#mimiartstuff

“ so, this is like aaa. a shittier version of the screenshot button? „

The bitter-yet-kind air of spring nips at Benrey’s nose, making the stout man snort more obnoxiously than he otherwise would in such a pollen-riddled season. Surprisingly, being a computer virus hadn’t actually come with the advantage of being immune to actual real-world viruses (that’s what he calls this itching, anyways, no matter how much Gordon insists that no, it is not a virus, Benrey is just allergic, which is like. So much lamer.), but that’s the least of his problems right about now as he blinks sluggishly at the strange device in his palms, turning and twisting it like he was investigating a new item in a Resident Evil game, looking for clues.

The human looks amused by his antics, anyways, judging by the ugly snort he lets out followed by the smile stretching across freckled cheeks which does not make Benrey’s heart palpitate weirdly as if he’s on the brink of a heart attack. 

“ It’s a camera, Benrey,  „ Gordon carefully, patiently explains, green eyes kind despite the kid currently tugging on his pants demanding that they go to the park, dad, pleaasee!!, “ Like the- you literally had a camera in Xen, how can you not recognize it? ,,

Benrey sniffles once in reply, stubby fingers finally properly gripping the gadget before he look up at Gordon, sensing that he’s supposed to verbally respond to that question. “ uhhhh. yours is. shittier. ,, He deadpans as if that’s supposed to explain anything, fingernails digging into the sides of the camera like there’s supposed to be a hinge and the camera just doesn’t know it yet. “ there’s no- there’s no film slot thing. how are you supposed to take pictures without film, idiot? stupid useless device. ,,

Gordon snorts again, like there’s some great inside joke that Benrey had been oh so cruelly left out of, before the man bends up to scoop the fussy child up in his arms, groaning at the way his bones creak like awkward hinges that hadn’t been greased in a long time. Can one grease their bones, anyways? Is that, like, an automatic function? Benrey’s body surely doesn’t do that, judging by the constant pains in his spine. Then again, Gordon does often comment that he sits like a fucked up shrimp, so-

Finger snap in front of his dazed eyes and Benrey is quick to catch on, blinking once, twice, before his other senses catch up and he tunes back into Gordon’s monologue with a startled look. 

“ Have you- were you even listening to what I was saying? ,, Gordon doesn’t expect a reply to that, Benrey’s learnt that’s merely a rhetorical question by now- of course Benrey isn’t paying attention, he almost never is, “ I was telling you about how these are digital cameras. Don’t need film if you just have an SD card to - how do you not know about digital cameras, even? They’ve been around forever, man, that’s like- you know about gaming PCs but not about digital cameras? What even- ,,

Just like how Gordon had previously broken Benrey out of his trance, the shorter repays the kindness by flicking Gordon’s forehead just harshly enough to break him out of his rambling. At first, he quiets up, but he’s quick to continue as if nothing happened, putting one hand on his hip whilst his other, prosthetic one, is busy holding up his child who has by now begun to play with Gordon’s hair out of boredom.

“ It’s just- I’m not asking for much, man. Just one nice picture with me and Joshie, yeah? Then we can continue on our walk. ,, Gordon would be a fool to believe in Benrey having an attention span longer than a few seconds, and Benrey is already considering him a fool for thinking that he can do anything more complex than press the popcorn button on their microwave. Still, the short man shrugs and waves Gordon off, a sign that, whilst begrudgingly so, Benrey’s willing to entertain his antics.

The smile that Gordon flashes back is nearly as blinding as that of a camera’s flash, and Benrey feels like he should cover his eyes lest he go blind, yet he surprisingly doesn’t mind the thought of losing his vision due to the man’s happy grin. He does, however, mind the instant nausea effect that he gets right after that thought, world tilted just a little off its axis as he watches Gordon bound over to the spot he had picked out for the picture whilst Benrey was probably spaced out. Benrey, being the oh so diligent security guard that he still believes he is, follows shortly thereafter. Just to make sure Gordon doesn’t cause a scene, of course.

They’re dressed more fashionably than either of them are used to, really- Gordon has decided to bundle up in the bright orange sweater that he had oh so lovingly been gifted by Dr. Coomer this past Christmas, along with a stereotypical combo of blue dad jeans and sandals with white socks. His green-tinted glasses sit awkwardly on his nose, the lenses crooked and bent from probably sitting on them by accident far too many times, and his prosthetic glistens in the bright sun of the afternoon, a vivid black and orange metal that matches the design of the HEV suit almost uncannily so. Pfft, fanboy.

Benrey, on the other hand, had tried something other than the usual black hoodie and gray sweatpants, the recent dressing up games that he had been playing giving him a more refined fashion taste than before. Not like he had been programmed with a fashion taste, after all, but Benrey likes to believe he’s improved anyways. Dressed in a white tank top with a black leather jacket he’d stolen from Gordon draped over his shoulders, a pair of khaki-colored jeans that Gordon insisted on getting him no matter Benrey’s protests and whines. He had forgone a hat today, surprisingly, though he’d ended up snatching Gordon’s anyways, a bright orange beanie that matched the scientist’s sweater, coming from none other than Bubby himself.

Joshua’s outfit had actually been picked out by the kid himself, this time, deciding on a pair of cream knee-length shorts and a matching-colored bucket hat, a graphic t-shirt currently hidden by the tightly zipped up bomber jacket around his body. God, Benrey felt as if just yesterday he had been staring at a pruny baby swaddled in blankets, only to now feel his eyes soften impossibly so as he stares at the chestnut curls that bounce with the motion of Joshua’s head as he turns towards the short man, offering him a similarly blinding smile that shows off the gap in his teeth proudly so.

Snapped out of his reverie, Benrey shakes his head as if trying to get rid of a dizzy spell, focusing back on the gadget at hand as he brings it up to his face. It really is a technological marvel to him- he’s so used to static, low quality props that felt like air in his hands, yet now he can brush his fingers against the material, can feel all the ridges of the plastic casing on his fingertip, can drag his nail on the scratched up silver accents, can see the image reflected actually change as he moves the camera around, trying to get a proper angle.

He’s not exactly a photographer, per se, but it’s not like he can’t see which angles are flattering and which are very much now. He fidgets with the settings for a bit, tongue poking out as he flicks through all the filters available only to settle for the default anyways. Best not to fuck up and have Gordon chide him for it later, though he suspects the man has been going softer on the arguing lately. He tends to look at Benrey with a far more tender look, an indecipherable emotion swirling within those pupils that makes Benrey’s once-digital self feel all like scrambled code and ciphers on the inside.

Finally, he finds the perfect angle, the light reflecting off of the models just so, bringing out all the details Benrey had been striving for. At first, he fumbles with every button for a moment, unaware of which one actually takes the photo, before he promptly startles at the sound of the shutter going off, camera unceremoniously falling onto the dewy grass. Grumbling as he hears the echo of two laughters basking in his misery and shame, the short man reaches down to grab the camera, only to wince as a resounding crack comes from the small of his back, bringing forth even more laughter at his expense.

“ boo, laughing at my pain. how dare you. punishment for you both, eternal torture . ,, Benrey hisses as he finally manages to grapple the now wet camera back in his hands, using the corner of his tank top to messily wipe away the dew before pointing it the same way it had been before, huffing and puffing. The pouting doesn’t last for long, however, as Benrey’s jaw slackens at the sight reflected in the feed of his camera-

Gordon and Joshua are both leaning their heads into one another’s as they laugh, both their faces scrunched up with what must be a chest-aching amount of laughter. Like this, Gordon’s wrinkles become all the more apparent, yet all they do is make him look all the more breathless, crow’s feet tracing the arc in which his eyes are squeezed shut whilst his smile dimples in his cheeks, giving his expression just another pop that has Benrey’s breath catching in his throat. And Joshua’s smiling wildly too, the missing canine on full display as his cheeks are blotchy and red from laughter, small torso heaving with the force of his childish giggles-

Click.

Benrey remains staring there dumbfounded long after the shutter of the camera goes off, long after the pair’s laughter die down only to be replaced with concerned glances shared between father and son as they stare at the man who stands there utterly slack-jawed. There’s a blush crawling on Benrey’s face, the redness tracing a path all the way down his neck and to his chest, and Gordon lets out another ugly snort at the thought of Benrey looking as if he’d been sunburnt, the sound finally enough to once again snap the shorter out of whatever stupor he had been under.

“ bwuh- uh– ,, He flounders like a fish out of sea, glancing between the device, then the tall man, then the device again, as if there’s a puzzle slotting together right before his very eyes.

 Instinctively, not knowing what else he is meant to do, Benrey then begins waving his hand around with the camera still clutched tightly as if he was rushing the development of a polaroid, the sudden movement pulling a startled laugh out of Gordon. Eventually, after enough staring from both ends, the curly haired man merely shakes his head and kneels down to allow Joshua to practically bolt out of his arms, quick to stand back up and place his hands on his waist as he looks at the child with a happy grin before once again focusing his attention on his silent friend, his pace lazy and unhurried as he makes his way over towards the frozen figure.

“ Try not to swallow a fly, dude, ,, Gordon teases as he pats Benrey’s back roughly, said man gasping as if he’d actually choked on an insect right then and there, “ What’s up with you? Was the picture really that bad? Cmon, let me see. ,,

Wordlessly, Benrey snaps his jaw shut and passes the device silently to the taller man, Gordon’s mouth letting out an instinctual ‘thanks’ as he pulls it from Benrey’s grasp and moves to look through the gallery. Now it’s Gordon’s turn to gasp as he looks down at the screen with wide eyes, almost unbelieving of the candid photo Benrey had took- it looked near professional, really, save for the little bit of motion blur, but to Gordon’s eyes it was perfect.

“ Oh my God, dude, this is- this is awesome! ,, Gordon laughs excitedly, bouncing on his feet as he clutches the camera even tighter, “ I’m so printing this out- thanks a bunch, Benrey, you’re the fucking best! ,,

Still reeling from the events that had just unfolded, Benrey barely has the time to let out a startled ‘whuh-’ before his head is wretched by an arm wrapping around his neck, quick to hear the shutter going off as he notices the camera is now pointed towards themselves. Stumbling on his feet once Gordon lets him go, Benrey blinks as if having actually been dazed by a nonexistent flash, the shorter man having to clutch tightly onto Gordon’s forearm so as to not collapse then and there. Gordon lets him, of course, far too focused on the camera in hand to really pay any attention to the way in which he instinctively offers up his limb for the other to hold onto.

“ Gonna hang this one up, too. ,, That voice calls out again, this time less affectionate and more smug as he turns the camera around, showing Benrey the picture that Gordon had managed to sneak. It’s a pretty crappy picture, all things considered- a selfie of them that had definitely been taken in a hurry, yet Gordon’s crooked smile and Benrey’s shocked, flustered expression remain unblurred in the midst of it all, almost as if the camera is personally mocking him for existing. It’s… Cute, almost disgustingly so, like a photo you’d see in an old married couple’s album as they reminisce about their youthful love.