In Which Ben returns to school and meets his new roommate...
It was two weeks after Ben had come back from the djinn, and he knew that he was being clingy. Dean had better things to do than watch out for his mentally challenged kid, and Ben wanted to get back to some kind of normalcy. Something that didn't remind him of his alternative life on a consistent basis. And so he decided to go back to Stanford after Sam and Ruby's wedding was over.
He talked to the Dean and Admissions office, who were both sympathetic on his family emergency of his uncle's horrific accident, and since his semester was already paid in full, he could come back as long as he felt he could catch up on his work. Ben felt confident, and could hire a tutor if he needed, so he made arrangements to return to Stanford and pick up where he left off the day Seraphael snatched him. Luckily, spring break was just ending so he wouldn't have missed too much.
The campus was a welcome site as he and Anna carried his few things to his dorm suite. "It's like nothing changed here. Exactly how I remember it. It's kinda comforting..." he told her softly as the reached the building.
Anna wasn't planning on leaving Ben alone for a while. It was more paranoia than anything else, considering the last time she left him to do his own thing, he got grabbed by a djinn. She wasn't looking for that to happen again, at least not on her watch. Shifting the bag over her shoulder, she leaned in to him a bit with a smile. "Maybe getting back into the swing of things will be easier than you think."
"I hope so. I'm going to be curious on if all the things I knew about engineering in my head were real or not. If it was, then I'm going to be a boy genius." He smiled a bit, pulling out his keys and opening the door. Hopefully his roommates hadn't sold his stuff for beer money.
Anna waited for him to open the door before nodding. "The easier things go the better, right?"
Usually, Jessie didn't do the whole roommates, shared living space thing. He liked to be on his own, just in case something went... freaky. Yet, when he decided to actually try college, he also decided to do the dorm room, shared living thing. So far, it wasn't bad. Stanford had some really good dorms, which he sort of expected for a place this expensive. He was having to steal more money than he usually was comfortable with. There was no noise on the local news about money going missing though and like usual everything was working out in his favor. His roomie wasn't bad either. The one that was around was a nice guy and didn't bother Jessie when he did his whole headphones and glower thing. It was working out nice, real nice.
The door opening caught his attention for a second, making him look up from his bowl of Trix. "Dude, I thought you had that study group thing? You decide to skip and get your ass kicked in Halo again?"
Ben stood in the doorway and blinked at the new voice. It wasn't Mitch or Ben. He quickly did a double take on the room number - no, his key had worked so he was in the right room - and then at the three bedrooms. Mitch's door decorations were different. "Sorry, wrong Ben. I wasn't told we had a new roommate..."
Anna just stayed quiet, waiting for the new guy to introduce himself. This wasn't her conversation, so she wasn't going to butt in. At least not yet.
"Yeah, hey, you're the other guy." Jessie set his bowl down and got to his feet. He looked like a typical surfer dude, baggy shorts, band t-shirt and a sea shell necklace. He made his way to the door and held out a hand. "I'm Jessie, the other guy bailed on you guys and I took his spot. I think he got an apartment or something."
"Nice to meet you, Jessie. I'm Ben, and this is my girlfriend, Anna." Ben smiled easily and shook his hand, then moved aside a bit so Anna could come into the room. Someone new. This was good, because Jessie didn't exist in the other world in his head. It would help with the separation. Though he was getting a strange vibe off the new guy. But he wasn't about to open up his powers and play with them right now. It wasn't cool to just "read" his roommates without good reason.
Anna gave a bit of a wave, before shifting the bag on her shoulder. "Hi." Then she turned back to Ben for a minute. "I'm gonna go drop this in your room."
Jessie smiled charmingly at Anna. She was pretty hot. His attention, though, went to the guy shaking his hand. Ben. "Nice to meet you too, man. So, yeah, the other roomie's out for the day. You and your girl going to stick around or take off too?"
"We're probably just going to stick around in my room. Anna's going to end up staying a few days. She became friends with Mitch and Ben and they didn't mind. Is that ok with you? I... my classes don't start back up until tomorrow and I probably should try and catch back up studying."
"It doesn't bother me." Jessie shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I can always hide in my room if you guys need a little privacy."
"Cool. And don't worry, we're pretty good at being respectful for everyone else. It's your place too, now, after all." He looked over at the game system. "You guys got an X-Box while I was gone. Damn, I've missed a lot."
Jessie grinned. "X-Box 360 man, a PS3 and a Wii. I got it all. You play?"
"Not in awhile, though Anna's got friends who I've kicked ass against in guitar hero. I tend to play pool."
"Pool's not bad, good way to go out with friends." He looked around the dorm room. "Too bad this place is too small for one."
"I already tried to find one. No dice. Can't even fit a decent poker table in here either." Since he was still standing in the doorway, Ben actually went the rest of the way in and put his bag down on the ground. "The student center's one is alright, but it's just a bit off balance. Great thing to know when trying to score money off drunk jocks and preppies."
Jessie made a mental note to try that the next time he was hanging out in the student center. He ducked around Ben to grab his cereal and went back to eating while he talked with the guy. "Sounds like fun. You like to go out, party and stuff?"
"Not much. Hang with the guys, watch movies while having a few... not into the club scene though. Too much noise." Both physically and psychically. "I'm taking it you're here for the beach." Ben walked towards his room and kicked his bag outside the door.
He shrugged. Jessie liked clubbing, but only in big cities. Miami had a great club scene. Not as a good as New York though. Still, he wasn't going to share those globe trotting tips with his new roomie who would probable ask a lot of uncomfortable questions. "Yeah, man, I love to surf. You surf? I got a second board you can borrow."
"I tried once when I got here. Nearly broke my neck. I don't think Anna would appreciate me as much without feeling below my shoulders, you know." He smirked just a bit.
"Yeah, yeah, that'll wreck a relationship fast." Jessie laughed. "You two pretty serious?"
"Over two years now." Sure, the first year was being just friends, but Jessie didn't need to know that. "You got someone?"
"Not right now." Not really ever. It was too big of a risk, what with being the anti-Christ and all. Again, something his roomie didn't need to know.
"Well, each their own. Just have to wait for the right one." He looked towards the door of his room. "And speaking of which, I should make sure she hasn't started to redecorate my room. Catch you later?"
"I'll be here, man. I've got a raid today anyway." Jessie dropped onto the couch and gestured to his laptop. "We're taking on Oynxia today."
Ben just raised an eyebrow. He had no idea what the hell Jessie was talking about.
"Yeah, don't worry about it man. Just go have fun." He gave a double thumbs up.
Ben snorted and shook his head, then went into his room. "I like him," he said as he closed the door behind him.
"Yeah?" Anna said over her shoulder, glancing back at him as she settled back on the bed. "That's good."
"I think it was right coming back here." He crawled up the bed to sit beside her, pulling her into a hug. "Get some focus back."
"Good," she sighed as she curled in closer to him draping an arm across his chest. "I'm glad."
"And he even says we just have to let him know when we need some privacy," Ben smirked, tickling her just a bit.
She squirmed a little before giving him a look. "Uh-huh. I'm sure you'll take plenty of advantage on that."
"You're the one who's insisting on staying until I'm back into the swing of things. You sleeping up against me is going to have some side effects."
"That so?"
He leaned his head down to kiss her. "Very much so."
She kissed him back, moving her hand up to brush against the side of his face lightly.
Smiling, he pulled her closer. "You realize that I told him he could stay in the main room and that we're respective of the others in the suite..." he muttered, kissing her again.
"Mmmm-hmmm. But I'm not doing anything. Are you?"
"No, but in my head I'm doing something very nice..."
"I'm sure you are."
"You're enjoying it, that's for sure." He smirked in the kiss.
She smirked back at him. "Like that's anything new."
"Maybe I should warn Jessie to turn up the television so I can show you..."
He talked to the Dean and Admissions office, who were both sympathetic on his family emergency of his uncle's horrific accident, and since his semester was already paid in full, he could come back as long as he felt he could catch up on his work. Ben felt confident, and could hire a tutor if he needed, so he made arrangements to return to Stanford and pick up where he left off the day Seraphael snatched him. Luckily, spring break was just ending so he wouldn't have missed too much.
The campus was a welcome site as he and Anna carried his few things to his dorm suite. "It's like nothing changed here. Exactly how I remember it. It's kinda comforting..." he told her softly as the reached the building.
Anna wasn't planning on leaving Ben alone for a while. It was more paranoia than anything else, considering the last time she left him to do his own thing, he got grabbed by a djinn. She wasn't looking for that to happen again, at least not on her watch. Shifting the bag over her shoulder, she leaned in to him a bit with a smile. "Maybe getting back into the swing of things will be easier than you think."
"I hope so. I'm going to be curious on if all the things I knew about engineering in my head were real or not. If it was, then I'm going to be a boy genius." He smiled a bit, pulling out his keys and opening the door. Hopefully his roommates hadn't sold his stuff for beer money.
Anna waited for him to open the door before nodding. "The easier things go the better, right?"
Usually, Jessie didn't do the whole roommates, shared living space thing. He liked to be on his own, just in case something went... freaky. Yet, when he decided to actually try college, he also decided to do the dorm room, shared living thing. So far, it wasn't bad. Stanford had some really good dorms, which he sort of expected for a place this expensive. He was having to steal more money than he usually was comfortable with. There was no noise on the local news about money going missing though and like usual everything was working out in his favor. His roomie wasn't bad either. The one that was around was a nice guy and didn't bother Jessie when he did his whole headphones and glower thing. It was working out nice, real nice.
The door opening caught his attention for a second, making him look up from his bowl of Trix. "Dude, I thought you had that study group thing? You decide to skip and get your ass kicked in Halo again?"
Ben stood in the doorway and blinked at the new voice. It wasn't Mitch or Ben. He quickly did a double take on the room number - no, his key had worked so he was in the right room - and then at the three bedrooms. Mitch's door decorations were different. "Sorry, wrong Ben. I wasn't told we had a new roommate..."
Anna just stayed quiet, waiting for the new guy to introduce himself. This wasn't her conversation, so she wasn't going to butt in. At least not yet.
"Yeah, hey, you're the other guy." Jessie set his bowl down and got to his feet. He looked like a typical surfer dude, baggy shorts, band t-shirt and a sea shell necklace. He made his way to the door and held out a hand. "I'm Jessie, the other guy bailed on you guys and I took his spot. I think he got an apartment or something."
"Nice to meet you, Jessie. I'm Ben, and this is my girlfriend, Anna." Ben smiled easily and shook his hand, then moved aside a bit so Anna could come into the room. Someone new. This was good, because Jessie didn't exist in the other world in his head. It would help with the separation. Though he was getting a strange vibe off the new guy. But he wasn't about to open up his powers and play with them right now. It wasn't cool to just "read" his roommates without good reason.
Anna gave a bit of a wave, before shifting the bag on her shoulder. "Hi." Then she turned back to Ben for a minute. "I'm gonna go drop this in your room."
Jessie smiled charmingly at Anna. She was pretty hot. His attention, though, went to the guy shaking his hand. Ben. "Nice to meet you too, man. So, yeah, the other roomie's out for the day. You and your girl going to stick around or take off too?"
"We're probably just going to stick around in my room. Anna's going to end up staying a few days. She became friends with Mitch and Ben and they didn't mind. Is that ok with you? I... my classes don't start back up until tomorrow and I probably should try and catch back up studying."
"It doesn't bother me." Jessie shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I can always hide in my room if you guys need a little privacy."
"Cool. And don't worry, we're pretty good at being respectful for everyone else. It's your place too, now, after all." He looked over at the game system. "You guys got an X-Box while I was gone. Damn, I've missed a lot."
Jessie grinned. "X-Box 360 man, a PS3 and a Wii. I got it all. You play?"
"Not in awhile, though Anna's got friends who I've kicked ass against in guitar hero. I tend to play pool."
"Pool's not bad, good way to go out with friends." He looked around the dorm room. "Too bad this place is too small for one."
"I already tried to find one. No dice. Can't even fit a decent poker table in here either." Since he was still standing in the doorway, Ben actually went the rest of the way in and put his bag down on the ground. "The student center's one is alright, but it's just a bit off balance. Great thing to know when trying to score money off drunk jocks and preppies."
Jessie made a mental note to try that the next time he was hanging out in the student center. He ducked around Ben to grab his cereal and went back to eating while he talked with the guy. "Sounds like fun. You like to go out, party and stuff?"
"Not much. Hang with the guys, watch movies while having a few... not into the club scene though. Too much noise." Both physically and psychically. "I'm taking it you're here for the beach." Ben walked towards his room and kicked his bag outside the door.
He shrugged. Jessie liked clubbing, but only in big cities. Miami had a great club scene. Not as a good as New York though. Still, he wasn't going to share those globe trotting tips with his new roomie who would probable ask a lot of uncomfortable questions. "Yeah, man, I love to surf. You surf? I got a second board you can borrow."
"I tried once when I got here. Nearly broke my neck. I don't think Anna would appreciate me as much without feeling below my shoulders, you know." He smirked just a bit.
"Yeah, yeah, that'll wreck a relationship fast." Jessie laughed. "You two pretty serious?"
"Over two years now." Sure, the first year was being just friends, but Jessie didn't need to know that. "You got someone?"
"Not right now." Not really ever. It was too big of a risk, what with being the anti-Christ and all. Again, something his roomie didn't need to know.
"Well, each their own. Just have to wait for the right one." He looked towards the door of his room. "And speaking of which, I should make sure she hasn't started to redecorate my room. Catch you later?"
"I'll be here, man. I've got a raid today anyway." Jessie dropped onto the couch and gestured to his laptop. "We're taking on Oynxia today."
Ben just raised an eyebrow. He had no idea what the hell Jessie was talking about.
"Yeah, don't worry about it man. Just go have fun." He gave a double thumbs up.
Ben snorted and shook his head, then went into his room. "I like him," he said as he closed the door behind him.
"Yeah?" Anna said over her shoulder, glancing back at him as she settled back on the bed. "That's good."
"I think it was right coming back here." He crawled up the bed to sit beside her, pulling her into a hug. "Get some focus back."
"Good," she sighed as she curled in closer to him draping an arm across his chest. "I'm glad."
"And he even says we just have to let him know when we need some privacy," Ben smirked, tickling her just a bit.
She squirmed a little before giving him a look. "Uh-huh. I'm sure you'll take plenty of advantage on that."
"You're the one who's insisting on staying until I'm back into the swing of things. You sleeping up against me is going to have some side effects."
"That so?"
He leaned his head down to kiss her. "Very much so."
She kissed him back, moving her hand up to brush against the side of his face lightly.
Smiling, he pulled her closer. "You realize that I told him he could stay in the main room and that we're respective of the others in the suite..." he muttered, kissing her again.
"Mmmm-hmmm. But I'm not doing anything. Are you?"
"No, but in my head I'm doing something very nice..."
"I'm sure you are."
"You're enjoying it, that's for sure." He smirked in the kiss.
She smirked back at him. "Like that's anything new."
"Maybe I should warn Jessie to turn up the television so I can show you..."