[Plot] Offley Place, Great Offley, Hertfordshire, England, UK

[Basil Benson]

"Alright. You can call me Basil." Basil replied taking Gus' hand for a shake, following the eldest Spencer's lead. He'd never met a relative as an adult before, so he had no idea what to do in terms of social queues other than mimic Gus.

Basil nodded to Lady Dafne who seemed to be doing her best to appear uninterested, and then turned to Hugo.

"I feel like I've seen you before. " He stated. "But you don't seem like a relative of The Spencers. Are you someone's boyfriend ooor...?" Basil asked, letting the question hang in the air.

[Hugo Ealdwine]

"I'm just security, sir. Feel free to pretend I'm not here," Hugo said, standing to the side and keeping his eye on the entrances, exits, and any patrons that paid them too much attention.

[Gus Spencer]

"So, does your mum know you're doing this?"

[Basil Benson]

"No. I'd prefer it if she didn't." Basil answered honestly.

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette had a look on her face like she'd been caught in front of the fridge eating shredded cheese out of the bag at 3 am. It had never occurred to her that Basil had chosen the venue based on her sweet tooth and not out of some other necessity. And here she was with a milk shake with a fat slab of cake on top of it. She scooted over to make room, though she wasn't really certain if any of the trio would want to sit, and gave a little wave with her fingers.

[Dafne Spencer]

She seemed like she wasn't paying attention, but when Colette made space for Basil to sit next to her, Dafne made herself comfortable across the table from Colette, nose in her phone.

After a moment, she'd get a DM.

"How's the food?"

Poking around the account it came from showed images of the girl sitting across from her, and some others.

None of Gus or the security guard though.

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette dug out her phone, giving the others a bit of privacy to talk without having to worry about her eavesdropping too much, even though she was right there. It took her a moment to get the message, but her investigation explained things easily enough.

bordering on obscene
i live on sguar and even im getting diabeetys

She wasn't stopping, despite all of this. One didn't let food go to waste.

[Gus Spencer]

"Then you appreciate the can of worms you're opening, here."

[Basil Benson]

"To some degree.

I know my mother doesn't want me to pursue this, but my mother doesn't want me to pursue anything, so it's not as if I can gauge comparatively." He admits.

[Dafne Spencer]

"Need help?"

The other girl asked through their secret form of communication.

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette didn't actually need any help of course, she could put away an entire sheet cake by herself. But she slid the decadent monstrosity closer to the quiet Spencer. Both as a token of goodwill, and also as she wasn't one who worried too much about germs - she was totally someone who'd finish your plate if you offered it to her.

"please
basil eats liek a bird
pretty sure heel be fine w/ it so long as we dont doteh 2 straws and staring into each others eyes thing from teh archer comics"

[Dafne Spencer]

"If I don't get to hit on my cousin's girl, where's the fun?"

Nevertheless, she picked up the spoon intended for Basil and partook in the dessert with an amused smirk.

[Gus Spencer]

"There certainly are some things in play here that are better to let lie."

[Basil Benson]

"Seems to me if that's the case, our meeting itself might be enough to spark a problem.

But we've come this far. In for a penny...."

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette muffled a chortle and hid her smile when she read the message. This definitely wasn't what she'd been expecting when meeting nobility. Gus must have been the one saddled with the formalities of their station. Which she was content with - Basil had more experience with such things, she would stick with what she was good at; eating too much sugar.

[Dafne Spencer]

"So you two going to just square off with each other and phallic measure or are you going to sit down and enjoy ice cream with us?" Dafne asked after twirling the spoon in her mouth.

[Basil Benson]

Basil paused and looked at the other Spencer, then casually sat down next to Colette like he was told to do.

Surprise?

"I'm sorry. I don't want to make a bother for anyone but...

I don't know who I am. And I don't know how to figure that out without knowing where I came from." Basil pleaded with Gus.

[Gus Spencer]

"I'm going to be frank here," Gus says, sitting down.

"If you're looking for family, being related through him is not going to get you invited to the cotillion."

[Basil Benson]

The was an awkward pause from Basil as his head slowly tilted towards Colette, then upwards again in a sort of indicative motion.

"I guess it's fortunate then that I won't be needing a debutante." He replied, clarifying what he was meaning to suggest.

"But.... may I ask why? I don't need relatives persay, but it would be nice to know why they'd hate me. I've done my homework and it's not as if my presence as a male disrupts anything. You've a brother, right?"

[Gus Spencer]

"Oh, this isn't about titles."

"At least, not the one you're thinking of."

[Basil Benson]

"My apologies, but I don't think I'm entirely gleaning your meaning."

[Gus Spencer]

"Did you ever hear your parents talk about something called 'The Board'?"

[Basil Benson]

"The Bensons didn't talk around me if it wasn't screaming." Basil replied, being very specific about his wording.

"Mother certainly never mentioned it. What is it?"

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette was completely out of her element. She kept glancing between Gus and Basil but only understanding about half of what they meant. She took a break from sipping her milkshake to tap on her phone.

isnt a coatilion a cafeteria at a movie studoi?

[Dafne Spencer]

"For richies with pedigrees, it's a fancy party with a lot of sexist undertones. You don't see them much in the UK anymore. I think my sibling is testing your beau in the great British art of barb-swapping."

[Colette Rosenhof]

this shuold b good tehn
basil practicly minorde in quips

[Gus Spencer]

"It's the reason the Bentons didn't make a fuss about your parentage."

[Basil Benson]

"So I am supposed to fear the Guild Of Collegiate Investors?" He quipped back.

[Gus Spencer]

"Let me put it this way."

"Favors got traded, and you got to be a Benson rather than a bastard. Lucky you?"

[Basil Benson]

This was what caused him to fluster.

To Gus and Dafne, his body became incredibly tense.

To Colette, he looked like he was about to throw up.

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette wasn't so focused on food that she didn't notice Basil's reactionl it only took a moment for the woman to press gently to his side and take his hand in hers under the table.

"Zat... could have been phrased a little better, perhaps."

[Gus Spencer]

"So I've got your attention, have I?"

"This is what you're getting into the middle of. The life you have was bought and paid for. It's not your fault, but Uncle Eddie really made a situation, here."

[Basil Benson]

He sat silent for several pregnant moments.

To Colette, his expression turned from the one she was used to seeing when he felt rejected, the sort of sick to his stomach awkwardness that should normally be followed by him disappearing. But after Gus' follow up comment, his brow knitted in what she knew to be what Basil constituted as 'defiant'.

"Well then I feel like it's high time for him to deal with the consequences of the situation he orchestrated, instead of making it someone else's problem. Don't you agree?"

[Gus Spencer]

"Is that what you think is going to result from this?"

[Basil Benson]

"I honestly don't know what's going to result from this.

What I do know is that a man ought to owe up to the consequences of his actions. In this case, that is literally me. I am owed an explanation as to why he felt a human life was a transferrable commodity. "

[Dafne Spencer]

"Is he always this serious or is my sibling rubbing off?"

Dafne asked, arching a brow between the pair of potential cousins as she slowly spooned ice cream into her mouth.

[Gus Spencer]

"I wouldn't go blaming him for anything other than you being born."

"This was your mum and dad, mostly your dad if I understand correctly, going to my family for their pound of flesh for Uncle Eddie's indiscretions."

"Do you get it? Nobody's clean here."

[Basil Benson]

Basil's finger-tips tapped against each other, then steepled. Only Colette could see the dark expression he was wearing, but his turbulent emotions were evident in his voice.

"I was already aware my mother did something less than kosher, though frankly that's her modus operandi so short of murdering someone with her own hands, I'd be pressed to be shocked by anything she did.

As for Mr.Benson... He is neither my father nor my dad. And he's certainly not going to give me any answers, even if I scheduled an appointment.

And further, due to that his embarrassment isn't really of my concern, since my existence is none of his."

[Gus Spencer]

"Alright, then since you're hell-bent on going down the rabbit hole here, I'll ask you this:"

"How'd you like to know what got traded to the Bensons for this?"

[Basil Benson]

Basil sputtered out a chuckle from a wavering voice.

"Will I be on a witness stand later?"