Anti-Azmuth Club

Starcast, the new big tech company. It's the only company on earth that is combining human and alien technology. It's goal is to advance human technology, while keeping it simple enough to remain accessible to humans. The company has rapidly gained success with the products it has made in the past, but now they had finished their first main project. ‘Falcon’, the Earth's first, fully functional flying car. The company's CEO, Vincent Exeter, would be hosting a showcase to finally let the public get their first look at the product. Their first glance at the future.

Ben had received an invitation to this showcase. After all, he's arguably the reason that this was even possible. This would be Ben's first time at an event like this. He'd be walking the red carpet with all the other celebrity guests, so the hero would have to look his best. Or at least, that's what his mum said. Ben wanted to go in his every day clothes, and he would have, but Sandra bought him a rather expensive looking suit and tie. It was a black suit that had a lime green tie to go with it. He couldn't not wear it, especially since his mum had put so much thought (and money) into the ensemble. That, and Sandra had forced him to wear it wether he likes it or not. He had to admit, it wasn't awful. The bright tie matched his eyes and complimented the darker shades of the suit very well, and the outfit fit Ben's frame surprisingly well. The only downside was how uncomfortable the suit was. It made Ben feel itchy and restricted. Even just bending his arms caused the undershirt to pinch painfully at the insides of his elbows, and he couldn't lift his arms fully without pulling the shirt out from his trousers and shifting the suit jacket into an awkward-looking position. Still, Sandra made Ben wear it regardless of his protests, and her and Karl spent at least 20 minutes taking photos while gushing about how smart their son looks.

Now, Ben was sat at a table on his own at the showcase. He had walked the red carpet into the event, having to stop for a moment while security carried away the few fans who got a bit too ballsy and tried to run up to the hero. Most people would thing that saving the world, saving other worlds, saving the galaxy, and saving the universe would be far scarier than an event like this. But, as someone who had done all of the above, this event was the scariest thing Ben had ever faced. Even scarier than his mother when he got a bad report card that one time. He felt so out of place, and had no idea what to do with himself. He noticed that nobody seemed to care that much though, many of the other celebrity guests just having fun and enjoying themselves without judgement or being judged. This observation allowed Ben to relax, and he eventually decided on going to mingle with some of the other guests.

Just before he could leave his seat, Vincent Exeter seemed to suddenly appear next to him. Ben knew that wasn't the case, and that he simply wasn't paying attention, but it still made him jump a little nonetheless. Next to the CEO stood a Galvanic Mechamorph, and slightly obscured by her was a boy who seemed to be about Ben's age, so maybe 16 or 17, but he couldn't quite tell.

"Ah! Ben 10! It's lovely of you to be here." The man spoke with a warm enthusiasm, kindness shining through the smile that tugged at the skin on his face and accentuated the small creases that he had gained with age. The Mechamorph spoke up in a feminine voice, also seeming rather excited that the hero had shown up,

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Tennyson." She was sweet and sincere as she brought her hands to her chest while she spoke. That's when Ben noticed the ring around her fingers a sturdy golden band with intricate engravings that he was too far away to make out, and a glittering gemstone carefully and lovingly embedded into the ring. Ben didn't know his rocks well enough to figure out what it was. He noticed that Vincent had a band of his own around his ring finger, also with engravings that were far too detailed to properly see from this distance.

Ben felt his anxieties from earlier return as the realisation set in that he was talking to the Vincent Exeter, the CEO of Starcast, and presumably his wife. Although he wasn't sure if the boy behind them was their son. Ben wasn't even sure if it was possible for a Galvanic Mechamorph to reproduce with another being. He just assumed that if they wanted to make more mechamorphs they just ‘blorped’ one out of their own body. Or something like that. Ben realised that he had been unresponsive for a few seconds now, which isn't a long time but it is definitely noticeable.

"The pleasure is all mine. And please, call me Ben." Nobody seemed to care about the slightly awkward pause, which Ben decided to take as a good sign. Mr. Exeter spoke up again,

"Well then, Ben, this is your first time at an event like this, right?" He didn't wait for a response before continuing, now gently nudging the boy behind him forwards "It's my son's first time at an event like this, too. I thought it would be nice for you to keep eachother company."

Ben nodded and hummed an affirmative, and the CEO's son sat down.

"Now, my wife, Nexus, and I best head back down. The showcase starts soon and we need to make sure that everything is perfect." And with that, Vincent and Nexus left the two boys alone.

Now that Ben could properly see the boy next to him, he took a moment to take in his pretty features. He had to admit, the Exeter boy was rather attractive.

"You good there? You've been staring for a while." A beautiful voice snapped Ben out of his thoughts. He sounded so sweet and warm, voice flowing like honey from his pretty lips.

"Uh, yeah! I'm fine! I just- uh, zoned out, a little... I guess..." Ben cringed at himself. This insanely pretty guy he literally only just met caught him staring, and now he was stumbling about his words like a hot mess. The boy beside him giggled slightly (and Ben couldn't tell wether that was a good thing or a bad thing) before he introduced himself.

"And those were my parents. Well- the Mechamorph is my step- mum. My actual mum was a human, but she left years ago." He spoke nonchalantly about a subject that would be upsetting to most people, indicating that he wasn't too sad about it, but Ben couldn't keep the ‘I'm sorry to hear that’ from leaving his lips.

"Don't be. She wasn't a very nice woman, anyway. She left not long after I came out. She said that she ‘wasn't going to live in the same house as a fucking homo’. She tried kicking me out at first, but my dad wasn't having it. He told her she could either put up with it and accept me or she could leave. They got a divorce not long after, and I've never heard from her since."

Ben wasn't too sure how he should react to that, so he gave a nod and a slight ‘ah’ before the two fell into a slightly uncomfortable silence. The other boy spoke up again to change the subject,

"I'm really only here to support my parents. These kind of events aren't really my thing. I've been so nervous this whole time!"

Ben nodded and hummed in understanding and agreement,

"I know, right! I feel the same way. I may be a universally famous super hero, but that doesn't mean I enjoy it. The- uh- the famous part, I mean. The hero part is actually pretty cool."

The two continued conversing, occasionally being joined by some of the other celebrities who had been invited to the showcase, until the lights began to dim and the stage lit up, indicating that the showcase was about to begin. The boys diverted their attention to the stage, where Vincent Exeter stood front and centre, eager to show off the flying car that he and his engineers had invented.

"Welcome, ladies, gentlemen, and anyone who doesn't fit into either of those!"

Ben found himself not paying attention to the showcase at all, instead he spent this time to continue to look at the son of the man he should be paying attention to. But how could he help himself, when the dim lighting only made the boy sat next to him look impossibly more perfect? The way his gaze was fixed onto the stage made Ben think of those eyes fixed on him, looking up at him as he- shit. Ben caught himself before his mind went too crazy, but that didn't stop him from occasionally flicking back to that image, and it definitely didn't stop others similar to it from popping up. Ben kept trying to push those thoughts away. He'd just met the guy, for fucks sake! But alas, Ben was but a teen with little experience when it came to navigating his way through these kinds of situations. He couldn't help but get incredibly flustered at every thought of the boy next to him, relieved that the dim lighting would hide his reddening face should the other boy decide to turn his head just 70° to the right.

Gradually, the other boy became bored with the showcase too, turning his attention to Ben in hopes of starting a quiet conversation, or maybe even to go outside where they wouldn't disturb anyone if they were to be a bit louder. Thankfully he didn't notice the shade of deep crimson plastered onto Ben's face, or he at least pretended not to. Either way, Ben was thankful for that.

"You're staring again. Or did you just ‘zone out’?" There was a certain playfulness to the boy's tone as he spoke. Unlike the last time he pointed out Ben's gaze, the hero had a much more forward response,

"Well, it's not my fault you're the most interesting thing in the room." The boy giggled at Ben's attempt at flirting. Ben wanted to fire himself out into the freezing vacuum of space the second the words left his mouth.

"Do you really think I'm more interesting than a flying car?" There was still the remnants of sweet laughter lacing his voice, but the question was sincere, as if he didn't believe it.

"Well, yeah. I can't speak for anyone else, but they'd be stupid to think otherwise." Ben began to ramble a bit about how interesting and cute and funny and sweet he thought the other boy was, but despite having no idea what he was actually saying, everything he said was 100% true. Every last word. And the Exeter boy found it adorable.

"I know we've only just met, but I'd really like to get to know you more." Ben only realised what he'd said after he heard the words out loud. And the first thing he noticed was the suffocating silence from the boy next to him. Ben had basically just admitted that he had a crush on someone he'd known for less than three hours, to said crush's face. He was going to think that Ben was some creepy weirdo and never talk to him again. That pause, that silence, only added to Ben's anxieties,

"I mean, only if you want to. We did only meet like two-"