"You know, I highly doubt that." Ben replied with a grin, adding, "I'm pretty sure that they'll all be cackling at me, especially when they discover that I'm not good at walking in 'em. If I were to wear them, I'd probably trip and fall within the first, I dun'no, three seconds. Somewhere along those lines. I mean, I'm all for the blurring of gender roles.. I'm just not your guy to do it, at least not today." Then, he chuckled, replying with, "Oh yeah, that would be a total occupational hazard."  

"This does feel pretty invigorating," Ben concluded, unbuttoning a couple buttons on his dress shirt. He wouldn't completely rumple himself him - he'd keep his shirt tucked in, his shoes on and his sleeves cuffed - but, still, he needed some air. "Well, y'know, lucky you. But, I think we'll all have to deal with corporate business at some point in our lives. At some point, we will have to put on some fancy clothes and some fancy shoes, and we can't complain because... That's life. Carpe diem."

"Hey, you're welcome. Any time." Ben replied with a teasing grin, as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "And it's nice to meet you, Pepper. I'm Ben." 

She grinned at the stranger. “The joke? Please, you’d be every single of your woman co-workers’ bad ass hero. Personally, I’m all for gender roles rupture! Unfortunately whatever I wear looks cute on me—it’s an occupational hazard.”

Pepper clapped once he put the tie away. “That wasn’t so hard, was it? Enjoy the freedom! Live the freedom! Be the freedom!” She laughed. “I know what you mean, but fortunately I don’t have to deal with corporate business, at least for now. I’m just a student! I refuse to wear formal attire!”

She rolled her eyes and sent him a look, though her ever-present smile didn’t leave her features. “Thanks. That makes me feel a lot better. I’m Pepper, by the way.”

Geez, when did it get this hot? Not only was it quite humid and stuffy - which was pretty unusual for the DC area, really - but the temperature was steadily creeping up too. He had gone without a jacket today, but still... It wasn't enough. The tie and the starchy white dress were definitely not doing a good job at keeping him cool. Really, they weren't supposed to, but... How soon was casual Friday? The only reason why he was even doing this was because he was meeting up with another guy named Alex Reeves. If it was just any other day, Ben probably would have shown up in casual clothing and dealt with the consequences of that. Knowing his co-workers, he probably wouldn't be alone. 

Walking out of his office - which was honestly the size of a shoebox, though it was better than nothing - he walked up to the receptionist, giving her a small smile. Nancy was honestly one of the only nice people, besides his boss and a handful of interns, who was genuinely sweet. Politics really did make people sour. He was honestly surprised that he had been able to keep his fairly sunny disposition. 

Noticing the man who was sitting in the waiting room, Ben turned his body to face him, offering him a small smile. This has to be that Alex Reeves guy, right? They were supposed to talk about what was going on in the House of Representatives and all that stuff. Really, though, why was this guy coming to him? Shouldn't he be talking to Nadia? She obviously saw herself as being more qualified than him. Still, he had to take this opportunity and see what he could learn from this guy, and hopefully get some insight into what was happening. What was the risk, really? Nothing bad could really happen. Taking the other man's hand, Ben shook it three times, a small smile appearing on his face as he said, "Hey, it's nice to meet you too, Alex. I'm Ben Ackerman."

Friendly Competition || Ben & Alex R.

Alex instinctively wiped the sweat on his brow with the sleeve of his white shirt. Fuck, I just had this dry-cleaned. He never forgot to smile, especially when he was not in his own office. He probably looked ridiculous opening his briefcase for his pack of tissues, but he could not care any less. It was way to hot to be in a suit, and the cab on the way over had minimal air conditioning. Just his luck. He wiped his forehead and neck with the tissue in efforts to wipe the sweat away.

He was to meet a Benjamin Ackerman to get an update on some of the talk or themes that was traveling around in the House of Representatives. Alex threw his tissue away, getting close enough to imitate a slam dunk and hearing a mock crowd cheering in his head. He looked around to make sure nobody had seen and returned to his seat in the waiting area. He noticed the receptionist who was now pointing at him as if she were giving directions to the guy she was talking to. The guy had to be Ackerman. He stood from his place, holding his hand out for a handshake. “Nice to meet you, I’m Alex Reeves.”

"Okay, hm..." Ben trailed off, biting his lip as he tried to think. Would he accept her offer or not? If he wanted to become friends with this girl, he'd have to play her games and use his cards to suit his needs. Sure, he wasn't all too good at playing games, but he had to try, at least. Politics was all about mind games, after all, and if he wanted to climb the ladder, he needed to get better at playing these games. "I'll take it. I'll take the thirty questions, and I'll try to guess your unconventional job."

"Well, don't underestimate me just yet, Anthea," Ben replied jokingly, a sly grin forming on his lips as he crossed his arms over his chest, mulling over what would be his very first question. He only had thirty questions; he had to make sure that every single one counted. At the end of the day, he was probably going to lose the game - Ben was absolutely horrid at guessing games - but, at the very least, he wanted to get as close as he probably could. He needed to make every single question count. "Do you work 'round here in Alexandria or up in DC?" 

café connoisseur — ben + anthea

"Hah, well, if I ever do attempt to walk around in them, I'll be sure to let you know." Ben replied jokingly, a chuckle escaping his lips. "I don't think it will be happening any time soon, though. My co-workers... Well, I'd be the joke of the office for a few weeks, at least, y'know. My boss might even take notice of it!" His co-workers took any  and every opportunity to laugh at him, after all. 

Loosening his tie, he slipped the horrid thing off his head, stuffing it into his pocket as he said, "Well, it's the DC dress code, y'know. It feels like a chokehold, but I think that's part of the point. It's kind of like a metaphor for politics." Then, letting out a chuckle, he nodded his head as he replied with, "Oh, you couldn't see yourself, but it was absolutely adorable." 

"Are you sure?" she asked in a playful tone. "It’d make your butt look great.”

Pepper laughed at his response. “Who are you trying to impress, Mr. Good Looking? At least lose the tie, nobody is going to arrest you for that.” She let out a gasp in feigned offense. “I am not saying I was walking funny, but if I were, it’d have been adorable.”

So, it's Monday and officially my second day of my junior year. I have to leave my house for school in about... Twenty-five minutes, I think? But, I decided that I needed to leave this message for you all~

I've kind of been putting Ben on hold these last couple of days because of, um, muse issues, but I am now going back to him! So, don't worry! I'll be working on his replies all throughout today (because my classes today aren't too hard, woopwoop), and hopefully, they'll all be out by tomorrow or the day after. I'm really sorry for any delays - it's just that I don't have a lot of time to reply in class, y'know? Anyways, I currently owe Anthea, Pepper and Alex on him.  

I may also be thinking about applying for another character, but with school... I don't know, would that be too crazy?

Have a great day or night, e'vrybody!

        - Lyra

Part of Ben didn't know if he was really ready for what most called a 'serious relationship'. He had had one serious relationship in high school, but it didn't end well. In fact, it put him off dating for his entire college career. Lilli was always trying to convince him to get a girlfriend, and his parents wanted him to settle down, but part of Ben just didn't know if he wanted to go down that road again. He just wasn't ready to open up his heart yet, at least not in that way. There was way too much at stake for Ben to get distracted by love and romance and all of the silly things that politicians seemed to have no time for... But, maybe, Lea would prove him wrong. He'd let fate decide that.

"It definitely is. I drink at least three cups of coffee before going to work and who-knows-how-many cups during the day." Ben joked, though his words were completely true. He was such a caffeine junkie that if he didn't get his fix, he just couldn't function properly. Other people chose ecstasy and cocaine, but for Ben, coffee was his drug of choice. "And, well, I'm generally a pretty patient person. Unless you really push my buttons and send me over the edge, I'm pretty calm... And the great thing about politics is that a lot of it is BS. So, as long as you have enough BS to back it up, it's going to be pretty okay." 

Nodding his head, Ben looked over his shoulder and then back at her as he replied with, "Oh, yeah, yeah! I have to run over to my meeting too, y'know, before my co-worker bites my head off and leaves me to die in an alley." At this point, he was going to be ten to fifteen minutes late and Nadia wasn't going to like it. He could already feel his BlackBerry buzzing in his pocket. Knowing Nadia, she was probably leaving him some very colorful messages on voicemail. "But, maybe we could switch numbers so that we can plan to meet up somewhere afterwards?"  

You Write but You Can't Edit || Lea and Ben

Lea felt elated. She had promised herself that this year, she would start doing the serious relationship stuff. In movies they always asked the hot person out to either coffee or a beer, and since it was too early fora beer coffee seemed to work out perfectly. Lea had been striving to make new friend, or possibly more than friends in this new town. Since she knew she wouldn’t be here to long she wasn’t afraid to screw up. She was willing to take risks. This guy, hardly even seemed like a risk, he just seemed…right.

Politics, eh? She thought to herself. That was a sensible business to be in, and legislative assistant sounded fancy. Obviously this gentleman was even more intelligent than Lea anticipated and he had money too. Not that Lea put heavy importance on the money thing, it was just a nice bonus. “Wow that sounds…exhausting,” Lea admitted with a sigh, “I’m afraid I have no patience whatsoever especially when it comes to compromise. “I really admire your tolerance to be able to take on such a necessary but excruciating profession.” 

"Freya was the goddess of love and beauty. There’s some pretty hilarious myths associated with her, maybe I can give you a synopsis later," offered Lea, "Sounds perfect, my meeting runs for about on hour and it’ll probably take me a little while to get there, since as you know, my navigation skills aren’t great. So I’ll see you later."

Okay, yeah... Elektra was an absolute mess. I mean, no offense to Jennifer Garner, because she was a great actress and she was obviously trying to put on a good performance, but... The writing, it was just terrible. Terrible story, terrible dialogue, terrible concept. It was just... Terrible. Yeah, that might be true, but you know what? Marvel's been doing a pretty good job lately. I mean, the Avengers films, they have their little flaws, but... I think they've been doing a really excellent job with putting comic book stories on the silver screen. Marvel should be the benchmark for comic book movies, really. And, yeah, well, some people are better at doing that than others. I'm in the latter category, sadly. 

Yeah but if Daredevil was bad the Elektra was even worse.  I mean, not to fault either of them as actors but what the actual fuck were the writers thinking?  If there is one thing I’ve learned it’s that screenwriters are not the best at adapting the subtle details of comic books to the silver screen.  That’s a shame.  We’ll just have to ignore the plot holes if we wanna enjoy the movie.

"Yeah, you know... I mean, I liked having roommates back in college, but there's something to be said about living alone. It's a lot more peaceful, that's for sure. And, yeah, my food almost never disappears from my fridge, which is always a plus. And, yeah, you know, it's still not okay for them to take your food, but... I mean, it's just common courtesy. Be polite, show some respect and ask before you take someone's food."  

"I have two roommates at the moment. They’re not nearly as bad as my coworkers when it comes to this type of ordeal, but they do take my labeled foods from time to time. I typically don’t mind when they do it. Mostly because when they do, it’s usually something they make. When it’s my co-workers, I just wish someone would, you know - ask?” 

Honestly, this was kind of what he needed before his meeting with Nadia. If he came into that cafe smiling and light-hearted, maybe it would actually go well. They would hopefully not bite each other's heads today... Or, at least, not in public. Plus, if he had a potential meeting with Lea to look forward to, perhaps he just wouldn't even care anymore. 

"Eh, I work in politics. I'm a legislative assistant, which means that I research and help write bills and policies stuff for my home state. A lot of them aren't approved, though, so that can be pretty brutal." Ben replied with a shrug, a chuckle escaping his lips. Sure, he loved his job, but he wouldn't recommend it to anybody who wanted an easy ride at work. It took a lot of time and energy, and honestly... Keeping up with all the stuff going on in DC was absolutely exhausting, at least to him. "Politics, in general, is really brutal. I mean, you're in for the world of your life if you go into politics, because the people you meet... Well, I work with some interesting people."

"Yeah? I don't know anything about Norse mythology, so I'll give you that." Ben joked, a smirk on her face. The only thing he knew about Norse mythology was Thor, and something told him that the Marvel version wasn't completely accurate. Extremely entertaining, yes, but did it actually stick to the truth? That was something. that Ben wasn't quite sure of. Nodding his head, he replied with, "Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm on a way to meet one of my lovely co-workers... But, I can catch you after, maybe?" 

You Write but You Can't Edit || Lea and Ben

Lea was elated to see that he was being so receptive. The two were building off each other’s energy. Together their grins were widening, eyes were brightening, and then both were forgetting about the pain. Or at least that’s what Lea hoped was happening. She told herself to stop, she was growing infatuated. She didn’t want to get to far into it. She often created half the relationship in her head and then was disappointed whenever the other person didn’t follow the fantasy. She wouldn’t let herself do that now. 

She observed him slowly taking in his full appearance. He was tall but not lanky, strong but not buff. He seemed like the type who played sports but only for fun. He dressed well, finding a balance in professional and casual clothing. There was no doubt that his face was up to par when it comes to society’s idealistic standards of beauty. He seemed confident but not cocky. Most of all he seemed mentally and emotionally balanced, which was probably the most attractive thing of all. Lea tucked her hair behind her ear, in a anxious attempt to fix herself up. 

"So what is this brutal job you speak of?" she inquired curiously. 

"Freya’s eh? Another mythology reference, Norse though, so not really my division," she said with a smile. She traced her fingers along the seem of her pant leg, "Sounds lovely, I’m on my way to a meeting, but maybe I can meet you there after? Would that be alright with you?"

Oh, yeah, well... If I was Ben Affleck, I would ask everybody to burn their copies of that movie. I mean, it was bad. Nobody likes that movie. Obviously, Daredevil isn't the coolest superhero, but that movie could have been so much better. He does have a pretty interesting story. And, yeah, if I was them, I would scrap all those writers and get a new team to write this new movie... But do you think they did that? I highly doubt it. It's probably going to have just as many plot holes, to be honest. 

Yeah I think part of my issue is I’ll never be able to unsee Affleck as Daredevil from that flop movie.  The only saving grace about that was Jennifer Garner.  Yeah, that’s why I’ve got no faith left in the writers.  I mean, they did so many things wrong in the last movie I can’t imagine this one being much better.

Yeah, y'know, after Man of Steel... I'm kind of worried about Batman vs Superman too. I mean, no offense to Ben Affleck, but I just can't see him as Batman, and if they got the same writing team that they did for Man of Steel to do this one... Oh, man, they're in serious trouble. I want to keep my hopes up, and I'll probably see it either way, but I really hope they take the things they did wrong in Man of Steel and try to improve upon it. 

Well, I saw the new promo stills for the Batman vs Superman movie and I’ve gotta say I’m not super impressed.  I mean, I love Wonder Woman but if they fuck up my childhood I’m going to have words with each and every one of them.  It won’t be pretty.  I’m sure the actress will do fine.  I just don’t have faith in the writers.

"You see, now that's why I don't really want a roommate, nor do I put food in the work fridge. They'll claim that they didn't know it was yours or they thought it was theirs when both of you know that they're lying. But, y'know, sometimes, people just can't comprehend the simple things, like common courtesy and manners." 

"Do you ever get really frustrated with people who eat food you put your name on? If it has my name on it, it means I want to eat it. It doesn’t mean I’m giving you permission to eat it. If I wanted anyone who wasn’t me to eat the food that my name is on, I would’ve put their name. I don’t get why this is so complicated for my co-workers to understand?”

"Eh, okay, it wasn't that bad... But I expected a lot better, to be honest. Michael Shannon was a ham, Superman killed a guy with his own bare hands, and some of the lines were head-scratchers. It wasn't what I was expecting, that's for sure." Ben replied with a shrug, feeling indifferent about it. Man of Steel was a very hit-or-miss movie - people either loved or hated it. Some people loved how they had put a dark spin on the Superman story, while others hated it. Honestly, Ben was one of the few people who was somewhere in between. "Leonardo was pretty cool too. And, yeah, his ninjitsu... Man, it was cool. A part of me wanted to be a ninja turtle when I was a kid. Eating pizza, fighting crime, and being a ninja - sounded pretty damn cool when I was ten." 

"Exactly. I really am too. Oh, I didn’t get a chance to see Man of Steel. It was that bad?" Lori inquired. "I was too. Who wasn’t? And yes, it was such a good time for TV. I think I loved Leonardo. His, ah, ninjitsu was so rad. I also liked how he wanted to be seen more as an equal than a leader."

If there was one thing that Ben knew about this girl, it was just that she clearly did not like losing. Getting close simply wasn't enough for her. To be honest, Ben was fine with getting close - he had never been the type of guy who easily won things, after all - but she seemed to be a lot more competitive than him. This was the game she had set up, and she had wanted to win. Of course it had to be disappointing for her! Always the sympathetic guy, Ben couldn't really relate to what she was feeling, but he could understand why she was feeling that way.

And, yes, his job did seem pretty boring. In many ways, it was. He sat at a computer, researching things for hours, and spent a lot of time coming up with bills that wouldn't necessarily go into action. All in all, it was pretty frustrating. Still, it was an incredible opportunity for him, and a chance for him to climb the ladder and get himself somewhere better. That was the thing with politics - jobs were always temporary, and they were to be used as stepping stones for the next best thing. 

"Yeah, it might not be, but you can't win at everything." Ben commented with a shrug, bringing his mug to his lips to finish off the last few drops of his drink. Then, he chuckled, nodding his head as he replied with, "Alright, so you've got two jobs? Gee, can I get forty questions, or do I still have to do it in twenty?" Ben wasn't really all too good at mind games - that's why he liked sports, because everything was direct and physical - but, like he did with almost everything that was put in front of him, he was going to try it out. What was the worst that could come out of it? Him losing? It really wasn't such a big deal to him. 

café connoisseur — ben + anthea

"Okay, see, now that's the spirit, Lea!" Ben exclaimed, a wide grin breaking out on his face as the words left his lips. He could see that she was trusting him a little more, like she was opening up to him. Slowly but surely, Ben was turning a rather disastrous experience into an opportunity to make a new friend. He had successfully put a smile on her face, and honestly, he felt pretty proud of himself. This could potentially be the start of something great. 

"Oh, right, Helios. That's an interesting choice for a name." Ben corrected himself, shaking his head as his cheeks reddened in embarrassment. Truth be told, he had never been really into Greek mythology, but he knew a couple of things about it. Pretentious private schools like the ones he had attended loved teaching about Ancient Greece, after all. Crossing his arms over his chest, he nodded his head as he jokingly replied with, "Well, gee, that sounds absolutely brutal job. Heck, it almost sounds as brutal as mine... But not quite." Politics was a pretty brutal world, after all.  

"Yeah, yeah, I know a couple of places. I mean, I've been in town for awhile, y'know? If I didn't know a couple places 'round town, then I'd be pretty disappointed in myself." Ben quipped, a light chuckle following his words as he shook his head. Though he spent a lot of time in DC because of work, he had lived in the area for six years now. To be honest, Alexandria felt more like home than Charleston. "There's, um, Freya's. It's where I'm heading right now, actually. They have really great stuff; top-notch coffee and delicious pastries. We should go there some time. Get some good coffee in your system to perk you up." A small smirk forming on his lips, he nodded his head as he replied with, "Well, I'll leave you to it. You sound like you know what you're doing. And, yeah, of course. Everybody deserves a second chance, right?  We screw up, we make mistakes, but we move on and make things better. That's what life's all about." 

You Write but You Can't Edit || Lea and Ben

"Good, then we can be ungraceful together!"  Lea replied happily. Lea was actually a pretty coordinated person, she could catch glasses if someone were to knock them off the table. She could stir pasta, close a drawer with her foot and talk on the phone all at the the same time. But whenever she was trying to impress someone, especially males, her legs turned to noodles and she usually ended up on the ground somehow. It was like she had an automatic jelly legs jinx put on her whenever she was in a four foot radius of someone attractive and of the opposite gender. 

"Helios," she corrected, "like the greek god of the sun, but that’s not important. It just got put in a few blocks from here. And yes, I am a writing, but I only do that in my spare time. I spend most of my work hours approving peoples drafts or breaking hearts." She thought back on all of the poor aspiring authors that she had to deny or send back to the editing room because their story just wasn’t there yet. It was a hard job, but it made a lot of money and it felt good to be following in her step father’s footsteps. 

"The pleasure is all mine, I’m sure. Fantastic! Coffee it is, do you know any good places? Or any places at all? If you couldn’t tell already, I’m more than a little bit sleep deprived," she admitted feeling like she could be open with this guy, "And as for our story, we’ll let it take its course but I may have to go in and do some rewrites, because knowing me I’ll screw up and then want to go back in time to fix it. Hopefully your up for giving people second chances."