You met me at a very strange time in my life

[Basil Benson]

Basil was frankly avoiding everyone and had not been seen anywhere but work for the last few weeks.

He knew three things about the Halloween situation.

1. His behavior that day was wrong.
2. Some part of him had attempted to correct it.
3. That correction left him in infirm, with telepaths sorting through his brain as the only means of correction.

These certainties only caused him more questions. For starters, how long had his behavior been off? Since he'd been here? Since before?

If since before Uni, had she done this to him? If so, had he ever been himself here, or just whatever it was she made him into? And if so, then how could anyone here call him friend if they didn't really know him?

All these uncertainties caused him more ajita than he was used to handling. To prevent it from spilling over on someone else, he simply avoided talking to anyone unless he was on shift.

[Haley Crusek]

Haley had been left unsettled by her time in Basil's mind. She barely knew the guy before and yet she'd been very intimately connected to him, mentally-speaking, and that just wasn't sitting very well with her. So she set out to find him, make sure he was okay, and maybe actually get to know him a bit, just so the memories of her jaunt through his psyche felt a bit more...natural to her.

She'd done a bit of Facebook and campus directory stalking, and asked around a bit , until she found her way to his place of employment, standing at the entrance with her phone, trying to look nonchalant.

[Basil Benson]

Basil recognized Haley from his perch at the reception desk, and immediately froze there. Being completely invisible in his special suit, his attempt at deception was flawless....

Except for the fact that his mind was spewing out conscious thought and he was the only one here for Haley to 'hear' at the moment, making his thoughts the only thing to focus on chatter wise.

Fuck me sideways!

Okay, calm down.

If I hold quite still, perhaps she won't see me and find what she is looking for by herself.

.... still there. Maybe she is waiting for someone?

God damn it I'm going to have to help her.

Basil cleared his throat, turned his suit visible, and put on his reading glasses.

"Good afternoon, may I help you find something?"

[Haley Crusek]

Haley couldn't help but catch notice of the mental rambling, especially after spending a lot of time in his head. As such, she turned towards him and stared directly at him even before his suit activated.

"...hey," she smiled a bit hesitantly, tucking her phone into her back pocket and walking up to the reference desk.

"Was actually looking for you,"

[Basil Benson]

"You found me. Though 'looking' probably isn't the best course of action when it is I we are discussing." He quipped back in his dry British humour.

"Did you need something specific or am I the specific something?" He asked. It seemed when his mouth was spewing words, his brain wasn't.

[Haley Crusek]

"Was lookin' for you," she smirked, ignoring the joke.

"I...look...I don't really know you in person, and yet I spent a whole lot of time inside your head and I feel weird about it. So...I just kind of want to apologize and sort of...I dunno. Get to know you more."

[Basil Benson]

He sat quietly and again not. His brain was rushing with terrible scenarios as to why Haley would want to know him. She'd been in his head and pretty much was already aware of the fact that he was a terrible human being.

But one emotion forced it's way to the top of the heap, the very one that likely got him into a lot of trouble: curiosity.

Then that paranoid cautious streak took over. She could hear him weighing out all the terrible scenarios that could come from his discussing himself on the clock, especially with a stranger who might bring up some of the weird shit she found in his head. Ultimately though, it didn't stop him from saying -

"My shift doesn't end for another twenty minutes. We could speak then."

[Haley Crusek]

"I can wait," she said, trying not to pry, but not really being especially good at blocking stray surface thoughts.

"I've got reading for psychology to finish anyway," she added, heading for one of the couches in the library and pulling out her phone.

[Basil Benson]

Basil nodded at her. "I'll leave you to it for the moment then."

He wouldn't disturb her again until after the time he mentioned, but periodically she'd feel his eyes on her in a fashion only a telepath would.

After twenty two minutes of study, Basil would approach her, his vest slung over his shoulder, the reading glasses in the breast pocket.

"Let's walk, ey? I don't feel comfortable talking here
" It wasn't really a lie, but rather, he didn't want to discuss the kind of things he thought she was going to bring up in what equated to his office.

[Haley Crusek]

Haley felt his eyes on her, and didn't wind up getting much reading done, instead re-reading basically the same paragraph or two four or five times. She looked up at him with a smile as he appeared over her. "Sure. Your girlfriend won't get jealous, will she?"

[Basil Benson]

"I would hope not being as I don't know who that is." He laughed.

"It would be alarming to know I have escalated to ruining relationships before I start them."

He began leading the way out of the library, and into the main hall.

[Haley Crusek]

"Oh...I guess I thought you and your gorgeous French friend were attached," she replied after they passed a couple of students in the hall

[Basil Benson]

"No, though not for lack of trying." He admitted. " She told me she'd go with me for awhile, and maybe something would come of it and maybe something wouldn't.

She has told me and others repeatedly that she is not attached to me in that way, so I must respect her feelings on the issue... but if she doesn't view me that way then despite my interest, seems a bit creepy to consider her as such, I think?

I don't know, you tell me. I'm open to suggestions." He laughed again, but Haley could tell his casual laughter was meant to cut tension, not because he found his situation laughable.

[Haley Crusek]

"I dunno. I'm more forward than a lot of girls," she admitted. "I dunno. You guys just seemed so close, I wasn't sure."

Once they'd reached the grounds and had a bit more privacy, she spoke again, "So...why were you so...and I'm not good at this, so I'm sorry...inside your head. Why were you like. Split in two? Like. You had two parts of your brain that hated each other. One was sorta alll about rules and stuff, the other one seemed to like to have fun."

[Basil Benson]

"There's something to be said about forward people. You know where you stand with them. It is a trait that you Americans apply very well."

"In all honesty, I am uncertain that Madame Rosenhof is even completely convinced that love is a thing she is capable of beyond platonic, much less that she'd have anything beyond platonic feelings for me."

" I don't know." He admitted. " probably a good theoretical problem to bring up in whatever kind of psych classes you telepaths are forced to take, but if you'd leave my name out of it like a professional therapist, i'd appreciate it."

[Haley Crusek]

"I already feel like an asshole for being in there to begin with...I wouldn't share that with anyone," she replied quickly.

"I don't like telepathy. It feels like such an invasion. I'm sorry...but I...guess it helped wake you up so there's that."

[Basil Benson]

"You did what you had to do at the time. I don't hold it against you. " He stated, his emotional responses seemed to back up what he'd said, despite no face with which to display them.

"I just... there's a lot of things I don't want people to know about, so I don't tell them. It's strange to know three people were digging through those things, no matter how necessary it might have been to do it."

After a pause he added- " I'm sorry. I think maybe I shouldn't have said that. I don't mean to be rude."

[Haley Crusek]

"No...don't apologize. It's fine," she replied.

"I'd feel the same way if people were in my head...I get it."

"I do feel kinda more...connected to you though...after having done it. So. I....guess I just wanted to sort of get to know you more so it was less weird that I feel so connected to you. But I understand if you like...don't want that."

[Basil Benson]

His disembodied skinsuit shrugged.

"It doesn't bother me, I just don't know what to say. What do you say to someone who theoretically knows all your secrets already? 'I'm a fan of Red Dwarf' doesn't seem to cut the mustard."

[Haley Crusek]

"Well...if...it makes you feel any better a lot of the stuff that you see in someone's head is sorta...metaphorical? So like. It's not like I saw your spank bank, or what you really think about everyone but don't say because you know it might hurt their feelings or stuff like that."

"...What the hell is Red Dwarf?" She added after a beat, deciding to pursue that instead of continuing the somewhat awkward telepathy topic.

[Basil Benson]

Basil paused, wheels turning as to how to accurately describe what was a very British show to a very American person.

"It's a television program about a yobbo in space. He works for a space mining company and after he breaks ship protocol he is put into statis without pay as punishment. An accident happens, and he is frozen for three million years. When he awakens, his only companions are his snobbish bunk mate who is now a hologram, the ship's supercomputer who's gone funny in the head after 3 million years alone, and a humanoid sentient creature evolved from cats."

After a brief pause, he follows with. "It's a comedy. "

[Haley Crusek]

"Oh, cool," she smiled, feigning understanding. "I like comedies."

"Old show?"

[Basil Benson]

"Kind of?

Television is quite different here than in your country. In your country it boomed, but here it took awhile for it to take hold. Because of this, to this day the BBC still controls the majority of what we watch, thanks to them not having any real competitors.

One lot of folks are only going to have so many ideas among them, so the BBC is guilty of show revival when enough of us gripe about our favourite program having ended umpteen years ago while simultaneously griping there is nothing to watch, and thusly they periodically bring things back. Red Dwarf was originally an 80s show, but it's back in production again now."

Basil paused.

"I'm blathering. Sorry."

[Haley Crusek]

"It's okay," she smiled at him. "Lot of things different 'round these parts. You ever been to Texas?"

[Basil Benson]

"No." He replied. "I have never been to the United States. The only person I know who might be interested to go really isn't.

Another American student told me I shouldn't go there unless it's to Austin to meet cowboys." He stated, sounding a bit amused. However, he didn't feel amused, he felt sad.

[Haley Crusek]

"I'm from Austin!" she smiled excitedly. "...it is sort of Texas Lite, which is probably easier to adjust to if you're not from around there."

[Basil Benson]

"Pfft, where's the fun in that?" He stated jovially.

"If Karl Pilkington taught me anything, it's not travel unless you're getting into the thick of the weirdness and learning something about the culture in the process."

[Haley Crusek]

"...who?"

[Basil Benson]

"A real life yobbo, friend to Ricky Gervais, or as you'd know him ' the guy what invented that show the Office.'

They did a show where they made him go places and learn about new things and different people and it's funny because he's very much the stereotype of a stuffy Englishman fish out of water. "

Basil paused, but now he did feel amused.

"I'm starting to think that if you Yanks weren't so collectively resistant to learning about other cultures, I might could be a god among men around this place, being that I know all the best things."

[Haley Crusek]

"I'm open to lots of things. Except eating blood pudding or whatever that stuff that comes with breakfast is."

[Basil Benson]

"Aww. But it's just sausage.

Made of pig's blood.

I don't eat it either actually, not worth the 'sin'." He laughed.

[Haley Crusek]

"It's the blood part that's gross. I ain't a vampire, so I don't want to eat it."

[Basil Benson]

"I thought you ladies loved vampires, especially sparkly ones.

The library check outs back up my theory."

[Haley Crusek]

"...I like a lot of shitty books, but even I have limits," she smirked.

[Basil Benson]

"Are we drawing the line at all vampires or does Lestat at least get a pass?"

[Haley Crusek]

"Le-who?" she quirked her eyebrow.

[Basil Benson]

"Lestat De Lioncourt. He is what you Yanks would refer to as 'the OG' of dishy vampires. Tom Cruise played him in the film version, which worked well, because Lestat was a narcissistic asshole."

Basil realized he was blathering again.

"I think I've said enough foolish things to give you an idea of who you are dealing with.

What about you? What do you like?"

[Haley Crusek]

"Oh, you know, all sorts of stuff," she smiled. "Country music. Dancing. Trashy romance books. Playing stupid games on my phone."

[Basil Benson]

"Well I don't know if there's country music there, but I hear there's a new club in Chelmsford that is mutant friendly." Basil offered up, more as a topic of conversation than anything. "I bet you could 'rustle up' some of your best lady friends and have a field day."

[Haley Crusek]

"Oh? Really?" she asked, perking up and smiling, "That's awesome...I'll have to look into that."

"Maybe I could take you, and be your wing woman since Frenchie isn't taking the bait."