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 Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 9:57 pm
Rabies group. Gray wasn't too fussy about many things, the name of his home group included, so it didn't really bother him as he went through the line to get his dinner and pondered the overall naming scheme. He liked most all of the people in his group well enough, and they usually made dinner interesting, so he had no room for complaints. As long as conversation was flowing and food was in his stomach, he was happy.
As he settled into his seat he adjusted his tie, mind already wandering to what he'd do that night. He had to call his parents, for one; they expected a weekly check-in and were liable to ring him at any odd hour they felt like if he didn't. They weren't entirely suspicious, but he was seventeen, and if he wasn't in bed at three A.M., well, he supposed they had a right to wonder. To date, he'd only been subject to one of those calls, and he intended to keep it that way. He liked his sleep.
Crossing his legs at the ankles, he began to push his food around his plate, wishing that it was hotdogs and not chicken fried steak. He didn't mind cfs, really, he just really wanted a hotdog. Ever since Yvette had flounced out of the kitchen without sharing, he'd been jonesing for one.
He'd really intended to go get one, too. But, you know, he'd gone up to his bedroom, and he'd changed because there were clothes on his bed, and then he hadn't felt like going anywhere.
Many stories in Gray's life ended that way.
Shoving some mashed potatoes in his mouth, he stared into the distance, trying to figure out another way to explain to his dad why he didn't have a date to prom yet.
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Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 10:07 pm
Fate was coming to knock on Grayson's door. Well, fate was actually coming to knock on Grayson's door and then give him the Fate equivalent of an embarrassing singing candygram; fate had chosen to give Grayson Benson Beldon, who had left his usual post in the Black Death table (who came up with those names, anyway?) and was advancing towards him.
Grayson Graves was in the same year as Benny Beldon, but the two couldn't have been more different. Gray had his fire spinning, which couldn't exactly be described as your usual run-of-the-mill hobby; Benny, on the other hand, was upper-middle-class with a mother who probably used to make him malt shakes and a dad who called him "champ" and "junior", and they lived in a house with a cocker spaniel called something like Woodles and drank iced tea before going out to the country club. Benny played tennis. Benny played tennis like a demon. Benny was a doer, unlike Gray, who was... well, 'sitter' wasn't quite the right word.
And as obtrusive as Benny was, strawberry-red-headed and maniacally green-eyed, Gray hadn't noticed the... attention that his classmate had heaped on him the past week. Which mainly consisted of looking. He was looking in a very particular way. Whenever Gray had caught his eye, Benny made an over-the-top wink as though they shared some kind of secret: what that secret was, nobody knew, except for Benny.
Gray's wavy head was mainly ensconced in his mashed potatoes when Benny came from Black Death table, stopping to say hi to people as he went: and when Benny said hi he said "Hello! Excellent to see you, hi, how's your life!" and shook people's hands as though he were possibly the Duke of Wales. In the other hand he was carrying a bouquet that was 70% wildflowers and 30% common flowering weeds: Benny strode his long lanky form purposefully up to Gray chewing on his mashed potatoes and instead plopped himself down next to him on the bench, annoying whoever was sitting next to Gray who had to immediately scoot his a** backwards. Benny presented the flowers to the wavy-haired boy with every sign that he considered this Smoove Moves.
"Grayson," he boomed. "Grayson, I know you've seen this coming. You've been pretty coy. Come on. I knew all your little blushy looks. I've come to put you out of your misery." More proffering of the flowers. "Yes, Grayson. Before God and everyone here, I announce that I'll... be your prom date."
Nobody around actually cared at this public bulletin, as it was Benny.
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Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 10:26 pm
It took Grayson a moment to realize that the theatrics going on around him were directed at, well, him. He was happily absorbed in his dinner, running through the old tapes that were the conversations with his parents; first, the talk with Dad, about school and work and all that business. Then, the phone would be passed on to Pop, and the talk would be about school and girls and boys, and had he washed his underwear recently, really Grayson. It was endearing, and it was comforting, and it was everything he ever expected from them. Afterward, he would be expected to call Tristan, of course, and catch up on his brother's life. That wasn't such a hardship, really, it was just kind of tedious to be on the phone for so long.
All in all, it was a fairly regular routine. He'd have to spice it up a bit, but it would be standard fare.
Except, well, he had a bouquet of flowers in his face suddenly, didn't he? That was new.
Blinking, chewing thoughtfully on his potatoes as though he really needed to, Gray regarded the boy before him. He knew Benny well enough, in that everyone knew everyone else and you couldn't really not know Benny. He didn't mind the other guy in the least, but then, Gray tended not to mind you unless you went out of your way to be obnoxious. It was a little startling to be suddenly receiving flowers from him, but life was full of surprises.
He swallowed, expression still thoughtful, and considered. Prom was a necessary evil, according to his parents, and they were prepared to break his legs at the knees if he didn't go. At least, that was what they said. In any case, he'd already mostly resigned himself to the entire affair, as it was his last year and he didn't want to live with regret or anything. Plus, dancing. He liked dancing - it wouldn't be anything like what he normally did, but dancing was dancing. Maybe he'd even have a good time.
Oh, right. Benny.
Though his first thought was that all of this was incredibly out of the blue, if he considered the past week, Benny had been acting a little funny. Every time Grayson had looked at the guy, he'd experienced some sort of tic or something. Gray had thought it was a tic, anyway, and hadn't wanted to be rude, but who knew? Maybe he'd been putting the moves on him.
The thought made him grin.
Oh, whoops. Long, awkward silence.
Setting his fork down (because Grayson was the type of man to eat mashed potatoes with a fork) he carefully accepted the flowers. Leaning into them, he sniffed, appreciating the natural, wild look of the thing. Better than store bought, in his opinion. Not that he'd ever been on the other end of a handful of flowers, but there was first time for everything.
Eyes flicking back up to Benny, not an ounce of shame in his face, he replied, "All right, Benny. That sounds fine."
It was as simple as that. Mission accomplished. Well. Except he'd have to get a tux, or something.
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Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 10:41 pm
This was kind of anticlimactic, as then the flowers were put down beside the plate and Grayson went back to his mashpoes, but Benny didn't appear to notice or mind. He scrounged up, "Oho, shy, aren't you!" The rest of Rabies House failed to care. Obviously Benny was not remotely surprised that Grayson had agreed to be his prom date. This was, again, just part of being Benny. He flicked a strawberry-blonde lock out of his face and said, "Oh, seriously, this is going to be excellent, I am going to give you the prom night of your life, 200% better than other prom nights you may or may not have had. I mean, we have so much in common. Like, have you ever noticed our names both end in -son?"
He looked as though he also genuinely believed this. He swung his leg over so that he was sitting next to Gray fully, put his elbow on the table, and put his cheek in his hand as he watched Gray eat potatoes. Apparently he was fully happy just to watch Gray eat potatoes. After thirty awkward seconds, he said: "So."
Then he said again: "So. Pet names, nicknames, hit me, Prom Date."
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Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 10:52 pm
Luckily for both of them, Gray was the kind of lazy, unmotivated soul that couldn't usually work up the effort to be embarrassed or irritated by many things. That fact in mind, he didn't really care if Benny watched him eat his potatoes, or anything else on his plate, for that matter. They were going to the prom together, which meant they would probably go to dinner and everything anyway, so this was sort of like a preview. Strangely, he'd managed to always end up single around the time a dance rolled around... huh. So it would not only be his first prom, but his first dance, and he was going with a guy.
Well, the Graves men had always been just a little bit on that side of the rainbow, obviously.
Wiping his mouth with his napkin, he glanced back over to Benny, a half-smile on his face, as it habitually was. Most people would have minded the constant chatter, he supposed, but it just gave Gray an excuse to chill and eat his food. Anyone who filled the silence for him was good in his books.
"I've never been to a prom, but I'll take your word for it. My parents seem to think I'll have a good time." While that wasn't always good enough for Gray, in this case, he figured Benny's sheer enthusiasm would make the night bearable at the least, fun at the best. Either way, he was already getting points for effort.
Effort meant a lot to Gray, as long as he wasn't the one who was expected to put forth a whole lot of it. Sure, here and there was fine, and he'd carry his own weight when he had to, but he found himself already liking Benny's straightforward approach to the whole prom business.
Rubbing his chin, he thought a moment. "I don't really have any nicknames but Gray. I'm not fussy as long as it's not insulting, though."
After another few moments, another thought occurred to him. In the interest of keeping things as friendly and peaceful as possible, it was best to sort out all the particulars ahead of time, and so he half-turned, facing Benny as best he could on the bench.
"So are we going as friends, one-time dates, or are we dating?"
It seemed like an odd question, but Gray honestly wanted the other boy's take on it. He found that he wouldn't particularly mind whatever the outcome - he'd still have a date for prom, and if things worked out, maybe he'd have a date otherwise. If not, breaking up was easy enough, and he'd done it enough times to know just about how it went.
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Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 11:40 pm
Benny didn't look taken aback at all. "That is an excellent question," he said, "one I thought about beforehand. I figure if you don't have the guaranteed good time we can just walk away, no questions asked, that's all fine, am I right? But I figure that if you do have the guaranteed good time -- " (and Benny sounded like an infomercial at this point: or your money-back guarantee!) "it would be stupid not to, right?"
Satisfied at this salient point, he tilted his head further and persisted in watching Grey's technique on 'how to eat your dinner.' He seemed perfectly content with this. In fact, he said: "Did you know that when you eat, your forehead kind of crinkles up? Oh man, that's cute. Excellent. Perfect."
Apparently he was still persistent in making sure Gray knew exactly why this was the best deal he ever had agreed to, because he said: "Look. Here's the thing. We're also pretty matchy heights: that's a plus one in my book! You have purple eyes; I have green eyes. Small point, but still complimentary. I think. There's all that colour wheel artistic stuff, but I'm pretty sure I'm right. I didn't leave anything out, Grayson. Also, our names are tellingly alliterative: Benson Beldon and Grayson Graves."
After a moment he said: "I mean, you've probably figured out all this stuff already, ha ha, I wouldn't get a little missus who didn't have all of this already going on in his brainpan. Anyway, swear to God, you'll have a great time, courtesy moi."
He didn't seem to mind that the conversation was 90% Benny and 10% Gray: and he also seemed happy to keep on watching Gray eat his potatoes and cut up his cfs.
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 7:34 am
Gray couldn't help but grin as Benny continued talking, finding it amusing that he was so dead set on describing all the ways they were perfect for each other in regards to prom. It was... something that a girl would do, actually, if he thought about it. All the little "our names match!" "we're the perfect height!" "Ohmygosh, I love the way you eat your food, hehehe." It was a slightly different spin to the girl gushes, as he liked to call them, but it was still there nonetheless.
If he'd been any less secure in his own masculinity than he was, he'd probably be shifting uncomfortably and leaning away. As it was, he was extremely amused to be called a "little missus" and not offended in the least, as it was Benny. Benny was just about 99% harmless, and Gray was pretty sure that he never intended to offend. That worked for him in any kind of relationship, be it friends or something more, so he was content.
Who wanted to have a person around that was getting mad all the time, or making you mad all the time? He much preferred the laid back, easy-humored types for himself; it wouldn't be a trial to hold a conversation, and that aside, he wouldn't have to have a conversation if he didn't want to. Benny could probably happily go along with the barest of "mhm" and nodding if he needed to.
Gray found him a little bit charming, so that was all right. Besides, he could interject if he wanted to, he was just kind of busy eating.
Still, he thought he ought to make a little effort. And, er, his potatoes were all gone, so it was as good a time as any to speak up.
Propping his cheek up on his fist, the move closely resembling Benny's earlier one, he smiled. "Sounds like we'll have a good time. And, you're right, we're pretty well suited to each other. Thanks for the flowers, by the way."
He glanced back over to the bouquet briefly, the barest shifting of his arm to lean that way, and then looked back. "Have you eaten yet?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 7:07 pm
"Nope," said Benny, "because when it comes to this relationship, I put you first."
Apparently Benny found putting Gray before his dinner, which was possibly getting cold by now, something that proved exactly how romantic he was and exactly how he'd preplanned this. "I guess we can shake on this now and call it a deal," he added, and Grayson found his hand being shook firmly within Benny's own to seal the prom-dateitude. "I know you were touched by the flowers; don't worry, that's just how I roll. Well, if you want to work anything out, you know where I am, honey! I figure we can change seats around and sit together in double math., you know, just start small and build up from there."
After the hand-shaking was finished, he unfolded himself from the bench, stood up and brushed himself down. "Enjoy your dinner, prom date!" he said, and he walked his way back to the Black Death table with a friendly wave.
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 7:32 pm
Gray could do little more than blink as the deal was sealed with a handshake, making it feel something like a contract. Though the rest of the world continued on without more than a passing glance, Gray couldn't help but feel like, despite all statements to the contrary, he'd just signed himself up for a lot more than he'd intended to. He'd gone from being a prom date to a little missus to a honey all in the span of about five minutes, which was enough to have him gazing with interest after Benny, wondering.
He felt like he'd just been steamrolled. Steamrolled with a smile, steamrolled quite pleasantly, but steamrolled nonetheless.
Well... With a mental shrug, he went back to his dinner. It wasn't so bad, was it? It was generally too much of an effort for him to go seeking other people, even for something as simple as a friendship, so it was nice to have someone calling the shots. Less legwork was always a good thing in Gray's books.
One day, he might regret becoming the sort of the man who goes with the current, but it was suiting him just fine then. Nothing terrible had happened to him yet, right? He was sure he could work up the will to put his foot down if he really felt the need to.
Philosophically, he decided that must mean he didn't mind so much being someone's honey or little missus.
You learned something new about yourself every day.
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