It was as if he was conqueror of the world - not in the literal sense, but it seemed that Ben's life finally seemed to have knitted together as easily as a drawstring purse; and sitting in front of him in his sitting room was the shining light. Ben also had to remind himself that they were to keep up appearances as normal, and more often than not found his eyes wandering around the place as if any of the objects in his sitting room would be a more appropriate place for them to settle upon rather than Ari.
It was with perhaps a bit more exuberance than usual that he regaled both Ari and Baxter with his tales at the Ministry - an old time favorite, though he found nowadays that he had a little extra bounce in his step. Merlin only knew why, Ben thought to himself as he found himself meeting gazes with Ari. He quickly switched his gaze to Baxter, hoping that the latter would not overthink the amount of times Ben made eye contact with every blasted water vase in the room.
Finally, he plopped himself unceremoniously into a chair – it had occurred to him how out of breath he was; whether that was the effort put into not being obvious with Ari or just the excitement of catching up, it was anyone's guess. Ben smiled - he always liked hearing about his co-workers children. Now that both Baxter and Ari had children, the stories would most likely just keep coming.
"They seem to be doing you good, Bax," he added into the flow of conversation, smiling at the ease with which Bax spoke about his new family.
Ben relaxed further into his chair, leaning his head on his hand and sipping his drink as the two talked about their children. This time, his eyes went easily back and forth between Ari and Bax as his mind drifted. All of his friends were married now. It was only a matter of time before the question was posed to him; and not something he'd dwelled upon much since him and Ari's...erm...closeness had become a more prominent focus in his life. Hopefully the conversation wouldn't drift towards that topic. Best keep the subject on the children. "Yes, how is young Elliott Benedict?" he offered to Ari with a smirk. "When is Uncle Ben going to be coming over to both your houses to babysit?" Now that he had managed to at least hold a baby, the rest shouldn't be too hard, should it?
It was with perhaps a bit more exuberance than usual that he regaled both Ari and Baxter with his tales at the Ministry - an old time favorite, though he found nowadays that he had a little extra bounce in his step. Merlin only knew why, Ben thought to himself as he found himself meeting gazes with Ari. He quickly switched his gaze to Baxter, hoping that the latter would not overthink the amount of times Ben made eye contact with every blasted water vase in the room.
Finally, he plopped himself unceremoniously into a chair – it had occurred to him how out of breath he was; whether that was the effort put into not being obvious with Ari or just the excitement of catching up, it was anyone's guess. Ben smiled - he always liked hearing about his co-workers children. Now that both Baxter and Ari had children, the stories would most likely just keep coming.
"They seem to be doing you good, Bax," he added into the flow of conversation, smiling at the ease with which Bax spoke about his new family.
Ben relaxed further into his chair, leaning his head on his hand and sipping his drink as the two talked about their children. This time, his eyes went easily back and forth between Ari and Bax as his mind drifted. All of his friends were married now. It was only a matter of time before the question was posed to him; and not something he'd dwelled upon much since him and Ari's...erm...closeness had become a more prominent focus in his life. Hopefully the conversation wouldn't drift towards that topic. Best keep the subject on the children. "Yes, how is young Elliott Benedict?" he offered to Ari with a smirk. "When is Uncle Ben going to be coming over to both your houses to babysit?" Now that he had managed to at least hold a baby, the rest shouldn't be too hard, should it?
![[Image: WEY2zhj.jpeg]](https://i.imgur.com/WEY2zhj.jpeg)