Warning this is just a jumble of notes I wrote at 5am right after the hl2vrai act 3 stream that I just found on my phone. I just thought it would be neat to share my half-asleep theories.
-The game seems to be siphoning assets from other games, perhaps when Coomer left to scurry around Gordon's computer he accidentally created a gateway that let the game loose or smth.
-It also seems that things develop faster around and are attracted to the player, and thus the ai gets more aware when it interacts with him.
-People have mentioned this before but Gordon seems to also becoming more integrated into the game. Feeling and interacting with things he really shouldn't be able to.
-The water also is affecting Gordon's memories, it might come to a point that Gordon won't even remember he is a player anymore.
-Perhaps this is also why Tommy was worried about Gregori joining the story too early. Things are breaking and not working as they should be. The npcs are not following their original script and I am intrigued to see what Tommy thinks now that Gregori seems to have survived Ravenholm.
-This also makes me wonder if Mouseman will follow the script set for herself or if she too will break sequencing.
Aaaaand thats basically it so far, I will do some deeper digging when the edited vids come out as Wayne always adds extra things for those. But for now thats all I had written.
A little bit ago I read a hlvr Demon AU fanfic that was mostly focused on Frenrey, But there was a line indicating that Bubby’s full name is Beelzebub, which I really really really like. Ive had this idea in my head that Bubby literally wasnt named Bubby until he told Gordon his name and he was too stubborn to admit he just made it up on the spot. Him being called Beelzebub by like the scientists that made him cause hes such a little devil and he wears that with pride until a guy who doesn’t know him shows up and he realizes he doesn’t wanna be a scary demon anymore. And hes Nice <3
>first >previous >next
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Gordon is hungry.
The people who took him are clearly waiting for him to starve now. It’s been… five days, he thinks? Maybe six? It's… It gets hard to tell, down here. They don't even turn the lights off.
He’s grateful Benrey’s still sharing the water — even if the fuckers try to give them even less. For some reason, Benrey likes Gordon, and is actually trying to keep him alive. Which, at this point, probably isn’t great. Because now he’s gonna slowly starve to death.
Did you know humans can live up to two months without food? People often think only a few weeks to a month because of the survivalist rule of three, but there’s been documented cases of a person going a year without eating. Extreme conditions can push the human body far, huh?
Though, for Gordon, he won’t take that long to starve. He’s got a bit of a dad bod going on, so he could probably average out to the two month goal post. This is all without considering the fact that Black Mesa may still just put a bullet between his eyes, that is. Despite Benrey having protected him that one time, who’s to say that it will last? How long will it be until Benrey gets tired of it, and just lets Black Mesa do what they want with him?
Gordon sighs, and ignores the pain from his stomach again. Gordon's about to ask if Benrey knows how long Gordon's been down here, but… they've been stuck here for several months or something, right? So if the days already blurred together for Gordon, who's to say Benrey knows anything?
He bites the inside of his lip, and stares at the blank wall. It's not… well, it is blank, but there are dozens of scratches in it. The longer Gordon stares, the more… artistic they become. Has Benrey been carving drawings into the walls, and he's just now noticing? Gordon hasn't seen them do it once since Gordon was thrown into here.
"Benrey?" Gordon glances towards the other, who was bending unnaturally, laying on the ground like a cat. (No, not unnaturally. Maybe this was normal for Benrey? Gordon mentally shakes his head. Not the time.) "Have you been… drawing in here?" He gestures towards the wall he's been staring at.
"oh, yeah," Benrey says, lifting their head to look. "s'just, uh… m'pack. y'know."
Their pack? Right, they did mention that they were taken from their group before. "Could you tell me about them?"
"uh," Benrey sits up (back into a regular position, in Gordon's humble opinion), and stretches their back. "it's… 'm not very skilled in charisma, need to uh, level up, y'know?" Benrey falls silent for a moment, and pink bubbles float out of their mouth. Their hands shoot up to cover their face, looking away from Gordon.
"they… mean a lot," Benrey continues after a moment. "uh… words are hard. but… they're like family."
Gordon nods, looking from Benrey to the drawing in the wall. It's hard to decipher all of it, as he has to turn his head slightly for the light to hit the different carvings into the wall. "they… they saved me, or whatever. when they, uh, met me. tommy… tommy let me onto their ship. quest done, rescue benrey speedrun." They quietly cough into their hand. "others… nice to me too. accepted me into their… pact."
Gordon's silent for a moment, before putting a hand on Benrey's shoulder. "I'm sorry that Black Mesa took you away from them, man."
Benrey meets Gordon in his eyes, shifting from their regular blue to a mix of pink and lime green. They grin, before letting a stream of bubbles of the same colors escape their mouth. "s'chill, feetman," Benrey says, and Gordon has to resist a groan that threatens to spill from the nickname, "they'll be coming soon. tommy wouldn't leave me again."
— — —
He’s in the middle of explaining different types of card games to Benrey, when the lights cut out suddenly. He pauses, Benrey’s pink eyes the only light in the small room. Gordon turns to look at them, see if they can hear anything, but they’re already on it. Their face twists into one of concentration, before hissing as a siren pierces the silence, red lights flashing.
The emergency generators have been turned on. What the hell’s happening? What caused Black Mesa’s generators to cut out — that’s not something that should ever even be possible. Gordon turns from Benrey, and tries to listen out of the room.
Not that he can hear anything over the siren, anyways. The room they're in is practically soundproof, he's never heard any movement in the week he's been down here.
BANG! The door flies open, and with the flashing lights, Gordon might have screamed a bit more than he meant to. Benrey loudly hushes him, before pressing themself into the glass wall and chittering in a language Gordon's never heard before. Someone walks into the room — tall, despite hunching over themself. They immediately perk up at the sound of Benrey's voice, running up and pressing their hands against the glass where Benrey is, chittering in that same language.
Oh. Gordon freezes. This is another alien. He hopes that they'll be cool, but from what he's heard from Benrey, probably not. A lot of outergalactic life is afraid of humans.
Which appears to be the case here, because, well.
The other alien was pointing a gun at him.
Instinctively, Gordon throws his arms in the air (would they even know what this means?) as they speak to him, and Benrey interrupts them a few times. The taller one gestures at Gordon with the gun in their hand as they talk, and they freeze as soon as Benrey moves.
Because the idiot stepped in front of Gordon. Between himself, and the gun.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Gordon hisses at the same time the other alien yells at them. Based on the guilty look on their face, the other one must have said something similar as to what Gordon did.
Benrey quickly replies to the other alien — and Gordon's just now realizing that they're probably important to Benrey. He blinks as Benrey says something to him, different colors of the sweet voice spilling out of their mouth.It takes Gordon a moment to process what they said. "it's ok," Benrey starts, "tommy's just scared. she's not gonna hurt you."
Gordon… he doesn’t believe that. But, he will trust Benrey on this. And, well, he’s too tired and hungry to argue. Hesitantly, he puts his hands down and takes a deep breath, rubbing his temples. The flashing lights and siren is going to give him a killer migraine.
Benrey and the other alien (Tommy?) continue to chat in rushed voices before Benrey turns back to him.
“get under the bed?”
Gordon blinks, resisting the urge to tilt his head in confusion. “What? Wait, why?”
“please and thank you?” Benrey stares at him. They have manners, at least. “tommy’s gonna pew-pew the glass. want you to be safe. not all ‘ahhh i’m bleeding, help me my super awesome savior—’”
“Okay I get it, oh my God,” Gordon laughs, before pausing for a moment. He takes a deep breath, steals himself, and gets underneath the metal frame. He feels absolutely ridiculous, but who is he to argue with an alien? Especially if that alien's friend has some high tech alien gun. Yeah, Gordon would rather be ridiculous than shot.
Thump. Gordon blinks, and — oh. Benrey dragged the mattress off the solid metal that held it on the wall onto the ground, in front of where he's currently laying down.
"Wait, aren't you gonna get glass all over you?" Gordon asks, even though he knows there isn't enough room for both of them.
"oh, s'chill," Benrey simply replies, "the glass uhh. doesn't have its passport. not allowed to, uh. hurt good ol' benny boy." Okay. Yeah, sure. The glass is missing its — its passport. Why is that something that Benrey latched onto? Who in Black Mesa even told them about passports?
Gordon's overthinking this. He does that when he starts to freak out. Huh, yeah, he is freaking out, isn't he? Just a bit, but — the whole insanity of this situation. He could almost laugh from it — the kidnapping, the week in a cell, sharing said cell with an alien who's been here for months, the cause of the missing people in Black Mesa — and all of it leads to meeting another alien who's going to break them out. And so he's hiding behind a mattress so glass doesn't shatter all over himself.
It's ridiculous. It sounds like an episode of a bad Star Trek ripoff.
Gordon flinches as the gun goes off with a zwip! The glass shatters, and Benrey lays the mattress flat on top of the glass for Gordon to be able to get out. "Thanks, man," he says with a shaky exhale, climbing out of his hidey-hole and standing. "What's the plan?"
Benrey hums, before turning to Tommy. The two talk, and Tommy seems to quickly be ushering them. Sometime during the conversation, Benrey says Gordon's name, and he pauses. That's probably fine, right?
"feetman, are you even listenin' to me? woww, my best friend hates me, poor me—"
"What? It would be easier if you didn't muddle everything you say with random shit," Gordon replies. "So what's the plan?"
"i was jus' tellin' you, bro. tommy says they're gonna get us out of here, no problemo," Benrey replies, a smile on their face. They seem really happy to see Tommy again, which— yeah, fair. Gordon would be glad to see a familiar face too if he were in their shoes. "we gotta go quick though, 'cuz bubbles is waiting for us 'nd if we don't go she might leave."
Oh, fuck. "Okay, let's get out!"
"whuh— you're actually coming?" Benrey asks, almost shocked. Tommy smacks their shoulder, grabbing their wrist and starting to pull them. Must be very time sensitive. Benrey is defending themself from Tommy, but ends up allowing him to drag Benrey.
"I mean, yeah? They're gonna fucking— kill me if I stay in. I don't know where we are so if your friend knows the way to the surface, I'm coming with you."
"ok," Benrey says simply, blinking their glowing eyes as the trio moves. Gordon quickly snags his bag that had been discarded in the corner, letting out a small aha! The three of them start in a jog, going quicker until all of them are running down the hallways of Black Mesa. Which is not a very good move for Dr. Gordon Freeman, who hasn't eaten anything in the past week, as he's been slowly starving.
Now, Gordon wouldn't consider himself unfit by any means. He's a bigger guy, yeah, but he likes to go on runs whenever he has the free time. But this? This was hard. Gordon has no energy for a run like this, and plus the fact he's barely been able to move. He would pace in the cell, but it was still a small room with another living creature in it. Not much room to do anything in.
And he was feeling it. His adrenaline is fading fast, his head hurt from the lights and sounds, and his legs are swiftly becoming sore as he falls behind. C'mon, Gordon. He has to keep moving.
Although, because it is just his horrible, awful luck, someone grabs him. A hand covers his mouth as he's dragged into a dark room, and Gordon's immediately thrashing. He hits, bites, and kicks every inch he could reach. Still, he felt himself being pulled further and further into the darkness by this person.
He tries to scream, yell, make any noise at all when he feels a small prick on the side of his neck. The sound is muffled, the hand tightening over Gordon's mouth painfully. He elbows the person holding him in the face, stumbling forward— although it's too late.
The drug, whatever it is that Black Mesa has, works fast. He can already feel his strength leaving him as he nearly topples over, only managing to catch himself on the doorway. His vision is blackening, seeing double through his eyes. His mouth is dry as he opens it, before letting out an oof! as the guy tackled him to the ground.
His vision is tunneling, closing in on itself. He feels the person — a guard, a scientist, who fucking ever had grabbed him — on his back. Gordon blinks, slowly, fighting to stay awake. He mutters Benrey's name under his breath, and they're already sprinting back towards Gordon.
Distantly, he can hear the person on him scream, and Gordon Freeman falls unconscious.
— — —
benrey's a big cool.
they've never done anything wrong, ok? yea, cool, glad we're on the same page here. benrey's has never done anything to deserve what they've been dealing with. getting locked up again, this time they're getting poked and prodded and looked at by those gross, terrifying scientists.
they've been in this situation for… they don't even know how long. probs months, if they had to guess. not that they have months in space, but, well, if you're on a planet long enough, you pick up some of the lingo and general understanding.
so, yeah. several earth months, they've been down here in the 'black mesa', being experimented on. the same routine every day, and benrey went with it to not die. because they were stuck with humans.
benrey's not stupid. they might be a little aloof, in their head sometimes, but they're not unaware of what was happening. and the one thing they know — do not mess with humanity. they're, like, super strong when they think their life is in danger, they eat actual poisons daily, and they will hunt you until you can't walk anymore and the human will be fine.
so benrey goes along with the experiments.
it's not like they've gone through it before — and honestly, they're not even as bad as his was. probs 'cuz they don't know the full ins 'nd outs of xenionian bodies like he did, at least. so a lot of it was surface level. until they wanted to look inside Benrey, but they just shifted their form.
anyways, the very long point being — benrey had a shitty schedule. three experiments a week, and then the scientists experimenting on them would drop a dead human into his cell for food. That alone was a whole issue benrey had to get over, but, well. the human would already be dead, so they just shrugged and did what they had to do.
that was until gordon feetman showed up.
it was 'possed to be another normal day, waiting for the guysss to show up and rescue them, but nooo. instead a gross snotty alive human got dropped in with them, all gross, ruining the vibe.
but. benrey got used to it. whenever the human isn't being human-y, he was actually pretty chill. benrey quickly realized that he was going to be a part of their pact, and took that in stride (even though they'd never tell feetman that, 'cuz feelings aren't their thing at all. The only xenian they've said that to was tommy. just talking about their pact makes them want to let out dozens of bubblegum pink sweet voice).
it's been… about a week, they think, since feetman woke up in their cell with them. a very scary stressful week, but only one week nonetheless. he was talking benrey through one of earth's human games, called like… something they don't remember. benrey wasn't really paying a lot of attention, instead just listening to feetman's voice. it was soothing to just hear another creature that didn't want to pick them apart from the inside out.
benrey pauses, glancing to the single door that led into the other side of the room. something felt off, and a moment later the door slams open. feetman immediately jumps, letting a scream rip through his lungs before benrey shushes him.
because it's tommy! "you're here!" benrey jumps up, pressing their hands against the glass separating them. "you're actually here!"
"Of— Of course I am, Benrey!" tommy presses aers palm against the glass, over benrey's own. "Are you okay? What happened?"
"a lot, but we can talk 'bout it later," benrey says, glancing into tommy's eyes, who's now locked onto the human. "woah, hey, he's chill. calm down, please and thank you?"
"It's a human!" tommy says, taking a step back. "Has it hurt you??"
"no! no, feetman's cool, promise. we gotta break 'im out," benrey says, gesturing to themself and feetman. they sputter as tommy raises aers gun at feetman, and without even thinking Benrey hisses at aer and steps between tommy and feetman.
"Benrey, what are you doing?" tommy asks, the same time feetman shouted out, "What the fuck are you doing?"
a twinge of guilt passes through benrey's form when they realize they hissed at tommy — at another member of their pact, for the defense of a human. but feetman's their pact now, too, so they don't move, keeping themself between tommy and gordon.
benrey is protective. benrey never had anyone that cared about them before bubbles picked them up, and benrey will not let go of those that they consider pact. so they steal themself in front of feetman and tommy, making direct eye contact with tommy.
"you can't 'urt him," benrey replies to tommy, first. "he's…" they huff as the words don't come to them. instead, they open their mouth and wispy sweet voice leaves it — pink to lime green mixed in with a bright snow white. pact. family. important.
tommy gasps, glancing between benrey and feetman. after a moment, she nods, and slowly lowers her gun and rests it at her side. benrey lets a small smile grow on their face, nodding as a thank you for understanding. they now turn their attention to feetman, responding to them in whatever human language they've picked up down here, "it's ok. tommy's just scared. she's not gonna hurt you."
feetman puts his hands down (when did he do that? and why??), and he lets out a sigh. ok, good. feetman settled. gordon settleman. niice. they need to save that for later.
"How are we gonna get you out of here?"
"whuh?" benrey blinks, turning to tommy. what did she say? oh, right. "um. dunno, wasn't like i was really paying attention when i got kidnapped."
"Benrey!" tommy huffs. "This is serious! How are we gonna get you and the human out of the cell?"
"oh, it's easy. this, uh… not real hologram, cheap ripoff, scam," benrey says, tapping on the glass. "it breaks easy. it'll hurt feetman though."
"It's not?" tommy says, antennae twitching as she inspects it. "Oh, it's not! It's— Is it glass?"
"yea." benrey pauses, thinking. need to think of a way to get feetman out of here without getting covered in glass and… exploding into blood? is that a thing humans could do?
they glance around. oh— the bed! that should be thick enough to be ok, right? yea, it should be. benrey turns to feetman, pointing at the floor. "get under the bed?"
gordon blinks, before confusion washes over their face. "What? Wait, why?"
"please and thank you?" benrey asks, pointing to the ground again. they're saving your life, idiot, please work with them? “tommy’s gonna pew-pew the glass. want you to be safe. not all ‘ahhh i’m bleeding, help me my super awesome savior—’”
gordon cuts them off, laughing at his own comment before hesitantly getting onto the ground. he crawls underneath the metal table holding the mattress up, and benrey pulls it off and makes a thick wall between the glass and feetman.
"What're… What are you doing?" tommy asks, glancing between the two of them.
"glass is, uh, not good for him," benrey explains, "the bed'll protect 'im so you can shoot the glass."
"What?" tommy shakes her head. "I'm not gonna shoot the glass with you in there! You— You could get hurt, like— like a—"
"please?" benrey asks. "no arguing please? short on time, thank you?" tommy doesn't reply, but gulps and nods. ok, good. no arguing. yippee.
but, of course, feetman has to speak up. can't just let benrey do this nice thing for him. "Wait, aren't you gonna get glass all over you?" he asks benrey from behind the bedding. oh. he's worried about benrey. they can feel pink sweet voice building in their chest, but they push it away.
"oh, s'chill," benrey replies, coughing into their palm to keep the sweet voice down. "the glass uhh. doesn't have its passport. not allowed to, uh. hurt good ol' benny boy." the human doesn't reply again, so benrey turns their attention back to tommy.
"Are— Are you ready?" benrey nods. tommy shoots the gun, and for a moment, benrey can feel it. the glass cutting across their skin, slicing into them. then, a simple shift of their being, and they were fine. benrey grins at tommy, a large, toothy thing, before pulling the mattress flat on the ground for feetman. he crawls out on top of the mattress, standing on the now torn up bedding. "Thanks, man," he says, breath shaky and his heart racing. "What's the plan?"
good question! they don't know. benrey turns to tommy, who seems very anxious, fiddling with her hands now that she's put her gun away. "ok, what now?"
"We— We gotta get back to the surface, since this is really deep underground." tommy glances behind herself. "Bubby and Coomer are waiting nearby, and they're probably back at Destiny now."
"the science ship," benrey says under their breath automatically. "ok, tommy. lead the way. we gotta get up there and bring feetman."
she pauses, biting the inside of her lip as her antennae droop down. "Bubby's gonna be mad," tommy says, "she's not gonna want a human on the ship."
"i know," benrey huffs, "but you gotta help me out, toms. if i leave 'im down here, they're gonna kill him."
tommy bites her lip again, thinking. "Okay, fine. I'll help you sneak Feetman onto the ship, but you're the one who has to deal with Bubby when she finds out!"
a grin grows on benrey's face. "thats if she finds out."
tommy laughs, and benrey can feel themself relaxing despite the loud sirens and the flashing lights. oh, how they missed that sound. benrey turns to feetman, "tommy's gonna lead out out of here. gotta get to your weird surface and get to the science ship." they stare at feetman, who seems spacey. they wave their hand in front of his face, "feetman, are you even listenin' to me? woww, my best friend hates me, poor me—"
benrey's monologue is interrupted (rude) by feetman snapping back to life. "What? It would be easier if you didn't muddle everything you say with random shit," he snaps. maybe he's cranky 'cuz of the lights. "So what's the plan?"
"i was jus' tellin' you, bro. tommy says they're gonna get us out of here, no problemo," benrey says, grin on their face. "we gotta go quick though, 'cuz bubbles is waiting for us 'nd if we don't go she might leave."
"Okay, let's get out!"
benrey stares at him. "whuh— you're actually coming?" they weren't expecting feetman to actually want to come with, for some reason. they hear tommy groan, before smacking their shoulder and pulling them forward. "whuh— hey. mean." benrey bats their hand away, but follows behind tommy anyways.
feetman stumbles to follow, stepping over the broken glass as he talks. "I mean, yeah? They're gonna fucking— kill me if I stay in. I don't know where we are so if your friend knows the way to the surface, I'm coming with you."
oh, yea. that makes sense. "ok." 'cuz, what else was there to say?
tommy steps through the door just as feetman pauses. he crouches in the corner, and lets out a proud sound as he pulls something out of an old pile of books and bags. then, the three were off. they started at a quick jog, before the three of them were running under the red lights, shouts from other scientists echoing down the hall as their precious science experiment was running loose. "Once we get to that elevator, it'll almost be a straight shot!" tommy exclaims, and benrey pushes themself further.
they're not in the best condition. they've been underfed and experimented on, and they've used more of their strength that they've gotten back. but they're going to make it out of here, and pass out for twenty years to recover.
they glance behind them, before skidding to a halt. gordon's gone. "Benrey?" tommy asks, slowing as well. "Benrey, we gotta go."
"he's missing," benrey hisses, glancing around. where the hell could he have gone? the sirens are making it impossible for benrey to hear him anywhere. shit, how long has he been missing for? did he lose them?
then, he stumbles out of a doorway. he's sweaty and pale, his whole body shaking, as if it was taking everything in his power to just stand there. benrey runs towards him as another person slams into him, knocking him to the ground.
benrey loses it. they hear gordon mutter out their name, calling for them, and benrey launches. they're on top of the scientist, who screams, but it's too late. benrey's form shifts, and before they know it, benrey's torn their head off with his mouth. they toss the body to the side, and they can hear tommy shouting for them, but they're not focusing on that.
gordon lays on the ground, unmoving. his heartrate is much slower than it should be, and his eyes were closed. "c'mon, feetman, get up," they say, grabbing onto his shoulders. "c'mon, gordon. you expectin' me to carry you the whole way up?"
"Benrey, come on, we have to go—!" benrey groans, tapping his knees before picking feetman up, and throwing him over their shoulder. and just like that, benrey and tommy are running out of this black mesa.
it's clear that benrey is struggling. being stuck down here for these past several months, without enough food, being experimented on — benrey's hurting. bad. hard to run, hard to carry feetman, hard to focus.
bright yellow wisps escape their mouth, and tommy silently takes their hand, keeping them moving. tommy was talking to benrey, but they were struggling to focus on the words as they felt like putty, moving through benrey's hands before they could even process the fact that they're holding something.
eventually, in what seems like an eternity, the three of them make it into an elevator, the doors slamming close as the device rattles and shakes moving up. benrey practically collapses onto the ground, carefully rolling feetman onto the floor as well. breathing was hard, now — they were struggling to catch their breath, the adrenaline running fast through their mind.
they were on the home stretch. the elevator leads to the surface, where coomer and bubbles were waiting. then benrey would finally be free of all this nonsense. then they would be free, hopefully for the rest of their life.
the fact this has happened to them twice makes their stomachs twist.
"Are you okay, Benrey?" tommy asks, and benrey's eyes look up towards them. they still look close to a human. not the same way benrey did — the only telltale sign was tommy's antennae they always kept on their form. still wearing the face of a scientist, the lightly stained coat that tommy probably stole.
after several long moments, benrey finally answers, "'m fine, now that you're here." now that the immediate threat was gone, benrey was feeling the bonedeep exhaustion start to set in. all of these months, and benrey's barely slept — nowhere near as much as they should have been. And the inclusion of feetman, having to stay away to protect him, benrey was tired.
they felt their eyes close, head bumping against the shaky elevator wall. "Really, Benrey," tommy's voice says, and benrey could hear them sit down next to them. "I— I know—" tommy's voice catches on itself, and they let out an annoyed huff as they try to get their wording down. benrey leans on tommy's shoulder in silent support.
after a moment, tommy tries again. "It probably brought up bad memories. I know I felt horrible, just— knowing you were in that situation again." tommy held onto one of benrey's hands, and benrey could feel pink and lime green and magenta sweet voice building in their chest, along with a blue, purple, and pink mixture. tommy described it as a spring evening one time, when he first saw it. "I'm worried, Benrey. He's been close to us a few different times now, to the point we— he was in the same solar system. And then— And, you got—"
benrey opened their eyes, and saw tears in his eyes. "oh, tommy…" benrey shifts, turning to face them, benrey's hand never leaving tommy's. they let the sweet voice spill, the bubbles shining in the artificial light before popping above them. "it's ok. i'm ok. promise."
tommy's eyes were shining with wetness, bottom lip shaking. they carefully pull benrey into a hug, and the two of them sit together in each other's embrace until the elevator doors open.
