Ben has imagined this moment about a few dozen times that morning alone, his mind anxiously worrying at it, like picking at a scab. He'd imagined Cole seeing him and understanding all of it right away and asking him coldly to leave. He'd imagined all the same, only with Cole turning him down gently, which was somehow much worse. He'd pictured Cole, wretchedly depressed at Ben's absence the last few days...
But he hadn't imagined whatever Day After Tomorrow bullshit is happening to make the temperature plummet all around them, and it really throws him. Cole is talking about the cold and how to avoid it and Ben's brain is just scrambling to catch up.
Ben, who had grown up around Five, is unusually comfortable with people disappearing and reappearing mid-conversation. He merely blinks when Cole vanishes in that swirl of smoke, only to return again a moment later. It's not surprise at the teleportation that makes his heart stutter like that, when he returns.
It's because Cole is right there in front of him, looking... well, cute. Really cute. Ben doesn't realize until that moment that Cole is wearing different clothes, ones he's never seen before. But the rest of him is just like Ben remembers. When had he come to know his face so well? To feel so happy just looking at it, like every shade and angle was in just the right place? Ben absently notices that his heart is pounding hard. He has no idea how much of his revelation and new understanding of his own feelings Cole can feel. There is no lying to him, no pretending. But that doesn't mean it is going to be easy to find the right words to say.
But despite all that fear, he is happy, too. That same surge of happiness he feels every time he sees Cole, only now, Ben recognizes it for what it is.
"I'm, um. I wanted to- I."
The words are all jumbled, and Ben can't seem to make them all go together. It doesn't help that he's shivering harder, now. The cold is so intense that Ben manages to set his mind to practical matters, for a few minutes.
"There's. An empty room, over there. It's - got a mattress. Maybe. Furniture we could burn."
He pulls his hood over his head because his ears were starting to really hurt, actually, and when he can see Cole will come with him, heads in the direction of the unoccupied quarters. He could have taken Cole back to his own room, but it's further, and there's a chance Allison and/or Klaus might be there, and.... he really doesn't need interruptions or an audience for this, if it goes badly. Which most of Ben is unconsciously assuming it will.
no subject
But he hadn't imagined whatever Day After Tomorrow bullshit is happening to make the temperature plummet all around them, and it really throws him. Cole is talking about the cold and how to avoid it and Ben's brain is just scrambling to catch up.
Ben, who had grown up around Five, is unusually comfortable with people disappearing and reappearing mid-conversation. He merely blinks when Cole vanishes in that swirl of smoke, only to return again a moment later. It's not surprise at the teleportation that makes his heart stutter like that, when he returns.
It's because Cole is right there in front of him, looking... well, cute. Really cute. Ben doesn't realize until that moment that Cole is wearing different clothes, ones he's never seen before. But the rest of him is just like Ben remembers. When had he come to know his face so well? To feel so happy just looking at it, like every shade and angle was in just the right place? Ben absently notices that his heart is pounding hard. He has no idea how much of his revelation and new understanding of his own feelings Cole can feel. There is no lying to him, no pretending. But that doesn't mean it is going to be easy to find the right words to say.
But despite all that fear, he is happy, too. That same surge of happiness he feels every time he sees Cole, only now, Ben recognizes it for what it is.
"I'm, um. I wanted to- I."
The words are all jumbled, and Ben can't seem to make them all go together. It doesn't help that he's shivering harder, now. The cold is so intense that Ben manages to set his mind to practical matters, for a few minutes.
"There's. An empty room, over there. It's - got a mattress. Maybe. Furniture we could burn."
He pulls his hood over his head because his ears were starting to really hurt, actually, and when he can see Cole will come with him, heads in the direction of the unoccupied quarters. He could have taken Cole back to his own room, but it's further, and there's a chance Allison and/or Klaus might be there, and.... he really doesn't need interruptions or an audience for this, if it goes badly. Which most of Ben is unconsciously assuming it will.