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Ben stands in the hall of his apartment, staring at Kevin who sits on his couch watching a movie. Ben wanders further into the living room and leans over the TV to see what movie is playing. It’s an older Sumo Slammers movie that Ben was rewatching the night before. Ben looks up to Kevin with a brow raised. Kevin is curled up with one of Ben’s fluffy blankets and the giant dog plushie that Gwen got for Ben when they were kids. Kevin is using the plushie as a pillow as he leans onto the arm of the sofa. Kevin waves, as if he didn’t probably break into Ben’s apartment.
Ben sighs and goes around the TV set up to sit next to Kevin on the couch. He tugs some of the blanket off of Kevin and onto himself. Kevin sits up and enters a little bit too much of Ben’s space, but Ben doesn’t move.
“Nice hoodie,” Kevin mutters, voice thick and tired.
Ben looks down to his oversized hoodie, “Thanks,” he chooses to stare at the movie and not at Kevin as he continues, “It’s yours.”
Kevin snorts, “No shit, Tennyson. I know what my hoodies look like.”
Ben shrugs and burrows further into the blanket, bringing it up to his neck. Kevin does the same and leans further away from Ben. Ben glances at Kevin from the corner of his eye.
“You okay?” Ben asks slowly.
Kevin shrugs and tries (and fails) to subtly scoot further away. Ben holds back a sigh and nudges Kevin with his shoulder.
“Kev?”
When Ben gets no response from the older boy he does actually sigh. He tries to lean over to grab his plushie but he can’t even as Kevin leans back out of Ben’s way. It’s almost like Kevin is trying to avoid touching Ben. Ben already knows that something is wrong and Kevin isn’t overstimulated because he would tell Ben that, so Ben decides to pull out the big guns.
“Hey, Kev,” Ben starts and only continues after Kevin hums, “Can you hand me Seven?”
Kevin looks over to Ben before grabbing the stuffed dog and passing it to Ben, “Seven?”
“Gwen won him at some fair one summer,” Ben starts, bringing the plushie close to his chest, “when we were ten and gave him to me.”
“The same summer you uh,” he pauses and points at Ben’s Omnitrix, “got that?”
“Yeah, after we met.”
“You think?”
Ben shakes his head, “No, it was. I named him after you,” Ben turns to Kevin, mostly to see the reaction Kevin has. Kevin stares resolutely at the movie, face red.
“Why?”
Ben shrugs, turning back to the movie, “Gwen thought your last name was eleven, so when Gwen uh, made a joke and gave this to me and I named him Seven. Like Seven-Eleven.”
Kevin turns to Ben, “You named it after a gas station?”
“I named him after you, it just happens to be a gas station,” Ben jokes, sticking his tongue out at Kevin. Kevin laughs and pulls Ben close and Ben throws his legs atop Kevin’s.
“You’ve had it since you were ten?”
“Yeah, I didn’t actually tell people his name, and once you came around…”
Kevin pauses the movie and faces Ben, “You hid the damn thing?”
Ben tries to reach for the remote that Kevin holds out of arms’ reach.
“No!” Kevin laughs, “Ben, you hid it?”
“Maybe!”
“Tennyson!”
“Shut up!”
Ben finally grabs the remote from Kevin. Kevin lunges at Ben, landing atop him and stealing the remote back. Ben throws a weak punch, hitting the center of Kevin’s chest. He doesn’t react and instead chooses to push Ben down onto the couch. He grins victoriously and holds the remote high over his head and out of Ben’s reach. Ben tries weakly to push against Kevin’s hand and weight to escape his hold. It’s futile. Ben knows that but he’s laughing with Kevin and his face hurts.
Ben smacks the hand on his chest, “Uncle uncle! I give!” He cries dramatically.
“Answer my question, Tennyson!” Kevin cackles, moving his hand but remains seated on Ben.
“Seven lived in my closet during the day! Why wouldn’t I hide him? Excusing the fact that I was a teenage boy with a plush toy.”
“Wait hold up, ‘ during the day ’? Tennyson, did you sleep with it?”
“Off!” Ben playfully shoves Kevin, Kevin barely reacts.
Kevin laughs and flops over onto Ben, he covers Ben with his entire body but Ben doesn’t feel crushed or squished. Kevin shifts his weight to ensure Ben isn’t being hurt. It feels weird to be this physically close to Kevin, but Ben wraps his arms around Kevin’s midsection and holds tightly. Ben doesn’t think he’s touched Kevin this much since they met, at least not while not fighting. Kevin has a moment where he’s stock still, unused to Ben being physically affectionate but he melts into Ben anyway and tries his best to hold Ben the same way Ben holds him. Seven lays forgotten on the floor in front of the couch, the movie remains paused with the remote thrown off to somewhere, and Kevin remains atop of Ben.
Ben squeezes Kevin, having to reaffirm to himself that Kevin is real.
“Hey, Ben?” Kevin’s voice is muffled against Ben’s hoodie.
Ben hums lowly in response.
“It’s like two in the morning. Why are you awake?”
Ben whines at the reminder of the time, the lack of sleep is getting to him probably. He’ll blame that if Kevin asks why Ben holds him tighter and why Ben presses his face further into Kevin’s shoulder, “Nightmare,” and he’ll blame the vulnerability on the lack of sleep.
“Shit, I’m sorry. Do you need to talk about it?”
“Do you need to talk about why you’re in my apartment at two am?”
“Touché.”
Ben taps Kevin’s back, a little pattern to a song that’s been stuck in his head for weeks now, “Gwen would get mad at us if we don’t talk about our emotions and go to her to complain. She got onto me for that a couple of days ago.”
Kevin groans loudly and shoves himself further into Ben, “I don’t wanna move.”
Ben doesn’t particularly want to talk so he lets Kevin burrow further into him, even when Kevin’s weight on him gets mildly uncomfortable. Ben continues to tap a pattern against Kevin’s back in silence. It really wouldn’t take much to shove Kevin off him or even ask Kevin to get up, but with the current mood and the fact Kevin would probably refuse to even sit next to Ben if he did either one… Ben decides that it isn’t worth it.
“It was about you,” Ben sighs, spooking Kevin who jolts and sits up. Ben almost mourns the loss of his weight, like removing a comforting weighted blanket. Instead of laying atop him, Kevin now sits back in the original spot Ben found him in. Ben follows him in sitting up.
“The, the nightmare?” Kevin asks slowly, almost afraid.
“Yeah, it,” Ben pauses with a sigh. He has to steel himself and prepare for whatever reaction Kevin might give, “This one was about the first time you mutated. I was coming out here for a snack and water.”
“Do you… have those dreams often?”
“Every night, though it’s not always that one dream. Sometimes it’s the second time or I’m trying to kill you again. Sometimes it’s a blur and a different time altogether. Sometimes you kill me, sometimes I actually succeed in killing you. It’s not usually the same dream.”
“Fuck, Tennyson how do you get any sleep?” Kevin says, his voice a strange mix of bewildered and concerned. Ben’s about to go on when Kevin grabs him by the shoulders, “How did you hide that? We’ve slept in the same room!”
Ben can feel his face flush. Kevin holds his shoulders firmly so he chooses to look away rather than lean away, “I slept better knowing you were there. I was able to check that you were okay.”
“Is that why you’d sometimes call me in the middle of the night?”
“Yeah, I just…” Ben pauses, “needed to know you were alive.”
“Fuck. Ben, how did you- how. What?”
Ben has to hold back a snort at the flabbergasted look on his face. Ben shakes Kevin off of him. Kevin lets go so Ben leans over the edge of the couch and picks up Seven to set the stuffed dog in his lap. Ben wonders if he should continue, keep talking, or if he should let Kevin process.
“You wanna know something?” Ben starts, “I really didn’t want to kill you, I was just… so scared. I was scared and I didn’t know what to do. The last time I saw you like that we were kids and I was still tentatively afraid that you didn’t actually like me and just stuck around me because of Gwen or because I was an easy out. I don’t think I ever got over that fear.”
Kevin tugs Ben close and into a tight side hug, “No offense Ben, but you’re not exactly easy in any definition. And you know you’re what kept me going in a lot of situations.”
Ben laughs, still lingering on fear but he pushes on, “Yeah, yeah I know, it’s just… it was always ‘why can’t you be more like Gwen,’ ‘Gwen has higher scores,’ and ‘Gwen’s a better kid.’ I know I’m not good,” Kevin tries to interrupt Ben but he holds up a finger and hushes him, “I’m not good, not like you and Gwen. You’re always trusted so much easier and you’ve given so much to the team. I just, I’m just me . I have never trusted others, it took so much for me to even get along with Gwen and even though I said I trusted you there was always a wall between us.”
“I, damn you got me there with trusting people,” Kevin tries to joke. Ben laughs and shakes his head fondly. Kevin pushes on quickly, “I… after I thought you were in the right,” Ben goes to interrupt but Kevin glares at him before he can, “I let you talk, it’s my turn.”
Ben exhales a small laugh, he takes one of Kevin’s hands in his to play with his fingers, “Okay, but I want you to know that I don’t want you dead now.”
“I would certainly hope so,” Kevin jokes, shaking their joined hands. Ben lightly shoves his shoulder into Kevin’s before Kevin continues, “I did think you were right, if it happened again what are the chances of me mutating again ? What if I’m worse , what if I do worse? I don’t…” Kevin pauses with a sigh, “I don’t wanna hurt you or Gwen or your families.”
Ben leans onto Kevin, he almost wants to throw his legs over Kevin’s lap but he refrains for now. He does however hold onto Kevin’s hand tighter, “It won’t. Kev, it happened before cause I was stupid-”
“We, we were stupid,” Kevin corrects with a soft laugh, “Don’t forget the time we tried to hack into your watch. That was stupid of both of us.”
“Fine, fine I’ll, I’ll give you that one. Regardless, we're not gonna do it again . Let alone let it happen. I think Gwen would actually kill both of us if we tried to hack the watch again, her or Azmuth.”
Kevin lets out a small laugh, “Ah yes, your second father.”
“Azmuth is more like,” Ben lets go of Kevin’s hand to wave his hand in some swoopy gesture, “some distant uncle who got forced to babysit me too many times and got forced into caring. Tetrax is closer to a second father.”
“Is Myaxx your mom or something?”
“Nah, wine aunt.”
“That makes sense.”
They sit in silence for a moment. Ben takes Kevin’s hand back into both of his, basically giving Kevin a hand massage. He’s self-soothing, he knows, but Kevin is letting him so he chooses to ignore any embarrassment. Ben almost thinks about asking why Kevin showed up in his apartment at two in the morning but Kevin didn’t force an answer out of Ben so he gives Kevin the same grace.
Kevin leans closer to Ben, resting his head atop Ben’s before he finally speaks, “Had a nightmare too, ironically about you.”
Ben tries to press closer to Kevin but there’s hardly any space between them left so he ends up nuzzling into Kevin’s chest.
“I can’t say I get those often, so uh, I guess I just wasn’t prepared and came here. I don’t even remember what happened, I just, I think it was about the time your ultimate alien forms came alive and wanted you dead or something. I, you died. For real that time, there was no coming back for you.”
“I’m sorry,” Ben apologizes quickly, squeezing Kevin’s hand.
“ You’re too good Ben, you think I am but you are too. You were so willing to give up your life just like that for aliens that wouldn’t even exist if it wasn’t for you.”
“Exactly, they wouldn’t have been suffering if it wasn’t for me.”
Kevin sighs, “Ben, you say you didn’t trust me fully when we first teamed up, but you still allowed me to tag along. Even after I wasn’t needed anymore. Don’t say I was still needed,” Kevin rushes out the last sentence when Ben breaks away from Kevin’s hold. He knows Ben was going to try and refute it, “I mean for that mission.”
“Still, you were so much help during missions.”
“Yeah and you didn’t know I would continue being helpful and you kept me around even when I fucked up and was less than helpful.”
“Like the time you and Argit sold weapons to both sides of a war,” Ben tries to joke.
It works, slightly. Kevin breathes out a laugh, “Yeah, yeah like that.”
Ben relaxes again, allowing Kevin to rest his head atop Ben’s again. The two move so they can be pressed against one another as closely as possible. Kevin reaches behind him and grabs the remote again, he waves it in front of Ben who shrugs. Kevin hits play on the movie and Ben grabs Seven to hold him against his chest with one arm.
“You still want the dog? I’m right here y'know?” Kevin jokes as he wraps them both up in the blanket.
“Hey, I sleep with Seven every night! He’s a source of comfort,” Ben retorts, sticking his tongue out at Kevin.
“And here I was, thinking I provide more comfort than a stuffed dog you named after me .”
“You do, but I like Seven more.”
“Uh huh?”
“Yeah, he doesn’t make fun of me, Levin .”
“Your ego’s too big, I’ve told you this, Tennyson . Someone needs to take you down a peg.”
“Yeah, yeah, same to you, you ass.”
The movie plays in the background as the two laugh. Eventually, the two settle down, choosing to pay attention to the movie which they ended up having to restart since Kevin hadn’t paid any attention. The two eventually fall asleep on the couch together, Seven once again used as a pillow by Kevin and the blanket covering both of them. The movie stuck on the title scene, waiting to be replayed again. Ben rests his head over Kevin’s chest, listening to the sound of his heartbeat. It soothes Ben into having no further nightmares that night, and the comfort of Ben’s weight allows Kevin to sleep peacefully.