No Event | BYOA

[iustiviri]

Being here long enough one learns the ins and outs of how this weird, fucked up place works. The people it brings in and the people it takes away just as keenly, as if they were never here in the first place. Just like hearing about Sam being in this place yet he'd never run into him. Ran into all sorts of people in a large place like this, and

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[noturvessel]

It hurt, tht lack of recognition, even of he'd expected it, even if he'd known better than to expect it. How could it not? He always thought about Dean, about what he'd think, what he'd do, even so many years later he still adored the man. He could say that becoming a hunter had nothing to do with Dean, but honestly that was bullshit.

"Oh, uh, yeah."

He smiled, shrugged his shoulders and tried to seem casual. Part of the problem was that he wasn't sure exactly sure when Dean was from. For all he knew it could be before they even met. He took a breath and opted for the first time they met. It was his best bet, under the circumstances, really.

"You saved me and my mother from the changelings, and, uhm, helped me get my DS back from some jerks. Ben, Braeden? My mother's Lisa."

He was watching Dean, teeth biting slightly at his bottom lip as he watched to see if that sparked anything, a memory, realization, or if it was a rather sad joke: getting to see Dean again, but having him not know him at all. It would be just his luck.

[iustiviri]

It took a few moments, shuffling through his memories before he snapped and pointed at the kid, grinning. "Yeah! I remember now. You did really good back then, I was impressed." The hunter replied with an easy grin, looking the kid over to see just how much he'd changed over the years. Still, it made him uneasy that Ben was even here in the first place. "How is your mom? I mean, you know, before you got dragged here."

He paused a moment, grin morphing into a frown. "How long have you been here, anyway?" Dean hoped it wasn't long, hoped the kid hadn't gone through or seen anything too terrible, cause as of now the kid was sticking with him. He felt a weird sense of responsibility toward Ben, just as he had back then.

[noturvessel]

Ben smiled at the recognition, at the praise. He wasn't sure how Dean would take to the revelation that Ben had gone hunter, but he was trying to keep it as quiet as he could manage for the moment.

"She was doing good the last time I saw her."

Ben shrugs his shoulders. With everything that was going on, he kept in touch but wasn't exactly living from home these days. And Hell, he's not even sure how long it's been with all the journeys through time he's been on. A week, a month, no time at all? No way to know for sure. He was worried about her, truthfully. Part of the reason he didn't go home much was trying to keep her from knowing about what was out there. She didn't remember. Ben most of the time thought that was for the best.

"Not long... pretty much just got here. Where is here, anyway? Some kind of fancy hotel, right?"

Yeah, he was that new. He hadn't been treated to any of the hotel's tricks, aside from the fact that it seemed rather hard to get around. But, he'd run into Dean, so it didn't seem like too awful of a place. Yet, anyway?

[iustiviri]

Raising a brow, his frowned deepened, "Last you saw her? You don't keep in touch?" Dean asked, curious as well. "You head to college out of state or somethin'?" Because that was the first place his mind went to for why Ben wouldn't be talking or seeing Lisa. Because Ben was around that age when he'd be wanting to head out and do his own thing, just like Sammy had when he'd been that age. Perhaps she didn't want him leaving the state, wanted to keep him close with what she knew was out there now, well some of it at least.

Thank god, he couldn't help but think. "Something like that, yeah." Dean debated whether or not to tell the kid the truth, but lying about where they were would likely just come back to bite him in the ass -- and he knew if it was him, he'd want to know. "We're in a love hotel. Something or someone brought us here and is refusing to let us go. I've been here a few months myself and have yet to find a way out."

And wasn't that a bitch. Every time he thought he was getting close, the hotel would up and move him over night, putting him further back than where he started.

[noturvessel]

"Been out of state, yeah."

It wasn't a lie, and Ben planned on telling Dean, when it seemed like the right time. Most of all he was just a little bit worried that Dean would blame himself. That Ben should have had a normal life or something like that. He'd never wanted a normal life, he'd just wanted a life where Dean was in it. And hunting... even with all the crap that went with it, he'd always felt closer to Dean out on the road.

"Love hotel? Like a... oh. Wow. Well, I guess it beats the freakin' zombie apocalypse."

Comparatively, it seemed like it should be a walk in the fucking park, den if Ben was a little bit less sexually initiated than most boys his age. He wasn't a virgin, knew enough to know he wasn't really into girls. Of course, the idea that Dean hadn't been able to find a way out in several months time was a little bit daunting. He shook his head, raked his fingers through his hair, there was this vague feeling he was starting to get that the love hotel might not be quite as sweet as it sounded.

[iustiviri]

A small nod showed he understood, at least what Ben was telling him anyway and he had no indication to think the kid was lying, so he left it at that. He snorted softly though, lips quirking into a little grin. "Definitely better than any apocalypse, that's for damn sure."

He watched the teen for a few moments, then shook his head. "Well, stick with me kid and you'll be just fine. I won't let anything happen to you." Well, he'd try at the very least. He new damn well if the hotel wanted something, it got it. He'd just have to try his best to protect the kid from that, too. Though how, exactly, he wasn't that sure.

"C'mon, let's get out of the hallway. The less out in the open we are, the better."

[noturvessel]

"Really? This place that bad?"

Bed questioned with a lift of an eyebrow, tilting his head as he looked at Dean. He moved closer, waiting for Dean to lead. Hell knows that Ben hadn't the foggiest which way anything was. There'd been some sort of restaurant he'd passed earlier, but he wasn't even sure which way he was supposed to go to get back to it. This place confused him. He wondered if it got easier with time... It was starting to sound like he might be here a while.

That should have been terrifying. But, frankly? The way things were in his own timeline weren't so great. As much as he felt a responsibility to get back, at least for the moment, being here with Dean was nicer. He grinned, eyed Dean with his green eyes.

"Got someplace in mind?"

[iustiviri]

"It can be, yeah. There are other people here, not all of them good either, not to mention whatever the hotel feels like conjuring up." Just last week he'd walked into a room where all the foliage was alive and moving, trapping several people. He'd tried getting them out but was almost taken in himself. He felt guilty, of course (not that they seemed to be in any sort of pain, quite the opposite really) but he wasn't good to anyone dead or tied up.

"Two floors down I got a room I've been holed up in, we'll go there." Oddly enough it's the ony room that doesn't change. It's always on the same floor. The only thing he can figure as that the hotel deems it as 'his' and leaves it alone. Anything he puts in it stays, so he'd taken to finding food, bottled water, extra clothes he'd come across in there as well.

[noturvessel]

"Well, lead on," Ben quips with a smile as he falls into step with Dean. He got that this place was scary, not what it seemed on the outside, but it still seemed an improvement over where he'd been last. Okay, sure, having Cas get him high had been fun, but having to deal with Dean as an asshole and zombies and watching people come, people die, even in the fairly short amount of time he'd been there. This was... alright, so far, for a seemingly possessed evil hotel.

He idly wondered if it tried to force people into having sex. That was a rather uncomfortable thought. Not that Ben didn't think about sex with the regularity of any teenaged boy, (read: all the time) but being forced into it my some creepfest architectural horror was all sorts of bad news. He really was all for getting out, but he wasn't sure what he could offer to that plan that Dean wouldn't have already tried.

"The food good, at least?"

[iustiviri]

Heading down the hall, he opted for the stairwell over the elevator, not liking small enclosed spaces. Pushing the door open he held it open for Ben, then trotted down the stairs, head down the second flight once they hit the landing of the next floor. "It's actually pretty good, though you gotta be careful. Sometimes the food is laced with.. I don't know, some kind of drug. I've gotten better at sniffing it out but.. sometimes it doesn't work."

Hitting the second landing, Dean pulled open the door and exited into the hallway, then took a left and continued on. He stopped in front of a door that had Enochian carved into it to keep him and his stash safe, and pulling a keycard from his pocket he opened the door and ushered the kid inside before following and locking the door behind them, then pocketed the key.

The room itself was fairly large, a suite with a little kitchenette and a full bath off to the side. It was actually really nice and Dean had been pretty surprised the rooms were this nice. There was only one bed though, as he hadn't been expecting company. "There's food in the fridge and freezer, all of it's safe. Water and soda too, so help yourself."

[noturvessel]

Ben followed after Dean, keeping pace with him fairly easily as they made their way down the staircase. More than willing to follow along after Dean for the moment. When it came to Dean, that was often his response, except on those few times they'd clashed, usually over Dean being so set on Ben being normal. Here at least, there wasn't quite the same level of responsibility - Ben was already pretty far off the plan for normal. He carried a gun loaded with iron rounds, and had a few capsules of salt in his pocket for emergencies. It wouldn't do much, but it could buy a few seconds, and sometimes that made a difference.

He followed Dean into the room and stared as he looked around.

"Wow. This place is actually.. really nice."

Then he grinned, wide smile, a bright glint in his eyes at the mention of soda. He'd been living the zombie apocalypse the past couple of weeks and they hadn't exactly had cans of coke stashed in with the canned rations. Excuse his manners, but he was already grabbing himself a soda, looking to Dean.

"I haven't had soda in weeks. You want one too?"

[iustiviri]

Plopping himself down onto the edge of the bed, he bent over to begin unlacing his shoes though looked up at the question. "Sure, I'll take one." Though sadly he wouldn't be able to mix his jack with it, for now at least. Tugging off his shoes he tossed them to the side. "Really? That bad in college?" He asked, grinning a little as he stood to head over and take the proffered soda, then grabbed an energy bar from the cabinet, something to tide him over until he decided what to make for dinner.

Moving back over to the bed, he sat back against the headboard and popped the tab on the can, taking a few gulps from it, then tore open the energy bar and took a bite. "So, what sort of courses are you taking?" Dean asked, still under the assumption the kid was in college.

[noturvessel]

He watched Dean as he took the soda Ben held up in offering, grabbing an energy bar and then moving over to the bed. He shrugged as he popped open his own can, it hissed faintly and he took a sip. Sweet and carbonated an it spilled sweetly against the back of his throat. Oh, the simple pleasures in life. He eyed Dean, and he decided he had to tell him. He couldn't lie to him. A bit of evasiveness when they'd been standing in the hallway was one thing. Now...

He carefully moved to the edge of the bed, looking like he wasn't exactly sure how well Dean was going to take this. Which he wasn't. After the Apocalypse, Dean had been pretty set on keeping Ben away from anything remotely related to Hunting.

"I'm not in college. I've been.. hunting things."

Bottom lip between his teeth, watching Dean carefully. He really, really hoped Dean wasn't too upset at him. Hell, he'd tried to be normal, he really had. Trying to do what Dean wanted, maybe become a doctor or something and save people that way. Then end of junior year in high school there'd been a dare, some kids that were supposed to stay overnight at the 'haunted' place just barely on the edge of the next town. No one had wanted to listen when he'd said that if it was supposed to be haunted maybe they should stay the hell away.

He'd gone to 'make sure no one chickened out', but he'd gone prepared. And it had been ghosts, of course. He'd managed to get everyone out alive, salted and burned the body, and told his mother nothing had happened. Lisa didn't remember that these things were real, didn't remember being possessed. He'd promised Castiel he wouldn't tell her.

He was going to hold that thought on mentioning alternate universes just yet until he figured out how pissed Dean was.

[iustiviri]

Dean was halfway through a bite of his energy bar when Ben told him. He paused, finished chewing and swallowed, then simply looked at the kid in surprise. A well of guilt rushed through him knowing this and he could tell just by looking at the kid that he wasn't lying about this and he knew exactly to which hunting Ben was referring to. Of course he would feel as if it were his fault, that he brought them into this gruesome world.

"Aw, Ben. Goddammit." Dean muttered, setting both his soda and the rest of he bar on his bed as he ran his hands over his face and through his hair. He didn't sound angry, in the least but perhaps disappointed -- though more in himself than Ben. Because it wasn't Ben's fault he was dragged into this. It was his. If he hadn't wanted to go to Cicero, none of this would have happened. Sure, there'd been a freak death or two but that hadn't meant there was anything on there level.

There had been, of course, but neither had known it until they'd gotten there and stared to investigate. To which his first idea had been to see Lisa, which introduced him tot he kid when he'd been younger. And that's all it took apparently, just meeting him. "I'm sorry, kid. I really am. This sort life... it's not something I would ever want for you, for either of you."

[noturvessel]

"It's not your fault. I mean, you tried to keep me out of this stuff. Wasn't really that bad until the angels and crap."

He looked at Dean, feeling a little awkward. He didn't want Dean to feel bad about it, like it was his fault. It wasn't like he could say it was roses and dandelions. It was hard work, he'd been hurt, he'd watched people die, he'd watched people die because he wasn't Dean and didn't know enough to save them. That hurt more than anything else, really.

"It just happened, and I felt like I had to keep saving people. It's not your fault, Dean. 'Sides, we would have been changeling food without you, anyway."

[iustiviri]

Logically he knew that was true, that there had been a case there and if they hadn't looked further into the killings they wouldn't have found it. But the only reason he'd gone there anyway was to hook up with Lisa. Well, before he knew she had a kid. Not that having a kid still didn't make her hot or anything. Whoa, wait, angels?

"Angels? How the hell do you know about them?" Dean asked, sitting up some as that had definitely gotten his attention. "Do you mean Cas? Or the other douchebag angels?" Because if the kid knew who Cas was... Jesus, he didn't think he wanted to know what the kid got himself mixed up in.