Nov. 18: Aftershocks-Boys Dorm{Arnie}

[Benji Fenwick]

It was like being a kid again. Like racing Nina through the fields surrounding their country home, the hot summer sun making his skin warm, the rush of wind in his face. He remembered the joy of his laughter mingling with his sister’s as they pushed harder; each one wanting so badly to beat the other.

The moment he reached the creek first, the elation he always felt, that was what it felt like to race through Hogwarts after his date with Willa. He could never remember being this happy. The second he was out of her sight he had darted off. He had to get to Arnie, he needed to write his father. He and Willa Robbins had kissed! And then kissed again and then she had kissed him goodnight!

Un-expectantly and incautious of it being after curfew, Benji stopped and let out a victorious whoop. “I say boy!” an old bitty in an oil painting close to him exclaimed. He apologized profusely and sprung away again. By the time he made it to his dorm he had unintentional disturbed several paintings, ran into another student out after hours, luckily not a prefect, and been attacked by Mr. Darcy as he barreled into the common room. None of it damped his mood, or his need to see his best friend.

He burst into his dorm and was assaulted with the sudden still quiet and sounds of sleep and the years of learning not to wake his roommates. Almost despite himself he turned and closed the door quietly, years of habit, before hurrying over to Arnie’s bunk where his dutiful friend sat reading. Clearly he was waiting up. Benji knew it was so, he knew Arnie so well.

He dropped his things at the foot of the bed; backpack, blanket, picnic basket still full of goodies. ”You won’t believe what happened.” Benji sat next to his friend on the bed. Only for a moment however, he was filled with too…much to sit still. Instead he paced back and forth beside the bed. His face was smiling but his eyes were far away; back in a field with the most beautiful girl. He turned to Arnie suddenly, his eyes lighting. “She kissed me. She kissed me!”

---

OOC: This thread immediately follows this thread: Night Prowlers.

[Arnie Peasegood]

The night was wearing on, and so far there was no sign of his best mate.

Good lad, Arnie thought with a quiet chuckle to himself. He sat in bed, the night outside his tower window too inky black to make anything out on the grounds, but that didn't stop him from looking anyway. Because out in the night, Benji was taking Willa on a date. Their first date, Arnie had reminded him countless times - because this wasn't a one-and-done deal, not if he had anything to say about it. Just like always when he got into a relationship, the Ravenclaw was happy, and wanted his friends to be happy too. And Willa, for whatever reason, made Benji want to bring her the moon. So her accepting this date from him was huge, and Arnie was waiting up to hear how it went. This was a big, big, big deal to his mate, and therefore a big, big, big deal to him.

His wand-lit reading was interrupted a few times by roommates coming in for the night, until the only bed empty was Benji's. Some time after Xeno's curtains had shut, there were quick footsteps on the stairs, and the last sixth year entered the dorm. Arnie grinned as he saw his friend, face flushed from either the outdoors or the girl - or both - and scooted over to make room as the bloke cautiously made his way through the dorm to him. The cautious aspect was a necessity, unfortunately, due to the snoring Dirk the Jerk, but it was no matter - Benji was shortly at his side, and as usual when he was excited, the bloke was unable to sit still.

So it did go well, Arnie thought, laughing quietly as Benji went on. He'd hardly ever seen his friend so animated, and it was glorious. He couldn't help the clap his hands gave when Benji said they had kissed - angry grumblings came from Dirk's bed, and with a roll of his eyes and a flick of his wand, Arnie shut the curtains around the kid. "That's wicked, mate," he encouraged, more than excited for him. A first kiss was important, and Benji's was from a sweet girl he had the hots for - what could be better than this? "Everything go well, then? Used everything in your bag of tricks?"

[Benji Fenwick]

Arnie always said just the right things to take Benji’s happiness to the next level for delirious. He smiled largely at his friend. “I know right? Wicked seemed appropriate. Fantastic, amazing, marvelous, a few other adjectives should cover it.” Benji was very much rambling about. He couldn’t stop himself however; he was simply too far in his excitement, it seemed to only grow the more he thought about his night. The rush still flowing in his veins.

“The flowers were blooming and then she was kissing me, like really kissing me. Then I was kissing her, me, me, kissing her! Wow, I kissed her, our first kiss, wow.” And not just any first kiss but a first first kiss for him. Benji was not proud to say he was nearly seventeen and had never kissed a girl. Lucky for him he never had to say that again, it was no longer true.

Benji glanced at his knapsack when his mate mentioned it and shook his head. He grabbed up the picnic basket and handed it to him. “No. We almost played chess. And we had some mead.” He added, taking the mostly full bottle and holding it out to Arnie as well. If there was a bottle of mead present Benji thought now would be a perfect time to top it off. 

“She didn’t want to read the journal, or eat any of the food, and she didn’t seem to like chess. Did I do something wrong?” he asked, not really feeling like he did but asking none the less. What if her not wanting to do anything but sit around and then kiss was code for something he didn’t know about. He couldn’t imagine it being anything bad, but he didn’t know, this was his first rodeo after all!

Benji smiled again; hopefully it wouldn’t be his last, at least not with Willa. He already couldn't wait to see her again, touch her, kiss her. A completely sobering thought came to him then and he sat slowly on the foot of his friend’s bed. “Arnie.” He began, genuinely frightened. “What if I’m a really bad kisser?”

[Arnie Peasegood]

Arnie couldn't stop grinning - Benji was in a proper tizzy about his evening, and it was a wonderful thing to see. Arnie wanted his friend happy, and it seemed that being with this girl was the ticket aboard that train. He was fine letting the bloke blather on about the pair's first kiss, so glad that things were working out, and extra glad that Willa had made a move. Not that he doubted his friend - he knew Benji would've gotten there eventually. But the less time spent worrying and overanalyzing, as were his tendencies, the better. Not that Arnie was much different - had overthought a thing or two or a million in his day - but it was with simple relief that he watched his friend go on.

And it was with simple gratitude that he took the offered bottle of mead. "Date wine? For me? Why thank you, good sir," he joked, taking a swig. Benji had much over-prepared, it seemed, for this date - but better to over- than under-prepare, eh? Making sure they had so many potential things to do had added some measure of calm leading up to tonight, after all. He drank - not well, was still working on that - as Benji went on, nodding along until the lad suddenly thought he'd done wrong.

He held the bottle out to him.

"Mate - if you'd done wrong, she wouldn't've kissed you like she did," was the sage counsel given. "Sounds like she was just raring to go, just as ready for that to happen as you were. You'll get to know her better, figure out more what she likes, but I don't think she's back in her dorm complaining about how things went."

His friend was back to smiling before - suddenly - sobering. He sank to Arnie's bed as if dragged down to it. Arnie slowly rose his brows, meeting his best mate's eye as he spoke. And upon hearing what Benji had to say, he tried very hard to not laugh. Very hard. He cleared his throat, reaching out for the bottle. "Benj," he said solemnly, "although I'm not going to participate in gathering evidence to support my theory - you're a catch, just not my type - I'm sure you're better than you think. She seemed happy about it, didn't she?"

[Benji Fenwick]

Benji couldn’t help his laughter, he hadn’t meant it to sound hysterical, but he thought it may have anyway. He was just so keyed up! He could hardly contain the emotions permeating his heart. And Arnie was so funny by nature, though really what he had said wasn’t that funny. “Well, she hardly drank any, and I didn’t want to make too much of a fool of myself.” There he went again. The doubt was endless sometimes. Maybe she didn’t just drink much, or maybe she just didn’t want to drink with him. Or do any of the other things he had meticulously planned. Lucky for him his best mate was there to swoop in and chase away his fears. Benji took the bottle back and helped himself to a healthy swig as he listened to Arnie.

He couldn’t help the blush that flared on his face as Arnie spoke about what Willa was doing right at that moment. He didn’t want to talk about that, so instead he picked up on the first thing his friend had mentioned. “Does it take a long time to figure out? Did it take you and Doe very long? What if I take too long?” He didn’t ask the next question. What if I’m not good enough for her?

He shook the melancholy that thought brought on relatively quickly. He was still riding the high of his first kiss, no need to worry about that now; besides Arn was just inviting him in for a tease. “Oh I don’t know Arnie, I see the way you look at me when you think I don’t know. You can't have me, I'm saving myself.” Benji thought to himself he would never act this way with anyone else, he would never bat his eyes, or put on that pseudo feminine lure. Anyone else might think he was nuts or really into that stuff.

Still, despite his jesting, Benji was relieved by Arnie’s words. “Anyway, I guess you’re right, she seemed pretty happy to me.” With a grin he handed the bottle of mead back to his friend and pulled the basket to himself, plucking out a scone. “Got more food for the stash, we didn’t even touch it. Oh, mentioning Dorcas had me thinking…Do you think Willa will –ya know- talk to her about tonight?”

[Arnie Peasegood]

Oh, but his best mate was proper love-drunk! Although Arnie always appreciated a good audience, he knew his last line hadn't been anything to write home about, and yet Benji was laughing like he was at a stand-up show. He's happy - have you ever seen him like this? Arnie didn't think he had, and that was saying something - they'd lived together since first year and had become friends then, after all! Something about this girl... For Benji's sake, Arnie hoped Willa was in the same boat as him, and was gushing about this date with a friend in her dorm. If she was doing anything less, he'd worry! Benj deserved a girl who was going to be just as head-over-heels for him as he was for her! But he tried to put his worries to the back of his mind and focus on his friend, chuckling at his words. "Probably a smart move, keep your wits better without that," he said with a nod towards the bottle. At Benji bringing up Dorcas, Arnie grinned as he ran a hand through his hair. "Well, seeing as we've just been on a few dates, I can't claim to know everything about the girl," he acknowledged, even though each date had gone well, if not always entirely as planned. And what he did know about her, and how she made him feel...he felt that they were truly on to something.

"But just...be vigilant, pay attention, remember what she says, and your dates will keep going well," he advised. "If you feel like you're floundering, just straight-up ask, y'know? She'll want to know you're interested in finding out what she likes, that you're trying to make her happy - girls love that!"

Talk turned to Benji's worry about the kiss, and although Arnie was sympathetic, he hoped his friend wouldn't let this needle at him, and was glad he was game to play along. "Right shame, that is - think we could've had something really special, you and me," Arnie bemoaned, gesturing between them. But he wasn't able to keep up the jest, and chuckled. "But if you insist, I suppose we'll just be mates." He took the mead back and drank, gesturing excitedly as Benji brought a scone out of the pack. What hadn't he brought? "Toss me one of those, eh?" After his friend obliged, Arnie gave another chuckle, shrugging. "She probably will, seeing as we're mates and they're mates," he said. "Want me to see what I can find out?"

[Benji Fenwick]

It was hard not to contemplate all the horrible things that could have gone wrong had he gotten too intoxicated. If he was half the fool he thought himself to be, he was ten times the fool when he was drunk. A number of particularly idiotic things he had gotten up to tipsy sprung to mind and he cringed at the idea of Willa seeing him like that. But there was no need to dwell too long on it, it hadn’t happened, and it never would.

He nodded at Arnie’s logic, it was very simple, he needed his wits when it came to girls, period. “Righto mate.” He agreed, saluting as he handed over the bottle and the conversation came back around to girls proper. It always seemed to come back around to girls. Benji smiled at his friends modest words. He and the Gryffindor Seeker were getting cozy behind closed doors, and Arnie at least was obviously smitten. He refrained from arguing about it and simply let it go. It was only a few dates after all, and it was Arnie’s business either way.

Lucky him his best mate launched into what he thought was some pretty sound advice and saved him from wanting to tell Arnie how /cute he and Dorcas were together. He didn’t feel like getting punched tonight. “Right, pay attention, I can do that. I can’t pay attention to anything else when she is around anyway so that’s easy.” Who could pay attention when Willa Robbins was around? “And Arnie, I’m always floundering. I can’t expect her to tell me what she wants all the time. I just hope I don’t bore her or annoy her. And I hope she wants to go out again, because I do, I can't wait. Except that I can because I have no idea what girls want, especially this one!” It was a tough cookie to crack, but he decided to halt his opinion on the matter until he had more information.

He still needed to write to his father. He would do that later so he could include things from this conversation with Arnie. One thing he would /not be including in his letter was the jesting between himself and his friend. “I do insist, don’t be too sad.” Then he was up again, it seemed his body still had some residual adrenaline, and he was now excited about the prospect of gleaning information through Arnie via Dorcas about Willa and how she felt about their date. Benji placed the heavy basket in front of his roommate and flipped the lid before going over to his bed.

 “If it won’t be weird for you.” He said, honestly not wanting his friend to feel awkward bringing it up with his still budding ‘friend’, but secretly praying to anyone that would listen that his best mate would pull through and get the inside scoop. Benj unzipped his jacket and tossed it on his chair, followed by his boots, then his socks. He stretched out, all the way down to his toes before rejoining Arnie on the bed. He took the bottle, feeling a little drunk –on more than alcohol- and another sweet from the brimming basket. “That kissing thing is seriously intense. Does it always feel like you're going to implode?”

[Arnie Peasegood]

The Ravenclaw returned his attention to his best mate, chuckling and nodding in agreement to his words - how could one focus on anything other than a gorgeous girl when she was gracing you with her presence? "She'll want to go out again, tonight wouldn't have gone the way it did if she didn't," Arnie assured him, stretching a bit. "And she just wants to feel adored," he added, only teasing slightly. "Every human does, yeah? It's not like she's part of an extraterrestrial species." While Benjamin Fenwick had always struggled relating to girls he was attracted to, Arnie hoped that this time he could get over it and realize that she was - just - a - person. A pretty person, a person that he liked, but a person. With all the goodness and faults of any of them!

Arnie faked a broken heart, hands clasped to his chest, as his mate let him down none-too-gently. He drank as Benj got out some more energy, still so amused and happily so at how well the night had gone for the bloke. He deserved for the night to go well, and thank Merlin it had! Arnie didn't know how he would've been able to get the other's spirits up enough to try again with another girl had the night not gone well. Thankfully - that was neither here nor there. He gave another nod, not feeling bothered in the slightest at the idea of quizzing Dorcas about Willa's take on the date. Would be epic if their friends got together, and she'd tell him, wouldn't she? "Consider it done." He munched on the scone, flicking crumbs off of his shirt, as Benji took another break, that mind of his surely buzzing around every detail of the evening before he returned to him. And when he did?

"Only if you're doing it right," Arnie replied with a more-than-cheeky grin, absolutely chuffed that he was able to talk about stuff like this with his friend now and not be the only one with experience!

[Benji Fenwick]

“Might as well be.” Benji said to his friend, rubbing at his face. “For all I know about women, they could be from another planet. A ridiculously attractive planet.” Because Willa was the most beautiful girl he had ever met. Every time he saw her –which admittedly was not very often and admittedly, he hadn’t known her very long- he found something new about her that struck him as striking. Surely she couldn't be of the same world he was. She must have come from some above existence, a superior society.

“And that part will be easier than I’m making it, I hope, I think. I mean I already adore her so much, and I’m not savvy enough to hide it very well.” Benji thought about all the ways he would be able to show Willa how much he admired her, most of them seemed to jump too far ahead: they were dating, and he had gotten her the very sweetest birthday gift; it was Christmas and they sat around the fire at his parents place, their fingers twined, nothing but affection between them. Benji smiled. It had been a considerable amount of time since he had fantasized about a girl and it had never been like this. His fantasies were usually regulated to the physical.

Benji grinned at his friend from his bed as Arnie made a mock hurt face. His roommate and best friend was the only boy he knew who didn’t go all homophobic on him when Benji indulged in a spot of boy on boy joking. Benji for one, was pretty comfortable with himself in that regard, and knew the other boy was as well. He appreciated Arnie so much in this moment. Especially when the other boy agreed to try and get the scoop out of Dorcas when he saw her next.

It would be nice to have inside information on the girl who had completely enthralled him by her mere existence. “Thanks man, I owe you one. A big one. Huge. Huge favor.” He said, clapping Arnie’s shoulder as he sat across from him on the bed, taking the bottle of mead and a sweet from the basket. He wiggled his eyebrows at Arnie’s words. “ Must have been doing it really well then. I have never felt that in my life. I have also never been so randy in my life. How do you deal with that part?”

[Arnie Peasegood]

Arnie munched happily, crumbs falling onto his pajamas and covers, as Benji lamented his lapse of knowledge about womenkind. It wasn't as if his best mate was daft, he was plenty intelligent, but for whatever reason he'd never been able to make proper sense of the girls around them. Hopefully spending more time with Willa would, among other things, humanize the opposite gender. He nodded along knowingly as his mate spoke of adoring the girl already; it might seem fast to fall for some, but Arnie understood where he was coming from. Sometimes there was that initial knowing, that spark of recognition, an unspoken but understood you're who I've been waiting for. It's what he felt for Dora, and if Benji had found that too? This was going to be the best year! "Good. She'll want to know how you feel." Need to do that more myself, really...

He only laughed as Benji thanked him, shaking his head heartily. "It's no problem mate, really. Although I wouldn't say no to help with renewing the stockpile." Like most of the castle's boys, it seemed he and his roommates could eat and eat and eat, going through Honeydukes candy like, well, candy. Their communal store was nearly out already, and he wasn't about to foot the bill during the next Hogsmeade trip himself.

"Snogging her any chance you get, only thing for it," Arnie admitted, laughing as he realized that now, more than ever, nothing was off the table of discussion for the pair of them. "Nothing for it but that, and it's not going to make you less randy, just - well - lets you keep having a helluva good time. Kinda figure out her schedule, y'know? When and where you can sneak off? I bet she's in the greenhouses a lot, plenty of opportunities there." He took the mead back as it was offered, feeling delightfully warm and at ease. It was about time things worked out for his mate! He'd have to check in with Dora about Willa's thoughts, and soon; if this was the report he was getting, surely Willa's friends would be getting an equally glowing one!

[Benji Fenwick]

Unwanted, another worry reared it's ugly head. What if what he felt was too much? What if he did just fine in telling her how he felt, but in the end, she didn't feel the same? Or as strongly? Even Benji acknowledged that that was a lot of what- if's. Probably best not to mention those things to Arnie, probably best to just not think about them all together. Because really, that was something he couldn't control: Willa's feelings, and his own. So, he just nodded at his best mates words, letting the conversation flow into an aspect of their dorm life.

“Done, mate.” Benji agreed easily, thinking that was a small price for valuable information. “Next Hogsmead, the bills on me. And Zonko's, we need more dungbombs, yea?” The Ravenclaw was almost sure they did, they always need more dungbombs. Thinking of the next Hogsmead trip had Benji firmly back in the Willa department. Should he ask her? He wanted to. He wanted to ask her steady, but he wasn't sure how, and he wanted to be as sure as possible she would say yes before he took that leap. Thankfully, the thought didn't make him bulk up completely. Progress! 

“If that's the only thing for it, then who am I to argue a tried an true method.” Benji said, grinning at his friend. Another swig and his mind wandered, thinking of all the places they could meet as Arnie was suggesting, and whether he should just ask for her schedule outright. That didn't seem very romantic at all but what else could he do? Following her around would be creepy. He could ask Doe about her daily routine, or Sylvia was good at sneaking about. Benji forced his mind back into the moment, those where things he would have to tackle tomorrow, right now he was enjoying the conversation with his friend. “Have you and Dorcas...you know? Wait. Are you even official yet?”

[Arnie Peasegood]

Arnie grinned in agreement as his mate agreed to foot the bill, hoping he'd soon have good news to report in exchange for it. This had the ability to turn out like a dream, though - he and Dorcas, Benji and Willa, friends with friends...Could there be any better set up for Benji's first relationship? "Yeah, used the last of those when we got Flint and Hobday," he said, remembering the looks on the Slytherins' faces fondly. There would surely be some retaliation soon, in which case the Ravenclaws needed to be prepared. Talk turned back to their girls, and snogging, and after a companionable quiet -

"No," Arnie sputtered, eyes wide in unusual embarrassment, his heart thudding heavily in his chest. He took a long drink to buy a little time to begin soothing his sudden nerves. Benji must've known he'd be the first to know when he stopped being a virgin, didn't he realize that? "You'll - you'll know when that happens, mate," he said, chuckling in his recovery. "Only known her a few weeks - " Way too soon to have... " - and we're only just, y'know, starting to be a couple. No need to rush. Things are so easy now, and she's had such shite luck with blokes...I don't want to be another one pushing her." And I've never even gotten close to doing that with anyone else. He settled back onto his pillows, trying to calm down and not to get lost in thoughts of the snogs he'd shared with Dorcas - snogs that had definitely wound him up enough to be thinking about taking a variety of steps with her, if he could find the courage. Beyond the physical, though, they just connected. It was like she'd always been in his life, and he wished she had. How different would things be if they had met early on at Hogwarts, even? Become friends that had inevitably become interested in the other? Would he have had the same various dating experiences - the good, the bad, and the disappointing - or would those have been bypassed?...

[Benji Fenwick]

"That was the best, Merlin, the best bulls-eyes we have ever gotten!" Benji ejaculated, pumping his fist in the air, remembering he and his best mate getting perfect scores on the snakes. And also using the last of their dungbombs, a trip to Zonko's was definitely in order. He had other things he needs to acquire as well..an idea struck him and he perked up. He could mail order plant seeds! He didn't need to wait for Hogsmead at all. He smiled to himself as his idea began to properly form.

Conversation moved on to more serious topics and Benji blushed, even though Arnie seemed to be the one embarrassed. The Ravenclaw reminded himself to be conscious, because honestly, he had been in the clouds all night. "Right, right, of course." He supplied helpfully as Arnie went on, clearly put on the spot. Benji was happy that he would know if that ever happened, just like he would tell Arnie. Not that that was happening any time soon, or at all. "She will say yes mate." he said encouragingly, punching Arnie lightly on the arm. He failed to bring up how unprepared he was to make things official with Willa. Benji took a healthy swig of mead and passed it along to Arnie. "Thanks for pushing me to go for it, by the way. And my dad, I need to write him tonight before I turn in, if I ever calm down enough to."

[Arnie Peasegood]

Laughing along with his mate's exuberance, Arnie felt that this was going to be their normal for the foreseeable future, and was much relieved for it. Not that it wasn't entertaining to talk the kid down from the occasional overthinking spree, which Benj was always game to help him with too, but maybe they could both...relax more when it came to girls now. Benji was just jacked about his night's success, and if he was reporting everything accurately - which the Ravenclaw always took care to do - there was no reason to think that this sort of happiness wouldn't last. Benji was psyched, and Arnie was in a committed relationship (his favorite kind)...who would've thought that a few months into their sixth year, they'd finally hit their stride? He gladly took the mead back when it was passed, needing its calming effects after clearing up a bit of embarrassment.

"No sweat, mate - somebody's got to get you out of your head," Arnie said, chuckling at the thanks. Looking out for each other was what they did, right? While he'd had his ups and downs about feeling like he belonged within Ravenclaw - the psychological case study that was his dorm was surely proof enough of the variety of eccentrics within this House - Arnie was glad that his placement had brought him this friend. Who knows what would've happened if they'd wound up in other Houses! Would've probably never had nights like these! He took a drink, feeling more pleasantly lightheaded as the warmth of it settled in his veins. "What're you gonna tell your dad?"

[Benji Fenwick]

Benji huffed out a breath. "I was going to tell him everything but should I not tell him about the snogging part? I don't know it just seems...private. It involves her too you know." He was suddenly unsure if he wanted to divulge so much to his father. It felt like a delicate, sweet secret at the moment and he wasn't very keen on bursting that happy bubble. But he could tell his dad anything and he knew that. This wasn't just anything though, this was big. He could always gloss over it, just  say that the date had gone really well, better than expected. That was the truth  too. Benji shrugged, deciding he didn't want to worry over it just yet. He still wanted to revel in his night with Willa, in his first kiss and in the way he still smelled faintly of her scent. He smiled goofily, looking over to his friend.

"You should have told me about the kissing ages ago. You were holding out on me I think, didn't want the competition." Benji nudged his friend with a shoulder with a smirk and another swig of alcohol. He was well in truly on his way to being properly drunk if he didn't stop soon -he could tell he was he was almost there when he tugged his shirt off, feeling too warm all over- but he didn't really want to stop. He felt so good inside and the alcohol only made him feel better. He had finally overcome his crippling fear of girls he was attracted to, he had gone to a place he had only fantasized about. And the boy sitting next to him had helped him on that, so who better to be getting pissed with than Arnie? Conversation lulled and Benji glanced around, suddenly curious about everyone's dating status. Mary MacDonald sprang to mind and Benji smiled over his first crush, he hoped if she was seeing anyone that they were worthy, but he didn't ask about her. Instead looked around again sharply to double check and then he gestured around to their roommates beds. "Any of these sods seeing anyone? I never really paid attention before but now that I'm thinking on it...who would ever date Dirk?"