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October; season of fairs and brisk weather and doing things that scare the shit out of you, apparently. Rich had come to the county fair along with the squad. He'd expected to stuff himself with funnel cakes, play one of those weird fortune teller arcade games, get a stuffed animal for Jenna. She'd love that.
Instead, he'd ended up being led to the Ferris wheel halfway through the night. Jake, Brooke and Chloe were all ganging up on him--he briefly wondered if they were like, all a thing. That'd be cute. And...kind of hot, actually. They were all incredibly attractive. He buried the thought quickly when his SQUIP shocked him for it.
He tried to think of a cool way to beg off going on it that wouldn't let on that he was deathly afraid of heights. His SQUIP wasn't helping, continually saying he needed to go on if he didn't want to be perceived as less than.
It was all starting to turn into background noise, and he shut the SQUIP down before he got too overwhelmed. He jumped when Jake thrust a ticket into his hand. When had he gotten that?
"Take a selfie at the top so we know you didn't wuss out, G." He said this with a playful grin. He put his arms around the girls and they led him away. Jenna had already left the group to wait in line for a different ride.
Was the SQUIP right? Would they think he was silly if they knew he was afraid of heights? He mindlessly stepped forward in line. There were so many people behind him now, he couldn't back out.
The person running it gestured him forward. "Alright, step up here." He watched as they strapped him in. He was by himself, and he wasn't sure if that was better or worse than sitting next to a total stranger while he tried not to panic.
The decision was made for him, someone joined him last second. He looked at them quickly. It was...headphones kid. Friend of tallass. What was his name?
Just as Rich was about to ask, the wheel moved enough for the next seats to get to the bottom and fill up. He gripped the bar in front of him with shaky, sweaty hands and prayed that the creaking he heard was normal for this type of thing.
"Hey, you're Rich!" Headphones guy--it was an apt descriptor, he had them around his neck even now--gave him an appraising look. "You're kind of an asshole to Jeremy."
He bit down hard on his bottom lip as they climbed higher, swinging a little. He realized belatedly that he should probably respond to headphones, lest he make himself out to be an even bigger asshole, but he couldn't really recall what he'd said, only the overall meaning. He nodded hesitantly, hoping that was an appropriate response.
He huffed a laugh. "Why are you so quiet now?"
Higher still, and they were almost at the top now. Rich let out a little meep, looking intently at headphones so he wouldn't look down.
He frowned at him. "You--I know panic when I see it. Are you scared of heights or something?"
Rich shook his head on reflex, but then nodded vigorously. It wasn't like this guy would tell anyone. At least he hoped not. "There's a reason I'm this short! I'm clearly not meant to be in high places!" Rich could hear a slight lisp peeking through his practiced voice and resisted the urge to cringe. He hoped Michael hadn't picked up on it.
"Aw, man." Michael shuffled closer, but stopped when the seat swinging made Rich squinch his eyes closed desperately. "Sorry."
His eyes flew open when an arm wrapped around his shoulders. What--?
"Focus on me, dude. They're almost full, we'll be moving soon and then you can get off. Only two times around, I think. Hey, this one isn't even as big as they can get, I guess it's good you're on one of the middle ground ones." He got a bit of an excited air about him as he continued. "Did you know they have some around 500 feet? They're huge!"
"Not helping--" he stopped. He really had to stop calling him headphones. "What's your name?"
He didn't look very surprised that Rich didn't know his name. "Michael! Michael Mell."
"Not helping, Michael." He was though, in a way. Rich was a little less panicky. He was really grateful that he wasn't on his own, now. He'd probably have fallen out already. He shuddered at the thought.
"You're right, sorry! I just love random facts about stuff."
Rich looked over at him. They were much closer together, now that Michael was holding onto him. He could see all the little details of his face. Unruly brown hair flopped partially over one eye, and he had a smattering of tiny little freckles across his nose and cheeks. He doubted they were visible unless you got this close. He was kind of--pretty.
Rich winced, glad the squip was off and couldn't shock him for that.
"I guess you love music too?" He tugged very lightly on the headphones, just enough to make his point.
"Music is the best!" He enthused. "Some of the time I just have the headphones on so no one will bother me, though. It's easier that way."
He let out a noise of surprise when Rich wrapped his arms around him tightly, but he understood when he noticed that they were finally moving around. Rich felt fingers tugging his chin up and away from Michael's shoulder. "Hey, we're almost at the top and you're safe. You wanna look around? It's pretty neat up here."
He went to say no but remembered miserably that he needed a selfie as proof. If he didn't take one they might make him go up again, and Rich really didn't think he could take that.
Reluctantly, he moved back enough to pull his phone out of his pocket. "I need--I have to have photographic evidence that I did this. For my friends."
Michael had a stormy expression. "They made you go up here?"
"No--well, yes, but they don't know I have a fear of heights. Just, can you take it?" His hands were still sweaty and he had visions of the phone slipping and falling to its death. Much like he could if the cart leaned forward enough--
Michael's right hand laced with his, but he was still adeptly pulling up the camera. Was he left handed? "What are you doing?"
He shrugged a little, just enough to get the point across but not enough for them to shake at all. "Holding you helped. I thought this might too."
"My hands are sweaty."
"I don't care." He squeezed Rich's hand. "Cheese!"
Rich threw up a peace sign just in time for the flash to go off.
Michael pulled up the picture, nodding in satisfaction when he saw it. "A good one on the first try!" Before handing Rich's phone back, he added his number to the contacts and sent himself the photo.
Rich stuffed it back into his pocket, looking around at the view with only the smallest twinge of fear. The rest of it had been replaced by a quiet excitement.
They were nearing the stop for them to get off. A wild part of Rich almost wanted to go for one more ride, if only to spend a little more time with Michael.
They got off in comfortable silence, walking away from the crowd and towards a fishing game for kids. Michael held up their hands, still locked together. Rich hadn't even realized. "I see your friends heading this way, you might wanna go."
"Right. Yeah." He slowly pulled his hand away. It felt cold, too cold. He missed the warmth and softness of Michael's hand. He straightened his back, but before turning the squip back on he looked at Michael. "Thanks. For everything."
Michael flashed a small, soft grin. "Anytime. And maybe try being less of an ass? Anyone who really pays attention to you can see that's not who you are. It's who you think you have to be."
He gave a bittersweet smile. "It's not just what I think. It's how things work. It got me here, didn't it?"
Turning away and walking off, he thought intently at his squip, listening for the sound of it starting up. He made a mental note to keep Michael's number saved. Just in case.