, but they were never one to theorize.
Anyways, they weren’t worried about that type of inconsequential nonsense. Their thoughts were consumed by one thing and one thing only: Gordon Freeman.
“I just don’t know how to get him to like me,” Benrey complained, picking at the shirt they’d borrowed from Tommy with sharp claws. Tommy was listening sympathetically, nodding his head at all of the right places. Benrey pulled their beanie down over their face. They were glad Tommy had encouraged them to seek out more comfortable things to use to hide the antennae on their head, since the beanie also had additional uses, like food storage and face hiding.
It was hopeless! Benrey didn’t know how to interact with humans! They had too many complicated social rules for them to understand. None of their instinctual habits worked on Gordon (it turned out singing and dancing at a human was just a good way to throw them out of their house because “It’s 3AM holy fucking shit. How do you know where I live? I thought we killed you!”).
“You could--... should um… try using the internet. They have the answers to everything on there!” Tommy said encouragingly, patting Benrey on the stomach as he pulled Benrey out of their thoughts. “I’m pretty positive that he-- you and him could make things work. Humans are confusing, I can’t really… I don’t have enough experience to help you myself.” He sounded genuinely apologetic about that, as if it were his fault humans were so damn complicated.
Benrey frowned, pulling their beanie back and uncovering their eyes. As they sat up, they chewed on their lower lip with their sharp fangs. That was a good idea, and it could finally give them the edge they needed to finally win Gordon’s affections! It was probably cheating, like using a walkthrough to beat a video game, but it was all worth it to get their ideal waifu .
They grabbed their phone off of the table where it was resting nearby and settled back down on the couch next to Tommy, sitting up next to him this time. They opened the browser and searched ‘how to get a guy to like me walkthrough’. They looked over the results before clicking the one that looked most trustworthy.
“How to Get a Guy to Like You (With Pictures)- wikiHow.”
They quickly skimmed the steps, a small, hopeful grin spreading across their face. This should work! They showed Tommy their results, and he responded with matched enthusiasm, patting them on the head encouragingly. They could do this! They went back to step one, deciding they’d start from there and slowly start to apply what they’d learned to their interactions with Gordon.
Finally, they had a chance.
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“ Be confident . You've got to show this person how awesome you are, but first you need to know how awesome you are. Build up your self confidence if it's sorely lacking. Now, this doesn't mean you have to be loud, boisterous, arrogant, chatty, or forward. It just means getting to a place where you feel comfortable in your own skin.
-You can be secure , sweet and humble all at the same time. But be prepared to come out of your shell. Guys like confident, interesting girls who lead their own lives.
-The only guys who like insecure girls are the ones who are insecure themselves and want to dominate another human being. And who wants to be with a guy who wants a girl to feel bad about herself or who wants to tell you how to be all the time? That's not healthy, and you deserve much better.”
Easy.
They’d shown up at Gordon’s house unannounced several times, so Gordon looked less surprised and more resigned to his fate when he opened the door and saw that it was Benrey. They were dressed fashionably in an oversized Coca-Cola shirt and a pair of cute pink shorts, both of which had been bought by Tommy but ended up in their own wardrobe.
“What are you doing here?” Gordon asked suspiciously, shutting the door most of the way as if that would prevent Benrey from getting in. Benrey didn’t even bother answering his question. With minimal effort, they pushed the door open, knocking Gordon back as they entered the apartment.
They strutted into the living room as if they owned the place and saw where Gordon had been watching television. They plopped down onto Gordon’s soft couch, trying to look as confident as possible Gordon followed after them, loudly complaining about their presence the entire time.
“Benrey! You can’t just fucking- ugh,” Gordon wisely gave up, knowing that trying to fight Benrey was a losing batte. He sat on the couch, as far away from them as possible, seemingly resigned to his fate. Benrey couldn’t hold back their excitement. It was working! Watching shitty reality shows was something actual couples did, from what Benrey had gathered. This was definitely a step in the right direction. Gordon hardly even seemed scared of them!
Benrey remembered the rest of what the WikiHow article had told them. Feel comfortable in their own skin.
They had gotten tired of their mostly-human facade anyways, so they gently eased off of trying so hard to keep that form stable. They grew bigger, limbs twisting in inhuman ways as they had to bend over in order to not crush their head on the ceiling. They let out a sigh of relief over the sound of Gordon screaming.
“What?” Benrey asked, blinking one of their dozens of eyes. They hadn’t even grown as much as they could, or even completely slipped into their true form! This was most like unbuttoning their pants and shirt than completely removing them. Gordon was freaking out for no reason. He’d seen them much bigger than this before!
As it was, though, Gordon had scrambled off of the couch in terror, hyperventilating. That wasn’t what they’d wanted at all! Gordon was supposed to appreciate their confidence and comfort, not be scared of their immense size and strength.
“Bro. Calm down,” Benrey complained, twisting so that they were facing Gordon completely. They let out a stream of soft blue Sweet Voice, and the moment it made contact with the human the terror was forced out of him and soothed by the cool lights. Benrey was glad they had the ability to force humans to calm, since Gordon seemed to have problems with keeping his cool around them (and not in the way that they had trouble keeping their cool around him, unfortunately).
Gordon was still shaking and huddled, but he wasn’t on the verge of passing out or crying anymore. What a pissbaby. Benrey forced themselves back to looking a little more human, their body protesting being forced even a slight bit back into its flimsy semi-mortal facade. They wouldn’t become any more inhuman in front of him, then.
“W-What are you doing?” Gordon choked out, shuddering as his body attempted to recover from the sudden rush of adrenaline dissipating so abruptly. He always seemed to struggle with processing Benrey’s sweet voice at times like this. As if the human body wasn’t meant to have all its natural fear and panic responses suppressed. Weird.
“Was just getting comfortable, man,” Benrey complained. This wasn’t what the article promised would happen at all. It had said dudes liked when you were comfortable in your own skin. Cautiously, Gordon returned to the couch, though he was still clearly shaken and scared. It wasn’t like Benrey had threatened him or anything!
“You’re not gonna fucking eat me or anything, are you?” Gordon asked, eyeing Benrey’s twisting, sharp limbs with caution. Benrey snorted, shaking their head as they tucked their arms and legs closer to themselves, trying to keep mostly still since their shuddering limbs seemed to be freaking him out more than intended. Benrey would never understand humans.
“I just came over to watch T.V. with my homie, bro,” Benrey said, trying to focus on the screen and not on the way Gordon’s wavy hair looked very pretty when it wasn’t tied back in a ponytail, even as messy as it was. They wondered how soft it would be. They’d have plenty of time to find out in the future, after they and Gordon had gotten together.
Gordon was slowly relaxing. Benrey felt a swell of giddy joy, and they let out a stream of highlighter yellow to cobalt blue (which means “I’m happy to be here with you.” Benrey was glad nobody was around to translate that gay shit). Gordon glanced over at the noise, but for once didn’t comment. It was a bit strange, but soon enough it turned into a comfortable type of silence. It was nice.
Benrey considered this a success.