So, from the sound of it, there was some isolation, too. Hard to say if it had been as complete, or if there had been tutors, any playmates at all. But what matters isn't an objective comparison, but her experience of it. To her, it had seemed she was so alone. That is what matters.
Ben listens as she explains her brother's struggles, and how he'd overcome them and then moved on, gone from being on her side, it sounds like, to being aligned with the family members that looked down on her. Ben knows all too well how battle lines can be drawn even between people who care about each other a great deal, and feels a pang of sympathy for her.
But before he can ask her brother's name or any other questions, she is turning things around, asking about his family...
And there's honestly only one response to that question, and the assumption that comes with it; Ben laughs, a sudden, startled sound. It's entirely involuntary, and louder than he means it to be, and a few of the little glowing mice moving towards Cho bolt at the sound of it; the ones already in the container stay, but freeze in place, looking much warier than they had been, before. Oops.
Because it makes total sense she would assume that. He likes what it says about her, that her automatic response is to assume kindness, a big family full of love just wanting to take in the unwanted kids of the world. It's more or less similar to what most interviewers and fans and the general public had assumed about Reginald. There'd been an added element of admiration, since those people knew he'd been taking in children that were, each in their own ways, freaks of nature. It looked from the outside like charity, self-sacrifice, compassion.
"Not exactly."
If it hadn't been for that laugh, he might have been able to dodge the truth almost entirely; a bland answer that discouraged further questions without exactly being a lie. He's not really like Klaus, or Vanya - jumping at every opportunity to talk about just how fucked up his family had been. But she had caught him off-guard, and now his genuine reaction has backed him into a corner. He has to say something to explain that laugh or else he is pretty sure he'll come across as quite rude.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Ben gives a shrug, putting as much it's not a big deal in his voice as he can.
"I know I said adopted, but our dad actually bribed our birth families to give us up. He pretty much went around the world offering strangers money for their babies, and the seven of us are from the families that actually said yes to that."
For now he leaves out the part about why Reginald had wanted them. All this is personal enough without getting into the weird circumstances of their births, and maybe a whole talk about superhero powers being real, etc. Ben doesn't exactly want to be talking about any of this. He's just doing it to
"So. He bought us. And... he was an abusive monster. And now he's dead. But I like your version. It's a really nice thought."
no subject
Ben listens as she explains her brother's struggles, and how he'd overcome them and then moved on, gone from being on her side, it sounds like, to being aligned with the family members that looked down on her. Ben knows all too well how battle lines can be drawn even between people who care about each other a great deal, and feels a pang of sympathy for her.
But before he can ask her brother's name or any other questions, she is turning things around, asking about his family...
And there's honestly only one response to that question, and the assumption that comes with it; Ben laughs, a sudden, startled sound. It's entirely involuntary, and louder than he means it to be, and a few of the little glowing mice moving towards Cho bolt at the sound of it; the ones already in the container stay, but freeze in place, looking much warier than they had been, before. Oops.
Because it makes total sense she would assume that. He likes what it says about her, that her automatic response is to assume kindness, a big family full of love just wanting to take in the unwanted kids of the world. It's more or less similar to what most interviewers and fans and the general public had assumed about Reginald. There'd been an added element of admiration, since those people knew he'd been taking in children that were, each in their own ways, freaks of nature. It looked from the outside like charity, self-sacrifice, compassion.
"Not exactly."
If it hadn't been for that laugh, he might have been able to dodge the truth almost entirely; a bland answer that discouraged further questions without exactly being a lie. He's not really like Klaus, or Vanya - jumping at every opportunity to talk about just how fucked up his family had been. But she had caught him off-guard, and now his genuine reaction has backed him into a corner. He has to say something to explain that laugh or else he is pretty sure he'll come across as quite rude.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Ben gives a shrug, putting as much it's not a big deal in his voice as he can.
"I know I said adopted, but our dad actually bribed our birth families to give us up. He pretty much went around the world offering strangers money for their babies, and the seven of us are from the families that actually said yes to that."
For now he leaves out the part about why Reginald had wanted them. All this is personal enough without getting into the weird circumstances of their births, and maybe a whole talk about superhero powers being real, etc. Ben doesn't exactly want to be talking about any of this. He's just doing it to
"So. He bought us. And... he was an abusive monster. And now he's dead. But I like your version. It's a really nice thought."