#benverse

[queensafire]

The Ben's would argue on whose the greatest boyfriend ever.

While Mad just look at them confuse as he have no clue what that means.

[glitchgaymer]

Hc: Ben 23 is an only child

[rahleeyah]

@ Italian anon and "what if Eli moved in with Liv" anon: a Thought for you both under the cut

Thinking about. Someone coming into the squad. A new detective, let's say. Someone to round out Kat, Amanda, and Fin, make it even numbers. Let's say he's a guy kinda like Nick. Young, quick to smile, background in narcotics. Let's call him... Ben. So Ben comes walking in, sees them sitting around.

"Hey, I'm looking for Captain Benson, is he around?"

The squad exchange glances; is this guy for real right now?

"who wants to know?" This from Fin.

"Ben [], just transferred from narcotics."

"right well, Ben, before you get started-"

There's some noise from the entrance, and the whole squad - and Ben - turns to look. He's watching a pretty, dark haired woman in a heated conversation with a teenage boy, the pair of them making their way across the room. The kid is about as tall as her and his hair is dark like hers and something about the face, and the way they're walking together, he immediately clocks her as the kid's mother. Only the thing is, they're not speaking English, and they're not waiting for an officer to help them - no one even stands up to try to stop them. It's like they belong there. He can't quite place the language they're speaking but whatever they're talking about, it's animated. Not angry, he doesn't think, but she's waving her hands around. He sees her give a nod to Fin, watches her and the kid disappear into the office at the back of the squad room.

"Captain Benson just got here," Fin says.

"Right."

That is. Not what Ben was expecting. Not a woman, not with her kid, not speaking whatever the fuck language that was.

"gimme a minute, I'll see if she's ready for you."

Fin has been running interference from the minute Ben turned up. Not like a butler, but more like a bouncer, or a bodyguard. Vetting Ben, not letting a stranger too close to his captain. So Ben knows that guy, at least, is protective of his boss, but the ladies are eyeing him up in a way that makes him feel a little uncomfortable, like they don't want him anywhere near their captain, either. It occurs to him that none of his new squad mates have introduced themselves yet.

Fin comes back.

"you can go in," he says, like Ben's just been granted an audience with the pope.

"hey thanks man."

She's waiting for him in the office, standing behind her desk. No handshake bc covid, but she flashes a tired smile at him.

"nice to meet you, detective []. Welcome aboard."

"thank you, captain. It's good to be here." Even though the squad hasn't exactly been warm and fuzzy, he thinks he can bring them around. Doughnuts usually work wonders.

"that your boy?" He asks, gesturing towards the glass window that takes up one wall of her office. On the other side of it the kid is sitting at a table with a pile of schoolbooks in front of him. There are photos all over her desk, too, but he can only see the backs of the frames. She smiles as they look at that kid. Warm. Proud.

"one of 'em," she says. "I don't usually bring them to the office, he's just waiting for his dad to pick him up. Why don't you have a seat, and we can go over a few things before you get started?"

So he sits. She talks a little about procedure, and what she expects from her people. Gives him the "this department isn't like other departments" speech. From the angle he's sitting at he can see one of the photos on her desk; it's a younger boy than the one in the room behind them, looks to be about seven, with curly dark hair. The kid is cute, and his face is different enough to tell Ben it's not just an old picture of the same boy. One of 'em, she said, so he figures she's got two sons, and she's gotta be divorced, there's no ring on her finger and dad is picking the kid up at her work, not at home.

She's nearly done with her spiel when there's a knock on the door, and then it opens, and a new guy walks in. About as old as her, blue eyes like the kid in the photograph, expensive suit.

"hey, Liv," he says to her. The placard on her desk says Captain Olivia Benson, so Ben recognizes Liv as a nickname; this must be the dad, he thinks.

"hey," she says, gently.

"he ready to go?"

"he's all yours."

The man nods, crosses the room to rap his knuckles against the glass. The kid jumps, but seems to recognize his cue; he starts packing his books into his bag.

"thanks for doing this," the man tells her. He has not acknowledged Ben at all.

"he's your son, El," she says, very softly.

The kid comes out.

"ready to go?" Dad asks.

Kid looks to his mom, she gives him an encouraging little nod.

"yeah."

The dad claps his hand on the kid's shoulder, starts to steer him from the room.

"we'll see you Sunday, Liv," he says.

"you call me, if you need anything."

Father and son pause in the doorway.

"why don't you and Noah come over for dinner tonight?" Dad asks.

Kid looks pleased, hopeful.

"I'd like that," she tells him.

Dad is smiling now, too. He nods to her, and then they're gone, and Ben is alone with his captain again.

"family, huh?" He says.

She hums.

"what language were you speaking, before? When you came in?"

"good catch," she says approvingly, like she likes that he noticed and that he had the balls to ask. "Italian."

"helping him practice for school?" They didn't teach Italian at his high school, but her ex was wearing a fancy suit; maybe the kid's in private school somewhere.

She shakes her head, a bit sadly. "Eli grew up in Rome, and he misses it."

She offers absolutely no further explanation. Ben is a detective, and his curiosity is gonna eat him alive, but he doesn't want to lose this job on his very first day, so he bites his tongue, and keeps his questions to himself.

"let's talk about team assignments. I'm gonna pair you up with Rollins."

[queensafire]

Omniboyfriends Dynamics

Prime-Verse: Partners that make everyone question their relationships

23-Verse: Both are gremlins nothing more nothing else

Mad-Verse: Trust issues

No Watch-Verse: Reverse Role Dynamic (credits to: neonross for the lovely ideas)

Bad-Verse: Partners-in-crime act like Toxinelle and Griffe Noire

Zarro-Verse: Touch them and your dead wetheir from the zombie or the feline

Nega-Verse: Both can tolerate and find the other a good company.

[rahleeyah]

I am ALWAYS down to hear more about coach!verse, BUT I will accept any crumbs about Ben!verse instead. Either way I will eat it all up.

Coachverse: I keep flip flopping between "they have four daughters and the last (unexpected) baby is a boy" and "they have four boys and then finally get their little girl." On the one hand, Liv is such a Boy Mom™ and I love the idea of her like, surrounded by all these rowdy boys who love their mama and playing flag football in the yard and laughing with dirt on her jeans. On the other hand, I am so soft for Elliot and His Girls™, all those girls with dark eyes just like their mama, being Protective Dad and just entirely wrapped around their fingers. I could just split the difference, do two of each and then the fifth one comes along, but I have a line for Elliot when they're discussing baby number five and when she says "you think it'll be another girl (or boy w/e)?" And he says "well we're batting a thousand so far" and I wanna keep it in lmao

Benverse: after a tough case Ben is rethinking his decision to join svu. He's not sure he can take this work. He calls his captain and she tells him to come to hers, they should talk in person. So she gives him the address, and he goes. Only when he gets there, the apartment is full of people. Almost twenty of em. There's food laid out across the kitchen counter, a couple of folks at the table, a couple on the couch with plates on their knees. Liv introduces him. Eli and his dad, Elliot, Ben remembers them from his first day. Noah's there, playing with Rollins's little girls. There's Maureen and her husband Jimmy, Kathleen and her girlfriend Megan, Dickie and Lizzie, Rollins and Carisi and Kat and Fin and Phoebe. This was not what Ben signed up for, he was not ready for this fucking party situation.

"Is it somebody's birthday?" He asks.

"nah," the Captain tells him. "it's first Sunday. We always have family dinner on the first Sunday of the month. Really, I just wanted to give you a chance to talk to him." And she leads him over to Elliot. Ben doesn't know it yet, but he's about to have a conversation that's gonna change his whole life.

[rahleeyah]

I was in the shower just now, trying to come up with a last name for Ben, as one does, and had the following thought.

He turns up the same way but she's not expecting him. Fin tells him he can go in, so he does.

"Captain Benson?" He says. "Ben Tucker. I'm your new recruit."

She freezes, for a second, a strange look he doesn't understand on her face.

"no one told me you were coming," she says, after too long a pause. He's trying not to glance at her son through the glass. It's hard tho; he's curious.

"I got the paperwork," he says. "1PP told me to report to you first thing so. Here I am."

The captain takes the papers he hands her, but doesn't return his smile. Ben's always been doggedly optimistic, but so far his new squad hasn't been very welcoming. Isn't SVU supposed to be all about empathy? He's not getting much right now, is just standing awkwardly by the desk, watching the captain slide her glasses down out of her hair and over her nose, reading the transfer papers.

"ordinarily I like to interview candidates before I take them on," she tells him after a minute, dropping the papers on her desk.

"you got many candidates?" He asks. "I understand this is an all volunteer unit. I don't imagine many people are lining up to get in here these days."

He doesn't know it, but he's just won her over, bc in that moment he reminds her so much of Elliot, in the early days, quick to smile, so self assured, standing there with his hands in his pockets.

"but you put your hand up," she says.

"yes ma'am."

"all right, then." She gestures for him to sit, so he does, and she does, too.

"so," she says. "Tucker."

There's a question in the way she says his name, and he knows why, now. Every cop over the age of 40, they have the same reaction to it.

"yeah, I know, apparently there used to be some prick on the rat squad named Tucker but I promise, no relation."

He shoots her a grin, but promptly swallows his tongue, bc she's looking at him like she'd throw him out of her office right then, if she could. Like she wants to hit him. Like she wants to cry.

"that prick," she says in a low, dangerous voice, "was a friend."

Shit.

"hey, I'm sorry," he says quickly. He can't believe he offended his new boss less than two minutes into this gig. Doughnuts may not be enough to smooth this over. "It's just, you know, everybody says-"

"if you're gonna do well here," she tells him, "you're gonna need to make up your own mind. Just bc everybody says something doesn't mean it's true. Remember that."

"yes ma'am." He feels like he's back in confirmation class, being scolded by the priest. She has that air about her, a serene sort of knowledge, an otherworldly sort of power.

"and don't speak ill of the dead," she adds, and his heart drops, bc the man is dead, and he didn't know it, and he called him a prick right to her face, and. Shit.

The rest of their meeting goes the same. They walk out of the office together.

"Rollins," she says. "Meet your new partner."

"Ben Tucker," he introduces himself again, shakes hands with the pretty blonde.

"Tucker?" She repeats. She's shaking his hand but looking at the captain.

"no relation," the captain says heavily.

The man, the one who was acting like the Captain's bouncer, he's been on the phone but he hangs up and turns to them then.

"got a call, cap," he says. "Vic's on her way to mercy."

"ok." They're all business now. "Rollins, you're up. Take...Ben with you to mercy." There's a pause before she says his name. Like she was stealing herself for it. But she walks back to her office, and Ben is alone with his new partner.

"so you're Rollins, and I'm Ben?" He asks, trying to sound light hearted. The look his new partner gives him is searing in its frigid intensity.

"that woman is never gonna call you Tucker," she tells him. "Let's go."

So they do.

[rahleeyah]

im not actually sure what the premise of the benverse is, could you elaborate?

Benverse is basically svu needs a fourth detective to make it even numbers. Enter Ben:

(thanks to @carol-n-hr for the face claim!)

So Ben is the newest recruit, and he arrives shortly after Elliot's return, confused but ready to have a good time. He's friendly and he's determined. But he's got no idea what's waiting for him.

In benverse, Eli has moved in with Liv while Elliot tries to get his shit together. Ben makes a lot of wrong assumptions, which is delightful for the audience, and me. Ben keeps putting his foot in his mouth but he's a good boy. There are a few ideas in my benverse tag and it will eventually be fleshed out more.

[rahleeyah]

Sooo. Just sitting here thinking about your #benverse that I love so much. I’m a visual person so I went looking for what I thought Ben might look like. I’ve gone true SVU style and just kept a lookout for any already used minor characters…and I found this guy! Eric Elizaga who played a doctor at some point 😂 What’s not to like? And honestly I wouldn’t be mad at a new and attractive man in the SVU circle 😂

Oh my God??? He's perfect???? I am terrible at face claims so this is just the most wonderful gift bc that is Ben.