"Hey!" Miki snapped, glaring at Kissa. "Ryder said you were nice, remember? Don't disappoint him." she walked over to Cage and slung her arm around his neck. "Yeah Ben is standing on his head and I told Ryder now wasn't a good time and he was like 'now is the BEST time' and I was like 'have fun!' and I ran away."
Silver groaned, her face still hidden in Gabriel's shirt. "Can we go hide in the attic just… in general?" she whispered to him.
Cage gasps. “Is he crazy?!?”
Kissa rolls her eyes, ignoring the remark and pulling herself up to sit on the counter.
Gabriel sighs, internally wanting to but at the same time wanted to be closer if Ryder screamed.
Ben sighs, putting his other arm down and opening his eyes. He squints at Ryder.
What the hell?
He uses one hand to slowly pull Ryders shirt up so he can see his face.
Ryder opens his eyes, his face red. “Wassup.” He says, his voice raspy from being upside down.
"Definitely." Miki said without pause. She cocked her head, listening. "I can't hear anything. Sil, can you tell what's going on down there?"
"Nothing." Silver muttered. Then she lifted her head and added, "But Ryder's heart rate just spiked, so Ben probably saw him."
Ben rolls his eyes with a huff and lets down Ryders shirt, standing. “What do you want.” He flatly says, it sounding more like a demand than question.
“You’re Benjamin, right?” He asks, his shirt still over his face, slightly muffling his words.
Ben raises an eyebrow, “Ben. Just Ben.”
Cage bites his lip. “Is he gonna die?”
"Probably." Miki said, again without hesitation. She stared at her sister like Silver was a live broadcasting station. "What's happening now?"
Silver lifted her head and glared at Miki. "I don't know! They're moving! Go down and look yourself if you want the details. I'm not your personal spy."
Cage moans. “But Silver!” He whines. “Pleeeeease!”
Yessssss. He doesn’t hate me yet!
Ben puts on a pair of gloves, preparing a punching bag.
Ryder stands slowly, blinking a few times and shaking himself since the world was all wonky and spinning from being upside down.
“Actually, I was gonna offer a fist fight, if you’re up for it.”
Ben pauses, staring at the floor.
What?
He turns to Ryder. “What?*
Silver glanced at Cage, eyebrows raised. When she saw how eager he was too, she rolled her eyes and rested her cheek on Gabriel's shoulder, staring at nothing for a moment while she tuned in to what the boys were doing downstairs.
"Ryder's not upside down anymore." she finally said. "And Ben is… not… angry?" she finished, surprised.
Cage gasps, again, and Kissa rolls her eyes at his dramatic response.
“Wuuuuutttt!?”
Ryder shrugs. “I just thought, you know, you looked like the kinda guy who liked to beat people up.” He bites his lip then hurriedly adds, “not in like a gangster way. In like a good way.”
Ben blinks.
I- is that actually an insult?
He gives a half shrug and takes off his gloves.
“I’m not going to turn down a fight.”
Silver frowned, confusion covering her face. "I have no idea. They're both calm and not moving around. Ben's not angry or burning." She looked at Miki. "They might be… talking."
Miki slowly turned to look at Cage. "Should we go see?" she whispered.
Cage squeaks. “Yess!!” He hops up and jogs to the basement door, slowly opening it.
Ryder gives a small nod as Ben approaches him. He swings a fist and Ben leans back, dodging, then retaliates with a kick to Ryders stomach. Ryder takes two steps back with a grin. “I thought I said fist?”
Miki darted after him, but Silver yelled, "Wait!" Miki paused in the doorway. Silver swallowed. "They're fighting."
"Great!" Miki laughed. "I thought they never would! Come on, Cage."
Silver watched them go and then glanced up at Gabriel. "I don't understand people sometimes."
Cage jogs down the stares quietly, pausing at the bottom and peeking just in time to see Ryder jump-kick Ben in the chest. Ben coughs, taking a few steps back, but grinning once he came to.
Miki leaned past Cage, her mouth falling open as she saw them. "Oh no. We gotta tell Violet. Ben just smiled."
Silver turned, searching the room for Violet, her eyes wide with confusion. "Violet, they're fighting but Ben feels… happy?"
Violet shrugs. “He doesn’t fight Kissa in anger. It really depends on the way you approach him. Believe it or not, we used to do fist fights a good bit back when he was teaching me hand to hand combat.”
Cage tugs on Miki. “Ryder is magic.”
Ryder ducks as Ben swings a blow and goes to kick out his legs, but Ben jumps, avoiding his foot.
“You’ll have to be faster than that.” He playfully taunts.
Ryder grins.
"You? Fist fighting" Silver asked in disbelief. "I get that he and Kissa enjoy fighting. I just thought he'd kill Ryder before they got to that point."
Miki nodded. "This is amazing. It's been two years and he still doesn't like me. Ryder's been here for an hour and already has Ben's approval." An idea crossed her mind and she tapped Cage's arm. "Hey. Maybe I just need to fight him more."
Cage shakes his head. “The only thing that would speed up is your death, Mik.”
Violet chuckles. “What makes you think that?”
Miki covered her mouth to keep from laughing too loud and alerting the boys to their presence. "True. Maybe I should just settle for always being disliked and be glad I'm alive."
"You fist fighting or Ben killing Ryder" Silver asked. "Umm. I've just… never ever seen you fight? Like, you're always driving or bandaging us up. And Ryder 100% is the type of person Ben would kill first. I mean, look at Miki. He can't stand Miki and Ryder is like four Miki's packed together, with abs and wings."
Cage nods. “That’s probably wise.”
Violet chuckles, “I meant the Ryder part, but I won’t lie, I was curious why you thought I didn’t know how to fist fight as well.” She shrugs. “I have no idea what makes him like and dislike people.”
Miki settled down on the steps and propped her chin on her hands. "I could watch this all day. Ben finally has someone he's evenly matched with."
Silver slowly peeled herself away from Gabriel and fully turned to face Violet, setting her elbows on the counter and studying Violet. "What made him like you?"
Violet purses her lips, having to think. “I- I don’t think I could speak for him. I think he was in awe of my formality and patience, but I don’t know. What do you think?”
Cage watches as Ryder knees Ben’s stomach and in turn Ben punches his jaw. “This is beautiful. Makes me wish I had guts so I could actually fight.”
Silver crawled up on the counter beside Kissa, laying on her stomach and peering at Violet, chin on her hand. "I think… I think because you're so calm. Like, Ben is so not calm, but you're always so calm and gentle and in control. I think he needs that a lot. If he didn't have you he'd be even more wild and chaotic. You're like his anchor." Silver tipped her head and a grin came to her face. "Also you're really beautiful so teenage Ben was probably smitten on sight and he's never become unsmitten."
Miki shook her head so hard her hair whipped back and forth. "Nope. I will proudly be a coward if it saves me from being beat up by Ben. And since I'm not a coward and I have been beat up by Ben… yeah no. You're lucky, Cage."
Cage nods, “yeah, your right. I don’t wanna fight him.”
Ben catches Ryders fist and gives him a small, hearty chuckle. He runs a hand through his hair, then extends it for Ryder to shake. “ Спасибо за бой.”
Though not understanding Ben, Ryder shakes his hand with a respectful nod.
Violet stands still, staring at Silver, a little shocked.
Those have to be the nicest things I’ve heard in a very long while.
A small, gentle smile crosses her lips.
“Thank you.” She says, very genuinely.
Silver crossed her arms on the counter and rested her head on them, waving her feet in the air. "Why did you fall in love with Ben?"
Miki laughed and ruffled his hair. "Are they friends now?" she whispered.
Violet pauses to think, but only for a few seconds. “He’s so incredibly loyal and loves so intensely. After only being around him for a week I knew he’d never let me down. And as insecure and broken as he is, even with all his anxiety, he does try his very best, and I’d say he’s doing a fantastic job.” She purses her lips, “there’s so much more to say.”
Kissa blinks, staring at Violet, who had obviously fallen in love with Ben for his intense love and firm loyalty. She slowly turns herself invisible and looks to the ground, biting her lip.
They’re so sweet.
Gabriel furrows his brow in confusion.
????
Cage watches Ryder and Ben as they both chuckle a little and dust themselves off.
“Omg, I hope so.”
Ryder sighs and looks to the stairs.
THE SWORD THE SWORD.
“Ah, Ben? Cage mentioned you had a sword?”
Ben raises an eyebrow. “A collection of them, yes. Why?”
Silver smiled, feeling warm and happy listening to Violet talk about the man she loved. "You two make a good team. You both need each other. You're really inspiring for like… an example of a good relationship."
Miki clapped her hand over her mouth to hold in a squeak. "He's gooood! Help me remember to just fight Ben before I ask him for anything."