None the Worse ✓

43) 'Martin Is The Gayest Character In The Book' And Other Conclusions...

"How much did you get?"

"None of your business, punk."

"Oh."

While Messiah and Martin conversed, Heston stretched, then slunk back on his seat. "Two months," he mumbled, to his imaginary friend, "two months and we're out."

For once, his contributions were welcomed.

"Right?"

"Fucking finally."

"Benjamin is sulking again," Pi noted, "what is it now? Ben?"

Two months.

"U-uh. I did bad on my test?"

Martin snorted. "How is that any different from the usual?"

"I'm just... disappointed."

"Yes, how is that any different from the—"

"Shut up."

"Whoa."

"Ben, are you okay?" asked Messiah.

No, he wasn't okay. Thijmen would be leaving soon—way too soon—and it sucked, but there was nothing he could do about it, so he said, "Yes."

"Your speech level is embarrassingly low," Martin whispered. "That was a shit lie."

It's not like his friends could help, either. There was no point in talking about it. That's what Thijmen would say. He was kind of a genius.

"It's nothing," Benjamin said.

The squad sighed, and maybe Benjamin's speech level was higher than anticipated, because they actually let it go. Or maybe they were just so fed up with his sulking that they'd stopped caring, which was reasonable.

And, really, it wouldn't have helped.

Four hours later, Benjamin sat in his room and Thijmen had been sitting next to him, but he got hungry and left, so this was sort of like how it would be when Thijmen left, but to Spinkylinky, not the kitchen. Benjamin moped, slipped off the bed and made his way over to his boyfriend, raiding the fridge, then the cupboard. Ultimately, he settled with a roll of cookies.

"Do you want one?"

"No. Yes. No."

"Okay." Thijmen shoved a cookie into Benjamin's mouth.

Ben smiled, with the cookie in his mouth, and wrapped his arms around Thijmen, who put the cookie roll down and returned the hug. He remained silent for a whole three seconds, before he asked, "What's this for?"

"Nothing," Benjamin replied, still cookieful. If he said it was nothing often enough, it might actually become nothing. It was nothing. It was nothing. Nothing mattered. Everyone and everything died at the end, even the universe, and so would everyone who had fallen in love and out of it and made stories about it. So it was nothing.

"I don't believe that."

"It's true."

"No it's not, Ben. It's clearly not nothing."

"I flunked a test."

"How is that different from the usual?"

He felt attacked, but that was okay. "I like hugging people," said Benjamin, which, he realized soon enough, became the last nail in his coffin.

Thijmen pulled away and stared at him with one eyebrow raised as if to say, "Really?"

"Hugging is... nice."