The Second Prodigal

[Ben "Camo Hog" White]

((Open to all; Ben White of course. This one will start in the Cosway right after Ben finds out he has been gone for 4 years--after a brief intro by me, that is. But I am not trying to override what is happening in the Momo thread--that one takes precedence. If this goes nowhere, it goes nowhere. ))

[Ben "Camo Hog" White]

The ragged man in grey paused in the street. He shook the accumulated rain from coat as he did so. He sneezed. He really needed a waterproof jacket if he was going to brave weather like this.

The balding, badly scarred man took in the sight before him. The hotel--it still stood. The only home he knew anymore. The world was Malton. The army no longer wanted him--at least not for anything good. His brother had been dealt with. The only place that mattered anymore was this hotel, and only if the people he called friend were still there.

Ben White winced as he settled the backpack on his back. He hoisted the duffel bag back on to his shoulder, and plodded towards the museum. God willing, there would still be an entrance through this museum. And God willing, there would be friends on the other side.

[Ben "Camo Hog" White]

"Good God..." Ben muttered. He sat against the wall of the hallway, all the strength gone from his already weak body. Four years? He had been gone for four years?

Ben tried to remember. But no matter how he added it up, he could only account for three months since they had last met. Admittedly his time with Jack had been traumatic...but there was no way he had lost years with his brother. That meant that at some point he had spent years dead. He shuddered.

"Well, I guess I'm like a bad penny, eh? Can't get rid of me?" Ben smiled tentatively, looking around at the crew who had greeted him. He had missed them all. But that was a long time...would they still accept him? Were they even the same people?

((Okay I am going to leave it at that until others hop in--I don't want to start directly involving characters that don't want to be in this thread. ))

[dray]

For Fa, having everyone converge at once on the hotel had become an overload of sorts; she had been living for two, going on three years with only Agate and Kay and Casey for company. She wasn't used to having so many familiar faces around, nor out of the woodworks all at once, nor with all of them, apparently, revived after such a long bout of being dead.

Now that Ben had shown up, after Werdnari and Drake had returned, Fa had had to take a bit of a respite. She had left Kay to explain to Ben what had happened, and as certain as she was sure that the redhead would loathe the responsibility, Fa at least knew that she would deal with it quickly to get the worst out of the way all at once.

She had wandered back into the common room that had been repurposed from the second floor lobby, coming around the corner from the basement stairwell, but she'd heard their voices drifting down from over the balcony that looked down on the main floor. She paused just outside the ring of boxes and the all-but-massacred couch that had been dragged into a circle, caught by his gaze for a moment before she had to look away. His words were almost painful, trying to put a bright spin on what had to be a dour situation.

"It's good to have you back," she admitted, looking up again, grinning back. She felt bad that he -- and so many others -- had spent so long as dead (or worse). She had given up on all of them, she knew. She couldn't help but kick herself for it.

[Ben "Camo Hog" White]

Fa's words warmed Ben up, and shook some of his nervousness away.

"And a kid?" There was wonder in his voice. He really had thought it impossible for a baby to survive a pregnancy in Malton...yet there was this child! But the real wonder for him was a more common one--his friends had this child, and a whole new life that he knew nothing about, and had no part in. Things had changed so much!

"What's her name? She is very cute. Are you sure she's Agate's?" He smiled again.