MAGE ; benny weir [1]

twelve

"Sarah! What are you doing here?"
It was the night of Mr. Morgan's clientele dinner when Ethan entered his own kitchen to find Sarah frantically dispersing pots and pans all over the counters. "What's with the apron?"
"Your mom called me in a panic... and I need the money. Totally rocking the sweater vest, by the way," Sarah explained, giggling at Ethan's embarrassed blush.

Before Ethan could make sure his parents couldn't see them, Benny and Ellie burst through the back door wielding potion-filled water guns and NERF bullets. They truly looked like they were ready for war.
"We are locked and loaded with anti-potion," Benny panted.

Ellie took one look at Sarah and said, "Why are you dressed like a jukebox operator?"
"Can I get a decaf triple mocha latte, no foam?" Benny asked Sarah, adding to Ellie's comment.
They both flinched as Sarah held up a frying pan to their heads, ready to swing. 

"Ethan! I need you to come meet our guests!" Mrs. Morgan told her son, popping into the kitchen. "Sarah, could you bring out the hors d'oeuvres now, please?"

As his mom dragged him into the dining room, Ethan startled himself at the sight of Della and her family joined at the dinner table. Ethan definitely didn't think that his dad's client would be Della's father.

"Uh- hi, Della," Ethan stuttered, awkwardly smiling at her. "We've met... kinda."

Eavesdropping on Ethan's introduction, Benny looked to Ellie to see if she was listening as well. "Della's in there?!" he gasped.
Benny immediately ran to the dining room before Ellie could catch him, appearing between Ethan and Mrs. Morgan.

"Hey, Della. Did the dog come back?"
Della instantly began to sob in response, weeping into her hands at Ethan's dinner table. Ellie stopped him from saying anything else, grabbing his wrist and bringing him back to the kitchen with Sarah.

"What is your problem?" she whispered to him
"I don't have a problem... wait... ohhhh."
Benny's confused expression transformed into a smirk, trying to read Ellie's frustration. "I see. You're jealous!"

Ellie could feel her cheeks begin to burn as he looked at her with that stupid smirk on his face. Benny didn't notice though, as he was too busy being proud of himself.

"W-Why would I be jealous?" Ellie scoffed.

"AHHH! I FELT SOMETHING ON MY LEG!"
Benny's pride would have to wait a bit longer as he, Ellie, and Sarah heard Della squeal from the dining room. Before they could question what happened to Della, Rory came through the back door of the kitchen with a smile on his face.

"What's that face for?" Benny asked, bracing himself for Rory's answer.
"Well, I went on the roof to look for you guys and then there was this psycho squirrel that I wanted as a snack. Then, I kinda dropped the music down the chimney."

"WHAT?!"
"Rory!" Ethan yelled, rushing back into the kitchen from the dining room. "How did you drop the music down the chimney? You're holding the flute."

"Why chap my primo lips when I can just record the song on a loop?" Rory questioned. "I sat the radio down on the roof!"
"Rory, that's an issue because you sat it right on top of the dining room!"
"Oh... shucks."

While Benny and Ellie began to scold Rory, Ethan ran to the living room fireplace and stuck his hand in the chimney, trying to reach for the music speaker. Once he finally grabbed the speaker and turned off the music, he realized it was a little too late.
Ethan returned to the kitchen to find Benny, Ellie, and Sarah fighting off a ridiculous amount of raccoons and mice. The vermin bulged out their evil red eyes as they tried to attack the teenagers.

"It's like Snow White and her little forest friends! The evil undead!" Benny cried, continuing the shoot the animals one by one with his anti-potion water gun.

Once most of the animals had been destroyed, Ethan spotted a rabbit clawed onto Benny's back. He quickly lifted up a frying pan and swatted the bunny off of him, spraying it to its demise. "Ow! What was that for?" he asked.

"Saving your life," he told him, handing him the frying pan. The whole time Ethan and his friends were fighting off the demonic creatures, Ethan was requested to get parmesan for his mom. Opening up the spice cabinet, Ethan jumped back at the surprise of Puffles staring him down.

The demon dog began to bite his arm until Ellie and Sarah pinned it against the cabinets. "Benny, shoot it!" they exclaimed, causing Benny to turn the dog to ashes with its collar landing in a bowl of sauce.

Before the teens could stop her, Mrs. Morgan came running into the kitchen needing the bowl of sauce that Puffles' dog collar was in. Ethan quickly grabbed the bowl and began to play tug of war until eventually the two spilled the entire bowl onto Della as she walked in.
"Puffles?" she cried, staring at the collar.

"Yeah, that's him...kinda," Benny said. "I can explain! Well, not now, but I'll think of something!"

——————

While she walked home from school with Ethan and Benny, Ellie started to think of reasons why Benny would be so randomly obsessed with Della all of a sudden. I mean, she knew that he was definitely a Casanova-wannabe, but he never went that far for a girl that he never talked to or talked about.

"So, when did you start liking Della? Or was it just a weird Benny/Lothario thing?" Benny's eyes widened, trying to think of a good explanation. He tried to look to Ethan for help, but Ethan gave him nothing.

"Guess it was a just a Benny thing," he said, shuffling his hands in his pockets. Ellie could tell that the subject kind of made him awkward, so she dropped it. Della actually began to walk in the direct that they were, until she saw Benny and immediately turned the other way. Ellie patted him on the back.

"You'll get the girl you want next time, B." Benny looked at the sidewalk and mumbled, "Hopefully."