⍟ Broken Strings {A Chaos Theory x Male Reader Story - Ben}

𝟸. 𝚅𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚘

"Everyone, this is Gia." Ben smiles.

"I can't believe I'm meeting your famous friends!" Gia's face lights up as she moves in to give everyone a hug, "I've heard so much about you!"

"Sorry, sorry! Just-- come in!" She chuckles lightly, beckoning them into the house.

Everyone steps inside and rushes right for the fireplace, warming up their frozen appendages.

The old woman from before scowls at them, saying something about muddy shoes and making a mess in Italian. Y/N can't quite make it out but it's clear she's not very happy.

"Nonna, dai." Gia waves her off, "They're friends, okay? Friends."

"Don't mind her." She sighs as the other woman ducks into the kitchen.

"Gia!" Ben gasps, "I have so much to catch you up on!"

"Brooklyn... is alive."

Gia gasps, "What!?"

"She's with some crime-boss dinosaur smuggler." Ben explains, "And we don't know if she's working for her, or, or what's going on!"

"But we came here to hopefully get to the bottom of it and figure out what to do next."

"Is that a real dinosaur egg?" Gia's eyes light up as she spots the egg in Ben's fanny pack and takes hold of the delicate spawn.

"I've only seen these as fossils this is amazing!" She turns around, Kenji reaching out for the egg as she does.

"Gia's a paleontologist in training." Ben explains, "We met when she was studying abroad at my university."

"Wait." Gia straightens up, "We can't let Nonna see this." She tucks it into Kenji's jacket as he flinches away.

"Dinosaurs are a sensitive topic around here."

Nonna begins shouting something from the kitchen, the only words Y/N can make out are dinosaur and curse.

"Ugh!" Gia rolls her eyes, "Talking about dinosauri won't bring a curse, Nonna!" She shuts the door to the kitchen.

"A curse?" Darius raises an eyebrow as Nonna emerges from the kitchen, knocking Gia with the door on her way out.

Kenji, Darius and Ben stand there in a line, Kenji holding the egg behind his back as Nonna approaches them, observing them skeptically.

Kenji discreetly nudges Ben's hand with the egg, passing it over just before Nonna grabs Kenji by the wrist and drags him towards the kitchen.

"Andiamo! Dai! Forza!" She shouts once they disappear past the threshold.

"Dinner time." Gia smiles, "You all go ahead. We'll put the egg someplace safe."

The others file into the kitchen, taking a seat as Nonna places a plate in front of Kenji, encouraging him to try it.

"Mangia, mangia." She pushes the food in front of him.

"Okay," Kenji looks down at the serving, "Guess I'm going first."

"Thanks, uh... Nonna."

Kenji takes his first bite and Nonna begins handing out the other plates, everyone digging into the ravioli right away.

"I thought you didn't know we were coming." Kenji glances up as Gia enters the room, "Does she just, like, always make this much food?"

"Welcome to Italy." Gia laughs and takes her seat.

"Graize, Nonna!" Ben grins.

"Thanks for feeding us." Sammy nods.

The table breaks out into overlapping thanks for the meal before suddenly going silent when they remember how they got here in the first place.