OUT OF THIS WORLD .. ben tennyson x reader

xxiii. opposites reflect

     "Change it!"

     "No way! You change yours!"

     "It's your turn!"

     "Sorry, but I already picked the cake, color-coordinated the balloons, and sent the invitations! By the way, here's yours."

     "Why're you up here?"

     [name] stops idly listening to Ben and Gwen argue about their birthday parties and staring into the dreary forest they were driving through. Belatedly, she realizes it was Max talking to her, not telling the cousins to cut it out. "I was scared they were going to drag me into it," she answers, shifting to pull her feet up into the passenger seat. Afterward, she adjusts the blanket in her lap to cover her shoulders, her head leaning against the window. They hadn't had reason to leave the Rustbucket all day, allowing her to get dressed in another set of pajamas after taking a shower. Max had tried to get her into outside clothes "just in case they broke down," or something — but it'd been raining all day, and it had her feeling tired. "I dipped once she brought out the agenda."

     Max huffs out a laugh. The windshield wipers stop in the middle of a cycle, which quickly ruins his amusement. Thumping his fist against the dashboard close to the window, then turns the wipers off and on for the nth time that day. "Damn."

     "Oh, Ancient Ones," she grumbles, slipping further down into the seat. "You cursed us because you didn't get the wipers fixed the last time you were at a repair shop."

     Confused, Max glances at her from the corner of his eye. "What do you mean?"

     "Every time we stop or something with the Rustbucket stops working, something happens."

     "Not every time. It's just some times."

     "Day one at camp, when we stopped at the store and met Animo, Auntie Vera's, the bounty hunters, New York, Rojo, Zombozo's —"

     "Okay, I get it!" Max holds the wheel with just his thumbs while the rest of his fingers raise, showing his submission. "What do you suggest we do to keep that from happening, then?"

     [name] shrugs. "All I'm saying is that I am very cozy right now and probably won't help with anything," she hums, burying herself into the blanket to further prove her point.

     "What if your brother shows up? Or some other intergalactic threat that needs both of our expertise?"

     "You've fought him before and Ben's.. okay.. at hand-to-hand as a human, so you two should be fine."

     "Two?"

     "Gwen's obviously gonna stay behind with me? You're you, and he's your grandson. You can —"

     "Last time I checked, Grandpa said he was gonna spend my birthday with me at the Sumo Slammers: Last Rites premiere, then at the amusement park with my team after!"

     "You must be delusional if you think Grandpa is gonna miss my murder-mystery party! Do you know how long it took for my friends to make the guest list, figure out the meal plan, and then plot everything so there weren't any holes?"

     Rubbing a hand down his face, Max taps his foot on the brake just enough to catch Ben and Gwen's attention without causing the inertia to make [name] fall out of her seat. "You two have shared the same birthday for seventeen years, and if you don't stop arguing, neither of you is making it eighteen."

     Gwen calms as she considers their options, clasping her hands in front of her mouth and resting her elbows on the table. "I take [name], and you can have Grandpa. We switch during my intermission, and when you all go to the park."