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Soft music played throughout the naturally lit room, the walls dimmed a nice yellow that made the boy laying in bed all the more relaxed. Gentle humming came from him, his eyes closed as he tried to let his mind take a break from the stress it took on daily, shifting from the past to the unsure future for the life of himself, as well as every other mutant in the school. His thoughts needed to be cleared, his tense muscles allowed to loosen, if only for one serene moment.
The room's moderate quiet was only broken by the sound of knocking, and then the door creaking open. 'Well, it's not Quentin,' Ben mused in his thoughts, 'Way too quiet for it to be him.' He opened his eyes to the nice surprise of his boyfriend standing beside his bed, eyebrows lifted hopefully that he'd be able to slide in beside Ben, who happily obliged.
"You awake enough for me to proposition you?" Nathaniel pushed back some of Ben's dark hair from his eyes with ungloved fingers, giving himself an unintended insight to the peace the tired boy had been feeling. It brought a kind smile to his face, one that was usually saved for Ben in these rare moments between just the two of them.
"Shouldn't you be on one knee if you want to propose?" Benjamin's lips lifted into a small smile as he joked before nodding at Nate's question, a go ahead for whatever he had for him. He shifted just a smidge, resting his head on Nathaniel's shoulder, a hand finding its way on the other's hip. "What's up, babe?" He mumbled against the fabric of Nate's shirt, who received the affection with a rosy blush.
Nathaniel held Ben close like that, rubbing small impressions of circles over his back with care. He could feel himself melt into the other after a beat or two. He spoke again in a softer tone, quieter, too, as he was closer to Ben's ear. "There's a pride parade coming up near here. I thought you'd like to go. We could make a day out of it. And, I'm pretty sure some of the others have made plans to go already." He started to knead over Ben's back a little more, gaining a soft noise of appreciation from his boyfriend.
Coming back down to earth a little, Ben just nodded where his head was resting, allowing Nate to feel the motion. "Sure," he hummed contently, his voice muffled and a bit slurred from nearly dozing off, "First time for everything."
Nathaniel pushed himself up a little to be able to look down at Ben with his head tilted. The other noticed and gave him an inquisitive look, his brown eyes round and curious. "Did you say first time?" Nate's voice came across softer than even he had intended it to be, his gaze holding a trace of surprise and an odd feeling of...disappointment? Not because of Ben, of course, but more...that he apparently hadn't had the chance. Said boy shrugged with one shoulder, willing himself to be closer to Nathaniel in the small bed.
"I never came out to my parents, babe," Ben's tired, always slightly raspy voice came out hushed, "They weren't..." He shook his head as if it didn't mean much, "You know how it is. Texans and stuff. They didn't...They wouldn't have hated me. I think. But they would've hated that part of me and," Ben sucked in a breath, "Whatever. Whatever, they aren't around anymore 'cause of the mutant stuff so...that's my point. Just never had the opportunity." He let slip a sigh, moving his eyes back up to look at Nate again. "What about you?"
A certain fondness shone quickly in Nathaniel's dark eyes that made Ben melt just a little more on the inside. He mused to himself that no matter how pissed off he was at Scott and Emma, at humans, at the world for making him of all people a mutant, there was something about Nathaniel that made him relax, made him feel gooey and as if he was puddy in the other's hands. He felt less angry, less abandoned, and a little less sad around Nate, and that only seemed to grow exponentially the longer they stayed together. Nathaniel spoke, and despite the calmness of his buttery voice, both boys felt their hearts beating like hammers against their chests.
"Yeah, uh, my ex and I went to one years ago with another friend of ours. Charlie." Nathaniel pursed his lips for just a beat at that thought before returning to his story. "There were times that my mom just...didn't really care about where I was, so I managed to get out of the house for a bit and went with them. It was fun, honestly," Nathaniel broke into a soft smile, a laugh coming out as a simple push of air before he cleared his throat and his expression became a bit tighter, "My mom was the same. She didn't...didn't want me to turn out the way I am, and so I never told her. But I still did it because if others get to go, then why don't we?" He set a hand on Ben's cheek, "Do you want to?"
Ben leaned into his touch, a dash of pink sprinkled across his cheeks. He nodded just a little, turning his head to press a kiss against Nathaniel's palm. "Yeah, yeah, I do." A brief pause and he spoke quieter, adding on, "Thanks for that. Honestly." He had never been the best at expressing himself, especially when it dealt with his childhood, (or his time at the New Xavier School, but that came with it an entirely different sort of mindset), but he tried for the people that mattered. He truly did, though he continued to carry with him a shred of guilt.
Another brilliant smile thrown his way and some of that guilt was put at ease. Nathaniel tilted Ben's chin up, pulling him into a deeper kiss, one that made his eyes flutter shut and his stomach turn with butterflies. He liked to run his fingertips over the nape of Nathaniel's neck while they were kissing, barely touching the shaved part of his head, letting it prickle his fingers lightly. He laughed, looking up into Nate's dark eyes and spotting love and care reflected in them. Nate leaned down just a little, speaking just loud enough for Ben to hear him.
"Saranghae."
With furrowed brows, Ben tilted his head a little. He recognized the language, and perhaps that had thrown him off rather than the fact that it had been said. Nathaniel didn't tend to speak Korean often, despite the fact that he knew it well. Brought back bad memories of the woman that had taught him. Every once in a while, though, he'd surprise Ben and the others with a few phrases spoken in Korean, a little smile on his face. Ben hadn't known this one, though, and glanced down at where his boyfriend had now made himself comfortable on his shoulder. He hummed for a moment, "Do I get to know what that one means?"
With an amused tone in his voice, Nathaniel replied, mouth moving against the exposed skin on Ben's shoulder, warm to the touch under all those layers. He mused to himself that, while he was the one that needed to be covered due to his ability, Benji and his awkward modesty rivaled that necessity. He hummed gently, "It means exactly what you think it means, Ben." Nate looked up at him, eyes halfway lidded behind the soft curl of his eyelashes. The corners of his lips were upturned in a breathtaking grin, one that quite literally made it hard for Ben to find a breath. It had struck him at that moment, what Nathaniel had whispered to him; his chest now filled with a burst of solid emotion.
Nathaniel noticed the wide eyes his boyfriend had, and the sudden stiff sort of stance, the way he was chewing at his bottom lip because he couldn't move his hands to fiddle with them. The way his hair was becoming tipped with the silver of his own short locks. He frowned, pushing himself to sit up and bring Ben closer to him. "You know you don't have to say it back," he reassured the other, whose eyes reflected the inner turmoil he was facing. "I know it's hard for you. It's hard for me, too; I just-I know it's safe with you."
The next moment, Ben was wrapping his arms around Nate's middle, his forehead pressed against Nathaniel's, allowing the psychometric boy to see into his personal issues with trust and expression: the times he kept in his feelings about other boys to please his parents, the anger he didn't allow to get out towards Cyclops and Emma Frost, not after he'd already blown up at Summers, the pressure and guilt he felt for letting either one of them down, despite how much he didn't like himself for it. He kept himself on lockdown, as if his feelings were a river increasing pressure upon the dam until...it gave way in the form of heartache and the tears he was trying not to shed on Nathaniel's shoulder.
"I...I know that about you. I know you don't mind and that's," Ben snorted in a way that made him wonder how Nate found him to be attractive at all, "That's why I-I love you, too." A moment after saying it, Ben laughed, his head bent down a little as if he couldn't look Nathaniel in the eye, "If that's not what you said, please just push me off the bed now." When he looked back up, his boyfriend was grinning, and after a moment, pulled him closer so that he was practically on top of him. (Ben found it somewhat ironic, but also rather tasteful and understandable, that Nathaniel was the two of them that tended to initiate touch.)
The two stayed in that embrace for some time after, each considering that, while pride was something they looked forward to, they had enough pride in one another to last.