More Closet Chaos Pt. 3 (JP)

El wasn't falling for that, so she tapped her shoulder and left her palm at it until Shimmer crawled onto it. Turning her faze back to Ben(fin), she held her hand out toward him as if expecting him to pet the tarantula. If he didn't pet her, like usual, she would know this definitely wasn't her friend.

Fortunately Ben(fin) was African-American, making it difficult to see the color drain from his face at the sight of that spider again. He clenched up and his eyes widened in alarm. His large muscular frame slowly began to move in a defensive direction backwards, not towards. The plunger was taking more of an upright angle in his hand, similar to that of a baseball bat getting prepared to swing if necessary.

“Ok … ok … ok. I think I just want to go to the bathroom. Something I ate, is not sitting well. “ He lied trying to justify the random plunger he grabbed. Ben(fin) was starting to feel like a caged animal and was getting real close to pummeling that spider and charging threw this girl if necessary to get out of this predicament. With his current size and speed, he had no idea how much damage that could do.

All the dots connected, switches flipped and everything clicked into place. Pulling her hand back, she returned Shimmer to her shoulder as she kept her blue gaze on Ben(fin). Taking a moment, she wrote down on the pad and circled her question twice.

Turning it to him, she waited for him to read it.

'Who are you?'

As the spider left so did the threatening position of the plunger, but he still held it tightly. Ben(fin) was even more situationally aware now that his adrenaline had skyrocketed.

Ben(fin) realized the ruse was up. No amount of guile was going to convince her otherwise so he relented after reading her notepad again.

“You are going to get me in so much trouble ma’m. I am not supposed to be walking about without supervision. Please, just close the door and pretend you never saw me?” He begged. Which was interesting seeing such a large man do so.

El frowned deeply at his words and shook her head before looking down the hall, checking both ways. Where was a nurse or a medic when she needed one?! Even Shimmer, on her shoulder again, tapped a few of her legs about nervously. The other spiders had told her exactly who this was - the one that feared them - and didn't want to risk her friend getting harmed.

Without anyone else in site, El scribbled another note and showed the imposter. 'We need to get you back to your room then.'

Ben(fin) blinked and then did a double check on what she had written. Were his eyes deceiving him? Spider lady was going to actually help him sneak back into his room if he was reading it correctly. This was a stroke of good luck if she could be trusted. But didn’t spiders lure prey into traps?

Ben(fin) nodded in agreement. It was best not to press his luck any further than he already had. “Really? That would be great.”

She nodded and added a few more things to the paper. 'You have to stay from now on, though. I'm going to report this to your doctor and the nurses because you need to follow orders. You could hurt yourself by doing things like this.'

After letting him read that, she turned the page and stepped back, giving Ben(fin) room to step out. El just hoped he didn't get any bright idea about running for it.

Ben(fin) felt like a puppy dog that just got kicked when she mentioned she would be reporting him. He was busted, unless he could get back before anyone noticed he was gone and possibly deny it. This wasn’t fair. It wasn’t his fault he ended up here, hospitalized, bored and confined and now dealing with all these changes; literally and figuratively.

Ben(fin) began moving out of the utility closet. It was like moving through an obstacle course and though he tried to make it quiet, he failed. He finally got all the way out, never turning his back on El. When he was completely free, he turned and booked it.

Ben(fin) had no way of anticipating what the force of a linebacker of that size would be like, he covered so much distance so fast. The worse of it, is his momentum and weight made it seem hard to stop. He tripped and stumbled over his own feet and went rolling on the ground hard.

He landed heavily on the ground, the force of the fall knocking the wind out of him. As he lay there, his body began to shift involuntarily again. The familiar sensation of bones swiftly stretching and muscles realigning coursed through him, but this time it felt different, almost smoother.

Ben’s towering frame began to contract. His dark skin lightened to a fair complexion, the rich brown eyes transformed into a deep brown, and his short-cropped hair lengthened and turned into straight, layered blond locks that fell to his neck. The thick, muscular build of Ben Taylor slimmed down into the pure, lean muscle of another figure entirely.

As the transformation completed, Finlay, now as Demitri Ivanov, sat up slowly and examined his new form in confusion. He noticed the smoothness of his skin, free from the scars and signs of a lifetime’s worth of battles and hardships that he saw on the real Demitri. His hands were slender yet strong, and his face, though distinctly Demitri’s, lacked the wear and tear. His powers hadn’t learned how to do such extra details yet.

Demitri(fin) groaned.