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Darius does not think it's boastful of him to say he's smart. He’s read every book, research paper, and blog post related to paleontology and is the most knowledgeable about dinosaurs amongst the campers here on Isla Nublar.
He not only prides himself on his smarts, but also his keen sense of observation. Ever since he started to keep a field guide, his observational skills have increased considerably. Well, considering his subjects are living- and often hungry- dinosaurs, he had to learn to make any notation as quickly as possible.
Recently, however, his observational skills have revealed to him something very important about his fellow campers. Specifically, the other two male campers, Ben and Kenji.
He won’t lie; before the monorail and losing Ben, Darius had noticed how said teen acted around the tallest of the three of them. He may not have initially attached a romantic connotation to those observations, but it was made abundantly clear that he should have after Ben rejoined them. When Ben wasn’t looking at Bumpy or looking out for potential danger, he was looking at Kenji.
And then there’s how Kenji acted when everyone thought Ben was gone. He would absentmindedly stroke Ben’s fanny-pack, looking forlorn. Darius himself felt grief (and guilt) when it came to Ben, but Kenji’s way of dealing with it didn’t seem to be coming from the same emotional place he was. When Ben came back, Kenji watched him like a hawk.
Now, here’s where things start getting interesting. This past night, Darius was barely asleep when he was awoken by voices. He sat up and found Ben and Kenji taking watch together. That itself isn't suspicious, but then he noticed the pair exchanging loving looks. He must note, however, many of them were when the other wasn’t looking. At this point, it was clear to Darius what the other two felt for each other, but like any good scientist, his hypothesis needed more observation and concrete evidence for any kind of conclusion to be reached.
So, he stayed up and watched the pair some more, hoping to catch anything and everything. And he found… nothing. Ben came back to the sleeping area after a while, red in the face when he did, but Darius saw nothing that would be concrete evidence of romance. No kiss, no hand holding, no physical touching of any kind.
WHAT. THE. HECK.
Okay. Chill. It’s all good.
No it isn’t. He wanted to scream in frustration. Instead, Darius laid there in his bunk for a while, wracking his brain for possible explanations about what was up with the lack of anything overtly romantic happening. He eventually settled on three.
One: Ben and Kenji are together but are being careful about not letting the others find out. Ben does disappear a lot to “check on Bumps” and Kenji does spend a lot of time “at his resting tree.” Maybe they meet up and do whatever then. But that doesn’t really make sense to Darius. Ben has gone to check on his dinosaur many times while Kenji remained at camp. If those were just excuses, they don’t always line up. So, unlikely.
Two: Since he is literally 13, maybe he misread the signs. Maybe there were no signs. But he’s watched a lot of sappy romance movies with his mom, and based on his (reluctantly) abundant knowledge of those and comparing it to what he observes of Ben and Kenji, he surmises that his original hypothesis is not flawed: They most definitely have feelings for each other.
Three: They don’t know the other likes them. They openly stare with loving gazes but don’t act beyond that, maybe in fear that the other doesn’t feel the same way. A common trope in those movies. He considers that maybe this is only the case for one of them, liking the other while thinking it's unrequited, that is. Darius bets it’s Ben, not because he thinks Ben would be a pessimist or anything, but because he knows Kenji’s confidence (“Konfidence,” he thinks Kenji would call it) would make him assume that Ben was also into him.
Darius decides that the third option best explains their behavior and moves forward with that theory in mind.
--
After assessing the boat and then later dealing with the Ouranosauruses, the six campers find themselves on their new yacht, a celebratory mood onboard. Yaz and Sammy pop off more fireworks, Darius and Brooklynn talk on the deck while enjoying the show, Ben is with Bumpy and Kenji is chilling on one of the deck couches.
Darius and Brooklynn mull over the news Kenji gave them about the boat’s gas situation. That, paired with the very strange behaviors of the dinosaurs made for a growing mystery that Darius had no answers to. Kenji is of the mind that the dinosaurs acting up is normal but that theory doesn't sit right with either Darius or Brooklynn. Things were “getting next level weird” as Brooklynn put it, but since the group agreed on not returning to shore until morning, he decides to put those thoughts on his mental back burner.
Besides, now would be a good time to investigate another mystery; specifically, about two of his fellow campers.
Kenji had long gone down to the seating area where everyone else was, the four chatting about whatever. Darius takes notice of the fact that the two that he was intent on observing are sitting nowhere near each other. His face must have shown some form of displeasure since the next thing he knows, Brooklynn nudges him in the shoulder.
“Hey. What’s up?”
“Huh?”
"You were spacing out, man."
"Oh. Uh..."
She gives him a playful smile. “Wow. You must be really worried about something to get that spaced out. Don’t worry, the oranasauruses being weird might just be a one-time thing.”
“Oh. Well, yeah that stuff is still on my mind, definitely. But-”
"Do you think something bigger is happening?"
"I don't know. But that's not what I'm thinking about." He answers vaguely.
“Darius?”
“Well…” God, maybe he shouldn't have said that. But he wants to talk about this to someone! Still, the idea of potentially outing Ben and Kenji doesn't sit right with him. So... maybe if he asks Brooklynn questions that imply what he’s talking about, the subject being those two, it doesn’t count as telling her about it, right? Right. Ugh, this probably isn’t a good idea.
Brooklynn looks at him expectantly. He decides to go for it.
“Have you noticed something going on between two of the others?”
“Going on? What do you mean?”
“I mean, have you noticed anyone act strangely, something that could be explained in a..." Okay, here we go, "romantic context.”
At first, the pink-haired girl looks at him blankly, and he wonders if she thinks he's crazy. Suddenly, the biggest smile breaks out on her face and the sight makes his heart race.
“OH. MY. GOD!” Her voice raises in volume with each word.
She said that so loudly, it caught everyone’s attention down below, all of them looking up at the two of them with questioning looks. She waves sheepishly in embarrassment and pulls Darius towards the bridge where they’re out of view. And earshot, hopefully. Does her eccentric reaction mean Brooklynn also figured out Ben and Kenji? He sure hopes it does, because being the only one who knows about it might drive him insane.
Despite the two of them now being harder to hear from below, Brooklynn's voice still becomes a whisper.
“Okay just so you know, I didn’t want to say anything because it’s none of my business, but if you figured it out, too, that doesn’t count as telling, right? Right.” Darius smiles to himself, feeling slightly better that he’s not the only one with that mentality here, at least.
“Those two are so obvious, right?” Brooklynn continues.
“I know!” he yell-whispers, his hushed tone barely containing his excitement.
“I mean, they leave camp with obviously fake reasons. Y’know, ‘A’ for effort for trying to be discreet but I’m pretty sure everyone else can tell that they’re excuses so you two can sneak off together.”
Darius sighs in relief. He’s not crazy. Someone else noticed how obvious Ben and Kenji were. Though, this seems to be more in line with his first theory, that they're already together and are hiding it. Huh. He’ll admit, he’s been wrong before.
“Again, I know it’s none of my business, but sometimes I want to just walk up to Yaz and Sammy and ask if there’s something going on.”
Darius is confused by that statement. Does Brooklynn think that the other girls also noticed? “Why would you ask them?”
“Well, who better to ask about a secret relationship than the people in said secret relationship?” She gestures emphatically with her hands, as if Darius missed the whole point of their conversation.
Wait.
Did that mean…?
“A-are you saying you think that Yaz and Sammy have something going on?”
“Yeah. Pay attention. Anyway, maybe I’m off and they just haven’t said anything to each other yet, but--”
“Wait wait wait wait wait wait.” He waves his hands in her face to get her to stop. What did he just hear? Brooklynn was referring to Yaz and Sammy this whole time? So she didn’t know about Ben and Kenji?
Oh man.
This was a mistake.
“What?? I’m trying to tell you what I-- Wait.” Her eyes go wide and she covers her mouth in realization. “You were also talking about them, right?” Brooklynn’s voice is hesitant now.
“Uh, y’know what? I’m really thirsty, so I think I’m gonna… go…” She yell-whispers his name, but Darius has already slipped away without looking back, going down below. Once he was there, he can't help but glance at Yaz and Sammy, the two looking very comfy on one of the deck sofas. He notices Yaz’s arm around Sammy, with Sammy laughing at whatever Kenji just said. The look Yaz gives Sammy is that same one he’s seen Kenji give Ben.
Oh, Brooklynn was right.
He suddenly feels guilty for some reason and averts his eyes immediately. He plops himself down next to Ben, who, of course, is doting on Bumpy.
Ben looks at his sudden company warily. “Uh, Darius? You doing okay? You’re looking a little… not well.”
Darius chuckles nervously in response, ever so tempted to watch Yaz and Sammy some more. Ben shrugs at the non-response, then Bumpy is his focus again.
Suddenly, Ben’s attention trains on Kenji who is laughing along with Sammy now. His eyes softens and a small smile pulls at his lips. He doesn't seem to notice Darius is watching him, so the younger of the two decides to observe to his heart’s content.
There is no doubt about it in his mind: There were not one but two burgeoning romances happening here. Though, this just leaves him with more questions. And now, he’ll probably have to deal with Brooklynn asking him some of her own. Great. Just great.
Darius had the vaguest thought that figuring out what’s wrong with the dinosaurs is going to be easier than all of this.
