Ben laughs, soft and easy, even though he knows Cole is asking in earnest. It's just funny, this reminder of the fact that both of them, to most people's eyes, would be pretty crazy, indeed.
"No, I guess not. I had just never imagined it. I guess it just depends what you're used to."
And he feels a little swell of happiness, realizing he is, in fact, used to Cole. When they'd first met, Ben didn't understand him, was wary of him and his powers. It took a while, to really wrap his mind around what Cole is. And a while longer still, to come to accept it and no longer really think about it as something out of the ordinary. Cole is just... Cole. By bits and pieces it's become hard to imagine what his life in this place would be like without Cole around, to be his friend.
"Okay. I haven't done this much so I might not be as good at the voices, but.."
He settles himself, scooting just a bit closer to Cole so their shoulders are touching as he lifts up the book, flipping through to the first page and clearing his throat before he starts:
"Mr. Utterson the lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance, that was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary, and yet somehow lovable..."
Ben's delivery is a little stiff, at first, and he's overly aware of the sound of his own voice, of when he is pausing to breathe, of how he is enunciating the words. But gradually, he relaxes into it, and that self-consciousness slips away. He's only thinking of the content of the story itself, and Cole's presence beside him listening, absorbing the story. Ben doesn't even care if anybody's watching them, if they stand out amidst the various people enjoying the goop festival. He is too happy to care.
no subject
"No, I guess not. I had just never imagined it. I guess it just depends what you're used to."
And he feels a little swell of happiness, realizing he is, in fact, used to Cole. When they'd first met, Ben didn't understand him, was wary of him and his powers. It took a while, to really wrap his mind around what Cole is. And a while longer still, to come to accept it and no longer really think about it as something out of the ordinary. Cole is just... Cole. By bits and pieces it's become hard to imagine what his life in this place would be like without Cole around, to be his friend.
"Okay. I haven't done this much so I might not be as good at the voices, but.."
He settles himself, scooting just a bit closer to Cole so their shoulders are touching as he lifts up the book, flipping through to the first page and clearing his throat before he starts:
"Mr. Utterson the lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance, that was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary, and yet somehow lovable..."
Ben's delivery is a little stiff, at first, and he's overly aware of the sound of his own voice, of when he is pausing to breathe, of how he is enunciating the words. But gradually, he relaxes into it, and that self-consciousness slips away. He's only thinking of the content of the story itself, and Cole's presence beside him listening, absorbing the story. Ben doesn't even care if anybody's watching them, if they stand out amidst the various people enjoying the goop festival. He is too happy to care.