From: lcooksey@mindspring.com (Laura Cooksey)
Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative
Subject: Pleasant Dreams (PG-13)
Date: 9 May 1995 21:13:36 GMT


Laura Cooksey
lcooksey@mindspring.com

Okay, here we go -- this story involves gay relationships.
If this turns you off, freaks you out, or raises your blood 
pressure in an unhealthy way, abort now!

X-Files characters (c) Ten-Thirteen, Chris Carter, and 20th
Century Fox, and used without permission. No copyright
infringement is intended.

This story is rated PG-13 for some mild language and a
little sexual content. I welcome comments at my email address, 
above. Flames will be ignored, or printed out and passed around 
to my friends for laughs, so don't bother.


                    Pleasant Dreams
                     Laura Cooksey

     Fox Mulder had just finished working out in the FBI gym
and he bounded back into his office at full tilt, anxious to
leave work for the day (and the week). It took him a second
to realize that his partner, Dana Scully, was still at her
desk. "Making a late night of it, Scully?" he asked.
     "Not quite," she said, turning her chair to face him.
"I wanted to talk to you before you left for the weekend."
     Scully wasn't usually this reserved when talking to
him, so his curiosity was piqued. He threw a couple of items
from his desk into his gym bag and double-checked to be sure
he'd removed his wallet from his dress pants and put it into
the jeans he was now wearing. "This sounds ominous. Ben
Randolph's going to be waiting for me at his apartment, so
don't make me late for beer, pizza and a movie." He sat on
the edge of his desk and waited for her to tell him what was
on her mind.
     Scully hesitated, which only made Mulder more nervous.
Finally, she asked, "How long have you been hanging out with
Ben?"
     Mulder laughed. "You make it sound like we're dating,
Scully. What's the matter -- are you jealous?" She just
stared at him, so he answered her question. "I guess I've
known him for about three months."
     Mulder remembered how excited Ben had been the day
they'd met, as he showed Mulder and Scully the analysis of a
metal fragment the Special Agents had retrieved from an
alleged UFO crash site. Ben had been very receptive to
Mulder's "extreme possibilities" in explaining where the
metal had come from, and he was a damn good technician. He'd
found Mulder a few days later in the gym, shooting baskets,
and they'd started playing one-on-one regularly, as well as
having lunch or swimming together once or twice a week.
     "I really hate doing this," Scully said with a sigh.
"Mulder, did you know that Ben is gay?"
     Mulder's jaw dropped. "I..., he is? But, how do you
know that?"
     "It's no secret. He's open about it, and a lot of
people know. But, since you don't have a lot of friends in
the Bureau, and I got the impression that Ben hadn't said
anything, I suspected that you didn't know." Mulder just sat
on the edge of his desk, staring at his feet as Scully
continued talking. "Look, I wouldn't have said anything, but
people are beginning to talk, and you have enough problems
in the Bureau already."
     "Talk?" Mulder asked, horrified. "Oh, no. Now people
think I'm _gay_ as well as crazy? I didn't think my
reputation could get any worse. Do you -- God, Scully -- do
you think he's _interested_ in me?"
     "Well, what if he is, Mulder? Ben's very handsome."
     "Yeah, he -- Scully, that's not funny."
     She grinned. "Sorry. But what if he is? Don't you know
how to say no? Don't you have any other gay friends?"
     "Scully, I hardly have any friends at all," he said
quietly, honestly.
     She came over to stand beside him, putting her arm
around his shoulders. "You should talk to him about it,
Mulder. Find out where you stand. Find out if he's
interested. Find out if you're interested."
     He looked up at her at that remark, but his protest
died in his throat. He laughed and shrugged. "I couldn't
possibly do worse with men than I've done with women." He
grinned broadly at her.
     Scully's eyes went wide. *Well, well. Mulder is more
adaptable than I thought, even if he is joking. I think he's
joking.* "Give me a call and let me know how it turns out,
okay?"
     He nodded, asking, "Tonight or tomorrow morning?"
     "Doesn't matter. Whenever you need to talk to me."
     Mulder looked at her with a mixture of relief and
surprise. "Oh. Okay. I, well, thanks. Thanks, Scully." He
rested his hand on her shoulder as he stood up, grabbing his
bag and the hanger his suit was on, then heading for the
door.
     "Mulder," Scully called. He turned, his hand on the
doorknob. She continued, "Look, if anything happens -- be
careful."
     He blinked, uncomprehending for a moment, then his eyes
went wide as he figured out what she was talking about.
Clearing his throat, he said, "I'm always careful, Dr.
Scully." He opened the door and left before the conversation
could get any more uncomfortable.
     "Good luck," she called after him as the door closed.

                        **********

     "Hey, Mulder!" Randolph said when he arrived. "You're
late. I was beginning to worry a little."
     "Scully needed to talk to me," Mulder replied, rather
distracted.
     "Ugh. Shop-talk. Well, grab a beer and I'll cue up the
movie. I've got the pizza in here on the coffee table."
     "What did you get?" Mulder called from the kitchen.
     "I couldn't find anything at the video store that I
liked, so I pulled a _Mystery Science Theater 3000_ tape out
of my collection," Randolph replied as Mulder came into the
living room and sat on the couch.
     "With Mike or Joel?"
     "Joel. I think I've got _The Robot Monster vs. the
Aztec Mummy_ cued up."
     Ben turned on the VCR and the two of them watched about
forty-five minutes of the show, when Randolph finally
couldn't stand it any longer. Normally Mulder loved this
show, but he'd hardly laughed at any of the jokes, and had
been staring off into space for the last fifteen minutes,
not paying any attention to the television at all. "Hey, are
you okay? You're really quiet this evening."
     "Hmm? Oh, I'm sorry, Ben. I'm a little distracted."
     "Yeah, I'll say," Ben replied, grinning broadly. He was
almost as tall as Mulder, and a few years older, with a
little bit of gray in his pale brown hair. "What's up? Do
you want to talk about it?"
     "Are you gay?" Mulder asked suddenly. Ben choked on a
mouthful of beer, managing to swallow most of it before
heading into the kitchen, with Mulder following him. He was
coughing so hard that Mulder was actually a little worried,
but Ben spat some beer and foam into the sink, rinsed his
mouth out and cleared his throat a few times and seemed to
be okay.
     "That's a hell of a way to ask that question," Ben
said, still coughing a bit.
     Mulder looked sheepish. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that.
Forget it. I don't know what I was thinking, I...."
     Ben interrupted him. "Yes," he said simply.
     "Oh," was the most intelligent thing Mulder could think
of to say. He hesitated. "It doesn't matter to me, Ben."
     Randolph grinned sadly. "If it didn't matter, you
wouldn't have needed to ask, Mulder."
     "Yeah. I guess that was a stupid thing to say." Mulder
leaned back against the counter in the kitchen, crossing his
arms.
     "Who told you? Dana?" Ben asked. Mulder looked down and
Ben nodded. "It's okay. I don't blame her."
     "She said that people were beginning to talk about me;
about us."
     Randolph's shoulders sagged. "Shit. I'm sorry, Mulder.
I should have said something, but we were getting along so
well, and I didn't want to put you off. I don't have a lot
of friends in the FBI, either. And I didn't think people
would talk about you that way; I've seen the way you look at
Dana. Everybody talks about it."
     "Yeah, but we've never done anything about it. And
people are always eager to move on to the next scandal."
     Randolph sighed heavily and walked back into the living
room, shutting off the VCR and the television as he sat back
down. Mulder sat next to him again and they were quiet for
several minutes. Mulder finally spoke. "Look, Ben, I need to
know: Are you interested in me?"
     Randolph grinned at him. "Just because I'm gay doesn't
mean I find you attractive, any more than all straight women
find you attractive."
     "No, no, I know that. I just want to know where I
stand," Mulder said uneasily. "I mean, it's okay if you
don't think I'm attractive." He paused. "Is there something
wrong with the way I look or something?"
     Ben laughed softly, seeing Mulder's embarrassed,
vulnerable expression. "No, there isn't. And I do have kind
of a crush on you, I think."
     "Really?"
     "Yeah. But it's okay. I don't want anything from you. I
enjoy your company, your friendship. I don't want to cause
you any grief." He sighed. "If you're uncomfortable and want
to leave, I understand."
     "No, of course I don't want to leave," Mulder said.
     "Are you uncomfortable?"
     Mulder smiled lopsidedly. "Well, yeah, a little."
     "Do you want to talk about it?" Ben asked, half-afraid
to hear the answer.
     "I think so," Mulder said. But then he just sat there
quietly, sipping his beer for several minutes, while his
thoughts chased each other around inside his head. "You have
a crush on me?" he asked, finally, toying with the image of
Ben kissing him. It made his chest tight, but it also
aroused him.
     Ben laughed again. "Yeah, Mulder. I have a crush on
those hazel eyes and those gorgeous hands of yours. You're
one of the smartest, funniest men I know. And one of the
gentlest."
     Mulder blushed, flattered and overwhelmed. "Thanks.
It's nice to be with someone who listens to my ideas and
doesn't think I'm crazy. But at the same time, someone whose
mind isn't so open that their brains are about to fall out."
He chewed his lower lip for a second. "Besides, you're very
handsome." *I am completely out of my mind.*
     Randolph's eyes went wide. "Mulder, how much beer have
you had?" he asked with a grin.
     Mulder eyed the beer suspiciously and put it down. "Not
nearly enough, I think."
     Ben reached out and took Mulder's hand for a moment,
looking into his eyes. Very softly he said, "I hope that you
aren't jerking me around, Mulder. I can't tell you how much
that would hurt."
     "I'm not," Mulder said quickly. "I'm not sure what I'm
doing, Ben, but I'm not playing with you." He grinned at the
double-entendre. "Forget I said that."
     Ben raised an eyebrow at him, grinning back. "I dunno.
That's kind of a tough line to pass up." But he didn't want
to tease Mulder, so he let it go. Still, his curiosity
demanded to be satisfied. "Have you ever done it with a
guy?"
     Mulder turned an even deeper shade of red. "No. Well,
not since high school. I mean, I didn't..., we just touched,
you know?"
     "Yeah. I know. That happens with a lot of straight guys
in high school or college." Ben smiled then, a little sadly,
at an old memory. "You cute breeders break a lot of hearts,
sowing your wild oats."
     "Sounds like there's a story behind that," Mulder said.
Ben nodded, but didn't say anything. Mulder reached out and
touched him on the shoulder, surprising him so much that he
twitched. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." He left his
hand on Ben's arm, curious how the other man felt, running
his thumb along the muscles through the sleeve of his shirt.
     Ben looked pained as he took Mulder's hand in his
again. "You _are_ going to break my heart, aren't you,
satisfying your curiosity?"
     "I hope not," Mulder said, feeling his pulse quicken as
he leaned forward. Ben slid his hand behind Mulder's head,
ruffling his hair, and pulled him closer. After a long
moment of gauging Mulder's reactions, he closed his eyes and
kissed the younger man.
     Mulder was very still for a few seconds, then felt his
body start to respond to the warmth and closeness of Ben's
embrace. He closed his eyes and let himself absorb the
sensations of being kissed by another man: the smell of
Ben's cologne, the strength in his hands and arms, the feel
of short whiskers under his fingers as he touched Ben's
cheek. He heard a small, deep-throated noise of pleasure,
and realized with a shock that it came from himself.
     He gasped loudly as Ben moved his lips down along his
jaw and onto his throat, nipping the skin lightly. Ben
lifted his head, looking uncertain, and waited for Mulder to
say something. "Are you okay?" he finally asked.
     Mulder swallowed and nodded, breathing a little hard.
"Yeah."
     "Did you like it?"
     A huge grin. "Oh, yeah. You're a good kisser." Mulder
stumbled slightly over the words. Ben leaned close and
smiled, saying in a deep voice, "So are you." They embraced
and kissed again, and Mulder kept finding himself tripping
over new sensations: the feel of a muscular chest under a
thin shirt, the breadth of Ben's shoulders, the feel of
Ben's hair sliding through his fingers. Mulder gasped as Ben
pulled him closer and turned to roll Mulder under him on the
couch, sliding one of his legs between Mulder's.
     Ben lifted his head and looked down into Mulder's wide
eyes. "You aren't scared, are you? I want you to be nervous;
nervous is kind of fun. But not scared."
     Mulder laughed. "Nervous is easy." Ben's weight, and
the feel of Ben's erection pressing against his leg and hip,
were making him delightfully nervous, and very hard. "But,
no, I'm not scared. I trust you."
     Ben smiled, relaxing a little, and slid both arms under
Mulder, hugging him close as he kissed him deeply,
tantalizing the younger man with his tongue. Mulder moaned
loud and low and arched his back, lifting Ben off the couch,
kissing him deeply in return. After several minutes, Ben
broke off the kiss and whispered in Mulder's ear, "I think
we ought to move this party into the bedroom."
     Mulder looked at him for a few seconds, deep in
thought, then a grin spread across his face. "Sounds like
fun," he said, "but my doctor told me to be careful."
     "Your doctor?" Ben asked, confused.
     "Yeah. Scully."
     "No shit, Mulder? Oh my God, I wish I could have seen
your face."
     Laughing, Mulder admitted, "Yeah, me too." He slid his
hand down between them to stroke Ben through his jeans,
tentatively at first, then with more confidence, delighting
in the change in Ben's expression.
     "Oh! Mulder, if you keep that up, I won't make it to
the bedroom." He groaned. "Right, being careful -- I've been
tested every three months for the last couple of years, and
I always come up clean. I..., ah, you're making it very
difficult to concentrate. How about you?"
     "Me what?"
     "Don't be dense. Have you been tested for HIV?" Ben
asked.
     Mulder was forced to reply sheepishly, "Yeah. I haven't
had unprotected sex since college, but I've gotten several
blood transfusions, and I've been tested two or three times
over the last couple of years. I've been negative." He
looked uncomfortable.
     "I don't want to do anything risky, but I had to ask."
Ben stroked Mulder's hair. "Have you had many lovers?"
     Mulder shook his head. "Not nearly as many as some
people think. Five -- no, six." He looked very sad suddenly,
remembering Kristen, the almost-vampire. When he met Ben's
eyes again, Ben looked concerned.
     "I'm sorry," Ben said.
     "For what?" Mulder asked.
     Ben shrugged. "For whatever memory makes you so sad."
Mulder nodded, still a little sad, but smiling again. Ben
asked, "So, does that mean we spend the rest of the night on
the couch, or do you want to go in the bedroom?"
     "Well, I can't get up until you do, Ben."
     "Say, 'please'."
     Mulder rolled his eyes. "Ben, will you please get up?"
     "Say, 'pretty please'."
     "Fuck you," Mulder said with a laugh, then laughed
harder. "Wait, let me rephrase that."
     Ben was trying to stand, but at Mulder's comment, he
fell backwards across the couch, laughing. After a few
seconds he managed to say, "You've got quite a way with
words, Mulder. Get up."
     "I am up, as if you hadn't noticed."
     Ben laughed even harder, standing up. "I don't know how
Scully puts up with you. If you don't get up, I'm going to
drag you into the bedroom."
     "I'd like to see you try," Mulder said. He regretted it
instantly, as Ben grabbed him by one ankle and pulled him
halfway off of the couch. "Hey! I was just kidding!" Ben let
go of his foot and Mulder got up. "There. Are you happy
now?"
     "Almost," Ben said in a deep voice, taking Mulder by
the arm and leading him down the hall.

                        **********

     Mulder woke up with a start from a night terror. He sat
up, disoriented. After a moment he remembered where he was.
And with whom. And what he'd done. He felt uneasy, as well
as frightened from the dream.
     "Mulder? You okay?" Ben asked, laying a hand on his
arm.
     His mouth was dry and it took him a few seconds to
answer. "Yeah. Could you turn on the light?"
     "Sure. Watch your eyes." The lamp on the bedside table
illuminated the room at the flick of the switch. Ben
blinked, pushing himself up to a sitting position next to
Mulder. "Man, you look awful. Are you sure you're...."
     Mulder interrupted him. "Yeah. I should have said
something; I have a lot of nightmares." His breathing was
returning to normal as he sat there for a few seconds. Ben
reached out to touch his arm again, but Mulder turned away,
swinging his legs over the side of the bed.
     Ben bit his lip and slid behind Mulder, not quite
touching him. "Is it the nightmare, or are you having second
thoughts?" He longed to pull Mulder against him, but forced
himself to sit still.
     "I don't know," Mulder admitted. "Maybe a little of the
latter," he whispered. *God, Ben, I don't want to hurt you,
but I don't feel very good about this right now.*
     Ben closed his eyes for several seconds, thinking over
his next words carefully. "It's okay. I understand, Mulder.
I remember the mixed feelings I had my first time...." He
stopped, afraid to say too much for fear of putting Mulder
off even further, or of opening himself up to more pain.
     "Thanks," Mulder said uneasily, getting up to go to the
bathroom. He heard Ben opening the closet door in the
bedroom, and when he returned, Ben was holding out a flannel
bathrobe for him.
     "Here. I thought you might rather wear this than your
jeans if you're going to be awake for a while," Ben said. He
was afraid that Mulder would leave if he got dressed, and
wanted to forestall that, if he could. "I'm going to go back
to sleep, unless want to talk about... anything." He grinned
at Mulder. "I'm not as young as I used to be. You wore me
out."
     Mulder ducked his head and smiled, accepting the robe
and shrugging it on. "Is it okay if I turn on the TV? I
don't want to keep you up."
     Ben bit his lip and let that opportunity pass. "It
won't keep me awake. Just, well, wake me if you decide to
leave. Okay?"
     Mulder was hurt to see the pain and uncertainty in
Ben's eyes, and he rested his hand on Ben's arm. "I'm not
going anywhere, Ben. I just need some time to think, that's
all." Ben relaxed and nodded, then crawled back into bed.
After he heard the television come on in the living room he
turned out the lamp by the bed, and lay awake.

                        **********

     Mulder sat on the couch with his feet propped up on the
coffee table, not paying the least attention to the
television. *Mulder, don't you have enough problems?* he
asked himself wryly. In college he'd reconciled himself to
feeling some attraction to men, although he hadn’t acted on 
it since high school. So it wasn't so much that he was 
concerned about his sexual orientation as about complicating 
his life.
     *Do I care if people at the Bureau talk about me? Not
really. Do I want a long-term relationship with Ben? With
anyone?* That was a harder question. His obsessive nature,
his quest for the truth -- that was paramount in his head
and his heart. And yet, he'd truly enjoyed developing a
friendship with Ben, he loved spending time with him,
talking about cases he and Scully had solved, about some of
the old X-Files he wanted to pursue if he and Scully ever
got the chance.
     Scully.
     Mulder picked up and put down the phone three different
times before he finally punched in her number. A groggy
voice answered, "Hello?" He almost hung up. "Mulder? Is that
you?"
     He signed heavily, "Yeah, Scully."
     "I'm glad you called. Skinner called me this evening;
he's got a case for us. Something urgent from some
Washington power broker. I called your house and your
cellular. You've saved me the trouble of tracking you down
in the morning." A pause. "You aren't home, are you?"
     "No." The single word lay heavily in the air.
     "Do you want to talk about it?"
     "Yeah." A long pause.
     "Well, you're not doing a very good job, so far," she
said, and the humor in her voice made him smile. "What
happened?"
     "Scully!" he exclaimed softly, not wanting to wake Ben.
"You don't expect me to kiss and tell, do you?"
     She laughed, "You aren't the only one who enjoys
vicarious thrills, Mulder. Leave out the gory details and
tell me what's on your mind."
     "Well...." God, he was glad she couldn't see him
blushing! "You know I've had a couple of flings over the
past few years. Relationships that I really didn't expect to
work out, and they didn't. But, I've known Ben for a while.
We're friends; if this doesn't work out.... I don't want to
mess this up," he finished weakly.
     "Did you tell him that?"
     "No," he admitted.
     An exasperated sigh. "Men! Mulder, you need to be
talking to Ben about this. I don't care what happens between
the two of you, except that I don't want you to get hurt,
and I wouldn't want to see Ben get hurt either. It's up to
the two of you which direction your relationship goes in. It
doesn't matter what I think or what the Bureau thinks."
     "You're wrong. It does matter what you think. It
matters to me."
     Scully was silent for a few seconds, touched that
Mulder had opened himself up. "I think that you and Ben are
both mature adults that ought to be able to sit down and
discuss what your relationship is as rational human beings.
And if you just get up and leave because you're afraid of
hurting him, or of being hurt, I'd be very disappointed in
you. I also think that someone with a psychology degree from
Oxford ought to be able to figure all this out on his own,"
she said with a trace of humor.
     "We all like to have our opinions validated by our
friends and colleagues, from time to time."
     "I know. You figure out what you need in your life,
Mulder. Then you go ask Ben what he's looking for. Maybe the
two will coincide."
     "Or at least overlap." He sighed. "Thanks, Scully. I
appreciate being able to talk to you."
     "Hey, that's what friends are for."
     "That works both ways, Scully."
     She chuckled. "Good. But it would make you easier to
call if you'd remember not to leave your cellular phone in
the car."
     Mulder grinned. Just like Scully to get a last dig in
before the end of the call. "Bye." "Goodnight," she said. He
hung up the phone and sat on the couch a while longer.
     Finally, with a sigh, he got up and turned off the TV
and went back into the bedroom. He walked carefully,
unfamiliar with the room in the dark, and draped the robe
Ben had loaned him over a chair. He slid under the covers
quietly.
     "Were you on the phone?" Ben asked sleepily.
     "Yeah. I didn't mean to wake you."
     "No. That's okay. I just thought maybe I dreamed it."
     "I was talking to Scully."
     "Oh?" Ben sounded more awake, his curiosity piqued. "Do
I want to know what about?"
     Mulder put his arm around Ben hesitantly and snuggled
up against his back. "About me. About us. Mostly about me."
     Ben sighed as Mulder embraced him, sliding his hand
over Mulder's. "Did you decide anything?"
     "I think so. Scully likes you."
     "Well, I guess she has good taste, then."
     Mulder laughed very softly. "She says I should talk to
you. That the two of us should talk."
     Ben nodded. "That would be a relief, I think." He
rolled over to face Mulder. "Did we make a mistake?"
     "No. I don't think I made a mistake, anyway. I care
about you, Ben. A lot. But I'm not ready to have a long-term
commitment. There's too much going on in my life. My
work..., well, you know how I feel about my work. But it
would be wonderful to have someone to share things with. I
enjoy your company." He hesitated a moment. "I'd like to
keep seeing you."
     "Well," Ben replied with a smile, "I didn't think you
were going to move in with me or anything. You've been a
good friend, and now you're a little more than that. I think
I can live with that, for a while, anyway." He kissed
Mulder, then ran his hand down Mulder's chest and stomach,
feeling him respond to the caress with a deep-throated hum.
"Like that?" he rumbled.
     "You haven't done anything I don't like." He gasped as
Ben stroked lower still on his torso, caressing him. "I
thought you were tired," Mulder said, closing his eyes in
pleasure for a moment.
     "You're inspirational. Now shut up."
     Mulder laughed. "Make me."
     "I'm bigger than you," Ben warned him playfully.
     "I don't think so," Mulder responded with a wicked
grin.
     "Size queen," Ben joked, then regretted saying it,
unsure how Mulder would react. But Mulder threw his head
back and laughed. "Sorry about that. I guess you'll have to
get used to my gay humor," Ben said.
     Mulder gave Ben a quirky smile. "That might be
interesting. You aren't going to try to take me to any bars
or anything, are you?"
     "Ugh. I _hate_ bars; gay and straight. Noisy, smoky,
meat-markets where you only find people you wouldn't want to
go home with. I don't think so." Ben kissed Mulder with a
laugh. "Why are we still talking?"
     "Because I don't want to get hurt," Mulder said softly,
nuzzling Ben's ear.
     Ben cupped Mulder's face in one hand and stared him in
the eye. "Hey. You're not going to get hurt, Mulder. Don't
be so scared, and don't think so much. Just relax, for God's
sake." He grinned at Mulder, and Mulder grinned back
sheepishly.
     "I guess I worry too much."
     "Yeah, I guess so. Look, why don't you just go back to
sleep, okay?"
     "Are you sure, Ben? I've got to leave in the morning.
Skinner gave Scully a case."
     "Ah, geez, Mulder, are you guys gonna make me work
overtime this weekend?" Ben said with a huge grin.
     "I hope not, Ben." Mulder replied. Ben settled back
against his pillows with a sigh. Mulder hesitated, then laid
down within the circle of his arms. Ben was surprised and
flattered; he hugged Mulder gently. Mulder rested his cheek
on Ben's chest for a few seconds, running his fingers
through the hairs there. "This feels weird."
     Ben laughed, and Mulder marveled at the sound of the
deep voice echoing under his ear. "Does it?"
     "Yeah. I think I could get used to it, though." Mulder
closed his eyes and let himself relax as Ben's fingers
massaged his shoulder.
     "Pleasant dreams," Ben said softly.