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So, Karasu and I started on our prizes. And we're doing these in totally random order, so, uh... nobody get their shorts in a bunch. Not that I think any of you would. ^_^
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Story Prize #1
For: Amaranthe424
Request: Benjamin and Ian at the humane society
Author’s Notes: This takes place probably about a year before the story starts. At this point, Benjamin has been free from Edmund for about three years, and has been going to the humane society on a regular basis as a volunteer for about six months. Ian is fifteen, which makes Jack about four, and has started going to the humane society about two weeks previous.
When Karasu and I sat down to write this, we basically had no idea what was going to happen, we just tossed them together to see how they’d interact, and this is what came out.
Ian walked into the humane society at about three in the afternoon, coming over straight after school as was his habit. Jack, who waited outside the school for him every day, padded along at his heels. He enjoyed going to the humane society and working with the animals; it broke up some of the monotony of his days, particularly when his elusive father was nowhere to be seen.
Kristy, one of the employees who worked there every day, was cleaning up in the front. She looked up as he came in, and greeted him with a friendly smile. “Hi, Ian. How’s it going?”
“I’m good,” Ian said with a smile. The young women at the humane society were very fond of him; he was polite and courteous to a fault, and they could all tell how handsome he was going to be once he’d gotten a little older. Jack nosed around the room, sniffing at Kristy’s knee before venturing on to other areas of the room. “How are you?”
“Pretty good. You want to feed the dogs? I haven’t had a chance to do it yet.”
“Sure,” Ian said. Since dogs were his favorite animals, they tried to let him take care of them whenever he was there. “I could take some of them out for walks later too, if you wanted.”
“That’d be great,” Kristy said. Ian turned to go into the other room, but Kristy called after him. “Oh, one thing. Ah . . . have you met Benjamin yet?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Ian said, turning back slightly to face her.
“Okay,” Kristy said. “Well, he’s in there now with one of the dogs, who has a hurt paw. He’s great with the animals who are hurt or abused, but he’s, ah . . . a little on the slow side, if you get what I mean.”
Ian nodded again, not particularly bothered by this. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said politely, and turned to go with Jack right on his heels. He walked into the other room to see a young man sitting at the table with a dachshund on the table in front of him, tending to its paw. He looked to be in his early twenties, although something about him gave off the impression of being somehow younger than that.
“Shush, Max,” he was saying as Ian came in. He didn’t look up to see who it was. “It’s okay.”
Ian gave him a curious look, noting the magic that practically radiated off of him. His aura was highly magical, which was rarely seen in humans, but not the demonic aura he had gotten used to sensing while on jobs with his father. He walked the rest of the way in, purposely making a little more noise than he usually did so as to not startle him. “Hi.”
Benjamin jerked a little, then looked up at Ian, blinking a few times. “You’re new,” he stated.
Ian blinked back. “Well, not really,” he said, trying to ignore Jack as he sniffed at Benjamin’s hand and gave him a running report on how interesting Benjamin smelled, sort of like feathers, but with an undertone of blood. “I’ve been coming here for the past few weeks. Taking care of the dogs mostly.”
Benjamin appeared to give this serious thought for a moment, before nodding. “They like you,” he stated, holding his hand out for Jack to sniff. The dog sneezed, and Benjamin wrinkled his nose.
“Well, they act like they like me at least. Most of them. She,” he added, pointing to a young chocolate Labrador down near the end, “doesn’t like men, but hey, I’m not sure I can blame her.” He gave Benjamin a curious look, already thinking that ‘crazy’ might be a better word for him than ‘slow.’
Benjamin blinked at the dog in question. “Aw, Sadie? She doesn’t not like men.” He finished wrapping Max’s paw, then wandered over to the dog and picked her up, cuddling her close. Sadie whined a little pathetically, then settled in his grip.
“Well, she doesn’t like me,” Ian said, although he wasn’t particularly annoyed about this, remembering what Kristy had said about Benjamin getting along with animals who were hurt or abused.
“She just doesn’t know how to trust, that’s all.” Benjamin spoke a few low words into Sadie’s ear, then held her out to Ian. “Here,” he said, holding out a relatively docile Sadie. Ian and Jack both gave Benjamin a skeptical look, but then Ian took Sadie, if only to humor Benjamin. Sadie remained calm for about thirty seconds before starting to squirm and whine to go back to Benjamin. He reached out and took her back. “She’s a good dog,” he said, rather tangentially.
“I never said she wasn’t,” Ian said, getting out the dog food and the stack of dishes in one of the cupboards. “Most of the dogs here are.”
Benjamin blinked, then shrugged, then knelt down in front of Jack, regarding him seriously. “Hi,” he said. Jack regarded him with just as much seriousness, remarking to his owner that Benjamin was very strange. Benjamin reached out and scratched Jack behind the ears, which he seemed to enjoy. “He’s a good dog,” Benjamin said, but seemed to be pouting. “He’s very yours.”
Jack lay down with a sigh, and Ian got the distinct impression that Benjamin was somewhat put out by the fact that Jack hadn’t taken to him at first sight the way most dogs apparently did. “He was a gift from my mother three years ago,” he said.
Benjamin nodded and went back to the other dog.
“How long have you worked here?” Ian asked curiously.
“Oh . . . I’m not sure . . . six months or so . . . I’m not so good with time.”
“We must have just missed each other for the past two weeks,” Ian said. “Kristy said you were really go with the injured animals.” He glanced at the injured dog in question with a vaguely professional eye, then offered Benjamin a bright smile. “She was right. Usually they aren’t all that happy about being handled if they’re hurt.”
Benjamin blinked at him for a few moments with his usual blank expression. “I couldn’t come for the last couple weeks. Zachariah wasn’t here to walk with me.”
Ian blinked back, which he seemed to be doing a lot of, thinking that Benjamin was so nonlinear that it almost hurt. After a few moments, what he had actually said set in, and Ian blurted out, “Who’s Zachariah and why does he have to walk you here?” He realized that he had been rather rude. “I’m sorry. That was rude of me.” He continued to blink at Benjamin, confused, because Benjamin certainly looked old enough to walk himself, and he didn’t strike as stupid, just strange.
“Why was it rude? You wanted the answer, so you asked the question.” Benjamin shrugged, but didn’t give him a chance to reply. “Zachariah stays with me, and he walks with me here. I can’t on my own.”
“Oh.” Ian tried to think of a reply. “You know, you’re a little strange.”
Benjamin thought about this. “That might be the nicest term that’s been applied to me in the last seven years.”
Ian decided to change the subject; if Benjamin didn’t have to stay on one topic, then neither did he. “I was going to take these guys out for a walk. Want to help? Sadie would be happier with you anyway.”
“I don’t go out on my own,” Benjamin said.
“Why not? If you don’t mind my asking.”
Benjamin shrugged. “Zachariah walks me places.”
“So you aren’t allowed to go out on your own?” Ian asked skeptically, wondering if he would get to meet this Zachariah character, and whether or not he was as big of a jerk as he sounded like.
Benjamin thought about it seriously, then shook his head. “It’s not what you think.”
“Are you sure?”
Benjamin blinked, confused. “Maybe. What do you think it is?”
Ian decided to try being blunt. “I think that you look old enough to be able to decide were you go.”
There was a pause. Benjamin nodded. “I do. If I decided to go out and walk the dogs, I could. I just have to go with him, that’s all.” He stated this as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“So he’s your baby-sitter?” Ian asked skeptically.
Benjamin frowned, then shook his head. “You’re making this into something bad,” he protested, starting to sound distressed.
“Well, he doesn’t sound very nice to me,” Ian said, wondering if he would have to kick someone’s head in. “I’m allowed to do things on my own and you’re older than me, which means you should be allowed to too.”
“I am allowed. He wants me to do things. I just . . .” Benjamin looked away. “I just don’t go places without him, that’s all. I don’t . . . I don’t do so well on my own.”
Ian sat down next to him, smoothing down Max’s fur. He was beginning to realize that there was something seriously wrong with Benjamin, other than the obvious mental flazoolies. “Why not?”
Before Benjamin could answer, the door opened and the object of their previous discussion walked in. Zachariah did a careful check to make sure that no furries were escaping out the door, then gave Benjamin one of his famous smiles. “Hi, Benjamin.”
Ian watched in a bit of surprise as Benjamin brightened visibly. “Hi, Zachariah.”
“How was everything today?” Zachariah asked, then caught sight of Ian and gave Benjamin a questioning look.
“It’s okay.” There was a brief pause, then Benjamin realized that Zachariah was waiting for an explanation. “This is Ian. His dog is magic, and he doesn’t like you. I mean, Ian doesn’t. Not his dog. Although his dog might not either.”
Zachariah’s questioning look shifted to Ian, who looked like he had been hit by a board. “I - uh - that is - ”
His stammering was cut off by another one of Zachariah’s warm smiles, as he held out a hand for Ian to shake. Ian did so, then bowed deeply, wondering why he had the urge to apologize profusely for thinking badly of the man standing before him. Once he was there, he understood Benjamin’s fierce denials - it was almost impossible to think badly of Zachariah, as he radiated such a simple sense of goodness.
Although he had to wonder, what about Benjamin was so vulnerable, if he honestly could not go anywhere without Zachariah’s protection?
“This is Zachariah,” Benjamin said, then added matter-of-factly, “You see why the bad thoughts were wrong?”
“Sorry!” Ian squeaked.
Zachariah laughed. “Whatever it was, don’t worry about it, honestly.” He smiled at Ian. “I take it this is your first time meeting Benjamin?”
Ian nodded, and Benjamin blinked up at Zachariah, leaning against the older man and letting most of his weight be supported by him. “They warned him that I’m slow,” he said, sounding a little dispirited.
Zachariah looked like his feathers had been ruffled the wrong way, so Ian tried to reassure them. “I wouldn’t have called you slow.”
“I didn’t say you did,” Benjamin replied. “I said they did.”
“I know. I was just telling you that I didn’t think you were slow.”
“I know that,” Benjamin said.
Zachariah laughed. “Benjamin, sometimes you are so . . . literal.”
“Am I not supposed to be?” Benjamin asked, then added somewhat piteously, “I don’t even understand why he didn’t like you.”
“What did you tell him?” Zachariah asked patiently, as Ian shuffled a little, looking embarrassed.
“Just about how I couldn’t go anywhere without you, and if we wanted to walk the dogs, it had to wait until you got here.”
“Ah,” Zachariah said. “I understand.”
“Well, I don’t. Is it not good that you protect me?”
Zachariah tried to think of a way to explain it, hoping that Benjamin wouldn’t get into one of his funks about how he hated needing to be protected all the time, or even worse, one of his funks about how Zachariah was too good to him and spent too much time on someone as worthless as he was. “Often a situation like you described isn’t a good thing. It doesn’t sound so much like I’m protecting you and more like . . . I’m telling you what you are and are not allowed to do.”
Benjamin thought about this. “But that’s not what I said. If you told me what I was and wasn’t allowed to do, that’s what I would have said.”
Zachariah gave up on explaining and settled for reassurance. “Don’t worry, I think it’s all straightened out now,” he said, and Ian nodded vigorously.
“I don’t like it when people don’t like you,” Benjamin said, sounding almost mournful.
Zachariah hugged him. “I know, but it’s bound to happen from time to time. Not everyone can like me.”
“Everyone should,” Benjamin said fiercely.
Zachariah smiled. “That is entirely a matter of opinion,” he said, and Benjamin made a face at him.
“So do you come here a lot?” Ian asked, hastily changing the subject.
“Oh . . . I’m here a lot of days,” Benjamin said, seemingly unaware of the total uselessness of that statement.
Zachariah added, “Usually Monday through Thursday.”
Ian smiled at Benjamin. He found himself liking the other man, despite the fact that he was utterly confusing. “Then we should see each other at least twice a week. I’m here every Monday and Wednesday, sometimes Thursdays too.”
“Okay.” Benjamin looked up at Zachariah. “I made a friend,” he said, sounding a little puzzled by this.
Zachariah just smiled. “Yes, you did.”
Ta da!
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Story Prize #1
For: Amaranthe424
Request: Benjamin and Ian at the humane society
Author’s Notes: This takes place probably about a year before the story starts. At this point, Benjamin has been free from Edmund for about three years, and has been going to the humane society on a regular basis as a volunteer for about six months. Ian is fifteen, which makes Jack about four, and has started going to the humane society about two weeks previous.
When Karasu and I sat down to write this, we basically had no idea what was going to happen, we just tossed them together to see how they’d interact, and this is what came out.
Ian walked into the humane society at about three in the afternoon, coming over straight after school as was his habit. Jack, who waited outside the school for him every day, padded along at his heels. He enjoyed going to the humane society and working with the animals; it broke up some of the monotony of his days, particularly when his elusive father was nowhere to be seen.
Kristy, one of the employees who worked there every day, was cleaning up in the front. She looked up as he came in, and greeted him with a friendly smile. “Hi, Ian. How’s it going?”
“I’m good,” Ian said with a smile. The young women at the humane society were very fond of him; he was polite and courteous to a fault, and they could all tell how handsome he was going to be once he’d gotten a little older. Jack nosed around the room, sniffing at Kristy’s knee before venturing on to other areas of the room. “How are you?”
“Pretty good. You want to feed the dogs? I haven’t had a chance to do it yet.”
“Sure,” Ian said. Since dogs were his favorite animals, they tried to let him take care of them whenever he was there. “I could take some of them out for walks later too, if you wanted.”
“That’d be great,” Kristy said. Ian turned to go into the other room, but Kristy called after him. “Oh, one thing. Ah . . . have you met Benjamin yet?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Ian said, turning back slightly to face her.
“Okay,” Kristy said. “Well, he’s in there now with one of the dogs, who has a hurt paw. He’s great with the animals who are hurt or abused, but he’s, ah . . . a little on the slow side, if you get what I mean.”
Ian nodded again, not particularly bothered by this. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said politely, and turned to go with Jack right on his heels. He walked into the other room to see a young man sitting at the table with a dachshund on the table in front of him, tending to its paw. He looked to be in his early twenties, although something about him gave off the impression of being somehow younger than that.
“Shush, Max,” he was saying as Ian came in. He didn’t look up to see who it was. “It’s okay.”
Ian gave him a curious look, noting the magic that practically radiated off of him. His aura was highly magical, which was rarely seen in humans, but not the demonic aura he had gotten used to sensing while on jobs with his father. He walked the rest of the way in, purposely making a little more noise than he usually did so as to not startle him. “Hi.”
Benjamin jerked a little, then looked up at Ian, blinking a few times. “You’re new,” he stated.
Ian blinked back. “Well, not really,” he said, trying to ignore Jack as he sniffed at Benjamin’s hand and gave him a running report on how interesting Benjamin smelled, sort of like feathers, but with an undertone of blood. “I’ve been coming here for the past few weeks. Taking care of the dogs mostly.”
Benjamin appeared to give this serious thought for a moment, before nodding. “They like you,” he stated, holding his hand out for Jack to sniff. The dog sneezed, and Benjamin wrinkled his nose.
“Well, they act like they like me at least. Most of them. She,” he added, pointing to a young chocolate Labrador down near the end, “doesn’t like men, but hey, I’m not sure I can blame her.” He gave Benjamin a curious look, already thinking that ‘crazy’ might be a better word for him than ‘slow.’
Benjamin blinked at the dog in question. “Aw, Sadie? She doesn’t not like men.” He finished wrapping Max’s paw, then wandered over to the dog and picked her up, cuddling her close. Sadie whined a little pathetically, then settled in his grip.
“Well, she doesn’t like me,” Ian said, although he wasn’t particularly annoyed about this, remembering what Kristy had said about Benjamin getting along with animals who were hurt or abused.
“She just doesn’t know how to trust, that’s all.” Benjamin spoke a few low words into Sadie’s ear, then held her out to Ian. “Here,” he said, holding out a relatively docile Sadie. Ian and Jack both gave Benjamin a skeptical look, but then Ian took Sadie, if only to humor Benjamin. Sadie remained calm for about thirty seconds before starting to squirm and whine to go back to Benjamin. He reached out and took her back. “She’s a good dog,” he said, rather tangentially.
“I never said she wasn’t,” Ian said, getting out the dog food and the stack of dishes in one of the cupboards. “Most of the dogs here are.”
Benjamin blinked, then shrugged, then knelt down in front of Jack, regarding him seriously. “Hi,” he said. Jack regarded him with just as much seriousness, remarking to his owner that Benjamin was very strange. Benjamin reached out and scratched Jack behind the ears, which he seemed to enjoy. “He’s a good dog,” Benjamin said, but seemed to be pouting. “He’s very yours.”
Jack lay down with a sigh, and Ian got the distinct impression that Benjamin was somewhat put out by the fact that Jack hadn’t taken to him at first sight the way most dogs apparently did. “He was a gift from my mother three years ago,” he said.
Benjamin nodded and went back to the other dog.
“How long have you worked here?” Ian asked curiously.
“Oh . . . I’m not sure . . . six months or so . . . I’m not so good with time.”
“We must have just missed each other for the past two weeks,” Ian said. “Kristy said you were really go with the injured animals.” He glanced at the injured dog in question with a vaguely professional eye, then offered Benjamin a bright smile. “She was right. Usually they aren’t all that happy about being handled if they’re hurt.”
Benjamin blinked at him for a few moments with his usual blank expression. “I couldn’t come for the last couple weeks. Zachariah wasn’t here to walk with me.”
Ian blinked back, which he seemed to be doing a lot of, thinking that Benjamin was so nonlinear that it almost hurt. After a few moments, what he had actually said set in, and Ian blurted out, “Who’s Zachariah and why does he have to walk you here?” He realized that he had been rather rude. “I’m sorry. That was rude of me.” He continued to blink at Benjamin, confused, because Benjamin certainly looked old enough to walk himself, and he didn’t strike as stupid, just strange.
“Why was it rude? You wanted the answer, so you asked the question.” Benjamin shrugged, but didn’t give him a chance to reply. “Zachariah stays with me, and he walks with me here. I can’t on my own.”
“Oh.” Ian tried to think of a reply. “You know, you’re a little strange.”
Benjamin thought about this. “That might be the nicest term that’s been applied to me in the last seven years.”
Ian decided to change the subject; if Benjamin didn’t have to stay on one topic, then neither did he. “I was going to take these guys out for a walk. Want to help? Sadie would be happier with you anyway.”
“I don’t go out on my own,” Benjamin said.
“Why not? If you don’t mind my asking.”
Benjamin shrugged. “Zachariah walks me places.”
“So you aren’t allowed to go out on your own?” Ian asked skeptically, wondering if he would get to meet this Zachariah character, and whether or not he was as big of a jerk as he sounded like.
Benjamin thought about it seriously, then shook his head. “It’s not what you think.”
“Are you sure?”
Benjamin blinked, confused. “Maybe. What do you think it is?”
Ian decided to try being blunt. “I think that you look old enough to be able to decide were you go.”
There was a pause. Benjamin nodded. “I do. If I decided to go out and walk the dogs, I could. I just have to go with him, that’s all.” He stated this as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“So he’s your baby-sitter?” Ian asked skeptically.
Benjamin frowned, then shook his head. “You’re making this into something bad,” he protested, starting to sound distressed.
“Well, he doesn’t sound very nice to me,” Ian said, wondering if he would have to kick someone’s head in. “I’m allowed to do things on my own and you’re older than me, which means you should be allowed to too.”
“I am allowed. He wants me to do things. I just . . .” Benjamin looked away. “I just don’t go places without him, that’s all. I don’t . . . I don’t do so well on my own.”
Ian sat down next to him, smoothing down Max’s fur. He was beginning to realize that there was something seriously wrong with Benjamin, other than the obvious mental flazoolies. “Why not?”
Before Benjamin could answer, the door opened and the object of their previous discussion walked in. Zachariah did a careful check to make sure that no furries were escaping out the door, then gave Benjamin one of his famous smiles. “Hi, Benjamin.”
Ian watched in a bit of surprise as Benjamin brightened visibly. “Hi, Zachariah.”
“How was everything today?” Zachariah asked, then caught sight of Ian and gave Benjamin a questioning look.
“It’s okay.” There was a brief pause, then Benjamin realized that Zachariah was waiting for an explanation. “This is Ian. His dog is magic, and he doesn’t like you. I mean, Ian doesn’t. Not his dog. Although his dog might not either.”
Zachariah’s questioning look shifted to Ian, who looked like he had been hit by a board. “I - uh - that is - ”
His stammering was cut off by another one of Zachariah’s warm smiles, as he held out a hand for Ian to shake. Ian did so, then bowed deeply, wondering why he had the urge to apologize profusely for thinking badly of the man standing before him. Once he was there, he understood Benjamin’s fierce denials - it was almost impossible to think badly of Zachariah, as he radiated such a simple sense of goodness.
Although he had to wonder, what about Benjamin was so vulnerable, if he honestly could not go anywhere without Zachariah’s protection?
“This is Zachariah,” Benjamin said, then added matter-of-factly, “You see why the bad thoughts were wrong?”
“Sorry!” Ian squeaked.
Zachariah laughed. “Whatever it was, don’t worry about it, honestly.” He smiled at Ian. “I take it this is your first time meeting Benjamin?”
Ian nodded, and Benjamin blinked up at Zachariah, leaning against the older man and letting most of his weight be supported by him. “They warned him that I’m slow,” he said, sounding a little dispirited.
Zachariah looked like his feathers had been ruffled the wrong way, so Ian tried to reassure them. “I wouldn’t have called you slow.”
“I didn’t say you did,” Benjamin replied. “I said they did.”
“I know. I was just telling you that I didn’t think you were slow.”
“I know that,” Benjamin said.
Zachariah laughed. “Benjamin, sometimes you are so . . . literal.”
“Am I not supposed to be?” Benjamin asked, then added somewhat piteously, “I don’t even understand why he didn’t like you.”
“What did you tell him?” Zachariah asked patiently, as Ian shuffled a little, looking embarrassed.
“Just about how I couldn’t go anywhere without you, and if we wanted to walk the dogs, it had to wait until you got here.”
“Ah,” Zachariah said. “I understand.”
“Well, I don’t. Is it not good that you protect me?”
Zachariah tried to think of a way to explain it, hoping that Benjamin wouldn’t get into one of his funks about how he hated needing to be protected all the time, or even worse, one of his funks about how Zachariah was too good to him and spent too much time on someone as worthless as he was. “Often a situation like you described isn’t a good thing. It doesn’t sound so much like I’m protecting you and more like . . . I’m telling you what you are and are not allowed to do.”
Benjamin thought about this. “But that’s not what I said. If you told me what I was and wasn’t allowed to do, that’s what I would have said.”
Zachariah gave up on explaining and settled for reassurance. “Don’t worry, I think it’s all straightened out now,” he said, and Ian nodded vigorously.
“I don’t like it when people don’t like you,” Benjamin said, sounding almost mournful.
Zachariah hugged him. “I know, but it’s bound to happen from time to time. Not everyone can like me.”
“Everyone should,” Benjamin said fiercely.
Zachariah smiled. “That is entirely a matter of opinion,” he said, and Benjamin made a face at him.
“So do you come here a lot?” Ian asked, hastily changing the subject.
“Oh . . . I’m here a lot of days,” Benjamin said, seemingly unaware of the total uselessness of that statement.
Zachariah added, “Usually Monday through Thursday.”
Ian smiled at Benjamin. He found himself liking the other man, despite the fact that he was utterly confusing. “Then we should see each other at least twice a week. I’m here every Monday and Wednesday, sometimes Thursdays too.”
“Okay.” Benjamin looked up at Zachariah. “I made a friend,” he said, sounding a little puzzled by this.
Zachariah just smiled. “Yes, you did.”
Ta da!