Ben blinked in confusion, staring up at the man in front of him in shock. "You want me to what now?"

  Before this sudden meeting, he'd just been working in his office, or, as much work as he could be doing while chatting with his co-workers who had their usual dramatics about some new workpce rumor someone made up. However, before he could get too much into it, the company owner invited himself inside decring he needed someone who knew one of the other employees, Cir, well.

  Being himself, Ben immediately rose up, thinking it would be a discussion about Cir not doing any of the usual work for the past month or two. Of course, she was be in the building, but never in their office. And whenever she’d would pass by them, it would only be to send death gres to Bea. Well, he couldn’t bme her, she really was a bitch sometimes.

  But now here he was, sitting in the pink-colored office in front of a serious man saying something so absurd.

  "Convince Cir to date me." Dyn repeated, his tone casual and almost dismissive, as if it wasn't a big deal. "You said you know her, right? So you wouldn't mind. It’s what’s best for her."

  Ben was still in shock from the man's nonchant attitude towards the issue, although he quickly shook it off. He wasn’t the type to enjoy those kind of serious discussions, so why would he force it into one? And he had always been curious about his boss’s personal life. Plus, he’d been a lot nicer to everyone in the company tely, even organizing happy hours and making new work-life policies to make it more manageable. He was starting to wonder what had affected him this much.

  "So you two are in a sort of situationship, huh?" He concluded, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

  Dyn frowned, not seeming to appreciate the conversation being drawled out. "Something like that. I just need you to be there when I talk to him to make sure she sees how perfect I am and that I deserve to be with her.”

  That statement made Ben raise an eyebrow, starting to think that this might not be something very good for Cir. His boss didn't seem to act very different than how he had imagined; arrogant, and very bratty. And although it wasn't his pce to say something about it, he wasn't just going to stand by and let his friend be treated like that.

  "You shouldn't think that you deserve to be with her, y'know. People have their own will, especially a beautiful tomgirl like Cir-bear!” He announced, making a dramatic gesture with his hands.

  Unconvinced, the blond only rolled his eyes. "Of course I deserve her, we're soulmates! Who are you to decide if we should be together or not?"

  Ben frowned at having his excmation ignored, dropping his hands back down before crossing them over his chest. "That soulmate thing is a bunch of bull-crap. You should let Cir-bear choose what’s best for her, she just got out of a pretty serious retionship y’know.”

  "Yeah, yeah, sure," Dyn said, brushing it off with a wave of his hand, "I don't pay you to educate me. I'll tell you when the meeting is, you just need to be there on time and convince her.”

  Studying the man's expression, Ben agreed. "Alright...." He drawled, narrowing his eyes, "But you need to accept it if she says she’s not ready. I won’t stand for mistreatment!”

  His boss rolled his eyes, sighing. "Whatever, fine. I’ll send you the time tomorrow, make sure you come on time.”

  "And why should I?" He questioned, now just toying with him to see how much he can get away with.

  Dyn scoffed, but didn’t push back, taking Ben by surprise. Instead, he took out his phone and typed something, before turning back to him a minute or so ter.

  ”I’ll triple your paycheck,” He deadpanned.

  "Deal," He agreed without hesitation, the offer being too good to pass up. He reached forward to shake the man’s hand before continuing, making sure he can’t take it back.

  "I shall help my dear friend, if it's the st thing I do!" He excimed, smiling as he watched his boss finally grin. He'll make sure the man was good for Cir, of course, so it wasn’t fully a bribe, but he sure is never going to bad mouth this man again.

  Ben wasn't sure what he'd expected the 'meeting' to be like, but it certainly wasn't this.

  In all his years working for this seemingly boring company, he never thought he’d be invited to the Doresson mansion, money practically dispyed on the sickly pink walls and rooms rge enough to host a whole family.

  But most shocking of all was being sat in front of his boss and coworker on a purple, heart-shaped couch, acting as their couples therapist.

  One was grinning ear to ear and the other looking annoyed respectively, a silence sunken upon them since he entered the room, forced to watch both of them in fear.

  It wasn't hard to tell Ben was starting to regret coming here, but he had to push through, still wanting to help his friend with whatever was going on with Dyn.

  Now that he thought about it, other than the times he’d spoken with her before she had her child and after breaking up with whoever she had been with, he hardly knew anything about her family. Cir was pretty secretive, and she hid a lot about herself from Ben and all of their other work friends. While others would brag about gifts their significant others got them or gush over being sent flowers on Valentine’s, she’d just nod along or roll her eyes.

  He shook the thought away. If she didn’t want to tell him, he’s best off not knowing. Yet, he didn't know what he could say in the awkward moment. The silence was so loud, and it was slowly killing him inside. To speak or not to speak? That was the-

  "Can I leave already?" Cir huffed after a few moments, her question directed at Dyn.

  He frowned. "No, Crumbs, I told you we need to talk about this." He said firmly, giving the woman’s head a small pat, to which she hissed at in response.

  Ben stared at them for a few moments in silence before sighing. "Cir-bear, Dandy-boy, let's settle down," He started, not missing the gre each of them gave him at the nicknames. “I’m sure we can all work this out! Just talk about whatever’s bothering you."

  "We have nothing to talk about," Cir said, her voice steadying as she scooted away from the tall man next to her. "I don't even know why I'm here, but this birdface didn’t shut up until I agreed to come.”

  That caused Ben to raise an eyebrow, slightly perplexed. "You... don't know why you're here?" He gnced at Dyn, gesturing for him to pick up where he left off.

  "Oh, c'mon Crumbs, I told you~ I just wanna talk with you a bit~" He purred, leaning closer to Cir who scoffed at him.

  Ben watched them like an anomaly. He’d never seen either of them act this… pyful, he dared to say? He knows how Cir acts when she’s really angry. This wasn’t her, not even close.

  "Talk about what? You need to tell me things, seriously." Cir snapped, gring at the man.

  Ben then intervened, leaning closer to Cir across the table between them. He wasn't sure how to approach the issue, so he chose the best way he knew; teasing.

  "Well... I have a small idea what he might mean, if I say so myself. Y’know… Dandy-boy said that you might have a little thing for him..." He hummed, grinning suggestively.

  Cir frowned. "Oh, cut the bullshit."

  Understandable, Ben thought. And he did just that, opting to "Okay, okay... Jeez, calm down. So the thing is... Dandy-boy over here has been wanting to ask you something for a while now," He nudged the blond with his foot under the table.

  Dyn gnced at him dumbly for a moment, before his gaze turned to the other ravenet back to Cir. "Hum... right," He mumbled, before clearing his throat. He turned to face Cir more properly, Ben already amused as he prepared for the Telenove he hoped would unfold.

  Cir only huffed. "What is it?”

  Chuckling to himself silently, Dyn finally started talking. "Well, Crumbs," He reached to take one of her hands, "You know we’ve been… ‘together’ for a while, but you haven’t been letting me make it official. And, I know you love me, so why not just accept it? We’re so obviously meant to be~”

  Ben shot Dyn a disapproving look, making him falter a bit. He put a hand over his mouth, muttering "Give her a choice," which he was sure Cir heard but chose to ignore anyway.

  Trying again, Dyn rephrased his words, which took both the others in the room by complete surprise. "I was just saying we could be together, if you wanted to~ What do you say, huh? As, you know, I do… love you too.”

  Ben could almost feel himself dying from cuteness. Cir’s face was flushed red, he’d never seen her be so flustered. She looked like her heart was about to explode in her chest, staring at Dyn with a mix of embarrassment, surprise, and… something else he couldn’t quite put into words. Dyn, meanwhile, was beaming, a bit of a flush covering his own cheeks but that looked much more like excitement. It was such a sight Ben was almost giggling and kicking his feet like some crazed fan girl.

  But then Cir spoke.

  "I, We- we can’t. You know about Mavik, we, I'm not sure I can move on yet. It- it's not your choice what I do with my life and it shouldn’t be your problem. And I-I have a son! I can’t expect you to take care of him like a father. That’s putting way too much on you, we, I can’t date you.”

  Dyn tilted his head to the side, unconvinced.

  "That’s not a reason."

  "It's so stupid of you to want me! I'm nothing special, I can’t even offer anything for you. I'm not nice, either, and we barely get along! I’m not ready for another retionship, especially with you. This isn’t right, not, not for you or for me.”

  Ben silently watched the two speak until that point, but hearing that he decided to interfere. He leaned forward, catching their attention.

  "Cir-bear, really," He shook his head, gaining her attention. "You say all that, but do you love Dandy-boy?"

  The question made Cir think for a moment, going silent for a bit longer. She groaned, rubbing her face with her hand, making the blonde chuckle. “I, that’s not the point. I can’t expect him to go through all this for me.”

  That answer made both Dyn and Ben smile.

  "But you do love him, don't you?"

  Cir just barely nodded.

  "Then why not give it a try?"

  -

  Notes:

  Ben Colin, an insurance company worker by day and part time Drag Queen every other weekend, along with Cir and Dyn finally got their closure. We’ll see how long it sts.