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How choosing an outfit had suddenly become more complicated than rocket science, Lance would never know. He groaned, tossing another shirt on the growing pile of discards and flopping down on the bed beside it. Lance was reasonably certain he’d liked all of his clothes when he bought them, but now all he could see was that his style was something along the lines of thrift-shop chic. Not half good enough for his first date with Ash. No, for Ash, Lance wanted to shine. He wanted to be someone worth showing off, never mind that he could walk out in a burlap sack and Ash would pay him compliments for hours.
It had been Ash’s idea to go out. “That’s what people do, isn’t it? When they’re dating. They go on dates,” Ash had said, familiar wry twist to his mouth. “So let’s do it. I’ll pay for everything, since I’m a gentleman.” He paused, leaning into Lance with a whisper. “Can you lend me some cash?”
Lance elbowed Ash away, grinning. “You’re ridiculous. Get a job, layabout. I have expensive tastes.”
“Having known you literally all your life, I can declare that statement completely untrue. We’re going to the fair. It’s in town, and you’ll like it. Fried sugar and stuffed animals, that’s you in a nutshell.” Ash caught Lance around the waist and pulled him in, delivering a smacking kiss to Lance’s cheek. “I’ll win you a goldfish.”
It took little convincing after that for Lance to agree to go to the fair with Ash. He knew Ash couldn’t leave the house without him, and imagined that a mind as complicated and busy as Ash’s would be starving for input after so many hours staring at the same old walls and decorations. Lance rolled to his feet and approached his closet, prepared to do battle again.
A mere forty minutes and one ransacked closet later, Lance had found the winning outfit. Tight jeans and a button-up shirt, chosen specifically because the deep forest green brought out the honey highlights in his brown eyes. Rolling up the shirtsleeves in a few quick twists, Lance studied his reflection. He looked good. Handsome, but not trying too hard. As long as one ignored the utter destruction of his normally orderly bedroom.
When Lance came out of his room, Ash was waiting patiently on the sofa, hands on his knees and staring at nothing, as he often did when no one was around to see him. Ash noticed how quickly Lance shut his bedroom door and smiled. “Must be bad in there. You look nice.”
Lance flushed pink, rubbing the back of his neck. “Thanks. You too.” Lance hadn’t seen Ash’s shirt or jacket before, and wondered if he’d purchased them just for their date. He might have done. Lance had given Ash access to his bank account years ago, though this had been the first time Ash had actually used it. That Ash had found this occasion important enough to merit the expense warmed Lance to his toes.
The fair was much larger than Lance had assumed it would be. Towering rides, dozens of food and game stalls, every giggling child and frustrated parent in the entire city—the fair had it all. As Lance bought tickets, Ash took his hand, twining their fingers together as if they did this every day. Shocked brown eyes met dancing green and Ash asked, “Too much?”
“Yeah,” Lance said with a bashful dip of his head. “But don’t let go.”
Past the ticket booth, the fair was in full swing. The smell of fried dough and sugar filled the air, and more than one child ran by with a cloud of cotton candy, sticky faces and sticky fingers everywhere. “Do you want something to eat? Deep fried sugar? Butter-filled apple?” Ash asked, following Lance’s gaze to one of the food stalls.
“Those aren’t real foods, and you know it. Well, the apple thing, at least. I hope.” Lance squeezed Ash’s hand and led the way to a booth boasting the easiest ring-toss in town. “Food later. Games first. I’m going to win you a stuffy.”
Ash looked at the prizes lining the walls of the booth, staring for a long moment. “Are those…badgers? Bears? Bear…dgers?” The stuffed beasts looked like an unfortunate mix of the two animals, so ugly they were adorable.
“Doesn’t matter what it is, you’re getting one.” Lance paid for a set of rings, eyeing the rows of bottles packed tightly together.
“You could let me do this. I’m a precision instrument,” Ash said with no little smugness.
Lance tossed the first ring, which landed exactly where he wanted it to. The second bounced, but the third landed just beside the first. He accepted the prize, turning to proudly present a small bear-dger to his date. “Now you have something to put in your room.”
Ash took the soft, ugly little stuffed animal, giving it a testing squish between his hands. “I’ll treasure it,” he said sincerely, his upgraded processors pinking the tips of his ears, the blush creeping over his cheeks. Ash couldn’t remember the last time someone had given him something purely for him to enjoy, which meant that it was likely no one ever had.
“Come on, my turn. They’ve got a water gun over there. Those things are always off-center.” Ash led the way to the water gun booth. After Lance laid down the money, Ash took his position at one of the water guns. As predicted, the gun didn’t aim straight, water splashing just to the side of the clown mouth Ash was meant to be aiming into, with the goal of filling and popping a balloon at the top. It was easy enough for Ash to correct the aim and hold steady, going still in a way that had the guy running the booth frowning. Ash figured he must look a bit creepy, but the guy gestured for them to pick a prize anyway, once the balloon burst. “Pick it out, Lance.”
Lance considered a moment, the walls filled with shelves of knick-knacks and junk. Finally, he pointed to a pad of paper shaped like an apple, but patterned like a pineapple, and the accompanying pen. “Whatever the hell that is, I have to have it.” The guy handed it over, and Lance flipped it open, noting that each page was marked with either an apple or a pineapple at the corner. It was adorable.
The two of them made their way around the fair, Lance trying his hand at various games with no real success. Ash offered to take over, but Lance was pretty sure that Ash using his natural abilities was basically cheating. Finally, as the sun was beginning to sink below the horizon, Ash dragged Lance over to a booth where people were trying to catch goldfish with paper nets. The paper stretched over the net’s plastic frame was thin and easily broken, so the chances of actually catching a fish weren’t that high. “I did say I’d win you one, didn’t I? It’s half luck, so I can’t cheat,” Ash explained with a pleading look.
Lance couldn’t resist that face, and Ash damn well knew that. “Alright, give it a try, hot shot. Win me a goldfish.”
Ash dipped the net into the water, chasing after one of the fish. He lifted it from the water, but he’d been too slow. The net shredded, dropping the fish safely back into the water. With a fresh net, Ash managed to scoop the fish into the provided bowl, presenting it to Lance with a triumphant sound. The girl running the booth took the bowl and poured the fish into a travel bag with some extra water, then handed it back. The little creature explored the confines of its temporary home, the black and white scales vaguely remind Ash of a cow. Lance loved cows.
“Your fish sack, sir,” Ash said with a bow, placing it carefully in Lance’s outstretched hands.
“That is possibly the least appealing way you could have described this, Ash. The worst, full stop.” Lance took it anyway, smiling. The little guy was pretty cute. “I’m going to call you Elias,” he told the fish.
“That’s a hefty name for a goldfish, isn’t it?” Ash squished his bear-dger, wondering if he should think of a name for it.
“It looks like a cow, and Elias is a perfect cow name.” Lance grinned at fish, carefully cradling the bag in one hand. “He likes it, I can tell.”
Lights began to come on all over the fairground as daylight faded completely. Everything seemed more alive, like they were only just now seeing the real fair. “Let’s ride that big wheel,” Ash said, doing a quick internet search to find the proper term. “Ferris wheel.”
They could see the entire fair from the Ferris wheel, beautiful and glowing. Lance shifted closer, nudging until Ash asked, “Should I put my arm around you now?”
“Yes, please. I would like that very much.” Lance sighed happily as Ash held him, the artificial warmth of his body pleasant in the slight chill of the night air. “You might kiss me, if you’ve a mind to. If you want to.”
“I want what you want,” Ash said quietly, remembering how many missteps he’d suffered with Martha, intimacy spelling the death of their relationship and the end of his usefulness. There were so many ways that a simple thing could go wrong. Ash and Lance had kissed before, but this was a date. All the rules were different here.
“No, Ash. That doesn’t work here.” Lance looked up at him, utterly serious. “You only have to do things that you want to do, with me. I won’t treat you like a thing. I’ve had fun today. If that’s all I’ll have, I’m absolutely satisfied.”
Ash laughed shakily, his heart thumping to life as his processors whirred over a swell of love for the sweet young man who was Ash’s whole world. “If I ever forget you’re too good for me, remind me of tonight,” Ash said softly. He kissed Lance gently, pouring all the sticky sweet affection he felt into it and letting his uncertainties melt away. Lance made a broken little noise, looping his arms around Ash’s neck, goldfish bag pressing coldly to his skin. Ash barely noticed.
It was only after the attendant had cleared her throat several times that Lance realized the ride had stopped and they needed to get moving. “Sorry, sorry. We’re going,” Lance assured her, practically hauling a laughing Ash off the ride.
“That was loads of fun. Did you see the look on her face? Like she’d been standing there for twenty minutes already!” Ash couldn’t stop laughing, while Lance was seriously considering throwing himself in the nearest trash can.
“Maybe she was! We can never come back here. I’m choosing the next date.”
Ash’s smile turned warm, his hand finding Lance’s. “The next date? Can I consider this one a success, despite disapproving ride attendants and extremely dubious prizes?”
Lance nodded. “Yeah. This was good. What about you? Will you go out with me again?”
Ash tugged Lance against his side and wrapped his arm around him. “With you, I’d go anywhere.”