Characters: Meka Palakiko and Ben Redd Setting: Ben's room, monday after classes. Rating: SFW Summary: Meka and Ben awkward fun tiems!
Meka wasn't quite feeling like herself lately, she felt awkward in her own body, which really wasn't too much of a difference from before. She remembered most of the night, she remembered ditching Sim on the ground in front of Sam's house and stealing his hoodie. She just couldn't remember how she got from debauched point A to debauched point B. She tried to shake it off like it didn't mattered but then so soon after Milo was attacked in the owlery.
She decided she couldn't linger on any of it anymore, she had cried it all out to Stas, which had been incredibly helpful and now she needed to just talk. Pulling on her sneakers and getting her two favorite coffee cups she bounced up to Ben's room and knocked on the door with her foot.
Bobby had probably followed his stomach elsewhere, or was spending the afternoon being accosted by various women with dyed hair. Ben didn't know which, but it was nice because it meant he had the room to himself-- which he preferred anyway.
He was nervous, but he wasn't really sure why. He didn't deal well with other people's emotions, much less his own, so when he offered Meka a shoulder to cry on... he wasn't really sure if he could.
But. It was Meka. So when he heard the door and cracked it open to see her standing on the other side of it... he smiled his quiet little half-smile and opened the door to let her in.
"Hey," she said just as quietly stepping into his room. There was a nervous drop in her stomach. "I brought coffee," she smiled offering him his choice of cup. "How's the semester starting out for you?"
Ben shut the door behind her and smiled, "I.. thanks." He nodded and took the panda one, giving an amused sigh at the pattern on the mug. "It's been alright." He said, bland.
He looked up from his coffee and over to her, hesitant, glancing down at his coffee every so often as if it would protect him somehow.
"How are you, Meka?" His voice was more insistent than this expression-- getting right to the point.
She sipped her coffee like it was going to save her from whatever was lurking under the surface. She couldn't put on a show for Ben. She felt comfort hearing his voice but she could barely look him in the eye, feeling shame creep into her face.
"Far from well," she said quietly. She just wanted to curl up in a ball somewhere with Milo in plain sight and not move for a year. She took another quiet drink of her coffee and plunked down in the chair at his desk. "I can't even wrap my head around all this shit," she pushed her hair behind her shoulder and sighed.
Ben still stood by the door, coffee in hand, unsure of what to say. His brow furrowed with worried thought and he sat across from her at the edge of his bed.
Everything. She shook her head and put her cup down on the desk. "I don't mean to get all emo and shit but... I'm falling apart," she rested her head in her hands.
"It was bad enough but then I found Milo in the owlery. I don't even know what happened to him, he was bleeding and all cut up, like... he was attacked by something or someone. I don't even know what's capable of something like that."
"I don't mind," Ben shrugged, quietly watching Meka's miniature little breakdown. "Did Professor Baer say anything about it? It's not that difficult to figure out if a--" Ben stopped short of saying the word wound and stared into his coffee trying to figure out something... more comforting he could say.
"It's just... It' wouldn't be that hard to tell if t was a person or an animal."
Meka nodded. "He said it was a miracle he made it out alive," she wiped at her eyes, she was not going to cry anymore. "He was just so..." she swallowed hard. "Mangled."
Her lip shook a little. "He said it was hard to tell, but... it was probably an animal... or someone completely deranged." She looked up at Ben. "He said he didn't know how anything like that could have gotten into the dorms though." She sipped her coffee thoughtfully.
"Thanks Ben," she said awkwardly, staring at her feet.
She had been fighting it and she hated it but she couldn't held it back anymore. She covered her mouth and let a little cry escape into her fingers. "I know, I know." Milo was a huge owl, one of the bigger snow owls she had ever seen, his wingspan was almost as long as she was tall! "So it makes me think it was someone, not something," she shook her head. "But who would..."
Ben watched Meka helplessly for a moment as she held back tears. He put his hand on her arm, a rare physical gesture, in some small attempt to comfort her, to be there as her friend... What else could he do?
"I don't know," he replied. "But you are president of the student council. Have you made any sort of... political enemies?" He felt stupid when he'd said 'political enemies', this was high-school.
Meka smiled at the contact, it was a rare occasion from Ben and she let him know she appreciated it by putting her other hand over his briefly. She took a deep breath and settled herself down again.
"I mean... I don't think so. I know there are a couple Lalaurie's that don't particularly care for me but they wouldn't go out of their way to hurt... to hurt my familiar. It just doesn't make sense," she shook her head.
"I would rather have them attack me," she said quietly. "Milo did nothing," she said sadly. She had never imagined in a million years that she would have to take care of him, he had always been her rock, solid and stable. Seeing Milo so weak and vulnerable had broken something in her.
"I don't know who would do this," she said honestly. "But I'm really scared they'll try to hurt him again."
"But it doesn't matter what you would rather have, does it?" Ben's tone, just for a moment became rather sharp. He sighed and began again more gently.
"If it was a person, they were probably avoiding attacking you for a reason." He finished his coffee and set the mug on the floor by his foot. "Isn't there some sort of security in the owlery? Someone watching over them?"
She winced a little at the sharp change in his tone. She knew it didn't matter what she wanted, in fact she was under the impression that it rarely ever did. "I know," she resigned quietly. A girl could hope though, right?
She took a deep breath. He was right, she didn't get attacked because that was too brazen, but still... she had to wonder who would hate her that much. She picked up her own coffee mug and drank before responding. "There's wards and stuff on it to make sure no one gets into the dorms and the owlery but there's no one watching them all the time. It had to have been someone who was supposed to be there or someone who was let in." She felt like she was finally getting somewhere now that she was taking reason into consideration.
"I'm sorry," Ben muttered, feeling he was doing more damage than good at this rate.
"Then we could deduce who it was based on who was supposed to be there, right?" He tried to sound hopeful, but it still felt like a little bit of a long shot.
"It's ok," she said, doing her best to put on her brave face. He was right, there was nothing she could do as to how she was being attacked.
"It was Thursday night," she said. Maybe this would help. Maybe they could figure it out. "I came back from the dining hall at seven thirty, I didn't stop at my room, just went straight up to the owlery to give Milo a treat. That's when I found him. He was all alone, all the other owls had flown off."
She closed her eyes, trying to remember exactly what she had seen. Blood and feathers. "I heard him screeching when I was at the bottom of the stairs. I heard him... fighting." she remembered.
She pressed her hands against her closed eyes. "No one was there, I think... I mean... the shadows... the shadows were weird, moving. And Milo was in the middle of the owlery, on the ground and bleeding, still screaming but I didn't see anyone go out." She hadn't thought of how weird that had been until she talked it out with someone.
"The shadows were moving...?" Ben sat straight up again. Her description of what had happened sounded... disturbing at best. "How were they moving? As in movement or the shadows themselves?"
She took a deep breath and tried to remember exactly what she had seen. Granted she had not been staring at the shadows on the wall intently, she had been more concerned about Milo and getting him out. Still... she had seen the shadows shifting.
She opened her eyes. "A shadow. One shadow moved across the wall. It all happened so quick. I just, I wanted to get out of there fast so I didn't stick around to look at it."
"It was... it was in the window and then gone," she rubbed her temples. "Probably something that flew by," she shook her head. It was just too hard to have to relive that night one more time.
Ben sighed. He thought that maybe they were getting somewhere, making some progress. No such luck. He wasn't about to press the subject with Meka--she looked strained. Tired. Maybe the coffee would help her a little bit.
"Maybe it's best if we just wait and see before we go chasing after shadows?" Ben shrugged, trying his best to look sympathetic--which he was never really good at.
"We don't have to talk about this if you're not ready yet, Meka. I just... I just wanted to help."
She nodded quietly, trying to find the right thing to say. "You're right. I just... I don't even know Ben. It's like everything went wrong at the same time," she shook head. And I feel so alone. "Thanks," she offered a small smile.
Neither Ben or Meka were particularly touchy-feely people but lately she felt like all the hugs she had missed in her childhood were coming back to haunt her. She stood and moved over to stand in front of him and only contemplated it for a second before she wrapped her small arms around his shoulders and hugged him.
"Life has a tendency of doing that," Ben nodded, slightly smiling back. "You don't have to thank me."
She didn't have to hug him either. Though luckily enough he'd learned a long time ago to stop recoiling when people hugged him. He stiffened for a moment, caught a little by surprised at the sudden display of affection, but relaxed and even seemed to find it in him to wrap an arm around her back.
"Just... try not to worry so much about it, okay?" He said quietly, "You'll make yourself sick."
She felt his reluctance at first but was relieved when he wrapped an arm around her back. She didn't want to let go but she knew she would have to. She felt that heavy regret flip her stomach but she pushed all that out of her head for a minute, she would have to deal with boy issues later.
She nodded against his chest and sighed. "I'll try," she took a step back and smiled at him. "You're really great Ben," she said quietly.
She just wanted to hug him all over again but she knew it was a bad idea so she grabbed her left elbow with her right arm and swayed a bit to the side. It meant a lot to hear him say that and it hurt even more that she felt like she betrayed him.
"I would Ben," she nodded. "Anything you need, I'm here, ok?" the sincerity on her face was palpable as she looked her her friend.
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