Benji oneshot

TW // Anxiety, panic attacks

Kenji stared over the treetops, wind brushing his hair out of his face. 

It was the first night on Isla Nublar, and he'd already gotten in trouble. He'd dragged that kid-Darius, the little Dino nerd-into it, too.

Nobody had gotten hurt. Roxie and Dave had saved them just in time. But Kenji and Darius had nearly been kicked off the island. He'd almost been sent home to the lonely, empty mansion. The lonely mansion with a bowling alley, personal ice cream machine, and his own bedroom, but without any people.

No matter how much Kenji hated to admit it, even to himself, he was glad to have the others with him. They were annoying, sure, and a bit nerdy. At least it wasn't quiet.

Kenji really, really hated the quiet.

That made it an odd choice for him to sit on the roof by himself at near-midnight, but it wasn't any better in the room. Everyone else was asleep. Out on the roof, Kenji could pretend he was alone by choice, instead of the standard reason.

The fire pit flickered, dragging Kenji's eyes away from the horizon, down to the sparks. One landed near his foot and fizzled out.

Sighing, Kenji slumped back in his seat.

Even the fire didn't want to be near him.

"Kenji?"

With a shriek, Kenji jumped to his feet, arms flailing. His heart dropped into his shoes.

Someone stood by the stairs, wrapped in a cocoon of blanket. It took a second for Kenji's brain to engage, and for him to realize that there were only two people that short at camp, and that Ben would be the only one who would drag a blanket with him.

Kenji dropped back into his seat, hand pressed to his chest, and said, "Ben, bruh. You nearly gave me a heart-attack."

The cocoon crept closer, and Ben's pale face was lit up by the fire. He was completely enveloped by his dumb blanket except for the eyes, nose, and mouth. How, how was he able to fit like that? They had the same blanket, and Kenji's couldn't even reach his shoulders and ankles at the same time.

"Are... are you aware it's nearly midnight? We were all supposed to be in bed hours ago," Ben stammered.

Everything with him was a stammer.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about me. I can handle being in a bit more trouble," Kenji said, "it's practically my middle name."

Ben sniffed, and carefully crept around the bench to sit, saying, "I would have thought your middle name would be something like Smith, or...or Jacob."

"Smith? Do I look like a Smith to you, brah?" Kenji asked, eyes wide.

Instead of an answer, he got a small smile.

Kenji's shoulders dropped, and he chuckled. Rubbing his finger across his nose, he asked, "what are you doing out here, anyway?"

"Looking for you. Last time you left your bunk for a considerable amount of time when you weren't supposed to, you were nearly a dinosaurs midnight-snack. If you were going to sneak out again, I... wanted to try and stop you." 

"That was like three hours ago."

"Which was the last time, unless I'm missing something quite large."

Making a face, Kenji looked away. His eyes caught on a blinking light in the distance. A red light.

The same sort of light as the one from the pen he'd nearly died in.

His chest tightened, and he had to sit up. Breathing starting to pick up, he stood up and stared blankly into the distance. 

"Kenji?" Ben's voice was quiet.