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Drabble: Scenes from an (On-Set) Relationship
Title: Scenes from an (On-Set) Relationship
Rating: R (for language mostly)
Word Count: 4100
Characters: Bennett “Bowie/Benny” Washington, Benjamin “Benny” Monroe, Darlene Cohen, Amanda “Mandy” Bach
Relationships: Bennett Washington/Benjamin Monroe, Bennett Washington & Darlene Cohen, Bennett Washington & Amanda Bach, Bennett Washington & Amanda Bach & Benjamin Monroe
Trigger Warnings: Underage (relationship, implied sexual content, marriage), domestic violence (emotional manipulation, love bombing, gaslighting), spoilers for a fictional episode of Law & Order and multiple spoilers for a fictional television show that sadly only exists in my head.
Summary: Five times Bowie and Benny were awkward on set. Or five glimpses into Bowie and Benny’s relationship on-set.
Playlist: A Death After Life Fan Mix
2005
Benny didn’t understand exactly what filming a pilot meant. Sure, he was seven years old, and that meant he wasn’t a baby, but no one had explained to him what pilot meant. All he knew was that his dad was really excited because the producer was one of his friends. That really didn’t mean much to him, but things were always easier when his parents were happy. It usually meant they forgot he existed, and that was his favorite way to deal with his parents. Still, it would have been nice if someone explained why it was such a big deal.
It wasn’t like it was his first time on a TV set. Hello, he got to play a killer on Law and Order last year. Obviously he knew what he was doing. He just didn’t understand what the difference was between the usual guest star spots he did, and filming a pilot. From what he could tell pilots weren’t a real show, but they could be a real show one day. He just didn’t understand why this wasn’t a real show and why everyone kept putting an emphasis on the fact that it was a pilot, and kept telling him he needed to throw his everything into this role. It was making him really mad, and he hated when he was mad because being mad usually made him cry, which made people think he was a baby, which he obviously wasn’t. Bennett just thought it was annoying.
“Hey, are you okay?”
He glanced up, and found another boy towering over him. No. He wasn’t a boy. He was a teenager. A tall teenager, and he was pretty. Also, he looked really familiar, but Benny wasn’t sure why.
“Yes.” He lied, even though he felt his lip wobbling. “It’s not like I’m lost or anything. I already did make-up and hair… It’s just…” He huffed in annoyance. “Everyone’s treating me like a baby and no one will tell me what’s going on.”
The teenager made a pitying face, and for a moment Benny hated him. Then his face smoothed out, and Benny couldn’t help but to like him again. “Is this your first pilot?” He asked as he squatted down to Benny’s height. Ugh, he hated when people did that. It made him feel like a little kid, and he couldn’t be a little kid – he worked. People who worked weren’t little kids. Still… there was something about this person that made him want to trust him, and he didn’t know why.
Benny bit his lip as he thought about lying. Instead he found himself saying, “Is it that obvious?”
He laughed and shook his head. “Only ‘cause you look like you don’t know what’s going on. I looked like that during my first pilot shoot, too. C’mon.” He bounced to his feet and nodded his head over towards craft services. “No one is paying attention to us. Let’s raid the sweets before the adults notice.”
A grin slid across Benny’s features when he realized that this guy didn’t try touching him. Adults tried to touch him all the time and he hated that. Why did strangers think it was okay to hold his hand just because he was younger than them? “So, uh… what is a pilot? No one has told me. Oh! I’m Benny by the way.”
Suddenly the teen started laughing. “No shit?” He asked him, shaking his head. He held up a hand as if to tell Benny that he wasn’t laughing at him, just laughing. “My name is Benny, too. That’s gotta mean something, right? Us having the same name?” The teen, no, Benny, asked him. “Although if we have a lot of scenes together, that’s gonna get confusing real fast.”
Benny found himself laughing, too. And he liked how he didn’t censor himself. Some people tried to limit their swearing around him, like he hadn’t filmed a movie with Samuel L. Jackson when he was five. “Do you think they did that on purpose?” He asked Benny, almost shyly.
The other Benny shook his head. “Nah, I think it was just a happy accident.” He took a cookie off the table and handed it to Benny. “A pilot is a filmed sales pitch to TV stations. It’s how they show the networks what the show would be like. And then test audiences watch it. If they like it, then a station will pick up the show and we get to film the whole show.”
Instead of saying something, Benny shoved the cookie in his mouth as he thought about what the other Benny said. After he swallowed he found himself muttering out, “Thank you.” And when he got a weird look, he added on: “For explaining what a pilot was.”
It was quiet as they both ate their cookies. It didn’t feel uncomfortable though, which was new for Benny. Usually new people made him feel uncomfortable, but Benny was different. He wasn’t sure what that meant.
2006
It was his first day on set, and everything was starting to hit him. This was his show. He had his own TV show. He wasn’t going to be a guest star. He wasn’t going to just film for a week, and then move onto something else. No, this was his TV show. He wasn’t going to leave after completing an arc, or after filming an episode like he had for the pilot. No! He was eight years old, and was going to be filming thirteen whole episodes because they were a mid-season filler show. He was practically a TV star already.
“Hey, are you lost?” A teenage girl asked him. She didn’t look familiar, and he vaguely remembered that they had recast the person they originally hired to play Alice. They didn’t think she had good chemistry with him, but he didn’t know who they cast. He guessed that was who this was. Unless it was a guest star?
He made a face at her. “No. Are you?” He snapped at her.
She started laughing. “Oh! You must be Benny Junior.” She said, holding out a hand for him to shake. “I’m Mandy. Well, Amanda, but like only my parents call me that. I’m playing your mom. Well, sort of your mom since I think your character is older than mine, even though you’re actually younger than me.”
Benny found himself relaxing slightly, as he shook her hand. She seemed nice, and she wasn’t baby talking him like the first person who played Alice had. Something she said was bugging him. “Benny Junior?” He asked with a frown.
Mandy nodded. “Well, like, it’d be weird to call you Big Benny and Little Benny. So everyone’s been calling you Benny Senior and Benny Junior.” She explained as she pulled him over to the chairs that were set out for them.
He made a face. “That makes it sound like we’re related, and…” He shook his head. “I don’t want to be related to him.”
A surprised snort escaped from Mandy. “How old are you again?” She asked with a huffing laugh. “I think you’re a little young to have a crush on someone who’s eighteen.”
Benny groaned. “I don’t have a crush on Benny.” He whined out, feeling his face getting hot. “He’s just really nice, and we had a lot of scenes together in the pilot.”
Mandy laughed. “Sure.” She didn’t sound like she believed him. “So… we need to figure out a different name so people don’t get confused.” Her nose wrinkled up as she thought. “So he’s a Benjamin and you’re a Bennett, right?”
He nodded.
“Ben and Benny wouldn’t be too bad.” She admitted. “But you don’t look like a Ben and Benny Se-” She changed direction when she saw whatever face he was making. “Other Benny doesn’t like being called anything else. He’s older so he has seniority. Sorry, dude.”
Benny shrugged. “Nah, that makes sense.” He admitted before taking off the big clunky necklace that wardrobe made him wear. It was hurting his neck.
“Bow?” Mandy asked as she took the necklace from him, and saw the sticker wardrobe but on the back of it so they knew it was his. “You’re supposed to take these off when you put your costume on.” She explained. “They do that when it’s a piece that’s going to be specific to you for a long time. Guess we have to work on your neck strength.” She took the sticker off, and handed him the necklace back. “Why’d they put Bow though?”
Once he knew what she was talking about, he shrugged. “Those are my initials: B. O. W. -- Bennett Orion Washington.” He explained.
She grinned. “Bow.” She rolled the name around in her mouth. “That could be a cool name, but it sounds a little off.”
“Bowie.” He corrected, perking up in his chair. “Bowie Washington.”
Mandy all but shook him. “YES! That’s it! Bowie. Bowie and Benny. That just sounds right.”
“What just sounds right?”
Bowie turned around to find Benny standing behind him. “Our names.” And why was his face feeling hot again? “Benny and Bowie.”
To his credit, it only took Benny a minute to realize what Bowie was talking about. “Bowie…” He tried the name out, much like how Mandy had. “Like your initials, right? That’s cute.” Before anyone could say anything else, someone called out to Benny and he left them after giving Bowie’s shoulder a gentle squeeze.
“Oh, yeah. You don’t have a crush at all.” Mandy teased.
“Shut up.”
2011
“C’mon, Bee. No one’s gonna say anything. I promise.” Benny was sprawled across the couch in Bowie’s trailer, half-assed playing Grand Theft Auto. Bowie barely played video games. He didn’t even know why he had an Xbox. Actually… that might have actually been Benny’s. They had separate trailers but somehow they always ended up hanging out in Bowie’s trailer, and eating and napping in Benny’s trailer. Bowie didn’t even know how that happened. Sometimes it was hard to remember what his life was like without Benny in it.
Sighing, Bowie looked up from his homework. He was only thirteen, but he was almost finished with his sophomore coursework. Bowie was determined to finish all of his high school coursework before he was sixteen. It was an easy enough goal when all he did was work, and hang out with Benny. “Yeah, I think I’m gonna stand out in a nightclub, Benny.” He pointed out with a shrug as he closed his notebook. When Benny got into moods like this, it was impossible to get anything else done.
“It’s not like a ‘nightclub’ nightclub.” Benny tried to explain as he paused the game, and made grabby hands for Bowie. “It’s an afterparty for my new movie. It’s a movie premiere. It just happens to be in a nightclub. But they’re not going to card you or anything. You’re going to be my date.”
And that was a new thing that started happening a few months ago. Benny started calling their dinners out ‘dates,’ and he’d started using pet names all the time. It had caught Bowie off guard at first, but no one on set had said anything bad about it so he figured that meant it must be okay – whatever this was.
Sighing, Bowie crawled onto the couch, his newly gangly limbs making the climb a little more awkward than what he was used to. He overcompensated, and wound up half-sprawled across Benny, his face pressed against the fly of Benny’s jeans. He pushed himself up to a sitting position, getting a mouthful of jeans and accidentally rubbing his lips against Benny’s half-chub in the process. Because that was another thing he noticed. Whenever they were in each other’s space, Benny was almost always half-hard. “Don’t you wanna take someone your own age as a date?”
It was Benny’s turn to sigh. He adjusted himself before wrapping an arm around Bowie, and pulling him against his side, practically back onto his lap. “Why would I do that, Bee? Why would I want to take anyone other than my boyfriend to my movie premiere?” He asked in confusion, gently tracing a finger over the curve of his jaw.
Bowie blinked, and looked at him. “I’m your boyfriend?” He frowned at him, but scrambled into his lap anyway. That was another new thing. He’d started sitting on Benny’s lap when they had serious conversations. He didn’t remember why they started talking like this, but he also knew he had Benny’s undivided attention when they spoke like this.
“Well…” Benny looked at him from under his lashes. He looped his arms around Bowie’s waist to keep him from toppling backwards. “I’d like you to be my boyfriend. That’s the direction we’re heading in, isn’t it? We’re practically living together, Bee.”
He blushed. Benny wasn’t wrong… “You wanna be boyfriends?” He asked, eyes dropping to Benny’s lips. “You wanna date me?”
Benny shook his head. “I wanna do more than just date you, baby.” He purred out, leaning closer to him, his lips hovering above Bowie’s. They hadn’t kissed yet, but Bowie knew Benny had been trying to kiss him. It was just that every time Benny tried to kiss him -
“Pumpkin, how’s your geometry homework - oh no you don’t!” Darlene stomped into the trailer, and immediately pulled Bowie off Benny’s lap. She pushed him back towards his desk. “You - finish your homework.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “And you?” She raised her eyebrow at him. “You have your own trailer that’s far away from my charge. Off you go, Mr. Monroe.”
With a dramatic sigh, Benny turned off the TV and pulled himself to his feet. He adjusted himself in his jeans again, not caring that Miss Darlene was right there. “Aw, c’mon Darlene. Doesn’t Bee get a little break?” He tried to sway, even though he had to have known that Miss Darlene didn’t like him at all. “I was just telling him about our date tomorrow night.”
Darlene raised an eyebrow. “Oh, you mean your movie premiere that Bennett will not be attending because he’s not eighteen?” She challenged back.
Bowie shrugged, as though to tell Benny ‘I told you so’ before he opened his notebook back up to work on his homework.
2014
It was one of those days on set. A day where nothing was going right, and the director’s patience was razor thin. Nothing any of the actors did was right. They’d filmed the same scene fifteen times, and he just wasn’t happy. It was exhausting, but thankfully right now he wasn’t the person annoying the director: his husband was. And fuck. Wasn’t that a trip? He was a married man. Sixteen and married. Not that anyone else knew they were married yet. It had just happened last week, and they were keeping it for themselves – at least right now.
“What do you think his problem is?” Mandy whispered to him. They were sprawled out in their makeshift nest in the corner of the soundstage. They’d stolen a couple of exercise mats from the stunt team, and piled them high with soft blankets and pillows. It was where they usually hung out in between scenes but weren’t allowed to go back to their trailers. At some point Mandy had been reading a magazine, and Bowie had been working on an assignment for Psych 101, but now they were both absorbed in whatever the hell was going on in front of the camera.
Bowie couldn’t tear his gaze away from the scene in front of him. The director was now standing in front of Benny and screaming at him. “I have no idea.” He whispered back.
The sound stage door slammed open, causing everyone to startle. Mandy and Bowie locked eyes before they both glanced towards the door in an attempt to figure out who the hell would enter the sound stage when the ‘filming in progress’ sign was up. The director looked furious, but not even he could get any words out before Hurricane Darlene stormed onto set.
Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen Darlene for a couple of weeks. His mom said Darlene had a family emergency. It was why she and Dad stayed with him for the week before his sixteenth birthday. Darlene hadn’t even called to wish him a happy birthday. It hurt, but he wasn’t her family, and he’d accepted a long time ago that she wasn’t actually his mom - as much as he liked to pretend she was. He didn’t know how to explain whatever this was.
“You son of a bitch!” Darlene screamed, making a beeline straight towards Benny. “You absolute son of a bitch.” She pushed past the director. “How fucking dare you!” She slapped Benny, the sound echoing through the now silent soundstage. “He is sixteen years old! SIXTEEN.”
What the fuck. This was about him? She was here because of him? He was vaguely aware that he was standing up. Mandy’s hand was wrapped around his, trying to tug him back into their nest. He also sort of thought someone was yelling for security to do something. Everyone was just sort of stuck though. It was Miss Darlene; she’d been with Bowie for eight years. Everyone knew her. She was his caretaker. The person he wished was his mom.
“And you were what? Biding your time until he was an appropriate age to marry him? Arianna has all but been throwing him at you since he was fourteen. You could have married him then if you really wanted. California doesn’t have a minimum age for marriage with consent.” Darlene seethed. “Or you could have waited until he was eighteen, but no. You found out I was getting him away from you. You found out I was fighting his parents for custody, and you couldn’t have that, could you?”
Bowie found himself standing right behind Darlene. “What’s going on?” He whispered out, his voice sounding small. For once he felt his actual age. “Custody?” But she was already on a roll. He wasn’t even sure if she could hear him with how enraged she currently was.
“So you what? Mentioned to Arianna that you’d marry him? Let her know that she could fire me because she didn’t need to worry about Bennett having a guardian any more because you would be his guardian? Be his husband?” She snorted, and it sounded like it hurt. “All because you were afraid your favorite possession would be taken away from him by someone who truly wants what’s best for him?”
“DARLENE.” And it took Bowie a moment to realize that he was the person who’d spoken. That was his shaky voice.
She spun around to face him, and immediately deflated. “Pumpkin…” And she was pulling him into her arms. “I’m so sorry I failed you. I’m so sorry.”
“You missed my birthday.” He whispered out, and it wasn’t what he meant to say, but it was like his mouth wasn’t connected to his brain.
Her arms wrapped tighter around him. “I know, Pumpkin, I didn’t mean to. I wouldn’t have if I was allowed to see you.”
Bowie has no idea what she was talking about. She wasn’t allowed to see him? Why? What the hell were his mom and Benny keeping from him?
“Stop it. Stop it. Stop it!” The words exploded from him, pushing away from her. “Stop talking around me! You’re both doing it!” He waved an accusatory hand towards Benny. “Just tell me what’s going on!”
Security chose that moment to arrive, but Benny held his hand towards them to tell them to not approach quite yet. “Bee, sweetheart…” His husband started, taking Bowie’s hands and pulling him towards him. Mandy was hovering nearby, and he could see her holding back from taking his hand again. He didn’t know what he did to earn a best friend like her. “I know how much you care about Darlene, but your mom and I filed a restraining order against her a couple weeks ago.”
Darlene was saying something, but all Bowie could focus on was his husband in front of him, and his best friend hovering, waiting to whisk him away from any stress. “What?” He blinked, swaying towards him. “Why?”
Benny gave him a sad smile. “She’s mentally unwell, baby. She had it in her head that she’s your mother.” He told him, pulling him closer. “Like biologically. And we know that’s physically impossible. She’s just another obsessed fan. Like that girl in Colorado who was stalking us.”
“I am his mother!”
And it was too much. Too much. He found himself pulling away from Benny, and turning towards Mandy instead. “I can’t…” He told her, sounding helpless.
There was chaos behind him - security taking Darlene away and there was screaming, and he let Mandy pull him away, Benny close behind him.
Now
Bowie forgot what it was like filming for eighteen hours. It’d been eight years since the last time he was behind a camera, and all he wanted to do was lay down for like a year. He opened his trailer door, and immediately closed it. Frowning he looked over at the sign, and sighed when he saw the name. It said Bowie Washington which meant…
He slammed the door open. “Nope, nope, nope. Get out.” He told his ex-husband as he entered his own damn trailer. “We are not doing this tonight. You are leaving, and I’m sleeping for the next thirty minutes until they pull me back on set.” Used to Benny’s antics by this point, he ignored him, and instead started taking off the heavy ass necklaces they still had him wearing.
“Aw, c’mon, Bee. It’s like old times again. Let’s just watch something, and veg out. You can never fall asleep on set anyway.” Benny all but whined.
Bowie spun around to face him. “I told you if I was going to do the reboot, you couldn’t pull this shit again, and here you are. Trying to act like we’re still together. We’re not. It’s been six years.” He hissed out. “What do you really want?”
The older man sighed. “Okay, Benny, you got me.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Come sit.”
Bowie collapsed next to him, doing his best to keep as much distance between himself and his ex as possible. “Spill, Benny.”
And that felt natural. As much as he hated Benny, being his friend had always been natural. If they ever were friends to begin with.
“I talked to Franklin today.” He said, referring to the show runner, which meant it couldn’t be anything good. “And he didn’t think our good will tour after the sex tape came out was enough. He thinks we need to… give a hint of reconciliation.”
His eyes closed. “He wants us to be seen out and about together more. He wants me to start going to premieres with you again.” He surmised.
“And social media. The drama works in the favor of the show this time around.”
Bowie groaned and just let himself sink into the couch. He did not want to deal with this. Not now. Not ever.
The trailer door swung open and Mandy walked in, took in the sight and threw herself down onto the couch between them. “Oh good. You told him about Passover.”
Benny groaned, and Bowie jerked upright. “What about Passover?” He asked warily.
“We have a long weekend, and Mandy and I don’t have enough time between filming to fly home before restrictions hit.” Benny started. “So we’re both coming home with you.”
And Benny was on his feet. “Nope. Nope. Nope. Not happening.” He spun around to face them both. “Mandy, obviously, you’re welcome, but you…” He wagged his finger at Benny. “Darlene, you know Darlene. The woman you got fired, and had a restraining order against when she tried to fight my parents for custody as my biological mother who gave up her rights to me? Yeah, she lives with me.” He stared the older man down. “And no. We haven’t talked about that day or about who she is to me, but she looks after Livvie, and will be looking after the twins when they’re born. But you are not welcome in our home.”
Mandy sighed, and grabbed at Bowie’s hands, pulling him back down onto the couch with them. “But it’s Passover. Isn’t having annoying family members over for any holiday a Jewish right of passage?” She tried.
“You don’t have anywhere else to go, do you?”
Benny’s silence was telling.
He sighed. “Fine. Let’s bring my ex-husband home for Passover. What’s the worst that could happen?”
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A Death After Life Fan Mix
1 -- Dead Don't Die - Shinedown
I'm on a first name basis with the afterlife
Life's killed me a hundred thousand times
You can try, you can try, but the dead don't die
2 -- Come With Me Now - Kongos
I think with my heart and I move with my head
I open my mouth and it's something I've read
I stood at this door before, I'm told
But a part of me knows that I'm growing too old
Confused what I thought with something I felt
Confuse what I feel with something that's real
I tried to sell my soul last night
3 -- Panoramic View - Awolnation
Somewhere out there, still, I believe in magic
Let the monsters loose, I believe in magic
I won't let them hurt you
Lay your hands on me, I believe in magic
A romantic fool, I believe in magic
I won't let them hurt you
4 -- Figure It Out - Royal Blood
Nothing here to see
Just a kid like me
Trying to cut some teeth
Trying to figure it out
Nothing better to do
When I'm stuck on you
I'm still in here trying to figure it out
5 -- End of Beginning - Djo
This song has started now
And you're just finding out
Now isn't that a laugh?
A major sacrifice
But clueless at the time
6 -- Cemetry Gates - The Smiths
So we go inside and we gravely read the stones
All those people, all those lives, where are they now?
With-a loves, and hates and passions just like mine
They were born, and then they lived, and then they died
Seems so unfair, I want to cry
7 -- Too Sweet - Hozier
I think I'll take my whiskey neat
My coffee black and my bed at three
You're too sweet for me
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[Alt Text] Wardrobe inspiration: Maliki
Human - muted colors, soft fabrics, baggy sweaters
Reaper - all black everything, chains
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[ALT TEXT]
Bennett Orion Washington (born February 28, 1998), known professionally as Bowie Washington is an American actor, best known for playing the character Maliki Soulsby in the Fox sci-fi drama series Death After Life (2006 - 2014).
Early Life and Education
Washington was born in North Hollywood, California, the only child of Arianna, a retired fashion model, and Zachariah Washington, a film producer. In 2013, he graduated from BYU Online High School at the age of 15. He graduated from BYU - Pathway Worldwide in 2017 with a B.A. in Communications, and from Queens College of Charlotte in 2021 a with Master of Arts in Educational Leadership. He was a graduate student at University of North Carolina at Charlotte, up until January of 2024 when he was suspended for violating an alleged morality clause.
Career
Washington made his first television appearance in 2002 on ER. He went on to make appearances on Law & Order, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Cold Case, Las Vegas, The West Wing, Without a Trace, House, and Medium.
In 2006, Washington was cast as Maliki Soulsby in the Fox series, Death After Life. In 2024, it was announced that Washington would be returning to his role as Maliki Soulsby in Death After Life: Dead Again.
Personal
In 2014, a 16 year old Washington announced his marriage to costar Benjamin Monroe, who was 26 at the time.
Washington is a vegetarian. He identifies as bisexual, and describes himself as an occasional Jew.
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Table Read
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Drabble: I'm So Sorry
Trigger Warnings: References to underage marriage, and spousal abuse.
A couple weeks ago:
Thank fvck for the SuperBowl. With all the anticipation of the game and the halftime show, his and his ex-husband’s sex tape had all but faded into nothing once again. All it had cost him was his graduate school career, and his sanity. He wasn’t optimistic enough to think that it was totally gone from people’s memories. The next time Benny was nominated for an Oscar it would definitely resurface. But for now, the insanity had settled. Sure, he still had a business manager again to sort through things for him, Darlene wasn’t leaving him any time soon, and Kenny would be staying on as his personal security indefinitely, but things were about the same as they had been at the height of his career ten years ago – manageable and comfortable.
Or it would be if the Death After Life production team wasn’t calling him three times a day. He understood capitalizing on the ten year “death-a-versary” of the show, but it also marked the start of his marriage to Benny – a marriage his mother had essentially forced him into at sixteen. His emotions when it came to DAL were complicated at best, not to mention the agreements he and Benny came to when he finally agreed to their divorce. It was very clearly stated that Bowie was no longer allowed to act, and his DAL residuals were to be donated. His ex-husband was an Oscar winner, of course he wasn’t going to do anything that would sic his very expensive lawyers on him. But it wasn’t like Bowie could tell producers that he wasn’t allowed to sign onto the revival because it was a term of his divorce. They just thought he was playing hard to get and there was no way to tell them otherwise.
His phone ringing wasn’t a surprise, but the fact that it was Benny FaceTiming him was a definite surprise. A part of Bowie wanted to deny the call, if only because he wasn’t wearing a shirt, but normally when Benny was bugging him it was through texts or phone calls – never FaceTime. He sighed and leaned deep into his couch before accepting the call. “It’s a little early in the day for you to be drunk dialing me, don’t you think?” He asked, forcing his face to appear neutral. The last thing he needed was to give Benny more ammo to use against him.
“I’m sorry.” Benny blurted out, looking like he wanted to be anywhere other than on the phone with Bowie, which… was new. Normally Benny was professing how it was inevitable that they would get back together because they were this generation’s Liz and D!ck. “For everything. I’m so sorry.”
Bowie blinked. And then blinked again. And again. He opened his mouth, only to close it once he realized he didn’t know what to say. After everything, Benny had never once apologized for all the sh!t he put him through. He swallowed, still at a loss. A part of him was convinced this wasn’t real - that this was a joke or a prank. “What?” He finally managed out, unable to tear his gaze away from Benny.
At first Benny didn’t say anything, and Bowie thought for sure he was going to hang up. After a long moment, Benny closed his eyes and blurted out: “It was suggested that I go to therapy after our tape got out. Apparently I came across in a… not great light.” And it was taking everything in Bowie not to blurt out something along the lines of: ‘well, you were pimping me out to your friends.’ It was probably best that he didn’t interrupt him until he got out everything that he needed to say. “My therapist pointed out that the way I treated you was more like you were an object and not like a person, and that even though I thought it was love it may not have come across that way to you – especially with all the sh!t I put you through during the divorce.”
He bit his lip, not sure if he believed Benny. He was an award winning actor after all. Acting was sort of his thing. “Ben…” He swallowed. “I, uh, appreciate the call? But-”
Benny shook his head. “I know you don’t believe me, and I know you don’t forgive me, and I don’t expect you to – not yet.” He ran a hand through his hair. “But we’re going to be spending a lot of time together again, and I need you to at least feel comfortable working with me again. Plus, I figure I have plenty of time to convince you that I’m sorry while we film.”
Once again Bowie found himself at a loss for words, and just stared at him.
“I had my lawyers remove the clauses you were forced to sign. If you want to act again, I’m not going to keep you from it. I know you probably don’t want to work with me again, but I really want to take the offer for the revival and it doesn’t work without you.” Benny stared at him for a long moment. “I can’t be Jake if you’re not there to be Mal. It’s not fair to you; that’s what my therapist said, but I need you to do the revival, Bee. Please? I need a redo with you.”
And there it was. He was still on his Liz and D!ck bullshit. Of fvcking course he was. “You’re right. I don’t believe that you’re sorry. And it’s not fvcking fair of you to put this all on me, Ben.” He shook his head. “But I’ll do it. The revival, but I’m not doing it for you. I’m doing it for the others. And the second you start back on the same bullsh!t from before… I’m gone. There’s no me and you anymore, and if you try to force that on me again… I’m fvcking gone.”
A soft smile spread across Benny’s face. “I won’t make you regret it, Bee. I promise.”
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Character: Maliki/Mal | Species: Reaper (Seasons 1, 5-8), Human (Seasons 1-4, 8) | Current Status: Human | Series: Death After Life | Played by: Bowie Washington
Notable quote: "I'm not a ghost, or a demon, or a hallucination or whatever else you have it in your head that I am. I'm just a kid who grew up at the height of the Roman Empire. I'm not a monster. I'm just trying to survive - same as you."
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1) Fake As Hell - All Time Low (with Avril Lavigne)
2) Blame Brett - The Beaches
3) Last Resort (Reimagined) - Falling in Reverse
4) All They Wanna Do - Six: The Musical
5) Meds - Placebo
6) One Week - Bare Naked Ladies
7) Hallucinogenics - Matt Maeson
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Death After Life - Script
1 INT. NURSERY - SUNSET
The walls are painted a soft green. There’s an open window, with sheer white curtains framing it. In the center of the room is a wooden crib. There is a ghost-shaped plushie in the corner of the crib. A blanket shaped like a tombstone is draped over the side. There is a mobile hanging with four items hanging from it: a sun, a moon, a skull, and a scythe. There’s a light breeze in the room.
WOMAN (O.S.)
Are you sure you’re feeling alright?
MAN (O.S)
It’s just another migraine. I swear, the closer we get to your due date, the worse my head gets.
A person steps into frame. He’s male presenting. He’s wearing sneakers, jeans, and a sweater. There is a very prominent wedding band on his hand. Only his shoulders down are visible. As he steps into the room, the crib decorations change. The ghost is now a fuzzy sheep. The blanket is now a normal looking afghan. The mobile is plush stars with smiling faces.
WOMAN (O.S)
what triggered it this time?
The man walks over to the window to close it.
ANGLE. OUTSIDE OF THE ROOM LOOKING IN THROUGH THE WINDOW.
The man’s shadow is on the wall behind him. It looks normal for a moment before it flickers and the shadow is holding a large scythe. It flickers back to normal as he closes the window and draws the curtains.
ANGLE. INSIDE THE ROOM AGAIN.
MAN
(laughs)
The French Revolution.
The camera slowly starts to move above his shoulders. A rune stone is hanging from his neck, strung through a leather cord. As he speaks his face his revealed. It’s MALIKI - all grown up.MAL (CONT'D)
I had like this intrusive thought where I wondered if any of the kids tried to bowl with the heads. And as soon as I started thinking about it... BAM. Migraine.
The room flickers around him, showing the After World, before returning to normal.MAL'S WIFE (O.S.)
Okay, Mr. Horror Novelist, that’s morbid, even for you.
MAL
(staring into the crib)
Do you get the feeling that having the baby is going to cause the world to split at the barely woven together seams?
MAL'S WIFE
(pops her head into the room)
What was that?
MAL
(shakes his head)
nothing, I’m just psyching myself out. How can I be a good dad if I can’t remember anything from before the last 10 years?
MAL'S WIFE
You worry too much.
Behind them 3 grim reapers flicker into existence. Then they flicker away.
TITLE CARD DROPS
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Corrine (Entertainment Lawyer): I'll call at noon your time tomorrow. We have a strong defamation case and wrongful termination.
Kevin (Agent): This could be a good thing, Bow. You're going to need to do some press. It could be your comeback.
Albright (Advisor): Bennett, we will be meeting tomorrow morning at 9am to discuss your future at the university.
Fvck Face: We need to release a joint statement and get ahread of this sh!tstorm before it hits.
Bubbe: Bubaleh, your father said something may be making the rounds about you. Come to Florida until it blows over.
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Survey - 1
Below the cut
1. What time did you get up this morning?
6ish? I had an 8am class.
2. How do you like your steak?
Still mooing -- literally. I'm a vegetarian.
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Hot take, especially considering I used to be an actor, I don't really like movies. I know, I know. It's just... I have too many memories attached.
4. What is your favorite TV show?
Would it be too vain if I said my own show? If only because I have good memories associated with it? My actual favorite show is probably X-Files.
5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
Somewhere warm. I've always wanted to live in Israel, but now is definitely not the time.
6. What did you have for breakfast?
Oatmeal and a protein shake.
7. What is your favorite cuisine?
Anything my Bubbe cooks. Don't knock a traditional Jewish meal until Bubbe's cooked for you. I'm a sucker for middle eastern food too - especially falafels.
8. What foods do you dislike?
I was raised vegetarian. I tried chicken when I was a teenager just to see what the fuss was about and was sick for a week.
9. Favorite place to eat?
Oh My Soul -- it's this vegan South African place near my place that's fvcking amazing. Bean Vegan Cuisine looks sketchy on the outside, but it's so good.
10. Favorite dressing?
I blame my mom, but I only use vinaigrettes.
11. What kind of vehicle do you drive?
Black 2020 Lincoln Navigator
12. What are your favorite clothes?
Clothes? I hate clothes. Gimme a pair of sweatpants and nothing else.
13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
I've always wanted to go to Antartica.
14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
Empty.
15. Where would you want to retire?
I mean... Technically I am retired...
16. Favorite time of day?
Right before the sun rises when the world feels still, and like anything could happen.
17. Where were you born?
Los Angeles, CA.
18. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Football (go Rams!) and baseball (go Dodgers!)
19. How many siblings?
None - like my mom was going to risk stretch marks again.
20. Favorite pastime/hobby?
Painting. If I wasn't in school, I'd probably do art full time.
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Drabble: About NYE
Trigger Warnings: References to the NYE players event, blood and gore, self-harm, child marriage, grooming, and domestic violence.
New Years Eve
When their anonymous benefactor invited them to a masquerade party on New Years Eve, Bowie didn’t know what to expect. He’d been given a fake name (his ex-husband’s name - which he knew was on purpose just to fvck with him) and told to meet up with someone with the name Katrina. Allegedly all they had to do was kiss at midnight, which was fine. A kiss was a kiss and he’d gotten paid to kiss people for years. And it was fine. A little awkward, but she seemed nice, even if she kept looking at him like she recognized him. There wasn’t anything too awful about the event. And that was when the text came in:
Excuse yourself in a few minutes to go to the bathroom. There, you’ll find several pocket knives. Grab one and store it in your jacket. When the clock strikes midnight, I dare you to take a stab. At your date or at you, your choice, but I want to see some blood.
As he read through the text, he sighed. Of course, of fvcking course. Their anonymous 'friend' wouldn’t let them just have a nice night. No. They needed to be tortured for whatever sick game these people were playing. He slipped his phone back in his pocket, already knowing what he was going to do. “Hey, I’ll be right back. My sister sent me a 911 text. I think she’s fighting with her boyfriend again.” He lied to his date before disappearing towards the direction of the bathrooms. He didn't even have a sister.
Finding the pocket knives, he slipped one into his pocket and sighed. He scrubbed his hand over his face, steeling himself for what was going to happen next. Not wanting any of the other ‘players’ to see him, he ducked out of the bathroom and found a quiet place out of the way. He unclasped his watch and slipped it into his pocket before unbuttoning his left sleeve and rolling it up to expose old scar tissue on his wrist. If the fvckers were going to blast on their website that he was suicidal, then he was going to give them what they wanted. Besides, they never said that he had to stab himself in front of his date; no one deserved that trauma. He pulled his phone out to order a car, and then pulled out his knife, waiting for the right moment.
Hearing the countdown begin, he scanned the crowd for his date, hoping she didn’t think she was going to get stuck with a consequence. He was doing this so she wouldn’t have to suffer any of their consequences. Once he heard the screaming of “Happy New Year,” he slashed across his old wound, watching as the blood bubbled out. As he heard screaming across the room as other people stabbed or were stabbed, he stepped out of the alcove, and raised his bloody arm up in the air. Those fvckers were here; he knew they were. He gave a wide spin and screamed out: “Happy fvcking New Year, creeps!”
He made eye contact with ‘Katrina’ across the room, and nodded at her before all but running out of the building. The knife went into his pocket and he yanked out his pocket square, wrapping it around his bleeding wrist as he scanned the area for his ride. Fvck, his wrist was bleeding a hell of a lot more than he thought it would. Fvck.
“Maliki?”
Seeing the car and making sure it matched the description on his phone, he sighed in relief and slipped inside. “Yeah, that’s me.” He affirmed as he pulled his belt on, and pushed his mask off.
“It’s funny.” The driver said as he pulled away from the curb. “The only time I’ve heard the name Maliki is from that one sci-fi show. The main guy goes by Mal but his real name is Maliki and-” He must have looked in the rearview window and realized who his passenger was. “Oh holy sh!t.”
Bowie shot him a wry smile. “Is it cool if I make a call?”
He nodded. “Yep, yep, yep.” And, great. This is what he got for using a cheeky fake name instead of his real name. Scrolling through his phone, he found a number he hadn’t called in years.
“Name please.” A robotic voice demanded.
Pressing down onto his still bleeding wound, he sighed. “Bennett Monroe.”
“Password.”
“Sunset.” He murmured out, not making eye contact with his driver.
There was a laugh as the line was transferred. “Bennett.” The older man chuckled. “Now, this is a surprise. I didn’t think I’d hear from you again.”
He pressed on his wrist again. “Yeah, that was the plan. Things change. You got a doctor out in the Charlotte area who can see me now?” He asked, skipping the pleasantries and getting right to it. Afterall, this was a concierge doctor hotline. They didn’t care about pleasantries when you were paying them.
“What’d you do, Bennett?”
Bowie closed his eyes. “Reopened the wound on my wrist. It’s, uh, bleeding a lot.” He avoided eye contact with the driver again.
“Where are you at?”
“I’m on my way to my place. I’m sure you have it on file. It doesn’t matter how many times I change my address or update the restraining order, he always has my address.” Bowie admitted with a sigh.
It was quiet for a moment. “I’m sending someone your way, but Bennett, you know Benny is going to to hear about this. The account is under his name.”
Bowie nodded. “I’d rather get patched up on the DL than have the hospital ask questions and wind up in a tabloid or something. Ben I can handle. Send your guy.” He ended the call as they arrived at his place. “Here.” He handed his driver a couple hundred in cash. “As a thank you for your silence, and for your dry cleaning bill.”
And with that, he disappeared into his apartment.
A Couple Days Later
He was laying on the couch at Avery’s place when his phone rang. Avery was out running errands and Olivia was enthralled in some Disney movie. It was an unknown number, which meant it was Benny. It was always Benny. He trailed his fingers over his patched up wrist before answering the phone.
“Hey, Ben.” He murmured out quietly, not wanting to attract Olivia’s attention. “I was expecting your call days ago. Or for you to show up on my doorstep.”
There was a bitter laugh. “I almost did.” His ex-husband murmured. “I called your mother and she talked me out of it.”
Of course he still talked to his mother. The woman was the reason they got married in the first place. As much as she loved him, she liked the idea of Bowie being taken care of by someone wealthy. Even if he had groomed him from the age of eight on. His mother’s dream for him was to be a trophy husband.
“She doesn’t answer my calls, but she takes yours. Typical.” He rolled his eyes, watching Olivia to make sure she was still paying attention to the movie.
Benny sighed. “I think it’s time for you to come home. Grad school is stressing you out. You slit your wrist again. The last time you did that was when I wouldn't sign your stupid divorce papers.” He said, and this was a very familiar conversation.
“I am home, Ben.” He said with a sigh. “I know you have it in your head that we have some epic romance like Liz and Burton, Frida and Diego, or Marilyn and Joe, but we’re not them. We’re not getting remarried after getting divorced.”
His ex laughed. “Are you Liz Taylor or am I? Because those other relationships, Bee… not happy endings.”
“None of them were happy endings, that’s the point, Ben. Thanks for covering my treatment. I’ll send you the cash.”
“The fvck you will.” His ex argued. “When we got married, the promise was ‘til death. We’re both still alive, Bee. Divorce doesn’t mean sh!t. You can sow your oats all you want. Try on a hetero-presenting relationship for a while, but me and you, Bee? We’re for life. It’s my responsibility as your husband to take care of you.”
Bowie swallowed. Fvck. Maybe he should have just sucked it up and gone to the hospital and dealt with the fall out. He knew Benny was delusional, but this was worse than he realized. “Ben-” Before he could say anything else, there was a tug on his arm.
“BoBo. The movie’s over. Can we make cookies?”
On the other end he could hear Benny asking who the fvck he was talking to. “Lose this number.” He told him - immediately turning his phone off and focusing his attention on Olivia. He’d worry about getting a new number tomorrow. Bowie had something far more important to focus on. “What type of cookies were you thinking about, munchkin?”
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Drabble: Bowie’s Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Week
TITLE: Bowie’s Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Week
RATING: R - language, darker themes, smut adjacent themes
PLATONIC RELATIONSHIPS: Bowie Washington & Olivia Erwin, Bowie Washington & Darlene Kaplan, Bowie Washington & the Barfly Twinks
ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS: Bowie Washington/Avery Erwin (past), Bowie Washington/Benny Monroe (one-sided)
MOVIE REFERENCES: Fiddler on the Roof, and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
CREDIT: Snippet from Charlotte Coercion was written by David; all credit for this insane drama goes to him.
WORD COUNT: 3700
TRIGGER WARNINGS: Child marriage, grooming, domestic violence, revenge porn, sex tapes, drug use, underage sex, S&M subculture, including consensual collaring, nonconsensual free use, petplay.
Yom Rishon
Sunset on Saturday to Sunset on Sunday
“It’s the first day? But it’s Saturday.” Olivia blinked at him. As had been their tradition since she learned what Hanukkah was, Avery had been letting Olivia spend Shabbat with him each week. She’d even let him start bringing Olivia with him to Temple Israel so she could make friends at the weekly Kids Sing. As long as his girlfriend’s kid was interested in Judaism, he was going to teach her as much as he could. Hell, she already told her whole class that she was half-Jewish (like her BoBo) and half-Spiritual (like her mom). Plus it was nice getting to share this with someone again. Since his divorce he’d been more culturally Jewish and less practicing Jewish. It was nice being both again.
He swung their joint hands back and forth as they walked from his car towards the house. Lately Avery had been going out on the weekends and leaving him and Olivia to their own devices. Something was going on with her, but he was afraid if he asked, he wouldn’t like the answer he received. So instead, he enjoyed his time with what was essentially his stepdaughter.
“Remember that movie we watched? The one with all the music and the guys dancing with bottles on their heads?” He waited until she nodded before continuing. “Well, before the dancing, there’s a soft song that the Papa sings. Sunrise, sunset. According to the Jewish calendar sundown marks the end of the day.”
Olivia made a face as they walked into the house and she immediately took her shoes and jacket off. “How am I supposed to remember all this?” The five year old whined out.
He grinned. “What’d I tell you at dinner?”
She sighed dramatically. “That it’s okay to just learn one new thing a week, and that if I do something wrong this week - I can try again next week.” She parroted back to him. “Each week is a new start.”
-- -- -- -- --
“Bowie, I don’t think I can do this any more.”
The words echoed around in his head, even hours later. Okay, the thing was… He knew this relationship wasn’t going to last. If he was honest with himself, he purposely sought out relationships that weren’t going to go anywhere. At first he thought it was going to be different with Avery, but he might have been blinded by the chance to have a family. He absolutely adored having Olivia in his life, and it probably was why he chose to stay with Avery - even after she confided in him that she thought she might be a lesbian. He didn’t care about that; he just wanted a family, and he got one. Except now… now he didn’t.
He didn’t know if he had been in love with Avery. Sure, he was in love with the idea of her, but had he ever been actually in love with her? Fvck, if he knew. He wasn’t even sure if he had ever been in love with his husband. It didn’t mean it hurt any less. She was his best friend, and now? Now he wasn’t sure what they were. He didn’t even know if she would even let him keep Olivia in his life. How was he supposed to just continue on with his life like nothing happened when he wasn’t even sure if he still had his best friend in his life?
It was that thought that had him at Chasers - the local gay bar in his neighborhood. There wasn’t anything extra special about it; it was a bar, but it was also somewhere he’d gone to a lot when he first moved to Charlotte and was looking for a community. When he committed to his relationship, he stopped coming to Chasers out of respect for Avery, but now he figured it didn’t matter. Still, it wasn’t like he was here partying. There was an event going on, but Bowie was tucked into a corner booth with three patrons that Bowie referred to as the Barfly Twinks. Somehow he’d never gotten their names (or didn't remember them), and years after meeting them felt too long of a time to finally ask. So he referred to them as Noxeema, Vida, and Chi-Chi, the main characters from To Wong Foo.
“Bowie.” Chi-Chi murmured, nimbly plucking Bowie’s phone out of his pocket. “Your phone’s going off.”
As soon as the phone was in his hand, he saw a message from an unknown number - which meant it was from the Charlotte Coercion. A message with a link included. His stomach bottomed out as he clicked the link. Chi-Chi balanced their chin on Bowie’s shoulder to watch with him. And honestly… Bowie wasn’t sure what he was expecting but it wasn’t this. It definitely wasn’t this.
Everyone knows the name Bowie Washington, but what no one knows is that, I’ve recently acquired a very *interesting* tape . You better hope that this video never gets leaked… although there might be an email with the attachment in it sent to some of your bosses. Let’s see what they’ll think of that.
Speaking of Bowie, did you hear that him and his girlfriend broke up? That’s right ladies and gents, Bowie is back on the market. I guess it doesn’t matter if Bowie ever finds out why you started dating him in the first place, right Avery Erwin? Eh you’re right… finding out that you were just using him isn’t nearly as fun as the fact that you’ve been caught by my team smuggling drugs in the past.
“Oooh, what kind of tape?” Chi-Chi cooed out, rubbing his shoulder. “Is it kinky? Are you into ropes because I know this trick where-“
Bowie didn’t stay to find out what their trick was. He all but threw himself out of the booth – accidentally shoving Chi-Chi out of the way. His phone clattered uselessly to the tabletop. All that mattered was getting outside so he could breathe. Because he definitely couldn’t breathe right now, and he was definitely going to vomit. Stumbling outside, he barely made it into the bushes before emptying his stomach. The video was sent out. The video was leaked. The video was…
-- -- -- -- --
It’s grainy footage, and it’s more than obvious that it was recorded before everything was ultra high definition. The lighting in the room is low and dim. There are three men in their fifties lounging across plush leather couches drinking expensive looking liquor. It’s obvious they’re waiting for something, but it’s not exactly clear what they’re waiting for. With the way the camera is angled, it’s hard to make out the men’s faces. The camera was definitely placed with that in mind. The men don’t seem to be the focus of the video – whatever they’re waiting for is.
There’s the sound of a door opening, and the men’s attention is suddenly drawn towards something offscreen. Soft murmuring starts and then men straighten up, setting their drinks down. It’s obvious that this is what they’ve been waiting for.
Benny steps into the frame first, sandy brown hair slicked back. He’s dressed in a well-pressed suit, and a black leather leash is wrapped around his hand. There’s a long moment before Bowie is pulled into frame. He’s on his hands and knees, and aside from the thick, black, leather collar wrapped around his neck, he’s nude.
“Look, puppy.” Benny cooed out, using the leash to jerk Bowie’s head up, the metal clinging softly against the ‘D’ ring. “We have guests tonight, and they came here just for you. Wasn’t that nice of them to come play with you?”
Bowie’s gaze is drawn to the camera for a moment. He’s sixteen, maybe seventeen. His eyes are glassy like he’s on something. There’s another tug on his leash, and his gaze is drawn to the men on the couches.
-- -- -- -- --
“Bowie?” Noxeema was pulling him away from the bush and propping him against the wall. “Is there someone I can call to pick you up?” Noxeema had Bowie’s forgotten phone. When Bowie couldn’t find the words to respond, Noxeema began scrolling for a number that looked safe to call.
Noxeema flashed him his phone and showed him a message from Fuck Face that said: ‘I think it’s time you came home.’ Not having the words to tell Noxeema to call anyone but that person, anyone but his ex-husband, he was helpless when Noxeema pressed the call button - hitting the speaker button, too.
“Bee, baby, what’s wrong?”
Hearing his ex-husband’s voice through the tinny sound of his phone speaker instead of movie trailers and interview clips, made him want to vomit again. Instead he just closed his eyes, and listened as Noxeema responded for him.
“Hi! Is this Bowie’s person? I’m one of his friends from Chasers. We were hanging out at the bar - it’s buns night - and he got a link to this weird video that said an email of an interesting tape was sent to his boss? He ran outside and started throwing up.” Noxeema rambled out.
Benny made a wounded sound, and Bowie had no damn clue what part of Noxeema’s statement caused that reaction. Was it the fact that Bowie was that affected? Or was he mourning whatever this was going to do for his own career?
“Can you send me the location?” Benny said after a moment, his voice clipped. Knowing him, he was probably already thinking seven steps ahead. And somewhere Bowie must have made a sound that let Benny know he was on speaker. “I’m going to send a town car your way, Bee. I’ll call Corrinne and your dad. Just go to sleep. I’ll take care of everything.”
Under normal circumstances that would have sent Bowie into a panic, but right now? Right now that was the most comforting thing he could have heard. This was familiar. This was okay.
-- -- -- -- --
His house smelled like cinnamon coffee. No, his house smelled like café de olla. What? Frowning, he rolled out of bed and groaned. Who the hell broke into his house just to make coffee? He stumbled into his kitchen to find his former personal assistant frying something on his stove. Okay, she was more like his childhood nanny turned personal assistant when he got older, and he was pretty sure she’d been hired because she was friends with his bubbe. Once he retired; she retired. And now she was here. In his kitchen. With coffee they didn’t make correctly in the South.
“Darlene?” Bowie frowned. “You’re here. In my kitchen. Making-” He peeked over her shoulder. “Ooh, eggs and latkes? Bubbe’s latkes?”
She smacked his hand away with the spatula before waving said spatula towards a cup on the other side of the counter. “Drink your damn coffee, Pumpkin. That ex of yours is useless, and a shitty actor. The Oscar win was a pity win. Leo should have beat him.” Darlene snarked out as she went back to cooking.
“But he has a private jet and he’s obsessed with you. As soon as that friend of yours called him last night, he called me - and the lawyers. He seems to think that you’re going to be leaving school soon, and will need help managing your schedule again. You wanna tell me what happened?”
Bowie curled into one of kitchen island chairs with a cup of his favorite coffee from Los Angeles. He watched Darlene cook for a few minutes. “Not really.” He admitted, sipping his coffee. “But I’ll tell you anyway… So sometimes Benny liked to watch me have sex with other people.”
A grape was thrown at his head, and landed harmlessly on the counter. “The fuck, Bennett?!” She hissed out.
“It gets worse.” He promised as he popped the grape into his mouth. “He liked to film it.”
And suddenly there was a whole ton of Yiddish that Bowie was too tired to understand. The stovetop was turned off, and the skillet placed on a different burner. “How old were you in these videos, Pumpkin?” It sounded like Darlene was going to murder Benny.
“Does it matter?” Bowie asked. “We were already married.”
Darlene made a face that clearly said she didn’t agree with what Bowie said. To be fair, she had a lot of opinions when he’d gotten married in the first place. His parents had nearly fired her over her opposition towards it. “There’s more that you’re not telling me.”
He shrugged and sipped more of his coffee. “Someone was blackmailing me and emailed the video to the school. I’m pretty sure they’re going to kick me out of the program for it.” And he tried to not let his voice break over it. Going to grad school had been one of the first decisions he’d made for himself when he left Benny. Losing that choice… Well, it felt like a gaping wound.
Suddenly he had an armful of Darlene. “Oh, Pumpkin.” She murmured, brushing his hair out of his face like he was eight again. “That’s not nothing.” She soothed, rocking him back and forth. “How does your girlfriend feel about all this?”
Bowie buried his face into the crook of her neck. “She dumped me yesterday.” He mumbled.
“Before or after you found out that someone sent the video to your boss?”
He chuckled humorlessly. “Before. It was a shitty day.” Bowie whined.
“It’s not gonna get any better today.” She promised, which caused Bowie to laugh. “If that’s what happened, there’s gonna be a whole lot of lawyers in your future. A whole lotta lawyers.” She pulled away and went back to the stove. “Which means, we need more fried food.”
Sighing, Bowie went back to his coffee.
-- -- -- -- --
How many lawyers did it take to keep Bowie from getting thrown out of his program due to a morality clause in the school bylaws? That was the thought that was running through his head as he sat at his table, trying as hard as he could to not show his nerves. The Graduate Council was having an emergency meeting to determine whether Bowie was able to stay in his program, which he didn’t understand at all. He had a sex tape - big deal. Who didn’t these days? Just because he was in an education program didn’t mean he should be removed for immorality. It was the dumbest fucking shit, but what else could he do? UNC had councils for everything to ensure it was a democratic decision.
So here he was with a team of six lawyers facing the fifteen person council – plus there were additional staff from the College of Education present. He wondered if other students who were on the verge of being thrown out were cowed by the sheer number of staff. He also wondered if other students showed up with representatives from six different legal teams that all had an investment in the outcome of the hearing. Probably not, but the Council didn’t seem all that fazed by his legal team. No, they were far too caught up in not just the video, but the content of the video. At least they weren’t playing it for everyone in the room, which wasn’t a comfort considering that he was fairly confident that everyone in the room had seen the sex tape.
Bowie locked eyes with his advisor, Dr. Albright. From the beginning, his advisor hadn’t exactly been a fan of him, and Bowie had no idea why. It could have been because he didn’t believe Bowie was serious about the program, but he did focus a lot on the fact that Bowie posted a lot of shirtless photos on Instagram. He was pretty sure he didn’t like him because of his sexuality, but it wasn’t like he could just outright accuse him of being biphobic and homophobic. Or at least he couldn’t until right now.
“Mr. Washington-Monroe, as you’re aware, we received an anonymous email with a video containing graphic sexual content.” His advisor began. Well, that answered that question. Not to mention the fact that he referred to him by a name he hadn’t even applied to the school using. This fucking guy. “As someone who wants to work with children with disabilities, the nature of that disgusting video proves that given your… interests, you cannot be trusted around children.”
And Bowie knew he shouldn’t say anything. He knew Dr. Albright was just trying to rile him up. He knew all this and he still found himself blurting out. “That’s bullshit!” Bowie blurted out. “First of all, that is a video between a married couple. Second of all, I’m a fucking child in that video. How dare your homophobic ass accuse me of something like that?” He growled out. “What the hell is your problem with me? You’ve been determined to make my time here miserable from the beginning. Is it because of my sexuality? Or are you just antisemitic?”
Before he could blurt anything else out, there was a gentle hand from one of the lawyers pushing him back into his seat. “We came to meet with you in good faith.” The lawyer began and Bowie just knew it was someone from Benny’s team - if only because he didn’t correct his advisor on his legal name. “And so far all we’ve been met with his contempt and open homophobic and antisemitic rhetoric.”
There was more but Bowie zoned out. The team would fill him in later. For now, all he could bring himself to do was sit there and look pretty.
-- -- -- -- --
“So, what was the final verdict?” Darlene asked that night over dinner. He’d taken her to one of his favorite restaurants. As long as she was in town, he was going to at least take advantage of it.
Bowie sighed and slouched down into his chair. “It’s complicated.” He admitted. “They’re still claiming a morality clause, and Albright refuses to let me continue on with my teaching credit hours, which I need to graduate. They offered to give me an honorary degree, which is bullshit given that I’m a semester away from only needing to write my dissertation. The other option is to waive my teaching credit hours and allow me to transition right into my dissertation.”
Darlene shot him a calculating look. “Pumpkin, that last one sounds like a decent option. What’s complicated about that?” She asked before taking a sip of her wine.
“They want me to be fully remote. They don’t want me back on campus at all. They feel like I’ll be a distraction to the students. Especially the ones that already call me Hot Grad Student. They think it’s better for everyone involved if they keep it quiet and keep me out of the way.” He explained with a shrug.
With a soft sigh, Darlene reached across the table and gave Bowie’s hand a gentle pat. “You just want to be normal, pumpkin, I know you do, but you’re not normal. You’ve never been normal. You’ve always been in the spotlight. That’s not going to change anytime soon.” She sighed. “I don’t know if you planned on actually teaching after school, but did you really think that would be an option?”
He shrugged again. “If I was working with elementary school kids, they wouldn’t know who I was.” He tried to argue with a pout.
Darlene laughed, but before she could say anything in response, she froze and looked around the room. He followed her gaze. There was a table of ladies about his age who were looking at them and giggling. They seemed to be talking about him, which given everything going on, didn’t seem like it was going to be anything good.
Before anyone could say anything, the bodyguard Benny had insisted on providing yesterday was at their table. He was just glad that Benny hadn’t tried to come to Charlotte. A bodyguard he could handle, even if he knew he was going to just pass the information back onto Benny. “Mr. Washington, Ms. Darlene, it looks like the paparazzi are outside, which means something must have gotten out. It’s time to leave. Now.”
-- -- -- -- --
-- -- -- -- --
“Excuse me, ma’am. I don’t have your name on the approved guest list. Miss Olivia can come in, but I don’t have an Avery on my list.”
Bowie groaned, and went to wash his hands. He’d been helping Darlene prep Shabbat dinner. Even though she kept complaining about having to make vegetarian alternatives for Bowie. “Looks like Avery got my texts after all.” He muttered out before hurrying into the living room. “She’s good, Kenny.” He reassured his bodyguard. “That’s Livvie-Girl’s mom.”
“BoBo!!!!” Olivia screamed before launching herself into his arms. “I missed you so so so much!” She clung to him, arms wrapped around him tight. He had a feeling she was going to be attached to his hip all weekend. “A week is too long.”
He shifted her so he could look at Avery. “Thank you for bringing her for the weekend.” He told his ex, the fact that she was his ex still felt odd to him.
Avery nodded, and passed over Olivia’s overnight bag. “Bowie…” She started, but then she changed her mind. “Thanks for taking her.” It looked like she wanted to say something else, maybe apologize for what the Coercion had said, but instead she just gave Olivia a quick kiss. “I’ll be back on Sunday.”
With that, Avery was gone, and Bowie set Olivia down. “C’mon, Livvie-Girl. I wanna introduce you to someone.” He said before leading her over to the kitchen to introduce her to Darlene.
“BoBo,” Olivia started before they made it into the kitchen. “Are you sad?”
He crouched down to her level. “Yeah, kiddo. I’m a little sad. It’s been a long week, and I didn’t even get to see you for your magic healing hugs.” He told her with a smile.
She giggled and wrapped her arms around him. “BoBo, it’s okay. Today is the last day of the week. You can try again next week. It’s a fresh start.”
If only it were that simple. Bowie popped a kiss to the top of her head before straightening up. “Thanks, Livvie-Girl, you’re right. Next week has to be better than this one.”
Yom Shabbat
Sunset on Friday to Sunset on Saturday
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Drabble: Going Live
Trigger Warnings: References to an underage marriage, revenge porn, sex tapes, blackmail, and so much swearing.
When Bennett was grading papers for SPED 2100, he tended to purposely leave his phone in another room. It just was so tempting to get distracted when he was reading papers where students didn’t proofread, and he was stuck reading about ‘death’ and ‘herd of hearing’ students instead of deaf and hard of hearing students. He theoretically knew that being a TA and assisting with his advisor’s research was part of completing his doctorate, but damn if grading undergrad papers made him want to bash his head against the wall half the time. If he had his phone on him, he knew he’d just doom scroll or FaceTime Avery instead of doing what he needed to do.So when he grabbed his phone after grading for hours he assumed he’d have dozens of texts from Avery. While he did have a bunch of texts from her, he also had two texts from a number he didn’t recognize.
“Fvck. Fvck. Fvck.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair as he read and reread the text message. What the fvck. What the actual fvck. How did someone get that tape? He thought he had the only copy, but he wouldn’t be surprised if Benny had leaked it to someone. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d sent a video of Bennett in a compromising position for them to get off on, but if it was the video he was pretty sure it was, Benny came off as a creep. He wouldn’t have given it to someone on purpose, but it wouldn’t be the first time someone accessed a celebrity’s nudes or sex tapes. And well… he’d heard things about the Coercion when he moved to Charlotte. If anyone could access that tape, he figured it would be them, and they didn’t fvck around when it came to their threats.
Bennett closed his eyes and thought about what they were asking. He rarely wore shirts as it was so being topless wasn’t a big deal. A lot of his Instagram followers were fans of Death After Life, and they would probably appreciate him being nude. It wouldn’t exactly be the first time his account got flagged for nudity. Who knew all nipples were offensive? It was his students that were the problem.
His students and his advisor. He was pretty sure that he wouldn’t get kicked out of the program for not wearing clothes, but he was only pretty sure. He’d already had to start over at a couple of colleges because of overeager DAL fans. What was another school on his resume?
“The Sped students already call me hot… Professor Daniels is probably going to flip his sh!t, but I don’t think he’d actual kick me out of the program.” He said to himself as he began pacing back and forth. “I could always say it was an experiment on social norms and how nudity is becoming more normalized… Or following a social media trend? Fvck.” He collapsed onto his couch and closed his eyes. “It’s not the first time you’ve been naked on camera…”
His eyes sprung open. “It’s not the first time you’ve been naked on camera!” He scrambled for his phone and immediately went to IMDB. “They said to put on a show. What’s more of a show than reenacting one of my old scenes?” He murmured out loud to himself. Of course he knew they were talking about the tape he refused to acknowledge, but this was probably his only shot at pulling off the dare without getting in trouble at the university.
Scrolling through his credits, he tried to remember what film he was naked in. It was some cheesy romantic dramedy. Once he found it, he immediately YouTubed the scene. Remembering things he once had memorized was always a chore, but he was pretty sure this was the only way he was going to get out of this unscathed.
Two hours later found him all set up in his bedroom. His phone was on its tripod, facing towards the bed. He was sitting shirtless in his bed, the blankets pooled around his waist as he started his Instagram Live.
“Hi, everyone. It’s Bowie. So, I was looking for something to watch on Netflix and apparently All Roads Lead Back to You is trending again. Why is it trending, friends? Are you okay? I mean, really. Are you okay? That is not most mentally stable of movies, but I mean… thank you for contributing to my residuals? As a thank you for streaming this really weird movie I made seven years ago, I decided to reenact one of the scenes. If you’ve made it this far into my Live, you probably know what scene I’m going to reenact. And no judgement – I don’t act anymore.”
Bennett took a deep breath and turned away from the camera. He’d practiced a couple of times before going Live and knew from this angle, all anyone would be able to see was his bare back. Now he just had to re-remember the lines he’d spent the past two hours memorizing. Ignoring everything else, he went into ‘actor’ mode. He turned his head slightly to the side so viewers could see his profile.
“Marilyn, don’t say anything, okay? If I stop now I’ll never be able to finish saying what I need to say, and after our fight I just need to get this off my chest.
“I’m sorry for running when you said you wanted to go all the way. It’s just… I had this whole plan in my head for our first time, and when you sprung it on me, I realized I wasn’t ready. It wasn’t you. God, Marilyn, I’d do anything for you. I just wasn’t ready. But I’m ready now. If you’ll have me.”
And this was it. He raised himself up on his knees so anyone watching his Live could see his bare ass. Bennett held the pose for a minute before turning his head and shoulders enough to face the camera, bottom lip between his teeth.
“Will you have me?” And then his face moved into a look of absolute horror. “Oh my God! Mrs. Canton!” He looked panicked and forced himself into a seated position to face the camera, making sure to follow what he’d practiced so he wouldn’t give the viewers a full-frontal view. “I thought you were Marilyn! Uh!” He glanced around with his fake panic and grabbed his boxers from under the sheets. “You didn’t hear that! And you didn’t see that either.”
In the movie, his character panickily threw his boxers at the mother of his love interest’s head and ran into the ensuite. There was no way he was going to get out of this bed when he was naked. And besides, he did what was asked of him. He went Live, naked, and put on a show.
So, like he practiced, he threw his boxers at his phone, thanking a God he didn’t believe in as they landed right where they were supposed to, obstructing the camera. He scrambled to the end of his bed, and grabbed the phone so all anyone could see was his face and pulled the boxers off his phone.
“Bye, everyone.” He winked and ended the Live before throwing his phone onto his bed. “FVCK.”
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