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Gage knew he was in for an annoying day as soon as his phone lit up, the name “Bitch” flashed on his phone’s screen followed by the text “I want to take you on a date, Bae.”
Part of him really wanted to ignore him; it would’ve been the only way to completely avoid whatever Lemon had planned. The yellow inkling had a way of getting what he wanted. He scowled as he put down the map he’d be studying to pick up his phone.
“Why? We’re not dating.”
He had barely hit send when he saw that his not-boyfriend was already replying. He rolled his eyes; it was almost pathetic how needy Lemon was… almost.
“I want to do something nice for you. I got tickets for the theme park.”
Gage made a disgruntled noise, tapping his foot on the ground as he spun in his desk chair. He wasn’t the biggest fan of roller coasters, and the last person he wanted to know this fact was the yellow annoyance. The best way to avoid both these things was to shoot him down.
Too bad Lemon was the most insufferably stubborn person he had ever met. After about ten minutes of their text debate Gage mumbled curses under his breath as he tried his final reply.
“Fine! We’ll go to the fucking theme park but it’s not a date and I have one condition!”
“Anything you want, Bae. What is it?”
...
It didn’t take much doing in order to get Violet in on their “outing,” especially when he was told he could invite his boyfriend. Since they lived near each other Gage met him at his apartment and they walked to the train station together, where they would meet the other two.
“This is exciting! I’ve never been on a double date before!”
“This isn’t a double date!” Gage glared at his teammate who just looked at him, smiling widely.
“Right, right. Not a double date. Sorry, Gage.”
They walked in silence for a few moments; Gage had counted down to one in his head when Violet broke the silence.
“Then why did you ask Hunter and me to come? We’re dating. If you wanted just to hang out as friends then you should’ve asked people who are just friends to come.”
“W-Well, I know you’re brother wouldn’t have been able to come-“
“How did you know he works today?”
“-And I hate everyone on Lemon’s team-“
“Really? Their roller seems nice.”
“-And at least Hunter isn’t annoying as fuck when his team isn’t around, which will be needed considering I’m spending the day with you and that fucking scrub!” He was yelling now, a few people looked over. He felt heat rising to his cheeks. Violet was biting back a laugh.
He broke down when Gage smacked his arm, glaring at him.
...
They made it to the train station soon after. Hunter was already there, sitting on a bench by the door looking down at the ground. He looked annoyed, but Gage had learned long ago that he always looked that way. His expression barely even changed when Violet called out to him.
He barely got to his feet before the purple boy, for back of a better term, tackled him, almost knocking them both over. Gage watched their weird little dance to stay standing as he walked over.
Hunter looked up and held up his hand, muttering what might’ve been a greeting at him and Gage nodded back. He used to wonder why Violet would date someone like Hunter, someone who hardly ever spoke and never looked happy.
Then he realized it was because he was the only person who didn’t talk as much as Violet did talk.
“It’s good to see you, sweetie! How are you teammates doing?” Silence, a slightly shrug then nod from the green inkling. “That’s good! I heard you guys did well in your turf wars this week. You didn’t pick on anyone did you?” A slight smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes and Violet lightly smacked his shoulder. “That’s not nice, Hunter!” He shrugged before resting his forehead on the shorter inkling, looking down at him intently. “Aww, I missed you too.”
Gage was so caught up in their one-sided conversation he didn’t even notice the person who came up to stand next to him until he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Hey, Bae.”
“Gah!” Gage pushed him back, which made Lemon laugh a bit as he looked down at him. “Don’t sneak up on me you fucking bitch!”
“Sorry, Bae.”
Gage glared at him. He was wearing his sunglasses, not too weird on a bright day like this except that Gage had seen him wearing them at night before. The only thing missing was the black jacket he normally wore, replaced with a t-shirt.
“Where’s your stupid jacket?”
“A little hot for that, don’t you think?”
“You wear it during turf wars!”
“Yeah, but those are short and I can take it off afterwards. Not everyone can wear flannel everyday.”
“Fuck you!” Gage scowled, he knew people were staring at them. “Lets just go already!” He stated, turning to walk into the train station, he heard Lemon’s footsteps following behind him obediently. He briefly caught Violet trying not to laugh and Hunter... Well... looking the same.
This was going to be a long day.
...
Bringing Violet and Hunter had been a bad idea. Watching them cuddle on the train was bad enough normally, but whenever he looked away he would see Lemon watching them almost wistfully and it just made Gage more uncomfortable.
We do that when we’re alone, you don’t have to look like a fucking kicked puppy because I don’t want to do shit like that in front of the whole fucking world.
Gage must’ve been staring (glaring) at him because Lemon looked over. He just smiled and Gage looked away, scowling, only to see Violet and Hunter kissing across the train car. His shoes were the most interesting things for the remainder of the train ride.
...
The theme park was pretty big, and had a variety of different rides. Everything from a big Ferris wheel, to a variety of different roller coaters, and even some ink slides. Thankfully everyone decided to leave former Splatfests out of the conversation today.
“How did you even get these tickets anyway?” Gage asked once they stepped in.
“The band does a gig here every month or so and they give us tickets. I just had to ask the guys if they’d give me theirs for this month, no big deal. Simon and Lee don’t really like theme parks and I just promised Quinn I’d clean the bathroom this month.”
“I forget your stupid team is also a stupid band,” Gage muttered, which made Lemon laugh a bit.
“That’s because you always turn me down when I invite you to our shows.”
“That’s because you probably sound terrible!”
“I don’t know. Hunter likes our music,” Gage looked over at the green inkling, who simply nodded. “See? That’s a raving review if I’ve ever seen one.”
“So what should we ride first?” Violet spoke up, peeking around his taller boyfriend to look at the other two members of their group. “I heard their new coaster is really fun!”
“We might want to do that first to beat the line,” Lemon commented and Gage frowned. He was hoping they could avoid any big coasters, at least until later. Lemon looked down at him. “Is that alright you with, Bae?”
“Of course!” He stated, crossing his arms. “… And don’t call me that.”
“Then lets go!” Violet said happily as he turned to head for it, it loomed in the distance. Gage scowled as he followed behind, Lemon keeping pace beside him.
The line was rather short, which Gage wasn’t sure was a blessing or a curse. It meant less time to be worried about the ride but it almost meant they got on it before he was mentally ready.
Another reason bringing Hunter and Violet was a bad idea; they sat together. The seats were for two people so Gage got to sit next to Lemon, who seemed perfectly at ease. Gage looked at him as he took off his glasses, handing them to Violet who was putting their stuff away.
“Do you want me to take your sunglasses?” Violet offered.
“No.” A pause. “Thank you, I’ll just hold onto them.”
“Well, okay.” Gage watched Violet walk away before he looked over at Lemon.
“They’re gonna fall off, stupid, you should’ve given them to Violet.”
Lemon just looked at him. “Are you okay? You seem nervous.”
He was changing the subject, and Gage normally wouldn’t have let him but his pride was more important than his curiosity.
“I’m fine! Why wouldn’t I be?” He let the people check his lap bar and seat belt. The ride didn’t go upside down or anything but it was still… tall… and fast. He frowned.
“If you want you can hold my hand-“
“I fucking told you I’m fine! Quit being gay!” Gage was glaring and he heard Lemon chuckle.
“Sorry, Bae.” Gage looked away, frowning and the train started to move. He took a deep breath and held onto his lap bar. He could barely see Hunter and Violet a few seats in front of them.
The train started to make its way up the first hill and when they got half way up Gage grabbed onto Lemon’s hand, pushing it down under the seat, gripping it tightly. Lemon didn’t say anything, just wrapped his hand around the smaller one.
“We’re almost at the top, you should take your sunglasses off or you’ll lose them,” Gage mumbled, not looking at him.
“Right…”
Gage had only seen Lemon without those sunglasses a few times; he hardly ever took them off, and the few times he had done it in front of him he was… not thrilled about it. He looked over to see the other man taking them off, holding them in his free hand. Lemon didn’t look at him, just leaned back in the seat with his eyes closed.
“You ready?”
Whatever reply Gage was going to give was quickly caught off as their train got to the top of the hill and began its rapid descent.
...
Gage was scowling as he looked at the pictures that were displayed. How was he supposed to know the camera was IN the car! He could feel his cheeks growing hot as he looked at it.
He didn’t even remember grabbing onto Lemon’s arm like that. The only thing that made him feel better was the fact that the other looked just as stupid as he did, with his eyes closed and his mouth hanging open.
That didn’t seem to bother Lemon, however, as he did his very best not to laugh.
“Don’t you fucking start...”
“S-Sorry…” he muttered out, covering his mouth with his free hand.
“If you don’t stop right the fuck now I am going to fucking leave,” Gage added, his shoulders scrunching up. Lemon took a shaky breath and looked down at him for a moment before he looked at the lady behind the counter.
“How much for a copy?”
“What!? No you don’t! You are not fucking buying that, you bitch!” Lemon had to hold him back with one arm, not too hard of a feat for the taller man. “I will fucking kick you in the balls! Don’t you dare! Lemon! I will kill you!”
Lemon only let him go once he safely had his purchase and had given it to Violet for safekeeping.
“You’re an asshole,” Gage mumbled, glaring at him.
“I love you too, Bae.”
At least Lemon didn’t press him to ride any more roller coasters. Violet and Hunter left a few times to get on the bigger ones and they mostly stuck to the smaller rides and easier coasters.
The only thing Lemon refused to go on was anything where he got wet.
“Its not easy getting this look, Bae, and I didn’t spend time on my hair this morning to get it ruined.”
“You spend time making it look that shitty? Really?”
“Bae...”
...
The group wondered around after eating dinner. The idea was to let their stomachs settle before they rode anything else, which meant it was time for the games. Game were scattered throughout the park so they just walked around, mostly to see if there was anything worth trying to win.
“Hey, Buddy!” One of the people working the games called out. The group looked over but the worker mostly seemed focus on Hunter. “You should come over here and win a prize for your boyfriend! Come on, its not hard, just gotta ring this little bell!” She said, grinning. “Or do you think you can’t do that?”
The three looked over at Hunter, whose expression didn’t change. He stared down the woman at the booth before he walked over, reaching into his pocket for some money and putting it in her hand.
She handed him a hammer and the other three watched. It was one of those “strength testers” where you hit the bottom and tried to hit the bell with the force of your hit. Hunter raised the hammer over his head and brought it down… the little weight went about half-way up before it went back down with a soft “thud.”
There were a few beats of silence and Gage could see the beads of sweat forming on Hunter’s face. Poor guy, but he didn’t really expect a sniper to do that well; chargers were big but not heavy. Violet was jumping up a down, clapping.
“That was amazing, sweetie!” He said, running over to hug Hunter’s arm. At least Violet wasn’t hard to please. Lemon looked to the woman.
“Can I give it a try?”
“Of course!” he paid her and Hunter handed over the hammer without a word. They stepped back as Lemon took the place. He flashed Gage a smile, which only earned him an eye roll, before he brought the hammer up and down.
It went up pretty high, but it eventually stopped short of the bell and fell back with a thud. Lemon was frowning… He tried three more time before finally giving up.
“Too bad, scrub.”
“Bae…”
“Lemme try!” Violet said suddenly, untangling himself from Hunter’s arms before he handed the lady some money. She looked at him, clearly amused, but didn’t say anything.
Violet was pretty tiny, both in height and weight, so Gage was sure she was already laughing in her head. He took in front of the machine, held the hammer over his head, and brought it down, the bell ringing out only a moment later. The purple boys laughed and jumped up a down as the other four just stared in awe.
“I did it!” He turned to the woman, her mouth gaping open. “What do I win?”
“Ahhhh…. A-Anything here you want…”
“Okay! Ah...” He looked around, pausing before picking up a plush otter before going over to Hunter. “I won you a prize!” He said cutely, grinning up at him. Hunter looked at him and Gage could notice the faint flush on his cheeks before he took it.
“Thank you.”
It would’ve been a cute scene if Gage weren’t faintly aware of Lemon over his shoulder. He looked back at him, Lemon’s expression was one of determination, a face Gage was used to seeing on him unfortunately.
“What?”
“I’m going to win you something.”
“What?” He blinked as Lemon turned going to a different stand. “Ah! What the hell! Lemon, get your ass back here!” He ran after him.
...
Gage looked down at the plush he was presented with. It was a cat, cheaply made and ugly. He crossed his arms and looked up at Lemon, who was smiling. It took over an hour. They went through six different games and Gage didn’t want to how much money Lemon spent. It wasn’t worth it.
“Its ugly.”
“Ah...”
“I’m not carrying it around. I didn’t even want a prize.”
“Okay…”
“You didn’t spend all your money, did you?”
“… Not all of it…” Gage sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“Um. Guys?” He looked over to see Violet and Hunter. “We’re thinking of riding the Ferris wheel, you wanna come?”
“Yes, the scrub is done. Lets go,” he turned, followed the two towards the center of the park. It was a moment before he heard Lemon’s footsteps following behind him.
...
Stupid scrub.
Gage looked around as the Ferris wheel paused at the top to let new people onto the ride. He looked over at Lemon, who was leaning back, the hugging that stupid plush on his lap. He frowned and leaned back, crossing his arms. It was starting to get dark and the temperature was lowering with the sun.
“The park looks cool with all the lights on,” came Lemon’s voice.
“Ah… Yeah, I guess...”
The ride started to move.
“I’m sorry this wasn’t a very good date, Gage…”
“It wasn’t a date, I already told you-“
“I can take you home after we get off here.”
Silence. The ride stopped again.
“It wasn’t that bad,” Gage said, frowning. Lemon looked over at him. He was still wearing the stupid sunglasses. “Besides you being stupid, but that’s nothing new.”
The other man smiled a bit and looked away… Gage looked at him for a moment before he leaned in, pressing his lips to the other’s cheek, briefly, before he moved back, looking away.
“I’m staying the night at your place. Got it, scrub?” he looked up at Lemon, who smiled slightly.
“Anything you want, Bae.”
...
“Big Brother! That weird plush is staring at me!” Gage frowned down at his little brother from his desk chair.
“If it bothers you then get out of my room!”
“You should get rid of it its creepy!” His sister added, hiding behind her twin at they stared down the ugly plush doll on his bed.
“… Yeah, maybe.”
He never did.