Work Text:
It was rare that it was just the two of them. Usually it was hard to get away . There were only so many places the Losers felt safe enough to hide, odds were that you’d find at least one other person there.
But somehow, not today.
Because today it was just Ben and Bev, reclining in the late summer sun, the familiar stink of the quarry clogging up their noses. Ben leaned back against a tree, watching Bev as she doodled on one of her wrists, dappled in the sunlight that breached through the foliage above. She stuck her tongue out when she was concentrating. It was cute.
“What do you think?” Bev asked some time later, thrusting her wrist out in Ben’s direction from where she laid on the ground.
He took the offered appendage gingerly, helping hold it up so her arm wouldn’t get tired. He twisted his head to look at her finished product: a wolf on a little howling up at a full moon, sketched out all small to fit on her wrist the way she wanted.
“That’s really good!” He said, shooting her a grin that he hoped was more genuine than nervous. “I really like it.”
Bev smiled at him and took her wrist back holding it above her head to examine her handiwork. “It is pretty good, isn’t it? I think I’ll get it tattooed when I’m old enough.”
Then, she shot him a more sly grin. Pulling herself up into a sitting position, Bev shuffled back until she was leaned up against the tree with Ben, the two of them pressed together from shoulder to hip. She thrust her pen into his hand and held her clean wrist out to him.
“Your turn,” she said.
“What?”
She rolled her eyes with a smile, pushing her unmarked wrist into his other hand. “Draw me a tattoo, New Kid. Come on.”
“O-oh. I dunno, Bev. I mean, isn’t Bill really the other artist here?”
She nudged his shoulder. “Come on , Ben. You wanna be an architect, don’t you? Maybe I’m looking for something a bit more geometric for this next one.”
Ben worried at his lip. “Are you sure ?”
“Positive, dummy.”
He took a few moments to think, and then Ben brought the pen down on her skin as delicately as he could, starting to sketch out a shape. Bev hummed as he worked, and slowly, her fingers started to curl up into a loose fist. Then, at a particularly light stroke, Bev gasped and jerked her wrist in his grasp. Ben immediately let go, pulling the pen away as fast as possible.
“Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”
“I’m fine, Ben.” Bev huffed, shaking her head with a small smile. “It just tickled a little, that’s all.”
“Oh. Sorry.” He scratched the back of his head. “I can stop, if you want?”
Bev laughed. “How am I supposed to get the tattoo if you don’t finish it?”
“Are- are you sure?”
Bev offered up her wrist once more, an easy smile on her face. As he reached for it, she pulled it back for a moment.
“Just… not a word to the others, alright?”
Ben smiled, drawing an X over his heart with a fingertip. Bev’s smile grew into a grin as she gave him her wrist, and that grin lasted all throughout the rest of his sketching.
In fact, he was even lucky enough to catch a few giggles when he was drawing in the right places, Bev squirming next to him while trying to keep her arm still. Ben made sure to work extra slowly in those spots. You know, so he wouldn’t mess up. It had nothing to do with wanting to hear her laugh as much as possible.
Ben would draw her a thousand tattoos if it meant he got to hear it just a little longer.