Lay me down on a bed of roses

[indirectcause]

Who: Ben and YOU!
What: Arriving in Paradisa
When: 28th
Where: Lobby
Rating: PG13 kid has a mouth. Here be your spoiler warning for the game.


[Ben had never really thought much about how fast it takes for a bullet to do its work. Not until he needed it to, anyway. He'd heard the shot, but after that, nothing. It went fast, really fast. There was a vague feeling of gratitude as Kenny pulled the trigger, giving him a mercy he knew he didn't deserve from the man. He'd surrendered to the blackness willingly, no longer a burden to the ever smaller mish-mash of humanity that was their group.

The blackness doesn't last, and that's when he appears on the floor of the lobby of Paradisa, his letterman jacket covered in blood. His blood. Walker's blood. It's a mix, really. He takes in a panicked gasp, scrabbling at the floor and looking around in sheer panic. The alleyway is gone. The walkers are gone. So are Kenny and Lee. ...The pain too.

He glances down at his stomach, the metal that had been sticking out there, a final, horrible promise that he wasn't getting out of that alley is missing. His hand automatically goes to his head, his hair matted with blood (definitely all his own this time) but no hole. Did Kenny miss? He couldn't have. He brings his hand back down to stare at the blood for a moment, before turning to glance around him again, looking for any signs of life.

He's definitely not in Georgia any more]

What the fuck is going on?

Comments

[indirectcause]

[It takes him a moment, but he nods carefully]

The one with all the food and supplies in it, yeah.

[rightchoices]

It was him.

[ There's something terse in his tone. ]

He's the one who took her.

[indirectcause]

[So that was it. Karma, fate, whatever it was had turned around and bitten them on the asses for taking that food. Ben lets out a breath of air]

Shit. And he followed us all the way to Savannah?

[rightchoices]

Yeah. Don't ask me how - but he nabbed Clem, too.

[ Lee very clearly does not enjoy this line of conversation, but he's not halting it. ]

[indirectcause]

Did- did she say if you got to her in time? [Dear god say he got to her in time. The universe is already a festering pile of crap, the least it can do is let one little girl make it through this mess alive and well]

[rightchoices]

[ He can't forget how Ben bailed on Clementine in the streets of Savannah. That moment had scared him like few others had. But he's a kid, and his concern is genuine, so Lee just exhales as he moves to rub his forearm. ]

I got her, Ben. As much good as that does. She's okay.

[indirectcause]

[That is just one of the many things on Ben#s list to try and atone for. Not that he'll ever get the chance back home, but maybe here...Just maybe he can NOT screw everything up for a change]

Then that's good.

[Probably as good as they could hope for. He'll just exhale, watching the floor awkwardly. As much as he genuinely liked Lee, he knew there was still a lot of things not right between them, all his own doing, of course. It wasn't exactly easy any more, having a normal conversation with the man he'd caused so much trouble for.

So he'll shuffle awkwardly. Wanting to go, but remaining in case Lee should need any more information from him]

[rightchoices]

.. see that book in your pocket, Ben? Write my name in it and it'll leave a message in mine. Let me know if there's anything you need. Can't say I know all the ins and outs of this place, but I've got most of it figured out, I think.

[ He's looking at him, expression shuttered. He and Ben might still have a lot to work through, but Ben is part of his group, like it or not. He still lingers sometimes on the thought of leaving Lilly by the side of the road. How much different would it be to bail on Ben here? ]

Clem'll be happy to see you, too.

[indirectcause]

[Ben pulls out the book, flicking through it, watching words scrawl themselves across the pages as the people in the castle chatter. That's weird, but he's pretty much hit his maximum weird capacity now, so he just gives a small nod]

I will. Thanks.

[At the mention of Clementne, he gives a strained smile]

She usually is. [Not that he'll ever understand WHY she feels that way. He'll glance towards the door] I should probably find my own room. [Try to work out what he's supposed to do next. He hadn't really made a plan for himself posthumously] Thanks for the shower and the...uh talk.

[rightchoices]

[ Good enough. ]

I'll see you around, Ben.

[indirectcause]

Yeah, I'll see you around.

[He'll just mope away now, probably get lost a few times, you know the drill]