OUT OF THIS WORLD .. ben tennyson x reader

i. Bullies

"You're really pale for your color, are you sure you should be hiding away from the sun like that?"

"You're a ginger. Why are you talking about how pale I am?"

Gwen doesn't shy away at the jab or harsh (yet playful) gaze that came from the girl's buried head. Her arms crossed over most of it and her face. It made a hole just big enough so the two could see each other.

Instead, she raises a brow and offers a smug smile while poking her finger at one of the several hundred braids that decorated [name]'s head.

Her nose scrunches at the cool, almost wet, sensation of it.

"Yeah, but the same can't be said for you," she hums innocently, giving the strands of hair a gentle tug. "What's your excuse? Are you some kind of vampire?"

An amused "why," was the only response Gwen received before she was yanked over the table to meet [name] halfway over. Their noses bump against each other clumsily before a pair of teeth flash themselves before Gwen's eyes. "Scared 'm gonna bite you?" [name] pulls away, returning to her uncomfortable seat at the dinner booth.

Unable to hide her shock, amazement, befuddlement, and partial disgust, Gwen jolts back into her seat. "Y— yo— you! You're!— Just like Ben!" She tries to speak through choked words, blood rushing to her face in embarrassment.

"I don't know who that is," [name] reminds her with a raised brow.

"My grody, good-for-nothing—"

"Gwen," Max says from the front of the rustbucket. It served less as an older-relative-warning and more of a friend-warning, or, at least, [name] would think it was. Humans and the way they toned their words were always lost on her.

Turning back to face her grandfather, Gwen's face blushed a brighter red as her hands grappled with air to try and defend herself. "But Grandpa!" There's a break in her whine when it reaches a certain pitch on accident, eyes catching on the two boys flailing and kicking their legs as they hung by the collars of their shirts of a rather high-up tree branch. "You can see how much of a dweeb Ben looks like right now! [name]! Back me up!"

(The same question of "how did they get up there," echoed through all of their minds like a conjoined thought no one felt the need to vocalize.)

"Are we gonna have to stop by the hospital?" [name] angles her head and hand so she can see out the window without being blinded by the sun. It was a hard ordeal given it was above the school they were parked beside, but she powers through it.

"Hopefully not," Max answers, leaning towards the passenger side so he can get a better look at the boys as well. "One of you wanna go help 'em before we actually do?"

"Of course not!"

"No, not really."

The old man sends the two a look of disappointment as his left hand shifts to hit one of the buttons on his door. It takes him a few tries, but he finally manages to roll down the window on the passenger side with a long push.

"LET'S GO, BEN!" Max tries to give the boy some sort of incentive to climb (or rock and tumble) himself down. Despite being so far away, he can see Ben leave whatever post-bullying daze he was previously in before his face and ears flushed a bubblegum pink. "WE'RE BURNING DAYLIGHT! I WANNA BE AT THE CAMPSITE BY NIGHTFALL!"

Though lower and raspier with humiliation, Ben's voice still managed to reach the vehicle. "Can I get.. a little.. help..?" His legs were still kicking, voice weak with humiliation.