Monterey Bay Aquarium
we're not kids anymore.
Show & Tell
i don't do bad sauce passes
#extradirty
祝日 / Permanent Vacation
ojovivo
No title available
Claire Keane
Game of Thrones Daily
Origami Around
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
ellievsbear
h
Mike Driver
hello vonnie
AnasAbdin
Xuebing Du
Kaledo Art
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
seen from Malaysia
seen from China
seen from Singapore
seen from Romania
seen from Indonesia
seen from Netherlands
seen from Germany
seen from Canada
seen from Brazil
seen from Germany
seen from Germany
seen from Germany
seen from Germany
seen from Germany
seen from Germany
seen from Germany
seen from Germany
seen from Germany
seen from Germany
seen from Germany
@matchxstick
Ben launched another small flame at Lauren’s forcefield, grinning when it bounced away softly. “Ha. Yeah- if there’s one thing the X-Men have got going for them, they’re pretty damn supportive of each other. Maybe not all the time, but definitely when it counts. And it sounds like you could really use that right now,” his expression softened, tone understanding as he glanced back up at Lauren.
“Yeah, I uh- guess you’re right, Laur. Try not to be so hard on yourself though,” his voice was subdued, but still firm. Ben was well aware of what Laura had been through, and although his trauma was in no comparison to her own, he still knew what those lingering afterthoughts felt like, “Trust me when I say I’m no stranger to that and it’s not fun.”
Where there was once the danger room, there was now forest---
And smoke-- and flames.
Chest immediately tightening at the abrupt change in scenery, and to one so traumatic within Ben’s own memory, the young mutant was immediately on high alert. Scrambling to find anything to tie him back to the present, his mind was screaming at him in two conflicting voices. This is real-- this is all real. No. You’re in the Danger Room. Not real. Not. Real.
But the voices quickly became muddled, and Ben clamped both hands over his ears, “Alright! Alright! I quit-- make it stop, please.”
“Wow, poor guy,” Ben chuckled as they made their descent down the driveway to the car on the street, “--did you at least let him down easy?” He raised an eyebrow, nodding expectantly as he continued to prod in regards to their running joke.
As lighthearted as their exchange was, Ben couldn’t help the extra warmth that burned in his chest at Cessily’s mention of their blossoming new relationship. Being a mutant with such a painfully visible mutation, dating didn't come easy. In fact, it didn't really happen at all. But somehow, all the stars in the sky aligned, and led Ben to Cessily.
Stepping up to the passenger door finally, Ben opened it, and offered up a hand to help Cessily inside, but not before whispering, "Is this too much? This isn't too much, right? I don't know if you could tell but I'm very new at this."
Raking a hand down his face in frustration, Ben suddenly let out a yell in anger, launching a fireball at the nearest wall from his place on the floor next to Jean. Watching as he extinguished the burst himself so as to not actually do any structural damage, Ben then went back to burying his face in his hands, letting the silence swallow them once more.
“---this fucking sucks,” he finally whispered, voice small, after the tenseness in the air finally began to disappate.
“Yeah, I heard--” he responded with a slight grunt in effort as he took down another enemy, “-but there’s always gonna be ignorant assholes out there. No matter how hard the staff tries to teach it outta them.”
Soon after his remark, the simulation slowed to a close as their objective was successfully completed. Flopping out spread eagle on the ground, chest heaving, Ben watched as the ceiling of the Danger Room re-materialized.
“Hey, hey- no-- it’s cool-- everybody does that now and again,” Ben raked a hand through the flames atop his head, the fire suddenly behaving like hair before drifting back upwards, once again flame-like, “-besides, none of those people are real. No legitimate consequences.”
Ben noticed the ripple of air as the force field manifested, gently lobbing the fireball toward it and watching as it dissipated, mildly distracted, but still focused, “Jesus. I can’t even imagine what that’s like. Sorry, I don’t mean to be blunt, it’s just-- I hear you. Hey, if you ever you know, wanna talk about it- not that that’s not what we’re doing now, but -I’m here if you need me.”
The heaving of Ben’s chest slowed ever so slightly, but the fire did not cease. Suddenly waging a bit of an internal battle on whether or not to give in and listen to the blonde, or attempt to walk away and somehow make things worse, Ben kept his mouth shut, fists balled at his sides.
New X-Men: Academy X Yearbook Special
Ben raised an eyebrow, glancing between the charred remains of the flowers and his metallic date before deciding to bow and present the flowers to Cessily with a goofy flourish, “Milady--”
Standing up once more to offer Cessily his arm, Ben grinned as he turned to gesture to the car nearby, “Your carriage awaits.” He couldn’t help but take in every aspect of her appearance in the brief moment as he assumed she was glancing over at their ride.
“You-- you look amazing. Oh-- and do not think I’m gonna forget about that time you tried to convince me you were actually a princess. How’s the fake fiancé doing by the way?”
The already small flame fizzled out to a soft burning ember as Ben could feel his heart rate begin to lower. Letting go of Jean, he let his knees buckle under him. Pausing to take one long, slow, deep breath, Ben mentally reached out to whatever presence of Jean’s was currently intertwined with his own mind. Holding onto it just a moment longer, Ben kept his eyes closed, as what was seeming more and more like a panic attack finally appeared to be easing off.
Finally, opening his eyes a bit, chest still heavy with residual worry, the flame that engulfed Ben’s body returned with a quiet flourish and he glanced up at Jean, eyes tired and worldweary, “I- I’m sorry--”
“And I think lowly of you? Jesus---” Ben scoffed, incredulous, “-I don't know what fantasy world you're living in, but I pride myself on the fact that I'm a pretty decent person."
“Got it-- got it,” Ben scrambled to shut down the control panel, sighing in relief when the walls returned to normal and they were left alone within the confines of the reinforced training area. Jogging over to Laura, Ben crouched down for a moment, glowing face knit into an expression of concern before offering up a hand to help her to her feet, “You okay?”
Ben let out a slight laugh, “Come on-- crowd control is equally as crucial. Who’s gonna get all those crazy civilians out of there when all they want to do is stop to take photos of the lucky few ( spoken dripping with sarcasm ) of us with visible mutations?” Sending a fireball flying at the nearest attacker, Ben turned back to Laurie with a hopeful smirk before charging at another one.
“Tell me about it--” Ben let out a puff of a breath, laying flat against the ground as he began to toss a fireball up into the air out of distracted boredom, “I don’t get it. Why are they doing this? I thought they were for mutant lives, not here to threaten those that don't agree with them."
Steve + that dish towel - a true OTP (x)
