[benjamin elias pryor]

Benjamin Elias Pryor had taken to walking around the library in his spare time. It was a good sized library, and he enjoyed walking up and down the aisles of books, trying to figure out where the books where that he would want to read. He couldn't find anything that would interest him. This hadn't been a problem when he had been back at home. His mother would always pick out books for him, and he would always like them. She had always known what he liked and what he didn't, and it was times like these that he missed her dearly. He missed his father a great deal too, of course, but his mother was different. He had had a special connection with her that he hadn't had with his father. And he really did miss it. But now was not the time to think about it. Now was the time to work and get out of here. How he was going to do that he had no real clue, but he'd figure it out eventually. For now he was content, to an extent, walking about this place exploring. It was rather big. He frowned at an especially tall bookshelf, at the top of which was a small stack of books that looked to be covered in a layer of dust. He shrugged, not really caring to try and find someone to help him reach them. They'd probably be boring, anyways.

He continued walking up and down the aisles of the library, though he stopped once to check out a book titled "Four". He had to figure out why it was called that. He had begun to read the inside jacket, and was quickly finding out that it was not a book for him but a very advanced book, when someone appeared from nowhere right behind him. He didn't notice, of course, and turned around, walked straight into the person, and jumped back into the bookshelf. This caused a few books to fall, but nothing serious. Said person was looking surprised himself, and grinned at Ben. A quick apology and he was gone. Benjamin blinked a few times before he picked up the books that had fallen and put them back on the shelf. Now he was a little nervous. That person had appeared from nowhere and scared the crap out of him. What if someone else did the same? He bit his lip, getting slightly nervous. What if someone appeared behind him? What if someone jumped out at him... and ATE HIM? He shuddered at this thought. That wouldn't be good.

He was walking down the aisles of books more slowly now, much more cautiously. No one was going to sneak up on him. He glanced over his shoulder ever once and a while, just to be sure no one was following him. Once he was sure that he had seen someone, though when he checked again he saw no one and forgot about it. He was getting more and more nervous. He began humming to himself, as quietly as possible, as it is the library. The humming soon turned to singing, and if anyone knew him well enough they'd know he sang when he was very nervous. He had no real reason to be nervous, as no one here would actually hurt him. But he was getting nervous. This was a strange place with strange people but excellent food, and Benjamin was getting frightened. He was sure he had just heard something behind him, turned around, saw nothing, spun around again, and found no one, and continued singing to himself. This was not a good day.

ooc;; so this is probably the worst starting post ever. forgive me. i disown it.

[benjamin fitzgerald]

*adopts disowned post* it's cute.

Benji was sick, which as it turned out wasn't all that surprising. His immune system wasn't made out of steel- rather, paper maché- and he hadn't been around so many people since he was eight... You caught colds from people, right? And here he was, around people. That was his logic, logic that told him that it would be better to tough it out than have to talk to the nurse who he was told had some healing powers. It only made sense that she did, right? Everyone else did. have powers, at least. Strange things for strange people. Strange indeed. The boy had been laying in his bed for the most of the day, but decided to make himself useful while he could; rolled out of bed and got himself dressed, which is a lot harder than it sounds due to the fact that most shirts don't fit over his... extra limbs. The shirts he could wear were those with holes cut in the back, and even then... They were a bitch to get on, especially alone, but he found a way- a way that involved holding his arms at strange angles and spinning around multiple times as if the momentum would help the wings slip into the holes cut in the back. Sure, it probably might have been easier to cut a large hole in the back and just go from there, but that would be... uncomfortable. Not saying that this wasn't, but Ben had a problem with being cold.

He also had a problem with having a cold, something that, in his opinion, could best be treated with a big class of orange juice and maybe a book or two in a warm room. Well, seeing as it was well into the afternoon, breakfast had ceased to be served, meaning no orange juice for Benji unless he, heaven forbid, went up to someone and asked for it. And he wasn't the best at talking to people, not at all. The fifteen year old coughed into his elbow, still feeling cold but deciding not to do anything about it (You try putting a sweater over a twelve foot wingspan), instead wandering about for a little. He still hadn't quite mastered the long, intricate hallways of the Institution, even though he'd been here for around three months now- all he'd ever known was his three bedroom apartment. It didn't take long to navigate through there, but this three story building, will all of it's doors and rooms and outside space... The outside might have been what scared him the most. Being barred from it before, he'd just gotten used to not being able to go outside... and here he was, being practically forced to at least once a week for his... flying lessons. Just to see if he could, because even he didn't know if he was aerodynamic enough to do anything other than glide a little bit before tumbling to the ground.

Well, so far he wasn't doing to badly, but... not too well, either. There had been no fatal falls, which was a plus, but... he hadn't exactly... left the ground yet. He'd stand outside in the field, meet his... professor, teacher, whatever he was, but... after that was, it was just him crossing his arms awkwardly over his thin torso and shaking his head, no, no. There was no way he could do that. You see... Yeah, Birdboy was afraid of heights. Falling, to be exact. Something very likely to happen if his feet ever left the ground, even for a joyous leap half a foot from the green grass he currently bare feet loved so much, too much to let go of to take to limitless skies... Some people would kill to be able to fly. Benji... not so much. The idea of roller coasters terrified him, He wasn't even fond of looking out of the windows in his apartment. Oddly, his fear of heights didn't come about until the chance of him flying came about- he never really minded them until those winged nuisances grew in.

Coughing once more as he reached a skinny arm up and over to itch his back, He made his way into the library, passing under the large arc of a door and into the dusty smell of old books, new books, large, comforting chairs sitting in front of a fire that always seemed to be going... This was a good place for him, as long as it was dead. Too many people and he'd just have to go find somewhere else; he didn't want to share hislibrary with someone, of even worse, find someone in his chair. It was the largest chair that he would with much difficulty drag close to the warm fire, curl into and read or think or sleep... It was the most comfortable place in the building, he was sure of that- which meant that more often than not, other people had found his chair and curled into it themselves, cuddling with their loved one or alone... He hated it most when two people were sitting in his chair, kissing and being in love; call him jealous, call him whatever you liked. If asked, he just didn't want them breaking the chair. His chair.

But surprise surprise, the library was pretty empty, save for the nice librarian that gave him warm smiled and left him alone unless it was to help him move his chair, and a few others that had opted to sit at desks, writing into books. That was good... once his spot was reserved by putting a random book onto the seat, he traveled slowly down each isle, looking for something to potentially read... Maybe, maybe, maybe not. Nothing looked all too interesting, but he kept on looking, walking slowly and purposefully through the isles until, until... He heard singing. Unless the singing was coming from the walls- which happened frequently in Benji's presence- singing only meant that someone else was around... The boy bit his lip, running a hand through his hair as he looked around him, trying to locate the singer- oh. A small boy, not older than nine or ten, was standing at the other end of the isle Ben had just turned into, about fifteen feet away. Maybe he wouldn't notice him, maybe he wouldn't see him... That was hardly possible, but worth a try. Wasn't it? Well... Not with what Benji could feel rising up his throat- a cough. Not just a dainty 'ahem,' but the fit of suffocating coughs that he'd been suffering from for the week... He tried to swallow it, stifle it, but no such luck. Some things just had to happen. Whether you wanted them to or not.

[benjamin elias pryor]

When you watch too many horror movies, you realize there is a pattern. People find a place that, somehow, they can't escape from. People proceed to be picked off one by one. And of course, as the audience, you always know better than the people in said situation. "No, they should have done this" or "Why the heck did they freaking go in?" But when you think about it, you realize you'd do the same things. With a tad more hesitation, of course. Benjamin Pryor had once watched a horror movie. In said horror movie one part had stood out for him above all. The part where one of the less important characters, those created only to be killed off, was walking down an oddly dark hallway. Said character stopped to examine a lovely lamp, turn it on, hear a growling noise behind him, turn around and find his face was suddenly missing. That was when Benjamin stopped watching. It was this sort of situation that, had one known this was what he was thinking of at the moment, they might have been a bit more careful in approaching him. He was rather scared at the moment. When Benjamin was scared, well, what happens when you get scared? Things scare you. Someone jumps out of a closet screaming Merry Christmas and you're screaming bloody murder because you didn't freaking expect the thing. Benjamin did not expect the coughing fit behind him. So, naturally, he overreacted.

A single cough he could have taken. Two or three coughs in quick succession he could have taken. Several coughs strung together in what would have been mistaken for a pathetic excuse for a tune would have suited him just fine. But this person behind him decided upon quite a few coughs that sounded like something out of a horror movie. Not really, but Benjamin was rather jumpy and interpreted them as such. He bit his lip until the coughing ceased, turned his head as slowly as possible, and then noticed the rather large figure behind him. He jumped. Literally, obviously. "AAAAGH! DON'T EAT ME I SWEAR I'M NOT THAT TASTY I PROMISE!!!" He took a few steps back, still not registering that the figure was indeed human and that he was not in danger of being eaten. "NOT THAT I WOULD KNOW BUT REALLY DON'T EAT M- ..." He stopped as he finally looked at the figure in front of him. It was human. "Oh... uhhh... hi." He blinked quite a few times at that. He couldn't see, but he had turned a dark shade of red from embarrassment and was still biting at his lip. This was rather embarrassing. It could have been worse, of course. He could have ran away, or even charged at this person. But if had run away, he would avoided the embarrassment that came with his shouts of surprise. Had he charged, well, we won't go into that. He most likely would have embarrassed himself further, and at the moment he wanted to disappear. What he wouldn't have given for the power of invisibility. But no. He had mind control. And telepathic resistance, but neither of those were invisibility. But what he could do with mind control he could not even imagine. Assuming he wasn't killed for it. Because, in all honesty, would anyone want to risk having a nine year old kid running around planet Earth with the ability to control their every thought and action? And he wouldn't stay nine forever. He'd get older and his goals would get larger, and he wouldn't be telling people to laugh at his jokes anymore. He'd be telling them to vote for him in the next election, or just do whatever the hell he said for the rest of their lives. And people wouldn't want to risk that, would they? He wasn't thinking about that, of course. But he would eventually. But what did they do with the people here at this place? Kill them once they were finished? Release them into the world? It seemed unlikely, though it was what Ben believed. What he wanted to believe for the most part. Perhaps they had a psychopath like Sylar from the TV show Heroes, who killed everyone and took their ability from them. Perhaps the people at this Institution were plotting world domination with a single all powerful being. Yeah, and perhaps Luke Skywalker was Ben's father. HA, get it? STAR WARS REFERENCE. Ben = Obi-Wan Kenobi... whatever.

To get back on track, he began to examine the person in front of him. He was obviously older, and he could obviously fly. The wings sort of gave it away. Ben had been side-tracked a bit by his thoughts for a moment, though his cheeks flushed once again as he looked at the person in front of him. He was really embarrassed. He couldn't quite bring himself to apologize, though he couldn't really bring himself to say anything else, either. So he just looked at him for a minute, trying to figure out the best thing to say. He was rather jealous of the wings. He wished he could fly. He wished he could do a lot of things. He couldn't even use his ability most of the time, but this kid could probably use his whenever he wanted. How hard could it be to learn how to use wings? Just keep flapping and you'll go higher, right? But Ben didn't know, and he didn't want to assume in front of this kid. He forced himself to stop biting his lip, as it had started to hurt, and in his head he sang the words to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star before he thought of anything to say at all. Then he realized he had already said that thing, but he said it anyways. "...hi."

ooc;; this is better, but still not... the one. i rambled a good bit.