"Well," Ben began, feeling heat rise to his cheeks as he tried to determine how to even start. "Actually..."
At least Aldous was already sitting down, because if Ben had had to preface this whole thing with maybe you should take a seat, he knew whatever benefit of the doubt Aldous was willing to give him (which was probably already quite minuscule) would have evaporated in a heartbeat.
Putting it off wouldn't help matters any, but still Ben was reluctant to just jump right into the news. Maybe he was just looking for ways to stave off his brother's disappointment as long as possible. A part of him was still protesting silently that this wasn't fair. Of all the things that Ben had done in his life to cause Aldous some variation of a headache, this was undoubtedly the worse — and Ben hadn't even done this one! At least, not of his own free will. Aldous couldn't possibly be told that, however — not if there was even a slim, distant hope of things working out passably in the end — and so Ben knew he was just going to have to present this as another one of his very ill-advised life choices, and take whatever scorn Aldous heaped on him as a result.
His resignation towards the fact, however, didn't mean he was particularly eager to get on with it.
"Let me just preface this by saying I know this was a terrible decision," he said as he took the seat Aldous had indicated. "And I definitely never planned for this to happen, but — it did. So I don't need you to tell me what a terrible idea it was, because I know. I know it's not — anyway," Ben said, feeling flustered and not sure whether anything he was saying was actually getting through to his brother or if it just sounded alarmist. "I'm here for help, not a lecture, because I know this is bad."
MJ made this <3
At least Aldous was already sitting down, because if Ben had had to preface this whole thing with maybe you should take a seat, he knew whatever benefit of the doubt Aldous was willing to give him (which was probably already quite minuscule) would have evaporated in a heartbeat.
Putting it off wouldn't help matters any, but still Ben was reluctant to just jump right into the news. Maybe he was just looking for ways to stave off his brother's disappointment as long as possible. A part of him was still protesting silently that this wasn't fair. Of all the things that Ben had done in his life to cause Aldous some variation of a headache, this was undoubtedly the worse — and Ben hadn't even done this one! At least, not of his own free will. Aldous couldn't possibly be told that, however — not if there was even a slim, distant hope of things working out passably in the end — and so Ben knew he was just going to have to present this as another one of his very ill-advised life choices, and take whatever scorn Aldous heaped on him as a result.
His resignation towards the fact, however, didn't mean he was particularly eager to get on with it.
"Let me just preface this by saying I know this was a terrible decision," he said as he took the seat Aldous had indicated. "And I definitely never planned for this to happen, but — it did. So I don't need you to tell me what a terrible idea it was, because I know. I know it's not — anyway," Ben said, feeling flustered and not sure whether anything he was saying was actually getting through to his brother or if it just sounded alarmist. "I'm here for help, not a lecture, because I know this is bad."
MJ made this <3