Tangled Bush

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<sub>Benedict looked over to Sine, as she gaped at her son. She looked over him, and then leaned back. No that can't be true. But... those eyes and the way he glared at her. Oh god it must be true. She shuddered a bit. Why couldn't Andy find him first?!

"... I-I... I'm sorry..." She stammered. Benedict looked at his mother, before Reuben piped up about it being in one of those dramas. God must really love this right now... anyway, Benedict just stared at her.

"Sorry for not being there for the first seventeen years of my life? And what about Andy, huh? Flying around the three countries, raping and pillaging anything in his path while I'm trying to make a living here in Seria?" Benedict hissed at her. Sine winced.

"Andy never knew I was pregnant! He escaped before I found out... I don't know how he knew, but his twin brother did since he ferried me to here. Heck, I didn't even know he had a twin... they must have been separated too." She went quiet. So did Benedict.

"So Andy actually had an excuse." He'd have to ask said twin brother if he did ferry her. Ask Andy how he really felt about this woman. Hell, right now, Andy going insane and doing everything he did felt logical at this moment. He gets separated by the ones he loved, and hell knows what Dula did to him, but it was bad. Benedict's been there enough to know. It was pretty much up to God to see if he was forgiven by such an act... and Benedict himself.

"Excuse? Does he have an excuse to go around pillaging the place? NO. Frances would have been a better father-" Sine started, but then Benedict cut her off yet again.

"And you didn't even think about it. I'm perfectly aware that Andromeda's actions are inexcusable and he may never be forgiven for them, but at least he has one thing going, and that's the fact he knows how to care for a kid once he finds out. Here you are trying to excuse yourself out of such a shameful act of abandoning me... Hell, maybe if I told Andy this he would try a little bit harder to make up for it, huh? Even if he's a shameful man..." He shut up. He was going by what he saw of Andromeda, and the fact of what Reuben told him.

Sine went silent, glaring at her food and eating it one by one. This conversation? It was over. Benedict did the same thing, looking way more visibly tired and upset.

He had no idea what to think of both Andy and Sine. He already hated them both. But he was supposed to forgive people, right?

How was he supposed to forgive his two biological parents?</sub>

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"................."

Right now? Reuben wasn't quite suicidal, not when he had a little brother to find, so he wisely chose not to say anything. He didn't blame Benedict for being upset, not when he'd flipped out on Nerys for telling him the truth and on Andy for attacking his mother to result in himself. He'd be a hypocrite if he told Benedict and Sine to calm down before anything else horrible happened.

So Cepheid had been the one to ferry her here, huh? If Andy hadn't known that she was pregnant, it was likely that Cepheid had told him. Still, Benedict had a point about Sine coming back for him once she had managed to settle down.

He poked at his food, continuing to eat it, and wondering if he had brought this on. Maybe it was time for a subject change, but what could he do? He coughed a little, from the flu, and took a deep breath. He felt so awkward right now that it was probably showing on his face. "...This food is good."

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<sub>Benedict ate in silence, looking over to Reuben. He seemed awkward, but right now he was deep in his thoughts. As soon as Sine finished her food quickly, she picked up the dish and put it in the sink, washing it before putting it on a rack. Benedict ate more slowly but she didn't say a word.

"Yeah. It is..." He murmured. Sine proceeded to go back downstairs. As soon as she was out of earshot, Benedict smacked his head into the table.

"I don't even know what to do anymore." He felt like upchucking all that food, curling in a corner, and crying. His food was half eaten as of then, and he was... well, kind of a mess. Benedict didn't have any notion of parents to cling to, like Reuben did, so he was quite literally on his own.</sub>

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This was honestly a mess. Reuben was sick, he'd been helped by his half-brother to said half-sibling's mother's husband's clinic, and now it had turned out to be one huge dramafest with the two of them not even speaking to each other. Hell, would Benedict even speak to him now after all of this? Or look after Caden? The kid wasn't involved in all of this...

"Good night, Sine." He said to the woman, feeling incredibly awkward as she left, before watching Benedict smack his head onto the table. Reuben put his empty plate aside, and patted Benedict on the back. He wasn't quite sure what to do right now, either.

"...Maybe I shouldn't have told you."

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<sub>Benedict appreciated the concern either way, and he lifted his head to rest his chin on the table. He looked over to Reuben as he mentioned he shouldn't have told him, but really? He should know. This was his mother, and his father. He took a deep breath.

"No, it's okay." He spoke up. ".. I'm usually the one to easily forgive, even people who have tried to kill me, but this? ... I don't know what to do. I'm a priest. Do I just say, 'I forgive you, your sins are forgiven' and all that?" He sighed.

"It feels so hard. God forgives, but it's so hard for me, an ordinary human." He lifted his head and poked at the food, forcing him to eat the last bits.</sub>

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Benedict was depressed now, and Reuben could easily see that. He scooted his chair closer to the man, not caring that he was probably still contagious. He probably would have already spread the illness to the other, anyways, considering how long Benedict had been in contact with him. Either way, he leaned back, and watched the other carefully.

"You're a priest, but I know for a fact you're not God. You're still human, and you're having human reactions. I went and started drinking when I found out how I came about, I'm surprised you're still sitting here."

Reuben put one arm around Benedict, half-leaning on the other man and half-hugging him. He wasn't normally very affectionate, but, well... this guy was in a similar situation - finding out he had a rapist pirate for a father. Then Benedict had the added bonus of being given up by his mother, who went on to have a stable life.

"Well, figure things out. Do you hate them for what happened?" Man, that was lame, but Benedict needed to talk it out with someone that wasn't his parents.

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<sub>Benedict sighed, accepting the comfort from his half brother. A bit awkwardly though, since he just found this out. He wasn't going to warm up immediately, since he suddenly has family members now. he looked up at Reuben and smiled a bit.

"You think?" He spoke up. Oh well. He pushed the bowl away and looked at it hopelessly.

Did he hate them? Did he? He blanked out. He had no idea precisely who they were, what they did for a living, or who they hung out with. They just had a facade of being evil to him. What was he to do?

"I don't know..."</sub>

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It was awkward. Reuben wasn't normally a huggy person, unless it was with children named Caden, which resulted in the awkward one-armed hug. He let go of Benedict after a moment, and watched the other man a bit, carefully. No, he wasn't going to start making declarations of love just because he suddenly found out Benedict was his brother.

"Yes, you're human. You don't look like God," he said.

Okay, so he didn't know if he hated them or not. He looked over in the direction that Sine had vanished in, and stretched a bit on the chair, trying to get the aches out of his limbs. Reuben turned back to Benedict.

"You could think of them as simply being your biological donors and had nothing to do with how you were brought up. Were you happy growing up in the church, or did you always wish for something else?" Maybe talking now wasn't the best idea, but then again, since when had Reuben been smart?

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<sub>It was going to take awhile for Benedict to even be comfortable around his sudden new family. He'd look up at Reuben when he spoke up. Well, that's true, he is no deity. Either way, he was tempted to go hide in a guest room and curl up. And just sleep it off. Even Lila could sense something was up and she was pretty far from him.

"... Well, the thing is.." He paused. "I've never really had a mother or a father my whole life. It's just been God. But even He can replace a real family." He admitted.

All he wanted was to feel whole, like he had a purpose.</sub>

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Don't worry, Reuben didn't feel too many obligations to you yet, Benedict. But the man did take care of Caden, even before he knew that they were brothers to the same person. Mentally he hoped that little Caden didn't end up being overly religiousness, but right now, he had to deal with Benedict.

"Well..." Reuben paused. "How you want to treat them... us... is up to you, then. If you hate them, you hate them. If you don't hate them, you don't. Telling you how to act would only make you act falsely."

He patted Benedict again, before turning away and letting out a sneeze. Oh right, the medication. He popped the right dosage into his mouth.

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<sub>Benedict looked up. 'Us?' What did he mean by 'us?' Benedict liked Reuben enough to treat him fairly, but he had negative opinions on the others. What was he to do anyway? He was right though. It was all up to him. Benedict put on a brave face and then spoke up.

"I'm going to get to know them better before I make my decision. Yes, that sounds good." he then smiled, feeling a lot better about it. He then looked over to Reuben. "Thanks."</sub>

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Yes, 'us'. Reuben had no idea how Benedict would treat members of his family that he had suddenly obtained, including a father, a mother, and a half-brother through their father. Whether or not he treated him fairly was up to him, and it would be stupid of him to assume one thing when Benedict could assume the other.

"There, that wasn't so hard, was it?" He smiled. Benedict actually looked like he was doing a lot better than he had been an hour earlier. It was quite relieving; he was caring for Caden, after all. "No problem." Benedict cared for Caden; he just needed to repay the favor.