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[altusimperius]

tell him how pretty he is

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[keenly]

"Look, I can't stand Edgard, and he definitely owes us an apology, but you crossed a line."

He gestures toward the door, already bummed that he's probably not getting laid after all.

"You wanted consequences? This is consequences."

[altusimperius]

For a moment, Benedict just stares up at him in sullen disbelief, looking every bit the child he insists he isn't. But, because he isn't a child, he is able to reason that he'd rather not sign up for a round two-- would Colin do that? maybe it's best not to find out-- and it might be best to cut his losses on this one.

But he's not going to be happy about it.

He gets up, casts a sulky glare at Colin as he passes him, and goes out, letting the door slam shut behind him. Fine.


"Edgard," he calls grudgingly, since the man can't have gone too far, just up or down the stairs.

[muckspout]

Edgard is down the stairs a floor. He stops, but doesn’t turn around or look up.

“Yes?”

[altusimperius]

It's probably better if he doesn't.

Benedict fights with himself for a good ten seconds before he mutters, "sorry. For saying that."
He doesn't sound too sorry.

[muckspout]

Edgard pauses in response.

“No, you’re not.” He runs a hand through his hair. “But, I am sorry for barging in and messing with you.” He sounds pretty genuine.

Edgard still doesn’t move or look at him. He takes insults pretty hard.

[altusimperius]

"Just--"

With an exasperated sigh, Benedict pushes his hair back out of his face. Fine, maybe he feels a little bad, but just a little.

"...maybe just don't tell anyone about it," he mumbles, lowering his voice considerably.

[muckspout]

Edgard scrunches up his face in confusion.

“Why?” He turns around and looks up now. “I won’t.” He reassures him. “But, why?”

[altusimperius]

Benedict looks incredulous.

"...because--"

His face begins to flush, at least as much as it can for one of his complexion.

"--well because it's. Private." Did he just show his hand by accident?

[muckspout]

Privacy is a bit of a foreign concept to Edgard. His face remains scrunched up.

“Alright.” He says. “Just nothing wrong with it, that’s all.”

[altusimperius]

There's a sense they're talking past each other. Benedict cants his head uncertainly, narrowing his eyes at Edgard like he can't quite pin what he wants to say.
Maybe he's misunderstood.

"...why did you call Colin 'Maman'?" If Edgard thinks they were just fooling around, there's nothing to worry about.

[muckspout]

Edgard’s eyebrows raise. He senses he’s missed something and doesn’t break eye contact.

“He’s Sunbeam’s Maman.” He says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

[altusimperius]

This is genuinely surprising, and Benedict almost does a double-take. He opens his mouth and closes it again.

"All right," he concedes, and sounds rather relieved. Then he starts to turn back, his mind shifting gears entirely.

...and then he turns toward Edgard again.

"You know," he says, with more confusion than malice, "...if you're that sensitive about it, why don't you just clean yourself more?"

[muckspout]

“I am natural.” He insists. “But, I was more upset that you had regrets.” He shrugs.

“I just—don’t seem to be fitting in very well.” He waves his hand like he’s swatting the thought away and turns to go.

[altusimperius]

"...oh."

At that, Benedict actually seems to feel a shred of remorse.

"Well it's-- I was just--" He fights with the words for a moment, then sighs. "...I panicked. I said it just to hurt you. So you'd leave."

It hasn't been one of his prouder days, on the whole.

[muckspout]

Edgard nods and grins a little.

"Excuses acceptées" He says in Orlesian. "Be nice to Maman."

And heads down the stairs.

[altusimperius]

Well that wasn't so hard.

Benedict watches after him for a moment, then turns around to go back up the stairs, trying to be as poised about it as possible for someone whose ass hurts.

[keenly]

He'll see Colin standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed and a smile on his face. He gestures into the room with his head.

"I lit the hookah," he says. "You earned it."

[altusimperius]

Seeming a little smaller as he comes in, Bene ducks his head slightly to rub the back of his neck, as if he's afraid to look Colin in the eye just now. Going forward into the room, he flops stomach-down onto a couple of pillows.

"Did I really?" he asks, and he's not being coy: it sounds like he actually means it.

[keenly]

Colin closes the door and sits down by him. "Of course. This isn't all just punishment for doing bad things. It's also rewarding for doing good things. And you took the spanking without com--without whining, then gave a sincere apology to Edgard."

He takes a hose and passes it to Bene.

[altusimperius]

Accepting the hose with one hand, Benedict takes the opportunity to finally rub his backside with the other, wincing.

"It wasn't that bad," he half-lies, but his sheepish smile betrays him. "...the way you were looking at me after he left, I was afraid I'd come back to a second round."

[keenly]

Colin shows him his still-red palm.

"Not sure if that would've been a good idea," he says, "but I'm glad I didn't have to decide."

He takes a hose with his left hand and takes a long, slow drag.

"You really want this?" he asks, smoke puffing from his mouth.

[altusimperius]

"Poor thing," Bene mocks, and takes a long pull, sinking down further onto the cushions as he exhales.

"I mean. ...yes and no." His cheek mushes into the pillow as he talks, lounging splayed across the pile like a lazy cat.

"I didn't like it, it hurt. But I also sort of..." He blushes, "...thought about how upset you'd be, if I didn't do what you said. Not that you have to hit anyone for that, but."

He shifts position again, clearly struggling to get comfortable.

"...I mean, it's a bit hard to forget about."

[keenly]

Colin looks suddenly somber. He takes another drag before lying down on his side so he can look at Bene.

"I'd want a lot of rules," he says. "For me. I'm scared I'd hurt you and you'd not say anything because you'd think you deserved it."

[altusimperius]

Puff. "What kind of rules?"

[keenly]

"Well we need to have a code of conduct. Set rules for us both defining what sort of thing is and isn't something that can be punished this way. If we could just...make it so I can't...do it the wrong way."