Benjy Fenwick

This day was no exception and they were now reaching the end of their walk. A slight rainy drizzle had started to fall on London and Benjy's hair was already starting to curl, and he was about to bend and pat Amadeus' head when a hand landed on his shoulder. He had ignored the first call out thinking that he wasn't the subject of attention, but when a voice calmly boomed beside his ear a sudden fear of being arrested and sent to Azkaban moved Benjy to turn around.

Grayson gleamed as the man offered him a donut, grateful for the gracious stranger’s offer. London was an alright place once you got the hang of it, or if you found the right people to help you out. This guy was not only nice, but his smile was contagious and those were his favorite kind of donuts and so he had no choice but to go back underneath the overhang with his newly found acquaintance. “If you’re offering, I’ll gladly take one.” Grayson nodded and held out his hand cordially. “Grayson Greengrass, my friends call me Gray.”

The sandy blonde looked into the box and his eyes widened and focused on the banana donut. “That’s so cheeky, banana is my favorite kind as well.” Grayson, being a complete and utter gentleman, wasn’t about to take this guy’s donut away from him, and thought of a quick solution. “I’ll split them with you, if that’s alright.” 

Grayson looked up and into the gentleman’s kind eyes, trying to figure out where he had seen the man from. Maybe had they met in a bar or something, Grayson would have offered to pay for his drink or something. But they were stuck in the rain, although not permanently because all they had to do was transfigure umbrellas. He shrugged off the thought and looked down for a moment, and then back up again. “It’s nice to meet such a friendly face in these parts.” 

Benjy shifted a little on the side to let the other man have enough place out of the rain, and the movement brought a sudden puff of rusty vanilla to his nose, probably thanks to the man’s cologne. Benjy chuckled and offered his hand in exchange, noting at the same time a slight accent in Grayson’s voice when he had introduced himself. “Benjy Fenwick, nice to meet you.” He replied and chuckled at Grayson’s facial expression at the sight of the donuts.

“Of course go ahead, that’s a great idea,” Nodding along, Benjy smiled thankfully and even though he wouldn’t have minded at all if Grayson had taken the banana donut, he still appreciated the attention brought in the gesture. He found himself good-naturedly cheery and he was quite glad he had decided to offer his donut to Grayson.

The accentuated eye contact was, for the most part, not as uncomfortable as it would have usually been with a complete stranger, which immediately made Benjy’s brain tickle in a pleasant way. Being around strangers wasn’t one of his favorite activities and Benjy would sometimes find himself struggling more than the average to feel at ease around crowds or too many unknown faces. He lived for the quiet and solitude spent being his screens with Amadeus warming his ankles, not for the chatter and the sparkle of society. Curiously, it also seemed that Grayson was hesitating or maybe not finding the words to say something, and the silence stretching between wasn’t bothering at all. Benjy took a slow bite of his half donut and smiled back, raising two eyebrows at the remark. “Does that mean you’re not originally from London then?” He asked genuinely curious, then finished his donut and placed one palm in the crook of his elbow, mostly in lieu of crossing his arms while his other hand was still occupied by the box. “I’m sorry if it’s indiscreet but I’ve noticed your accent and I don’t think I have ever seen a true Londonian as convivial as you.”

Lily Evans & Benjy Fenwick: A Mood

Marlene smiled at his words, although to be honest, she hadn’t really stopped smiling since they’d started talking. They just got along so easily so fast, she couldn’t help but feel overly excited about this already, even though they hadn’t even gotten started. “Well, it’s not always peaceful. Especially now, a lot of people comment on my posts and they are anything but peaceful, but that’s a lot due to the fact that what I post is intentionally controversial. It just depends on what you decide to post and who you follow. It can be a peaceful space, I think, just not… for me. Not with what I’m doing”, she explained with a shrug. It probably sounded tragic, but it really wasn’t for her. Marlene’s posts were deliberately provocative a lot of times and she knew that many people would find them offensive or have something to criticize either about the post or just about her in general. That was the price of putting herself out there, of basically screaming her opinion at the world. She had never expected for it to be easy, for there to be no backlash - after all, her intention was to get a discussion rolling. And Social Media was just her way of doing it.

As Benjy got out his phone, Marlene watched him somewhat patiently, trying not to sway back and forth on her feet like a little child might do. She really was just about the opposite of patient and even just the few seconds waiting for Benjy to give her a time and date made her fidget a little. As soon as he suggested the next day, her face lit up. She lit him finish speaking out of the politeness that had been drilled into her by her mother for times like this, but all Marlene wanted to do was agree immediately. His hesitation upon mentioning his plans for the first session made her smile and she was already nodding by the time he finished his explanation.

“Tomorrow works out good with me. And honestly, you’ve already won me over with the promise of donuts. I love baked goods too much for my own good”, Marlene explained with a chuckle as she stuffed her right hand into her backpocket. She was becoming too excited, too antsy at the idea of finally starting some semblance of training after she’d been waiting for a few months now and she didn’t want to seem like she couldn’t stay still. Which, to be fair, was exactly the case, but it wasn’t like she had to make it all that obvious. “Well, how about we just meet tomorrow and you know, eat donuts,” her smile widened even more, “and then we can also make a plan for the next sessions?”

This part of social medias was definitely the one that Benjy had the hardest time with. He knew what if felt like to stand in the eye of the storm when it came to medias, press or even celebrity, and to hear Marlene talk about her current experience made it hard for him to focus on the good sides of this lifestyle. She was slowly becoming a public figure, and he couldn’t help but wonder if she had any idea of the consequences that could come with it, or even if she knew how to deal with all this flow of attention in the comments she had mentioned. She seemed to be quite a clever girl, so there was probably no worries to have, but Benjy was invested in his role of mentor and the worry for he safety was already present in his mind. Thus, he hummed along considering his lack of experience on the matter -well at least compared to hers-, and in the end he was mostly curious to read some of the debates that could happen on her accounts.

A chuckle escaped his lips at her obvious excitement over donuts, and Benjy made a quick mental note to visit the muggle bakery at the corner of his flat that he was particularly fond of, which had the particularity to offer one of the widest varieties of pastries he had ever witnessed. “I can’t disagree with you on this one, if I could I would ban all vegetables or dishes from my diet in order to replace them by-” and just as he was about to address one of his favorite desserts, Benjy’s phone started buzzing in the palm of his hand, and a fast look towards his screen confirmed that the call he had been waiting for all day long was finally happening. “I apologize for cutting this meeting short Marlene, but I really need to take this call and I might be stuck on line for a long time,” he announced with a sorry smile and reached out to pat her shoulder, realizing too lately how awkward that might feel for her. 

Admittedly, Benjy felt such at ease around Marlene that the gesture had seemed natural on the moment, yet he still felt the need to clear his throat to gather some composure. “Anyways I’ll send you a text with the details, have a nice evening, it was a pleasure meeting you!” He cheered, waved briskly and quickly picked up  before disappearing out of view.