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Sometimes, Roland wondered if he was actually a genius. He knew he could be smart when he wanted to, but there was a chance that he had misjudged how incredibly astute he truly could be.
Admittedly this plan was something of a double effort — Benjamin had requested he get him some time alone with Ayin, for something approximating a date… As much as any time being shared with Ayin could be considered a date, anyway. For that he needed to keep Daniel relatively distracted, making sure that they would have plans on the same day Benjamin was planning to actualise his own plans.
This meant, if it wasn’t entirely obvious, that he too would get to have a date with Daniel. All by himself. Which was exactly what Roland had wanted.
He knew there was some possibility Benjamin would ask for something like this, in return for helping Roland with his studying, though he’d hardly considered how well this entire affair could get for him.
Truly he was a genius, but only when hardly trying to be one.
Now he had an entire day with Daniel all to himself, no need to share him with a dude who pissed him off on a regular basis.
This put him in something of an awkward situation, since he was now in the position of trying to figure out where he would be taking Daniel on a date. Which was… Easier said than done, if Roland was entirely honest.
The movie theater was completely out of the question. Even if they went to one where Roland had not yet been made persona non grata, there was the issue of how to get to the theater in the first place — Roland simply wouldn’t have felt right asking his grandma for the ride, and he doubted Daniel’s sister would be free to drive two nerds going on a date.
(He would immediately ignore the fact that he just called himself a nerd.)
There weren’t a lot of options left, not to make an entire day out of. Ironically, this turned the entire thing 180º on the difficulty scale, simply because there was a single option left.
And thankfully, for all Daniel appeared to be on the more dainty and delicate side of things, he was perfectly happy spending the day with him at an amusement park. As long as he wasn’t forced into a roller coaster, in which case Roland would have his cheeks squished until they were permanently a bright carmine shade, or so he threatened.
Roland was going to take that threat very seriously.
What was most important was that he had his date. The sun was bright, the sky was a beautiful and clear blue, and Roland was going to have a great date with Daniel — without any Ayin or interruptions, or Ayin-shaped interruptions.
“Oh, aren’t those Ayin and Benjamin~?” Daniel asked, pointing at the two of them with his free hand, the other currently holding onto one of Roland’s as they passed through the park’s entrance.
About three metres away from there Roland could, in fact, recognise the shapes of both Ayin and Benjamin, who should’ve been having their own date. In a completely different location from his own.
“My life is a circus and I’m the goddamned clown.” Roland mumbled to himself, eyes pointed upward at the sky as Daniel gently dragged him towards the two idiots he wished would stop existing in the next five seconds. Preferably via spontaneous combustion, though he wasn’t all that picky about methods.
When he turned his head back to look at Benjamin, he had a similar expression to his own. It was good to know Roland wasn’t the only person suffering, because otherwise he would’ve gone insane.
Daniel began asking Ayin and Benjamin what they were doing there, and if they wanted to tag along, which made Roland scream. On the inside. He was going to keep all his anger as deep inside as it was humanly possible, and afterward he would die.
Not literally, but the result was about the same.
“What in the ninth circle of hell are you doing here?” Benjamin whispered at him while Daniel managed to get some responses out of Ayin. “I thought we had an agreement.”
“I wouldn’t be here if you’d told me where you were going out with that moai statue!” Roland half-whispered, half-screamed back at Benjamin. He would not be accepting the entire responsibility for this fiasco.
This wasn’t even half his fault! He’d been a very good, very responsible boy and done what Benjamin wanted. All he needed to do was choose a completely different location from Roland, which apparently Benjamin couldn’t manage. Truly, Roland was the least person at fault in the current situation.
“Don’t call Ayin that!” Benjamin grabbed him by the shirt, glaring like the weight of his gaze could move Roland in any way. “This is your fault for not telling me where you were taking Daniel!”
“Oh, don’t you start, you absolute piece of—”
“What are you two doing?” Daniel asked, looking positively confused by how close Roland and Benjamin were standing to each other.
Roland had to respect how fast Benjamin had let go of his shirt, crossing his arms behind his back and trying to look like a presentable, perfectly behaved member of society. If it hadn’t been so impressive, it would’ve definitely infuriated Roland.
“—we were just surprised we decided to come to the same place, nothing more.” Roland answered with not enough confidence to be believable. He knew Daniel would take pity on him and just accept the answer, especially if Benjamin didn’t immediately disagree.
“Right…” Daniel nodded, brow ever so slightly burrowed anyway. He definitely didn’t fully believe that, but he wouldn’t pry. “I guess we can enjoy the day together, then~” He grinned, wrapping his right arm around Roland’s own, then his left around one of Ayin’s.
Benjamin, realising the situation he was currently in, took Ayin’s free arm. Without a shred of shame, though only when neither Ayin or Daniel could see him, he mouthed a series of words at Roland — leaving it clear what his opinion of this entire mess was.
I hate you, you’re a piece of shit.
Mature as he was, Roland decided to offer a response with about the same level of vitriol.
You’re as trash as your taste, you piece.
And this was how their oh-so-delightful day began.
First they tried to ride all of the least vomit inducing attractions, per Daniel’s request. He would be sitting down and waiting for everyone else, if they wished to try something harsher than a pendulum ride. He’d told Roland as much, and the extra company hardly changed this.
If Roland also happened to choose to sit down on some rides to wait with Daniel, because this was their goddamned date and he was gonna enjoy it goddamn it, then that was simply the way of things. He wanted to ride at least one of the coasters, but he wasn’t about to ruin his own date… Plus, that meant spending more time around Ayin and Benjamin, which he considered a violation of his rights.
Daniel managed to get himself in between him and Ayin no matter the ride, at the very least. Perhaps out of awareness of what would otherwise happen.
This didn’t change the fact that it was practically torture to be around Ayin in general — and Benjamin in particular, when he was trying to get Ayin’s attention. After all, worse than an emotionless bastard was always a clingy, obsessed fan. That wasn’t without touching Roland’s consistent confusion at Benjamin’s taste, not that it was a topic he needed to revisit when he was trying to have a date.
They began with the teacups. As easy on the stomach as it was expected, though it was a little too easy to notice the annoyance on Benjamin’s face as they twirled along, seeing as Roland was sitting right in front of him. He was sitting beside Ayin, so arguably what reason did Benjamin have to complain?
Following was the carousel, something else that was pretty easy to handle stomach wise. The aforementioned displeasure on Benjamin’s face seemed to be worse now, but Roland wasn’t entirely sure why. Beyond the obvious, of course. Maybe it was the fact that Daniel was the one to drag them to the carousel? If he really wished to get in any particular ride, all he needed to do was to open his damned mouth and ask.
Which he had not. At all.
Benjamin managed to get his way after Daniel insisted they get into the haunted swing, a ride that seemed to have affected him more than was probably reasonable. Could be because it was a closed space, perhaps? Roland didn’t remember seeing that idiot nervous in closed spaces, but he also didn’t share many of those with Benjamin on a regular basis.
No matter, he basically dragged Ayin — who ultimately caused Daniel to be pulled along, — toward the pirate ship. His attempt at getting Daniel away from Ayin amounted to nothing, as he still got in the ride. The four of them took half an entire row, Ayin between Daniel and Benjamin, with Roland at Daniel’s other end.
(A part of him wondered if the people manning the attractions had noticed the tension in their little gathering. Whether they had or not, Roland genuinely hoped they blamed most if not all of said tension on Benjamin’s stupid ass.)
The problems began when Benjamin finally managed to get them to walk close enough to the nearest roller coaster’s line to convince Ayin to accompany him. Daniel had very clearly stated, at least three times, that he would be waiting for them if that happened to be the case, rapidly choosing a bench close by to do as much.
Roland had also clearly stated in his mind that he would do everything in his power to not be going on a ride with only Benjamin and Ayin, because he didn’t hate himself that much. Before he had a chance to sit beside Daniel, actually finding an opportunity to enjoy his date, Benjamin grabbed him by the arm. He was smiling, the sort of forced expression that required immense amounts of self-control.
“What the—?” Roland wasn’t even capable of asking what Benjamin wanted, his mouth covered with a hand not a second after it was opened.
“Daniel, you don’t mind if I take Roland for a moment?” Benjamin’s eyebrow twitched slightly, a side effect of his barely contained annoyance.
“Uhm.” Daniel stared at Roland, then at Benjamin. He moved his head toward the roller coaster’s line as well, where Ayin was standing in for the rest of them. “As long as Roland doesn’t mind~?” He smiled, head tilting slightly to one side.
It was obvious he didn’t understand what the issue was, though Daniel also wasn’t sure if it was polite of him to ask.
“Great!” Benjamin’s response sounded twice as forced as his prior question, not that it mattered much. He probably would’ve found a way to drag Roland away no matter what Daniel did. “We’ll be back in a second.”
Recognising there was no point in resisting, Roland allowed Benjamin to pull him along. Just far enough from both the bench and the line that neither Daniel or Ayin would hear them — which meant he was about to get chastised for doing absolutely nothing.
Great. Wonderful. It was school all over again.
“I hate repeating myself, but I must ask… What the hell are you doing here?” Roland couldn’t remember a time he’d heard Benjamin that upset, not that he cared. It was simply impressive that this was all that was needed to get him to pop a couple veins. “You can’t tell me you just randomly decided to choose the same place I did for my date with Ayin.”
“Does it count as a date if the guy isn’t aware that it is one though?” Roland mused out loud, knowing this would further piss Benjamin off. Before he had to evade a couple of feeble, nerdish punches, Roland continued. “Look, think about it for two seconds… Where else can yours truly, persona non grata of the local cinema and beloved child of known criminals, go on a date? I don’t have the money or resources for anywhere else, you moron.”
Blinking slowly, Benjamin appeared to calm down. He went quiet for a minute or two, pouting slightly and rubbing his chin, considering what Roland had just said with far more willingness than he would assume Benjamin was capable of. Or at the very least capable of when Ayin wasn’t involved.
“I… I suppose you’re right.” He sighed, sounding equal parts resigned and exasperated. “This is by far the worst day of my life.”
“I wouldn’t go that far myself, but I’m not about to act like I’m having a good time.” Roland rolled his eyes as hard as it was humanly possible to do so.
“This is a mess… I just wanted to have a date with Sir Ayin.” Benjamin whined, covering his face with his hands.
“Please tell me you don’t actually call him that on the regular.” Roland’s shoulders curled inward ever so slightly, hands raised as he put some distance between himself and Benjamin. “You liking that guy is bad enough, you can’t tell me you also have some weird kinks.”
(Only Roland was allowed to have weird kinks.)
“You do not, and will never, understand my relationship with Sir Ayin.” Benjamin slapped him weakly on the chest, sounding so utterly offended Roland would’ve laughed at him if it didn’t feel a little too cruel.
This was his attempt at being conciliatory, for the record.
“Okay, fine, whatever… Your relationship is special and sacred and shit, can we go back to the important part of this situation?” Roland grumbled, keeping his most honest thoughts entirely to himself. “Because I don’t want to be here with you any more than you are, and I would like my date not to suck ass.” He poked Benjamin on the chest. “And if it wasn’t clear and obvious, you’re really not helping on that front.”
“Does it look like I’m having a good time either?!”
Oh god, they were just back exactly where they began, weren’t they? Roland would’ve lost his mind right there and there if it wasn’t for the simple, yet very important, fact that this was supposed to be his day. His day was not going to get ruined by Benjamin’s stupid ass choices.
Benjamin sighed loudly, trying to calm himself down. He looked almost ashamed of his anger. Another thing that would’ve been quite funny to Roland, in different circumstances.
“Look, I’ll try to take Ayin away to some rides so you can have time with Daniel—”
“Oh my, that’s so kind and gracious of you~” Roland grinned, sarcasm dripping from expression and tone both, enjoying how the veins in Benjamin’s forehead popped. Again. He was just so easy to annoy.
“—I swear to god, I will kill you if you don’t stop.” He gritted his teeth. “I’ll help you out if you do me the favour of keeping Daniel from getting in the middle, when I’m trying to have a moment with Sir Ayin. Fair?”
“Eh.” Roland shrugged, shoulders raising along. He would’ve rather not, but he didn’t really have any options. “Sure… I guess.”
“I am just as excited.” Benjamin smiled, just as sarcastic as Roland was a minute ago.
They didn’t shake hands on it, not because it wasn’t necessary or anything of the sort. There was just a very real chance that if they touched each other, they would both vomit. Or at least Roland was gonna start making gagging sounds.
When they returned, Benjamin took his place in the line to ride the roller coaster, right beside Ayin, while Roland sat beside Daniel. His eyes went from the line back to Roland, like he was trying to figure out exactly what had happened between them just by staring hard enough.
“So, uhm…” Daniel eventually spoke, clearly incapable of keeping his curiosity to himself. “What happened? What did Benjamin need?”
“He needs to get his ass handed to him, that’s what he needs.” Roland crossed his arms over his chest, words garbled as he spoke with a rather impressive frown, mouth pursed.
“Uhm.” Daniel poked him gently on the shoulder. “Is that literally or metaphorically?”
“I think I would kill myself before handing his ass literally, actually.”
“That’s… A little dramatic, don’t you think?” Daniel began gently patting him on the back. Hopefully he thought they just had a random argument completely unrelated to this date. “It can’t be that bad.”
“I know what I said.”
The next couple minutes didn’t last long enough for him, but Roland enjoyed having some time alone with Daniel all the same. Benjamin even had the decency to take a little longer, insisting on buying a commemorative picture of him and Ayin during a particular drop in the coaster.
Said photo was utterly hilarious too — Benjamin trying to hug Ayin, mouth open in a scream, blushing brightly. Meanwhile, Ayin had his arms up in the air and the exact same bored expression he always had on a regular basis.
Honestly, Roland wished he didn’t have this little arrangement with Benjamin. Otherwise he would’ve been making fun of him the rest of the day. Another lost opportunity in his life… Perhaps he could remember this for when their agreement was no longer valid.
Surprisingly, neither Daniel nor Ayin noticed how suspicious it was that either him, or Benjamin, managed to separate the four of them on a regular basis afterwards. Ayin possibly didn’t find anything weird with having Benjamin drag him into an attraction or shop, even if they were supposed to be on a conceptually vague ‘double date.’ On Daniel’s side, Roland could only assume he was having too much fun to question the semi-constant separations.
Roland was also smart enough to remind Benjamin that, if they wanted this to work, they had to spend some time together too. To not appear suspicious.
It was almost impressive how dumb Benjamin could be when Ayin was involved. Or maybe he was very book smart and had the street smarts of a blind mole. He looked like someone very good at Age of Empires or Civilization, but entirely incapable of buying alcohol. Or perfectly legal drugs.
Oh, that was a hilarious mental image.
“Roland, why are you trying not to laugh?” Daniel asked, gently pressing the tip of his ice cream on his cheek. The four of them had decided it was the right time to get some cold treats, hence walking around with one ice cream cone each.
“Nothing, I was just thinking how dumb Benjamin would look trying to buy weed.” He giggled, cleaning the ice cream on his cheek with his index finger, seemingly forgetting Benjamin was right there.
“Excuse me?!” Benjamin rapidly moved to stand in front of him, looking utterly horrified. “What are you implying here?”
“That you wouldn’t be able to buy weed, because you have zero street smarts. Duh. It’s legal and you’d still be weird about it. Giant red flag.” What else could he be implying, considering Benjamin’s… Well, everything. There were only so many other people who looked as nerdy as he did.
“… He kinda has a point.” Daniel mumbled.
“You also would look ridiculous trying.” Roland poked him on the arm with his free hand.
“Yes, but I would never deny what’s obvious~” He giggled in response, not offended in the slightest.
“You deserve each other so much.” Benjamin mumbled, revulsion dripping from every word. He wasn’t even offended or questioning why Roland thought he’d take drugs of any kind, which some would think was the bigger issue in comparison.
“You’re just jealous because I have a sense of humour and the beauty of youth.” Roland grinned before sticking his tongue out at Benjamin.
“We’re literally in the same grade, you idiot.” And yet Roland continued to get a rise out of him. Genuinely, Benjamin needed a couple of years to develop something resembling self-control. Or common sense. Mayhaps both.
“Don’t care, didn’t ask, plus my point still stands.” Roland shrugged, finishing his ice cream and promptly taking the chance to kiss Daniel on the mouth. They didn’t get many opportunities to make out, even when Benjamin managed to pull Ayin away.
Roland’s ego was quite inflated by the fact that he’d not seen Benjamin kiss Ayin at all though, proving his aforementioned point that Benjamin was barking at the wrong tree — or a tree so incapable at reading social cues that it didn’t realise it was being barked at.
Once he separated from Daniel, he noticed two sets of eyes staring at them. Benjamin, of course, was glaring at them still. Truly the image of someone whose life was miserable and incapable of recovering. Hilarious, if a little sad.
Meanwhile, Ayin’s stare was somewhere between curious and jealous. Roland had to question whether or not Ayin was capable of jealousy, considering his lack of social graces, but that light tilt of his head definitely conveyed something akin to it.
“Is there an issue?” Roland asked him, raising an eyebrow at Ayin’s general direction.
Ayin didn’t say anything, walking toward Daniel at a completely reasonable pace and placing his hands on his shoulders for support. This forced Roland to step backward, an offense Ayin would be paying for later, which also gave him ample view of Ayin kissing Daniel next.
A part of him wasn’t even annoyed anymore. It was an usual sight. Not pleasant, but not likely to cause him disgust. Mostly he was tired of having his date, that was for himself and Daniel alone, ruined by the stupidity of others.
This would’ve been the end of it — at least when Ayin decided to finish kissing Daniel, allowing Roland to go back to his own kissing, the one that actually mattered, — but he’d completely forgotten about the ‘fourth in discord’ that happened to be standing not so close to him.
“Oh, this is all your damned fault.” Benjamin whined, sticking his ice cream cone directly onto Roland’s face, where it became stuck for about two seconds.
As the ice cream slid off his face and onto the cement path under his feet, Roland turned to look at Benjamin. His fuming was nothing but a painful reminder that Roland’s day up until that point was ruined, utterly wrecked by an idiot that didn’t realise the guy whose ground he kissed didn’t even know he was interested.
The ice cream was rapidly drying on his skin, making his face uncomfortably sticky.
Roland took a deep breath, pressing a hand on Benjamin’s shoulder and said the most reasonable series of words that he’d ever managed to create with his very own vocal chords.
“I genuinely give two shits about how ruined your day was.”
Understandably so, the next few hours were the longest, most irritating ones of Roland’s entire life.