Outside Tom's window the sun was making a point of aiming directly for his eyes. Despite the efforts of the fan, the summer heat was growing practically unbearable. Of course, the pants didn't help, but he refused to switch to shorts no matter what the temperature. And so, he decided to take the only course of action left -- swimming.
Grabbing a cold drink from the fridge, Tom went out to the pool to finally find some relief from the heat. The open umbrella was expected -- he could never remember to close it when he left the backyard. So was the towel left out from the last time he went swimming. What Tom didn't expect was the man sat under said umbrella and atop said towel.
"Ben what the hell are you doing in my backyard?" Tom asked. Dressed head-to-toe in black, with a sharp but weather-inappropriate suit and pair of sunglasses was Ben, seemingly enjoying the day in Tom's backyard.
"Oh, I just let myself in y'know," Ben answered with a shrug, "When duty calls et cetera." He seemed to be unbothered by the peculiar situation. Turning to the side he leaned over on the chair, and when he sat back up he held out two glasses of lemonade. One for himself and one for Tom, which he held out towards his friend. It was unclear where they came from, but Tom knew they weren't from inside his house.
"Ah, thanks," Tom said as he accepted the lemonade, putting his other drink down, "So, uh, what duty might that be?"
Ben took off his shades and folded them closed, "Well Tom, when you get to be my age you find some things are never the same. You get me?"
Tom shook his head.
"Messages are never read the way they're written, y'know." Ben explained, "Whoever is the author, well, he may have one idea. But the reader -- that's uncharted territory. See, who knows what ink is made of anyways?"
"I guess the manufacturers maybe," Tom nodded, not following whatsoever, "But, uh, how'd you get in?"
At this Ben smiled and stood up, "We go where the ink takes us, man. I mean, could you refuse the almighty author? And I don't mean god, man, just think about it."
Tom always seemed to end up doing a lot of thinking after talking to Ben...
