As much in pain as he was, Ben had to fight a grin as well, however, he was rather ill-suited to be hiding glee seeing as it took a while for the other boy to show any sort of cheerful attitude. At first, he wasn't entirely sure he'd be seeing the boy – Ari – around the castle again after this. He seemed rather nice, but a bit too reserved for Ben. But after this, he found his previous resolve weakened. "Nice to meet you, Ari." he replied, his voice slightly strained as they made their way off the castle grounds. "I'm Ben. Benedict Sterling."

---