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[muckspout]

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[altusimperius]

The dream has ended, and Benedict's eyes open.

He's in bed. That tracks, that's where he belongs.

He's also being spooned, which, after a moment of picking through the haze, he realizes does Not track. Shifting around, he cranes his neck to see behind him, at the beard tickling the back of his neck, at--

"UGH!"

In his haste to scramble away, he falls on the floor.

[muckspout]

Edgard drowsily feels the sweet-smelling warmth move away from him and opens his eyes in time to see Benedict falling out of his bed. He blinks again. Benedict in his bed?

Then as he fully awakens, he feels a sinking sensation as every thing that happened in the dream plays through his mind.

He sits up and leans forward hands over his face. "Oh shit!" He yells.

[altusimperius]

Rubbing his elbow where he hit it on the stone floor, Benedict wrinkles his nose at Edgard, because now he's the asshole for yelling.

This is all too much. He can't even accuse Edgard of crawling into his own bed, which would be far more understandable-- so he just sits here and sulks and thinks, trying to parse what happened before he woke up.

[muckspout]

Edgard grips his face and then releases it. He then scoots over to the side of the bed to which Benedict is closest. He grips his forehead and runs his hands through his hair. Then he turns his focus toward the person on the floor.

"Benedict?" It's a soft worried tone.

[altusimperius]

"What?" Bene hisses from the floor, clutching his own hair in relief. Maker, it's still here.

"What happened? What was that?"

[muckspout]

Edgard has a glimmer of hope. Maybe this was just his nightmare and nobody but him remembers. But, he has to ask.

"Did you...also have a dream?"

If Benedict remembers, Edgard will be in deep shit.

[altusimperius]

Still gripping his hair, Benedict looks up at Edgard in dawning horror.

Surely they didn't have the same one.

...surely.

[muckspout]

Edgard's eyes widen as he remembers something. Lightning fast, he rolls to the other side of the bed to check for his bow.

"Please!" He whispers quietly.

[altusimperius]

Slowly rising to his feet, Benedict ignores whatever panic Edgard is having. He checks his hand-- shard still there, yes, that's predictable. He checks his eye, and is pleasantly surprised to find that it opens all the way.

"You sold me out," he says at last, quiet with disbelief, turning towards Edgard. He might be angry, or just confused-- it wasn't real, was it?

[muckspout]

Edgard is holding his bow. (Not properly, he's holding it clutched to his chest like a baby.) He hears Benedict's words and closes his eyes. He takes a deep breath. He opens them again.

"We had the same dream then." He slumps back to the bed not taking his eyes off Benedict. He shakes his head and says faintly, more higher pitched than usual. "I did."

[altusimperius]

Slowly returning to his senses, Benedict raises up to sit on his own bed, but is still reeling far too much from this knowledge to start properly putting himself together for the morning.

"Would-..." He begins, finds it useless, and starts again, "...is that.... should I be worried?"

[muckspout]

Edgard looks down at his bow and then gently sets it aside. He runs his hands through his hair. He shuts his eyes and when he opens them again, they're pained.

Edgard's not sure how to respond. He wants to tell him not to be worried, but Edgard knows he has messed things up in the past. But, he would never do it on purpose. But, his mind his reeling because he did and he did it to Benedict who is right in front of him. He says the only thing he can say.

"I'm so sorry." He whispers.

[altusimperius]

The apology chills Benedict to the bone, and he isn't completely sure why: because he's frightened of Edgard? Because the man clearly meant it so deeply, after everything? Sorting through this is going to take time, time that he doesn't have at the moment-- he's got to get to training, and then work.

With a final uncertain glance at Edgard, Benedict pulls his training clothes on and goes out, leaving him to his thoughts.

[muckspout]

Everything in Edgard sinks, but he isn't sure what he expected. Once again, he's messed up. He will not be forgiven and shouldn't be.

After Benedict leaves, he gives his own bed a kick and curses when he stubs his toe.

[altusimperius]

It's around dinnertime that Benedict returns to the dormitory with the intention of changing clothes so he can go out into the city with Colin. After a long day of being fully exhausted, his first instinct is, instead, to heave himself onto his bed and sigh deeply at the feeling of being prone at last.

Maybe he'll ask Colin to reschedule. Maybe dinner isn't that important.

[muckspout]

Edgard walks in shortly after and sees Benedict lying on the bed. He takes a breath and stays near the door. He starts to back out and then wills himself forward. He puts his things down near his own bed.

"Are you alright?" He says with his back to Benedict. It's a stupid question.

[altusimperius]

At the sound of Edgard's voice, Benedict grunts lightly and turns his head, looking at him from under his hair with half his face mashed into the pillow. Then he nods, tired rather than angry.

"Everyone's all fucked today," he admits, the corner of his mouth visible in its smirk between two strands of shinier-than-usual black hair.

[muckspout]

Edgard mmms in response.

"Well, we all woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Or--someone else's as the case may be."

He lays back onto his own bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Whole thing was fucked."

[altusimperius]

Let's not talk about that. Or acknowledge it ever.

Propping himself up on his elbows, Bene looks over at Edgard.

"There was truth to some of it," he murmurs pensively, "like, there were things in it that... that I think are real. Or might be. But not all of them."

[muckspout]

Edgard frowns a little, but remains staring at the ceiling.

"How do you mean?"

He fiddles a little with a corner of a blanket.

[altusimperius]

"Well," Bene begins, twisting his mouth to one side as he considers how to phrase it.
"Um, I went to my parents', after... our whole thing. And there was a room there, where I was, and I didn't think I'd ever seen it before." He combs his hair back with his fingers, settling his head down with his chin on his arm.

"But I think I actually like. Did. ...I think it's real. And that's."

He chews his lower lip for a moment.

"...bad."

[muckspout]

Edgard turns to Benedict trying to parse through his words.

"Your parents?" He says incredulously. "You were captured by the Venatori to be taken to your parents?"

Edgard shakes his head and runs his hand through his hair. He then asks measuredly, "What sort of bad room?"

[altusimperius]

Bene's look back at him is almost incredulous-- is it that difficult to believe? But he supposes not everyone knows the situation, which almost makes the question more awkward.

"My parents are aligned with the Venatori," he says quietly, propping his head up on one hand, "they... think, or at least thought, I was here spying for them."
An unclear emotion flickers across his face: likely something he's doing his damnedest to suppress. He drops his gaze, weighed by the shame of the situation.

"If I left Riftwatch I would have to answer to them, and to the other Alti involved with Corypheus. For failing as a double agent. ...I'm not a good liar."

[muckspout]

Edgard's mouth falls open a bit. "I did not know that. Well, about your parents. I know you're not a good liar." He tips his head to him.

His voice drops a little. "So that's what happened? They punished you for being a bad spy?"

[altusimperius]

A deep breath in yields a sigh through his nose, and Benedict nods.

"In the dream, Mother just..." He trails off immediately, finding the memory of it, and the authenticity of the emotions surrounding it, too overwhelming to continue.
"...I was a prisoner," he amends, his gaze flickering up to Edgard's and down again.

"I went home a couple years back, to try and resolve something personal. I wasn't allowed to leave then, either, until I agreed to work against Riftwatch."