[IC][WIP][Arc 1] How I Managed to Quit Worrying and Love The Grief Seed

[Black Aeronaut]

“...a possibility," said Rei at barely more than a whisper, her voice filled with awe.  "Something that could have been, but never was.”
Aside: That along with Hild-chan's part of the story makes me wonder if OA is in doublet with Hap, but I'm not sure I'm cruel enough inflict to The OA on y'all.  But your scene would have been one of the more normal things that happens on that show, seriously I haven't been so surprised by an octopus since Anthy's closet.

The OA? You don't happen to mean Akio Ohtori, do you?

As for this scene seeming odd, well, that's the beauty of the new setup I came up with for the cosmology. It's easy enough in this case to say that, somewhere, sometime, Benjamin was actually Hino Ichirou, older brother of Hino Rei* and Almighty Lord of "Your Shit Doesn't Smell Like Roses".

And now, one of my favorite bits from Jonathan Livingston Seagull comes to mind...

If our friendship depends on things like space and time, then when we finally overcome space and time, we've destroyed our own brotherhood! But overcome space, and all we have left is Here. Overcome time, and all we have left is Now. And in the middle of Here and Now, don't you think that we might see each other once or twice?

It's really very romantic to think about: a couple of lost bits of causality, finally meeting each other again between Here and Now.

* This could be a sign of how horrible Rei's father was - since in this continuity, he would have had a son already, Rei would have literally meant nothing to him, a zero, and thus, Rei. Their mother made sure, though, that the kana on the birth certificate didn't have that implication. Fodder, perhaps, for one of Ben's and Rei's little get-togethers.

and I love her more than anything else in all of existence.
Then why don't you marry her? … … Hey come back, I didn't mean right now!

PFFT! I think I can work this in...

Unnoticed by either of them, Kuroko had been creeping closer and closer to eavesdrop on the very personal conversation. So it was natural that the both of them nearly jumped out of their skin when she suddenly and loudly piped up,

"Well if you love her so much, why don't you -ULP!-"

Kuroko never got to finish that last bit as a glowing golden chain of heart-shaped links suddenly wrapped itself around her, covered her mouth, and then yanked her clear over to Rail Gun, who swiftly dispensed punishment.

You could almost actually see the sweat drops forming on the backs of Ben's and Rei's heads.

With a visible effort, Rei continued where she left off despite Kuroko getting read the riot act in the background.

I have an admission to make.
I'm curious what Rei looks like around this soliloquy.  Is there nervousness, like the tapping of a foot, or she staring directly into Ben's eyes?

Yes, this wasn't up to my usual standards. I'll be going back to fill in these little details. The wonder of the [WIP] tag is that we can take it to mean that the contents of the story posts are subject to change.

“It is so weird to think about... for them to want to start a family at such a young age...”
What was Rei thinking during those episodes after Chibiusa showed up?

Probably something along the lines of "Ah heellllll naaaaahhhhh!!!"

somewhat smaller young woman, and bowed his head.
Rei's only 4cm shorter than you, so somewhat smaller is confusing in this context.  And I think the bowing implies that much of a height difference, so if she tips her head forward, you can show instead of tell.

Yeesh. That's one thing that's going to get fixed when Ben gets his second childhood - the better all-round nutrition means he's gonna grow to be taller than I am. (Seriously. I was perpetually underweight until I joined the Navy.) I really should have been 5'10" and not the 5'8" I'm at now.

“If you wanna try it, I can set you up,” said Washu with an impish grin.
You're missing the next sentence:  "I have a couple of theories about photoreactive hormones I've been dying to test."

Pffft. Thanks.

Rin stepped back with a sickly smile.  “Ah, thanks but NO thanks.  Really.  I like my circadian rhythm the way it is.”
You mean Ben not Rin, right?  But then two paragraphs later Rin is talking?  I'm confused.

Again, not my best quality here.

Fortunately, Rin was able to complete her task with no incident.
Show don't tell please.

.... you do realize you're asking me to describe several minutes of "nothing really notable happens here", right?

road to hell
should be spelled: Hel

But you’ve done this before.

I figured some people might like that. The last bit, "Life is waiting for you!" was inspired by a song by Our Lady Peace.

the Onsen here.
and that one should be lowercase.  Italics if you like, but I wouldn't bother -- I tend to reserve italics for foreign words that would otherwise be parse errors for readers, either for being too strange, or being too much like an English word.

Eh. I kinda did that because, in my mind, that is THE Onsen. I just haven't gotten around to writing scene in there yet. I really should - that can be the source of some great shenanigans despite Washu's safety measures.

“Good.  I may be in the business of gathering souls for hell, but I wouldn’t want to see those girls broken up over you.”
"In fact, I'm excited to see what sort of arrangement you work out with those gorgeous lolis.  And where there's one arrangement, there can be many.  Just think of the possibilities."

*Belldandy shows up with a paper fan and starts bapping hild over the head with it*
"Bad demon! No treat for you!"

Having you as a consort will be something else entirely~.  Think about it, Benjamin.  But not too hard.”
You can be gentle our first time.

Pffffft!