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Kenji and the girls returned not too long after Ben and Darius caught Mae up to speed. The good doctor assured them she’ll get the group home, but Darius, once again, speaks for everyone. He says they’ll all help her understand Mantah Corp.’s intentions with the Dinosaurs, much to everyone’s non-vocal reluctance. Yaz in particular seemed dismayed when Darius volunteered them to help more, but no one said anything against the plan.
Sammy speaks up, insisting she and Yaz head back to rest. That leaves the other four to help Mae with what needs doing. A glance at Kenji tells Ben that the other is not doing well, either. His eyes are clouded over and he’s been swaying the entire time Mae and Darius were speaking.
“Okay, so, me and Ben will help Mae with Pierce. Brooklynn and Kenji can–”
“If it’s not too much trouble,” Ben interrupts. “I’ll go with Brooklynn to check on the T-Rex’s food. Are you okay to help Mae alone, Darius?”
“Sure..? What about Ken–”
“He’s sick, and he needs rest.” Ben insists.
“What? I’m fine.” As if the universe was helping Ben make his point, Kenji lets out three sneezes, each louder than the last. “Fine. Sounds good.” The taller teen relents.
“He’ll be coming with us then.” Sammy chirps, Yaz still looking dazed next to her.
“All right! Let’s get to it!” Mae says enthusiastically.
No one else matches her energy, but they all shuffle on anyway.
---
If he didn’t think someone would have made a stink about it, he’d have gone with Darius to help Mae instead. The thought of leaving Brooklynn alone -and potentially running into hungry dinosaurs or wandering BRADs- didn’t sit well with Ben, but neither does working alone with the girl for who knows how long.
Once again, he feels silly.
He genuinely likes Brooklynn. He considers her a friend, like he does everyone else in their group. The fact that he feels uncomfortable around her because of imagined scenarios he dare not even elaborate on makes him feel like he’s being petty.
His earlier conversation with Darius pops into his head.
“I think she’s decided to be around Kenji more, for whatever reason.”
Would asking what her deal is be rude? Probably. Does he want to do it anyway? Absolutely.
Does he actually do it? No chance.
What? Ben doesn’t need to compound his dinosaur related problems with his (supposed) relationship problems, thank you.
Besides, the quicker they finish, the quicker he can return to Kenji. He wasn’t doing too well when they parted, and Ben wants to check in on the taller teen.
It makes for an awkward time, however, as he and Brooklynn work in almost silence.
Then one of the Rexes shows up. The pair hide behind a tree, trying their best to remain silent. Ben is glad they finished removing everything Mantah Corp added to the food before it showed up, otherwise their time was just wasted. Now if they could just avoid becoming food themselves…
Brooklynn, quick on her feet, grabs a nearby rock and chucks it far away. At first, the Rex just looks up, staying in place. It twists its head to face them, the two ducking behind the tree hopefully in time. Thunderous footsteps approach, and Ben swears he can hear his heart beating in his ears. Spurred by desperation, he throws his own rock in the same, general direction Brooklynn did. Relief washes over them when they hear the receding footsteps of the Rex moving on. They watch in silence for a good minute, then Brooklynn grins at him and bumps his shoulder. Ben finds he has a hard time not smiling back at her. She gestures for them to get up and he follows her.
As they walk to the desert biome to meet up with Mae and Darius, Ben thinks back to all the times he and Brooklynn have actually done anything together… which doesn’t amount to a lot. He shakes his head. They should team up together more often. That would mean they’d need to be in precarious situations, but he’s confident they’d be able to handle it.
It also makes him feel like a jerk, thinking she’s been intruding on him and Kenji. She’s a great person and fun to be around. Of course Kenji hangs around her.
Kenji is also great to be around. He’s thoughtful and loyal and genuine. Even when he’s being overbearing or annoying, one can’t help but be drawn to him. He can’t blame Brooklynn for wanting to hang around him.
Kenji…
The burden on his heart lessens, but he’d be lying if he said it disappeared entirely.
Sighing, Ben resigns himself to thinking about all this later. He just really wants to see Kenji.
---
Ben notes the way Brooklynn and Darius comfortably chat as they walk ahead of him, and stores the image away for when Darius wants to talk about their relationship. Or, whatever they have going on, that is.
When they finally reach Mae’s hideout, the first thing he sees is Kenji. Kenji, who is sprawled out on the sofa, legs thrown every which way. His hair, normally coiffed to perfection, down and messy. Ben surmises he washed up before plopping onto the couch, falling asleep while waiting for them to return.
It’s adorable.
“Oh, poor thing. I’ll go fetch a blanket.” Mae says sweetly.
Ben saunters over to the sitting area, careful not to make too much noise. He takes a seat in one of the lounge chairs and just watches the other. The soft snoring coming from Kenji is soothing, the rise and fall of his chest hypnotic. He doesn’t know how much time passes, but whatever trance he’s in, counting how many breaths the other takes, is broken by Mae’s return.
“You gonna stay here with him, Ben?”
“Yeah.”
“Thought so. Grabbed one for you, too.” She hands Ben the blankets, both of them warm. She must have put it in a dryer before bringing it out.
“Thanks, Doctor Turner.” He says appreciatively.
"Please, call me Mae. Oh! By the way, I ran into Sammy who said she found my cold medicine and gave some to Kenji. If he wakes up and is a little... out of it, that's why."
"Alright. Thanks again Doc-- Mae. Thanks, Mae."
Mae simply smiles before going to the kitchen.
As she enters said kitchen, Darius and Brooklynn exit, sandwiches in hand.
“Made one for you too, Ben.” Brooklynn hands him a sandwich, which he takes reluctantly. He remembers the ones Mae made for them earlier and not thinking much of it. Still, an afternoon of running around makes one hungry, and he doubts Mae has any berries or grubs.
“Thank you.” He takes an experimental bite, the thing as dry and bland as he thought it would be. The other two are eating and chatting away softly as they sit across from him, so he focuses on that instead of his dinner. He takes another bite. Eugh… It's so bad.
Once again, he wonders if offending Brooklynn would be worth it. He’d hate to waste any food, but this thing is almost inedible.
Soft giggling catches his attention, the source of which is the two youngest in their group, talking in hushed tones. He smiles as he watches them, remembering the first time he saw them huddled on a couch, looking comfy. It was before the Indominous broke out and the beginning of their misfortunes. Gosh, that all seems a lifetime ago by now.
Brooklynn whispers something to Darius, the boy blushing and holding back a laugh. He whispers something back, the girl smiling from ear to ear.
Why was I ever worried? A thought that passes through Ben’s mind.
Kenji stirs, mumbling something as he turns and tries to get comfortable again. Ben is up in a second, placing the still warm blanket over the taller teen, then crouches next to him.
“Hey, Kenj. You okay?”
“Babe?”
Ben almost gets whiplash from the way he looks around to see if anyone else heard Kenji say that. Hopefully, Kenji wasn’t all that loud, but it being Kenji, that's likely a pipedream. Ben told Darius but not Brooklynn about them and he’d like to keep it that way.
“Yep. It’s me. Ben.” He says his name insistently, though in his current state, he doubts Kenji picks up what he’s getting at.
“Oh. Hey, Babe.” The other says again, making Ben flush. The way that stupid nickname has both endorphins and norepinephrine pulsing through him is dizzying. Despite it being pretty cold in here, he's sweating bullets. He glances over his shoulder to where the other two are, but to his surprise, finds they aren’t there anymore. Ben looks around and sees Darius peeking out from where the sleeping area is, giving Ben a knowing smile, before ducking behind out of sight.
Thank goodness for Darius.
Kenji mumbles again, drawing Ben’s attention completely. The taller teen is very much still half asleep, but has since maneuvered himself into a sitting position. The blanket hangs off one of his shoulders, his hair now flat on the side he was lying on. Ben smiles fondly at the other, thinking he looks rather cute.
“When’d you get back?” Kenji drawls.
“Not too long ago. The sun hasn't even set yet.”
“Huh.” Is all the other replies. Kenji stares at him, eyes half-lidded. They haven’t broken eye contact yet. For a brief moment, Ben thought Kenji was going to lean over and plant one on him, right in the middle of the den. As it is, he's leaning towards the other in anticipation. A loud gurgling sound interrupts whatever might have happened, and Ben can’t help but laugh at perfectly timed and exaggeratedly loud interruption.
“Bet you’re hungry.” Ben states, Kenji slowly nodding, a sheepish smile on his lips. “Well, I’d offer you my sandwich but it’s kind of… bad.”
Kenji grimaces, but suddenly his eyebrows raise and he smiles at Ben, with a single word leaves his mouth.
“Soup.”
“Soup?”
“Is there soup?”
“Oh. Uh… no idea. I can check.” At that, Kenji just hums, then shifts in his seat to get more comfortable.
Ben moves into the kitchen to see what he can do about the special request. He's surprised to find Mae is gone, which works out for him since he won't have to explain why he's rifling through her kitchen. There’s a few cupboards in here, but not a can of soup in sight. He looks in the fridge, scouring it for something that isn’t things to make sandwiches with. Ben finds some veggies and half a carton of chicken stock and figures he can make something out of it.
After half an hour and a close call with the gas stove, Ben emerges from the kitchen with what he hopes resembles some kind of soup. It’s edible at least, he can confirm. Ben takes a seat next to the taller teen, tray of soup on his lap. Kenji is still in the exact pose he left him in. The dip in the couch awakens Kenji from his quick nap. The dopey smile Kenji gives him is enough to finally do Ben in, but he perseveres long enough to serve the other his dinner.
“Got your ‘soup’ here.” Ben cringes, afraid the thing will likely be bad.
“Thanks, babe.” Kenji replies, Ben’s emphasis on the word ‘soup’ going over his head. Kenji motions to get out from underneath the blanket, but Ben is quick to stop him.
“Just stay still. I’ll feed you.” He shows off a spoon to the other.
“M’not a baby.” Kenji pouts, and damn it Ben might have just died. RIP him. Ben decides he just needs to ignore the other, and scoops a spoonful of his culinary creation. He blows on it a few times before bringing it to Kenji’s lips, to which the other takes gratefully
“You’re my baby. I wanna take care of you.” Ben mumbles absentmindedly as Kenji loudly slurps down his offering.
He stops, spoon of ‘soup’ in hand, realizing what just came out of his mouth. Glancing up, Ben sees no sign that Kenji heard that, or at the very least, thinking nothing significant of it. Even so, Ben is sure his own ears are bright red from the sudden wave of embarrassment.
Kenji opens his mouth wide, prompting Ben to give him another spoonful. The taller teen sighs through his nose in content as Ben feeds him. Kenji ends up eating all of it, though he pointedly spat out whatever carrots Ben had thrown in. Still, a win in Ben’s book. He puts the bowl away in the kitchen and returns to his seat beside Kenji, but not before grabbing the second blanket Mae brought and wraps it around his shoulders. He brings a hand up to Kenji’s forehead, his other hand on his own under his headband, and checks the other’s temperature. It’s a little warm, but not so much that it concerns him. Content the other is alright for now, Ben settles in.
Comfortable silence is something Ben finds he can have with Kenji. There’s no need to fill the air with conversation, no awkward feeling if they say nothing for a while. Minutes pass and he almost drifts to sleep, but the sound of Kenji's voice keeps him awake.
“Wish Mae had a TV or something. Haven’t watched TV in forever.” Kenji muses tiredly.
“Hmm. She has a tablet and a computer, but I’m pretty sure they’re just for her work.”
“What does she do for fun around here?”
The coherency of his speech leads Ben to believe the medicine is working and Kenji is starting to feel better. Smiling, Ben answers the other.
“Pretty sure she’s like Darius. Her work with dinosaurs is fun for her.”
“Pfft. Yeah, corn in a pod, those two.” Kenji chuckles, Ben joining him- though mostly at the incorrect turn of phrase.
The silence is back, and Ben decides this would be the perfect time to have that talk with Kenji he’s been putting off. The taller teen was a little out of it earlier-not to mention they had company-, but now that he had some rest and food, he’s at least cognizant enough to have a regular conversation with.
‘Old Ben’ rears his ugly head and anxiety takes hold of him. Things are good right now, and you have confidence that Kenji and Brooklynn are just friends. Why spoil a good thing?
‘New Ben’ is suddenly in charge, determination replacing anxiety. Get it over with already. He already knows something is up. Might as well spill your guts.
Ben- just Ben- decides that maybe tackling it head on or running away from it might both be bad right now. But what does that leave him with?
“Ben?” Kenji’s voice pierces through his thoughts. “You okay? Your face is sort of… in pain?”
“I wanna tell you something.” Ben blurts out, the words leaving his mouth faster than his brain can process. This seems to be a problem today.
“Oh. Okay. Uh, is it about what’s been up with you?” Kenji guesses, his speech slow and deliberate.
Directly telling Kenji about his troubles doesn’t seem wise while he’s still sick, but neither does ignoring the issue since said boyfriend is insistent on figuring out what’s up with him.
So Ben decides he's going to 'talk' about this in the most roundabout way possible, without revealing too much. Whether or not it works has yet to be seen.
“I just wanted to say…” Ben hesitates. Kenji scoots himself a little closer, his face leaning forward in curiosity.
“I’m listening.”
“I really like you.”
Kenji just blinks at him.
“Oh. I really like you, too?” Kenji says, confusion plain on his face- and so too is a faint blush on his cheeks. Ben is sure his own resembles the taller teen’s, but thankfully, his perpetually red cheeks make it difficult to tell.
“I know we told each other before, but I don’t think I’ve said it since. I just… really wanted to let you know again.” Ben squeaks out. While it may feel like a copout, and maybe intended as a bit of a distraction, Ben's words are genuine. Since he was young, he’s had difficulty expressing his emotions to others. He was too never shy to say what he was thinking, but expressions like, ‘I like you’ or 'you mean a lot to me' didn’t come easy to him.
“I think your exact words were, ‘I love you, Kenji Kon.’” Kenji smiles down at him, mischief in his eyes. If Ben wasn’t already blushing, that would have definitely done it. He turns away from the other, avoiding eyecontact lest he literally burst into flames from the glazed over look Kenji is giving him.
“And I love you, Ben.” Kenji sighs sweetly, wrapping an arm around Ben's midsection. The rough, gravelly tone in his voice from coughing and sneezing for the past day has an alluring effect on Ben. He’s heard his confession before, but hearing it again, with Kenji's voice the way it currently is, makes Ben think he's died and gone to heaven.
Ben feels it's a little ridiculous that he and Kenji have already used the 'L' words, considering they haven't been dating for that long. Still, after months of pining (though Ben has been longer than Kenji), and considering how often their lives are in mortal peril, he can forgive himself of 'leaping into this' so quickly.
Right now, he really wants to kiss his boyfriend, lingering cold be damned.
In an instant, Ben’s face is near Kenji’s, the other looking startled by the sudden move.
“Um... I don’t think we should kiss right now, babe.” Kenji tells him, a hint of hesitation and disappointment in his voice. Ben pauses. He'll admit- he briefly thought it was Kenji just didn't want to kiss him, his insecurities making a comeback. When rationality kicked in, he figures that Kenji only stopped him because he's sick and doesn't want to risk Ben catching his cold. The thoughtfulness is touching, really.
New Ben seems to win out in the end, though. While he absolutely loves how his boyfriend is normally, Ben has Kenji here with his hair disheveled and voice rough and physically very warm. Despite his ability to remain cool under pressure, he's still a warm blooded teenage boy. He just can’t contain himself anymore.
“I’ll risk it.” He whispers before finally connecting their lips.
Kenji muffles a protest against Ben's lips for all of a second before he’s leaning into the kiss himself. They've only shared a few kisses since getting together- understandable, considering how much crap has gone on in such a short amount of time, but each and every one has been special. This one, lazy and comfortable, is probably his favorite. Then again, he might just think that every time they share a kiss.
Ben's insecurities are not dispelled, nor is his fear that all this has an expiration date that is fast approaching. But at that moment, even with Kenji still under the weather, the pair of them sharing a moment on a couch in a cave, Ben wouldn't change a thing. He hopes Kenji feels the amount of affection and desire that Ben has for him through the kiss, since he can clearly feel the reverse. And damn it, it isn't fair how good the other is at kissing.
When Ben pulls away, he and Kenji’s eyes meet, and Kenji lazily finds his lips once more. It goes it for a while, their tempo slowing down as time goes on.
It isn't too long before a soft snore sounds from Kenji, the taller teen all tuckered out again after making out with him, and Ben can't help but smile.
---
When Ben lets out a sneeze the next morning, Darius gives him a look that makes Ben turn away in embarrassment. Kenji is no better, looking at him with a look of superiority, an ‘I told you so’ hanging between them despite no words being exchanged. Yaz and Sammy are still asleep in Mae’s bed when the other four and Mae leave to check on some things, everyone quite content to leave them be.
Mae asks Brooklynn and Kenji to check on the Rexes' food again, while she, Ben and Darius go see how Pierce is doing.
He sees Kenji laughing with Brooklynn as they head off, and for the first time in days, the sight doesn't make his chest ache.
Things are going to be okay from now on.
