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'Arthur, I don't think this is a good idea...'
"It'll be fine John, I've been on one of these before."
John's quiet for a moment in Arthur's head, apprehensive, before he concedes with a sigh. 'Alright.'
John leads them through the line, narrowly avoiding bumping Arthur into the couple waiting in front of him. They're young, somewhere in their mid twenties, and something unnameable softens in him as he watches them lean closer together, hands linked and murmuring to each other.
One of them softly laughs, and John overwhelmingly feels like he's intruding on something, even as he remains unnoticed. His eyes flit to their left, looking for something else to focus on.
Unnoticed by Arthur, John's eyes can't help but glance up at the hulking wheel of metal looming above them, decked out in wires and lights. It casts an intimidating shadow, and the creak of straining metal adds to the tension strung throughout the parts of Arthur's body that John claims.
They arrive at the ticket booth and John briefly watches the couple before them carefully climb into one of the metal carriages, the whole thing swaying lightly with the shift in weight. He feels nauseous.
He mentally shakes himself and looks back to the person at the ticket booth. They speak up.
"Just one ticket?"
Arthur startles a bit before responding. "Y-yes just one. It's a lovely evening out, I thought the view would be worth the lines wait."
'You don't have to explain to him why.' John mutters, and Arthur huffs through his nose in response.
The ticket seller calculates out the cost and John grabs Arthur's wallet, pulling out the appropriate change, before leading Arthur to the small platform preceding the hulking metal contraption. Their carriage slowly comes to a stop in front of them, Lightly swinging in place before one of the attendants walks over to steady it.
'The Ferris wheel bench is in front of us, you'll need to be careful of the step though. It's still swaying a bit, but one of the workers is holding it steady to the left of us. I'll tell you where to put your foot down, alright?'
Arthur murmurs an "Okay" under his breath, and they're able to climb into the carriage with little trouble. The whole thing shifts underneath them, and John can't fully smother the anxious feeling swirling around him at just the thought of this thing carrying them so high up. 'Jesus, Arthur. You're sure...?'
The last bit of his question is left unsaid, but Arthur responds nonetheless as the Ferris wheel starts moving again. "I'm sure we'll be fine, John. Just try to enjoy the view, for me?"
John huffs, eyes helplessly locked onto the ground getting progressively farther away underneath them. 'Okay, Arthur.'
It's silent for a bit, a type of quiet that could have been comfortable in any situation other than the one John finds them in now, before Arthur speaks up again.
"Are we almost at the top?"
John honestly doesn't know when he had closed his eyes, but he slowly squints them open to check. The ground is no longer in sight, and all he can see are the city buildings and the sky slowly turning to twilight around them.
'I...' John trails off, voice soft as he looks out on the view surrounding them. 'It's... Beautiful.'
John can hear the smile in Arthur's voice when he asks "Describe it for me?"
'We're... up high enough now that you can't easily see the ground below us. Everywhere you look is just the cities skyline, the lights on the buildings are shining like cousins to the few stars peeking out of the clouds just above them. It's darker now than it was when we first got in, and the buildings are all cast in shadows now. The sky is a dark purple, but wisps of cloud catch the orange red of the remaining sunset hidden behind the buildings.'
"It's a nice night, then. I'm glad."
'It is.' John responds, still distracted by the view around them before he registers the other part of what Arthur said. 'You're glad?'
Arthur's quiet for a moment before he responds. "Yes... I'm glad I could share this with you, at least. After everything, it's nice."
'Oh...' John is quiet, and Arthur can only assume he's gone back to admiring the view before John speaks again, softly.
'Thank you, Arthur.'