RESISTANCE ━━ k. ren ✓

xxxvii

As it turns out, Ben had actually been proposing. Well...sort of. It was definitely a clue or a lead up to what he has planned.

As usual, you wake up wrapped in Ben's arms.

"Good morning Princess." He mutters sleepily. You giggle and press a kiss to his cheek. You sit up, but Ben drags you back down.

"Come on, you've got to give me something better than that." Ben grumbles. You giggle again.

"Nope. Not until you get out of bed." You poke him, hard, in the chest.

Ben rolls over and says something along the lines of you little brat.

You sit up and stretch, yawning.

"I was thinking, maybe we could do something today. Something fun." Ben says.

"Like what?" You ask, without turning to look at him. Ben's definition of fun is a lot different from yours.

"I don't know. What about dinner?" Ben sits up and turns to look at you. "We could get a room just to ourselves, and they could cook whatever you want, and-"

You cut him off with a kiss. "That's perfect. Now I'm going to take a shower."

Ben immediately brightens. "Can I come?" He asks.

"Hmm. No." You smile at him and skip to the connected bathroom.

One long and hot shower later, you're dressed in a sweater and a pair of black leggings. You smooth your hair back into a bun, and leave the bathroom, Ben waiting in front of the door.

"Finally." He says. "You women take forever."

"You'll take longer. Don't you have to wash your hair today?" You ask him, pulling on a strand of his dark hair.

"Yeah whatever." Ben mumbles.

As he takes a shower, you sit on your bed, thinking.

Ben walks in, toweling off his hair.

He smells like he usually does, mint and something boyish that you can never quite place.

"Took you long enough." You tease.

"Sorry Princess."

"I'm just teasing. Now, what am I supposed to do until dinner?" You ask.

"Well, I have work. You could go and start the chefs on what you want. Then, you can get ready. Please wear something nice."

"I always wear something nice."

"You know what I mean." Ben says, clipping on his cape.

"Will you pick me up?" You ask, leaning back on your hands.

"Of course. I'll be here around 7."

Ben turns to you, his new helmet under his arm.

He never told you what happened to the old one. All you know was that it looked smashed to bits, so Ben made a new one. Same look, just where the cracks were, there's now some sort of red stuff. It's cool to look at.

"Remember. 7." Ben reminds you, leaning down to press a kiss to your lips.

He tries to straighten up, put you pull him back down, and give him a long and hard kiss.

"Have fun." You whisper, pushing him upwards.

Ben grins down at you, then secures his helmet of his face.

You watch him leave and let out a dejected sigh. Him being gone is your least favorite part of the day.

You lay on the bed for a couple more minutes before you decide to go do something productive.

To start, you pick up Annie, and fill her in on what's happened.

She gets all excited about the mention of babies.

"Awww. You and Ben's kids would be sooo cute!" She squeals.

"Shhh, not so loud. You're going to tell the whole base at this rate." You laugh, shaking your head.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But just imagine." Annie raises her hands, and waves them in the air.

"I've definitely imagined." You mutter.

"What was that?" Annie glances at you.

"Oh nothing." You say. "Now, let's head to the kitchen to get dinner prepared."

The two of you do get to the kitchen, but other than that, you don't do anything to help for tonight.

You and Annie steal cookies from the chefs and gossip with them. They seem to know everything. Who's doing what, who's with who. Everything that goes on in the Finalizer, they know.

After two hours, you jump up from where you've been sitting, and stretch. Your joints crackle and pop in response, giving you instant relief.

You help Annie down from where she is sitting, and then wave goodbye to the chefs.

They ask you to come back soon, and you promise them you will.

After that, you and Annie race back to the room you share with Ben.

The time on your clock reads 4:43 pm, which gives you just under two and a half hours.

Annie ushers you into the tub, where you wash your hair and tidy yourself up.

Once the waters turned cold, you blow dry your hair, and tie it back. You'll work on it later.

For your dress, you settle on a deep red one that has a little slit up the right side. It doesn't reveal too much of your leg, just enough for you to be comfortable with.

After you slip into the garment, you apply makeup. Annie only helps you with your eyeliner. You can never get the wings to look the same.

Finally, you pull your hair out of its ponytail, and you let it cascade down your back.

Annie admires the finished product.

"You clean up well if I do say so myself."

You giggle, and give her a lopsided curtsy.

You turn to look in the mirror and smile. 6 months ago, you would never had imagined being in such elegant clothes, and eating a fancy dinner on a whim.

A knock sounds at the door, making Annie yelp and scurry into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

You quickly fix any last mistakes, though there are none, and straighten your dress before going to open the door.

Outside stands Ben.

He's in a suit and tie. He also looks uncomfortable.

"Where'd you get all dressed up?" You tease him, glancing him up and down. He cleans up really well.

"Eh, you're not too bad yourself." Ben replies, having read your thoughts. You blush a bright red.

"Wow, my thoughts are loud." You mutter.

"Just a bit." Ben brushes a piece of hair away from your face. "Shall we go then?" He offers you his arm.

You take it gratefully, and give your room one last look.

Annie sticks her arm out of the bathroom, and gives you a thumbs up.

You grin, and turn back around, walking with Ben to your dinner destination.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi guys. I'm so sorry for not updating last night, I had a family camp in that I couldn't get away from. This corona really is a killer. Also, this is a filler chapter which I'm also sorry for. Tomorrow, I'm going to try and update twice. Both chapters should have a lot of action/drama so stay tuned!

word count: 1155