Class Partners (closed with shooshoo)

[cashewmanz]

Will had the jitters, to say the least. He was glad Ben was willing to see him again so soon. Under normal circumstances he felt that may have been a bit pushy. He wondered if Ben took it personally that Will hadn't returned his kiss--not that he was given much of an opportunity, but there was no use defending himself. When Ben opened the door, he couldn't help but gasp.

"What happened to you?" Will said, not even pausing to say hello. He put a hand up to Ben's face and felt at the bruise forming on his face.

[shooshoo]

Ben covered Will's hand with his own. "I'm okay, I promise. It was just an errant elbow when I was breaking up a fight. I've had worse."

Ben stepped back, motioning Will inside. "Come in. Don't mind the cat. She hates everyone." He put a hand low on Will's back, guiding him inside.

[cashewmanz]

"It's not okay! You are in no condition to be putting yourself in that risk! What if that elbow had hit your stomach?" Will put a protective hand onto Ben's belly as he felt the cat brush past his leg. Looking down to it, it reared up and sprinted away, making him feel a bit sad.

[shooshoo]

Ben looked a little surprised at Will's outburst but at the same time it was nice to hear someone else be upset that he had gotten hurt. Ben looked down at his bare feet, shrugging a little.

"I know. I'm not happy that it happened and I really am careful. 95% of the time I am up in my office watching cameras. Even when I am on the floor, I don't have to actually step in. This is honestly an exception," Ben squeezed Will's hand where it still rested on his belly. "I won't let anyone hurt her. You have to believe me."

[cashewmanz]

"I know you wouldn't let it happen...but there are some things you can't control," Will said as he looked up into Ben's eyes. "I know how badly you wanted this. So I think I know how you'd feel if anything ever happened--mistake or not." Will tried to reassure the larger man by rubbing his arm, but felt that he wasn't coming across well. "Sorry...I just...want you to be okay, is all. Let's have some lunch, okay?"

[shooshoo]

"Thank you," Ben said seriously. He kept his gaze on Will's. "For caring. About me. About us. I ... it means a lot."

[cashewmanz]

"You'd do the same for me, I think," Will smiled. He decided to break off the moment and move into to the table where Ben had lunch laid out. "What have we got today? Salad it looks like?"

[shooshoo]

"To start," Ben said, squeezing Will's shoulder as he passed by him. "I made chicken stew and bread as well. I know better than to just serve salad to two pregnant guys."

Ben served up a bowl of stew, sitting it in front of Will. He grabbed a can of cat food and set out a plate for the cat, putting a few chunks of chicken from his own bowl on top of it to tempt her.

"I hope you like it. I really don't cook much these days since it is just me."

[cashewmanz]

Will sat down and took a few bites of the salad. He made some comical "hmms" to tease Ben a little bit as he chewed. "It's delicious!" he said after swallowing. "I tend not to cook much, either. Once a week and then live off of that until I need to cook again. Though these days it's becoming much more frequent," he joked as he looked down at his rounded stomach.

[shooshoo]

Ben laughed at that, grinning at Will happily. "That is the plus at working at the restaurant. I get lots of free food."

He took a bite of the stew, nodding a little. "It'll work. So how are you feeling? Did you have a good weekend so far?"

[cashewmanz]

"Yeah! It was really good, actually," Will said between bites. "I didn't really do much yesterday, though that's a huge relief these days--it's like I don't have time for anything anymore...and then Friday you were over. So I guess that's all I've done. But that's good to me," he complimented. "What about you? Anything besides that black eye?"

[shooshoo]

"The normal stuff. Laundry, grocery shopping." Ben winced a little as the baby kicked him hard in the side. "I put together the crib before I went into work yesterday."

Ben rubbed at his belly soothingly, trying to calm the baby down.

[cashewmanz]

Will put a hand on Ben's stomach as well to help him soothe the baby now thrashing about inside. "A crib already? That sounds early to be worrying about to me..." In truth he was embarrassed that he hadn't thought to do that himself yet.

[shooshoo]

Ben exhaled softly as the baby calmed down under Will's hand. The circles he was making were relaxing and Ben settled back into his chair a little easier. It felt so nice to have someone else touch him like this.

"I wanted to put it together while I still could," Ben said, smiling gratefully at Will. "You know how it is. It seems like everyday it gets harder to do the normal stuff much less put together furniture."

[cashewmanz]

"Do I ever," Will sighed. "Just this morning it took me fifteen minutes just to put on my socks! And it's only going to get worse from here..." Will placed a hand in the small of his back and thrust his belly outwards to pretend like it was growing. "At this rate I'll be as big as a house!"

[shooshoo]

"I've been lying on my back to do it," Ben admitted before sticking out a bare foot. "Or just going barefoot as much as possible."

Ben finished his soup, pushing the bowl away a bit before leaning back in the chair. "We'll have to arrange to go to each other's house in the morning to put on our socks."

[cashewmanz]

"Sound advice," Will giggled as he worked at his salad a bit more. The silence felt oddly comfortable between them as they ate. Will liked that.

"I think that could be worked out. We'll have to sync our schedules up...but you're welcome to come help me anytime you like," Will smiled.

[shooshoo]

"I will," Ben said, smiling back at him warmly. He rested his arms on his bump, yawning a little. "Sorry. Someone wasn't interested in sleeping in this morning and I can assure you it wasn't me."

The cat wound her way around Ben's feet and he reached down to pet her. She sniffed at his fingers briefly before darting away to her food bowl. Ben shrugged a little. That was pretty affectionate for her.

[cashewmanz]

"Oh you don't have to apologize to me," Will sympathized. "This one doesn't like to go to bed on time...I'm sure I've mentioned it before," he rubbed at his belly, which was currently still.

"I'm starting to think he may be nocturnal!" Will laughed.

[shooshoo]

Ben laughed as well before he got to his feet and cleared their plates. He left them by the sink before holding a hand out to Will to help him up.

"Should we get started? I put some pillows and blankets on the ground in the living room. I figured we should try some of the positions that are suggested along with the breathing."