Terrible Fates (BEN Drowned story)

Chapter 20

[Lol I forgot if I updated last week even though I did. I've been oddly forgetful lately and I wonder if there's a problem.

This will be the only update this week. Hope you all enjoy!]

Stay Creepy, My Friends!~

Chapter 20

Ben's POV

Jeff slams a back kick against my shoulder and I stifle a soft grunt. There doesn't seem to be enough wind today to bring that cool relief over my sweat dampened skin. Jeff's resilience and eagerness to fight coupled with my distracted mind don't make for a very good sparring session. I try to hide this as best as I can, but Jeff isn't fooled and eventually asks me, "What's with you today? You're not even trying to land a hit on me."

"Rough wake-up," I lied, rotating my arm to massage my shoulder.

"You don't need sleep," he remarked.

"It takes beauty sleep to get a face this gorgeous," I boasted.

"Shut up and fight me for real already," he muttered.

Jeff lunges for me again and I sidestep out of his way. I try grabbing him into a headlock but he knows how I fight now after months of sparring with me. Counterattacking my headlock, he slips his arms in between his head and my arms, then shoves them away. In the blink of an eye, he grabs onto my right wrist, hooks his foot against the back of my ankle to mess up my stance, then lifts me onto his back. I'm wide eyed for a second until they close shut upon the impact of my back hitting the ground when he flips me over his body. My head rattles for a few moments and my vision wavers. Jeff's figure is dark as the late-morning sun shines behind him. He looms over me and I can sense the bored expression on his face. 

"That barely took five seconds," he stated.

"Hey, that means you're getting quick," I said.

"No, it means you suck today," he deadpanned.

"I mean, is today any different than others?" I mumbled. "Besides, you said no teleporting this time."

"You're so distracted you probably wouldn't even remember to teleport." Jeff sighed and crouched down to take a seat on the ground. Plucking up grass blades, he asked, "What's up with you...?"

I was a bit taken aback by his question. He usually doesn't ask me how I'm doing nowadays. Sitting up, I answered him, "Nothing. I just have a lot on my mind."

"Like what?"

I pause for a moment to think about a response that won't upset him in any way. With a shrug, I say, "More Corrupted roaming about. Tedious bastards."

"Mmmm," Jeff acknowledges. He's still tearing up grass blades and I can't tell if it's because he's bored or upset somehow (because my sparring sucked?).

Although there have been more Corrupted that have spawned from the disaster in Cincinnati, Ao takes care of them. She's been out a lot more now that Jack is away. Though I'll still have to exterminate some, Corrupted are actually the farthest concern from my mind. No, it isn't monsters or work that I'm distracted over.

Sally had me sing along to a medley of her favorite songs last night before she "went to bed" (she doesn't need to sleep either but she's already grown so used to it). I spent a good twenty-five minutes on the floor of Sally's nauseatingly pink room, trying to sing how she wanted me to (she's so damn picky, it's insane. Ao's musician-influence doesn't  help either). After that was all over, I had returned to my room, Sally's songs crammed into my head. It'd been a challenge to keep myself from murmuring a lyric, and in the end I embraced the annoying music in my head.