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"Focus…"
Tommy's stared intently at the Pepsi can set on the coffee table. In the darkness of the empty break room, only his eyes were visible, flickering bright yellow.
"Focus…" He strained, gritting his teeth, his hands bunching up into fists against his lap. The can rattled imperceptibly, the motion exponentially growing faster and faster. Tommy perked up in excitement and relief, his focus shattering, causing the can to tip over and roll on its side. He sighed.
He'd been working on his abilities for a little more than a week now. His father had gone off to solve some cosmic problem, boiling it down to simple 'business', leaving Tommy to traverse Black Mesa until he got back. He was a whole twelve years old, he knew how to handle himself. Plus, Black Mesa had everything a growing boy needed to thrive. Food from the cafeteria, a dorm arranged by his father, and a best friend. The down time he had at night away from those things was the perfect time to practice his powers. Well, it would've been, if he could get them to work.
Tommy grumbled, setting his head into his hands, eyes stuck on the can. It should've be easy for him. His father seemed to display his abilities so easily, stopping time and bending gravity like it was nothing more than second nature. Meanwhile, Tommy could barely move an empty husk of aluminum without being more focused than- than a cat chasing after a mouse! Even if his father assured him that he was young, that he still had time to learn, it was hard to accept when he constantly witnessed the extent of what his powers could be, but just weren't. He didn't want to wait.
He sat back up, back straight and arms clenched to his sides on the couch cushions, gritting his teeth and started again. His eyes regained their glow as he focused with all of his energy on the can. It rattled slowly, then got faster, and just as he thought it would lift off the table,
"hey."
Tommy nearly jumped out of his skin, squealing embarrassingly loud and sending the can flying sideways (the one direction he didn't want it to go!) as he whipped to the source of the monotone voice behind him. He deflated at the sight of a head peeking through the wall.
"Benrey!" Tommy hissed at his best friend, but current greatest enemy. Benrey giggled, no-clipping the rest of the way through the drywall and bouncing onto the couch next to Tommy. He was supposed to be in his cell this late at night, but given how hard it was for the scientists to wrangle him in, he could basically roam free through the facility.
"morning." Benrey smiled, kicking his feet as he turned to look at the rolling can of soda that'd cracked open and was now spilling all over the break room floor. He paused, head tilting in confusion. Earnestly, he asked, "what happened?"
Tommy jerked up off the couch, pacing as he grumbled under his breath.
"I almost, gah, I almost had it!" He exclaimed, pulling on his hair as he walked circles around the room. He had been right there! If only he'd concentrated a little more, if Benrey hadn't popped up, he could've done it! He could move it, the evidence was there, sticky against the heels of his shoes, but he just couldn't get it to work the way he wanted it to. At this rate, he wasn't going to have any control over himself!
Benrey watched Tommy make loops around the room, eyes wandering back to the floor as he bit at his stubby nails. Tommy must've dropped it trying to move it with his cool physic (no)— pissic (ha-ha)— psychic powers. Huh. He must've scared him. Poor Tommy had been having a lot of trouble with his abilities lately, and none of the scientists had helped him control them like they had with Benrey. Sweet voice and cool-mind-powers shouldn't have be too far off in potential scientific applications, but none of the scientists seemed to touch Tommy with a ten foot pole. His dad was scary enough to ward them all off from even bothering him.
Tommy was halfway to pulling all the hairs off of his head when Benrey stood up, walking over to where he had frozen in place, eyes flickering bright yellow. Benrey, the Good Friend that he was, knew what to do.
Tommy didn't realize what he was doing until light began to glow beside him, causing his to twist his head towards the source. Benrey was next to him, hands clasped together and eyes shut, singing a stream of blue and white sweet voice. Tommy blinked as one drifted near him, popping against the side of his face, leaving a translucent film on his cheek. Instantly, he felt himself ease up, his downward spiral of thoughts stopping short.
Benrey peeked his eyes open, a silent question behind them. Sighing, Tommy nodded wearily, and both drifted to sit cross-legged on the clean side of the floor. He watched, silently in awe as sweet voice drifted up towards the ceiling. So many bubbles bunched together, it almost looked like the night sky. He wasn't sure of the last time he'd seen it so clearly. He barely realized when Benrey had stopped singing and was just watching the sight with him, leaning back on his arms to stare up.
"i, uh," He began, and Tommy turned back towards him. Benrey's eyes glinted under the blue light, even when miraculously hidden under the shadow of his hair, but Tommy's stare made him look to the other side of the room. "sorry about scaring you." He began, and just as Tommy was going to respond to the startlingly earnest apology, Benrey squeaked out a stream of cyan sweet voice. Tommy mercifully looked away and back towards the ceiling. Blue and green means please stop watching me.
After a while, Benrey continued. "i can help if y'want."
Tommy tilted his head. "I'm.. I'm okay now Benrey. Thanks-" Benrey cut him off with a shake of his head, sitting up to look at him.
"no. with your, uh," He began, waving his hand up and wiggling his fingers. "superpowers. you 'can be like, uh… suuuperman. super cool." Tommy still looked confused. Benrey stood up, dusting off his medical gown as he proclaimed, "i'm already a master of my craft. it's time for me to take on an, uh, willing apprentice."
"Benrey, i'm older than you."
"not in skill… points." He dragged on the word, holding his hand out for Tommy. "come, come little child. i'll teach you my ways." Tommy giggled, taking his hand and letting himself be pulled up off the ground. That didn't seem like a bad idea to get help from Benrey. He was one of his only friends that was his age, and even if they were entirely different species, it wasn't like Tommy was entirely human. Benrey had enough experience to control his sweet voice, so it had to be a good place to start. Tommy nodded happily at the thought, holding onto Benrey's hand with both of his and waving them around excitedly.
"Yeah! Thank, thank you!" He grinned as Benrey was shaken this way and that, before snatching his hand out of Tommy's sub-human grip. Jeez, he really needed to show him how to control his powers. Tommy was still beaming as Benrey cleared his throat, dramatically turning away to look at him over his shoulder. 'but, uh, t'morrow. i've gotta go nappies." He grumbled, pointing out the door and deep into the lab, where his 'room' was.
Tommy deflated. "Aw man, alright. Lets go." He mumbled, before his eye caught the now-empty can, sitting in a pool of sticky sweet liquid. He frowned, kicking it across the room. "Now let's go."
…
"Benrey, I don't think this is a good idea…"
"nah, nah, trust me. you'll do great."
Tommy scratched at his chin tentatively, mouth twisted in doubt. It was morning now, and after they both got their mandated eight hours of sleep, Tommy went to find Benrey in his room. Well, room was a generous way of putting it. It was a big closet with a bed and a wall made of thick tempered glass in a brightly lit lab space, for the scientists to observe the Zen alien who was sat cross-legged in the middle. Tommy was staring at him from the outside, unsure how we was going to get him out of it. "Can't you just… walk out?"
"no no no. you've gotta do it yourself. hone your skills." Benrey said dramatically, mimicking some action movie he'd seen the old grainy TV set in his enrichment room. He probably didn't even know what hone meant!
"If I can't move a can, how am I supposed to… move you through glass?" He said, holding his hands out pleadingly. Benrey sagely shook his head. "we gotta start big. it's the only way."
Tommy grumbled. He didn't understand, but this was Benrey he was talking to. He'd gone through training and tests and everything, so he had to know what was best. Benrey sensed his friends frustration and lied down, relaxing his body so he could be more easily moved. "just close your eyes and focus real hard. don't think about 'nun else."
Tommy stared down at him nervously before nodding, taking a step away from the glass. Okay, this was easy. He just had to.. focus on Benrey. He shut his eyes, his hands balling up against his sides. He just had to focus. He bit at the inside of his cheek, visualizing himself pull Benrey forward, towards him. Focus…
"uh." Benrey said, far to his right.
Tommy perked up immediately, expecting to find Benrey either still in the cell or outside of it— but there was nothing. He was alone. "Tommy." Benrey said, only confusing him even more.
"Buh, Benrey?" He called out nervously, head darting around the room. Where the heck was he? Oh god, had he sent him into the aether? He darted around the room just as Benrey began to wiggle himself from out of the thick concrete wall beside his cell, popping his torso through and pulling himself the rest of the way with his arms against the wall. He landed on his ass with an 'oof', just as Tommy turned to see him pulling out his leg.
"y'did it!!" He exclaimed, turning to sit right-side up. "uh, wrong way, but you still did it!"
Tommy stood over him, worry melting back into exasperation. "I didn't- I can't… ugh!" He groaned, hands going back to grab at his hair before Benrey snapped upright off the floor like a spring. "it's okay, everyone's shit at directions." Tommy was still frowning, hands reaching down to grasp at the hem of his shirt. It wasn't working. Uh, shit, redirect, redirect!
"how 'bout we try something else, yeah? get a snack?" Benrey offered, plastering on a big smile. Tommy knew he was just trying to make him feel better. Even if he was kind of lying about just how successful the attempt had been, but damn if he'd pass up a trip to the soda machine. He sighed, relaxing his stiff posture. "…Fine." He shrugged, following Benrey's lead past a bemused scientist that Benrey blew a raspberry at, before rounding the corner out of the labs.
…
A trip to the vending machine later, Tommy and Benrey were strolling down the halls of Black Mesa with a can of Sunkist and Josta respectively. It was past noon by then, and a lot of the usual scientists were scurrying around the building, which apparently Benrey had been waiting for. He was practically rubbing his hands together like an evil mastermind as he led Tommy down past Biological Research into a section of the facility Tommy had rarely, if ever, been in. He stopped, pointing at an inconspicuous door. "this one." He grinned, tossing his empty soda can over his shoulder into the hall.
Tommy looked up, reading the name plate on the door. '13-U-88-Y'. Tommy wasn't familiar with what that meant, but Benrey was staring down at it with purpose, which was never a very good thing for Benrey to be doing. He grasped onto Tommy's arm excitedly, whispering. "this guy— he's got all the great music in the lab. keeps hiding it from me. you're gonna stop time, n' i'm gonna sneak in and…" He paused, searching for the words to convince him. "borrow them disks. mkay?"
Now, normally, Tommy would refuse to participate in such a thing. Stealing was a crime, and he shouldn't try and use his powers for evil, no matter how much he wanted his friend to be happy. But really, sipping on his third Sunkist of the afternoon was making him feel a lot more agreeable than usual. His doubt lied in, you guessed it, his ability to even pull off such a stunt. "I don't know…" He began.
"trust me bro, there's not even any directions to think about. you've just gotta pause it." Benrey exclaimed, tapping on either side of his head and pointing at his brain. After not getting immediate approval, he resorted to throwing his arms around Tommy in a plea for sympathy. "pleaaase? for friend benrey? pppleeaaaa—"
"Okay, okay, fine, jeez!" Tommy laughed, elbowing Benrey off of him playfully. Another try. Benrey backed off closer to the door, watching Tommy and waiting for some kind of signal to go. It was easier said than done. Tommy had only stopped time a few times, and he'd generally had more success in doing it willingly, though only for short bursts. "Just.. be quick, okay?" Benrey nodded fervently, looking more excited than a kid on Christmas.
Tommy sighed, squeezing his eyes shut. It took a lot less focus than usual, not having to hone in all his thoughts on a single thing. By the time he opened them, the world gained a blueish tint. Benrey didn't waste any time in running into the room, swinging the door open. Tommy got a split second glimpse of the office inside, which really looked more like a laboratory with how many beakers and test tubes were visible on the counters. The issue with the plan slowly began to rear it's head the longer Tommy stood outside— his head began hurting. Like, a lot. He wasn't sure if he'd ever stopped for so long, and as the seconds passed, it only seemed to get worse. He nervously watched the door, hoping Benrey would hurry, but he just didn't walk outside.
He was getting antsy. On instinct, he went to take a sip of his soda, uncomfortably leaning back against a wall as his headache worsened. The sweet taste didn't make it much better, if anything, it just made him feel really, really dizzy all of a sudden. His eyes widened as the world shifted from blue to orange, and before he could realize what that meant, the door was slamming open, and Benrey was sprinting out with handfuls of CD jewel cases clutched in his arms, the edges of his gown set on fire. "MISSION COMPROMISED, GO GO GO RUN!" He yelled as the world returned to normal, and Tommy froze up as he saw a tall, much older scientist chase Benrey down the hall, hands alight with blue flame. "Get back here, you little cretin!" Tommy watched, reeling as they ran down the hall, before he jolted out of his stupor and chased after them.
…
Tommy stamped out the last of the remaining flames from the hem of Benrey's gown in defeat, eliciting a tired grimace from the other. The scientist had chased Benrey for what felt like hours after Tommy accidentally sped up time instead of slowing it (damn you sugar rush!), cornering the experiment and demanding his contraband entertainment back. Tommy narrowly managed to convince him not to singe Benrey into ash, and convinced Benrey to give him back the CD's. Now, both of them were back to where they had begun, laying around the break room with not a single disk in their possession. Benrey was lying on his back, kicking his feet up and down, and Tommy tucked his leg back close to his chest.
"alrighty. one more time." Benrey murmured, closing his eyes and singing out a glob of clear, rhyme-less sweet voice. Tommy grasped at his knees, gritting his teeth and focusing. The evidence of how many Benrey had made for him, in a last-ditch attempt at helping Tommy with his powers without so much physical exertion, clung to the ceiling in a mess of sticky sweet voice. Tommy squinted, and his eyes flashed yellow as it popped mid-air.
"Yes!" He cheered, pumping his hands up. Benrey belatedly followed, stopping mid-motion to yawn. He kept one hand in the air as Tommy peered down at him, frowning.
"Are… are you okay, Benrey?" Tommy winced. His friend looked about half way to falling asleep, eyes half lidded and body spread out on the floor like a starfish. He wiggled on the floor a little before shaking his head rapidly, pushing himself to sit up. "yeah, uh, doing great. you gotta get s'more reps in." He said, tilting back up to blow some more sweet voice into the air. He wasn't going to fall asleep now. Tommy was just right there to getting it right. What was another sleepless night, when he'd lasted longer before.
Tommy didn't look up towards the bubbles that drifted around him. He hadn't seen Benrey that tired in a long time, and it was already getting pretty late, given how long they'd spent trying to avoid the pyromaniac guy. How long him and Benrey had been out and about while he tried to help him. He pushed himself off of the floor, walking over closer to Benrey.
"…Do you wanna go to my room? It's already… it's getting late," Tommy offered guiltily, holding out his hand towards Benrey. Benrey looked up at him hesitantly. "We can play… some Super Mario Kart." Tommy tacked on, smiling. Benrey instantly took his hand, letting himself be pulled up to his feet. "heck yeah."
Benrey, as Tommy had expected, fell asleep ten minutes in, upside-down on his squeaky inflatable chair, controller on his chest and head dangling from off the seat, his drool pooling on the floor. He made sure to cover him as many of his best blankets as he could without suffocating him, shutting off the console and scooting his own plastic recliner closer to doze off. He couldn't. In part because he wasn't used to sleeping sitting down, but mostly at the thought that, no matter how many times he'd messed up throughout the day, he'd found more progress in just 24 hours than he had in the past week. Trying to get better without someone there to help hadn't been the way to go, huh.
His sleepy eyes drifted towards Benrey, fast asleep and snoring loudly under the pile of blankets in the dark. Tommy shifted around on the couch, opting to drape a blanket up to his shoulders and lean against the armrest of the couch. As he closed his eyes, he drowsily wondered what he could possibly do to make it up to him.
…
Benrey kicked a non-existent rock into the hall before going back to wandering. It had been a long day of tests, and Benrey had sung enough sweet voice into jars to put an elephant into a peaceful slumber. He felt like he was next in line, rubbing at his eyes and trying to stay awake enough to get to Tommy's room. They agreed to hang out today, and no matter how ready he was to retire to dreamland, Tommy had seemed pretty enthusiastic about it. He wouldn't keep his best buddy waiting.
He didn't even have to knock on his door when he arrived; Tommy opened it for him from the inside as if he'd known he was there, beaming. "Come, come in!" He said, stepping aside. Benrey followed, curiously looking around the room. Why was he so excited? Had something changed that Tommy wanted to show him? His shelf of bey-blades hadn't seemed to grow any since the last time he'd seen it. He turned back to Tommy, who was still holding the door knob and smiling ear to ear. Before he could ask, Tommy took him by the hand and led him towards the carpet, sitting Benrey down in front of him.
"Okay," Tommy began, wringing his hands together excitedly. "I know… it's been a while. But I wanted to try something." He began, holding out his hands for Benrey to take. Benrey's eyes widened as they slowly began to glow, the bright yellow sparks visible even under the overhead lights. "But I need you to help, okay?"
Benrey hesitantly took them, nearly expecting the flares to burn his hands, only to find himself pleasantly surprised. They were just warm, like touching the fur of a cat that'd been laying out in the sun. Tommy smiled even wider, before pausing. "I, um, you need to close your eyes for it to work."
"umm. okay." Benrey agreed, tucking his head into his chest and squeezing his eyes shut. It felt weird. He wasn't sure what Tommy wanted him to do. They sat there for what felt like minutes, and just as he was going to ask, a cool breeze brushed against the back of his neck, causing goosebumps to spread out over his skin. He winced. "what's goin' on?"
Tommy was quiet for a moment, before he seemed to come back to himself, sheepishly looking back down towards Benrey. "Um, you can open them now."
Benrey wasn't in Tommy's room anymore. All he could see was the faint glow of his eyes in front of him, as he smiled and meekly tilted his head up, gently pulling his hands away. "…Do you like it, Benrey?"
Utterly disoriented, Benrey followed his gaze up. What he saw was unlike anything he'd seen in a long, long time. The stars were distinctly clear in the New Mexico desert, a strip of brightness unlike anything he'd ever seen painting the sky like a brushstroke on a painting. Benrey gaped at the sight, his hands slowly drifting to his sides. He recognized it from one of the books on space Tommy had smuggled into his room for him.
"That's, um, the Milky Way," Tommy supplemented, stretching his feet out in the orange sand. Benrey remembered. Seeing it on the page of a worn out textbook and in person, however, were entirely different experiences. He was struck into silence at the sight alone. Tommy looked back down at Benrey, at the Chihuahuan desert that sprawled out around him, and felt nothing but pure elation. His plan had worked. He'd practiced for days, snapping himself in and out of the facility with varying success. He'd found it was easier to focus on more of a general area outside of Black Mesa; it was nothing but desert in all directions. The thought certainly made his job much easier.
They both just sat there for a while, staring up. "I just wanted to… say thank you." Tommy murmured eventually, beginning to recite his carefully planned speech. "You… you really help me a lot, Ben-" Tommy's train of thought fell short as he was nearly tackled into the sand by Benrey scrambling up and wrapping his arms around him. It took manipulating a bit of gravity not to. He couldn't help the laugh that bubbled it's way up his chest and out his mouth, moving his arms up to hug him back.
Benrey loudly cleared his throat to grumble out, "uh. it's nice," as he tugged himself away. His eyes were still wide, sweeping their surroundings with pure fascination, feeling the sand between his fingers. It was nothing like the brightly-lit halls of Black Mesa he'd grown so used to. The air felt crisper to breathe in, and the smell of the nearby rosemary mint only made it feel better going in. IT stretched out as far as the eye could see, just faintly lit by the stars, enough to see the wildlife of cacti and yuccas that surrounded them. Tommy nodded. "It's pretty cool." He said, giving Benrey back his space.
"You've been hanging out and… and helping me a lot," Tommy continued, "So I hope this makes up for it. Thank… Thank you, Benrey."
Benrey blinked owlishly, turning back towards Tommy, who was smiling like a beaming ray of sunlight. Right. His turn to speak. Crack a joke, say a funny or something.
"…no need to thank me." He mumbled instead, scratching the back of his neck. They nearly lapsed back into silence before he piped up again. "can we, uh.. say here. for tonight." It was really nice. He didn't want to go back inside. Tommy didn't object, nodding giddily. He held his hand up, and a spark of yellow flashed between them as he summoned his pile of blankets between them. It was as if Benrey had read his mind.
Benrey took the blue pillow and sage green blanket, and Tommy took the rest. The two shuffled into the blankets, laying their backs to the sandy desert floor, staring up at the star lit sky. Benrey smiled, and at the sight, Tommy couldn't help but feel like he'd accomplished something grand.