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People funnel through the Wyndon turnstiles with the spring breeze and Bede wonders if it’s too late to cancel and return home to the cool shades of Ballonlea before everyone got there. Sequestered to the garish and ornate entrance of the amusement park gift shop by screaming children and manic parents, the minutes just waiting at the lip of the park’s major attractions do not bode well for how the rest of the day would unfold.
And if he tried, he could just slip away, duck back through gates and claim he was never here to begin with. Gloria and her gang never the wiser that he actually accepted the invitation, actually ensured he left Ballonlea on time to be early to their meetup spot, actually came.
It was a good idea, in theory, and would have made even better practice had the idea come earlier. Before the bounce of a familiar evergreen knit beret barrels its way through streams of patrons to present itself in front of him.
The girl underneath it grins with almost feral excitement as she stops at a pinpoint, her boots acting as glue to hold her back, pulling her small figure back to a standstill stop.
Bede leans a little closer into the wall.
“You came.” She breathes through her smile.
“Obviously.” Bede runs a hand through his silver-blonde curls, pushing back the rogue that refused to stay in place and out of his eyes.
The girl in front of him is bursting with so much excitement, it’s almost hard to believe this is the same champion that wipes the pitch with him on more than an annual basis. Almost. The roaring fire that lights up her eyes during a battle is now calmed to a flickering flame, but it stirs and dances, and he knows it is barely contained.
Looking over her head, he asks the obvious, “Where’s everyone else?” His lavender eyes scan the crowd for the others in their group.
Speak and they will appear. The trio bumble through the sea of people towards them. Or rather, Victor and Hop bumble while Marnie keeps a reasonable distance from the chaotic duo.
When they knock into Gloria’s waiting form, she shoves back and the beanpole and her twin straighten up, relax and limit their public roughhousing to subtle elbow jabs, pipping in a greeting to Bede somewhere in between.
“Well, we’re all here!” Gloria chirps, presenting the ragtag of trainers to the scrutinizing fairy trainer.
“Right--”
“Glo, settle something for us--” Hop interrupts.
“Glory, we’re going on all the rides first, right?” Victor elbows the beanpole of a rival once in the stomach, causing him to cough and gasp for air while Victor says his own peace.
“Nah Vic,” Hop coughs out through the pain. “Everyone knows its all about the food! Bob’s Your Uncle announced they’re doing a limited edition pop-up stand for the opening season!” He emphasized his point with his arms.
The best friends turn to each other with a glare, crossing their arms to emphasize their ground on the matter. The pair paid no mind to the goth standing a head shorter between them.
But it’s Gloria that corrals the group, pulling at both the boys’ ears while their protests rise to the air with lost ballons and child-screaming glee. With a tight smile, Gloria grins proclaiming her own plan above their own.
“We’re going to wander through this beautiful park and have a damn good time doing whatever it is we want, ok?” Her smile leaves no room for objection.
A feeling of fear and amazement rolls down Bede’s spine as he falls in line with the group dynamic. The five of them fall into easy steps past the quintessential shops and early main street attractions. Music rises and swells through unknown speakers, the finishing touch to create a lighthearted environment for fun and fair play.
Bede falls to the back of the pack as they sort themselves into a familiar rhythm. Gloria begins the migration, leading the group by getting them to simply move, which seems like an easy job to an outside eye, but is inexplicably more difficult with the stubborn idiots trying to call the shots. Marnie falls in line, observing the dynamic with a practiced eye and a small smile when things would get particularly lively between the two boys who always find a reason to get into one scrape or another over something stupid.
But today, something shifts as they walk. With every step forward, Gloria’s steps slow, pulling her further behind until she walks, two of her small steps equalling one of his own.
And the group dynamic unravels. Looking at the girl beside him with a question in his eyes, he is answered with one mischevious glint before she takes his hand and pulls him through the crowd at a sprint towards some unknown direction of the park.
When they finally stop to catch their breath, their surroundings ping with the sounds of winning bells, booths lined in straight rows, their keepers calling for the next winner down the row. A prize, they claim, is guaranteed.
Bede breathes hard from the run through the crowd, hand on his knee as he buckles over to stabilize himself. Even with the spring breeze, the air is warm and humid under the collar and he regrets wearing just so many layers on this particular outing.
“What was that for?” He snaps between breaths at the girl buckled over beside him.
She grins through the effort, raising their hands in the air in victory. Their hands. Suddenly he is very aware of how his hand fits in hers, how his long fingers envelop her own smaller hand, how warm and firm her grasp is.
Bede immediately recoils, turning away as the heat of the sprint creeps up to paint pink in his cheeks.
Gloria laughs loudly and freely beside him. “I can’t believe that worked!” She takes a moment to take in their new surrounding. “Those guys better thank me before the day’s up,” she says to no one in particular.
“Are you going to fill me in or not?” Bede snaps. This is hardly the day he expected.
Dusting her outfit of invisible debris, she rolls her eyes with a look that told Bede he should know what’s going on already without her having to explain it. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed the way Vic and Hop have been peacocking around lately.”
“What the hell are you talking about.” He deadpans.
Gloria rolls her hand out in a pointed gesture. “You know, around Marnie. Peacocking, trying to prove they’re the better choice and all that. I thought it was pretty obvious.”
Bede considers the idea for a moment. It had a lot of merit, made the way each idiot act make a whole lot more sense in the retrospect. It didn’t diminish just how idiotic their actions were but it made sense. He wonders how he never noticed their little showboating contest in front of the goth.
“So us leaving is what. What was your plan?”
Her smirk is colored by the warmth of honey and amber in her eyes. The expression almost stirs something in his chest, but it’s her answer that raises the hair on the back of his neck and sends a chill across his body.
“We let them fight it out.”
Gloria’s plan leaves them to their own devices and the pair begin their own wanderings through Wyndon’s famous fun-for-all attraction. And almost immediately their attention is dragged to one of the illuminated games and their first-place prizes.
Gloria stabs one finger into the cerulean sky at the prizes of the long stand. “Look it’s you!”
Lined across the top of the booth among a syncopated rhythm of flashing lights is him. Or rather, a caricature of him, plush and ziplined to the top of the booth. There are over a dozen intermingling with the merchandise of his fellow gym leaders. Each of his is plastered with his own trademark smirk and pink overcoat, and Bede cannot believe what he is staring at.
Since when did he authorize this?
Somewhere in the back of his head, he imagines the old gran cackling, signing to release whatever merchandise she pleases on behalf of the gym. This is what he gets for ignoring the finer bureaucratic parts of running a gym.
Regret over such mistakes tumbles into sheer horror as Gloria proclaims, “I’m gonna win one.”
“Over my dead body!” Bede hisses, chagrin dying his cheeks a deep shade of pink as he takes the vinyl seat beside her.
The objective of the game is simple enough: have your lotad water gun to send the ludicolo dancing up the striped pole. If you win five times you get a Bede doll. Bede could not let her win five times.
___________________________
Gloria cradles the doll carefully in her arm as they walk. The games were not even close. Despite his best efforts, just like in their battles, she beat him every time, coming out as the clear victor with her prize.
Bede glowers beside her, his eyes focused on the doll in her arms. For hours, the doll has mocked him with its smirk, in the way it nestles itself against her body is far more intimate than he’d like. Through every ride, every point in the day since she won the doll, it stayed securely in her arms, just staring at him.
“You should take a picture, it’ll last longer you know.” She notes, pulling at the fluff of the cotton candy and plopping a piece in her mouth. Bede watches as she delights in the way the sweetness dissolves on her tongue, the way a soft secret smile spreads across her face, and he blushes, looking forward with a frown.
“I’m convinced you cheated.” He rolls his eyes.
Above them, the spring sky has changed, tinged in hues of orange and pink to match the afternoon. The clouds are scenic and the full sight of it is picturesque. It’s too beautiful for a moment like this.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You’ve been saying that for hours. Just relax already.” Gloria hip-checks him, catching him by surprise as he stumbles. “I won fair and square, so stop being such a sore loser.”
“I’m not a sore loser.” He retorts.
She skips ahead a few steps, pulling at his hand with hers. “Okay, you big baby, how about this, if you can get steal the doll from my hands, it’s yours. I won’t even complain about it.”
“Fine.” He could that off. A plan begins to sort itself out in his head as he studies her closely. He would catch her off guard.
She dances ahead of him, quick and light on her feet as she moves. She appears relaxed, enjoying the remaining drops of sunshine on her skin. A feeling stirs like a breeze as he follows after her, follows her to every whim and attraction that calls her attention until he wakes from his daze with the snap and slam of the ferris wheel door closing.
The small enclosure begins to move with a hum as Gloria rests her feet beside him. “Admit it, you had fun today.” She crosses her arms with a smirk, self-satisfaction clear on her face.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He responds cooly.
His response causes her to frown as she sits up, each hitting the metal grate ground as she leans forward. “Why do you do that?”
“Do what?” Bede raises one pale eyebrow in question.
“You lie.” She shakes her head. “I don’t know why you can’t just admit it was fun. You had fun. With me.” The doll in her arms shifts a bit, Bede’s eyes trained on its position.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You presume I’m having fun because I don’t bother to object to your idiotic ideas--”
“My ideas are not idiotic. Why can’t you just admit you had fun!”
And he takes the doll. Distracted with making her point, Bede dives for the doll, plucking it out of her arms, to both his surprise and hers. The two are frozen across the small cabin, staring at the other for a split second as light moves across their face.
He did it.
And she dives for it.
Holding the doll above his head and pushing her back. “I thought you said if I stole the doll it’s mine!” He struggles to hold the girl back in the small space.
“I didn’t think you’d actually do it. And it doesn’t count unless you have the doll when we get off this!” She explains.
“Now you’re just making up rules!” Bede snaps. The doll is pocketed between him and the seat as Gloria struggles to reach around his long arms. Her eyes are full of flame and fire as she struggles against him, unaware of just how close she was getting to his face.
“Get off me!” He exclaims, presently aware of how her body presses against him. The feeling is on the verge of unbearable.
“Not until I get that doll back! ”
“Never!”
“Give it back!”
“Make me!” His point is emphasized by the halt of the cabin, as it swings back and forth at the top of the wheel. The two stare at each other, breath ragged from their struggle both now aware of their precarious position.
The fire in Gloria’s eyes quiets as she takes in his face, moving from his eyes down to his lips. And Bede forgets to breathe.
Whether it was he or Gloria who closed the short difference between them for the kiss is unclear. Aware of only the way their lips clumsily press together, the way their noses bump on the initial press, and the way the kiss tastes like soft-spun sugar, Bede lets go of the doll and wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her in closer.
His mind is a soft haze of confusion, adrenaline, and a feeling he can’t quite discern in the moment. But when she pulls back and the two stare at each searching for an answer to a question neither know how to ask, Bede just wishes the kiss never ended.
“It’s mine.” Gloria pulls back, the doll now firmly in her hand.
“Just shut up and get over here.” He growls.
___________________________
Down below three heads stare up at the ferris wheel, each boy holding one hand of the same girl.
“Do you think they’re finally kissed?” Marnie quips as the ferris wheel moves.
“Who do you think started it?” Hop grins. “I bet it was Bede.”
Victor shakes his head. “Have you met my sister? I’m sure she planted one right on ‘em.”
“Bet?” Hop challenges.
“Bet.”