raze_flyn | Entries tagged with outingverse

Disclaimer: The world and characters Ben 10, Ben 10: Alien Force, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien all belong to Cartoon network. Just borrowing them for my own and possible the amusement of other fans.

Notes: This is part of the outingverse and takes place after Issues.

The Elephant in the room

She was extremely nervous sitting in the room with Julie even though it was supposed to be just a study session. “So Gwen what’s got you so freaked out?” Julie asked her after she squeaked when Julie mentioned Ben.

“I’m not freaked out I’m just having trouble with this problem number twelve,” She said quickly and then frowned as she glanced at it and saw it was actually one of the easier ones. She could see Julie’s knowing expression even without looking.

“Come on Gwen, I don’t know what the elephant in the room is but we aren’t getting any work done,” Julie said shaking her head. “Is something going on with Ben since we broke up has he been hurt or is he seeing someone else?” Her flush must have given it away. “All right who is she?” Julie asked. “Gwen, Ben and I broke up so yeah I’ll be a bit sad that he’s moved on but it isn’t like I have any claim on him.”

“Um it is a bit more complicated than him just having a new girlfriend,” She said to the other girl. “Ben’s dating a guy.” She said and saw Julie blink a few times and sit her book down. “Ben really should have been the one to tell you.”

“Yeah but he never would have until it made the news,” Julie said with something between a smile and a grimace. “I’m really surprised I haven’t seen it all over the tabloids.” She hadn’t even thought about how likely that was. “I guess I should get ready for questions from news reporters over our break up.”

“You aren’t going to trash him in the papers are you?” She asked since she still didn’t know how Julie was taking this. “I mean Ben can be an insensitive jerk but he can’t help who he finds attractive.”

“Gwen I don’t care that he’s dating a guy and I won’t trash him in the press I’m insulted you could even ask me that,” Julie said clearly annoyed. “I admit it is a bit strange that Ben is dating a guy but I can deal with it.”

She was glad that Julie could but now she had to prepare for the inevitable explosion once Ben got outed in the national press. She needed to research options and see if it would be better for Ben to come out on his own or not.

The End.

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Disclaimer: The world and characters Ben 10, Ben 10: Alien Force, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien all belong to Cartoon network. Just borrowing them for my own and possible the amusement of other fans.

Notes: This is the third ficlet in my outing verse. It follows An Unexpected Outing and Conversation.

Issues

“We need to talk about your issues with Ben,” She said angrily as she finally cornered her boyfriend. She had finally had to resort to tracking him by his mana to get him alone since he’d been doing everything in his power to avoid her.

“I don’t have any issues with Ben,” Kevin said slightly louder than necessary. “I just have a lot of business to take care of.” She didn’t buy that for a second and even he didn’t look like he bought it. “Look Gwen, I don’t have any issues with Ben just drop it.”

“No, I’m not dropping it,” She said letting her annoyance show. “It sucks that Ben told you that way but you need to stop sulking and go talk to Ben about this.” She searched for something to say. “You don’t want him to think you disapprove do you?”

“I don’t disapprove,” He said shaking his head. “Ben can do whatever he wants but I just don’t see any reason to talk about it.” He looked down for a second and then back up at her. “Besides I’m sick of talking about Ben’s relationship issues.” She was surprised that he was actually starting to glare at her. “For the past two months you’ve been talking way too much about his break up with Julie and now this, I don’t care who your cousin is or isn’t dating and you shouldn’t either.”

She was taken back by how angry he seemed. “He’s my cousin I care about what’s going on his life.” She couldn’t help but add, “And since he’s your friend I thought you would care too?” She didn’t understand why he was being so difficult about this.

He looked for a moment like he was going to deny being Ben’s friend like he usually would but seemed to change his mind. “I am Ben’s friend that’s why I don’t care who he dates it’s entirely up to him your pulling the same crap you pulled during the Eunice thing.” He sounded really annoyed. “Just let him live his life, we don’t all have to talk about every major event in his life since this really doesn’t concern us.” He sat himself down on the curb and looked over at her waiting for a response.

She really didn’t know what to say so she went with the first thing that came to her. “If that’s the case why’d you freak out over the phone and hang up.” She didn’t think she was too concerned with Ben’s life. They’d simply been close ever since they were kids.

“I was surprised and I knew how much you’d want to talk about feelings and crap,” He said actually sounding tired. “Look Gwen can we finish this argument another time I’ve got stuff to do.”

She wanted to keep talking to find out why all of a sudden he seemed so tired of things but she knew it wouldn’t be smart. She knew she could only push Kevin so far before he got defensive and snapped back. “All right,” She said and then, “I’ll see you later I think I’m going to go think for a while.” She wondered how Julie was going to feel once she found out. She knew Julie still had some feelings for Ben that’s why she’d been pushing him so hard to get back together with her. She knew she needed to convince Ben to tell her since it would be better if Julie found out from Ben instead of letting it hit the news.

The End

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Crossposts: http://raze-flyn.livejournal.com/21764.html

Disclaimer: The world and characters Ben 10, Ben 10: Alien Force, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien all belong to Cartoon network. Just borrowing them for my own and possible the amusement of other fans.

This is a sequel to An Unexpected outing and is basically the conversation Ben and Gwen have when she arrives at his house.

Conversation

“So I guess I should explain,” Ben said sitting down backwards at his desk chair. He crossed his arms over the back of the chair and gave her his best don’t be mad at me look. She could tell he was forcing himself to act completely at ease.

“Yes you should,” she said a bit harsher than she meant to. She saw him flinch a bit and she felt slightly guilty. She was furious with him for not telling her any of this she told him nearly everything and now he’d kept something like this a secret. “Were you doing this behind Julie’s back?”

“No, why does everyone keep asking that,” Ben said darkly. “Why does everyone seem to think I’d use Julie like that?” She guessed her aunt or uncle must have asked the same thing judging by Ben’s tone. “Julie and I broke up a few weeks before Pierce and I got together.”

“Why were you hiding it then?” She asked the question that really bothered her. “You me and Kevin are together constantly and I tell you pretty much everything.” She had to admit that wasn’t quiet true anymore in the weeks since he’d broken up with Julie Ben had been spending less time with them. “How did you and Pierce even end up together?”

“With you constantly hinting I should work things out with Julie and Kevin asking for more alone time with you,” Ben said shocking her a bit. “I decided to hang around with Grandpa and the plumbers a bit more; see how they’d improved after graduating.” Ben shrugged a bit. “Pierce and I hit it off and since we were both interested we decided to give it a go.”

“That doesn’t explain why you didn’t tell me you were discovering your liked guys,” She said wondering how she hadn’t noticed Ben going through something like that. She had realized long ago that Ben was a terrific actor able to play the part of the annoying brat to perfection but this really surprised her.

“I already knew I liked guys as well as girls but it wasn’t an issue when I was with Julie,” He said shrugging his shoulders again. “I just figured there was no need to bring it up unless things didn’t work out with Julie.” He gave her a weak smile. “Plus I figured it would make things weird with you and Kevin.” His smile got a bit bigger. “I knew you’d be okay about it but insist on talking about it and Kevin would get all wierded out.”

She could see that she supposed but she still wished Ben had told her. “So how did you parents take it?” She wanted to ask him more about why he didn’t tell her but she needed time to figure out how to ask.

“They took it well until after Pierce left and they asked me how far we’d gone,” he said and she felt herself blush at the thought. “I might have gotten a bit out of line when I refused to answer because they’d never asked me about Julie.” He looked down at the floor. “Mom pointed out she’d never caught me and Julie making out on my bed.” He spun around in the chair he was sitting on. “So now I’m grounded for two weeks, so except for emergencies I’m stuck here.”

“How far have you gone?” She asked without thinking and was a bit shocked at the glare she got in response. She was about to dismiss the question but then she saw a familiar smirk replace the glare.

“Tell me how far have you and Kevin gone first,” he said and she quickly objected to telling him that. “Why, if my sex life is going to be open for discussion than so is yours?” She acknowledged his point tried to find another subject.

“When are you going to tell Grandpa Max?” She asked and then when she saw his face. “He already knows doesn’t he?” He nodded. “Did you tell him or did he figure it out like he always does.”

“What do you think?” She guessed that meant he figured it out on his own. That wasn’t surprising if anyone knew Ben better than her it was Grandpa Max and he was around Pierce a lot so he probably caught on quickly. She hated how hard it was to talk to Ben all of a sudden he obviously did too because he blurted out a question, “Will you tell Kevin for me?”

“You can’t be serious Ben,” She said shocked. “This is something you have to tell him not me.” There was no way she was letting Ben stick her with that job. She could tell he was going to ask again so she put her foot down. “No Ben, you tell him.”

“All right,” Ben said and to her shock he pulled out his phone and made a call. She was staring in shock as he held the phone up to his ear and said, “Kevin, this is Ben just letting you know I’m dating Pierce if you have any questions just talk to Gwen about it; I’m grounded.”

“I can’t believe you just did that,” She said in shock. “Why on Earth would you tell him over the phone?” She stopped when Ben just smirked. “You tricked me; you didn’t really do it?” She felt like strangling him as he smiled.

“No, I did it,” He said as her phone began to ring. “I told him just like I told you over the phone it seemed appropriate.” He was smiling again. “Plus this way you have to talk to him about it instead of me.”

She answered the phone and Kevin didn’t even let her get a hello out. “Please tell me Ben was kidding,” Kevin said sounding stressed out. Ben made the situation worse by stating loud enough for Kevin to hear that he wasn’t kidding. “So it’s true then,” She confirmed it still glaring at Ben. “Look Gwen I need to go.”

“He hung up on me,” She said glaring at Ben who began to spin in his chair again. “I can’t believe you did that to me.” She stood up and headed toward the door. “I’m going to find Kevin and make him come talk to you about this.”

“Good luck with that,” Ben said sounding slightly down. “I wish I didn’t have to put you in the middle like this.” He didn’t sound very sincere about that but she resolved to just let it go.

“This isn’t over Ben.” She assured him as she turned and left his room. She would track down Kevin and do what she could to smooth this whole thing over. She couldn’t believe Ben was stupid enough to tell Kevin that way.

The End.

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Crossposts: http://raze-flyn.livejournal.com/21731.html

Disclaimer: The world and characters Ben 10, Ben 10: Alien Force, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien all belong to Cartoon network. Just borrowing them for my own and possible the amusement of other fans.

An Unexpected Outing

“Your grandfather knows,” Pierce said causing him to stop and stare at his boyfriend of just three weeks. “Before you ask, no I didn’t tell him but he flat out asked me if we were being careful.” That just made the entire situation worse.

“How did he find out?” He asked himself more than Pierce. “I mean even Gwen and Kevin don’t know yet and it isn’t like I see Grandpa Max every day anymore.” He said and then saw Pierce shaking his head. “Do you have any idea how he found out?”

“Let’s see we’ve been hanging out a lot more, I showed up with a hickey I refused to explain to my little sister and Max called one time while you were over in my room really late.” Pierce said laying it out clearly. “The fact you haven’t moped this time about breaking up with Julie for good probably makes it clear your seeing someone else.”

“I suppose but that doesn’t explain why he’s asking sex things,” He said feeling slightly embarrassed. “He never asked me anything like that about Julie.” He saw Pierce look away. “What is it you aren’t saying?”

“You and Julie weren’t very physical with each other, I mean did you two ever kiss in public at all?” He shook his head no. He wasn’t going to bother explaining that Julie wanted to take things slow and he’d been okay with that. “I just want to know if he’s going to tell your parents.”

“No, Grandpa Max is good about leaving that kind of thing up to me to tell.” He said thinking of the Omnitrix. “I mean he let me go for years lying about the Omnitrix and me dating a human pin cushion has to be in the same ball park.” He smiled at Pierce’s look of annoyance at the pincushion remark. “I suppose though this means I need to tell Gwen or Grandpa might let something slip.” He sighed and then said, “I don’t know how she’s going to take it; she’s still really good friends with Julie and keeps hinting for us to get back together.”

“She’ll take it better than Manny will when I tell him,” Pierce said shaking his head. “He’s a good guy at heart but his first reaction to anything different isn’t pretty.” He recalled some of the run ins he’d had with Manny over the last few years. “Of course he might take it better than Kevin will, especially if he ever figures out you had a crush on him.”

“I never should have told you that,” He said knowing the mention of his one-sided crush on his cousin’s boyfriend was payback for the pin cushion remark. “Besides Kevin might be flattered even as he assures me repeatedly that he’s not into guys.” He saw Pierce smile slightly at that. “Anyway are we just going to sit around my room all day discussion how badly folks are going to react or are we going to go out and do something.”

“I thought we could stay in and do something,” Pierce said suggestively leaning in toward him. He nodded and pulled him into a kiss. They fell back onto the bed and were right in the middle of a great make out session when his bedroom door opened and his mother screamed in shock.

“Uh Mom I can explain,” He said wondering how he hadn’t heard her get home. He wondered if this was all some kind of cosmic joke first he finds out his grandfather knows and then his mom catches him making out while she’s supposed to be out all day with his dad. He saw his mother staring at Pierce who staring stupidly at his mother while still on top of him. “Uh this is Pierce, Pierce my mom.” That got his boyfriend to get up and look embarrassed as he mumbled out a greeting.

“We came back early because your father has a stomach virus,” his mother said surprisingly calm. “Make yourselves presentable and then come down stairs we need to talk.” She turned and left and he glanced over at Pierce who just started laughing.

“This isn’t funny Pierce the only way this could get worse is if Gwen calls with an emergency.” He said and seconds later his phone began to ring. “No way it can’t be,” He reached for his phone as Pierce began to laugh even harder.

“Ben, your mom just texted me not to call for any reason for the next hour.” He was a bit shocked his mom even knew how to text let alone that she’d think he’d run. “And who is laughing in the back ground?” He shot another glare at Pierce who tried to get it under control.

“That’s just Pierce,” He said quickly. “Mom walked in on us doing something she’s not happy about so for the next hour I’m going to get lectured.” He knew any second now Gwen would be asking what they were doing. “Look Gwen I’ll call you later and tell you everything but we need to get downstairs before mom comes back up here.”

After he hung up the phone, he glanced at Pierce who had managed to get his laughter under control. “I think I jinxed us by bringing up Max knowing.” He had to smile at that even as he hurried made sure his shirt wasn’t rumbled too badly and then headed toward the door. “So which do you think freaked them out the most that I’m a guy or that I’m not fully human.”

“I’m not fully human either and neither is my dad remember,” He said as they walked toward the living room. His parents had never said anything he could recall that was homophobic so he was hoping it was just shock and not real disapproval for either reason.

He saw his dad sitting on the couch next to his mom. She looked annoyed and his dad just looked vaguely queasy. He really hoped it was the stomach virus his mom had mentioned. He glanced over at Pierce who had managed to school his face to be perfectly neutral. “How long has this been going on?” His mom asked taking him by surprise.

“We’ve been dating about three weeks,” Pierce said speaking up quickly. He watched his parents exchange glanced and he knew they were doing the math about how he’d broken up with Julie for good two months ago.

“We aren’t mad,” His dad said sounding as sick as he looked. “We just want to understand.” He was glad his dad had said that as he forced himself to sit down. He could tell with a slight glance that Pierce was relieved to hear that as well. “I hate to ask this but you weren’t just using Julie were you?”

He felt slightly insulted but he should have expected that. “No, I wasn’t,” He said quickly. “Julie, and I didn’t work out but I wasn’t using her to hide anything I like both guys and girls.” He hoped that would be the end of it but based on how his mother was looking at Pierce it wasn’t.

“Haven’t I seen you with Max?” His mom said looking at Pierce strangely. “Aren’t you one of the plumber’s fresh out of the academy that he’s supervising?” He set back as Pierce revealed that yes he was and that led to the big bombshell. “Does Max know about this?”

“He figured it out recently,” He said quickly not wanting Pierce to repeat what his grandpa had mentioned. “We haven’t had a chance to talk about it and even Gwen doesn’t know yet.” He could tell that surprised his parents and kept them from asking too many questions. He doubted they’d have the sex talk while Pierce was there but as soon as he left he knew he’d get asked about it. “We aren’t ashamed or anything I just don’t want to make the same mistake as last time.” He could tell even Pierce was surprised by that. “Julie and I didn’t work because stuff just kept happening that she got dragged into without any real say.” After that statement he was glad that his parents seemed to mutually agree to not ask for too many embarrassing details even though his mom did quiz Pierce on his background a great deal.

Later after Pierce had left, he sat on his bed and dialed Gwen. “Sorry it took me so long to get back to you.” He could tell from Gwen’s response that she was a bit put out that he hadn’t called her back just after an hour. “It just took longer than we thought and after Pierce left my parents asked me some really embarrassing personal questions and grounded me.”

“What on Earth were you doing that was so bad Ben?” Gwen asked clearly agitated. “Kevin, thinks that you and Pierce were experimenting with alien drugs.” He found himself completely at a loss for words. “I told him that was crazy but he said that he knew plenty of plumbers who dabbled in them at the academy and wouldn’t tell me how he knew.”

“Nothing like that, Mom, just walked in on us making out,” He said enjoying the shock he knew he’d given her. He didn’t get to surprise her often because she knew him too well. “So I had to do the whole coming out thing to my parents and now you over the phone.”

“I’ll be over there in fifteen minutes,” Gwen said and hung up the phone. He considered calling her back but knew it was probably better to have that conversation in person. He just hoped she didn’t bring Kevin with her he wanted at least one more day before he had to handle that discussion.

The End.

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