ben eric scott.

“I always know better, it’s a matter of doing better- everyone knows that Ben-” Sofie hummed and stood qith a quick pop and was at his side. “Please, I feel like this place is a paradise of clogged arteries and diabetes on sticks.” Sofie fell in step, “I can cook now. Dated a guy, a real character-” Sofie’s face fell a moment before she looked back to Ben with a soft smile, “But the dude could cook. A real champ at blue berry pancakes.”

Sofie returned his chuckle with one of her own, her elbows pushing her up right so she could really look at him, “If I didn’t know better I’d say you wanted to fuck me.”

“This is fun and all, but I want to ride something that goes hard and fast.” Sofie groaned, with a roll of her eyes she scanned the crowd for anything to capture her interest, “You know what I mean?”

                        Holing up in an apartment for days on end with town being a hubbub of summer activities was, for lack of a better word, pathetic. Even for Ava Blake–– a recluse creature with an attraction to solitude and an affair with loneliness. It was the self-disparage and the lack of Vitamin D that drove her to pack a beach bag and make her way down to Lake Munroe, set up camp on a towel, and watch shirtless men rally in a particularly intense game of beach volleyball. 

                       Eyes hued of water and silt were glazed with faux interest in the match, head in the clouds, until a bout of loud cheering broke her from her reverie and harnessed her attention to court; one team celebrating as the other sulked in their losses as if a family member had just died, and the urge to role her eyes was crippling. It was then she turned to the group of strangers beside her–– and a slow but sure, enigmatic smile curved her mouth, light jest on the row, “… Was that a touchdown, or a hat-rick? A slam dunk?” The bad joke left her as soft as her features, but it swiftly went ignored; a cringe rattled her bones. She was bombing. Home was looking real good right about now. 

“Hell if I know...” Ben shifted slightly from his spot on the grass, lifting his sunglasses just enough to look over in Ava’s direction. He hadn’t been paying the slightest bit of attention, sport never having been something he cared about. It wasn’t likely to ever change, either, he realised, especially so as time moved on. “Why are you even watching that shit? Read a book or something...” Apparently that was the only option he had to offer up while lying there. But honestly, he hadn’t been paying the slightest bit of attention to what was going on, on the beach.

               “Well thank you. I suppose that could be a small part of the problem— i could stand to have a better outlook on it in general.” Azucena was always appreciative of gaining insight and perspective, of someone sharing a differing opinion or idea. “I try to be, but she certainly doesn’t get her adventurous side from me. Unless it’s one of those things that skip a generation. Are you having a good time?”

“I guess I do,” she said, a light laugh parting from her lips. Years might have passed, but despite the definition of their ‘arrangement’ back in the day, she had always considered him a friend first and foremost — Which was probably why she knew him so well, and vice versa. The two of them were caught in a moment of just watching the silly puppy as it continuously tried to catch June’s moving fingers — It was an adorable sight, and June couldn’t help but laugh. “He’s so cute though, he can get away with anything.” As Ben got up, Simba turned around to see what was going on, and June saw that as her opportunity to retract her hand and get up too. “Sounds good. Put me to work chef, and tell me what to do.”

Ben nodded, an easy smile crossing his features at her response. It felt like an eternity now since they’d first met, somewhere in the middle of that amazing life she’d been leading. It had definitely been better than what he’d been doing. She was getting out there and most of the time, he was holing himself up in his apartment, caught up in a drugs binge, lost to the world. He knew he’d wasting a good portion of his life doing that. “He can, it’s pretty lucky in that respect,” he said with a laugh as he walked over to the BBQ. It had been burning for a while now, lit not long before she arrived, which meant it was probably around the right temperature now. “I’ve no idea, but take a look over everything, tell me what you’re in the mood for...”

“Both definitely works.” he chuckled, taking a look at the stranger. He looked tired of the whole fuss, as if the amount of things that usually happened around you while you were there had exhausted him. It reminded him of himself, slightly, and it instantly made him more at ease around the other man. “I would know. I promised my sister I’d go, just so she’d stop pestering. I lasted a grand total of fifteen minutes.” he scoffed self-deprecatingly. He didn’t mention how five of those fifteen minutes were spent actually deciding where to sit and another extra five to actually leave, cause even a toddler was faster than him these days. “I’m Sebastian, by the way.” he introduced himself.

“Fifteen minutes? That’s all?” Ben’s record was definitely a little better than that, although he was growing tired of it all. How could this go on for a month? Didn’t festivals usually last a weekend? Who had the time or the patience for this shit? “I wish I could say someone dragged me over here, but no, I came of my own freewill... clearly a mistake, you know?” A laugh escaped him and he shook his head. Then, as the other man introduced himself, he glanced over his way, dipping his head slightly in greeting. “Ben,” he answered. 

“ Yes, you got me there, I’m a shallow asshole. “ Ben played right into his narrative that it was too amusing not to exaggerate, though his cackle proved to be disloyal to the stern persona that he had going previously, and broke off into what settled into a more relaxed expression and slightest of smiles. And it was easy to be friendly with Ben, although Jack would not consider them friends who did he ever consider a friend the other was also refreshingly not where he lived. It was a quality highly awarded if living in Kingsgate and shamed if from North End, in Jack’s book that was. “ That’s painfully true, also the company here at least is worthwhile. “

“Eh, I figured...” Ben lifted his shoulders in a casual shrug, a small smirk playing about his features. These days it felt a little like he had no one to behave this way with, everything had become so serious and he was bored of it. He felt nothing like himself anymore. As Jack continued, though, he nodded his head, a grin spreading across his features now. “Right? Isn’t it? I may live over in Kingsgate, but I sure as hell ain’t that classy,” he commented, chuckling. 

The question was enough to bring a smile back to her face, eyes darting down into the depths of her drink even as she answered. “Things are good. The studio is great, living with Sierra is too. I feel at home here. Like I could make things work. And i’m sort of uhm, seeing someone? So that’s been…nice. He’s nice.”

”Oh, you are?” It was pretty easy to ignore everything else she’d said once that subject came up, a smile creeping across his features. Ben laughed very gently, nodding his head, and then questioned, “Do I know him?” He was happy to move on from his own life for a little while and focus on Kaia.

↳ INSTAGRAM: @benjaminscott uploaded a new photo.

ice cream for the festival tour guide @ophelia-ohara. i figure she deserves it. #lanfest2018

               “You think that’s brave? I will take that compliment,” she replied with a friendly smile and a new outlook on her endeavor. Even if it did nothing to take away from the nerves she felt. “My daughter will be here this coming weekend and I wanted to be able to take her on a ride or two. Thought I should attempt to get over my fear first,” Azucena chuckled lightly. “It could be a sad thing that she’s three and braver than I am.”

          “You’re a skepticist,” she said, making the word up herself though the intended meaning of it was probably pretty clear. “You’re an unconvinced and you don’t believe in my amazing science even though it clearly holds water,” she said and held back a laugh, though not very successfully. “Well, maybe I already did the survey thing and now you’ll never know!” She chuckled and looked up at him with amused in her expression. She was being absolutely ridiculous, but at least he seemed cool enough to play along a little bit, even if he challenged her ‘experiment’. “You’ve had four, huh? Well, I guess we’ll move on to the next part of this experiment then. We’ll see what four drinks means to a game of hook-a-duck. You ready?”

At her words, Ben’s brows lifted, and then a laugh escaped him. What was that even supposed to mean? “Sure, I’m a skepticist...” he answered, twirling the pole in his hands once more before focusing all of his attention on the ducks in front of him. He seemed to be spending more festival time than planned doing this, it was pretty ridiculous on the whole —- first with Ophelia and now with a complete stranger (well, not entirely, but he didn’t exactly know her either...). “Alright, let’s do this!” He was completely focused now, or as focused as he could be when he already had four drinks in his system, and lent in a little more to eye up the plastic ducks floating around in the water. Moments later it seemed his hand eye coordination wasn’t quite as good as he would have liked, but he did succeed on the third try.

          It hadn’t been expected, but Ava had found herself at the Summer Festival being held down in Westbrook, and despite not initially being interested, she was surprised with the amount of activities on offer. If it wasn’t the rides, or the stalls peaking your interest, there was always the food and drink — which when all else failed, Ava was always at a bar or grabbing a snack. However, she figured she’d give it a chance first, and instead of darting right for the grub, she found herself passing by a mini coaster which didn’t look terrible. “You been on here yet?” She questioned to the person beside her, wondering whether or not it was worth queuing for, or she should just go back to her original plan of action and dart for the pretzels.

Sebastian was, for a lack of a better word, hiding. He remembered a time when he’d loved the festival, it’s loud noises and flashing lights, filled with excited people looking for some fun, but now the prospect exhausted him. Instead he’d decided to head towards the lake close to Munroe Woods, eager for the peace and tranquility that he hadn’t appreciated before, but surely did now. His dark eyes scanned over the crystalline surface, the sounds of water sloshing against the dock combined with the whistling of the wind through the weeds brought a soft smile to his face. 

The sound of footsteps on the weeds at his side forced him to open his eyes and stare at the newcomer from his sitting place close to the shore, sighing imperceptibly as he saw the intruder came in peace. “Hiding from the big crowds like me, or just taking a break?” he asked, dusting off his conversation skills as best as he could.

“Does both work?” Ben’s gaze lifted at the sound of the other man’s voice and he found himself shrugging his shoulders. He didn’t even know why he was spending so much time at the festival, it wasn’t exactly his scene these days, and yet he found himself inexplicably drawn to the noise and the bright lights. Maybe it was habit, that made the most sense, he’d grown up around it for so many years after all —- he couldn’t help it. “Definitely needed a break away from it all for a while... somewhere quiet. Places like that seem very few and far between at the moment.”

               “Hi, sorry— do you mind if I bother you for a moment?” Azucena shifted toward the person standing closest to her, wanting to catch someone’s attention while they were seemingly not preoccupied and she wouldn’t have been too much of an nuisance. “This is likely going to be such an odd proposition and just know the confidence that appears on the outside, well, it’s a good mask for the embarrassment I feel internally.” A glance was cast towards the ferris wheel and then back to the person before her. “Would you ride the ferris wheel with me? I’m alone and a bit afraid of heights, but I can’t seem to keep my attention off of it since I arrived here earlier.” Azucena then smiled at them. “No harm if no, and no pressure, but I do have the tokens and I’ll give a few as a thank you to go on and enjoy the rest of your time here today.”

Simba was quick to run after Ben when he came out of the house again, looking a lot like he might jump into the pool with his owner, but stopping himself in the last second before he reached the edge. He stood on the tile instead, and when Margot resurfaced after the splash that had washed all the way over her, Simba was barking at the two of them, probably asking them to come up. It made her laugh, but she just shook her head at the dog and then turned to Ben.

“Yes, better —” she laughed and pushed her now wet hair out of her face, trying to keep it from slicking to her skin as she swam closer to Ben. “I’ll get you back for that some day,” she teased with a grin.