Silver bolted up, staring at the bag. "Try it on? What is it?" Snatching it up, she carefully removed the item from the bag and held it up, the swaths of fabric falling into place to reveal a beautiful cloak. "Wha…." her mouth fell open and she stared at it in shock.
He picks his coffee back up, still smiling. “Put it on! I wanna see.”
Slowly, her movements mechanical, she swung the cloak over her shoulders and twitched her wings to settle it on her back. Her jaw still hung open and she turned her disbelieving gaze on him. "It has… spaces for my wings?" She breathed.
He nods. “Yes! I had them make slits up the back for you. It should be comfortable, but if it’s not I can have them redo it. Is it okay? Violet picked the color.”
She stroked her hands up and down the material on her arms, her mind still frozen. "Made for…?" She repeated, looking at him again. "Why?"
Ben sets his coffee down, then takes her hands. “So you’re warm, Silver. You needed a coat. You like it, yes?”
She nodded, her eyes filling with delayed tears as she scooted forward to wrap herself around his neck. "Of course I do." She whispered into his neck, her throat swelling. "It's beautiful."
He hugs her back, “good.” He quietly states. The room is quiet for a moment, till Gabriel hisses again, breaking the silence.
Ben glares and turns his head a bit to look at him. “Augh, so weird.” He whispers as Gabriel traces the small tiles with his finger slowly.
Silver laughed, a weird sobbing hiccup. "How long is he going to be like this?" She asked, releasing Ben from her death-hug.
He shakes his head slightly, running a hand through his hair. “Hopefully not much longer? I don’t want Vi to see him. She'd kill me.”
Silver snort-laughed again and snuggled into her coat. "Do you want to taste some of Kissa's pasta? You're hungry and there's leftovers."
He squints down at her.
You're weird too.
“I don’t know. You want to get bit? I mean, I’d love to try it, but do you want him to bite you? He will.”
Silver blinked at him. "If only there were a safe way to get food out of the fridge." She whispered, suppressing a grin as the fridge door opened and the container with Kissa's pasta floated out.
Ben stares, watching as the container lifts and slowly drifts out of the fridge. He creases his brow. “As kind as this is, it is also kind of…” He look to her, “freaky?”
He shrugs and looks back to the food. “But thanks. Gabriel hasn’t seemed to notice.”
Gabriel’s eyes flutter shut and he swallows.
She stifled a giggle and swung off the counter, plucking the container out of the air and transferring a serving to a plate to heat up. "I love to scare Miki or Cage by doing stuff like that. I made Cage's dirty laundry dance in his room once but I don't think he saw it. I thought it was hilarious."
Ben rolls his eyes. “Augh. You’re strange.”
He’s silent for a moment, swirling his coffee cup and staring into it blankly. A mild feeling of anxiety weighs on him and he inhales, trying not to let it overwhelm him. (<this because I know Sil would be able to feel it)
“I- I was thinking. I might start training you. You know, one on one? Or have Gabriel and Kissa.” His voice dies out towards the end, almost breaking as his accent makes the last word slightly unintelligible.
Silver turned from the microwave after putting his plate in to heat up. "Train me?" she asked, frowning. "Like, with my powers?" she swallowed, staring at the counter instead of him. "I've… I've gotten better in the last two years. And I… well, I also kinda thought no one knew how to help me because my powers are so much different than anyone else's. No one else's powers overwhelm them and… are so intense. Like mine." She shrugged, still not looking at him.
He squints at her for a moment. “I could train you in physical combat, easier things that you should know. Kiss could help with flying- She has amazing control of her wings and is very graceful.” He sighs and rubs his forehead. “And as much as I hate to say it, especially when he’s in the room, Gabriel could help with your powers most likely. He’s very calm about them and seems to understand at least somewhat. I’m not saying this as you have no control, I’m saying this because I think we should- could, we could up our game. I need to help Cage, Kiss and Gabriel too. I promise it’s not just you.”
"Oh, yeah, physical combat." she said, almost sounding relieved. "I could definitely use some training for that. And Kissa is a better flyer." she crossed her arms, subconsciously protecting her body. "Gabriel has tried to help me with the rest. He tries to understand and he definitely helps me calm down when I get…" she waved her finger in a circle beside her head. "You know. When it's too much." The microwave dinged and she turned around, grateful for an excuse not to face him. "I've learned how to figure stuff out on my own. Because I knew no one else could help. Most of what I've learned I found out on my own."
He nods. “Yes, I get that. Everything I’ve learned I taught myself. You just have to relax sometimes and let others help.” He gives a sigh.
Agh, I should follow my own advice.
“Gabriel is- He's very strong. Not physically but with his powers. He doesn’t show it much. If anything happened, either you of him were in danger of getting hurt, I’d trust him to handle it properly and make sure injury was avoided.”
She finished heating his food and brought it over to him, sliding the plate and a fork across the counter to him. "He has helped. I think he's the only one who understands even a little bit of how my powers feel." She scrubbed her cheek. "I'm just afraid to… to let it loose." she finally look up and met Ben's face. "It's… Ben, I'm constantly holding it in check." she whispered. "I don't know what would happen if I tried to work with it much more. Almost every time that I've tried something bad has happened." she swallowed, nervously. "That's when I train alone down in the basement. When the equipment gets broken or that one time the crack appeared in the cement wall. That was… that was me."
He sets a hand on her shoulder, eyebrows drawn together. “I know. And I know I can’t do much to help. It took me years to habitually keep my element under control, years to figure out what I was doing wrong and how to fix it. It’s okay though, Sil. You can do it. And you have people who are willing to help you.”
He clenches his jaw and turns, slipping his fork in the pasta and staring.
“I just want us to be prepared for a fight. I don’t want you to feel weak because you’re afraid you’ll hurt us in the process of fending off bad men.” He twirls his fork idly.
She nodded. "Yeah, me too. It's exciting to think about what I might be able to do. I'd love to be able to explore it more but, you know, safely." she shrugged. "I just can't let it go when other people are around. That's why I try to do it alone. I don't think even Gabriel would be 100% safe from me." And I would kill myself if I did anything to him, she added silently.
Ben nods, a bite in his mouth. He had close to the same struggle when he was first left with his power. Except it was fire and he was burning everything. He rubs the bridge of his nose, swallowing.
“Yes, I get that. Trust me, when I was first learning control, I didn’t let people try to help.”
I also didn’t have people to help.
"Who was with you?" she asked, frowning slightly. "When did you meet Vi? And… like, was Cage always with you?"