RENT: Coffee and Conversation
Apr. 16th, 2007 07:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
find_rightbrainTitle: Coffee and Conversation
Characters/Pairing: Benny and April, a little Roger/April, mention of the other loftmates
Word Count: 788
Rating: PG
Summary: Going out for food and conversation at one in the morning... actually doesn't involve all that much eating, or talking.
Notes: Written on request for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
starletfallen, for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
fanfic100 prompt #59. Purgatory-verse.
Disclaimer: I don't own Rent, Benny, or April.
"Benny. Hey... Benny!"
It didn't quite register at first that it wasn't one of his jackass roommates trying to wake him up. It was a roommate, of course, but the voice was too... well, girly to be Roger, Mark or Tom, and not nearly annoying enough to be Maureen. Because he didn't quite realize that while half awake, when he rolled over, he flung his arm out in an attempt to hit whoever thought one AM was a good time to chat. He felt the person sitting on the edge of his bed recoil, then heard a soft, startled laugh.
"You almost hit me in the face, asshole!"
Benny opened his eyes to find April sitting there, leaning toward him and grinning. The "asshole" comment just didn't hold any sting with her smiling at him like that. "That's what you get for waking me up at this time."
"Well, there's no need to get violent." She was much too awake. And fully dressed, including - as he could see, because she had her feet on his bed - shoes. Something about that struck him as suspicious.
"What do you want?"
"I was bored. Wanted to talk to someone." She smacked his leg lightly. "Get dressed."
He rolled out of bed, but raised an eyebrow at her. "We can't talk here?"
"Well, I didn't want to wake anyone up. Also, I'm hungry."
"And?"
"And we don't have any food here."
"There's cereal in the..." He trailed off at the flat look she gave him and sighed, going to his dresser to dig out clothes. "Point taken."
"Actually," she said, still perched on his bed, "on second thought, you don't have to get dressed. You look good without a shirt."
Benny eyed her for a moment, wondering if he should ask whether she was high. He decided he didn't want to know, and turned back to his dresser. "I'm not sure whether I should be flattered, disturbed because you're like my sister, or glad you didn't say that in front of Roger."
"You can do all three."
"Really?"
"You're a multitalented person."
*
After wandering for about half an hour - in Alphabet City, at nearly two in the morning (not the brightest idea, but Benny had learned not to argue with April) - they found a 24-hour diner that satisfied April's requirements of "shady, but not gross". April got pancakes that Benny paid for, topped with strawberry syrup. Benny, feeling he'd need it, got coffee, black.
Despite having said she was hungry, April didn't seem to be eating much, just poking her food around on her plate. Benny watched her in silence, listening to sirens screaming somewhere a few blocks away. Despite saying that she wanted to talk, she wasn't really doing that either.
"'Ril?" he asked gently.
"Yeah?" She cut off a tiny piece of pancake with her fork and popped it in her mouth.
"Are you okay?"
"Peachy," she answered around a mouthful of pancake. "Just thinking. About... stuff."
"Stuff."
"Yeah," she said, and got quiet again. Benny took another drink of coffee, with the half-formed notion that the caffeine would wake him up and make him better able to deal with this. It didn't work all that well.
The two of them sat there in silence for several minutes more, April picking at her food, Benny sipping the coffee and wondering when the caffeine would kick in, and a bored-looking waitress eyeing them both with no particular sign of interest. When April finally spoke, her voice was so quiet Benny initially thought he'd imagined it. "Mark's scared."
"What?"
"For me. And Roger too, but, you know, mostly me. That protective brother thing. He keeps telling me how much he worries about me..." She stabbed a pathetic-looking strawberry with her fork, perhaps too violently, and frowned at it for a moment before eating it.
"Are you?"
"Am I what?" she asked with a frown.
"Scared."
She looked down, shook her head. Chin-length brown hair fell forward to cover her eyes. "No. I mean, me and Roger, we're careful. It's just fun. What's there to be scared of?"
Benny could have - should have - told her that he agreed with Mark, that there was plenty to be scared of no matter how careful they were. He could have mentioned that it used to be just pills - as if it could ever be just anything - and now she always wore long sleeves to cover her track marks. He could have said that the fact she wasn't scared was what scared him most of all.
He didn't. He just looked down into his coffee and took a breath. "Well, that's... good."
April nodded, the tiniest bob of her head. He still couldn't see her eyes.
Characters/Pairing: Benny and April, a little Roger/April, mention of the other loftmates
Word Count: 788
Rating: PG
Summary: Going out for food and conversation at one in the morning... actually doesn't involve all that much eating, or talking.
Notes: Written on request for
starletfallen, for fanfic100 prompt #59. Purgatory-verse.Disclaimer: I don't own Rent, Benny, or April.
"Benny. Hey... Benny!"
It didn't quite register at first that it wasn't one of his jackass roommates trying to wake him up. It was a roommate, of course, but the voice was too... well, girly to be Roger, Mark or Tom, and not nearly annoying enough to be Maureen. Because he didn't quite realize that while half awake, when he rolled over, he flung his arm out in an attempt to hit whoever thought one AM was a good time to chat. He felt the person sitting on the edge of his bed recoil, then heard a soft, startled laugh.
"You almost hit me in the face, asshole!"
Benny opened his eyes to find April sitting there, leaning toward him and grinning. The "asshole" comment just didn't hold any sting with her smiling at him like that. "That's what you get for waking me up at this time."
"Well, there's no need to get violent." She was much too awake. And fully dressed, including - as he could see, because she had her feet on his bed - shoes. Something about that struck him as suspicious.
"What do you want?"
"I was bored. Wanted to talk to someone." She smacked his leg lightly. "Get dressed."
He rolled out of bed, but raised an eyebrow at her. "We can't talk here?"
"Well, I didn't want to wake anyone up. Also, I'm hungry."
"And?"
"And we don't have any food here."
"There's cereal in the..." He trailed off at the flat look she gave him and sighed, going to his dresser to dig out clothes. "Point taken."
"Actually," she said, still perched on his bed, "on second thought, you don't have to get dressed. You look good without a shirt."
Benny eyed her for a moment, wondering if he should ask whether she was high. He decided he didn't want to know, and turned back to his dresser. "I'm not sure whether I should be flattered, disturbed because you're like my sister, or glad you didn't say that in front of Roger."
"You can do all three."
"Really?"
"You're a multitalented person."
After wandering for about half an hour - in Alphabet City, at nearly two in the morning (not the brightest idea, but Benny had learned not to argue with April) - they found a 24-hour diner that satisfied April's requirements of "shady, but not gross". April got pancakes that Benny paid for, topped with strawberry syrup. Benny, feeling he'd need it, got coffee, black.
Despite having said she was hungry, April didn't seem to be eating much, just poking her food around on her plate. Benny watched her in silence, listening to sirens screaming somewhere a few blocks away. Despite saying that she wanted to talk, she wasn't really doing that either.
"'Ril?" he asked gently.
"Yeah?" She cut off a tiny piece of pancake with her fork and popped it in her mouth.
"Are you okay?"
"Peachy," she answered around a mouthful of pancake. "Just thinking. About... stuff."
"Stuff."
"Yeah," she said, and got quiet again. Benny took another drink of coffee, with the half-formed notion that the caffeine would wake him up and make him better able to deal with this. It didn't work all that well.
The two of them sat there in silence for several minutes more, April picking at her food, Benny sipping the coffee and wondering when the caffeine would kick in, and a bored-looking waitress eyeing them both with no particular sign of interest. When April finally spoke, her voice was so quiet Benny initially thought he'd imagined it. "Mark's scared."
"What?"
"For me. And Roger too, but, you know, mostly me. That protective brother thing. He keeps telling me how much he worries about me..." She stabbed a pathetic-looking strawberry with her fork, perhaps too violently, and frowned at it for a moment before eating it.
"Are you?"
"Am I what?" she asked with a frown.
"Scared."
She looked down, shook her head. Chin-length brown hair fell forward to cover her eyes. "No. I mean, me and Roger, we're careful. It's just fun. What's there to be scared of?"
Benny could have - should have - told her that he agreed with Mark, that there was plenty to be scared of no matter how careful they were. He could have mentioned that it used to be just pills - as if it could ever be just anything - and now she always wore long sleeves to cover her track marks. He could have said that the fact she wasn't scared was what scared him most of all.
He didn't. He just looked down into his coffee and took a breath. "Well, that's... good."
April nodded, the tiniest bob of her head. He still couldn't see her eyes.