#vs his ability to be the most heartfelt and earnest character of them all

[catty-words]

considering this -

- in contrast to devi and ben's obnoxious, line-toeing tension:

(the rituals are sooooo intricate).

considering paxton's simple advice to fabiola - make the first move and what you say doesn't matter. how you say it is everything - and though fab herself doesn't get to make good on that advice, fabiola and aneesa nonetheless manage to overcome their weird tension with straightforward honesty.

considering you showed me what not to do and aneesa seeing ben's unwillingness to put himself all the way out there making him miserable as reason to offer that straightforward honesty to fab.

considering the way that feeds into ben being a very deliberate antithesis to paxton's proven-successful relationship advice, with his version of making the first move the indirect insertion of himself into devi's path and his how you say it mode of choice being constant negging that thinly-yet-effectively veils his true feelings.

and

he wants to kiss her so bad it makes him look stupid, but he is waiting for devi to fail at finding another option before he makes his move. he needs the plausible deniability, because if it's just a game they're playing, he doesn't have to chance getting his heart broken again. it's an insecurity-fulfilling feedback loop and the perfect way for him to both live in the hope of possibility and the heartache of rejection and i am eating it up with a silver fucking spoon.