No Heroes, Part 7: After the rain by Null0trooper

Wednesday morning, February 1, 2017,
Men's Locker Room, Laird Hall, Whateley Academy.

Peter is alone in the locker room until Benjamin arrives.

A business card for Rogers' Fabric Boutique?

"We usually get these sometime during Costuming Class. Mrs. Ryan was Miss Rogers's advisor, back in the day. Just so you know."

Benjamin nodded as if he'd known that. "I was worried you might not have a formal suit for the impending dance. But, if you're all set, that's cool."

Boy, Benjamin isn't being subtle about wanting Peter dressed well for the dance. A walk-in appointment, I can't wait to see what Miss Rogers puts Benjamin in this time.

Wednesday afternoon,
Theory and Practice of the Escape.

Benjamin devised a plan for the class, oh boy.

Confronted with the possibilities, the Imp considered asking Belfry's other boss if this combination of pride and impending doom was what it felt like working with the young man.

The answer better be a yes, anything else I suspect a lie in this case. Practice pages having been growing feet and walking off, please say that is a metaphor, at Whateley you never know. Boy, Imp sure gave him free rein with the safe fast.

All that stuff for his project, not a plan for the class, what are you up to, Benjamin? The banter, anyone else and I would be worried.

Ooo, an art composition or a plan for something, I'm curious.

Why did adulting have to be so hard?

Because those who helped shape society didn't like seeing others having fun all the time.

Thai unryu paper

Good lord, you have set for yourself a very difficult task, Benjamin. Oh, growing feet and walking off was a metaphor, I pity the thief when Benjamin finds out. That description, what is he making? Abuse her classroom for art, heh, too bad her regular art classroom doesn't have a secure safe or I'm sure he would done it there. Bwahaha, Imp has to remind him to go get something to eat and he can come back later to finish, she is truly a mother to her students.

shufa calligraphy

Oh brother, some idiots think he is making spell slips and stealing them, all too believable.

Thursday, February 2, 2017,
Ground floor, Crystal Hall Cafeteria.

Benjamin sits by Peter for lunch. A calligraphy project, good to see he has a hobby to take his mind off more troubling things. And he made it as a gift for Peter's birthday, that is some homemade present.

"Avoiding your assigned combat training?"

"The extra 'voluntary' training that none of us signed up for? Yeah. I wish. Cricket managed to book a briefing room in Laird so we can review our so-called official run before Mr. Shane makes up his own interpretation."

Ouch, at least they are doing it for the students' own good. Benjamin has a very good point, in the real world it takes a team to work especially when legal stuff is involved.

Morgana is scowling and thinks the balance of the universe is off because Belfry is smiling again.

"He does that. Yesterday, he looked a little goofy before and after class. What's new about that?" Bianca asked before side-eyeing Morgana. "I have to deal with something similar all the time."

"Hey!"

Don't get upset, Morgana, use that to clue in that Belfry is dating someone he really likes now.

Nah, sometimes love makes you hyper-fixate on anything your partner does, Peter. Carb-loading and that nap clearly wasn't near enough sleep, Benjamin. Annaliese and Tabitha show up to chat about what has been going on with Peter and Benjamin.

"Since your birthday's in early February, it's a poem about cherry blossoms. I've been practicing my writing, so, yeah."

Aww, more of your friends need to know your birthday, Peter.

Oh man, that is some poem and Peter isn't used to such romantic overtures.

"Fess up. When did you two idjits finally figure it out?"

Her telepathy gave her the answer before either one could slap a dignity-sparing response together.

Awww, Annaliese gets the whole thing spoiled, sometimes powers can suck all the fun out of things.

Friday afternoon, February 3, 2017,
after Theory and Practice of the Escape.

Boy, Benjamin sure is planning things ahead.

What little that Pastel and Glyph were willing to say backed up the instructors' notes suggesting that they'd earned their Survivor merit badges. Asking why Toolbox needed the class had somehow annoyed the U.S. Department of Energy. Assay had practically been a frequent flyer with Air Abduction.

Assay's powers, so many criminal organizations, government organizations, and more would love to have someone with her power.

Eep, that is some topic for the Survival class. Benjamin, tracking schedules like that, only Peter might find it endearing. Morgana wants to get a cup of coffee and chat with Benjamin, hhm.

"Can't a nice dragongirl invite a boy out for an innocent cup of coffee?"

"This boy's innocent. I've never been convinced of the cup's innocence."

Boy, I'm starting to see why Devisors at Whateley wouldn't invite lie detectors or sarcasm detectors. They would be exploding all the time from overload. Thulia is already waiting for them, I can understand the caution for getting his own drink order.

Well, this will be a secure conversation.

"Caffeine doesn't count as an addiction?" Thulia asked.

"I can quit any time I like."

"Isn't that one of those cheap lies, like "I'm with the government and I'm here to help you?"?"

Yes, it is, but it is normally rude to point it out. Oof, the issue between Mrs. Turner and Benjamin, she should know that sometimes students don't lie about their credentials or experience.

Morgana, there are some crimes even mobsters will end other criminals for, leave it at that.

"It turns out that I'm in a relationship. That is, I am until he realizes just what a load of damaged goods he's dealing with."

Morgana scowled.

"Really? So what makes you think you're any more damaged goods than I am?"

Benjamin, keep talking like that and I will find a way to drag any surviving members of the original Wondercute back to Whateley Academy to deal with any relationship issues you two have.

Thulia is right, you and Peter can work through anything like that, he knows more about you than most at Whateley and still wants to date you.

Morgana sighed deeply. "Benjamin. If you do anything that shows you have a relationship, someone will see and start serious spying, if only for the lolls. One of the reasons I didn't try and deny it when Thulia said we were girlfriends was that I always knew it would come out."

"So, they find out from their spying that a relationship is really a relationship? I'd worry more about what our bosses have to say."

Try to mess with their relationship and they would have at least a few shippers of Benjamin and Peter to deal with.

The business card, I wonder how many know just what all that really means? Just can't quit his job, I wish he could.

Thulia frowned at that, saying, "You make it sound like you're under a geas."

"I'm pretty sure that I am under a geas or two. But, with my employer, it's a little more complicated than blood-in-blood-out initiations and oaths."

Of course, they would use such magic on a minor to keep him under their control. The price for breaking or working around a Geas can be too high sometimes.

"And that makes you different from 90% of the boys and 60% of the girls here how, exactly?"

"Isn't that the point? Seeing and being seen? Until someone cops an attitude over what's pinned to your jacket?"

Shoot, some people never learn to dance.

Miniature medals he was awarded and some idiots will start a fight with him saying he didn't earn them, good grief. Hhm, sparing with Morgana and Thulia to learn how to defend better against magic, great idea.

"In the real world? I can rely on my contacts, firearms, and a knack that I've been advised to chill out on. Here? I'm banned from the ranges and the dojos until cleared by my neurologist."

Seeing puzzled looks on both dragongirls, Benjamin added, "Traumatic brain injuries plus PTSD, carry the seizure disorder, makes range masters and senseis nervous. Tase me, I drop. Whether I get back up again, ever, remains to be seen."

Good to have more people know what he is dealing with.

Non-lethal guns, blunt blades, at Whateley you have to be careful as you never know who might try and sabotage something to make it more deadly. Peter shows up and wishes in on a Q&A session. Boy, that is one way to put things, Benjamin.

Thulia stared longer than either boy would have thought they rated. Short, ruddy blonde. Tall, pale brunette. The pair were a budding fujoshi's dream come true. Wait 'til Tanau hears about this!

Oh no, Thulia and her grandmother are Yaoi lovers!

"My mother added a box of brick condoms to the belated birthday care package she's sending." To a swiftly-darkening Benjamin, he said, "My father called to warn me that she means well."

Must not hit Peter's mother with an anime mallet, must not... The parents have met the other's partner, and now to deal with the bosses.

She asked Benjamin, "Aren't you supposed to be the nice guy and him the bad boy?"

Benjamin blinked.

"Nice guy. Huh. That's a step up from <karao> and underage merc."

Bwahaha, Thulia had their roles reversed, she knows nothing of Benjamin being a mercenary.

Explaining the working relationship between Benjamin and the Imp. Crud, Peter thinks about how Benjamin talks about Jameson and who his real boss is.

"Because playing with a guy's heart is one of the best-known tricks in social engineering," Peter said. He crossed his arms and slouched down in his chair. "Well, shit. I should know."

Benjamin put a hand on his partner's shoulder. "Hey, now! That wasn't your fault. If anything, we should have been looking out for you more last year."

Peter shrugged the hand off. "That's not the point! How do you know that I'm any different?"

Okay, they need to sit down to have a long talk with a proper mediator.

Benjamin shrugged. "Why would anyone honestly want to be with me? It's a mystery. But, some people think that winning at life requires making as many others hurt as much as possible."

"That sounds to me like you both need to learn to fight. If you can behave yourselves until after Spring Break, I know just the folks to help..."

Benjamin, we only know a part of your history, but nothing that was done to you, or that you were made to do makes you unworthy of love.

Belfry and Icejack.

Crap, quiet and ways for Peter to think of ways for things to go wrong.

"You know, I wasn't kidding earlier. How do either of us know that I haven't been fucked in the head like that prostitute?"

"She wasn't originally a hooker. That was just a personality engram."

Benjamin, that makes it worse, she was forced into it.

"We know to at least the depth and extent that you were psychically examined in London during last year's Spring Break."

"What? I went skiing with my parents. Well, they went skiing."

"Nope. Those are engineered memories. Your mother already knew she was pregnant."

Just how messed up are Peter's memories from having this done to him? Not losing Peter to suicide, and yet when you start not taking care of yourself you complain when others intervene, Benjamin. Benjamin saw none of it, enough to get Peter a new roommate, at least some good came out of it.

"You did. More than once. I'm sorry if you felt crowded over the summer but, damn it! We almost lost you!"

I almost lost you!

Benjamin, you are that concerned for Peter and still took this long to admit your feelings for him, how messed up have all his experiences truly made Benjamin? Benjamin, you had help getting hurt, but you need to rely on others even more than before and stop being as stubborn as you are. Dang, good thing they aren't in a small room, or the windows would have steamed over from that kiss.

Saturday morning, February 4, 2017,
Crystal Hall.

Yuk, I hate it when snow turns to slush, no fun at all. Heh, empaths are going to be getting a lot of lessons in shielding with Benjamin around. Nothing is wrong, Benjamin, please stop lying to others and yourself like this. Living and Working with GSD, I still want to know when that was started up. Peter sure knows how to blackmail Benjamin into taking his emergency meds when needed.

Tabitha, Stella, and Annaliese join them for breakfast, no combat practice for Benjamin today.

"The best I'm left with is English homework. Peter's got an appointment in Dunwich this afternoon." Benjamin slumped his head onto his arms crossed on the table. "I'm too young for life to be this dull."

Benjamin, no! That is one of the dread phrases to never say unless you want the universe to throw something unexpected into your life.

"You once told me you're too young for ulcers, but you still hang with Max."

"Hey!" Stella objected. "Max is a nice guy. Scary intimidating at first, but a girl could do worse."

"I happen to know he's planning to go stag if he can't find a date outside his fan club," Benjamin hinted.

Someone, please ask Max out for the VD dance, we don't want to see him go stag.

Tabitha, don't phrase it like that if you don't want to be taken for something perverse. Benjamin, you can get ulcers that young with enough stress in your life.

"Benjamin, are you sure you can't go with him?" Annaliese couldn't help herself. "Maybe Peter could teach you how to shoot straight!"

Stop that! No more trying to kill Peter by making him choke on his food with comments like that. Seesh, Annaliese sure has her mind in the gutter.

Faculty and Staff Dining Area, Crystal Hall.

Imp there for breakfast and no Count Chocula cereal, what a tragedy! Imp goes over to chat with Ms. Grimes. At Whateley, I would be surprised if even Mrs. Carson hadn't considered taping some of the more troublesome students to a telephone pole from time to time.

"We've all considered it, haven't we? But, hypothetically speaking, what would happen if someone were to grab (for example!) a student's Chinese homework and cut it up to look like spell slips?"

"Usually, nothing at all, even if they conned or blackmailed one of the other students into charging it with Essence. Sad to say, there's a brisk trade in such things shortly before and after Combat Finals."

"That's a relief. Underhanded, but a relief."

Oh, good, no idiots setting off unexpected spell slips.

Grimes added, "There have been times when the calligrapher got tired of being the butt of the joke. They'd plant a page or two of copied incantations or talismanic formulae. After that, it's a matter of time before someone lands in Doyle, ending the scheme."

"It's harmless unless enchanted or charged, right?" Imp asked. Her minion's recent mood changes didn't inspire waiting and seeing. His pre-academic reputation had been more along the lines of 'fuck around with me or mine to find out why it's a bad idea.'

"Some things don't need to be ritually activated to cause problems. The quality of the materials, skill of the inscription, the intent and labor of the scribe, et cetera, all can complicate things."

Oh crap, I wouldn't put it past Benjamin to do just this after the 2nd time his work was stolen.

Imp, don't lie to Grimes about this, Benjamin's ideas on retaliation go beyond most students.

"My teaching assistant. The only magic I've seen Benjamin pull off has been his lockpicking."

Elyzia simply said, "But, of course," before taking a well-timed sip of coffee. "We've met."

"I saw him first! Mine!" Imp claimed. Calling dibs was as important when dealing with Whateley faculty as it was in The Business.

"Until the end of the term. After that, he's fair game."

Oh boy, I have a feeling there is going to be a minor incident at least in determining who has Benjamin as a TA next term.

Rogers' Boutique, Dunwich.

Miss Rogers will always be confident and intimidating to those who don't know her well. Hehe, I love her teasing Peter about his guess he needs a suit. All that for the dance, yikes, that will hit the old budget for most students.

"Please don't tell me Benjamin's wearing a dress to this event."

Oh, God. It wouldn't even take that much of a dare!

"... or camo, or Hawaiian print."

"That Benjamin? I have it on good authority that Mr. Keeling is planning to wear a reinforced waistcoat with his suit."

Peter, you better hope none of your female friends find out what you said here or they will dare Benjamin to wear a dress on one of your dates.

"Since neither of us are or were born female, yeah. I'm not expecting any backup from the Poe crowd either."

"What do you mean by that?"

"It took a while to figure it out, but I'm not stupid. Nine out of ten guys staring at my body, and the same for the girls not at all interested, are in Poe."

Peter's observation skills never cease to impress. Peter, none of that is okay, you shouldn't be bullied for who you are or who you love.

"If you promise not to go Carrie on the rest of your classmates, I'll throw in a new stain resistance treatment I've been working on. You can guess who that's for."

Heh, one of the few schools I think that has a protocol for a student going 'Carrie' at a dance.

Beck Library.

What is that latest translation for?

"Somehow, that doesn't feel like a traditional prayer. Are you sure that the outcome will be limited to the user, not anyone viewing it? What if they sleep around? This seems like one of those times that pronouns matter."

Benjamin, I know you want to retaliate against those who have stolen your previous works, but this seems a bit much.

"For some people I could name, that would be redundant. But, yes. According to its abridged catalog, this library does have sections on religious and metaphysical practices. [iCurses for Dummies is a frequent loaner."

Please say the school keeps a separate list for everyone who checks that out in case a curse happens on campus. Gah! Benjamin, I'm with Colombine on this one, that is a mental image no one needs.

Oh no, Benjamin is going to invoke an entity, a bodhisattva.

"They're a bodhisattva, so they have to be less likely to go nuclear on the stupid than I might be."

"That's not saying much."

"Besides, dragons and monkeys get along well."

And this is why the school is self-insured. All Colombine could do was watch for the fallout and hope for the best.

Benjamin, just because an entity is enlightened doesn't mean they can't be a vindictive little cuss. Colombine's terminal casing is to be replaced with ebidium, which would be very handy at Whateley. *eyes bug out in horror* Not Sun Wukong! Any entity but him!

Sunday afternoon, February 05, 2017,
Hawthorne Cottage, Whateley Academy.

That detail about Hawthorne students is horrifying. One week there and moving out only for Benjamin to cut his hand on a staple in one of the boxes, of all the luck. Jack 'Huntsman' Hunter helps him out and helps to bandage his hand, at least they are equipped for the disposal of unusual body fluids.

After the two Twain students were wrecklessly en route back to their dorm, Jack looked down at what he'd just collected. The bandage gauze wasn't the best collection material for preservation. Rumor had it that the school's supplier used a proprietary treatment to both sterilize it and interfere with magical abuse. Even so, Belfry's fresh blood was a flat midnight black, rare even among mutants.

"Faerie."

Jack, you have it all wrong. Please say the Huntsman codename isn't because he is some kind of faerie hunter.

Benjamin and Peter are cute together despite efforts not to be. I hope somehow, someway that Benjamin will come to realize he deserves to have love in his life and not mess this up. Especially since I think if he did Annaliese would find some way to torment him until they got back together. And Thulia might join in since we learned she likes Yaoi and so does her grandmother.

The gift for Peter is great, homemade gifts that come from the heart are always things you cherish. The chat with Morgana and Thulia is an important one, still too many bigots out there who might target Peter and Benjamin over their relationship. Some might be psycho enough to try and kill them or arrange "accidents", they need to be prepared for the worst but hope for the best.

The lengths Benjamin went to to save Peter's life, after all they have been through together no one had better ruin this relationship for them. And I hope Peter can help protect Benjamin from Huntsman if my guess as to the reason he said Faerie about Benjamin's blood is right.

Miss Rogers sure knows how to read teens after all these years, Peter never knew what hit him. And we had better get to see them enjoying the VD dance.

I want to see Max with a date for the VD dance. In the future, I want to see Imp and Grimes fight over who gets Benjamin as TA for next term. And if Chou is still alive I want her to show up at Whateley when word of the Monkey King messing with a student leaks to her. This was a fun story with a lot of great things, but a lot more set-up for future stories. I can't wait to see how all the dangling plot threads work out in the future.

Dreamer wrote:

Boy, Benjamin isn't being subtle about wanting Peter dressed well for the dance. A walk-in appointment, I can't wait to see what Miss Rogers puts Benjamin in this time.

Black tie for the guys. All the better to let the ladies shine.

Dreamer wrote:

shufa calligraphy

Oh brother, some idiots think he is making spell slips and stealing them, all too believable.

Worse, one thief's carelessness resulted in Benjamin being injured. He was already Not Happy.

Dreamer wrote:

"My mother added a box of brick condoms to the belated birthday care package she's sending." To a swiftly-darkening Benjamin, he said, "My father called to warn me that she means well."

Must not hit Peter's mother with an anime mallet, must not... The parents have met the other's partner, and now to deal with the bosses.

She asked Benjamin, "Aren't you supposed to be the nice guy and him the bad boy?"

Benjamin blinked.

"Nice guy. Huh. That's a step up from <karao> and underage merc."

Bwahaha, Thulia had their roles reversed, she knows nothing of Benjamin being a mercenary.

Explaining the working relationship between Benjamin and the Imp. Crud, Peter thinks about how Benjamin talks about Jameson and who his real boss is.

To be fair to Thulia, it's uncommon for students to be employed by their "sponsors". It's possibly even less common that the working relationship includes the kind of secrets that can get people killed. And, there's no way for Thulia to have known he's been a trained assassin, card sharp, pickpocket, car thief, smuggler, mercenary, kidnapper, bodyguard, policeman, arms merchant, etc.

Dreamer wrote:

Dang, good thing they aren't in a small room, or the windows would have steamed over from that kiss.

Never short the readers on a First Kiss!

Dreamer wrote:

"I saw him first! Mine!" Imp claimed. Calling dibs was as important when dealing with Whateley faculty as it was in The Business.

"Until the end of the term. After that, he's fair game."

Oh boy, I have a feeling there is going to be a minor incident at least in determining who has Benjamin as a TA next term.

Good thing he's not a WIZ-trait mutant

Dreamer wrote:

*eyes bug out in horror* Not Sun Wukong! Any entity but him!

He's a Trustee. Who'd be better qualified to counsel wayward students?

Dreamer wrote:

The chat with Morgana and Thulia is an important one, still too many bigots out there who might target Peter and Benjamin over their relationship. Some might be psycho enough to try and kill them or arrange "accidents", they need to be prepared for the worst but hope for the best.
The lengths Benjamin went to to save Peter's life, after all they have been through together no one had better ruin this relationship for them.

As Morgana's and Thulia's attackers discovered, some life choices are less advisable than others.

Chou is alive. We saw her in "Duty to the World".

Dreamer wrote:

This was a fun story with a lot of great things, but a lot more set-up for future stories. I can't wait to see how all the dangling plot threads work out in the future.

Thank you very much! I hope you'll enjoy where some of those threads intertwine.