I miss them ~ I love this scene so much. “Big Ben got move” I’m waiting for Ben bent his knee to ask Yaz “Will you marry me?” and she says yes 👏🏻 🥳🥰😊😘💕💖💗👰🏻♀️🤵🏼
“Stop it, Fadoula.”
“Stop what?”
“You know what,” Ben replied with a grimace.
Summary: As the first Thanksgiving comes around for the Nublar Six following their return to civilization, they choose to celebrate the holiday together. And perhaps Yaz and Ben's friendship drifts towards something more thanks to an unexpected food item.
A/N - This is the first story in my Benmina one-shot collection "The Track Star and the Wild Child" on ao3 that I posted almost a year ago, but since it was a belated Thanksgiving themed story then, felt appropriate to finally also post it on here for this year's Thanksgiving.
And just a quick note, this takes place Post-Season 5 of Camp Cretaceous, but prior to the Epilogue. Also it’s obviously an AU because Yaz and Sammy are not together in this universe.
“Stop it, Fadoula.”
“Stop what?”
“You know what,” Ben replied with a grimace.
Yaz smirked as she remained where she was, which was standing right beside Ben as he worked at one of the kitchen counters. Their little Friendsgiving celebration was winding down and Ben was working on dividing up the meat from the turkeys.
While the original plan had been for it to only be the six teenagers, their parents and siblings had insisted on joining in as well. And despite the distance many of them had to travel, it was decided that the Gutierrez ranch was the best location to host Sammy’s friends and their relatives.
While all the teens had helped prepare parts of the meal, Ben had been allowed to prepare the turkeys, despite several of the adults originally planning to handle the messy job themselves. However, Ben’s mother had to step in and stop them. As Ben’s mother explained to the other adults, this was the closest Ben got to ‘field dressing and quartering a kill’ aside from the fish he sometimes caught. While he’d adapted back into civilization, there was always going to be a part of him that longed for the jungles and the pseudo-hunter-gatherer lifestyle he had developed on Isla Nublar. And so, the adults relented and offered the job to Ben, who had eagerly started the task. And after the meal, Ben had volunteered to carve what remained of the turkeys and this time, no one protested.
As for the others, Sammy was having to serve as a referee for a surprisingly intense match of checkers between Kenji and Brand. Originally the two had asked Brooklynn, but she joked she wouldn’t be impartial since Kenji was her boyfriend. Then they’d asked Darius and the youngest of their group had declined on similar grounds, saying he couldn’t pick between his brother and best friend. Yaz then volunteered, but Kenji shot her down immediately, claiming she would sabotage the match and he might as well just proclaim Brand the winner in that case. While she hadn’t been planning anything, Yaz had just shrugged and smirked at Kenji’s reaction. And so, with Ben occupied with the turkeys and the other adults either engaged in conversation or playing equally intense games of Uno or Yahtzee with Sammy’s younger siblings, the boys had pleaded with Sammy to be referee.
And so, while Yaz had originally remained to spectate the match, she only had so much patience for the back and forth between Kenji and Brand as they took several minutes to complete their turns. Despite all the food they’d already consumed, Yaz herself had forgone dessert earlier and so decided to take the moment to get some pumpkin pie.
Serving herself a slice of pie, she’d then gone to the fridge to add the traditional topping: whipped cream. Without a second thought, she walked past Ben, set her plate down on the counter beside him, and opened the fridge door. Popping the cap off, she sprayed a small amount of whipped cream over top of her pumpkin pie. After she’d returned the topping to the fridge, she was met with a glare from Ben.
And then she remembered.
“Whipped cream, for some reason,” Sammy had added after Darius had begun listing Ben’s many phobias, as the monorail had sped them across Nublar, seemingly on their way to freedom.
“The way it moves,” Ben had replied with a shudder.
Yaz grinned as she opened the fridge door once more, retrieved the whipped cream and added a generous portion more to her plate.
Ben’s face softened as she returned the container to the fridge again. His glare returned quickly, however, when Yaz leaned up against the counter beside him and began to eat her pie, making sure to move the plate just enough so the whipped cream wobbled about.
“Stop it, Fadoula.”
“Stop what?”
“You know what.”
“I’m just enjoying some pie, Pincus,” Yaz replied, smirking around her plastic spoon as she took another bite. They’d only had just enough forks and other actual cutlery for the main meal earlier, which were now being cleaned in the dishwasher. So, Yaz had to resort to plasticware. She scooped some of the whipped cream off of the plate and pointed her spoon at Ben, “I don’t see what the problem is.”
Ben directed his irritated gaze at the condiment, “It’s one thing to have people eat it at the dinner table, it’s another to deliberately taunt me with it. It’s weird.”
Yaz raised an eyebrow, “Says the boy who loves bugs and is currently wrist deep in a roasted bird.”
Having carved away as much meat as possible with the knives long ago, Ben had resorted to using just his hands to pull away meat from the bones. He twisted one of the turkey wings until it dislocated from the shoulder. “Your point?”
Switching tactics, Yaz asked, “Have you ever tried it?”
“No and I still don’t want to,” Ben answered. “Not with how it acts.”
“Look, if you try some whipped cream right now, I’ll stop bothering you,” Yaz promised. “You enjoy grubs that are actively alive and wriggling-”
“They’re a natural food source, Fadoula, not whatever artificial abomination that is.”
“-but can’t handle a little whipped cream.” She waved the spoon closer to his face, “And if you don’t, I’ll have to tell Bumpster next time I see her that you’re still scared of-”
Without giving her time to finish her sentence, Ben’s head darted closer and his mouth closed around the spoon. His initial grimace gave way to a softer expression, his blue eyes holding Yaz’s surprised gaze as he pulled back.
Yaz felt her cheeks warm, “I-I thought you’d take the spoon.”
As he realized what he’d done, Ben’s own face flushed red, “Well, m-my hands are greasy. Didn’t want to dirty your spoon.”
“Makes sense,” Yaz agreed.
Ben cleared his throat, “Yep, sorry for surprising you.” It was his turn to raise an eyebrow, “Happy now?”
Yaz nodded, “Just one question, what’d you think? Was it as vile as you feared?”
“Honestly, it might be a little too sweet for my liking, but I didn’t hate it,” Ben conceded. “It still doesn’t look right though.”
“Fair enough,” Yaz accepted as she took another bite of pie, her smirk returning. As she started to wiggle her plate once again, Ben scowled and walked away from the turkey, heading to the sink. She frowned at the turkey, “Uh, I think you missed some meat on that bird.”
“Just going to wash my hands and take a short break,” he told her as he quickly scrubbed away the grease, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“What for?”
“To take that plate away from you, Fadoula,” Ben declared with a smile as he quickly dried his hands.
Yaz looked to the open porch and the cool evening air outside. Quickly, and being mindful of her pie, she darted outside, also grinning, “Catch me if you can, Pincus!”
Alternate ending, but probably moving way too fast for these two relationship-wise and it doubles-down on the food cliche:
When Ben refused to take the spoon, Yaz simply took the bite herself. As she began to dig her spoon into her pie for more, Ben cleared his throat.
As her brown eyes met his gaze, she raised another eyebrow, “What?”
His own blue gaze flickered lower, “You, uh, you got some whipped cream on you.”
Internally, Yaz cursed as she tried to see where the stain was on her outfit. Not that she was too concerned, but it was annoying that she had managed to go the entire day without spilling anything and only when she had decided to get some dessert as a treat, she spilled it on herself. When she couldn’t find anything, she scowled at Ben, thinking he’d said it to get back at her for teasing him. “Nice try, Pincus,” she said before taking another bite.
“N-no, Yaz, you, not your…,” Ben floundered before glancing at his greasy hands. When he looked back to her, Yaz was surprised at the intensity of his gaze. And before she could realize what he was doing, he had leaned over and all but kissed her on the side of the mouth. As he pulled away, his face was aflame and Yaz was certain her own face was equally red. “It was, uh, on your face. I got it.”
Surprising herself, Yaz asked, “And, what did you think?”
Ben licked his own lips, “Sweeter than I expected.”
Suddenly feeling bold herself, Yaz asked, “You sure you got all of it?”
Ben frowned, “Pretty sure-”
The younger teen stopped short as Yaz took another bite of pie, this time being sure to leave a little whipped cream directly on her lips.
This time, when Ben leaned in, Yaz didn’t hesitate to meet him.
And if Brooklynn, who had volunteered to grab some drinks for herself and the others from the kitchen, had happened to catch Ben and Yaz’s first kiss on her phone, well, she was sure they’d appreciate the video and pictures sometime down the road.
Apologies if they seem OOC at all. Rereading it now, I feel it's a little rougher than I remembered. This was written well before we had any info on Chaos Theory. But they’re a bit older than the end of the show (though they’ve not reached their ages in the epilogue yet) and again, Yaz and Sammy aren’t a thing in this universe, so Ben and Yaz have maybe both caught some level of feelings for the other, but they’re not sure how to show it yet. I’ve already got a Christmas-themed sequel to this and perhaps even a New Year’s one as well. We’ll see where it goes.
If you’ve made it this far, thanks again for reading! And again, if you have any short story ideas, I welcome any and all suggestions, though it may take time for me to write them (I also reserve the right to decline if I already have a similar story in mind or I don’t agree with the idea; if it’s the former, I’ll be sure to let you know I’m working on something and if it’s the latter, I’ll just say I’m not comfortable with the idea).
(Also, I know field dressing and quartering an animal is for pretty much immediately after an animal has been downed, but given that they’re cooking whole turkeys, presumably purchased at a store (though if they’re having Thanksgiving at the Gutierrez ranch, it’s not outside the possibility that the Gutierrez either raise turkeys themselves or know people who do, but I digress), giving Ben the chance to ‘field dress’ and ‘quarter’ the birds by prepping them and later carving them seems like something up his alley.)
“Stop it, Fadoula.”
“Stop what?”
“You know what,” Ben replied with a grimace.
Summary: As the first Thanksgiving comes around for the Nublar Six following their return to civilization, they choose to celebrate the holiday together. And perhaps Yaz and Ben's friendship drifts towards something more thanks to an unexpected food item.
A/N - This is the first story in my Benmina one-shot collection "The Track Star and the Wild Child" on ao3 that I posted almost a year ago, but since it was a belated Thanksgiving themed story then, felt appropriate to finally also post it on here for this year's Thanksgiving.
And just a quick note, this takes place Post-Season 5 of Camp Cretaceous, but prior to the Epilogue. Also it’s obviously an AU because Yaz and Sammy are not together in this universe.
“Stop it, Fadoula.”
“Stop what?”
“You know what,” Ben replied with a grimace.
Yaz smirked as she remained where she was, which was standing right beside Ben as he worked at one of the kitchen counters. Their little Friendsgiving celebration was winding down and Ben was working on dividing up the meat from the turkeys.
While the original plan had been for it to only be the six teenagers, their parents and siblings had insisted on joining in as well. And despite the distance many of them had to travel, it was decided that the Gutierrez ranch was the best location to host Sammy’s friends and their relatives.
While all the teens had helped prepare parts of the meal, Ben had been allowed to prepare the turkeys, despite several of the adults originally planning to handle the messy job themselves. However, Ben’s mother had to step in and stop them. As Ben’s mother explained to the other adults, this was the closest Ben got to ‘field dressing and quartering a kill’ aside from the fish he sometimes caught. While he’d adapted back into civilization, there was always going to be a part of him that longed for the jungles and the pseudo-hunter-gatherer lifestyle he had developed on Isla Nublar. And so, the adults relented and offered the job to Ben, who had eagerly started the task. And after the meal, Ben had volunteered to carve what remained of the turkeys and this time, no one protested.
As for the others, Sammy was having to serve as a referee for a surprisingly intense match of checkers between Kenji and Brand. Originally the two had asked Brooklynn, but she joked she wouldn’t be impartial since Kenji was her boyfriend. Then they’d asked Darius and the youngest of their group had declined on similar grounds, saying he couldn’t pick between his brother and best friend. Yaz then volunteered, but Kenji shot her down immediately, claiming she would sabotage the match and he might as well just proclaim Brand the winner in that case. While she hadn’t been planning anything, Yaz had just shrugged and smirked at Kenji’s reaction. And so, with Ben occupied with the turkeys and the other adults either engaged in conversation or playing equally intense games of Uno or Yahtzee with Sammy’s younger siblings, the boys had pleaded with Sammy to be referee.
And so, while Yaz had originally remained to spectate the match, she only had so much patience for the back and forth between Kenji and Brand as they took several minutes to complete their turns. Despite all the food they’d already consumed, Yaz herself had forgone dessert earlier and so decided to take the moment to get some pumpkin pie.
Serving herself a slice of pie, she’d then gone to the fridge to add the traditional topping: whipped cream. Without a second thought, she walked past Ben, set her plate down on the counter beside him, and opened the fridge door. Popping the cap off, she sprayed a small amount of whipped cream over top of her pumpkin pie. After she’d returned the topping to the fridge, she was met with a glare from Ben.
And then she remembered.
“Whipped cream, for some reason,” Sammy had added after Darius had begun listing Ben’s many phobias, as the monorail had sped them across Nublar, seemingly on their way to freedom.
“The way it moves,” Ben had replied with a shudder.
Yaz grinned as she opened the fridge door once more, retrieved the whipped cream and added a generous portion more to her plate.
Ben’s face softened as she returned the container to the fridge again. His glare returned quickly, however, when Yaz leaned up against the counter beside him and began to eat her pie, making sure to move the plate just enough so the whipped cream wobbled about.
“Stop it, Fadoula.”
“Stop what?”
“You know what.”
“I’m just enjoying some pie, Pincus,” Yaz replied, smirking around her plastic spoon as she took another bite. They’d only had just enough forks and other actual cutlery for the main meal earlier, which were now being cleaned in the dishwasher. So, Yaz had to resort to plasticware. She scooped some of the whipped cream off of the plate and pointed her spoon at Ben, “I don’t see what the problem is.”
Ben directed his irritated gaze at the condiment, “It’s one thing to have people eat it at the dinner table, it’s another to deliberately taunt me with it. It’s weird.”
Yaz raised an eyebrow, “Says the boy who loves bugs and is currently wrist deep in a roasted bird.”
Having carved away as much meat as possible with the knives long ago, Ben had resorted to using just his hands to pull away meat from the bones. He twisted one of the turkey wings until it dislocated from the shoulder. “Your point?”
Switching tactics, Yaz asked, “Have you ever tried it?”
“No and I still don’t want to,” Ben answered. “Not with how it acts.”
“Look, if you try some whipped cream right now, I’ll stop bothering you,” Yaz promised. “You enjoy grubs that are actively alive and wriggling-”
“They’re a natural food source, Fadoula, not whatever artificial abomination that is.”
“-but can’t handle a little whipped cream.” She waved the spoon closer to his face, “And if you don’t, I’ll have to tell Bumpster next time I see her that you’re still scared of-”
Without giving her time to finish her sentence, Ben’s head darted closer and his mouth closed around the spoon. His initial grimace gave way to a softer expression, his blue eyes holding Yaz’s surprised gaze as he pulled back.
Yaz felt her cheeks warm, “I-I thought you’d take the spoon.”
As he realized what he’d done, Ben’s own face flushed red, “Well, m-my hands are greasy. Didn’t want to dirty your spoon.”
“Makes sense,” Yaz agreed.
Ben cleared his throat, “Yep, sorry for surprising you.” It was his turn to raise an eyebrow, “Happy now?”
Yaz nodded, “Just one question, what’d you think? Was it as vile as you feared?”
“Honestly, it might be a little too sweet for my liking, but I didn’t hate it,” Ben conceded. “It still doesn’t look right though.”
“Fair enough,” Yaz accepted as she took another bite of pie, her smirk returning. As she started to wiggle her plate once again, Ben scowled and walked away from the turkey, heading to the sink. She frowned at the turkey, “Uh, I think you missed some meat on that bird.”
“Just going to wash my hands and take a short break,” he told her as he quickly scrubbed away the grease, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“What for?”
“To take that plate away from you, Fadoula,” Ben declared with a smile as he quickly dried his hands.
Yaz looked to the open porch and the cool evening air outside. Quickly, and being mindful of her pie, she darted outside, also grinning, “Catch me if you can, Pincus!”
Alternate ending, but probably moving way too fast for these two relationship-wise and it doubles-down on the food cliche:
When Ben refused to take the spoon, Yaz simply took the bite herself. As she began to dig her spoon into her pie for more, Ben cleared his throat.
As her brown eyes met his gaze, she raised another eyebrow, “What?”
His own blue gaze flickered lower, “You, uh, you got some whipped cream on you.”
Internally, Yaz cursed as she tried to see where the stain was on her outfit. Not that she was too concerned, but it was annoying that she had managed to go the entire day without spilling anything and only when she had decided to get some dessert as a treat, she spilled it on herself. When she couldn’t find anything, she scowled at Ben, thinking he’d said it to get back at her for teasing him. “Nice try, Pincus,” she said before taking another bite.
“N-no, Yaz, you, not your…,” Ben floundered before glancing at his greasy hands. When he looked back to her, Yaz was surprised at the intensity of his gaze. And before she could realize what he was doing, he had leaned over and all but kissed her on the side of the mouth. As he pulled away, his face was aflame and Yaz was certain her own face was equally red. “It was, uh, on your face. I got it.”
Surprising herself, Yaz asked, “And, what did you think?”
Ben licked his own lips, “Sweeter than I expected.”
Suddenly feeling bold herself, Yaz asked, “You sure you got all of it?”
Ben frowned, “Pretty sure-”
The younger teen stopped short as Yaz took another bite of pie, this time being sure to leave a little whipped cream directly on her lips.
This time, when Ben leaned in, Yaz didn’t hesitate to meet him.
And if Brooklynn, who had volunteered to grab some drinks for herself and the others from the kitchen, had happened to catch Ben and Yaz’s first kiss on her phone, well, she was sure they’d appreciate the video and pictures sometime down the road.
Apologies if they seem OOC at all. Rereading it now, I feel it's a little rougher than I remembered. This was written well before we had any info on Chaos Theory. But they’re a bit older than the end of the show (though they’ve not reached their ages in the epilogue yet) and again, Yaz and Sammy aren’t a thing in this universe, so Ben and Yaz have maybe both caught some level of feelings for the other, but they’re not sure how to show it yet. I’ve already got a Christmas-themed sequel to this and perhaps even a New Year’s one as well. We’ll see where it goes.
If you’ve made it this far, thanks again for reading! And again, if you have any short story ideas, I welcome any and all suggestions, though it may take time for me to write them (I also reserve the right to decline if I already have a similar story in mind or I don’t agree with the idea; if it’s the former, I’ll be sure to let you know I’m working on something and if it’s the latter, I’ll just say I’m not comfortable with the idea).
(Also, I know field dressing and quartering an animal is for pretty much immediately after an animal has been downed, but given that they’re cooking whole turkeys, presumably purchased at a store (though if they’re having Thanksgiving at the Gutierrez ranch, it’s not outside the possibility that the Gutierrez either raise turkeys themselves or know people who do, but I digress), giving Ben the chance to ‘field dress’ and ‘quarter’ the birds by prepping them and later carving them seems like something up his alley.)
For the people who ship unpopular ships. Don’t be afraid to show what you like. Everyone has what they like even they are the same as most people or not, it isn’t important. The importance is what make you happy. You don’t have to care what others will think about you, just show them.
For the people who ship unpopular ships. Don’t be afraid to show what you like. Everyone has what they like even they are the same as most people or not, it isn’t important. The importance is what make you happy. You don’t have to care what others will think about you, just show them.
romaincrisis
germansingergirl
dailybridgerton
tangentwithtanner
janainaart
snowghoul
