Chapter Text
Chase sat on a short wall beneath the shade of a tree just inside the entrance to Disneyland. He had chosen to wear blue shorts, a salmon top, and a modest yellow backpack. He ignored the fact that he could’ve aligned more properly with the Disneybounding theme if he’d spent less time on packing essentials and more time on putting together his outfit, but he’d be damned if he forgot sunscreen and bottles of water at home.
Deacon sat on the short wall beside Chase and pulled his leg up to perch an ankle on his opposite knee before placing his own backpack on his lap. “I’m not here to be your camera crew, Chase,” he announced.
“Yeah, that’s why you’re wearing all that red with orange accents. To not look like Flora and match me,” Chase sassed as he kept his eyes focused on the walking traffic, waiting to catch sight of the birthday girl and any of his other streaming friends.
“She’s the lead helper fairy; she’s going to be the most recognizable.”
“Actually, Merryweather is the most recognizable.” Before Deacon could argue back, Chase huffed and shook his head. “Whatever. It’s fine. It’s just like…. What’d Sil call it? A closet cosplay?” Chase glanced at Deacon before focusing back on the milling crowds again. “Yeah, s’not like we’re dressed up like this for anyone else—what am I saying? I can’t believe we’re at Disney and not dolled up to shine.” Chase whimpered, mourning the loss of opportunity.
Deacon sighed and pulled his book out of his backpack. “Whatever. You’d get kicked out if you dressed up as a character. Or. Maybe if you dressed up as one of the dwarves from Snow White, they’d give you a pass as a character actor.” He chuckled to himself.
Chase smacked Deacon’s arm with a huff before he checked the Discord chat on his phone. “Being the first ones is kinda boring.”
“Better than being the late ones and making the birthday girl wait,” Deacon mumbled idly as his eyes flicked between lines in his book.
Chase huffed, but he couldn’t argue with Deacon’s logic. He checked his phone again. His eyes brightened with an idea, and he moved to stand by Deacon and raised his phone in the air. “Say cheese, Dorkin.” Chase flashed his trademark 1,000-watt smile and snapped a few pictures midway through Deacon complaining. “Ahh, don’t worry about it.” Chase cupped his phone in his hands and gazed down at it as his fingers brushed and tapped away. “It’s just going to the streamer Discord buds so they can find us when they get inside.”
“Chase!”
Chase lifted his head to see two darkly-dressed young adults walking toward him. The shorter of the two was a young woman with shining stylish sunglasses and her purple hair braided up and pinned together. She and the young man standing beside her both wore black and purple. The young man had a firm hold on a dark umbrella propped against where his clavicle met his shoulder, and his solidly dark sunglasses seemed to envelop half his face like goggles from an aviator’s helmet.
Chase quickly stood upon realizing that the young woman was VioletStitches; he’d seen enough of her photo shoots for her cosplays to recognize her in street wear. “Vi!” He shouted with a grin. “Hey!”
“Chase, it’s good to see you!” Violet’s melodic voice hummed in greeting, and she reached an arm out to pull Chase into a side hug. “You picked a good spot for us to gather.” She took note of the shade, and then looked to the young man beside her. Her lips tucked into an amused smile. “Perhaps you could even close up your umbrella while we wait.” The young man frowned. Violet chuckled and released Chase before focusing back on the sunny blonde. “You’ve met online already, but I’ll introduce you again.” She rested a hand on the young man’s back. “Chase, meet DiamondDiva. DiamondDiva, meet Chase.”
“Violet,” DiamondDiva huffed. “Maybe we shouldn’t use our usernames in public.”
“Oh, no worries!” Chase gave DiamondDiva a grin. “I can call you DD.”
“Mm.” DiamondDiva frowned. “Not discreet enough.” After a moment’s thought, he lifted his chin in realization. “Call me that other name you mentioned a while back.”
Chase’s eyebrows pulled together in thought. “...Persnickety…jerk?”
DiamondDiva shook his head. “No. You called me ‘Buddy’. That’s a normal name. Use it.”
Chase stared, and Violet glanced away to hold back a giggle. “... Right. Right, okay. I’ll call you ‘Buddy’ when we’re doing in-person in-public stuff.” He gave DiamondDiva a thumbs up before reaching a hand out to gesture at Deacon who was quickly putting away his book. “This is Dorkin, my cousin. He’s the cameraman for today.”
Deacon scoffed, zipped up his backpack, and stood up. “My name is Deacon, and I am not your cameraman for today.”
“It’s just as well.” DiamondDiva—or “Buddy” for the sake of anonymity—fixed his hold on his umbrella and gave Deacon a nod. “We all know our own angles best.”
“Leave the business talk at home, ‘Buddy’,” Violet muttered and then sighed before giving Deacon a smile and offering a hand to him. “It’s nice to meet you, Deacon. My name is Violet.”
Deacon met Violet’s eyes through her purple fade sunglasses and found that his words were more or less on strike. "H-hi. Um. M-my name is. Deacon." He reached a hand out and shook Violet’s hand.
“Yes,” she hummed and released his hand after a few moments, “you did say that.” She kept a friendly smile in place before she jabbed an elbow into Buddy’s side, forcing a pained grunt out of him.
“Th…. Yeah. Ah…, ha…. Yeah. Yeah.” Deacon cleared his throat and then looked to Buddy. “DiamondDiva, it’s good to meet you. Er. Buddy. I enjoy your videos.”
Through his dark shades, Buddy’s gaze drifted down to Deacon’s waiting hand, seemingly pondering it, before he tentatively clasped Deacon’s hand, gave it a solitary shake, and then released it. “Thank you.”
“Looks like we’re waiting on the others now.” Chase fished his phone out of his pocket, brightened the screen, and checked his recent messages. He took a couple steps aside and lifted a hand towards the low wall he’d been using as a seat. “Here, Vi. Rest your legs. I’ve been sitting for a while.”
“Thanks, Chase,” Violet chimed and then took a seat beside Deacon.
Chase gave Buddy a friendly smile. “Wanna take a seat and rest your umbrella?”
“No.” Buddy readjusted his hold on his umbrella handle. “Thank you.”
“It…looks uncomfortable?” Chase pressed.
“I don’t want to get burned. It’s a UV umbrella. I carry it everywhere.”
“Oh—” Chase nodded, fully empathizing with the struggle of upholding skin health. “I hear you. What SPF do you get?”
“I don’t wear sunscreen. I use sunglasses and my UV umbrella.”
Chase’s eyes widened, and he fell silent. “...You. …You don’t wear sunscreen? Your skin’s fair, and you don’t wear sunscreen?”
“I have sunscreen in my BB cream.”
“Okay.” Chase shrugged off his backpack and dug through it. “That’s not gonna do a thing for ya. You need actual sunscreen.” He pulled out a tube of sunscreen and offered it to Buddy. “Here. The real deal.”
Buddy’s nose scrunched in distaste. “What’s that supposed to do? Season me while I turn into a lobster? No. I’m fine. I have a UV umbrella.”
“You can’t just hold the umbrella all day, and it doesn’t account for reflection off literally everything the sun touches.” Chase took a step closer and waved the tube toward Buddy.
“I’ll be fine,” Buddy stubbornly refused.
“Just put it on, and you’ll avoid skin cancer, and you’ll keep your skin healthy. C’mon. Take it. Take it. C’mon.” Chase all but pressed the tube into Buddy’s dark shirt. “Isn’t your entire freakin’ thing makeup? You wanna make that harder on yourself?”
Buddy’s jaw locked, and then he sighed. “...The…texture,” he muttered. “...I don’t like the texture on my fingers…or skin.”
“Hoooooh my god.” Chase flicked the cap open and squirted some sunscreen onto his fingers. “C’mon. Off with the sunglasses. I’ll put it on for you.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Pretend you care about your skin for a minute.” Chase rubbed his thumb against his index finger and middle finger to spread the sunscreen and warm it a bit. “A lot of sunscreens made nowadays go light and matte when you put them on. They don’t have to be goopy and sticky.”
Buddy huffed, went silent, and sighed again. “Fine.” He removed his sunglasses with a wince at the sudden onslaught of sunlight. With a few maneuvers of his fingers, the sunglasses' temples flicked closed, and Buddy hooked the sunglasses on the low-cut v of his shirt cutout. His glittering pale blue eyes focused on Chase, expectant. He adjusted his umbrella-holding hand, tilting the dark shade over them both. “Go ahead.”
Chase’s gaze silently traced the glimmer of pristine blue in Buddy’s eyes—nearly as light and blue as cut diamonds in a jeweler’s glass case. The knee-jerk comparison snapped Chase out of his thoughts. “Yeah. Sure, yeah. It’ll be a little cold. Sorry.” He reached up and dragged two fingers over Buddy’s cheeks, smoothing the sunscreen over warm skin.
Buddy’s eyes fell closed. “It’s okay. You can put it on cold.”
Chase hummed, acknowledging Buddy’s words. He carefully traced his fingers along Buddy’s face until he’d rubbed the sunscreen in at every surface. His thumb brushed against Buddy’s cheekbone, and he bit his tongue before pulling his hand away. He gave Buddy a smile. “There we go. Um.” His gaze fell to the triangle of bare skin just below Buddy’s neck. “Maybe. That part too.”
Buddy’s eyes flew open before falling to his shirt cutout. “Maybe. It’s most likely going to be in sunlight more than my face will be.”
Chase was silent for a moment longer, frozen and trying to decide what to do. “Um. Can. Can I?” He hovered his hand over Buddy’s bare chest. “Is that…okay?”
Buddy’s gaze flicked towards Violet before it rested on Chase again. He gave him a small nod. “It’s fine.”
“...M’kay.” Chase’s eyes lifted to meet Buddy’s, and then he looked down again, focusing on the shirt cutout. He squeezed another sample of sunscreen on his fingers and all but smacked it against Buddy’s chest.
Buddy flinched at the sudden movement, and his jaw locked; he hadn’t quite expected the cold chill that’d accompany the quick movement. In seconds, the section of bare skin was covered with an appropriate (if not, uneven) layer of sunscreen.
“Okay, all done!” Chase rubbed his hand against his shorts and snapped his sunscreen bottle closed. “Shields up at 100%! We’ll re-up later.”
Buddy looked down at his chest and plucked his sunglasses from where they hung on his shirt. “Thanks—”
“Oh, look, it’s Simon!” Chase raised his voice, determined to shrug off the potentially awkward moment.
The others followed Chase’s gesture to look where Simon was assumed to be.
Simon, true to Chase’s word, walked over with a wave. “Chase! Hey, glad to see I’m not the first one.”
Chase quickly dropped his sunscreen into his backpack, zipped it up, and slung it over his shoulder. “Hey, Simon!” He fell into a brief hug in greeting before pulling away. “You’re all good. Sil hasn’t shown up yet.”
“Awesome.” Simon patted Chase’s back before letting his arm fall back to his side. “Think you can guess who I am?”
Chase paused, and he looked Simon up and down. His eyebrows pulled together in thought. “Oh, wait, wait. Lemme. Lemme think….”
Buddy tilted his umbrella back to rest on his shoulder. “What are you supposed to be?” He asked with a bit of frost in his tone.
Simon sent Buddy an incredulous frown.
“He’s Prince Phillip,” Violet hummed.
“Prince Phillip?” Buddy scoffed.
“Prince Phillip!! Of course!” Chase wrapped an arm around Simon’s shoulder and met Buddy’s eyes. “He’s my prince!”
“Your prince,” Buddy echoed.
Simon lifted an eyebrow. “Sleeping Beauty’s prince.”
“Oh.” Buddy glanced away, attempting to look more impressed than he really was with the tree shading them. “He’s so forgettable. Why would you choose someone so forgettable to dress up as?”
Simon’s frown deepened from slightly miffed to full-on annoyed. “Y’know, some people do stuff for…fun? Have you heard of it?”
Chase’s gaze passed between Buddy and Simon in mild confusion. He rested his arm at his side, releasing Simon. “Hey, guys, let’s keep it chill. We’re doing it for Silver and for fun.”
Buddy huffed and slipped his sunglasses back on. “Right.”
“Anyway,” Chase raised his voice again to attempt to shrug off the tense atmosphere. “DiamondDiva, meet SymonSez. Or. Buddy, meet Simon. Simon, meet Buddy.”
“‘Buddy’?” Simon worked to keep his smile polite and to keep any essence of a laugh locked down.
“Charmed,” Buddy muttered.
Violet lifted her leg to tap the toe of her shoe against Buddy’s shin.
Buddy sighed and gave Simon a softer frown than before. “It’s good to meet you, Simon. I look forward to future streaming opportunities together.”
“Yeah, same here.” Simon allowed the conversation to fall into silence.
“Violet!” Silver called and waved as Goldie and Bronze walked alongside her.
Violet jumped up and hurried over to Silver. “Silver!” She gathered her into a firm hug. “Happy birthday! It feels like forever since we spent time together!”
“Thank you,” Silver giggled and hugged Violet in return before releasing her. “I know! Not since we worked on that elliptical crinoline-petticoat. Oh, stars, I need to finish editing that video so I can post it this month.”
Violet shook her head. “No, today is a day of fun, not business. Goldie, Bronze, good to see you! Who have you decided to Disneybound as?”
“Good to see you, too, Violet!” Goldie wrapped an arm around Violet’s shoulders in a side hug. “I’m dressed as Doc.”
Violet looked straight up to meet Goldie’s eyes. “Ah, one of the dwarves, hm?”
“Yes, exactly!” Goldie broke the hug and lifted a hand toward Bronze. “And Bronze is dressed as Sleepy!”
“No relation,” Bronze murmured with a smile.
“Everyone looks great!” Silver walked towards the rest of the group and excitedly greeted them. “I can’t wait to get started!”
“Sil, are you sure you wanna eat fried cheese?” Chase held up his phone, positioned and still. “It doesn’t match your outfit. It won’t take a good picture.” He watched as Silver frowned through his phone screen.
Silver looked at the delicious treat she’d just taken a bite of. Truth be told, she wasn’t sure it’d last two minutes in her grasp, and she’d be bound to ask for another one post-haste.
“Mm….” Buddy glanced between Chase’s phone and Silver before squinting at the closest food cart’s menu. “Maybe a Dole Whip would be better. Fluffier, lighter, yellow. To match her yellow shorts and Snow White’s light image.”
“Nah, she needs a pop of red to bring out her bow.” Chase tilted his phone and then lifted his gaze to see about catching sight of a red food nearby.
“Guys.” Violet leveled a serious stare at Chase and Buddy. “We got Silver fried cheese because she wants to eat fried cheese. Let her eat fried cheese.”
Chase looked between Violet’s firm frown and Silver’s wincing smile. “Oh, yeah! Of course. I just meant that a picture would look better with—”
Deacon leaned forward to whisper to Chase, “Maybe don’t tell someone what they can and can’t eat?”
A strike of panic shot through Chase. “Oh—I’m sorry, Silver! I didn’t mean it like that!”
Silver’s tense smile softened into a more genuine expression. “It might be time to put the cameras away for today.” She laughed softly.
Deacon whispered, “She’s saying ‘touch grass’.”
“Okay, thanks, Dorkin!” Chase exited out of his camera app and slipped his phone in his pocket. He looked back to Silver and showed his free hands. “Camera’s off and put away! Sorry again, Sil. Eat as much fried cheese as you want. It’s on me.”
“Thanks, Chase,” Silver chimed as she easily shrugged off the potentially upset mood. “We can take pictures in good photo shoot locations later when we get to them.”
“Oh, look. It’s closed.”
The group halted and gazed up at the ride they were heading to. The seemingly dilapidated Hollywood Hotel loomed over them with a wait sign showing a wait of thirty minutes.
Chase looked to Buddy, confused. “I don’t see a closed sign, and I’m pretty sure they’d have someone telling people that the sign’s lying.”
Buddy shrugged and idly twisted his umbrella handle between his fingers. “We don’t need to go on it anyway.”
Chase glanced back at the group and at Silver’s hopeful gaze. “Um. Why don’t you guys go on ahead? Buddy and I will catch up.”
Buddy sent Chase a firm frown as the group excitedly moved on to secure their spots in line. Once everyone was out of earshot, Buddy muttered, “What?”
“Why’d you lie?” Chase leaned into Buddy’s eyeline—or where he assumed his eyeline was under those dark shades. “The wait’s only thirty minutes. That’s like nothing for Tower of Terror. What’s up?”
Buddy huffed and tilted his umbrella back to watch the elevators shoot up accompanied with the delighted shrieks of the park guests. Buddy’s nose scrunched up in distaste. He fiddled with his umbrella handle, and his frown twitched as he gathered his thoughts.
Chase glanced between Buddy and the ride. “...Are you scared of it?”
“No!” Buddy scoffed. “It’s a ride. Who’s scared of a ride?”
“You kinda look like you think the ride’s gonna eat you.”
“Well—,” Buddy rolled his eyes, “—maybe the idea of going on a ride that’s supposed to simulate being trapped in a critical building failure is a little more than disconcerting.”
“I was hoping to go on,” Chase mumbled before sighing. “But I don’t want you to be alone out here either. What if someone recognizes you?”
Buddy lifted an eyebrow. The ghost of humor settled in his tone. “You think I’m more recognizable on my own in my sunglasses and umbrella than I am with Mr. Chase Hollow Like and Follow?”
“Okay, fans are like scary good at recognizing people, just to let you know.” Chase mimed out his explanation. “Like, they’ll walk up and say hi, and I’ll say hi, and they’ll ask for a pic, and I say, ‘yup, sure’, and we’ll say ‘I love you’, and—”
“You tell your fans ‘I love you’?” Buddy eyed Chase skeptically.
“Uh. Yeah, sure.” Chase shrugged and tucked his hands in his pockets. “Why not? I love all my fans. They’re awesome and always there for me.”
“You don’t know them. You can’t love them.” Buddy’s detached tone shredded through Chase’s mood as easily as dragging a fresh X-Acto blade through paper. “They just click on your video and then click away. Nothing more. Transaction done.”
Chase’s eyebrows pulled together as he felt a twist in his gut. “There’re people behind the screen. Real people. You don’t have to stand under a balcony, shout your love with a whole bucket of roses, and throw a diamond ring to all your followers. Just saying an ‘I love you’ to someone can really lift them up when they’re feeling like they’re in a shitty place. Who cares if I wouldn’t legit propose to them? I’m still super thankful to them all for watching my streams, listening to my music, and liking my pics!” Chase huffed, and his frustration eased up. “Okay, look, I know you’re embarrassed about being scared of the ride, but that’s no reason to get hissy.”
Buddy tensed and looked away from Chase. He sighed, and his cold attitude partly softened. “You should go ahead. I’ll wait at the exit for you all.”
“Dude, that’s gonna be like forty-five minutes on your own. That’s gonna be boring as hell.”
Buddy shrugged. “I’m not a stranger to being on my own. I can occupy myself in silence for a length of time. Besides, I could get some work done. I brought my current book, my notebook, and a pen with me.”
Chase stared at Buddy and lifted an eyebrow. “Okay, okay. How about this? These rides always have a way for you to walk out of line and skip going on the ride. Why don’t you wait in line with all of us so you’re not alone, and you can just skip the ride when we finish the waiting part?”
Buddy glanced away and pursed his lips in thought. “...I suppose…that’s better than being on my own in such a public place.”
Chase flashed a grin. “I thought so too. C’mon.” He turned and headed into line with Buddy following closely after.
Fifteen minutes into the wait, Buddy closed his umbrella after accidentally bumping it against the park guest behind him. He wisely chose not to point out the fashion crime said guest was committing with his pumpkin-littered button-up shirt, and Buddy’s cheeks tinted in slight shame and discomfort upon being perceived. Thankfully, Chase apologized on his behalf—so friendly and eager to talk with people. The second half of the wait seemed to slip by quickly as Chase proposed another waiting game every time Buddy’s hand reached for his backpack. Before they knew it, the end of the line was mere moments away.
Chase leaned toward Buddy, and his voice fell into a softer tone as opposed to the uproarious one he shared with Simon, Goldie, and Bronze. “You see?” He nudged Buddy’s side. “Just past the people in front of us, there’s two ways to walk. You can walk straight ahead and not have to go on the ride, and we’ll see you when we get out. Thanks for hanging around for the wait.”
Buddy’s grip on his closed up umbrella tightened. His focus passed between the way out which led to daylight and the other way which led to what was to be a small room. He bit his bottom lip and then looked down to meet Chase’s eyes.
“What’s up?” A bit of worry settled in Chase’s gaze. “You alright?”
Buddy nodded. “...I. I think. I want to try.”
Chase’s eyes widened in surprise. “Try? The ride?”
Buddy nodded again. “Yes. There’s people in line who’re so excited for it, and there were plenty of people walking off the ride; they survived just fine. And…—,” Buddy lifted his chin to see the ambiance they’d been waiting through all this time, “—there’s something a little cold about this ride, something sinister.” His gaze fell on Chase, softer this time than before. “A ‘sinister’ I like.”
Chase blinked a bit blankly. “Oh. Well, alright. Cool.” He smiled. “So you were scared of it, but now it’s creepy enough for you? Next, you’re gonna tell me the turning carriages in The Haunted Mansion give you motion sickness, but the place is full of ghosts, so you’ll be fine.” He chuckled.
A soft laugh snuck out of Buddy, and he glanced away. “Perhaps.” He swallowed, a touch of nervousness returning. “...Hey, um….” He shook his head.
Chase’s eyebrows drew together in worry. He glanced down at Buddy’s empty hand. “Oh. What if we…?” He tentatively held Buddy’s empty hand. “What about this?”
Buddy’s gaze locked with Chase’s eyes, and he glanced between their hands and Chase’s face. “That’s okay?” He cleared his throat. “That’s okay with you?” He whispered.
“Sure,” Chase chimed. “If it helps you get on the ride you wanna try. I’m cool with it.”
After a pause, Buddy nodded. He pulled his hand away from Chase’s and piled his collapsed and closed up umbrella into his backpack along with his sunglasses. With renewed strength, he followed Chase and the rest of the group into the small room. In the dark, Buddy’s hand found Chase’s and gripped it silently. The rush of being shot up into the air and free-falling down several floors only tightened their grip. It wasn’t until the elevator car was motionless and the guard rail was lifted that Buddy released Chase’s hand.
As the group chattered on ahead of them, Chase and Buddy brought up the rear, following languidly under the bright blue sky (paired with the stark shade of Buddy’s umbrella). Buddy spoke just loud enough for Chase to hear. “I’m sure Silver knows that you didn’t mean anything by recommending a different food.”
Chase glanced in Buddy’s direction before affixing his gaze on the group ahead again. “You think?” A thread of worry lined his voice.
“Yeah. She’s your friend, and it hasn’t stopped her from ordering other foods she might like.” Buddy shrugged. “You just wanted to give her a good picture to post.”
“Yes,” Chase groaned. “Someone else gets it.”
Buddy nodded. “Although…, I do see how we came across as telling a young woman what to eat.” His lips twitched into a momentary wince. “We’ll have to file that moment away and use it for later.”
“...Use it for later?”
“Mhm.” Buddy’s gaze traveled lower to the ground before them, and he attempted to avoid particular shapes in the brickwork as he talked. “If we get too caught up in image again around people who don’t care as much about it as we do.”
“...Yeah,” Chase mumbled. After a few more moments of walking in silence, Chase’s eyes widened. “Hey, so the others just wanna chill, and that’s cool, but I never get to come to Disneyland, so I think I should go ahead and vlog a bit.” Chase fished his phone out of his pocket. “Wanna vlog with me?”
“Video log?”
Chase nodded. “Yeah, vlog.” He swiped his thumb over his screen. “I can do it on my own, but it’d be more fun doing it together.” He lifted his phone in selfie mode and tilted it to catch sight of Buddy. “Pfft—.... You look like the goth diversity hire.”
Buddy paused before releasing a snicker. “Yeah, alright. Let’s vlog.”
“Hey, guys!” Chase called to the group ahead. “Buddy and I are gonna take a lil vlog break. Is that cool? You don’t have to be in it.”
Silver stopped and turned back to meet Chase’s eyes. Her face brightened with a smile. “Sure! Actually, I was just thinking now would be a good time to have a water break.” She gasped. “Ohh, a lemonade would be lovely, and maybe a cold treat.”
“Dole Whips on me?” Simon offered.
“If you can afford the house payment,” Violet chuckled and waved away her joke. “We can go over there and still see Buddy and Chase.”
“Don’t build up a line of fans, you guys.” Simon half-joked before heading towards the stand Violet had gestured to.
Deacon remained where he stood, watching Chase and Buddy scramble off to an out-of-the-way and partly shady spot with a suitable backdrop. Concern nestled itself within his stomach as he slowly scrunched up his nose, wearing his discomfort freely.
“Deacon.”
Deacon pulled his gaze away from Chase and Buddy to see Bronze watching him.
“They’re gonna be fine. No one notices anything. They won’t get a crowd.” Bronze nodded towards Goldie, Silver, Violet, and Simon as they walked off. “Let’s go. You’re gonna miss out on a free frozen treat. They cost, what, 15 bucks?”
Deacon’s eyes widened at the shot-in-the-dark guess. “I hope not.”
“We’ll only find out if we go check.” Bronze took a few steps after the group and watched Deacon expectantly.
“Yeah, right.” Deacon glanced back at Chase and Buddy to see them seemingly engrossed in amicable conversation before he turned away and followed along with Bronze towards the food stand.
Chase made sure his camera was switched to selfie mode and held it up to view himself. “Okay, top ten reasons to take your girlfriend on The Tower of Terror! Go! One, she’ll get so scared that she’ll cling to you the whole time!” He tilted his phone to view Buddy and his umbrella backdrop.
“Two, you and she will wait so long in line, you’ll learn that her favorite karaoke song to sing is ‘My Heart Will Go On’ by Céline Dion.”
Chase tilted his camera back to view himself. “Three, you’ll learn that she’s a fan of creepy vibes.” He then continued moving his camera back and forth depending on who was speaking.
“Four, you’ll learn what her favorite brand of face masks is.”
“Five, you’ll find out she’s not that great at sports trivia.”
“Six, you’ll see how long it takes for her to fill the silence with anything—any fun fact, any game suggestion, any would-you-rather question.”
“Seven, you’ll be able to keep count how many times she tries to read her book when you stop talking for a little bit.”
“Eight, you’ll be guided through the itinerary for the day a few times and commit her favorite photo spots to memory.”
“Nine, you can hold her hand when you get into the dark room where the pictures grow and then it’s less spooky and more sweet.”
“Ten.” Buddy’s lips quirked into a playful smile. “If you’re sure to bring an umbrella, you can do this.” He leaned towards Chase and gently swung his umbrella down between Chase and his phone to block the camera’s view entirely. Buddy rested his cheek against Chase’s and remained there for a moment before standing straight up and pulling his umbrella up to rest against his shoulder again, revealing them to the camera once more. “That was good. You’ll probably want to cut the video as soon as the umbrella hides us so it looks like I gave you a secret cheek kiss.” Buddy tilted his head. “Oh. Actually, we should film a gender neutral version.” Buddy hooked a finger through his bangs to make sure they settled the way he wanted them to. “Ready for a second take? Do you remember any of what you said? Chase?”
Chase had been locked in a staring contest with his phone screen ever since he felt the warmth of Buddy’s cheek press up against his own and the cool touch of Buddy's ear piercings bumping against his skin. “...Yup—” His thumb briefly shook before he tapped it against his screen, stopping the video recording. “Yup, a second take. Yup.” He cleared his throat as warmth settled in his cheeks. “O-okay! T-top ten reasons to take your partner on The T-Tower of Terror! One—”
“Mm, you may want to tap the record button.”
Chase stared a bit blankly before nodding and then swiping and tapping his thumb against the screen. “Take three!”