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Post by Benita Hendrix-London on Apr 6, 2007 14:50:06 GMT -5
"Oh greeaaat..." Beni dragged out with the subtlest of sarcasms. It was hard to keep her own sarcasm down when situations weren't lending themselves well. But she would have to try her hardest to be nice. "I appreciate you taking my outfit into consideration." And bit her lip to keep from adding, "I just wish you put as much consideration in your oldest daughter's attire." Bad, bad Beni...
With the dish in hand, she was already met with Avery. She smiled at him and obediently met him at his level. "What's up, kiddo?"
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Ben London
Ministry of Magic
Auror-in-Training
benjanita
Posts: 324
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Post by Ben London on Apr 6, 2007 19:45:44 GMT -5
Martha shot a glare at Beni as she spoke, picking up the sarcasm and not being pleased at all. She had tried her best to be accommodating, but now she was starting to loose her patience. "Peter!" Martha called over her shoulder as she took dinner out of the oven, "Peter, come help me please." Peter came striding into the kitchen, looking at Beni again as she was knelted down, talking to Avery.
Avery leaned in so he could whisper into Beni's ear and he asked what Ben had told him to ask. "Ben said you like to do hair," Avery whispered, "Would you make mine a cool colour with magic?" If Avery wasn't getting a chance to have a spell performed on him, than a cool colour would have to do.
Back in the living room, Abi was busy giggling as he hovered a few feet off the ground. "Fly me, Ben!" she told him and Ben chuckled, keeping his wand steady on her and hovering her above the couch. With a quick flick, Abi fell out of the air and landed softly on a cushion. She continued to giggle and Ben attacked her with tickles. He laughed as she squealed happily and begged him to stop. Eventually he stopped and collapsed on the couch next to her, only to be attacked as well. Abi tickled Ben and he yelped slightly before bursting into laughter as his sister clearly won that fight. "Alright, you win!" Ben declared, waving his hands in surrender.
"Dinner!" came the call from the dining room as Martha and Peter set out the food, minus the potatoes because Beni still had them. Michael, Gillian and Sally came trudging back to the dining room, none of them really keen on having this...family moment. Sally scoffed at Ben and Abi as she walked past, but Ben ignored it. Abi didn't even seem to see it because she was already up and running for the food. Typical London.
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Post by Benita Hendrix-London on Apr 6, 2007 19:57:10 GMT -5
" 'Course, honey," Beni said, unable to let herself restrain from her normal personality. It was as if it was Ben's gesture to tell her to have at it. She gave it a thought, thinking of a quick spell that would make the color last for at least an hour. She didn't want Martha to have that long of a heart attack.
Taking her own wand out from her back, she whispered a few words as she tapped it on Avery's head. Instantly, three colors rose out in sequence: red, orange, yellow. It looked like fire, and she was quite proud with the pattern and pigments that she chose.
Conjuring a mirror, Beni tilted it to Avery's vision. "How does that work out for you? You look like you just ran around the world fifty times."
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Ben London
Ministry of Magic
Auror-in-Training
benjanita
Posts: 324
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Post by Ben London on Apr 6, 2007 20:16:28 GMT -5
"COOL!" Avery yelled, looking at himself in the mirror. He touched his hair and shook it out in front of his eyes. She had really done it. "Wicked! Thank you, Beni!" he hollered before tearing out of the kitchen and into the dining room, "Mum! Look!" Martha's eyes went huge and face went pale. Then the yelling started.
"Avery! What is that?! Is that permanent?!" she yelled, pulling him close and looking at the mess that was in his hair. Avery tried to wriggle away but Martha wasn't going to let him. Peter didn't really seem to care, Abi thought it was the coolest thing ever and the other three were expressionless. So predictable, Ben thought to himself before he came to the rescue. Taking Avery's shoulders, Ben pulled him out of the death grip.
"Relax, Mum, it's not permanent. Beni wouldn't do that without asking first," he assured her, but that only seemed to egg Martha on more. "Oh, so it was her fault!" Martha spat angrily, her head jerking to the side to send Beni a glare, "She best hope it's not permanent. Now let's sit down and eat before either of you blows something up." "That could be arranged," Ben snarled angrily, enraged that now his mother was deciding to hate on Beni. The 4th London walked over to his girlfriend and took the bowl out of her hand, holding it with one and using the other to grip her hand tightly.
"Don't worry, Beni," he assured her softly, "Mum's a spaz. It'll be alright." Ben flashed her a smile and led her into the dining room, sitting her down at an end so she wouldn't have to sit directly next to anyone except himself. Once Ben had set down the last bowl and everyone was in their seats, he cleared his throat. "Now," he began looking around at his family, "Would it be possible for the Londons to have a civiliz--" but he stopped when he looked over and saw that Michael had already started eating. With a flick of his wand, Ben flicked the food off his fork before he got it in his mouth and hovered the fork out of Michael's hand, just out of his reach. "Would it be possible for the Londons to have a civilized dinner and not be so blatantly cruel to the company?" he finished. No one said anything, but Abi and Avery nodded vigorously.
Giving Michael back his fork, Ben put his wand away and spoke again. "Fine," he said sternly, "Eat then."
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Post by Benita Hendrix-London on Apr 6, 2007 20:28:40 GMT -5
Behave, behave... Beni thought as she tried not to come back with a back sass and a condescending smile. Yes, some of these people were irking her, as did anyone who liked to stay ignorant. She just seemed to have odd reactions to them at times.
"Don't know about you, Ben, but I enjoyed her reaction," she mumbled to him before sitting at the table. She liked it when he commanded them to be nice. It was-- dare she think?-- sexy.
Digging in, she went for a first bite of the food. "Mmm, compliments to the chef," she said sincerely. See? Good behavior.
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Ben London
Ministry of Magic
Auror-in-Training
benjanita
Posts: 324
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Post by Ben London on Apr 6, 2007 20:46:43 GMT -5
At Beni's words, Martha had a smug expression on her face as she filled her plate up. Ben rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. He knew he was getting a glare now for it, but he chose to keep his eyes focused on the food. After Beni had spoken, everyone else was silent. Michael was still fuming about having his fork taken away and Ben could feel his glare as he ate. Looking up finally, Ben's eyes landed on Beni. He hadn't really had a chance to look at her; he'd been too worried about how this evening would go. Once they had arrived, Ben had been preoccupied with entertaining the children and watching the others and trying to make them behave. But now that he actually looked at her, he saw just how beautiful she looked tonight. "You look gorgeous tonight, Beni," he told her, leaning over and kissing her softly on on her cheek.
"Eww, sissy stuff!" came the complaint from the end of the table where Abi sat, but then she burst into a fit of giggles and Ben let it slide. There was a snicker from Gillian, but Ben ignored that too and went back to his dinner. Unfortunately, that was when Peter chimed in again.
"So how did you two meet?" he asked, as if he was genuinely curious. Ben glanced at his girlfriend, wondering if she was going to take this one or if he should.
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Post by Benita Hendrix-London on Apr 6, 2007 21:10:55 GMT -5
It seemed to be that those still moments caused her stomach to wrench in pain again, another nervous moment in silence. But to hear Ben compliment her in the slight of tension there... She looked up, blushing madly but feeling all the more entranced by him. She blew him an air kiss.
She might as well take the question. "Well, Ben and I met at school on the courtyard on a nice December day. It was kind of a clash of good chemistry, especially since it took the both of us to land on our ars-- oh, excuse me-- patooties to notice each other. We got together before I went back home for winter hol and we've been together since then."
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Ben London
Ministry of Magic
Auror-in-Training
benjanita
Posts: 324
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Post by Ben London on Apr 6, 2007 21:51:16 GMT -5
"Oh, so you just jumped right into it then," Martha stated, her tone sounding amused but also disgusted in the most awful of ways. Ben had been about to shovel in more food, but his hands dropped to the table, banging on it loudly and causing everyone to jump slightly. "Mum!" Ben warned angrily, sending another glare at her. Martha simply shrugged and went back to eating. Ben shoved the food into his mouth angrily and chewed it rather viciously. Peter just kind of looked around before speaking again.
"That sounds lovely," Peter said, but the niceness was quickly drained as he spoke again, "Not too sure how a beautiful girl like you ended up with our Ben, though." "Dad!" came the sharp yell from Ben and he pointed his fork at him threateningly, "I'm warning you, Peter." Ben rarely called his father by his first name, but right now he'd make an exception. Little Abi who had been watching all this silently, finally chipped in.
"Stop being mean to Beni," she complained before flashing a smile to Beni, "Are you going to marry my brother?"
Ben choked on his food.
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Post by Benita Hendrix-London on Apr 6, 2007 22:01:55 GMT -5
"I believe a better counterquestion is how did a girl like me--" Meaning loonie. "-- end up with the greatest bloke in the world?" She grinned, unphased with the double outburst he had. Besides, she was confident in her answer.
It was odd, though, to see her jump slightly at a little's girl's quaint question than a six foot three man's outburst. She looked at everyone, almost hoping for some help before she realized where she was. Then she laughed. Nervously. "I--" Try not to hyperventilate. "I-I-I probably think that's a taaad too soon, my dear." She looked at Ben with her continuous nervous laughter as if thinking I haven't thought it, have you?! Absurd!
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Ben London
Ministry of Magic
Auror-in-Training
benjanita
Posts: 324
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Post by Ben London on Apr 6, 2007 22:20:02 GMT -5
Ben was still trying to breath.
Abigail pouted slightly, but continued to pester about it. "I think you should," she said, stating her opinion clearly, "You guys are cute together." Martha and Peter exchanged glances, Michael, Sally and Gillian were trying to not burst out in fits of giggles and Avery just looked at Ben, laughing at him more than anything else. "Abi, dear, please just eat your supper," Martha said finally, shooting a glance at Benita before turning to her daughter, "It's not polite to ask those questions to people who don't know what they're doing." This time, Peter choked.
Michael made it obvious that he thought the idea was ridiculous because he let his laughter out in an uproarious and obnoxious way while Sally and Gillian exchanged glances. Ben was able to choke out a few words after he banged his fist again. "Mother!" he choked, "Stop it!" "Oh, honestly Benjamin," she began in her tone that was so condescending that it was painful, "Do you really think you are ready for something like that? Especially with someone so...interesting." Everything else was silent except for Michael's laughter.
"Shut up!" Ben finally screamed at her, not caring that he was speaking to his mother in such a way, "You all can make fun of me as much as you want! I don't care! But you do not, do NOT talk to Beni like that! None of you! And you shut the hell up as well!" Ben pointed his wand and Michael again and the laughing stopped. As a matter of fact, all sound from Michael stopped. Ben knew it was an extremely bad thing to perform magic in front of Muggles, but even worse to do it on them. But right now, he didn't care. Ben was panting hard and it was the only sound in the entire house, aside from the ticking clock in the distance.
Standing up, Ben's chair fell over behind him and the vase of flowers sitting in the middle of the table shattered into a million pieced. Ben grabbed Beni's hand and pulled her up, intent on getting her out of there as fast as he could. Walking out of the room, Ben didn't even look at any of them as he pulled her toward the door. When they reached it, Ben heard the sound of footsteps running behind him. Turning, Ben saw Abi and Avery running toward him. They both crashed into him, 4 little arms wrapping around his body. Ben bent down and hugged them both before kissing them on the tops of their heads. "I'll send you both a letter soon," he whispered to them, "Make sure no one else sees it." Abi looked heartbroken and Avery looked plain angry.
"I still think you should marry him, Beni," Abi said in her little voice to the older girl. Avery nodded in agreement and Ben stood up, ruffling Avery's hair and throwing the door open. He pushed Beni out quickly and slammed it behind him. The second the door had closed, Ben let out a long and loud steam of profanities before storming angrily down the stairs of the front porch and out onto the street.
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Post by Benita Hendrix-London on Apr 6, 2007 22:31:21 GMT -5
Alright, then. That was definitely the limit. Martha had no idea who Beni was, or even what she was doing in life. Sure she was a little misguided in life, but she had a defined path in her future. She was sure of this, and that was enough to turn the wand on herself to silence her voice as she let out a series of strong phrases that spanned three languages.
The temptation to turn her voice back on was there, but it didn't take long for Ben to whisk her away and off outside, not before what was a borderline plea from the youngins'. Again she hyperventilated, but she felt better with the burst of fresh air.
Finally, she returned her voice to normal and ran after Ben. "Ben!" She sighed as she knew all that happened there. So maybe he was a bit right. And she was a bit glad to leave. She stopped in front of him, hoping to get his attention, and to lower his stress. "It's alright now, darling." She grabbed both of his hands as soon as her wand disappeared behind her back. It was hard to say anything else, really.
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Ben London
Ministry of Magic
Auror-in-Training
benjanita
Posts: 324
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Post by Ben London on Apr 6, 2007 22:39:25 GMT -5
Ben didn't want to stop walking, even after Beni had called for him, but he had no choice once she was in front of him. He pulled one of his hands out of hers and pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel a headache coming on. "No," he said sternly, his eyes closed and his fingers still holding his nose, "No, Beni, it's not alright. I shouldn't have let you convince me to come to this stupid thing. I knew what was going to happen and I knew how they'd be. It's my fault."
Ben was sweating now. He was so angry and his breathing still wasn't back to normal yet either. The top two buttons of his shirt were already undone, but he needed more so the third, fourth and fifth came undone too. Ben even rolled up the sleeves as well, now dying of heat. "Let's just go home," Ben said, his tone sounding so defeated, yet still so angry, "Before I go back in there and...kill one of them."
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Post by Benita Hendrix-London on Apr 6, 2007 22:53:19 GMT -5
Beni gulped at that certain thought and laughed. "So long as you don't kill the younger ones."
It was hard for this former Lioness to admit. So her pushing him for the last few months to do this would turn out bad. She didn't even get to laugh jolly-ly at the silly prime minister. It goes to show you it can't all be rainbows and fun.
Still holding on to his other hand, she grasped it tightly, stepped up to her tip toes and kissed him on the forehead. "Let's go home, then. I think I still have some of the real black forest cheesecake stowed away so we can pig out and get warm in the bed." She winked.
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Ben London
Ministry of Magic
Auror-in-Training
benjanita
Posts: 324
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Post by Ben London on Apr 6, 2007 23:06:25 GMT -5
A soft "mmm" escaped Ben's lips as he felt Beni's kiss on his forehead. He immediately felt better, once Beni had kissed him. That always seemed to make him happy. "Why does everything feel so much better now that you've done that?" he asked rhetorically, leaning down to kiss her softly on the lips. Another "mmm" was uttered and he twirled his fingers with hers again, holding her hand tightly.
Leading Beni off the main street and onto a side one, Ben looked around to see if anyone was watching them. He didn't really care if a Muggle say them Apparate, but it was more of a cautionary thing that he'd been taught to look for. "Home," Ben mumbled, getting ready to Apparate, "I could really go for a good hunk of cheesecake right about now." With that, Ben closed his eyes, concentrating on home and disappearing from the street with a loud "pop!"
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