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Shore leave wasn’t all that common an occurrence for the agents of Project Freelancer, most of their so called shore leave was less organised leave and more supply runs where the Mother of Invention had to dock somewhere. Most of the time these dockings were at space stations with rather limited recreational spaces, so any time spent off the ship was more about a change of scenery than relaxation.
But sometimes, they got lucky; their most recent supply run had taken them to a nearby colony, where they would be permitted to leave the ship for the duration of their stay. Their landing site was within a city, and they had a good twenty four hours of free time. No training, no missions, no need to stay on the ship.
Even luckier? There was a fair in town.
“Do you think it counts as cheating if we play the shooting games?” Wash said. There was a low chuckle, a large hand ruffling his hair and making him scrunch up his face. He batted at the offending limb, laughing. “Hey, it’s a legitimate question!”
Maine shook their head, catching Wash’s hand and lacing their fingers together. “Don’t think so.”
Another hand plonked down on top of his head, flattening his hair so that it fell into his face and weighing his head down, forcing it towards his shoulders. Huffing, he flailed his free hand towards his new attacker’s arm.
“Nah, anyone can be a good fucking shot, rookie.” South grinned, dodging every one of of Wash’s swats. “Now if Maine did that fucking− y’know− strong man game? That’d be fucking cheating.”
Maine shrugged. Fair.
“South,” Wash said, slumping as he finally giving up on getting her to move her arm. “C’mon.”
“Don’t be a terror, South,” Connie said as she popped up between the two of them. Wrapping her arm around South’s waist, she nudged her. “Besides, wouldn’t a much better use for that arm be holding me?”
South’s grin grew. “Well, when you put it like that…”
Finally her hand fell away, and Wash’s hair sprung back up into its usual fluff and waves. He huffed, shaking it out and blowing away the strands that lingered in his face. South, as ever, looked completely unashamed of her antics; with her arm now wrapped around Connie, she met Wash’s glare with that same, unfaltering grin.
“Come on,” Connie said, shaking her head, “let’s just go and have some fun! Play some games, eat some junk food, go on some rides.”
“Fuck yeah, let’s get this double date goin’!”
“Why do you keep calling it a double date?” Wash said, waving his hands−including the one linked with Maine’s−vaguely. “Maine and I aren’t dating!”
South stared at them, looking between their held hands and Wash’s pink-flushed face. “Yeah yeah, that’s about as fucking convincing as me saying I’m into dudes. Aka, not fucking convincing at all. Because it’s bullshit.”
“I− you− oh, shut up.”
Maine and Connie exchanged a look, a roll of Connie’s eyes getting an amused chuckle from Maine. Tugging on their respective partners, they finally coaxed them deeper into the fair to get their ‘double date’ going.
There was plenty to do, the fair was packed with all of the usual activities from almost certainly rigged games, to rides like the Ferris wheel and ridiculous amounts of stalls packed with the unhealthiest food imaginable. Of course that meant that they had to try everything to make the absolute most of their time of the ship, where the most exciting treats were the occasional cinnamon rolls in the mess and the height of entertainment were their rec room movie nights.
“I feel like we’re going to regret eating this much junk in the morning,” Wash said, cotton candy in one hand and Maine’s hand in the other. Not even trying to be subtle, Maine reached across and tore a chunk out of the candy for themself. The retaliatory glare was exaggerated, playful.
“Probably.” The voice came from behind a big puff of pink candy that almost completely hid Connie’s head from view; it was only when she took a bite and lowered it that she was visible. She’d long since clambered up onto South’s back after several light-hearted jokes about her getting lost in the crowd or getting stepped on. It was as good an excuse as any to have her girlfriend carry her around. “Worth it, though.”
Winning at the shooting games proved just as easy as Wash had thought it would; even as rigged as some of them clearly were, their marksmanship was impeccable and it wasn’t long before they were winning prizes. Between them, Wash and South−the latter of which had somehow convinced Wash they should make it a competition−won several prizes of varying sizes. When South had handed Connie the biggest of the stuffed bears she’d claimed, it was almost as big as she was.
Maine ended up with the job of carrying it, in the end.
The shooting games were only fun for so long; once South and Wash had pretty much drawn even on their ‘competition’ at least three times, they moved on. Connie had her time to shine when they came across one of those games where you threw a dart to pop balloons, adding more prizes to the pile. They stopped trying so hard, after that; it was more fun just to mess around with the games anyway.
“Besides, I think the accuracy Connie threw those darts in scared the stall owner a little,” Wash said, grinning and elbowing her in the side.
Unfortunately, most of the rides were out of the question; South alone was too tall for most of them, let alone Maine. Connie and Wash almost went on the tea-cups, just because they could, but then they remembered their very full stomachs and decided that probably wasn’t the best idea.
The one big ride they could go on, was the Ferris wheel.
“You know this really couldn’t be any more fucking cheesy. Like, seriously. We went on a double date to the fair, and now we’re about to get on a fucking Ferris wheel right as sunset’s hitting. Is this a fucking cheesy movie suddenly?” South said as they queued. With Connie still on her back, she tickled under her knees and grinned at her laugh.
“Maybe,” Connie said, a sing-song note in her voice. “Now all we need to happen is getting stuck at the top of the Ferris wheel.”
Wash shook his head. “Do not.”
“Oooh, right, you’re not a big fan of heights.”
“Nope. Nuh-uh.” He shook his head more adamantly, stopped only by Maine tucking him up against their side and leaning down to kiss his hair. “Do not even suggest that.”
“Don’t worry. Be up there with you,” Maine said, a hint of amusement in their tone but mostly genuine reassurance. Wash calmed down at that.
If South got a heel in the stomach when she opened her mouth to tease, then that was her own fault.
Their turn came around soon enough. Maine had to duck sharply to get inside, but once they were in and sat down−one pair on either side of the pod−they fit fine. Wash sat pressed up as close to their side as possible, and Maine wasted no time in wrapping an arm around him to tuck him close. They were warm, familiar, and reassuring. This was nice. More than nice. As the car moved, he clung onto them a little tighter and barely hid his grin in their chest when that got him pulled closer. Yeah, this was good.
Connie claimed her rightful place on South’s lap as the car circled around the wheel, spending half the time enjoying the views out of the windows and the other half being kissed by South. She was hardly complaining, cupping South’s cheek and twirling a strand of her hair around her finger. Today had been fun, it was the first truly stress free time they’d spent together in months and she couldn’t be happier. When they pulled away between kisses she could see the sunset, and as absolutely cheesy as it was, it was an almost perfect moment.
“C’mere babe,” South said, tucking her hair behind her ear. The next kiss she pulled Connie into was gentler, and she delighted in the way she melted into it and into her touch. Sure this whole thing was cheesy as hell, but she’d got to spend some quality time with her girlfriend without the pressure of everything else they had to do in a day, and even spent some time with friends. Today had been a great day, and she knew she’d be looking back at the ridiculous selfies she’d managed to drag everyone into earlier long into the future.
Maine laced their fingers into Wash’s hair, watching the beautiful sky outside as they climbed higher and higher up the wheel. Today had been a day of firsts for them, the whole fair had been a new experience and as overwhelming as the atmosphere had been at first the presence of friends had quickly made that tolerable, allowed them to enjoy the activities. Wash had been so excited, re-living some childhood memory or just enjoying the fun anyway, and Maine had been delighted to spend time with him and the others. They’d remember this for a long time.
“Hey, Maine?”
They made a faint noise of acknowledgement, only for it to be cut off by one of the soft kisses that had become a part of their relationship with Wash so long ago now they could only pinpoint the first time due to the unusual circumstances. Most people couldn’t say their first kiss was mid-mission to provide cover at a seconds notice, but it was a fun story, at least. There’d be plenty of kisses since that.
When Wash pulled back, he was grinning. “Had fun today big guy?”
Maine’s answer was pulling Wash’s head so their foreheads rested together. Yeah. They had fun.