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It was really quite late, half past 1 AM. Spencer was trying to get some shut eye, and considerably struggling with it. Not like anyone noticed when he didn't get much sleep anyway. Well, not like it happened often either.
It just seemed he was being kept awake by something, or should he say by someone, to be specific!
He recalled talking to Benji earlier. It was overall quite the pleasant experience. He found himself relating to Benji more than he'd expected to.
There was one particular detail, though...
"Is that a personal anecdote or like an anime reference?" Well, of course Spencer knew Benji watched anime, it was all over his character. He never thought he might actually get to talk to him about it, though. "Who's to say!" he'd replied, so much for not building walls. Why did he need to be so difficult? He could have just said yes!
Then again, that instance wasn't an actual anime reference, of course, but he could let Benji believe it was. Then he could maybe actually talk about his interests with someone who cared for once in his miserable life.
For once, maybe, someone would listen.
But it isn't like he knew Benji that well, it would be difficult to just open up and hope for the best. Yes... He was perfectly used to keeping this to himself anyway...
And then, speak of the devil and as if his silent prayers had been answered, there was a knock on the door. Then another. Who in the blazes is going around knocking at people's dormitory doors at 2 AM?!
There could only be one answer to that question.
THE Benjamin Hattori, live and in the flesh! Spencer made haste to unlock the door for him.
"Heey dude..! So grateful to know others are awake..." Benji nervously greeted, noticing the frown on Spencer's face.
"To hell with whatever you're doing!" Spencer exclaimed, rubbing his eyes even though he had no reason to. "Besides, I'm hardly the only one awake. Go bother Tristan, Natalia or someone... else," he went on, slowing down as he realised he sounded quite harsh.
"Wait, sorry. Ahh, that came off as rude, didn't it? It's too late for me, I have no filter..." This was his best attempt at de-escalating the situation. Thankfully, Benji is difficult to upset.
"No worries, haha. Anyway, I guess you're right, I could be sleeping with Tristan right now. Hold up, not like that!!!"
Spencer lightly chuckled at the way he stumbled over his words, garnering a flustered "Stop that!" from Benji.
"Relax, I wouldn't have even taken it that way if you hadn't mentioned it," he managed through his giggles. To be fair, he would have taken in that way, but not to get into that or anything..!
Benji invited himself in and Spencer locked the door with his key-card behind him.
Spencer's room looked quite bare-bones compared to everyone else's. While everyone had decorated theirs with their belongings, Spencer only had a few books on his nightstand and papers on his desk. You know, equations and whatnot, stuff that would send Benji into a coma.
"In all seriousness, what brings you here?" Spencer queried, as he wasn't sure what made him more desirable to talk to than any of Benji's buddies.
"Well, I might just be dumb and lingering too much on details, but you remember that conversation we had earlier? Do you really watch anime? I'm sorry if I'm stretching," he hesitantly asked, a tint of red intensifying on his cheeks. At least he had the courage to even ask this, Spencer thought.
"I suppose I sometimes do," he muttered, not wanting to draw too much attention to the fact. In truth, he was more of a manga guy, but it all boils down to the same thing either way.
Benji's face instantly lit up. "Really?! Sick! Which one's your favourite?! Wow, I never would have pegged you as the type!"
"Never would have pegged me?" Spencer raised his eyebrow along with his response and Benji immediately started spit-balling excuses. He really seemed to have a knack for saying weird things. He made a mental note of that, for... no reason!!! None at all!!!
"Gosh, Spencer! I thought you said you weren't dirty-minded!" he laughed at him, though clearly still embarrassed.
"So," he went on, "what is your favourite anime anyway?"
"...Hetalia?" he answered, puzzled, as if he were questioning himself. Was Hetalia considered niche? Benji didn't seem like he'd watch something like that.
He sighed, subconsciously so.
"Hm, I haven't heard of that one– hey, is something wrong?"
Spencer seemed to have spaced out, barely registering what Benji was saying. It must have finally dawned on him that it was nearing 2 AM, Benji was in his room for some reason, and they were discussing one of Spencer's actual interests that he had been keeping so subtle for so long.
"Huh? Oh, nothing. Just a tad lost in thought is all..." Spencer mumbled. He suddenly felt his face grow hot and did his best to avoid the topic. "Yours? What's your favourite anime, I mean?"
"Oh, I thought you'd speak a bit more of that Hetalia, I mean I'll gladly listen if you will! You sure you don't want to?" Benji seemed so genuinely sweet. Perhaps one day he'd feel less restrained from talking about it. When that would be, he wasn't sure.
"Mhm, just you go ahead," he yawned dismissingly.
"You tired? Well, figures, it is quite late. Oh, I know, d'you maybe wanna watch something? Ah, but you'd probably mind it if I accidentally fell asleep," he kept going on.
Spencer thought about it. He wouldn't mind, not really, as long as it wasn't weird. As in, Spencer would be totally fine if each of them fell asleep on their side of the bed. So what? It didn't need to... mean anything. He knew most people did think it would mean something, but in all honesty: he just thought it'd feel less lonely.
Could Benji think of it as something weird? That was the only thing keeping Spencer from agreeing, he didn't want it to seem perverse or something like that.
He was overthinking this!
"I don't mind watching something, it might truly help after all. And you needn't worry, I'll wake you up in case you doze off."
There you go. Simple.
"So, what did you want to watch?" Oops, perhaps he should have waited for Benji to actually agree first. He bit his lip in frustration.
"Uh... Not sure, actually. Dangan...ronpa, maybe...? Have you watched that? It is really popular."
"I have, not sure if I watched all of it, though. I recall liking it. A re-watch couldn't hurt," he swiftly agreed.
They turned on the TV and flipped through the applications on it until they found an anime streaming service. He was a little embarrassed to have that installed, even though obviously Benji wouldn't pay it much thought. Probably didn't even register it, either.
Benji made a light-hearted comment, something about Spencer really striking him as an otaku now that he got to know him, to which Spencer flailed his hands out in dismissal. In response, Benji mimicked his hand movement, and they both laughed at that.
They were getting along shockingly well, like two old friend's who'd reconnected, even though they had next to no history. It all seemed to eerily remind Spencer of Logan, and he shuddered.
"Spencer, you alright?" Spencer had been pulled back into reality by Benji's question.
"Yes, it's just, uh, cold. The AC's on," he made a poor excuse as he fiddled with the AC controller to turn it off.
The temperature was actually quite pleasant, but he got too caught up in his lie.
Benji just nodded in approval, or maybe agreement. He was wearing lighter clothes, after all.
After finally setting everything up, they dimmed the lights and started watching. It was kind of like a dream come true to Spencer, watching anime with someone who was just as invested as he was. He never could have imagined just how nice it would feel, and at long last he felt truly happy. Well, so he was when he spent time with Logan, but it just wasn't the same. This was actually a common interest he shared with someone; it was actually something they could enjoy together!
Spencer was on the right side of the bed, leaning on his back and holding himself up from behind by his hands. It kind of hurt due to the uncomfortable angle, nonetheless it felt nice.
Benji was on the left, he had his knees folded and loosely hung one arm around them, the other grabbing at the pillow or sheets or occasionally Spencer's arm that he'd clutch if something suspenseful happened. Which was pretty often.
Did Spencer notice this? Yes, certainly, he was hyperaware of it even. No matter how much he knew he hated people touching him, especially this kind of dumb grab, it felt very nice when Benji did it. At first he'd wanted to pull away, but he realised it sent a warm jolt through him, a lovely feeling.
Gradually, Benji would lose his filter more and more, and would slip closer and closer to Spencer, who had no idea whether Benji was aware of what he was doing or not.
He felt heat surge through his body, and he was positive he was blushing like crazy.
This wasn't normal, was it? The fact that Benji had seemingly subconsciously drifted off to sleep on Spencer's lap.
And yet he didn't wake him up like he promised;
Spencer liked it all too much!