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Rollan admired the face of the blond boy sitting in his living room. Puzzle pieces littered the worn out rug around him as he laid on his stomach with his chin over his hands. Conor sat cross-legged infront of him, brow wrinkled in concentration as he arranged the irregular jigsaw puzzle pieces.
"I don't think this puzzle is real." Conor noted out loud for the fifth time that afternoon.
"It's right before your nose, isn't it?" Rollan asked sassily. "Do you need your glasses?"
"I can see just fine without them, thanks." Conor sniffs, not looking the least bit offended. His hands did stray towards the school bag he dumped beside the couch, as if reaching for something involuntarily. A headache between his eyes had made his vision slightly blurry. He could see splashes of color on each piece, though it did not help in the least the fact that Rollan found it in Goodwill and it's main design had faded with time. Abeke had pointed out multiple times that the puzzle was unsolvable if Conor didn't get his glasses.
Rollan sighed. Got up and grabbed his bag, pushing though school books (ew) until he found the box of glasses.
"C'mere, sheep boy." He calls. Conor looks up from his puzzle in puzzlement. he pauses as Rollan gently slides his glasses over his ears, arranging them uncharacteristically delicate on his nose. He also brushed away the hair on Conor's forehead. "Better?"
Conor watches numbly, more crystal clear vision of the scars littering his tan boyfriend's face making his tongue dry for a moment.
He takes a moment to identify that his name was being called over and over again.
"uh- yeah, sure!" He mumbles, getting back to staring at the puzzle pieces with renewed unfocus now that a certain someone wrecked his concentration. He heard a giggle from the side and promptly ignored it, trying in vain to get some of his short hair to cover his cheeks. Briggan, bless his husky soul, rolls over to his other side to carefully look at the puzzle as Conor threads his fingers through his fur.
'Alright, I'll humor you, what's wrong with the puzzle?" Rollan asked. He seemed to make himself comfortable beside Conor, leaning his back on his shoulder. Which the blond boy found even more distracting.
"For starters, It does not have any edge pieces?" He asked.
"Oh those, it kinda restricted the picture so I got rid of em."
"Why the hell would you DO that, Rollan?" Conor finally looked up at his boyfriend in indignation, finding a smirk on his face like he won everything.
"Don't you always talk about 'seein the bigger picture' in Photography class? The picture get's bigger without borders."
Conor's first instinct was to lunge at his unsuspecting boyfriend. Which he did before he could suspect a thing, so his mission was a success. He placed his hands on Rollan's shoulders and made sure to make his back eat the musty carpet fibres. Briggan let out a low yowl, somewhat like he was cheering him on. Somewhere along the way his glasses fell out, landing on his fallen opponent's chest
"Why are you so strong?" Rollan grunted, trying to push back even with his hands flat on the floor and not moving anytime soon, if Conor cold help it.
"I have elder brothers." Conor replied. His face came close to his (unwilling) opponent's ear. "I could show you a wrestling move which is probably illegal in actual tournaments." He threatened. His brothers kept up with a lot of wrestling matches. He had felt the Pilediver move on his upper back more times than he could count. He could possibly execute it. Maybe. Not really. Rollan was taller than him. Also his glasses were on him. He didn't know how to get them off with both hands occupied.
He leaned back, giving him space to see the expression on the brunette's face turn defeated in real time. Somehow his moment to gloat got stolen as Rollan seemed to zone out, staring at his face.
"What is it?"
"You look presentable. Almost pretty."
"You arse!" Conor laughs, no real heat to it. "You're trying to distract me, aren't you?" The silly heart in his chest did skip a few beats.
"Fine! I surrender!" Rollan turned limp under his grip and Conor grinned in victory. His boyfriend matches his grin. They both smile like the idiots they are. Rollan gives him back his frames.
"Boys!" A different voice calls out to them. Conor looks up to see Rollan's mother in a jaw-dropping attractive mauve dress with a surprisingly brave neckline. She stops in front of him. "Do I look okay, Conor dear?"
She posed in front of him, tilting her hip this way and that. Essix perched on her shoulder and seemed to enjoy the shoulders swaying with her happy chirps. The fabric looked expensive and so unlike her usual modest styles of dresses. It was a little jarring to see the mother of his boyfriend wear something slightly revealing. Aidana herself looked a little out of her own skin in the dress, uncomfortable even though it held her figure flatteringly. Briggan let out a low yip in approval.
"Yes! It's really pretty. Are you going somewhere, Miss Aidana?" He asked politely.
"I...have a date apparently."
"WHAT? WITH WHOM?!" Rollan squawks from underneath him, sounding very alike to his pet budgie, Essix.
"The man at the bank, dear, Zerif." She told him. "You did introduce us in the market the other day."
"BUt WHEN DID YOU GET A BRAND NEW DRESS?? HOW DID YOU GET HIS NUMBER??"
"He gave me a business card."
"FROM UNDER MY NOSE?!"
Rollan looked very panicked. Conor got off his torso to give him some space. Rollan grabbed his arm a he sat up.
"You CAN'T Go on a date with ZERIF, Ma! He's a mean guy."
"Rollan." A rare stern expression appeared on Aidana's face. "If this is about Halloween, I distinctly remember him telling me you stepped on his garden and trespassed his property. Now, that is your fault for getting yelled at."
"He's already manipulating you against me..." Rollan whispered to himself, which only Conor caught. He was still stuck on this Zerif guy. Who was he?
"Besides, I already bought this dress for dinner date we will have tonight." She smiled to herself.
Conor thought that was pretty sweet of the guy. Rollan shook his head. Oh, sweet, gullible Conor, always seeing the best in people. Even Essix fluttered off his mom's shoulder and landed on his head, angrily tugging at his hair strands in a totally taking-his-side way. (in Rollan's humble opinion)
"Look! Even Essix knows I'm right. Zerif is bad news!"
"What Essix knows is that you need to comb your hair." Aidana frowned. Though there was no heat to her gaze.
"You CAN'T talk to him! I know for a fact that he can't name his own dog, do you really want to associate with a man like that?!"
Briggan whined at the statement, this animal was taking his side, Conor could confirm.
"Rollan." Aidana spoke to him with a slight strain to her voice, a quiet plea. "I bought myself a dress."
Conor could notice the war his boyfriend fought in his eyes.
"You do look nice, Ma." He nods. He lets out a sigh. "Fine, I think going out will be good for you, you deserve it."
"I won't do anything you would do." She plays along, patting his head as she leaves to go back in her room.
Rollan caught Conor's gaze with the most serious look he had ever seen on his boyfriend's face.
"We are crashing her date."
"What?!"
"Yeah, let's get ready." Rollan dragged him up with some previously-unidentified strength. Essix screeches with the sudden movement but stays in his hair somehow. Briggan gets up on his clawed feet with an excited bark, picking up on the action.
"What in the name of Olvan's moose merch collection DO YOU MEAN?"
"What we need, sheep boy, is disguises, and you have the perfect wet puppy face to distract the workers of any establishment." Briggan huffs like he agrees, while Conor wonders if that was an insult or a praise. Whatever it was, he found himself walking with Rollan as they keep Essix in her bedtime cage and Briggan in his room as if they were leaving the house for a few hours.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
Rollan had a fool proof plan. He had been plotting for months, finding the right equipment, familiarizing himself with the layout, and making connections ages in advance. Nobody could have predicted one bad association with a flithy rich guy because of his own greedy nefarious gain could result in his mother. HIS OWN MOTHER. Get caught in the web of Rollan's schemes and tricks. But he predicted it, somewhat. I just came with his line of work.
Being a fiend to society was a heavy burden to bear.
All he wanted was an alternate keys to Walmart. Not a man threatening to be his step father!
His HR-worthy damage control involved ignoring Zerif as much as he could. Until Halloween showed up and he really needed to beat Meilin. So he forgot to take note of the 'biting dog warning' signs and knocked on his door.
Zerif opened the door and the first thing he does is scowl at the kids asking for candy. Rollan scowls at him right back. Then that stupid dog started barking at him and Abeke as they ran away with barely their shins intact.
Not a very good moment as the next time he saw Zerif was at a marketplace with his mom. He ran away to hide by finding her in the crowd. Rookie mistake. The man followed him with his aggravatingly sleazy smirk and TALKED to his mother. No introduction. Just started with how Rollan 'trespassed on his property' on Halloween.
It wasn't trespassing if it was Halloween night and they were two kids! He knew what actual trespassing was! How else did he get rid of their principle Olvan's stupid life-sized moose statue from his living room! That statue scared the jazeebles out of him everytime he snuck past his house to get to Meilin's. What he did was a service to the rich neighbourhood for once.
He responded to Zerif defaming his name to his own mother by running away. Yeah, real mature of him to start a street chase through a busy marketplace. That stupid man ran after him, desperate to impress his mother. He threw down fruit baskets in his way and hooted and hollered at sheep to crowd the messy street.
Why was such a rich man out in the market anyway? He wore tailored suits for every day of the week. He was stalking them, but Rollan couldn't prove it.
After getting caught by Olvan and handed back over to his poor mother with stern scoldings, he thought the Zerif date thing could be evaded.
Now this mess brought him loitering behind a well-lit restaurant in a very suspicious way. Good thing Conor was near to hold his hand while they stood there. His hand was warm. Rollan ignored the silly flutters in his chest as he thought of a plan to steal an employee's outfit.
"Do you even know anybody from this place? Looks kinda expensive for you to be having connections here.." Conor muttered.
"I don't. He confirmed. That seemed to impress his boyfriend even less. "What? I can't have connections in a restaurant called 'Stetriol', that's the dumbest name ever!"
"Real planner." Conor snarked and got back to leaning on the wall and counting the stars in the sky. There were a few seen, surprisingly. The establishment was so rich, they could afford to exist in a part of town that was basically the middle of nowhere. Not enough light pollution around for a few miles except rolling fields and a lone highway. Conor would've been impressed if Rollan didn't tell him some stupid conspiracy theory about the restaurant.
'Easy to kidnap nice moms and make sure they can't run away from Zerif's snobby ass' was not something he wanted to hear.
He was sure his nose was cold from the February chill.
Rollan glided his thumb over Conor's knuckles, analyzing the backdoor for signs of movement. The stupid door was locked from inside. He really hoped somebody would come out of it soon, for whatever reason.
The door opened, he dragged his partner behind a dumpster as footsteps walked out. The dumpster lid opened and something heavy fell in. A small ting echoed right beside his foot. Rollan picked up the can of peas and sighed. Mouthing "Cheapskates." He tossed the can away, making sure to roll is far away on the concrete. The person taking out the trash paused and turned, he spotted their back as they made to pick up the can.
Quickly, he grabbed Conor's wrist and ran him towards the propped-open door. The first thing he found was a full kitchen, bustling with chefs over hot food. He found a door to the side, janitor's closet. Perfect! He rushed inside.
"Why..." Conor whined. As they came face-to-face with a man who looked not much older than them, with blond hair and grey eyes. Who could get Rollan's blood boiling in seconds.
"Well, well, well... Look who we have here..." Rollan says, pulling in from his infinity reserves of self-confidence even as his heart was yammering in his chest. "Look who we have here."
"What are you boys DOING here?" Dorian asks. Who was SUPPOSED to be their school janitor who sometimes subbed for Tarik's physics classes.
"The better question is, what are YOU doing here, in- in- in-" Rollan squinted to read his employee tag aloud. "How are you a janitor in Stetriol too? Is Olvan not paying you enough?"
"What my paycheck is, is none of your concern!" Dorian covers his tag with his hand even though the two boys had already seen enough.
"Is it cause Olvan spends the school's budget on his obscure moose collection?" Conor asks, pitying the man.
"You should put more respect to the name of your Principle, young man."
"We aren't in school now. You can't order us." Rollan challenged. "But I have a preposition for you so we don't snitch on Olvan and break his poor moose-obsessed heart."
Dorian raised one eyebrow. He was taller than Rollan. He tried giving the boy a glare to make him shut up but said boy knew a LOT about manipulating adults to gt what he wanted in life.
"Fine. What do you want."
"How the shit did that work." Conor mumbles faintly.
"Okay, chap we need ya to hook us up with waiter uniforms, you hear me? I need something of a disguise." Rollan said. Dorian's furious face morphed into one of absolute utter confusion.
"They don't have those lying around!" Conor tried defending Dorian's face to his boyfriend.
"This is not a stupid dress-up store, and I'm too tired to ask you why you need that, but sure I might have some at the back, how are you convincing the people here that you're actual employees too?" Dorian asked with the most done expression ever. Rollan got that alot from people. It didn't phase him anymore.
Conor looked up at him in wonder, sending a proud thrill down his spine as Dorian moved to the back of the janitor's closet and pulled out two dark uniforms.
They took turns changing behind the stack of bleach jugs. Conor went first and came out looking like a supermodel. It didn't fit him right, he was just 14 anyway there was no way the smallest adult outfit would fit him. But Rollan found it looked nice on him.
It was a two piece suit with a white shirt underneath a dark vest and tie. Grey stripes parallel to his torso made him look taller than Rollan himself. His blue-green eyes and freckles looked even more defined in the dark outfit. Even the extra cloth hanging on his frame looked attractive. He folded his sleeves and pants multiple times to not look like he was practically drowning in the lack of height. The word 'Stetriol: Restaurant bar' was embroidered in red on the pocket over his chest. The tag under it held a name.
"You do not look like an Amanda" Rollan noted, keeping his eyes trained slightly towards the floor as his cheeks definitely colored a deep shade of red.
No thoughts about kissing your boyfriend for the first time in a janitor's closet of a fancy restaurant Rollan, keep your head in the game. That was NOT classy.
Beggars couldn't be choosers but he HAD standards.
"This is your idea, now get changed." Conor scrunched his nose in mock annoyance.
Rollan hid behind the cans, looking suddenly anxious as his fingers glided over fabric that was too expensive to be sitting in his hands right now. He stitched his own hoodie the previous night, fixing up holes that could be decades old cuz' he got em' for dirt cheap at Goodwill's. Ain't no way was he allowed to get within 3 feet of a 'suit', even if it's of a waiter. His grubby hands could ruin the fabric.
"You're taking too long! I need to get back to my job!" Dorian hissed from the other side.
"Yeah yeah shut your trap." Rollan sniped, finally starting to pull off the hoodie he wore.
He stepped out of the barrier, folding his sleeves back. Surprisingly, the uniform fit him better. Probably because he was taller.
He caught Conor's gaze widening as he approached them.
"Time to get crackin'" He smiled in enthusiasm, pointedly ignoring the surprised blush on his boyfriend's face. It was probably because Rollan wore nothing half as decent. That could be a shock to anybody's system.
"God, just fire me already." Dorian sighed, dropping his head in his hands.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
"Greg, Amanda, table sixteen!" A man called out as soon as the three stepped into the bustling kitchen. Dorian shoved Rollan forward, pointing at the swinging metal doors. A man stood beside it with a tablet, tapping on the screen. It was hard to see him through the kitchen staff running about the room like headless chickens.
"Who's Greg? That's a terrible name." Rollan snorted. Conor gave him a meaningful look, nudging his shoulder and suddenly the world seemed devoid of color and joy.
"I'm Greg, aren't I?" He muttered. Oh well, time to shine. Hopefully he forgot to wash his face earlier so he looked charming enough to fool long-time employees that yes, he probably was a middle aged man named Greg. He was sure the math-homework trauma on his face would translate well into marital issues.
He dodged and swung under boiling pans and attacking soup spoons, saving him shins from the side of ovens. He smartly clasped his mouth shut as chefs ran around him, with an intent to trample him, no doubt. He wouldn't have complained too much, the kitchen smelled like a bloodbath of spices and sweat. It was on him if he wanted to get to the other end and died. Conor was by his side one moment, and drowned in the steam in the next. He could barely keep track of him if it wasn't for his stream of "Sorry!" "Excuse me" "Apologies!" as he trampled on every adult's toe in existence. Rollan swung from underneath a rolling stand carrying a three-tier cake. Good. His boyfriend needed practice in getting in other people's way. This unorthodox way oughta do it.
Finally, they were at the other side.
The man didn't even register their faces before pointing at trays and sending them out. Rollan held a roasted turkey he only ever saw in Home Alone movies and Conor found himself with a tray of drinks.
"Shorter than I imagined." The man at the door has muttered as he had to push open the door for them. but he didn't question it. And They didn't press their luck by replying.
The sound of jazz music and a overwhelming scent of 'RICH' overtook his senses. Suddenly, it felt like Rollan had stepped somewhere he wasn't supposed to.
"How are tables arranged?" Conor whispered but he was too busy taking in the view.
His ragged sneakers, begging to be put out of their misery stopped peeling their own soles off in self-destruction. The beautiful red carpet on the floor seemed to soothe their Dollar-bin selves. The air was chilly in a AC way, something Rollan could find only in movie theatres and in his principle's office. There was a hum of jazz music and low voices whispering, as if afraid to dispel the luxury of the place. The tables were placed so far apart, he was amazed how nobody could get their elbows in other's plates.
The entire mood of the building seemed to be 'dark' and 'dramatic'. It had whooshing big curtains in dark velvet. Tablecloths in black lace and lights reasonably dimmed enough to let people pick the chillies off their food but still drooping in mood. It felt like an emo hangout.
He was still absorbing the scenery until Conor stepped on his foot very hard.
"It's your plan to ruin your mom's date, now pay attention!" He scolded. He scanned the tables, very clearly trying to find a pattern and trying to balance the drinks on his tray. Curse the liquids to be filled to the brim.
"It starts from the edges to the centre." Rollan bullshitted. He found a table to his right, and close to the wall. "That's number 1."
Conor seemed to take his word for it. They carefully walked around the room, noticing even more that the tables were roughly arranged in a spiral. They both stood taller, straighter, hoping that nobody would notice they were too short for the job and called child protection or something. Passing the 7th table made Rollan stop.
"Zerif." He growled. Almost. The oily smirk faced his side, aimed at a woman who had let down her hair for once. And Rollan was very pissed that she did it for this man.
A surge of protectiveness over his own mother wasn't very out of the ordinary. He considered himself of having more street smarts than her. She barely interacted with fellow grown-ups apart from work and his frequent PTI's. She wasn't naiive, she was actually very strong and scary to people who deserved to get told off. But he did NOT like Zerif. That man seemed to have that look in his eyes which suggested menacing things under the surface.
"Eyes on getting the job done." Conor scolded. Rollan briefly wondered how his boyfriend started getting worried about paychecks they would never get.
"I don't want Amanda and Gregory lose their jobs because of us." He explained, in response to the taller boy's confused look. "And keep your head up."
"I wonder if Greg would ever shorten his name if he had a perfectly reasonable Gregory right there." Rollan muttered.
They tilted their heads away, counting the tables mentally and hoping his mother wouldn't recognize them. Hopefully she was as ethralled by the sudden luxury as he was. She wouldn't notice her boy definitely.
He finally counted a sixteen and was about to drop off his extremely heavy turkey to a table full of stuck-up looking women. His shoulder felt like it was being pinched. He stepped back, surprised to find a sharp force tugging on his sleeve.
The table of five women looked up at him in disgust, each of them looking up from their phones. He turned aswell, finding Conor's teeth firmly embedded into the fabric of his grey shirt. Looking more like his wolf-dog by the minute.
He gave them an awkward smile and backed off.
"Wrong table, Rolls." Conor whispered as he let go. The boy dropped his drinks on the table after them, where a group of older people sat with a card game spread over the deep purple lace cloth of the table.
"What." He intelligently asked. But he didn't question it as the turkey he served was met with delighted wrinkly smiles.
"You counted it wrong." Conor whispered, switching to a brilliant smile as he laid the drinks out at random.
"Obviously you would know, sheep boy." Conor prided himself in his farm simulator games and the sheep he raised in it. He downloaded it to fall asleep faster but ended up actually counting sheep for it, which delighted his boyfriend to no end.
Rollan wasn't quite sure what to do. He never saw a turkey this big before. It was the side of his abdomen. Usually Conor's mom was tasked with serving turkey in the Thanksgiving dinner he was invited to last year. He was too busy giving googly-eyes at his then-crush.
The said past-crush didn't mind taking a knife and cutting into the turkey himself to serve. The two old women at the table clucked in appreciation.
"Is that you? Roman?" A wizened old voice knocked him out of his very good impression of blending into his surroundings. A woman sat at on a chair, talking in a voice resembling wood shavings, and bringing in a hand very close to his face. He froze in alarm, letting the wrinkled, dry him caress his cheek.
"Lady Evelyn?" He asked, recognizing the voice, even if he didn't remember her face. "What are you doing here." She smiled like she had won a bet.
"Poker match won with a little blackmail." She winked. "You're the boy Taril brought over."
"Tarik." He corrected without much concern to defend the correct spelling of his physics teacher's name.
"Tarbin talkes a lot about you, very silly stories. I didn't know you grew so much."
Conor spared him a questioning glance but doesn't dig deeper.
"We met last winter, actually! I don't know who she is, I was just supposed to be on my own merry way until Tarik kidnapped me in a car and took me to her place!" Rollan defended.
"Ah! But he did not kidnap you, you were caught in the rain. And I had the wool blankets. And the stolen horse. huh you had a different name last time, what is Greg?"
"Tomahto potahto." Rollan rolled his eyes. "And my new name is Gregory, thank you." Lady Evelyn didn't antagonize him further, thankfully. Her surprisingly strong fingers let go of his face and he flexed his jaw just to make sure she didn't loosen any teeth in her hold.
"Alright, I have a date to ruin, if you could excuse us, Lady Evelyn." He grabbed Conor's arm and dragged him away from the table. "Please feel free to not call a server for the next hour!"
"She called you disrespectful." Conor huffed as they passed the next table of karens. Rollan sighed as if the fact was new and brought him much anguish.
"She stole a show horse, she's worse." He answered and left his boyfriend to ponder upon that statement, if he hadn't already gotten used to Rollan's madness yet.
They decided to hide behind a heavy curtain behind Aidana. It somewhat absorbed their whispers. Nobody gave them more than dirty looks for it. And nobody had gotten up to move the floor-to-ceiling curtains yet so they strained their ears behind it to catch the conversation.
"You just have to sign a pre-nup." was the first statement Rollan heard. He tensed, mostly at the audacity, and also because Conor had shoved a fork to his side in a threat.
"Isn't that too early?..haha... We're just dating right?" His mother's clear voice broke through. He mentally cheered for the small offence. Even if it was feeble and weak, he personally would have thrown a coat hanger at Zerif.
"Of course, we should sign it a few months later, after I book a wedding hall."
"I think it's too early don't you think-"
The fork in his side reminded him to take deep breaths.
"I'm going to kill him." He whispered.
"Knock yourself out." A voice behind them dryly noted. The two boys jumped a foot in the air and turned. A girl with blue-green tattoos on her arms and a very disinterested expression on her face leaned against the wall, beside a rack of utensils. She wasn't even looking at them, scrolling on her ipad instead, colorful bright colors jumped from her screen to her face.
"Kalani?" Conor was the first one to break their silence.
"Yeah. Conor, right?" The girl sighed as she kept swiping her pointer finger on the tablet.
"Rollan is here too!" said boy waved his hand infront of her face, ruining her focus on the screen. As he tilted forward to catch the screen he found himself staring at Candy Crush. "Do you work here too?"
"No." She sighed again, pushing away his hand and finally looking up, her expression deteriorated as if she lost her game. "I'm actually waiting for my brother to finish up his shift and stole his tablet because he called me to pick him up early."
"Oh. um alright that makes sense." Conor nodded.
"Well, Kalani, we have work to do so I appreciate if you could stay stealthy and pretend you never saw us." Rollan straightened up to his full height, which was pretty tall considering he was a few inches short of being his senior's height. Said senior being the captain of the swim team and pretty tall.
"What's up with the name Greg?" She asked.
"It's Gregory actually." Rollan defended.
"Sure." She then froze. A notification popped up on her tablet.
"I'll call a waiter for more wine, my dear." They overheard Zerif call.
Rollan shuddered at the so called 'affectionate' term , it sounded mechanical on that man's mouth.
"I found a mask in this pocket?" Conor interrupted him, trying to lighten the mood when he pulled a face mask out of his pant pocket. It could cover his lower face.
"Put it on while you cause a scene!" Rollan grabbed a jug of water from the cutlery stand, past Kalani's elbows and pushed it in Conor's hand before forcefully turning him around and shoving him outside the curtain.
"What the hell do you think he'll do?" Kalani asked. "He looks so innocent and un-problamatic compared to you."
Rollan snorted. Obviously his reputation preceeded his name.
A gasp and a splash of water interrupted them.
"That's my boy." Rollan nodded in approval. Conor hid himself behind the curtain in record speed. Heterochromic eyes wide with panic. The mask he pulled over his nose covered all his freckles, Rollan noted with some loss.
"I did not like doing that." He whispered.
Kalani seemed to have felt some pity towards the situation. She squared her shoulders and stepped out of the curtains, aiming to help whoever got caught in the crossfire. She left her tablet behind. Well technically, it wasn't hers. The restaurant logo was printed on the cover. Rollan picked it up as it beeped again. Table number 7.
He looked up and noticed a purple dress following Kalani towards the washrooms. Oh. The water fell on his mother.
Conor looked really sorry. But a new plan sparked in his skull.
"Don't worry, I got this babe." He muttered before stepping out. He didn't notice Conor freezing behind the curtains and confidently stepped out, a dashing smile on his face, his mother said so.
Well, she called his smile an issue for the authorities but that meant it was dashing right?
He walked towards Zerif with al the confidence he had plenty of. The man barely looked up at him, holding the menu to his nose.
"Order a red wine, a duck bourguignon and a caprese salad for my date." He talked as if the waiter had no dignity in the world at all, he was just the scum at the bottom of his shoe. Rollan felt a rage shimmer in his chest.
"What the hell is a borry gong?"
Zerif closed Rollan's snark with a sharp glare. It didn't scare him, no, it just startled him. Conor's words echoed in his skull. Okay maybe he didn't want Amanda to lose her job.
"Has your date chosen for herself?" He asked, barely containing his urge to throttle this man.
"No, she's my girlfriend now, I choose, what's your problem." And thus, he was dismissed.
Rollan never felt more annoyed and disrespected in his life. And without a single glance. he doubted Zerif knew what he looked at as he came to pick his mother up in his stupid fancy car at home. Rollan grabbed Conor and sat him on his neighbour's cycle as they chased the car a block back.
He was planning to dip this man in bread crumbs and let Essix pick his eyes out at the disrespect. He could dump him in the pond, there were rumors that it contained piranhas there. He could test the theory. he could bribe Maya, the student chem lab assistant, to teach him how to make a bomb.
"This is your first date, I presume."
"Yeah, I intend to marry her."
Full stop.
The audacity of this guy.
He was a 100% sure that his mom was NOT dating him on the first time they met properly. And now he was threatening to be his step-dad? Oh no he had to go.
Rollan sniffed and left, not really typing anything in the tab as it still had Candy Crush on.
He went back to Conor behind the curtain.
"Okay plan D activate." He noted seriously. Conor looked at him as if he had grown a forth head.
"We didn't make a single plan." He said slowly, incredulously, like Rollan was the crazy one. "You just took me here with no explanation."
"Plan D means get Zerif in a duck pond, or else." Rollan continued like his scene wasn't ruined slightly. But who could get angry at the face that was very ashamed-ly hiding behind a mask like he committed a crime by dropping water on his mother's best outfit.
"We do need better disguises than...a suit." Conor said quietly.
They stared at each other for a long moment. Rollan got distracted by noting that he couldn't count the freckles on his boyfriend's face and pulled down his mask with a finger. Conor didn't seem to realize as his eyes actually caught a more distant look.
He suddenly snapped to attention. "this Lady Evelyn stole a horse?!"
"It was an old show pony but yeah, you can call it a horse." Rollan clarified. "She steals a lot of stuff."
"She might have something in her bag right now right!" Conor suddenly squeaked up and grabbed his hand, "If we're quick, we can still ruin this date for you."
Rollan felt a little ba-dump in his chest at those words. Ruin a date? For lil ol' him? And kind, polite Conor would do that for him?!
Maybe the little ba-dump in his chest was actually a big ba-dump. He blamed his red face on the very short run towards the poker table of old people.
"Robin!" Lady Evelyn called him at once. "And Amanda!"
Conor seemed to pause, face turning red. "Well- My name is actually Conor-" he had completely forgotten about his name tag, clearly. Rollan was glad his name tag wasn't brought up or even slightly noticed.
"We need a disguise!" Rollan barked. "Right now, I mean, I'm trying to ruin my mother's date with this sleazy guy, can you help us?"
"Of course dearie, I have something in my bag."
What Rollan didn't expect was that 'something' was an animal mask. She placed in his hand a white mask, carved with a pointed beak at his nose, somewhat resembling a bird. Conor got a mask which had sharp eyes and teeth like a canine. They both covered the top halves of their face.
"Where did you get this from, Miss?" Conor asked.
"A little group of shenanigan children." She winked. Then waved them away with a "Have a nice day, dears." As she got back to their poker game.
"This is so weird." Rollan noted, probably for the first time in his entire life. Conor stared at him like he had grown a fifth head.
"Good thing I'm used to weird with you around." He noted, seeming a little bit too glad as he slipped the mask over his face, tying it at the back with the string attached.
Rollan felt that he looked threatening, blue and green iris shining in the slightly dark decor of the restaurant, somewhat a haunting feeling. But it was a good type of haunting with the way Conor still had their fingers intertwined.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
"That took ages." Zerif noted as Conor and Rollan finally brought them the food. Rollan pointedly dropped a vegan salad in front of him as his mom got lobster. Conor apologetically dropped the requested duck stew for Zerif, just to make sure their cover wasn't blown.
The man looked at them with aghast black eyes. Almost like he was plotting whether to roast them or throw them in a bottomless pool. Rollan matched his energy right back.
"Aw I love lobster, thank you Zerif." Aidana smiled. She turned up to thank the servers but paused, staring at their eyes.
Conor closed his eyes and walked away, dragging Rollan by the wrist but apparently the boy did not want to move just yet, locked in a staring competition with Zerif.
"I didn't order this lobster!" He argued.
"It's on the house, sir." Rollan said, more tense than necessary. Putting way too much venom on the last word than what could be deemed possible. Oh no, it was not on the house. Kalani just knew Zerif wouldn't look at the final amount with such conviction he had to place blind faith in her. Must be a rich guy thing.
"And where's the wine?"
"Give us a minute."
"What's with the masks?" Aidana asked, sharp, meaningfully gazing at the boy she swore she left back at home. The boy she was sure was keeping his boyfriend entertained by an unsolvable puzzle.
Her fault for not taking his threats seriously.
Rollan didn't even look a little guilty. "A part of the occasion, madam." He slipped into the curtains as soon as he came. Not before stomping on Zerif's shiny dress shoes on 'accident'.
He returned to the rack behind the curtains where Kalani stood with a frown on her face and a significant lack of company ipad. Aw no more Candy Crush. Conor stood with her with a confused expression at the bottle of wine in his hands.
"I need the wine." Rollan asked.
"I think I should pour it.." Conor tried but Kalani rolled her eyes and asked the most important question.
"None of you are supposed to know how to open it?!?!"
She was met with blank looks which confirmed her suspicions.
She sighed.
"Good thing I've watched Piri do it before." She pulled out a strange contraption of metal and screwed off the cork with deft movements.
"I'm going to tell administration you drink." Rollan joked. He was met with an immediate dark look.
"I watch him at work." She glowered and for once in his entire carefree life, Rollan felt a drop of fear. Or maybe it was the second time because Meilin took the first time. That girl could choke people very fast. "And I'm your senior."
"Excellent argument." He agreed, taking the bottle and rushing out before he got eaten alive.
"Your wine, Madam." He sweetly poured the red liquid in her glass first. Ignoring staring at his mother's face for fear of breaking character, her turned way too quickly to Zerif, making to drop some of the liquid on his impeccable white shirt.
"Hey!" Zerif called out but was very pointedly ignored as Rollan ran away again.
"Calm down, Zerif." Aidana hushed. "He does not look very old."
"I'll sue the restaurant for treating me like this! Do they not know who I am!"
"An ass." Kalani supplied. The two boys giggled in their hands in response. They crouched near the curtain, not needing to strain their ears too much to hear Zerif speak.
"As I was saying, my dear, dating is hard, you obviously don't know how to do it. Let me be the guide to tell you that 3 months into it is long enough to speak of a wedding."
"I...don't think that's right."
"What the hell does he mean by that?" Kalani wondered aloud. Rollan had to clamp down an aggressive attack.
"I can't believe he's trynna gaslight her. Only I can gaslight her. On small dumb things like getting detention all week."
"I see you after school too many times." Kalani whispered with a flick to his head. "Join a club at this point."
"He comes to photography." Conor mumbled. "Finished up the unlimited camera film one day."
"How do I embarass this man." Rollan asked.
"You could talk very loudly like you're the couple over there." Kalani pointed out a table sitting a little way afar. A couple sharing a bowl of pasta and a longest noodle challenge.
"Oh Jeremiah, I cannot marry you until we have fulfilled the 5 year mark of dating!" He started in the most top-of-line accent in a very high pitched voice.
"I thought you would be the man here but oh well." Kalani mumbled, lowering her voice. "You are so right Cadence, all couples also know you don't get together by the first date ever."
"You both are soo bad at this." Conor sighs but his face was red by making sure to muffle his giggles.
"Fellow uncultured restaurant goes do not know how to keep their voices low." Zerif pointedly said.
"I think they're in their own world." Aidana noted.
"Did that work?" Rollan asked.
"You tell me kid, that's your mom." Kalani rolled her eyes, but not with venom.
"I think we should steer conversation away from marriage and talk about our personal lives a bit.."
"Excellent choice, my dear, who wouldn't want to know about me?"
This time even Conor struggled to slow his yawn as Zerif talked about his business. which was a lot of nothing burger, in Rollan's opinion. What did stock markets and NFT's and shareholders even mean? What a pretentious twerp.
Aidana asked him questions, about his life and goals.
He never asked her anything other than if she liked him well enough to stay.
Rollan made a point to knock his elbow into Zerif's head as he served them wine again.
After he had enough about market values, he stepped out and pointedly glared at Zerif.
"We have an offer, where if you could mention your date's favorite movie, you could get a discount on your bill."
"What nonsense that doesn't exist." Zerif scowled.
"Oh? are you asking me?" Aidana asked.
"No. madam, I'm asking this pretentious man over here." Rollan folded his arms, waiting for a response, trying to look taller than he was by looking down his nose. Zerif matched his gaze witha seething scowl.
"I'm sure there will be plenty of time to know each other after the wedding." he says icily.
"You're crazy."
"I will fire you, Gregory."
"My name is Greg!" Rollan throws his hands up. Sure, even he wanted his pretend name to be Gregory but he was willing to lose respect.
"Gregory sounds better."
He should NOT agree with a vile man.
Finally, Rollan was called for desert.
"I shall have the dulche de leche. And if you ruin it, I will make sure your job ceases to exist."
"Eatin the poor leeches." He mumbled.
"Excuse me?"
"Uhm.. what's so special on this menu?" His mother interrupted, as if diffusing a bomb.
Rollan paused. He had no idea. He was playing Candy Crush behind that curtain, not perusing the menu for the most expensive dessert. He couldn't pronounce half the names in the menu anyway.
"Uhm..." He stared at his mom, noticing the sharp look in her eyes. He didn't bother hiding his eyes at this point, she had already caught him and he was in for an aggressive whooping at home. Abeke would wince. His normally sweet mom would switch up her persona so quick probably. He wouldn't know. He didn't see her get angry at him often.
"Don't dawdle, I don't have all day."
Rollan made it his point to note. "Then you do not have patience sir. A very bad quality to have, madam. You should leave him."
Aidana raised a single eyebrow and he shut his trap up. "Nevermind, what dessert would you like?"
"Anything cheap." she said.
Rollan went behind the curtain and made Kalani order a pretty expensive one. Zerif was paying anyway right.
He dropped their desserts. Zerif visibly winced at Aidana's icecream sundae Rollan couldn't even pronounce the name of. He gave the man a look that said, 'What? are you a miser?' But at this point Zerif must have realized something definitely fishy was going on so he kept his tongue clamped even after the bill was paid.
"Lovely night right darling, you definitely think I'm marriage material after this. Think of the money you will have, terms and conditions apply."
"I'll think about it, you still haven't met Rollan.."
"I've seen him around, what a marvelous boy. Needs a wash though."
"Oh so he does know my name and face." Rollan muttered. Conor giggled and poked his cheek to agree about the wash.
"Are you guys done?" Kalani asked after a while.
"Did we make him undatable?" Conor asked.
"You did a mighty fine job of it, whatever you did." Kalani agreed. "Do you both want a ride back? Piri left ages ago with his co-worker because I was too busy watching the show. I have a car."
Now, Rollan did NOT want to cycle back home with Conor sitting on the back if he could so easily take a ride back.
"Agreed, Kalani, I owe you one. Call me whenever you want something and I shall deliver." Rollan placed his fist on his heart to express the gravity of the situation. She snorted in response.
"Sure." The boys were led by her to a door which took them to the staff's parking lot. Rollan noticed the guest's parking area from his point and growled at the sight of Zerif with his stinky arm over his mother's back. Atleast she kept her hands to herself. Small mercies.
"Let's just go home." Conor sighed, tugging his arm the other way. "I asked Dorian to give us our hoodies back tomorrow in school."
"But Zerif is still there! Do you think I can suckerpunch him?"
"I suggest you lay low until I drop you home safely." Kalani sighed, picking out her car keys and unlocking a used sedan. "I don't want to be responsible for a murder of anybody right now."
Rollan got pulled into the car's backseat unwilingly.
"Is he always like this?" Kalani asked with her eyes on the rearview mirror.
"He doesn't hold grudges often, it's just this one guy." Conor assured, knocking his head into Rollan's shoulder as he got comfortable.
"I hate this guy." Rollan glared at her.
"Calm down, tough guy." She started her drive towards town. Conor told her Rollan's address while he looked out of the window. The streets were dark and cold. His personal heater seemed to press up against his side. He grabbed Conor's hand for the extra warmth. Kalani pulled up a song while she drove.
Rollan wondered if he failed his mission.
"You know you called me something back there right?" Conor whispered close to his ear, words drowning out before they reached the front seats.
"What?"
"You called me a name before."
Rollan zoned out, wondering what he did.
"You called me 'babe'"
"Oh." Was it just him or did his personal heater make his face warm suddenly? "Um do you hate it, i didn't mean to be a basic bitch."
"No, I liked it, you're such a basic guy don't worry."
"Aw, all that effort I put into being whimsical and unpredictable wasted if you call me basic."
Conor's hair tickled his cheek. Rollan petted it down with the hand that wasn't occupied.
"What do you think Mei and 'Beke are doing right now?" Conor asked suddenly.
"Probably having a great time sleeping." Rollan wondered. "They had to help out in some animal shelter in the afternoon right? Easy peasy work."
"I don't know...Meilin didn't seem to like her team that much. Didn't like Takoda that much."
"That's cuz he's getting along with Abeke and she's jealous." Rollan snorted. "Bet she doesn't know he already has the hots for Xanthe."
"Wow you kids have more relationship drama than the seniors." Kalani remarked.
Rollan couldn't help but snicker. "I could help you have some drama if you like, ever heard of the chemistry lab?"
"What about Maya?"
"I didn't say anything about Maya! What? You have a crush on the chemistry lab assistant?"
"Shut your mouth before I drop you here on the unknown sidewalk." Kalani threatened.
Conor snorted, burrowing into the taller boy at his side as if Rollan was the one producing heat.
"You wouldn't dare." He defended his boyfriend.
Rollan smiled. Maybe one part of this night wasn't a total waste of time.