Ever since they were injected with Compound N, Rosie had been on a journey to hell. It wasn't just the fact that her ability was eating her up and, in a few years, would leave her sick. She had lost the love of nature. Rosie had nothing of her own before her powers showed up, there was nothing to give her a little love. Nature came to change that. Nature invited her into their home to join the family as the ultimate guardian. She understood her, they formed a loyal and fundamental connection. Nature gave her everything she lacked: a family, a home and a reason. They adopted her as a part of them. They had been so kind and helpful.
The breakup had left Rosie unmotivated. By taking away her control of her ability, she also lost that connection. She was doing atrocities to nature. They haunted her as if she had never really been welcomed into the family, like a bad plant. Rosie was left alone, wishing that happiness would return. Her behavior had been more than good. She was a good, godly, helpful girl. She didn't raise her voice, didn't encourage violence and certainly didn't throw punches when things didn't go her way. She was patient and tried to please everyone. Why was she being punished like that? It was everything Mary wanted in a child.
Had Ben seen her like that, had he been thinking about that when he decided he should kiss her?
As they kissed, Rosie didn't just think about how green his eyes looked, which still retained a little sparkle from childhood, plus the freckles around his nose made him look adorable and didn't bring out the ruggedness of his features. She pushed away thoughts of how big his arms had become and the torso that when he breathed looked like a concrete wall, impenetrable. Rosie thought of other things she liked about Ben, like his loyalty and desire to become the best soldier. She thought about how scared he was that day he couldn't stop punching and yet he saved her from her own plants. Rosie had seen beyond his physique. She needed that. Had Ben seen beyond her ginger hair and the freckles adorning her whole face? Did he think she was a godly, helpful good girl? What if he preferred her like modern women: more sociable, fun-loving and hard-working? Or maybe he preferred an army girl who knew about guns and warships? Would he have no problem with what Robin called the "masculinization of women"? In her essay Robin had said:
[...Some idiots with degrees in psychiatry had said that masculine women were virile lesbians, coined with the term dangerous and shameless woman-men, congenital perverts of masculine appearance and psyche. They determined that the emancipation of women had led to this masculinization that degenerated fecundity and perversion of sexuality (this referred to homosexuality). The answer to reassure the population and maintain feminine characteristics (grace, kindness and service) in work was to vindicate it with adjectives that complemented feminine work, such as thoroughness and dedication.... ]
What did Ben think of her? Nature sure didn't think she was bad, not if she gave Rosie the key to her kingdom. Nature granted her the power and if there was one thing she was sure of, nature was wise.
Suddenly three knocks on the door gave her a great fright that made her jump out of her bed. Was she sure she heard knocks? It was one o'clock in the night, who would be knocking on her door? For a second she was convinced she imagined it, only to hear them again. She approached the door oddly, leaned her ear against it. She wasn't going to talk, she was supposed to be asleep.
"Rosie?" Oh my God! No, no, no...
"Ben?" she exclaimed incredulously and nervously. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in your room. Someone can see you, run to your room."
"I'm going to open the door."
He completely ignored her concerns and how monumentally inappropriate this was. Ben with a sleazy shove smashed the door open.
#09. the escapists
Start from the beginning
