evening - (29 Parts)

[SomethingClever]

Wickedcute ... I love it

[aussieblokeintexas]

OMG this is so cute! I absolutely love the characters! and Sara is the same h/c whore i think a lot of us are lol. And even though I feel badly that Ben is sick, I don't at the same time because his sneezes are amazing. Thank you so much!

Sincerely,

Aussie

[jezebel215]

Part 9

Hello, little baby doll.

Lookit, Stan.

- Hi there, Stanley.

- Marvin!

- Marvin, don't!

- Hi, Stan.

Sh*t! Move back! Move back!

Although one of the arguably more disturbing sections of the movie, Sara loved this scene. It reminded her that chemistry was never docile, that you can never underestimate your opponent. She looked over at Ben. He had cuddled with his legs crossed in front of him, arms crossed across his chest and his head falling to the left, resting on his shoulder in a way that assured that he would be in pain when he woke up.

Sara’s feet were cold. In fact, all of her was cold-- it was lonely to be watching a movie alone in someone’s apartment. Ben looked so comfortable but she knew he wasn’t. Her best bet--try to wake him up maybe half-way, so that they could snuggle under that blanket and fall asleep together. Not that she wanted to wake him up, he needed his sleep. But he didn’t need the stiff neck that came with his current position.

Sara got up and pulled the decorative ottoman over to the couch. She then reached out and lifted Ben’s legs from the floor to an ottoman, cushioning every step gently. She put a pillow from her side of the couch under his head and laid him down softly on the padded arm of the sofa. He took a congested sigh and seemed to settle into pillow gladly. Sara pulled the blanket over both of them, leaning back on her own stack of pillows and settling in for the rest of the movie.

----

- you've been around a lot of corpses. Is that normal?

- What, the feet thing?

- Yeah, the feet thing.

- Yeah, that happens.

Well, I'm having kind of a hard time concentrating.

- Can you do something about it?

- Well, like what? Kill him again?

Sara giggled. This was one of her favorite scenes. Next to her Ben sniffled and opened his eyes. He sniffed again, deeper this time, rubbed his nose, then turned to look at her.

“I think I fell asleep” he offered up sheepishly.

“I think you fell awake,” Sara teased. “I think you started off asleep. I’ve watched practically half this terrifyingly violent action movie all by myself, listening to you snore.” She finished this up laughing, making it clear to Ben that she was joking.

“Well, it’s not my fault your movie was so boring I couldn’t keep my eyes open,” Ben teased back.

“Boring? This is one of the great cinematic masterpieces of the 1990’s” Sara continued to joke. Ben started to laugh then seemed to look past Sara, into the corner. She turned to follow his gaze but seeing nothing, turned back to catch his face mid pre-sneeze crumple.

He seemed stuck there, his eyes mostly closed, eyelids trembling. His hands hovered right below his face and his mouth was half open. His nose wrinkled--once, twice, then seemed to relax.

“Sorry, I thought I was gonna...”

Ben turned away, raising his lip in a grimace.

“Heh-Harrusch. his'Gnkxt. Ack-Hapt'choo.”

“Sneeze?” Sara offered as Ben reached out for a handful of tissues.

Ben shot her a dirty look over this tissues as he was blowing his nose. He had paused the movie when they started talking and after throwing out the spent tissues he half-stretched and rolled his shoulders, wincing suddenly.

“Achy?” Sara asked. He looked a little warm again and she was sure his nap hadn’t been the most comfortable.

“A little. I think I might have pulled a muscle trying to get the best view of your movie.”

“Get the best view. Right. I see well through my eyelids too.”

“T'Gnkxt. ihk'Gxt. HUH-Gxt.”

“Bless you.”

“Thanks,” Ben answered and shook his head in a pathetic attempt to wake himself up.

“Do you want some tea? Or soup? Or lunch?” Sara offered, cutting herself off before she rambled on too long.

“Soup sounds great. I’ll come help.” He was already standing up before Sara could insist he stay and rest.

“Fine. It is your kitchen I guess.”

Sara pulled out a can of chicken noodle soup and set the pot on the stove. Ben made it into the kitchen before half-collapsing on a chair. From his vantage point he directed the lunch proceedings, both parties acknowledging that he was not, in fact, helping, but really wished he was.

Sara poured the soup into two bowls and brought over a packet of saltines and poured them each a glass of orange juice. They ate in relative silence, Sara ravenously, Ben a little half-hearted in his efforts. He saw her watching him run his spoon through his soup, making small whirlpools that sucked down the noodles and seemed always to spit out carrots.

“It’s good. I’m just not super hungry.” Sara raised an eyebrow at him. “But I’ll eat it” Ben offered quickly.

“Soup is good for you. It’s a chemistry thing, take my word for it.”

Ben finished his soup before starting to talk again.

“A chemistry thing? So, should I just defer to Ms. Science about all things involving chemistry?” he asked. His paused before saying ‘chemistry’ the second time, locking his eyes with Sara, his lips curving into an inviting half smile. Sara blushed and she could tell that he enjoyed her discomfort. It put them on equal ground, even though he was half-asleep on his feet with his cold and this girl he had just met could probably trounce him in any actual scientific discussion.

“I think history has made some contributions to - chemistry. We would be remiss to ignore them,” Sara finally answered, raising her eyes to meet Ben’s as she finished her reply.

[White Rose]

awww, amazing! i cant wait to read the next part!!!!

[snzyn]

this is amazing. I cant wait to read the next part.

[SomethingClever]

that was really great... TBC??

[meepsy]

I loooove this story! so so cute!

[obsessed]

Oh, this is one of my favorites. I love the character interaction and his sneezes are adorable.

[jezebel215]

(sorry to be so long. School started again...)

Part 10

Sara blushed again.

Of course she would blush. But the light was dim in the kitchen -- the shades drawn tightly against the noon sun. And he was woozy, all drugged up and feverish. Still..

“Let’s finish the movie” Sara suggest. Ben agreed but was they walked toward the couch he found himself stealing glances at his knight (ess?) in shining (sweatpants?) He had just met her the day before and here she was, fitting into his apartment, his life, like a salt shaker he had been looking for for so long. With her, his apartment felt lively and he had a feeling the energy was not coming from him.

---

Ben sat down on his side of the sofa, slightly closer to the middle than before. He held up one edge of the blanket and looked over to Sara. He wasn’t sure but he thought she may be blushing. Or his eyes were blurry. Or both.

Sara smiled when she saw Ben pick up the blanket and she felt the flush on her cheeks darken. She walked over to the couch -- scampered really -- and hopped on her side. She sat angled slightly away from Ben so her legs and feet were under the blanket but her back rested between the couch’s back and arm. Ben looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

“My feet are cold,” she answered. It was true. It was also true that she didn’t trust herself to sit quite so close to him that she could feel his breathing, feel the air in his chest and hear every whisper.

Sara reached over to restart the movie and then shrieked in surprise. Ben had scooped her feet up under the blanket and rested them in his lap. He looked over at her, his face a mask of impertinent innocence.

“You said they were cold” he offered and as he spoke he tucked the blanket tightly around himself and her feet. To Sara it felt like her feet were on a radiator, but it did feel nice.

“Thanks,” she said and started the movie.

“Listen, I'm just a biochemist.

And most of the time I work in a glass

jar and lead a very uneventful life.”

Ben looked over at Sara, ready to tease her if he could think of something in time. Sara caught his eyes and held them, recognizing the challenge for what it was. Instead of speaking, however, Ben’s eyebrows wrinkled and he blinked, crinkling up his nose as he inhaled. He stayed that way for a moment, eyes closed, mouth slightly open before opening his eyes and shaking his head slightly. He sniffed wetly and met her gaze again.

“I was only going to say that I believe the life of a biochemist is never uneventful” he spoke finally and with exaggerated sincerity.

“Sure. Sure you were.”

They turned back to the movie, watching as Nicholas Cage pulled the strands of green glass pearls out of the warhead. This part of the movie always freaked Sara out and unconsciously she scooted toward Ben. He felt her move and placed his arm softly over her legs, his arm atop the blanket, her legs under, and gave her a soft squeeze.

“I can’t help it. This always freaks me out. Even though I know it’s a movie, even thought I know how the scene goes, it still gets me.”

Ben didn’t nod, but didn’t laugh either.


“Oh wait! Pay attention -- this is my favorite line in the movie,” Sara interrupted his silence. “Every time I learn about acetylcholine this is what pops into my head.”

-Really? And what happens if you drop one?

-Happily, it'll just wipe out you and me.

- How?

- It's a cholinesterase inhibitor.

-Stops the brain from sending nerve messages down the

spinal cord within seconds.

-Any epidermal exposure or inhalation, and you'll know.

-A twinge at the small of your back as the poison seizes your nervous system.

-Do not move that!

-Your muscles freeze,

-you can't breathe.

-You spasm so hard you break your own back, spit your guts out.

Sara looked over at Ben triumphantly. He didn’t say anything at first, just cocked his head and smirked.

“What?” she asked finally.

“You said ‘every time I learn about acetylcholine.’ I’ve never even heard of acetylcholine. How many times have you learned about it?”

Sara sighed. “It’s just an expression, you know. I mean, you learn about it in basic bio, then again in physio, then in orgo... It’s like the revolutionary war of small organic molecules, you learn about it every time you take history.”

She stopped speaking when she saw that Ben had turned away. He hadn’t turned completely away from her but rather tucked his chin toward his chest and pulled his sweatshirt up over his mouth and nose. He took a quick breath in, seemed to relax for a moment, then sneezed fiercely.

“HH-Hft . Iht'Eksh. Heht-Gxt....”

He paused and opened his eyes for a moment. Sara could see a tear of irritation in his eye before he shut them and buried his face back into his sweathshirt.

“ nx'Ihff. HCK-Epft. EKSCH'Gisch. HCk'ishoo.”

“Bless you.” Sara said, then wondered if her voice sounded as breathless as she felt. Although not side to side, she and Ben were close together on the couch and with her legs tucked into his lap she could feel every quivering inhalation and then rough sneeze as it ripped through him.

“Thags.” Ben said then, hearing himself, sniffed mightily and looked around for the tissues. Sara saw them on the table next to the couch and pulled out a handful, handing them over to Ben. He took them gratefully but didn’t blow his nose. Trading the sweatshirt for tissues he eased his face out and pinched his nose tightly between the tissues. It must have irritated his nose because he stopped wiping his nose and quickly unfurled the tissues in his hands, steepling them over his nose.

“Iht'Eksh. AHP-Gnkxt. WRUH'Fisschue.”

Seeming to give up on the tough guy front Ben sighed and blew his nose thickly into the tissues. Sara wondered if he even realized he would keep sneezing as long as he kept trying to stifle. She half-hoped he didn’t and suspected she was right.

“Bless you. Again.”

“Thank-you” Ben replied, his voice clearer for the moment. “Can we skip back a scene--I missed what was happening there for a second.”

Sara turned jerkily, reaching the the remote with a spastic urgency she felt betrayed her excitement.

“Of course. How far back do you want me to go? Was I talking too much? I know I get really excited about the acetylcholine part...” Sara let the last question fade off. She had done so well today at not blathering but Ben’s last fit had completely undone her.

Ben laughed.

“For you, let’s go back to the acetyl-whatever thingy you love so much.”

[starpollen]

Ohhh wow. Honestly sweetheart? I've SOOOO needed this. Life has been not-so-good to me lately and this simple romance? This complicated chemistry? Perfect. Sublime in a way that melts my bones and makes me sigh with ease and longing. I can picture them in the apartment I had my senior year of college, collapsed on the couch we had in front of the TV/VCR/Nintendo combo, with the same frayed afghan we had...

Please... do write more? For me??...

star

here she was, fitting into his apartment, his life, like a salt shaker he had been looking for for so long.

----

Seeming to give up on the tough guy front Ben sighed and blew his nose thickly into the tissues. Sara wondered if he even realized he would keep sneezing as long as he kept trying to stifle. She half-hoped he didn’t and suspected she was right.

“Bless you. Again.”

“Thank-you” Ben replied, his voice clearer for the moment. “Can we skip back a scene--I missed what was happening there for a second.”

Sara turned jerkily, reaching the the remote with a spastic urgency she felt betrayed her excitement.

“Of course. How far back do you want me to go? Was I talking too much? I know I get really excited about the acetylcholine part...” Sara let the last question fade off. She had done so well today at not blathering but Ben’s last fit had completely undone her.

Ben laughed.

“For you, let’s go back to the acetyl-whatever thingy you love so much.”

[jezebel215]

Star I'm so glad you like it! I've been missing Claire and Aimon and you're other lovely creations. Also, I appreciate you posting on both blue/red. It may be silly (of course i'm silly) but it makes me feel god.

sorry to hear your life has been not super awesome. Strangely i'm on my second snow day in a row and instead of (totally) enjoying it I"m worrying about how to fit these two days of classes into an already full week of classes leading into exams...

... back to fantasy land for me it is!

[starpollen]

I feel you, babe. We're on our... what... 8th snow day?... something ridonculous!... and as I've stayed at home reading OVER 20 EBOOKS trying to cope with... everything...

I'm more than a little ready for life to go back to normal. So thank you for your fic.

[jezebel215]

Part 11

-You spasm so hard you break your own back, spit your guts out.

“I should find it disturbing this is your favorite part of the movie,” Ben teased, watching the scene again.

“I didn’t say favorite. I said I liked it. From a purely scientific perspective. It helps me remember what the parasympathetic effects are on various organ systems. You know, like a mneumonic?”

“No. No I don’t.” Ben looked very serious and held her gaze just long enough to make Sara nervous. “But it’s cute that you do.”

Sara turned away, not sure what to say to that. Should she say ‘Everything you do is cute’? No, cause that’s creepy. ‘thanks’? not quite right. She decided on a shy smile -- half thanks, half embarrassment. Low creepy factor.

Ben shivered. He was wearing a hoodie and sweats and remained tucked in under the blanket. Still Sara noticed that he had gone from the rosy, half shiny look of someone who is fever-warm to the pale, just miserable look of the chills.

“You cold?” She asked noncommittally.

Ben shrugged although truthfully most of his attention was focussed on keeping his teeth from chattering. He had taken a couple of aspirin in the morning but that was a while ago, he wasn’t sure how long, and he was starting to feel kind of awful.

“A little.”

Sara looked at him slowly. He was clutching the blanket with a sort of desperation, thinking she wouldn’t notice his white knuckles holding the fleece tightly over him. She pulled her legs from his lap and before he could look puzzled she scrunched her whole body over on the couch so that they were on the same cushion. Ben was half-leaning on the arm of the couch. Sitting herself close to Ben, her toes tucked under his legs she reached over to feel his forehead.

She reached out confidently, hesitating just before her fingertips reached his skin, then laid the whole of her palm softly on his forehead, lifting up his frazzled hair in the same movement. Ben watched her the whole time, his eyes open but quiet, enjoying her concentration. Sara closed her eyes briefly, letting herself feel only the sensation of heat on her palm before opening them and making her proclamation.

“I think you’re running a fever.”

Ben continued to look at her blankly.

“Did you take anything for it?”

“Yeah, a couple of aspirin when I woke up.”

“A couple of aspirin?” Sara felt herself slipping into pre-vet ‘watched too many doctor shows on tv’-- mode’. “What strength?”

“Aspirin comes in strong?” Ben asked, his face both puzzled and amused.

“Well, there’s baby aspirin or the heart attack prevention kind -- they come in 81 milligram tablets. Or there’s headache/pain relief aspirin -- they come in 325 milligram tablets. And then there’s all the other non-steroidal anti-inflammatories that people call ‘aspirin’ when they mean ‘ibuprofen’ or ‘naproxen’ or even Tylenol which isn’t an NSAID cause it works at a different point in the enzymatic pathway....”

Sara stopped, catching her breath. Talking science was a safe place for her-- enzymes, pathways, prostaglandins, pyrexins.... they were her timeout zone.

Ben stared at her, his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide. When he realized she was looking at him he closed his mouth and put back on his almost-tough guy facade.

“I’m not sure what kind of aspirin it was.”

Sara glared at him.

“OK! I’m not even sure it was aspirin,” Ben admitted, looking at Sara out of the corner of his eye, half embarrassed and half flattered that she cared what medication he had taken.

“Well, do you have it here?” Sara asked, already rising from the couch.

“Yeah, it’s in the bathroom, somewhere behind the mirror. I think the pills were white.”

Sara walked off toward the bathroom, leaving Ben to think over their exchange. I think the pills were white. Geez, he thought, I might as well have said I think the sky is blue. If we don’t start talking about history or geography soon she’s going to think I’m an idiot.

Sara walked/stalked off to the bathroom, as irritated at herself as Ben was at himself. She had already broken out her litany “Baby aspirin? Really? You asked him questions about drug doses in metric units, and then talked about enzymes? Thank -God you didn’t start talking about cyclooxygenase inhibitors or he might have had you evicted.”

Reaching the bathroom Sara quickly found the bottle of generic aspirin -- clear plastic, yellow label, red writing confirming 325mg tablets. There wasn’t much else in the medicine cabinet -- a half empty tube of toothpaste, q-tips, deodorant and some Off! insect repellent. She took the aspirin out with her.

“Do you have any idea how many you took?” She asked, her tone softer, “or when?”

Ben had laid his head back on the couch and he was loathe to raise it again. He opened one eye to peek at her.

“Two. Maybe three? Not more than three. And i think it was around 7, I woke up cause i--’ He stopped talking. “Cause I woke up.”

It was 2:30 pm. The instructions on the bottle said to take every 8 hours so Ben was due for another dose. Sara would have been blase about the dosing had she not been enrolled in a toxicology course that emphasized the dangers of NSAID overdosing (namely ischemic injury to the kidney and gastric irritation).

“You can have some more then.” She paused. “Or, well, you could have some Nyquil.”

Ben looked up, thoroughly confused. “I had Nyquil? I swear I looked for that but I didn’t think i had any.”

Sara blushed (gosh, couldn’t she have had darker skin?). “No, you don’t have any. But, I have some in my car, I sort of thought you looked like you could use it.”

Ben leaned back and closed his eyes. His head throbbed, his muscles had begun to ache and all of him felt hot and cold at the same time. He felt like sh*t. And here was this girl -- a strange girl, to be sure -- ready with Nyquil for him?

“Are you pre-med?” Ben asked.

Sara hesitated.

“Kind of. Maybe. Or pre-vet. Probably pre-vet. It’s pretty much the same thing. Only you really shouldn’t give your pets human medicine. They have very different metabolic pathways.”

Sara caught herself, stopped talking, and looked back at Ben. He had laid his head back on the couch. His eyes were closed but his brows were tensed, signalling some degree of discomfort he wouldn’t acknowledge.

“Nyquil sounds like heaven” he said finally.

[onlyhim]

Two? Two updates? I could sob with happiness! This story is wonderful!

I love how both of the characters' inner monologues are so realistic. (And cutely filled with self-doubt.) A lot of "aww" moments here.

Of course, I really love how it is sweet and sexy at the same time.

And thanks for the bonus of making him pale and feverish. ~melts~

[jezebel215]

Part 12

Sara walked outside, pulling her coat on and making sure to open the door only enough that she could slip out. She didn’t want Ben being hit with a blast of cold air. He looked miserable enough as is. Back at her car she debated what she should bring. She decided to go whole-hog and quickly packed her backpack with the remainder of her goodies -- nyquil, cough drops, cold/flu body wash and the pack of extra-soft tissues. This was turning into a strange day, she had to admit. Strange in a surreal, I can’t believe this is happening sort of way.

Sara had once read a book about survival -- why some people survive being lost in the woods and others don’t. One of the conclusions had been that people who survive extreme situations do so by admitting that their day is no longer normal and they must deviate from their comfortable path and do what is necessary. Well, she wasn’t worried about dying, but today had certainly deviated from her normal path and maybe her happy ending wasn’t a chopper ride out of the wilderness but rather the development of a friendship (+ romance?). Either way, she was definitely ready to admit that today had strayed from the ordinary.

---

Letting herself back in quietly Sara found Ben hunched over, a handful of tissues clutched over his nose, sneezing unabashedly in his presumed solitude.

“HAHK'Chff. Iht'Eksh. AHP-Gnkxt. hhe-”

Ben saw her and stopped mid-sneeze. Well, stopped for a moment before he had to give in.

“hh-Eksht. HH-Hft. AHP-Gnkxt.”

“Bless you.”

“Thank-you. Again’ (of course it sounded like “Thag-you, agaid” but Sara pretended not to notice.) Ben blew his nose quietly into the mound of tissues and threw them into the trash can. Sara noticed that the trash can and tissues had moved suspiciously closer to Ben in her absence.

“So, you’re not going to think I’m creepy that I brought you Nyquil,” she blurted out. Sometimes, awkward as it may be, it really is best to put your cards on the table. some of your cards, at least.

Ben looked at her, only his eyes visible above a fresh handful of tissues.

“I mean, last night you looked like crap.” Ben raised an eyebrow. “I mean, you looked like you really didn’t feel well and I can’t imagine why you were out gallivanting in the dark. And I figured, you know, if you didn’t have the sense to stay home when you were sick then you probably didn’t have the sense to take care of yourself either. And, well, I wanted to make sure you were taken care of.”

Sara stopped her soliloquy and waited. The silence that followed felt like someone scraping needles down her arms. Finally Ben spoke.

“I’m glad you cared.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Sara walked back over to the couch and sat down demurely on her side.

“This isn’t really how I thought today would go,” Ben offered. “I planned to be all better. I was going to clean my house and put an Ansel Adams print up on the wall. I was going to be clever and charming and instead...” He trailed off.

“Instead you were clever and charming anyway,” Sara said. “Ok, maybe not the most clever, but I think I kept the conversation in my realm of expertise. We’ll watch Pocohontas next and you can expose all the historical inaccuracies to me.”

Ben choked out a laugh, which turned quickly into coughing. Sara used his distraction to unpack her backpack in the bathroom and returned carrying a glass of water, two green Nyquils and a handful of cough drops.

Ben took the water, downed the pills and drank until he stopped coughing. Looking up at her slyly her took her proferred handful of cough drops and unwrapped one thoughtfully.

“You did come prepared” He said finally. Sara blushed. “And now you’re blushing. I’m sure of it.” Ben added. “I don’t know why though.”

“Well, I don’t know. It’s not like I’m a doctor. I just like taking care of people. And we just met but, I like you.” Sara stopped awkwardly, trying to suck back in her last word. “I mean, I like hiking with you” she added lamely.

“You think what we did last night was hiking,” Ben laughed.

“Fine. Make fun of me. Whatever. You took the Nyquil, didn’t you?” Sara teased back. “And I’m not the one curled up on the couch hanging onto that blanket for dear life.”

It was Ben’s turn to blush. Then smile. It seemed the only way they communicated was to tease each other until tiny bits of the truth came out. He rather liked it. It was a game, but an honest game. He lifted the blanket again.

“Feet cold?”

[obsessed]

AW. So freakin' cute. :]

I like the feet cold. I sense a motif.

[snzyn]

Aww I'm all caught up, this was so cute. I love it. Cant wait for more.

[SomethingClever]

so cute. just adorable.

also thank you

[jezebel215]

Part 13

It was a truce and she took it as that. Climbing back onto the couch she didn’t slip into her corner but rather slid in against Ben, putting her feet up on the ottoman and sliding down the couch so her head rested lightly on his chest.

Ben smiled. Maybe it was the Nyquil, maybe it wasn’t. The feel of Sara’s warm body sinking into the couch next to him made him feel warm all over, a nice change from the chills he had been battling. As Sara slide down the couch next to him he looked down at her, catching her eyes for a moment and then reaching his arm around her shoulders to pull her closely to him.

Sara sighed. She wasn’t sure if it was audible, maybe she was sighing on the inside, but still. Ben’s arm lay curled around her shoulders and, growing braver, she interlaced her legs with his on the ottoman. She could still feel an occasional shiver but they seemed to be growing fewer.

“Are you warming up?” She asked.

Ben nodded. Then shivered. Then met her eyes sheepishly.

“I am. Really.”

Sara slouched down further in the couch, laying her free arm across Ben’s chest and hugging him lightly. She could feel the gentle rise and fall of his diaphragm, the in and out of his breathing. They went back to the movie, although neither could pretend they had been following it closely.

-Let me see if I can get this straight.

You went down the incinerator chute...

-on the mine cars, through the tunnels to the power plant...

-under the steam engine--

-That was really cool, by the way--

-and into the cistern through the intake pipe.

-But how, in the name of Zeus's butthole...

-did you get out of your cell?

Sara smiled. She couldn’t help it. She loved this movie. Zeus’s butthole? She looked up to catch Ben’s eyes and instead found them both closed. His arm lay wrapped around her shoulders and his head had slipped down to rest gently against her head and the sofa cushion. Concentrating now Sara could feel the evenness of his breathing, the general relaxation in his muscles. She smiled.

“I guess I’m watching the end of the movie alone too.”

---

When he neutralizes the threat

we launch green flares

and we wait for the cavalry

...

I got green smoke.

I got green smoke!

This is C.Q. One, C.Q. One!

Green smoke! We have green smoke! Over

---

She wasn’t crying, she wasn’t even close to crying, but she could feel that hot warm space behind her eyes fill up. It always did when she watched this scene. Maybe this was why she watched the whole movie--for the sight of Nicholas Cage on his knees, needle of atropine stuck in his heart, green flares waving above his head as he collapsed... a heroic moment.

Sara looked over at Ben. He’d been asleep for about 45 minutes, enough time that the Nyquil should have kicked in. She didn’t want to wake him up, but she also didn’t really want to just sit there and watch him sleep (on account of the random creepy factor). Worst of all, she didn’t know how to use his remote control so she was stuck watching 10 minutes of credits roll as the movie ended. She decided to slide away--gently but with perhaps enough motion that Ben would wake up and think it was unintentional.

She slowly withdrew her arm from his chest and started to slink down the cushions away from his overhanging head and arm. It was enough movement--Ben’s eyes opened, closed, then opened again with a look of confusion.

“Did I... Wait--did we watch the movie?” He asked, his voice heavy with congestion.

Sara sat back up on the sofa and leaned forward to face him.

“Well, I watched the movie,” she said with her eyes open slightly too wide and voice slightly too innocent.

“I’m sorry, I--” Ben stopped speaking and gasped, his eyes closing and nostrils wrinkling up. He tilted his head back against the couch and stayed that way for a second before turning his head hard to the side and sneezing harshly.

“Iht'Eksh. Heht-Gxt. hhh-hush'Etsch.”

There had been no elbow to stifle into, no shirt to duck under and Sara could see Ben’s face perfectly in profile. He fought each sneeze, seemingly trying to swallow the end of it only to be beaten back down. He looked up blearily, eyes scanning the room.

Sara followed his gaze and quickly handed him the tissues. He pulled out a bunch, having barely enough time to open and crush them into his face before he started sneezing again.

“WRUH'Fisschue. hck'Gishoo. EHH-Arishoo.”

Ben stopped and wiped his nose with the folded tissues. He tried to sniff, failed and reached over for more tissues. After a wet sounding blow he finally met her eyes.

“I’m sorry. That was revolting.”

Sara gave him a look of indignation.

“Ok, it was unpleasant at least, and I’ve been a rather poor host. I invite you over to watch a movie and do nothing but fall asleep, make you cook for me, and then sleep some more, all the while putting on a nasal show of ghastly proportions.”

Sara reached out to stop him.

“Ben--for one thing, you didn’t make me cook for you. For another thing--I knew you were sick before I came over. And everyone falls asleep during movies. Maybe not for the whole movie but...” she left it hanging and smiled at him.

“Ok. Fine. I’m a terrible host but you still like me?”

“I’m not prepared to say how good a host you are since I believe I am evaluating you under non-optimal conditions. Even still, I find your presence to be tolerable.”

“Tolerable! I’ve gotta be better than that if you stayed for 3 hours while I slept on the couch!” Ben exclaimed.

“Then what was that whole ‘boo hoo, I’m revolting’ speech about? Fishing for compliments?”

Ben laughed.

“No, I really did want to say sorry for sleeping through your movie. There are people who get offended by that kind of thing.”

Sara looked over to Ben before answering quietly, “I’m not one of them.”

[Marceline]

This is TOO CUTE!!!!

[Jeff1]

Great story. Your write well. Do you like feet too? aww that's so cute.

[SomethingClever]

I agree with crazi... unbelievably adorable...

[jezebel215]

nope--nothing special with feet! I just think that tucking your feet under someone else's legs is a way to be both close to them but not in their face, sort of a 'testing the waters' approach. Also, I like my feet to be warm :-)

[jezebel215]

Part 14

The movie credits had long ended and the TV screen was black. Ben switched the TV input from AV1 to HDMI 2 only to find himself watching the infomercial for the “Power Juicer 2000” (or something to that effect). He started to change the channel but without thinking Sara stopped him.

“This is one of my favorite infomercials,” she said, then half covered her mouth as if trying to retract her last statement.

Ben eyed her closely--closely being a generous description of his drooping lids, chapped red nose and glassy eyes.

“You have a favorite infomercial?” he finally deadpanned, still trying to effect a look of horror and condescension.

“You don’t?” Sara replied, seeing his condescension and raising him to incredulity. “I not only have a favorite, I have a rotating top 5. You don’t know what you’re missing until you’ve considered a portable washing machine and some of these vegetable chopping devices. I’m also looking into a portable dehydrator -- that way I can make my own beef jerky and apple snacks.”

Sara continued to stare Ben in the face, her eyes not quite giving anything away.

“I didn’t mean, well, you know, I don’t watch many infomercials. I didn’t realize you could learn so much,” he finally offered up.

Sara couldn’t hold it in any longer. Her giggles bubbled up and she clapped a hand across her mouth trying to hide them.

Ben flushed. It was a nice, embarrassed flush atop his fever pink cheeks.

“You were making that up?” he asked, not quite believing it.

“Well, I was serious about the juicer. And I am a sucker for informercials. But I never (almost never) order anything. I’m a sucker and I know it. Besides, $250 is way too much to pay for any blender/juicer. I don’t care if it can perform 32 kitchen tasks in one. Well, I kind of care, but it’s still too much money.” Sara caught herself and stopped talking.

“So you’re saying you don’t want to watch the infomercial,” Ben asked, this time a glint in his eyes.

“I’m saying I’ll survive without it. Besides, it airs practically every night at 1 am on the local cable channels.”

Ben shot her another half unbelieving look. Sara raised one eyebrow--a trick she had learned through long practice in the bathroom mirror for just such an occasion. Totally worth it, she decided.

“So what do you want to do?” Sara asked. Ben shrugged.

“We could get dinner,” his voice managing to be filled with hope and dread at the same time.

“It’s four o’clock in the afternoon!” Sara said. “And I think we ate lunch about 2 hours ago. Besides we shouldn’t go out to eat until you can at least smell the food you’re eating.”

Ben opened his mouth to disagree but instead turned away at the last moment, stifling three wet sneezes into his elbow.

“Iht'Eksh. Heht-Gxt. WRUH'Fisschue.”

He looked up sheepishly. “S’bellig is overraded” he mumbled before grabbing tissues to blow his nose. He took an experimental sniff after blowing. Sara was pretty sure she heard no air movement.

“See.” Ben announced. “All better.”

“That would be more convincing if you hadn’t just told me you feel ‘bedder.’ “

“Well, I am a little wiped out.”

“You look wiped out. I’ll make a deal with you -- you take your nyquil, drink your tea and go to bed nice and early. Then you’ll be all better by tomorrow and we can do brunch. I should head home.” Sara started to get up from the sofa but before she was fully untangled from Ben he was speaking again.

“No, I don’t want you to go. I mean, it’s four o’clock. No one goes to bed at four o’clock.

“Well, we are in school. I have homework I need to get done, I imagine you do too.”

Ben made a soft, pathetic moaning noise and shut his eyes.

“My eyes hurt too much to study.” He opened one and peeked at her.

“Fine. You win. You are too pathetic to leave to your own devices. It’s 4 o’clock. I’ll stay till six then you eat dinner and go to bed and I”ll go home, do my homework and then we’ll have brunch tomorrow?”

Ben nodded.

“We could play a game,” he offered. “I have cards.”

“What would you like to play?” Sara asked. She already knew her game of choice although it was amazingly unpopular.

“Nothing that takes too much thought. Maybe war?”

“How about Egyptian Rat Screw?” Sara asked hopefully.

“Egyptian Rat what?”

“It’s like war except it has a point. Each person starts with half a deck and you keep laying down cards until someone lays down a face card. The opponent then has a certain number of chances to lay down another face card (4 for ace, 3 for king, 2 for queen and 1 for jack) or the original player takes the pile.

Ben eyes looked like they were glazing over a little.

“The goal is to get all the cards. But here’s the fun part--if two of the same cards are put down in a row you slap them.”

“Slap them? First you bring me the Rock to watch and now your favorite card game involves bodily abuse?” Ben teased.

“We don’t have to play, it’s just fun. You can also slap sandwiches -- when the two same cards are separated by a single other card. I warn you, I’m very good at this game. I will beat you. It will still be fun, but I’m pretty sure I’ll win.”

“You will, will you?” Ben asked, already starting to sit up straighter on the couch. “I’m awfully good at card games in general. How will you handle it when you lose?”

“Then we’re playing?” Sara asked.

“And I’m going to kick your butt!” Ben teased. Of course, it came out sounding like “I’b gudda kicg your budd” but the intent was sincere.

Ben got up and went over to the bathroom. Sara could hear the water running and he emerged with his hands slightly damn and a bottle of instant sanitizer. She raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t want you to get sick. We’re going to be touching the same cards...” his voice trailed off.

“No, that’s a good idea. And considerate. So thank-you. Now prepare to have your ass handed to you on a platter.”

Sara had shuffled the deck and was looking for a good place to play.

“How about the kitchen table?” Ben suggested. Sara got up and walked over, turning to see Ben walking over with the blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

“It’s going to be hard to slap if the blanket keeps slipping,” Sara said.

Ben squinted at her with fake anger. “I’ll be fine, thank-you very much.”

“Oh, I see it now, you’re setting up your defense so that when you lose you can blame the blanket.”

Ben laughed quickly which turned to coughing faster than Sara would have liked. The coughs sounded chesty and painful.

“You ok?” She asked, looking up at Ben.

“I’b fide.” He sniffed. “I’m fine.”

[Marceline]

Your writing is beautiful.