If I don't sleep, you don't sleep

[Benjamin Banks]

Ben was pretty sure that Ellen would be in her room, after all no one in their right mine would be walking about at six am on a Saturday. Of course Ben wasn't in his right mind because he was bored and videos games weren't helping. What else Else as Ellen there for beside to talk to him and stuff. He walked towards the door and tried to turn the knob, sighing when it didn't open. Even if the possibloty was only forth percent he was kinda hoping fate would look out for him.

So instead he knocked...loudly and waited for her to answer. Okay he didn't wait for her to answer "Elllie, opened the door....hurry up its important." Yeah, in hindsight it probably was a bad idea too wake her HP so earlier but whatever. He probably just sit at her desk on his laptop, it wasn't anything new with his sleeping problem. Only he hadn't slept for a week and the two coffees in his hand weren't really helping.

In his defense one of these was for Ellen, because you couldn't show up at people's residences empty handed. Maybe that only pertained to people's houses but he couldnt really remember at the moment. "Elllie wake up, seriously" he said knocking on the door again.

[Ellen Banks]

Ugh….

Oh joy, Oh joy unconfined. Now he was disturbing Ellen early in the morning.

For the past few months Benny had been smart enough to leave Ellen alone for the last few months, more or less (Lucky for him, considering how close Ellen was to ripping off his head on several occasions) but clearly that delightful honeymoon period was over as Benny was now more then happy to annoy her to the extent of waking into her at such an early hour. This was not an uncommon occurrence, Benny has been waking Ellen up since he was four years old, (Despite repeated warnings NEVER to come into her room. EVER. A rule that he kept breaking) He was such a troublesome little rutt, and his power certainly didn’t help matters, he always seemed to enjoy getting into such bother, some of the idea’s he had…it was a wonder he got away with as much as he did.

But he was family? Who else was going to drag him out of his messes then him? Say what you will about the Banks but her father instilled in her how important family was to them.

Anyone else Ellen might not have opened the door for but for him, she managed to trudge out of bed and open the door “Benny…Tell me; what are the odds of me beating you to death one of these days?
" Ellen muttered rubbing her eyes

[Benjamin Banks]

Ben was getting antsy like he didn't want to wait anymore but he knew that she was probably sleeping. Okay he knew she was sleeping because there was an eighty percent chance she was. Still he needed her to wake up because he couldn't go to anyone else. He smiled in relief when she opened the door holding out the coffee to her before dropping his arm again.

"I tried that one already and it s a fifty-fifry...depending on the day its might shifty forty-sixty, in favor of me dying." He said cheekily, after all he didn't really take her threats seriously. Not because she wasn't scary but because she was his sister.

"I haven't slept for a week and my dorm is boring... Can I sit here until later?" He looked at her and held up the coffee again. It was obviously a peace offering.

[Ellen Banks]

Ellen looked down at the coffee in his hands, while she appreciated the gesture somewhat Coffee at this stage of the morning? She won’t be able to sleep for a week, likely she’ll be bouncing off the walls for hours to come and if nothing else Ellen learned in the weeks post the dreadful shooting is that sleep is a valuable commodity to say the very least, one she can’t idle throw it away. She had just recovered her sleeping patterns, and she wasn’t likely to throw that all away.

With a hand she put it down beside her idly before she looked down. How was it possible that someone could have so much energy at this time of night but….there was a lot of things that Ellen truly didn’t understand about her little brother dear. She sighed working her temples with her hand “Won’t Father be proud…Look at you playing the odds…” Ellen sighed as she stepped back “Well you’re going to do it anyway…What on earth could possibly keep you up at night”?

[Benjamin Banks]

Ben rolled his eyes "Who cares about that?" Even though he did care what his dad thought he refused to let people see how bothered he was by it. The man was ruthless and successful but Ben wanted no part in anything that man did. He wanted to be his own person and not his last name, however it was hard. Especially when both his sister and father were ruthless, he was obviously much nicer.



"It never stops Ellie, Ever all the possibilities and calculation...i'm like a calculator that won't turn off. Besides I've finished all my homework and borrowed a math book from a sophomore, boring stuff." Ben shrugged and let himself into Ellen's room, by squeezing past her of course. Why else would he be there to not just barge into her room, which also reminded him that he should make a key to her door.


He sat at the desk and spun around in the chair facing his sister "I don't want to talk to a stupid counselor about my sleep problems." He pouted and frowned all at the same time which was pretty hard so he kept switching from expression to expression getting distracted and making a game out of it.

[Ellen Banks]

“ He does” Ellen snapped back coldly and that was all that matters after all. It wasn’t a secret that Ellen was deeply afraid of her father, and with good reason in her mind (Not that she would ever admit to such a thing) she would have thought that Benny would be more carious around him. After all he’s seen him when he’s mad and that was NOT a pretty sight, so Ellen could only winch when Benny insisted on annoying him

Don’t poke the bear that’s something she constantly told him…

As Ben spoke, Ellen calmly walked into her room after him walking to a nearby armchair listening to him speak “The same rules apply for both my dorm room and my room at home “Don’t touch anything”

She tilted his head as Ben imparted his tale of woe, it must be hard for him at times, having his mind instinctively analyze everything and every situation possible, she could se how much that might suck for her younger brother “I would imagine you’ll get used to it. Over time” She nodded that was part of the reason she was here wasn’t it? Learn how to cope with the powers and the pitfalls of it

But once Ellen spoke of not seeing anyone things just clicked for her “…You didn’t need help getting to sleep because you have me? That’s why you’re here…”

[Benjamin Banks]

Ben rolled his eyes "I'm sure he does, but let's not talk about the evil one right now. I'm too tired" He was trying to relax not stress himself out. He honestly thought that was Ellen's problem, she worried too much about their father. Of course he understood completely their father was scary as hell.

"So basically wait until you're not here" He said cheekily. That was basically the rule of thumb, wait till Ellie leaves then go through her shit. Though they both knew he was touching stuff as soon as she fell asleep.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to invest in being a physic for my career path" Imagining how that would turn out with his dad put a smile on his face.

"noooo, I don't need counseling when I don't have a problem. Its insomnia not depression. I'm perfectly fine, besides I read someone where that it's normal for guys my age to have weird sleeping patterns." He refused to admit he needed help. Even if she was his sister, he was weak enough being her younger brother. How weak and flawed would it make him needing her help to fiction normally?

[Ellen Banks]

“Yeah, that’s probably best” Ellen said with a little shudder, speaking of her father brought them little to no joy in fact it naturally put a chill down her spine and made her almost feel like he would pop up behind her at any moment….not a very pleasant idea “Well, of course you can afford to smile about it…you’re the golden child after all “ Ellen said unable to keep the bitter tone out of her voice, Ben seemed to have a way with him, he got away with murder, no matter how many times he screwed up Ellen always felt he got off relatively light, compared to Ellen who just needed to blink to raise their father’s anger.

Ben never saw the inside of the family basement…

“Like I said. Don’t Touch” Ellen said shooting him a glare only reserved for Ben when she wanted him to back off….and naturally he saw that everytime he went near her room.

Ellen couldn’t help but to examine Ben’s words, she’s known him long enough to know his “Tells” When he was lying and she couldn’t help but note how defensive he was being…but then agin this wasn’t the tell or the place…

And besides…it was obvious why he was here

“So when were you planning to ask me to put you to sleep?”

[Benjamin Banks]

Ben rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders "Ellen, you keep the golden child thing, I don't want it." He was done with the with the whole dad's approval thing. He waiting for her to ask the secret of taming the beast. Ben was if anything a sharing person, he'd share the secrets of success with his sister.

"Okay, okay I won't touch" Ben said putting up his hands defensively. Gesh, they were siblings they should share, ben would share his stuff. Okay maybe he wouldn't but he was the youngest, he didn't have to share. He was also a bit upset that she could see through his lies. He needed to work on that.

"I don't know...maybe never. He said shrugging his shoulders and then he smirked. "So your friend Frank is hot." He said zpinning around in the chair and smiling innocently.

[Ellen Banks]

This was one of the most frustrating things about Benny. No he didn’t care. But Ellen on the other hand. She did. She cared deeply, far more then Benny would ever care about her father’s opinion but maybe there’s a reason for that. He never had to hide under the bed as he stomped through the house looking for her, he never spent the night in the cellar, cold and dark that it was. He was never pushed like she always and yes that was a fair amount of resentment from Ellen because of that. If he had to pick an heir, it would be him, she had no doubt about that. Sometimes, he wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake him until he reveals what was so right with him and what was wrong with her. “Well he’s made it clear that he wants you to have it”

Of course, Ellen knew exactly when Ben was lying and when he wasn’t being truthful, Ellen had known him for far too long for her not to tell when he wasn’t hurting in some way or another. That was just her way.

“Well it’s kind of obvious really, can’t sleep and I ca put you to sleep in a matter of moments. Unless, of course you’ve gone off the idea after what happened last time” Ellen said a small smirk growing on her face. Benny wasn’t the only one that could pull pranks “You said you wanted a dog for X-mas and I gave you own, ok so it was a football but you were adorable like that” She said with a shrug

…but practically had a panic attack once Benny hit her with his own opinion of the boil on Ellen’s life that was Frank Cox “Stop right there” Ellen shouted out raising her finger towards Benny “Ok, first off: Were not friends. Second: no…just no…

[Benjamin Banks]

Ben looked at her weird and shook his head "Look i'm sure you have you reason to be afraid and all but you're looking at it the wrong way." He was seriously wondering if he was going to have to give her the whole weakness/manipulation talk. Seriously he was shaking his on the inside but he knew that it was serious. "He knows he can manipulate you so he does, he knows that he can scare you so he does, he knows that you'd do anything to get his approval so he uses that. How can you not see that? The best way is to just ignore him, He already knows he has you under his control so why would he give you what you when you do what he wants without it?" He shook his head again and spun around in the chair. He wondered how angry she was going to get at that, the problem with Ben wasn't that he oblivious to everything it was that he didn't care as much as he should. He had his own problems to worry about and none of them involved what their father thought or wanted from him. Even if secretly disagreed with Ellen about the golden child thing, he knew when someone was trying to manipulate him.


"Ill get you back for that eventually. Anyways so I was thinking...if you loved me like all sisters are supposed to love their brothers you'd do me a huge favor." He said smiling that smile that told her that he was up to something. "I need you to play the lottery for me, I want to test out my gift." He said giving her the most adorable look he could muster on top of the puppy dog eyes. He knew she would probably say no to him but he was going to keep trying, he needed someone who would probably give him half of the money or so.


"But she is and she's always smiling and she's hot. Dude her rack is sweet, and she's in a couple of clubs I'm in. She's really helpful and nice...and hot.' He said getting this goofy grin and far away look on his face. Yep he was definitely crushing on the older girl.

[Ellen Banks]

Ellen’s head shot up once more in shock at Ben’s words not used to hearing him speak so serious or even attempting to lecture Ellen, this was his major fault in Ellen’s mind. He felt he was invincible, like he knew everything about everything there was to know, not that Ellen blamed her little brother for that mind set, all Banks had that mind set and this coupled with teenage arrogance was a dangerous mix to be sure, Ellen remembered when she was Ben’s age. She thought she was on top of the world too, and couldn’t do anything wrong, Her father made sure that didn’t last long, that was the main issue with him, he had yet to taste defeat, he had yet to be humbled and learn that actions can have negative effects

Pride comes before a fall…

“Please don’t try and talk about things that you know nothing about” Ellen coldly stated, she had long given up on trying to explain what it was like when his father’s rage was turned on her…Maybe one day he’ll find out himself…

“Oh? And tell me, how exactly how would I do that, is my love not enough for you?” Ellen asked sighing knowing a brand new signature Benny Banks scheme was about to pollute her ears once again “…What happened to not abusing powers? You don’t even need the money”

[Benjamin Banks]

Ben was pretty sure that Ellen didn't even understand where he was coming from. She held to much pride in her last name...to many thoughts of being better than certain people. Ben knew that he was smarter than most people, however he knew that he was an awful person. How could he be better than someone but still be a bad person? Being nice didn't necessarily make you a good person, things could be faked and that's what being nice was...a mask. Still he had to roll his eyes when she tried to turn this around on him. He wasn't the one showing his weaknesses to the worst person possible...their father.

"Whatever you just don't want to admit that i'm right. Sure I haven't seen the worst of our Father...but to be perfectly honest I wouldn't care. I'm not dying for him to love me, I want him to stop paying attention to me. You can have it all because I don't want to use my last name to get what I want in life." He said dropping the goofy boyish attitude for a moment. He knew that he didn't really take things as serious as his sister did. To be honest, Ben could do a lot of good things if he actually put his mind to it. However he was determined to undermine and ruin what his dad thought he should be.


"What's love got to with it? If love was all we needed than we wouldn't have Banks" He said folding his arms across his chest. of course he didn't need the money, and what was this not abusing powers bullshit, especially coming from her. "Really? you're gonna talk to me about not abusing my powers? You can hypno people Ellen, the most I can do is count cards at a casino and play on deal or no deal. Like honestly, How else am I supposed to learn to control my power? I'm a math genius and it's just wasting away even with the advanced math classes." He said sighing and slouching the chair. "Besides, I do need the money...for things. But if you don't wanna do it...I can figure it out somehow." He said shrugging his shoulders. He was giving her the opportunity of the lifetime, a chance to be a key part in workings of his greatest scheme to date.

[Ellen Banks]

Of course Ellen was prideful, So was Benny, so was their father. They all were, pride and ego came with their name. Or has Benny just forgotten that particular fact about their family? Benny knew him better then most, after all he had known her his entire life. She would have thought that he would know that advice was the last thing Ellen would ever really take on is Advice,

Especially when it came to Father…

“Stop talking Benny. You’re just giving me migraines” Ellen shot back considering the matter closed.

Ellen couldn’t help but to smirk at Ben’s words. What does love have to do with anything indeed. That’s what made them who they were If Father thought Ellen anything it was those kind of emotional just got in the way and made you weak and distracted you “We should have that inscribed on the entrance to our home” Ellen pondered tossing her hair behind her.

“The problem is Benny…You do put your powers to “Use” the problem is you use them for stupid schemes and moronic ideas. That has always and will always end up blowing up in your face” Ellen nodded and rolled her eyes “Oh- and when they do, guess who has to pick up the pieces and save your neck. Me” Ellen said pointing to herself,honesly it got a bit annoying at times. He was lucky Ellen was around to constantly save him time and time again. She could only assume that one day that’ll it end with her bailing him out of jail.

Still. He was family…

And then Benny started talking about his latest idea causing Ellen to groan just a little her eyes narrowing at Ben “Ok, I’ll bite. What “Things” do you need?

Here it comes…

[Benjamin Banks]

Ben rolled his eyes, he was on the verge of giving up then again he was pretty sure that even if he did his father wouldn't. After all they had to get their stubbornness from somewhere and that just so happened to be their dad. He was also pretty sure that his mother factored in there somewhere but he wasn't exactly sure where. It wasn't as if any of his parents really mattered, maybe to Ellen. But to Ben they were just the people who gave him life but didn't really matter. He didn't realized that he was pushing away the people who might care for him, hell even though he wanted Ellen to be proud of him he never really stopped to ask her how he could do that. He was just as stubborn as the rest of the people with his last name.


"I'll have you know that my last couple of schemes have went incredibly well thank you very much. The point isn't that they blow up, the point is I only do the things I know will blow because I wanna see if I can away with it. It's called living life on the edge Ellen. Also, misdirection...my schemes blow up so much they won't suspect me of having one that actually works." Of course Ben had been thinking about this a lot, and incredibly bored and wanting to get in trouble. There was something about laughing when his sister angrily turned his death stare towards him that made him smile. He was getting her back for all the torment she did to him when he was younger. If she got a few grey hairs in the process...well that what hair dye was for.

"Goonies, henchmen...peoples...a posesy. Im bored and wanna have a payroll. Obviously I need money to pay them and I don't wanna use my allowance. Therefore I need to pay the lottery and set up a dummy account in someone else's name. DOn't worry it won't be yours...to traceable.
" He was laughing inwardly wondering how many shades of red Ellen would turn before telling him it wasn't gonna happen. He always had a plan B when it came to letting Ellen in on his scheme, that only only telling her a fifth of the plan so she couldn't foil it straight from the jump. It was rare that anything Ben did wasn't shady...he just loved shady business. It was kind of funny seeing as his father was some big shot lawyer.