Chapter Text
“What are these things?”
Ben poked, then lifted one of the slimy patches Gwen had put under his eyes.
He sounded thoroughly disgusted.
Pretty hypocritical if you asked her.
She slapped his hand.
“Ow!”
“Don’t touch! They’re eye masks. They help with dark circles and puffiness.”
“Puff what now?”
She repressed the urge to deck him as she hovered over his body, gliding moisturizer onto his face with the tips of her fingers.
“Just close your eyes.”
He groaned but did as he was told.
“Why did I agree to let you do this again?”
“Because your face has more grease than an extra-large pepperoni pizza.”
He opened his eyes to send a glare her way.
“Hold still before I get salicylic acid up your nose.”
“Acid!?”
The young boy jerked up from under her.
Causing her to lose her balance and fall off the bed with a thud.
“What the hell, doofus!”
“You’re the one trying to melt my face off!”
“It’s an acne treatment you moron!”
The RV bedroom partition opened to reveal a pajama clad, exasperated looking Max.
He didn’t bother asking why it had been closed or why they were both wearing fuzzy pink headbands.
By the look on Ben’s face, one probably led to the other.
“What are you two arguing about now?”
Ben pointed at his cousin accusingly while yanking the headband off, and wiping his face aggressively.
“She’s trying to kill me!”
Gwen rolled her eyes.
“Am not!”
She turned to their grandfather and gave the man a halfhearted shrug.
“I was only trying to introduce him to the wonders of basic hygiene.”
She crossed her arms and shot Ben a nasty look.
“My only crime was thinking he was ready for skincare actives.”
Max looked from one 12-year-old to the other and sighed.
Would it ever end?
He was getting way too old for this shit.
…
Max sat in the control room that his grandchildren manned watching them from afar.
Time really does fly.
He couldn’t remember the last time they fought.
Well…besides when Ben shut everyone out a couple of years back.
He never found out the cause. Both grandchildren quickly changed the subject when he asked about it, so he decided not to pry.
“God, you’re still such a doofus.”
Max couldn’t quite place what her tone was laced with, or maybe he just didn’t want to.
He took a sip from his coffee mug as Ben leaned down and whispered something back that made her shove him. Nowhere near as hard as she used to when they were kids. And were her cheeks redder than before? Nah…his eyes must be playing tricks on him in his “advanced” age as that doctor puts it.
Ben chuckled as Gwendolyn shot him a faux annoyed look. It only stayed on her face for a few seconds before the grin she was holding back broke through.
After everything they’d been through, they were both happy and in one piece.
That’s more than a grandfather could ever ask for.
They were adults now.
They could figure out the rest.