(no subject)
Title: Black Cats and Old Movies
Author: dustingforsugar
Fandom: Ben 10: Alien Force
Characters/Pairing: Gwen/Kevin
Table: Opposites
Prompt: 5 - Indifference
Rating: G
Warnings: N/A
Word Count: 1,980
Note: I think this might be one of the fluffiest (and worst!) things I have ever written, I’m not good at cute. This is set somewhere post-season 2 and pre-season 3 of AF.
For the challenge @ 10iloveyou
“C’mon Gwen, it’s Halloween!” Ben said, drawing out the last word for effect.
Gwen turned to look at her cousin. He was wrapped up in a blanket and clutched a bag of chips in one hand, but yet leant across the arm of the chair to complain at her.
“I didn’t agree to spend tonight with you, just so we could watch movies that we’ve seen a hundred times already.” Gwen replied, as she used the remote to change the station.
“You can be such a-”
“Hey, Tennyson, I thought you were meant to be sick.” Kevin growled.
Ben and Kevin made brief eye contact across the room. Although Kevin’s look just begged Ben to challenge him, the younger boy decided he was far too tired to bother with another petty back-and-forth with Kevin. So he curled back up under his blanket, coughed for effect and mumbled that was no way to treat someone who had saved the universe, when they were sick.
Likewise Kevin had decided that he would prefer to keep the peace too, though his reasons were perhaps a little less overt. He liked sharing the couch with Gwen far too much to risk upsetting the arrangement. Every now and then she would reach over and take a few kernels of popcorn from the large bowl that rested on his knee, and then pop them into her mouth. He wondered how she could look so good just eating popcorn, when he always ended up covered in crumbs and sugar.
Eventually Gwen settled on a station, and almost immediately Ben voiced his displeasure,
“Oh sure, we can’t watch a movie I’ve seen before, but we can watch one of your dumb movies again.”
Gwen sat up straighter to defend her choice, “It’s a classic!”
“It’s not even in colour!” Her cousin barked back.
“So? I’m the one with the remote…” Gwen said, with a smirk as she waved the offending object in the air.
A loud groan echoed the room as Ben picked himself up off the couch. He wrapped his blanket around his shoulders and readied himself to leave the room, obviously in a bad mood. At the last moment, he turned around and snatched up his bag of chips and spoke to Kevin,
“Hey, you wanna play some videogames.”
Kevin was tempted to join Ben in another epic Sumo Slammers tournament, because Gwen’s movies were usually black and white, girly, or - worst of all - both. However, when he turned to Gwen, she was giving him one of her looks; since they had started sorta-maybe-dating she had become something of a pro at those.
“Think I’m gonna watch the movie.” Kevin said quietly, not meeting Ben’s eye for a second.
Ben shook his head and wondered if the elder could be any more transparent, as he left for his bedroom.
After Ben had stomped his way up the stairs and shut his bedroom door with a little more force than necessary, the couple were left alone. Kevin peered over at Gwen whilst she was transfixed on the movie. On the whole, he thought that Halloween costumes were dumb, but he found the set of black cat ears that Gwen wore quite sweet. Even if she insisted that she was only wearing them and a black shirt and pants ‘for the kids’, as she was the one that was supposed to be giving out the candy. It was always at times like these that Kevin realised how terrible he was at making small talk, so he just leaned back into the couch and fixed his gaze on the screen.
In the old movie, a small bookish-looking woman screamed as she was grabbed by a hulking monster. In that instant, Kevin and Gwen shared a memory. They each recalled the occasion that Kevin had held a ten-year-old Gwen in his huge fist and threatened to squash her. Out of the corner of her eye Gwen looked at the boy sitting next to her, he seemed so uncomfortable, and maybe even just a little ashamed.
Kevin laid the bowl of popcorn at his side and squirmed in discomfort. He hated to be reminded of the things he had done. It usually all seemed like so long ago, but every now and them something would remind him that it had only been five years; it had only been five years since he had threatened to squash the girl who now sat only inches from him. The worst part of it all was that he would have done it; he would have ended her life. It had not been because he hated her or he thought she deserved it, his reasons only concerned Ben. Really, he had been completely indifferent to her; she had been a means to an end, that was all. Perhaps it was why the memory stung more now, because he could not imagine how anyone could ever meet her and not be won over. He hoped that she knew that every time he protected her from harm, he was paying his debt. Well, that, and so much more.
Gwen adjusted her cat ears and snuck another glance sideward. Twice, Kevin had tried to express his regret for the things he had done to her in the past, and she hoped he would not try for a third time. Gwen had always accepted his apologies more for his sake than her own, because she already believed in him and every time he did something selfless it just bolstered her faith. In Gwen’s eyes he had divorced himself from his past long ago.
“You weren’t even that scary anyway.” Gwen teased, in an attempt to reassure him.
She playfully nudged into him with her shoulder and Kevin just let himself smile, for he found it impossible not to. The pair lapsed into a fairly comfortable silence and watched as the girl on screen was devoured by the monster; the terrible special effects made the scene almost comical. Then the dashing hero of the movie arrived on the scene, just as his beautiful love interest was swept up into the beast’s paw.
“I wouldn’t, y’know…”
Gwen turned to the boy sitting beside her, with one eyebrow raised to question him. Kevin shrugged uncomfortably as he looked down at the almost-empty bowl of popcorn that sat on the couch beside him. He had no idea what had compelled him to speak; in fact, rather quickly, he had wished he had not said anything at all.
“Oh, you mean you wouldn’t-”
She was suddenly distracted when Kevin turned and looked at her. His eyes were much more expressive than his words would ever be, and they both knew that. With just that one look between them, the moment had become a hundred times more complex, and Gwen struggled to finish the final few words of her sentence because she found herself just a little breathless.
“…smoosh…”
It was a funny word, a silly word, but the way her lips pouted as she formed it could not have been more alluring to Kevin. He was overcome by the feeling that this was the time to act, and before he even realised what he was doing, he was leaning towards her.
“…me…?”
Suddenly Gwen was so aware of the blood rushing through her body. She willed him to do it, to finally understand what she had been wanting all this time. Quickly, he was close enough for her to rest one hand on his chest, and it reassured her when she found that his heart was thumping just as vehemently as her own.
Some kids rang the doorbell and shouted ‘Trick or Treat’. Kevin and Gwen may well have stopped before when a huge alien crashed through the wall, but they were damned if they were going to stop for a few kids in costumes demanding candy. They ignored the melodic chimes at the door and finally let themselves connect.
They were a little off target, she kissed his upper lip and he kissed her lower one, though they easily reconciled and met in the middle. Their noses bumped slightly, but that was just fine for a first try. The kiss itself was slow, yet deliberate, as they were both a little wary of scaring the other off. It was a long-awaited expression of everything that had been simmering gently in the background.
Kevin could feel the energy that positively thrummed through Gwen, because he was always in tune with things like that. There would have once been a time when he wanted to take her energy for himself, but now it was more than enough to be near her, to just exist alongside side her.
Gwen’s hand drifted along the hard line of his jaw and grazed against the slightly coarse stubble. Kevin followed Gwen’s lead and tried to find somewhere to put his hand that was not too presumptuous, which he found remarkably difficult because his hands were big and she was so slight. In the end, he settled for a nice, neutral spot somewhere in the middle of her back. When he pulled her a fraction closer, Gwen just let her back curve to his will and curled her fingers to grasp at the neck of his shirt.
They carried on kissing, even through the soft spatter of eggs hitting the door. It was not like they could hear it anyway, as they were so very focused on the act that had been far too long in its coming.
Ben’s voice drifted down from upstairs, “You guys! Why are kids egging my house?!”
Gwen felt Kevin smile into the kiss, no doubt he was grinning at Ben’s distress. The predicament made her unable to contain her own laughter and so she broke off the kiss, dropped her hands to her lap and allowed a small, nervous giggle escape.
“Uh…I better go stop ‘em before they move on to my car.” Kevin explained, as he pulled back and let his hand rest at her waist.
Gwen nodded in agreement, her expression still a little stunned as he stood and then left the room.
A sense of pride swelled through Kevin as one of the candy bars that he had whipped through the air hit one kid in the thigh. Coupled with the things he had yelled - that Ben’s neighbours really did not appreciate - it was enough to make the gang race away down the street. Kevin smirked again, tonight was really going his way. As he watched the kids disappear into the distance, he failed to hear Gwen approach. He jumped a tad when she spoke.
“I should go. I told my parents I wouldn’t be too late.” She said, not making eye contact and fiddling with her hairband again.
He offered to drive her, as usual, and she accepted. However, they still found themselves standing opposite one another and surrounded by awkward silence. Gwen looked down at the candy in the tub, that she planned to leave on the doorstep so that the kids would not have to bother Ben, whilst Kevin dug his hands deep into his pockets. Neither teen was quite sure how to proceed, given that things between them had gotten a lot more complicated. Gwen was incredibly surprised that Kevin found words first.
“So, uhh, sorry if it wasn’t…y’know…good.” Kevin mumbled, as he became very interested in the redhead’s shoes.
“No, no, it was very…” Gwen paused as she failed to find an appropriate synonym, “…good, and next time-”
Gwen immediately started to blush furiously and clammed up. She reasoned that the conversation could only get worse from thereon in, so she placed the tub down on the doorstep and began the short walk to Kevin’s car.
Meanwhile, Kevin’s imagination bubbled away as he followed her, wondering about the when and where of the ‘next time’.
FIN
Hurrah for awkward first-time kisses! I’m sorry it wasn’t very Halloweeny. I just didn’t have the heart to put anything too cliché in there, because you know that shippy fluff fics about kissing are cliché enough all on their own (-; Sorry if I got any American Halloween traditions wrong, blame Hollywood!
Author: dustingforsugar
Fandom: Ben 10: Alien Force
Characters/Pairing: Gwen/Kevin
Table: Opposites
Prompt: 5 - Indifference
Rating: G
Warnings: N/A
Word Count: 1,980
Note: I think this might be one of the fluffiest (and worst!) things I have ever written, I’m not good at cute. This is set somewhere post-season 2 and pre-season 3 of AF.
For the challenge @ 10iloveyou
“C’mon Gwen, it’s Halloween!” Ben said, drawing out the last word for effect.
Gwen turned to look at her cousin. He was wrapped up in a blanket and clutched a bag of chips in one hand, but yet leant across the arm of the chair to complain at her.
“I didn’t agree to spend tonight with you, just so we could watch movies that we’ve seen a hundred times already.” Gwen replied, as she used the remote to change the station.
“You can be such a-”
“Hey, Tennyson, I thought you were meant to be sick.” Kevin growled.
Ben and Kevin made brief eye contact across the room. Although Kevin’s look just begged Ben to challenge him, the younger boy decided he was far too tired to bother with another petty back-and-forth with Kevin. So he curled back up under his blanket, coughed for effect and mumbled that was no way to treat someone who had saved the universe, when they were sick.
Likewise Kevin had decided that he would prefer to keep the peace too, though his reasons were perhaps a little less overt. He liked sharing the couch with Gwen far too much to risk upsetting the arrangement. Every now and then she would reach over and take a few kernels of popcorn from the large bowl that rested on his knee, and then pop them into her mouth. He wondered how she could look so good just eating popcorn, when he always ended up covered in crumbs and sugar.
Eventually Gwen settled on a station, and almost immediately Ben voiced his displeasure,
“Oh sure, we can’t watch a movie I’ve seen before, but we can watch one of your dumb movies again.”
Gwen sat up straighter to defend her choice, “It’s a classic!”
“It’s not even in colour!” Her cousin barked back.
“So? I’m the one with the remote…” Gwen said, with a smirk as she waved the offending object in the air.
A loud groan echoed the room as Ben picked himself up off the couch. He wrapped his blanket around his shoulders and readied himself to leave the room, obviously in a bad mood. At the last moment, he turned around and snatched up his bag of chips and spoke to Kevin,
“Hey, you wanna play some videogames.”
Kevin was tempted to join Ben in another epic Sumo Slammers tournament, because Gwen’s movies were usually black and white, girly, or - worst of all - both. However, when he turned to Gwen, she was giving him one of her looks; since they had started sorta-maybe-dating she had become something of a pro at those.
“Think I’m gonna watch the movie.” Kevin said quietly, not meeting Ben’s eye for a second.
Ben shook his head and wondered if the elder could be any more transparent, as he left for his bedroom.
After Ben had stomped his way up the stairs and shut his bedroom door with a little more force than necessary, the couple were left alone. Kevin peered over at Gwen whilst she was transfixed on the movie. On the whole, he thought that Halloween costumes were dumb, but he found the set of black cat ears that Gwen wore quite sweet. Even if she insisted that she was only wearing them and a black shirt and pants ‘for the kids’, as she was the one that was supposed to be giving out the candy. It was always at times like these that Kevin realised how terrible he was at making small talk, so he just leaned back into the couch and fixed his gaze on the screen.
In the old movie, a small bookish-looking woman screamed as she was grabbed by a hulking monster. In that instant, Kevin and Gwen shared a memory. They each recalled the occasion that Kevin had held a ten-year-old Gwen in his huge fist and threatened to squash her. Out of the corner of her eye Gwen looked at the boy sitting next to her, he seemed so uncomfortable, and maybe even just a little ashamed.
Kevin laid the bowl of popcorn at his side and squirmed in discomfort. He hated to be reminded of the things he had done. It usually all seemed like so long ago, but every now and them something would remind him that it had only been five years; it had only been five years since he had threatened to squash the girl who now sat only inches from him. The worst part of it all was that he would have done it; he would have ended her life. It had not been because he hated her or he thought she deserved it, his reasons only concerned Ben. Really, he had been completely indifferent to her; she had been a means to an end, that was all. Perhaps it was why the memory stung more now, because he could not imagine how anyone could ever meet her and not be won over. He hoped that she knew that every time he protected her from harm, he was paying his debt. Well, that, and so much more.
Gwen adjusted her cat ears and snuck another glance sideward. Twice, Kevin had tried to express his regret for the things he had done to her in the past, and she hoped he would not try for a third time. Gwen had always accepted his apologies more for his sake than her own, because she already believed in him and every time he did something selfless it just bolstered her faith. In Gwen’s eyes he had divorced himself from his past long ago.
“You weren’t even that scary anyway.” Gwen teased, in an attempt to reassure him.
She playfully nudged into him with her shoulder and Kevin just let himself smile, for he found it impossible not to. The pair lapsed into a fairly comfortable silence and watched as the girl on screen was devoured by the monster; the terrible special effects made the scene almost comical. Then the dashing hero of the movie arrived on the scene, just as his beautiful love interest was swept up into the beast’s paw.
“I wouldn’t, y’know…”
Gwen turned to the boy sitting beside her, with one eyebrow raised to question him. Kevin shrugged uncomfortably as he looked down at the almost-empty bowl of popcorn that sat on the couch beside him. He had no idea what had compelled him to speak; in fact, rather quickly, he had wished he had not said anything at all.
“Oh, you mean you wouldn’t-”
She was suddenly distracted when Kevin turned and looked at her. His eyes were much more expressive than his words would ever be, and they both knew that. With just that one look between them, the moment had become a hundred times more complex, and Gwen struggled to finish the final few words of her sentence because she found herself just a little breathless.
“…smoosh…”
It was a funny word, a silly word, but the way her lips pouted as she formed it could not have been more alluring to Kevin. He was overcome by the feeling that this was the time to act, and before he even realised what he was doing, he was leaning towards her.
“…me…?”
Suddenly Gwen was so aware of the blood rushing through her body. She willed him to do it, to finally understand what she had been wanting all this time. Quickly, he was close enough for her to rest one hand on his chest, and it reassured her when she found that his heart was thumping just as vehemently as her own.
Some kids rang the doorbell and shouted ‘Trick or Treat’. Kevin and Gwen may well have stopped before when a huge alien crashed through the wall, but they were damned if they were going to stop for a few kids in costumes demanding candy. They ignored the melodic chimes at the door and finally let themselves connect.
They were a little off target, she kissed his upper lip and he kissed her lower one, though they easily reconciled and met in the middle. Their noses bumped slightly, but that was just fine for a first try. The kiss itself was slow, yet deliberate, as they were both a little wary of scaring the other off. It was a long-awaited expression of everything that had been simmering gently in the background.
Kevin could feel the energy that positively thrummed through Gwen, because he was always in tune with things like that. There would have once been a time when he wanted to take her energy for himself, but now it was more than enough to be near her, to just exist alongside side her.
Gwen’s hand drifted along the hard line of his jaw and grazed against the slightly coarse stubble. Kevin followed Gwen’s lead and tried to find somewhere to put his hand that was not too presumptuous, which he found remarkably difficult because his hands were big and she was so slight. In the end, he settled for a nice, neutral spot somewhere in the middle of her back. When he pulled her a fraction closer, Gwen just let her back curve to his will and curled her fingers to grasp at the neck of his shirt.
They carried on kissing, even through the soft spatter of eggs hitting the door. It was not like they could hear it anyway, as they were so very focused on the act that had been far too long in its coming.
Ben’s voice drifted down from upstairs, “You guys! Why are kids egging my house?!”
Gwen felt Kevin smile into the kiss, no doubt he was grinning at Ben’s distress. The predicament made her unable to contain her own laughter and so she broke off the kiss, dropped her hands to her lap and allowed a small, nervous giggle escape.
“Uh…I better go stop ‘em before they move on to my car.” Kevin explained, as he pulled back and let his hand rest at her waist.
Gwen nodded in agreement, her expression still a little stunned as he stood and then left the room.
A sense of pride swelled through Kevin as one of the candy bars that he had whipped through the air hit one kid in the thigh. Coupled with the things he had yelled - that Ben’s neighbours really did not appreciate - it was enough to make the gang race away down the street. Kevin smirked again, tonight was really going his way. As he watched the kids disappear into the distance, he failed to hear Gwen approach. He jumped a tad when she spoke.
“I should go. I told my parents I wouldn’t be too late.” She said, not making eye contact and fiddling with her hairband again.
He offered to drive her, as usual, and she accepted. However, they still found themselves standing opposite one another and surrounded by awkward silence. Gwen looked down at the candy in the tub, that she planned to leave on the doorstep so that the kids would not have to bother Ben, whilst Kevin dug his hands deep into his pockets. Neither teen was quite sure how to proceed, given that things between them had gotten a lot more complicated. Gwen was incredibly surprised that Kevin found words first.
“So, uhh, sorry if it wasn’t…y’know…good.” Kevin mumbled, as he became very interested in the redhead’s shoes.
“No, no, it was very…” Gwen paused as she failed to find an appropriate synonym, “…good, and next time-”
Gwen immediately started to blush furiously and clammed up. She reasoned that the conversation could only get worse from thereon in, so she placed the tub down on the doorstep and began the short walk to Kevin’s car.
Meanwhile, Kevin’s imagination bubbled away as he followed her, wondering about the when and where of the ‘next time’.
FIN
Hurrah for awkward first-time kisses! I’m sorry it wasn’t very Halloweeny. I just didn’t have the heart to put anything too cliché in there, because you know that shippy fluff fics about kissing are cliché enough all on their own (-; Sorry if I got any American Halloween traditions wrong, blame Hollywood!