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Joining the military wasn't something Forzen ever planned on, he had hopes and dreams before that. He wanted to graduate college, get a job, spend the rest of his life just like anybody else. He only joined because he felt cornered by it. Him?
Benrey. Benry. However you spelled the nonsensical name. They had met at a GameStop, the creature harrassing him over PlayStation of all things, despite Forzen knowing Xbox was clearly superior. Maybe that should have been the first red flag.
Benrey appeared as any regular guy, maybe a little pale, but considering his refusal to leave the house unless neccesary, made sense. Forzen only caught onto things being off when he started noticing things from the corner of his eyes. Sometimes, when Benrey thought he wasn't looking, he would yawn, jaws snapping and cracking as they unhinged, revealing sharp yellowed teeth. He chose to ignore it for his own sanity, just happy to have a friend despite the rocky relationship.
They were best friends, best friends had their ups and downs just like any relationship did. Forzen felt drawn in anyways, always feeling the need to be close to Benrey, who only let him come closer. It wasn't long before he revealed what he really was. It was fine. He could live with it, just as it had started living with him. Freeloading, really.
"I think I'm in love with you, Benrey."
"Huh?"
"I'm in love with you."
"Date?"
"Yeah. Date. Let's do that."
What a joke.
Everything turned on its head. Forzen never left the house, always tending to the creature he was now romantically involved with, always staying with him.
"How did you get here?"
"I…just did, bro," Benrey shrugged, his slit pupils focusing on Forzen, "How did you get here?"
"I was born here-"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
Despite how involved things seemed to Forzen all their conversations were short like that. Simple statements. It's all he needed to feel fufiled anways- right?
That wasn't true, he knew it wasn't. Nothing about this felt right, and it never had. Nothing here was ever right. Since when would he be okay with letting some sort of alien creature take space in his home? Was Benrey putting thoughts in his head?
Forzen looked to Benrey, who was curled up in the corner of the bed, focused on the TV in front of them. He bit his lip, trying to force the words out of his mouth. He was scared to confront him. He was never given a reason to, and yet, he feared for what could happen to him.
As if sensing the discomfort, Benrey turned his gaze to Forzen, pulling him close.
"I care, you know," he muttered, forcing the man to look at him. Benrey's throat glowed a pink hue before he sang, singing the color from his mouth straight into Forzen's, a mellow and soft tone. The pink faded to a light dusty blue.
"I care for you," he affirmed, patting Forzen's head with a toothy grin.
He nodded along, "Y-Yeah- I care for you too."
His Sweet Voice tasted lightly of malice, if that even had a taste.
Another sweet note left his partner's throat, coral this time.
I find you adorable.
It didn't last much longer after that. Forzen caught onto that damned Sweet Voice. It made him feel things. Things he didn't really feel. It was disgusting.
"You can't kick me ouuut, brooo!" Benrey complained, holding onto the frame of the front door as Forzen pushed and shoved at him.
"I am! Get out, BRO!" he snapped and started to kick at him, "If you- If you care so much- then you'd leave me be and LEAVE!"
He hated getting emotional like this. It was hard being vulnerable and he had let Benrey see all of his weak spots and vulnerablilities like it meant nothing. All of that just for it to be fake. He didn't think Benrey was capable of caring like people did. Benrey wasn't a people. He wasn't human. Forzen wanted human.
So now here he was, Black Mesa. He couldn't bring himself to care for more than just getting done and leaving. It didn't matter how many of his comrades fell, whether it was from an alien or a scientist. He watched them drop. Caring meant showing a vulnerablility.
He saw the traces of Sweet Voice left behind, could hear it through the walls. Forzen stood over what had been dubbed as a headcrab, it's remaining legs sprawled out and it's innards spilling out as if an animal had given up on eating it. Forzen kept moving, counting down his final moments. He knew they were coming. He had spent enough time running.
The deeper he made it into the facility, the more gored aliens he found, haphazardly eaten remains of dark red and teal Sweet Voice left on them. It reminded him of the time he caught Benrey eating one of the neighborhood cats and flipped out on him, rightfully so. He wondered if the team traveling with Benrey knew what he was, if he even bothered to hide it anymore.
Getting cornered by said team was both the first and last thing he expected. Maybe he was waiting for them to just up and kill him, though that would be too merciful, wouldn't it? The best he could do to get them off his back was to offer the dumb one a Beyblade. It was kind of cute in a way.
He managed to get away after that, continuing to traverse the maze of Black Mesa. Forzen thought he was off the Benrey hook until he was rudely awakened- yes, he was napping on the floor of a random janitorial closet.
"Yo, wassup bro?" the all too familiar voice greeted, "I got somethin' exciting for you."
"Benrey," he frowned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. The form in front of him was grotesque. Benrey's skin hung off the skeleton awkwardly, eyes sunken in with his cheeks, grossly pale skin. It didn't even look like his skin. The worst part was the eyes, never knowing where to go, wandering, appearing in places they shouldn't on the borrowed skin. The body trembled, cracked, and fell to pieces to let the smooth black creature underneath peak through.
"…Dog?"
He couldn't be scared.
Dog.
A giant golden retriever. There really was no other choice other than to just go along with Benrey's "polite" Sweet Voice filled suggestion.
It was a whole thing that dragged out for far too long, stating his very much scripted motivations about wanting to dispell the IrateGamer rumors. Very much like Benrey to use his strongly voiced opinions against him like this. IrateGamer did not ripoff Angry Video Game Nerd. That was a fact and it hurt more than the borderline abuse to have that used to be the motivation for his big villian moment. Totally lame. One less point for Teams Nice.
Forzen sat back against the wall, listening to the Science Team chatter on, looking for him. But of course, fate, or Benrey, had different plans.
"I'm gonna have to kill you now, you know, bro?" Benrey cocked his head like killing him was a question. Maybe it was.
"Moved on to someone else? It's my time to go? Am I the first?"
The alien smacked his lips, "Nah. The first to get this far, maybe," it cracked a smile, "Got a new boy though."
"'s, uh, nice," it was weird to feel jealous when he was face to face with death itself.
"Yep," he popped the P with glee.
Benrey stepped forward, pulling Forzen close.
"Make it fast? For my best bro?"
"Nope. I wanna feel it, man."