11th August, 1889 — Ben’s House
Baxter Keene/@"Elsie Beauregard" & Benedict Sterling/Amelia Evans

They had already, each of them in turn, pretty much covered everything new with work: a topic that had been a familiar point of call at these things since they’d all graduated from Hogwarts. Easy enough to face and usually interesting, too - and it was always a relief to exchange on hospital matters, informally, jokingly, with his friend opposite him for once rather than technically-his-boss. And it was not as though Ari ever minded hearing the latest adventures of Ben-the-Auror, either (as much for the delivery as the content, because Ben could have made prancing about the Ministry seem death-defying if he wanted)... Only, since he and Ben had been spending more time together lately than Baxter probably cared to imagine - and in ways their friend most certainly wouldn’t care to imagine - Ari had heard most of these anecdotes a time or two already.

So he’d been listening, but at the same time absent-mindedly leafing through a book Ben had left laying about his front room (or had Ari forgotten to put it back?), until an opportune moment in the conversation presented itself to turn the subject onto something more recent and rather less exhausted.

“But how’s married life treating you?” Ari said, looking over at Bax hopefully. Bax’s marriage had evolved in rather different circumstances than his own, (obviously,) so he could only imagine the honeymoon phase had been just the happy wedded bliss it no doubt always was when one married for love. Ari picked up his glass and tried valiantly not to glance at Ben too soon again.

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While wholly content with his new life, Baxter was glad that there were still opportunities for moments like this. It was nice to catch up with old friends like it was old times and they weren't, or rather he wasn't, pushing forty. He didn't feel old, so there was that at least. The friends before him, though more mature than they were when they'd first met all those years ago at school, still looked younger than Baxter felt himself, though their age gap was only mere years.

Perhaps it was because he felt so settled in where he'd finally landed. Hospital director, married, two things he hadn't envisioned quite so early for himself, the former at least. The promotion at such an early stage was quite unexpected. Frankly he'd been long overdue to get married a fair few years ago. The road to where he was no had not been smooth in the slightest, but he'd weathered it alright.

The exchange on their usual banter, the work and the catch up was just what Bax needed after a long stretch at the hospital. It was nice to sit back and be Ari's peer and not his supervisor for once, and of course Ben never failed to entertain with stories from work. Naturally came the question of married life and Bax shrugged, smiling over the rim of his glass. "No complaints. Nice to go home to a houseful instead of a bachelor pad." Despite a little bit of a rocky start- well not even, just a little hesitation on some personal matters, things had settled nicely. He and Odira were a good match, despite the age gap and uncommon lead up to their marriage. "Busy, never a dull moment with three children running around." Mrs. Parker was in her glory. His housekeeper in rare form with three little ones to look after. It had taken a little adjustment period for him, as he'd never known much else than the quiet of bachelorhood, but he definitely didn't hate it.

"And for you? Fatherhood giving you a run for your money?" He asked innocently enough. There was a curious nature to the abruptness of Ari's own nuptials last year and Baxter for one, could do the math on the babe if he were being honest, but it was honestly none of his business and if his friend was happy that was all that mattered.

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I may never actually change this set by MJ

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?

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   Elias Grimstone

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The worry that they were being obvious was unending and quite heedless of the facts, which were that a little too much avoidance of eye-contact in favour of intensely studying the furniture was not, however it felt, damning evidence of anything going on between them.

Besides, he had been master of falsely placid expressions and casually tempering his eye contact for almost as long as he’d known Baxter, and just because now there were two of them being fractionally odd in each other’s company didn’t mean they were necessarily being obvious. Besides: Baxter had always seemed oblivious.

“I’m sure,” Ari said warmly, at Bax’s account of how different his household felt now, with a family in it. He felt similarly, and that was with just the one child, never mind three. He lowered his voice slightly before adding wryly, more teasingly, “And I don’t doubt there’ll be more.” He was certain Bax cared for the others equally, but with a loving young wife in the house, he’d eventually wind up with a child of his own.

Speaking of, er, fatherhood. “It’s definitely a - change,” Ari admitted, a smile echoing all Bax’s sentiments in turn. Of course, raising a little one was not the biggest difference to his life these days - he’d watched an abundance of siblings grow up, and helped, and had always felt quite comfortable with the theory - but not feeling so terribly alone was something altogether new.

He glanced sidelong at Ben, his expression changing from carefully neutral to somewhere between amused-and-exasperated (in other words, his Ben look). “Elliott’s an angel,” he said reprovingly, and then shared a look with Bax, which felt decidedly safer. “And Ben, you can babysit when we’ve tried everyone else in Bartonburg.”

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If there was something out of the ordinary between his friends, Baxter was, as usual, oblivious to anything amiss. Though he was an observant person, there was nothing truly out of character going on, aside from the fact that Ben seemed to be shopping for new decor in Ari's home. Perhaps it was time his friend settled down and found a little feminine touch to shake things up. Bax however, had always loathed when those questions were directed his way (mostly from his sister) and so chose to remain mum on that opinion.

He did not miss Ari's comment about not having more and again, being the unassuming person that he was, decided it was none of his business on that matter either. Instead he nodded along with the subsequent sentiment, knowing what a change it was indeed. He couldn't help the snort that followed at both Ben's offer to babysit and Ari's retort about being the last choice.

"No offense mate, but I think I'd be allowed before you, no matter if the babe has your name in the middle." Bax raised his glass in salute to the idea however. It would be highly amusing to see.

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I may never actually change this set by MJ

The fact that both his friends were taking the mick out of him for wanting to babysit was well and truly unsurprising. That still didn't keep him from slapping a hand over his heart and draping the other over his forehead in a feverish fashion. "Lads!" He exclaimed. "I am offended by your presumptions! What did I do to deserve such consternation?"

Though he was half-joking, he would argue that he would be a good fit for protection especially given his profession. It might have been the fact that he was in such good spirits with Ari, or that he was simply in a good mood; either way, it seemed to spur him on to try and actually convince them he would be a good babysitter. "C'mon, guys," he urged, straightening up in his chair, a new invigorated light in his eyes.

"You know I'd be a great babysitter, I'm already Elliot's favorite uncle - sorry mate -" he added to Baxter with a half-joking, half-smug grin towards him. "aaannnddd I'm an auror, so I'll be able to defend him from anything nefarious." At the last part, he made a sort of karate chop motion with his hands to emphasize the word.

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“‘Course,” Ari added, easily agreeing with Bax’s assessment. “Bax has practice. Bax is a safe choice,” he declared, as if running as hospital was somehow inherently more sensible or noteworthy than being a successful auror. Unfortunately for Ben, it was less about the career requirements and more a question of personality.

Ben kept campaigning though, and rather valiantly at that, enough so that Ari couldn’t keep a daft grin off his face. “There’s an old lady a few doors along we could probably hire to babysit Ben, you know,” Ari said loudly to Bax, still failing at keeping a straight face. “Her memory’s a little gone, but I think she could still handle him.” He nodded innocently over at Ben mid karate-chop motion, not entirely joking about the fact that a grown man could often be a great deal more trouble’s worth than a baby. 

He probably ought to stop teasing Ben, though; he was grateful, too grateful, that Ben seemed to like Elliott at all, seemed to bear no resentment to the rest of Ari’s life as it had worked out. He did still feel guilty, though Elliott wasn’t truly his son and Dionisia hardly his wife, that at least ostensibly he had them, and Ben did not.

And if Bax had settled down properly now, and Ari in pretence, then the expectation would only fall on Ben the more. He’d be a hypocrite, wouldn’t he, to say the mere idea of it filled him with a hollow jealousy? Ari knew that, and still he felt the sinking feeling in his gut that if Ben wanted children, or a proper partner, or a fulfilling family life - people in his house every day, people to entertain and enlighten and care for and defend and love - that he was going to have to give Ari up to have all that he deserved.

Best not think about it, then, until the day came. For now Ari was happy enough to be here.

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   Baxter Keene, Benedict Sterling

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Bax could only shrug. He did have more experience now. Hell he'd delivered Jane and now he was living with them all and he'd done his fair share of minding the children. Rarely solo, but he could handle. He wasn't to terrible at it either.

"That may be true mate, but have you every actually changed a nappy? I have. Not even all of my years experience at the hospital have prepared me for that job." He joked. It really hadn't been all that bad... Fortunately he didn't have to do that too often either, it had been an emergency, the one and only time. "It would be a case of who's watching whom." He followed up with a chuckle. Poor Ben, always the butt of jokes.

Draining the rest of the glass in hand, Bax set it on the table beside him and leaned back in his seat, crossing one foot over the opposite knee. "I suspect this talk of marriage and nappies has scared you off the idea now, has it?" Baxter was not one to assume his mates were going to get married, he had been in a relationship with his job for the latter half of his life until recently himself, so he had no room to judge. Plus Ben had been through quite a bit over the last few years, he wasn't so sure it was time for him to settle down just yet.

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I may never actually change this set by MJ

Ben was too caught up in his theatrics to notice Ari's aside comment, though had he heard, he might have protested further. In reality, he figured he might have gotten on well with the old lady provided she cooked excellent cookies. (If not, Ben knew he had a recipe from his cook lying around somewhere.) He was certainly about to protest his capability of child-rearing, however, the mention of nappies seemed to suddenly render his argument nonexistent.

Instead, seeing as both his glass and Baxter's were (about to be) empty, Ben picked up the crystal pitcher to pour some more into both glasses. Unfortunately, the question of marriage caught him off guard – why should it have, they'd been on that conversation path for a while – and he found himself fumbling with the pitcher, resulting in him splashing alcohol all over his person.

Don't look at Ari don't look at Ari don'tlookatAri

"Erm..." For an auror skilled in lie detection and misdirection, he was doing a piss poor job of keeping it together. "You could say that, really." He said, still holding the crystal pitcher in his grasp. He laughed. "Plus, I don't think marriage would like me very much!"

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   Elias Grimstone

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The world seemed to slow down when Bax broached the subject - casually, unknowingly, blamelessly - that had been lurking at the fringes of the conversation. Ari should have steeled himself enough to be prepared for this eventuality, ready to neutralise any reaction; after all, he had done it for years on end amongst his friends, hadn’t he? If either of them had the excuse of being unprepared for this, it was undoubtedly Ben.

The uncomfortable twist of his gut was one thing, but every instinct in him was willing Ari to glance at Ben, to read every detail of his reaction. They hadn’t talked about this, not in so many words. Ari knew how Ben felt, but - well, it was complicated. Too complicated to figure out how he ought to respond. Casual nonchalance? laughter? some more good-natured ribbing? (there was no way he would manage that, not about this); in the end all he did was freeze, awkwardly straightened-up in his chair, determined not to say the wrong thing, more determined not to look at Ben.

Only... he heard the slosh of liquid and found his gaze snapping to Ben before he could help himself, and once he was looking at Ben he was caught there, feeling horribly obvious but not quite so obvious as that. If he were trying to be normal, he might have forced a laugh. If they were alone, he would have leapt up by now to help clean up the spill. If he could just think of something to say to answer I don’t think marriage would like me very much, he would, but Ari’s throat had gone dry.

Not that there was much fixing that now, with the contents of the pitcher dripping down Ben’s front. Ari forced himself to snap out of it, forced himself to think. Ben getting married is the last thing I want. True. I want him to be happy. Equally true. He’s wrong. Ben would like marriage and I know marriage would like him.

“I think,” he said at last, weakly teasing - but teasing, at least, “whoever he married would have to be rather patient.” Being in Benedict Sterling’s life was not a pursuit for the faint of heart.

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While Baxter had been anticipating Ben's answer, he hadn't been expecting to catch his mate so off guard that he spilled his drink. Reacting faster than either of his companions, Bax took the decanter from Ben's hands and whipped his handkerchief from his pocket and passed it over. Cleaning it up via magic was probably easier, but no matter.

"Patience. Agreed." Bax chuckled, looking at Ari as he said it with an exaggerated raise of his eyebrows. If any of them were not going to fully settle down, Baxter had fully expected it to be Ben. Between the nature of his work and some of his life event so far, Baxter was far from judging his friend if the traditional marriage monologue was not for him. He did expect it from Ari, not quite in the way it had happened, but still he was happy that Ari seemed content anyway.

"I think you should do whatever works for you, mate." It had taken Bax far too long to settle down himself. Work had always come first, and then he'd messed up things with Miriam so badly and things with Odira had been a slow process. It had all worked out in the end. Things would work out for Ben too, eventually.

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I may never actually change this set by MJ

...whatever works for you mate.

Ben smiled gratefully at Baxter, though it was hard not to let his gaze drift to Ari. This was not a comfortable topic for either of them, and Ben had a feeling this might come up at some point during their nights together. He swallowed before mopping himself up with the proffered kerchief. "Lots of patience that I'm starting to think no one in the entirety of Great Britain has at the moment!" That wasn't true. Ari would certainly have experience if it weren't for one teeny tiny detail — well, a few really.

He wished sorely for the topic to move off of him and onto something more pleasant, but he couldn't get his brain working fast enough. So instead he flopped back down in his seat, his eyes moving from his two friends.

Really, it was natural that the conversation drifted towards him, seeing as he was the only one of their friends who hadn't made much progress in the end. "I think what I'm doing right now works for me just fine." He said with a smile towards both of them. "Plus, that gives me ample time to become a better babysitter, eh?"

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Ari made every effort to exchange that eyebrow-raised look with Bax, as if there was nothing more to this than amusement. He kept his gaze averted as Ben mopped himself up with the handkerchief, trying not to let himself sink too deep into the possibilities of Ben and marriage.

Not something that needed confronting here and now, fortunately. Best fold those fears away for another day; he was well aware that the remarkableness of Ben’s bachelor state was not going to go away with time. At least Ben wasn’t being hounded by the pages of Witch Weekly yet. And at least Bax wasn’t one to add to the pressure. Do whatever works for you - yes, unwitting or not, that was about the best thing he could have said. 

“Alright,” Ari said, rolling his eyes against his smile (the relief at the underlying meaning in Ben’s remark was too great to hide; and bringing it back to the babysitting issue had brought the topic back to safety); “I think we could drink to that.”

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wrap?

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