forum Monsters? These are my children -Ben (o/o with lisapickle)

Started November 05, 2019 by @chickenfrogman group

tune

Gabriel gives a small nod (the freak is still invisible) and Kissa rolls her eyes. Cage heads into the kitchen and grabs a sleeve of crackers.
“Do you think they know where we live?” He quietly asks.

Silver slipped down to sit on the floor in front of the couch. Miki nestled her head on her arms and looked across at Cage. "You mean the baddies?" she asked. "I don't think so. Ben's way too protective and hyper-vigilant to let anyone find us."
Says the girl who wore her gun around all morning, Silver thought.

Cage seems unconvinced, his face pale, and he gulps. "Well… I'm gonna go to my bedroom. I won't talk so Vi won't wake." His voice fades near the end and he heads upstairs with his crackers in-hand.
Gabriel eye Silver, considering sitting next to her, but decides against it.
Kissa wrings her hands and looks over the group with her lips pursed. "Sooooo, what are we gonna do?"

"Be quiet." Miki said. "Whatever you do make sure quiet is involved."
Silver sighed and nodded in agreement. "If we try to do much of anything either Ben or Vi will probably get us in trouble for waking her." she glanced around the room, knowing Gabriel was invisible, and not able to detect his location. Subtly she patted the ground beside her, barely moving her hand, in case she was in his sight.

Kissa scowls and crosses her arms, walking to the backdoor and heading out.
Gabriel watches as Silver's hand slowly and gently moves. He clenches his jaw in thought.
I don't-
He inwardly sighs, giving in, and silently heads over, settling beside her. The only evidence of him sitting next to her is the sound of his breath. He pushes his black hair back out of his eyes and looks her over.

(On it)

Violet finishes up her mascara and blinks twice into the mirror before walking out of the bathroom. She slips on a pair of beige heels then heads downstairs.
“Gabriel, we’ll only be gone for a few hours, but I expect you to stay visible the entire time to avoid any freak outs.”
He gulps.
This is how I die.
Cage squeals. “Vi, you’re so pretty!”

Miki rummaged around in the fridge, trying to decide what to make for supper. "We can have soup! Well, we had that last night. Wait, do we have any frozen pizza in the freezer?"

Silver cringed in sympathy, glancing at Gabriel. This would be a hard night for him. "Behave." she whispered to Miki and Cage. "We don't want to kill Gabriel tonight."

Im already gonna die.
Gabriel rubs his forehead, having to force himself to keep visible.
Ben heads down the stairs, slipping on his jacket on the way.
“Gabe is in charge, yes?”
Vi nods.
“Good. There’s pizza in the freezer for him to make. You guys behave.”

Miki jerked her head out of the freezer to give Ben a confused frown. "For GABE to cook? Does he even know how to cook? Silver, does Gabe–"

Silver smacked Miki's arm, hard. "You heat up the oven and stick the pizza in. Yes, Gabriel can do that."

Ben rolls his eyes, taking his keys from the counter. “I don’t care who puts it in, just don’t burn down the house.”
Cage smiles and waves. “Have fun!”
Violet takes Ben’s hand, then waves behind her. “Behave.” And with that they exit the house.
Gabriel sinks into the corner.
Im gonna die.

"Okay." Miki sighed in relief. "I was confused for a second. I shall heat up the oven because I know I can do that without setting anything on fire." she retrieved the pizza from the freezer and set the oven to preheat.

Silver came over to Gabe, standing between him and the rest of the room. "You could, like, hide in the library and leave the door open. That way you'll still be visible and can hear us if anyone starts screaming but you don't have to be… out here." she waved her hand around.

Gabriel sets his head in his hands, being silent long enough for it to become a little awkward before he answers. “I’m fine.” Quietly.
Cage bounces over to Miki. “What kind of pizza? I’m so hungry.”
Kissa glares over the group from the balcony. “If Miki's making it, it’ll be gross.”

Miki scoffed. "Excuse! I am not making this. I'm heating it up. Ben got it for us so it'll be great. I promise I won't taint it with any of my 'cooking skills'." To Cage she said, "Hmmm. Pepperoni and sausage I think." she showed him the box.

Silver sighed, watching him, and knowing he was not 'fine'.

“Miki. You have a talent for ruining. I’m sure it’ll be terrible.”
Cage ignores Kiss and looks over the box. “Mmmmmmmmm. I’m ready to eat it.”

-

Ben pulls up at the restaurant and climbs out of the car, smoothing his curls back. Violet follows him to the door where they’re led to a reserved, empty room in the back.

Miki rolled her eye and blew Kissa a fake kiss. "My specialty. Just for you. Me too." she said, turning to Cage. "I'm starving." the oven beeped and she took the pizza out of the box and popped it in.

–

Dio watched through the small carriage window as they rode down the street. Thankfully it wasn't snowing, but it didn't have to be snowing to be cold. "Benjamin doesn't like the cold either, so hopefully he's requested they set the thermostat for ninety-seven degrees." Dio grumbled to himself with a shiver as the coach arrived in front of the restaurant.

Ben removes his coat, setting it on the back of the chair, and slips Violet's coat off for her, pulling her chair out. She smiles and sits. “You picked a nice place.”
He sits with a sigh. “Unfortunately not so nice of an ally.”
She raises an eyebrow. “Is he rude?”
“No. He’s annoying.”
A grin crosses her lips. “Benjamin, be kind.”

-

(Gabriel May just sit in the corner all night.)
Kissa leaps from the balcony, using her wings to carry her to the couch. It skids across the floor as she lands on it.

Dio entered the place and removed his scarf so he could speak and inform the host that he was joining the party for Caspian. He was led back to the private room and stepped inside, still shivering under his many layers. He saw Ben already there and let out a beaming smile. "Ah, hello, Caspian."

–

"Kissa!" Silver yelped, spinning around. "You'll scratch the floor or–or break something! Don't do that!"

Ben stands from his seat when Dio answers and tries his hardest not to clench his jaw when Dio mocks his name.
Violet stands and returns Dio's beaming smile, showing her white teeth.
Ben gives Dio a stiff nod. "Diablo."

_

Kissa turns around, giving her a sharp glare. "I d what I want!"
Gabriel stands with a sigh.
Why
"Kiss, don't." He demands quietly.

Dio approached the table, finally unbuttoning his outer coat. "Benjamin, you lied to my face when I asked if you were married and had kids. You can't expect me to believe this beautiful thing is not your wife." he greeted Violet, extending a hand to take hers with a slight bow. "Diablo de Angelo, madam. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

–

Silver crossed her arms and took a deep breath, trying to not start a fight already. "See? I knew Gabriel would say that. Please don't make this any harder on him than it already will be."

Kissa hisses, but sits on the couch and glares the other way, avoiding eye contact.
Gabriel runs a hand through his hair. “When do you think they’ll be back?”
Cage peeks in at the pizza.
“Miki? Do you think Ben will claim us as his kids legally? Like actually adopt us? Not you obviously.”

-

It’s takes almost everything in himto keep his face from turning red, though Violet is unfazed. She gives Dio a white smile and shakes his hand. “I’m Violet Stan. It’s lovely to meet you.”
Ben blinks, “She is my wife, but as I’m sure you understand, yesterday was our first meeting and I’d rather not give out such information.”
Violet presses her lips together to contain a giggle and succeeds in staying quiet.

Miki snorted. "I don't think Ben would claim me on his taxes even if I counted as a deductible." She leaned against the counter. "Well, he's your brother so claiming you as a kid might be weird. I could see him doing it for the others. Ehh, but not Gabe. Obviously. So just Silver and Kiss." She nodded. "Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if he ever legally adopted them." An idea occured to her and she smacked his arm lightly. "Hey, he might let you get a dog license for me though. Then I'd be on something official."

Silver turned back to Gabe. They'd barely been gone an hour and he already looked like he was ready to come apart at the seams. "Probably not til late." She answered. "Gabriel, please just go hide in the library. Miki can keep an eye on us and you'll be able to hear if anything happens."

–

Dio removed his coat, only to reveal at least two more beneath, and settled in a chair across from them. "But of course. I don't blame you for doing it, I'm only acknowledging the fact that you began our relationship with a lie." He shook his head as if regretful, but his tone quickly changed to something a bit more serious. "I am sorry for what happened yesterday. I hadn't realized that certain gentleman had made it to this continent. You can be assured I have eyes on him at all times now."

Cage snorts/giggles. “Yessss. You can be our dog!”

Gabriel crosses his arms and shrugs. “I’m good.” He states.

-

Ben and vi sit back into their chairs.
“I knew they were here, but I wasn’t expecting them. Do you know what we’re up against?” He straightens his tie and his menu.
Violet gives the menu a once over, listening to the men but not interfering.

Miki gave him a fierce grin and checked the oven again. "Pizza's done!" She called. To Cage she said excitedly, "Does that mean I get all the food scraps??"

Silver sighed. Her natural instinct was to touch him for comfort, but she didn't know if he was wound too tight for that and it would only make it worse for him.

–

Dio pressed his lips together, surveying Ben. Cuts right to the chase, doesn't he? His hands remained in his pockets, menu untouched.
"Yes. I do." He said quietly.

Cage giggles. “Yes. But that won’t be much.” He slides the pizza out of the oven and sets it on the counter. “I CAN INSTANTLY COOL IT! WATCH-“
Kissa quickly sprints from the couch and rams into him, knocking him over. “DONT FREEZE MY PIZZA!”

Gabriel stares at the ground, not wanting to instigate physical touch so instead pleading for a hand with his mind, though she couldn’t hear him. He ignores as Kissa rams into Cage, knowing the collision wasn’t bad enough to hurt either of them badly.

-

Ben clenches his jaw and looks over his menu.
Augh, this man does not speak.
A waiter enters the room, giving them a small bow before taking orders and leaving.
Violet looks between the men as they let the silence get a little awkward.
“The food here is amazing. Have you ever tried it?” She speaks up.
It’s not necessarily safe, so we should probably just get to know each other tonight. It won’t take too much to determine if we can trust him or not.
Ben glares at the table.

"Kissa!" Miki yelped, trying to catch Cage as he fell and only succeeding in falling with him. "I'm gonna have him cool YOU off!"

Silver pinched her arms, trying to gauge his emotions. Finally she stepped forward and slowly slipped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest. "We'll be okay." She whispered.

–

"I have." Dio responded to Violet with sudden enthusiasm. "Their fish is amazing. Do you like fish, Mrs. Stan?"

Kissa leans over the pizza, hissing at them. “DOnT TOUCH IT.”
Cage giggles and shoves Miki off of him.
Gabriel leans into Silvers hug, laying his cheek on the top of her head and leaving his arms limp at his sides.
Thank you.

-

Violet gives a small nod. “If it’s well cooked, yes. I’m not a fan of raw fish.”
Ben’s eyes emptily wander over the menu as he tries not to be irritated with the small talk.
“How have you been fairing, Diablo?”

Miki groaned and rolled her eyes, grabbing a pizza cutter and brandishing it in front of Kissa. "Move it. Cage won't do anything to it but I do need to cut it before we can eat."

Silver closed her eyes, letting out a sigh as she relaxed, shutting out the noise from the kitchen.

–

"If I ever have the honor of making you sushi then I shall endeavor to make it to your liking, my dear." Dio said to Violet. His face faltered at Ben's question, his mind flashing back to Lackey, sprawled out unconscious on his living room floor. "Well enough." He managed to get out, recovering as light a tone as possible. Benjamin didn't need to be bothered with knowing what had happened after his escape the day before. "You know, as well as you can expect these days."

Cage puts his hands up defensively after standing. “I won’t touch it! Promise!”
Kiss slowly backs away to let room for Miki to cut the pizza, glaring at Cage all the while.

(Gabe is still just hugging her. That could last forever honestly)

-

Ben still glares, but gives a small nod. As much as he’d like to ask who Lackey was, now and here did not seem like the best.
Before an awkward silence can fall over the room, the waiter walks in with their food and distributes it.

Miki made sure Kissa was a decent distance away before cutting the pizza and grabbing a stack of dishes for them. "Okay, there you go. Don't be a pig either, just have two pieces since there's…" she did a quick headcount. "Five of us. Hey," she called to Silver and Gabriel. "Are you two gonna eat or…?"

Silver didn't move, wondering how she could respond to Miki without disturbing herself or Gabriel.

Miki watched them for a second before shrugging. "Well, I'm gonna dish y'all's pizza up and you can come get it whenever you're finish with… that."

–

Dio tucked a napkin into his collar like a bib and carefully squeezed a lemon slice over his fish. "So, how are you two faring?" he turned Ben's question around on them.