Work Text:
ben took a long drag from the cig that had been hanging from his fingers for far too long. he sighed, smoke billowing from his lips and joining the smog in the air. the blinds shifted slightly from the corner, blowing in the drift of the broken air conditioning unit.
it was hot as balls in that room, and ben was sweating his ass off. it was even hard to breathe, and the smoke didn’t help. he took another drag, just for the shits.
rodrick coughed from the corner of the room. they sat at the table and sketched in a notebook that their little sibling had bought for them while on a trip to the mall.
(he knew that they took those trips to escape their parents. sometimes, rodrick would drag him along, and that was the only time that ben had seen them happy.)
ben could hear their tears hitting the table. bill thought about that, and took a deep breath. the smoke made him cough. damn it. he disposed of the butt and swung his long legs off the side of the bed, facing away from rodrick. the frame creaked and groaned beneath him.
“finally gettin’ up?” rodrick asked. their voice was surprisingly steady, for how hard they’d seemed to have been crying. ben mumbled something incomprehensible under his breath as he stretched his arms above his head. his shirt rose over his chest and he felt the air from the fan in the corner hit his skin.
“it’s hot as fuck in here,” he said, after a long pause, and they both chuckled, to each other and to themselves. “how long did we get this room for?”
“i... don’t remember,” rodrick said, tightly. something was off. ben’s brow furrowed. they closed their notebook audibly.
“well... i’m gonna take a shower.” he got up and stretched once more, before grabbing a random pair of clothes out of his bag. “you goin’ out?”
rodrick stood from their chair and grabbed their dull wallet from the pillow. “i’m gonna go to the vending machine to get some chips.”
“sounds good. see ya when you get back.” ben stretched his arm over his neck. “stay safe.”
“i’ll be fine.” rodrick said, their voice strangely cold. they didn’t even pause at the door; just walked out like they didn’t even give a shit about ben.
it was fine. he knew they cared. maybe they’d talk later, maybe they wouldn’t.