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[the_horror]

[This is the Inbox of one Ben Hargreeves. Alive and well. Hopefully that is.]

[Please leave a message if he doesn't answer right away!]

Comments

[the_horror]

[He's BORED. He needs to get out and do something but no one ever wants to do his plans and ideas. When his device goes off he reaches over his cat to grab it, flicking it open to see Luther of all people!]

[He grinned and turned it on, hearing about escape rooms? He beamed.]

I red about them recently actually. Couldn't get Klaus to go to one. Five wasn't interested either, and I figured Vanya wouldn't be keen on a small room so... yeah. Haven't done it yet.

Hi by the way.

[obediences]

Hi. [ A rueful smile at his communicator, though Ben can't see it. ]

Someone on the... network? Told me about them, and that there's one in De Chima. Where I live. It reminds me of the exercises Dad had us do as kids. I don't expect Klaus or Vanya to be interested, but... I could try something like that, I think.

[ Because of course that had been childhood for these children: jumping through hoops for Sir Reginald, solving puzzles as quickly as they could before the bomb placed in the room exploded with them. (98% sure that it actually was a real bomb, too.) And yet claustrophobic rooms weren't going to be everyone's cup of tea, and understandably so, knotted with bad memories as they were. He'd suffered through one of his own for years, too, but the loneliness had been the problem more than the moon base itself. ]

[the_horror]

[He's beaming, and the smile comes through on his words.]

Aw man, yes! I've read up on a few of them. Some are themed and some are just puzzle rooms. I hear the themed ones are where it's at. Like pirate ships and breaking out of prison or a clinic or something. It honestly sounds fun, unlike Dad's exercises. And you know I like puzzles.

Wait, you'd really like to try one?

[obediences]

Yeah. Need to keep my skills sharp, right?

[ Luther. ]

[the_horror]

Luther. Buddy. It's called fun. Fuuuuuun. You know, that thing we weren't allowed to have growing up?

Well guess what? We're adults now. We can have fun if we want.

[BREAK LOSE BRO]

[obediences]

Of course I want to have fun.

[ It's not that the man doth protest too much, but -- more that the words don't sit right on him. It sounds stilted on Luther's lips, in that recording. Like he actually, maybe, genuinely, doesn't know what fun is anymore. ]

[the_horror]

Alright, alright. I suppose an escape room can be both skill sharpening as well as fun. It might actually be a good match for you. To ease you into real fun.

[He teases softly, smiling about it.] Where is the place you want to go. I could book us a room. See if they have anything for two, unless you think you can find someone else to join us?

[obediences]

[ He supplies the address Steph gave him in De Chima, then pauses to consider the question. Ordinarily Allison might be down for something like this, but nothing's ordinary right now. She doesn't have a voice to communicate rapid-fire with them anymore. Her daughter is dead. 'Fun' is hard to come by. ]

Maybe Allison, someday, but-- we should give her some time.

I don't really know anyone else yet, outside of the academy. If you have anyone, though...?

[ There's a faint uplift of curiosity in his voice as dangles that question; curious about what Ben's been carving out for the past month-plus. The people he knows. Friends. A life. ]

[the_horror]

[He's pretty sure Allison isn't pleased with him and the other two boys that were here before her. For... things. For not telling Vanya. For her being here and not with her child. For this odd situation in general.]

[He would love to try it with Allison, but he's also sure she's not in a good place right now.]

Next time. We'll ask the others to join us. Right now? I know a few people but no one I think would have the patience to do a room like that. Maybe we can just go, us to for now. [Though he might be able to ask Kirk or Rey, but he wasn't sure yet. Still connection to people, really.]

[obediences]

Okay. Sounds good.

I'm looking forward to it.


[ It might have sounded flat and terse in text, but with the benefit of audio, he can hear Luther's happiness, the warmth in his voice at the thought of this. Because it's Ben. It's Ben, his brother, his long-lost dead brother, and them making plans to spend time together. Just the two of them. Something which had been such a long-ago foregone impossibility, up until this month. ]