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Aqua didn't know how he got roped into the situation he was currently in.
Melt had suddenly approached him with a blush tainting his cheeks, as he barely managed to get out that he was inviting Aqua to the amusement park that Friday evening.
The exchange was quick, it seemed like Melt wanted to just put the offer out there in a way where Aqua didn't have the chance to reject. Not that Aqua would reject the chance to hang out with Melt, he was thankful that he'd been the one to take initiative and reach out to Aqua more.
Melt quickly added on at the end, "It's a date, by the way. I'll text you."
Oh.
So that's how it was.
Aqua didn't have the heart to tell Melt he wasn't the biggest fan of amusement parks.
He wasn't in a position to reject Melt anyway, given his own feelings that had started to develop towards him, in which he refused to admit to anyone, including himself, just how much Melt occupied his mind.
It’s not like he had anything holding him back anymore either, Aqua’s plans of revenge were done and over with, allowing for him to finally have some well-needed rest and peace of mind.
Aqua probably would've asked Melt out first, but he'd been beaten at that. It was fine, this was a step in the right direction for their relationship anyway. And besides, this gave Aqua the chance to tease Melt about how he'd never expected him to actually have the courage to ask him out.
And that put him to now, where he stood in line for some roller coaster that Melt had practically begged for them to go on together, despite it looking like the most terrifying thing in the world to Aqua.
Aqua tried to push down his fear, from a logical standpoint it was silly, he knew that, out of all of the things he'd gone through, he was afraid of amusement park rides of all things?
Normally, if he went with Ruby, he'd go on a few of the less extreme rides, like bumper cars or the ferris wheel, but he wouldn't do much else, and he became the designated belongings holder while Ruby dragged poor Miyako onto the scarier rides. He also wasn't opposed to playing some of the carnival games, so it wasn’t like he wasn't completely useless being there. Holding everyone's belongings wasn't so bad, it gave Aqua the chance to sneak some of Ruby's popcorn when she wasn't looking.
It'd been a while since he'd visited the amusement park with Ruby and Miyako, with everyone getting caught up in their own schedules. Even if he wasn't the biggest fan of them, he missed the silly antics that went on between the three of them.
Aqua shrugged off that thought, although the memories were pleasant he didn't want to dote on the past for too long. He was there with Melt, after all, they'd be making new memories together.
The thought of making memories with Melt caused Aqua to feel warmth in his chest. He liked the idea of that.
Aqua snuck a glance at Melt, and he seemed like he was practically beaming, excitingly moving in place as they waited. He thought Melt was pretty cute.
Well, Aqua thought it was fine to think of Melt that way. They were on a date, after all.
"You look like you're excited," Aqua commented without even realizing, at least the comment about him thinking Melt was cute wasn't the one that came out, thank god.
"I am excited! I haven't been to an amusement park in so long!" Melt beamed at Aqua, and then he paused, furrowing his brow as he examined Aqua's body language, catching onto his lack of excitement. "You don't look like you're excited."
"Do I ever?" Aqua responded in the most monotone voice he could manage, causing Melt to burst out laughing, and even Aqua couldn’t hide his own smile showing on his face.
Melt’s fit of laughter lasted for a few moments, finally fading as he looked back at Aqua once again, rephrasing his statement as a question. “No, seriously, are you scared?”
“I’m not scared,” Aqua started, he thought he’d done his best to hide his fear from showing but it seemed that Melt could read him better than that, shooting him a look that screamed ‘I know you’re bullshitting me right now’.
Aqua shifted his weight from one foot to another, and that small movement was enough for Melt to point at him and shout, “You are scared!”
Of course, Aqua would never admit to being scared, but the fact that Melt had picked up such a small change in body language made him realize that he’d have to actually focus on making sure his body language didn’t betray his words.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Aqua said with as much of a blank expression as he could manage, fidgeting with his sleeve as he glanced away from Melt, while the other watched his every move with a newfound interest. Yeah, Aqua would definitely have to keep his own fears in check so that Melt didn’t detect them, and in turn, tease him over them.
Maybe he didn’t mind the thought of being teased over something like that though, if Melt was the one doing it.
Melt reached for Aqua's hand suddenly and gently squeezed it, providing Aqua with some well needed reassurance. "It'll be okay! I won't let go of your hand, I promise."
Aqua stared down at their interconnected hands, a blush threatening to spread on his cheeks from the contact. Melt’s hands were soft and smaller than his own, Aqua noted, but they fit together nicely, as if they were meant to be connected in that way.
Aqua glanced back up at Melt, giving him a small smile as he squeezed his hand back, with Melt making a noise that sounded like he wasn’t expecting Aqua to reciprocate the action, but Aqua ignored that, deciding it would be more fun to tease poor Melt. "Isn't it dangerous to only hold onto the safety handle with one hand?"
"Wh—" Melt stammered as he furrowed his brow. "That's not important here! I'm trying to reassure you!"
Aqua couldn't help but chuckle a bit at Melt's reaction. It seemed like he always knew how to push Melt's buttons in all of the right ways.
Their silly moment had managed to distract Aqua from his impending doom from the roller coaster, until suddenly Melt pointed out, "Oh, look— it's our turn to get on."
And suddenly all of the anxiety Aqua had felt earlier came rushing back in, feeling as if there was a knot in his stomach.
Aqua blinked, and he was seated aside Melt, who held his hand despite their conversation a few minutes ago deeming that wouldn’t be the safest option.
Well, whatever, Aqua didn’t care about what was safest at that moment. Melt’s hand squeezing his own provided him with a sense of comfort, that he wasn’t alone, and that hopefully, Melt wasn’t judging him for his silly fear of amusement park rides.
Just as Melt promised, he never let go of Aqua’s hand.
Despite that, Aqua still despised every moment in which he wasn’t on level ground.
As the ride slowly ascended higher and higher, Melt squeezed Aqua’s hand, offering him some words of reassurance as he smiled. “It’ll be okay! I’m right here.”
At least one of them would be enjoying it.
Aqua just nodded his head and held onto Melt’s hand tighter than someone who wasn’t actually scared would, but he hoped the other wouldn’t make note of that. As the ride slowly climbed higher and higher, a sense of dread began to settle within Aqua, closing his eyes as they neared the top of the first peak.
He refused to open his eyes the entire time, he absolutely would not acknowledge how high off the ground they were, Aqua just closed his eyes and silently prayed for the ride to be over quickly.
Aqua felt dizzy getting off of the rollercoaster, and Melt was by his side the whole time, double and triple checking that Aqua was really okay, a bit of an anxious expression present on Melt’s face as he spoke, "Are you okay?"
It took a few moments, but Aqua was fine, nodding his head, as he was left with the lingering jittery feeling caused by the adrenaline rush, “Yeah, I’m fine.”
At least he didn’t get sick, thank god.
Melt still seemed unable to actually determine if Aqua was really okay or not, or if he was just bullshitting being fine, so he reaffirmed his answer, “I’m fine, really.”
“If you say so,” Melt glanced around at the midway, thinking for a moment. “Do you like playing carnival games? We could do some of those, since I feel bad for dragging you into doing something you disliked.”
Aqua hummed, and then nodded his head, and the two of them headed towards the games section. Really, Aqua would be fine with whatever they did, as long as he was on stable ground for a while.
The game the two of them chose to play was a balloon popping game, the premise was simple enough, in which darts were used to pop balloons, corresponding with a prize. It was simple, but one Aqua enjoyed playing.
Melt pointed out the stuffed bears on display, making note out loud that he thought they looked silly, and that he definitely wanted to win one.
Aqua watched Melt struggle on his turn, managing to fuck up so badly he didn’t pop a single balloon out of the three darts he had. It was a game meant for children, so how was Melt so bad at it? He couldn’t help but feel just a little guilty, since he knew Melt wanted one of the stuffed bears.
When Aqua’s turn came around, he had no issue as he aimed with the darts, popping balloons on every turn. Not that he was trying to prove he was better than Melt, he wasn’t, he was just having a bit of fun with it.
“How are you always so good at everything you do?!” Melt exasperated, and Aqua just shook his head as he glanced back at Melt, and then back to the prizes he could pick from.
“I’m not, have you considered that you’re just that bad?” Aqua teased him, and then picked up one of the stuffed bears as a prize, handing it to Melt so that he didn’t have enough time to come up with a retort. “Here, isn’t this what you wanted?”
Melt blinked, as if he were stunned for a moment, and then cautiously took the bear, giving Aqua a look. “You don’t want it?”
“I won it for you,” Aqua shrugged. “You seem like you’d be happier with it, anyway.”
“Well, uh..” Melt blinked again as his cheeks began to turn pink, seeming to be taken off guard by the gift, any traces of wanting to bicker with Aqua disappeared as he held the bear to his chest, squeezing it gently. “Thank you.”
Aqua gave him a warm smile, and as he turned away, assuming they’d move onto something else, Melt quickly spoke up. “Wait!”
He turned back to look at Melt, as the other awkwardly stood there, fidgeting with the bear in his arms. “I need to win you something too. You know, to uh..” He gestured to the bear. “To pay you back, for this.”
“You don’t need to pay me back, it’s a gift.” Aqua stated.
“Well, yeah, I know, but..” Melt trailed off, his gaze moving to look back at the game. “I want to get you a gift too.”
Well, Aqua couldn’t argue much with that, although he didn’t understand completely why Melt felt the need to do that when he was clearly awful at those kinds of games.
Aqua wasn’t a materialistic person to begin with, so he thought it was silly that Melt was so determined to try and win him something. In a way, it was endearing.
Melt seemed like he was always like that when it came to Aqua, always so determined to do things for him. Aqua didn’t exactly understand why, after all, he spent time with Melt because he enjoyed Melt’s presence and the comfort he brought him, not because Melt was always insisting on doing things for him.
Aqua agreed to the date because he wanted to spend time with Melt without any ulterior motives.
In the end, Melt was unable to actually win any prizes for Aqua, which proved his earlier point when he’d pointed out that Melt sucked at those kinds of games.
Melt seemed pretty down about it though, so Aqua thought of something to distract the other. He glanced at his date, thinking about what they should do next. “Are you hungry?”
Melt thought for a moment, and then nodded, the thought of getting something to eat seemed to lift his spirits some. “Yeah, kinda. Let’s go walk around and see what we can find.”
Walking around to see what they could find turned into Melt dragging Aqua around under the claim that he wanted to find a food truck selling cotton candy, with Aqua adding on that pure sugar wouldn’t be a very nutritious dinner. Melt quickly shot back that Aqua sounded like an old man, which Aqua could only smile at.
Once they’d decided on what to eat, Aqua stepped in and quickly paid before Melt had the chance to do so himself. He didn’t say anything, but he shot Aqua a look which told him that he’d be hearing about it after they were done.
Which he did.
“You should’ve let me pay!” Melt crossed his arms. “You’re always doing things for me, so why not let me do something for you?”
“I don’t expect you to do anything for me,” Aqua shrugged in response. “I paid because I wanted to, that’s all.”
Aqua noted that Melt seemed just a little frustrated, so he’d make sure the next time they were in that kind of situation, he would let Melt pay, or win him a silly prize no matter how much effort it took, whatever he wanted to do for Aqua, he’d allow it.
Melt’s frustrations were quickly forgotten as he seemed to notice something.
“Look, the sun’s gonna set soon!” Melt pointed out, gesturing towards the sky, and then towards the Ferris wheel. “We should get in line for the Ferris wheel.”
And so Aqua was being dragged in the general direction of the Ferris wheel, not that he’d have any trouble finding it himself, it was illuminated and almost an eye sore due to how bright it was. Melt had taken Aqua’s hand again in his own, and he wasn’t about to break away from him, if Melt wanted to hold his hand so badly under the cover of walking together like that so they didn’t break apart, so be it.
If Melt decided he wanted to hold hands with Aqua for no particular reason though, that would be fine too.
As they waited in line, Melt suddenly spoke up. “You’re okay with heights, right?”
“Well, it’s fine like this,” Aqua replied. “I only have a problem if I’m being thrown upside down.”
“Right,” Melt nodded his head, rubbing the back of it awkwardly. “Sorry, about earlier. I’ll keep that in mind for next time.”
Aqua was appreciative that Melt made note of that kind of thing, but it also wasn’t the sort of thing he needed to apologize for, either.
As the two of them sat on the Ferris wheel together, watching the landscape below them get smaller and smaller, Melt rested his head against Aqua’s shoulder.
The sun had since long set, traces of purple and orange hues danced together as light turned to dark, the moon slowly rising in the horizon. As they were so high up in the air, all there was to focus on in the moment was the twinkling star filled sky, and the comfort of each other’s presence.
“I had fun today,” Melt spoke softly, breaking the silence as his gaze fixated on the stuffed bear that Aqua had won him as a gift, still clutching it to his chest even now.
Aqua hummed in response, opting to lean his head against Melt’s, reciprocating the affection. “Me too.”
Upon feeling Melt shift beside him, Aqua’s gaze fell on the other as he seemed to nervously fidget with the stuffed bear, as if trying to stabilize his trembling hands in some way. Aqua was just about to question why he was nervous, until he felt Melt’s head shift towards him, the presence of his gentle lips meeting his cheek.
It only lasted for a moment, but the comfort it brought Aqua would stay with him for a lifetime.
“That’s your gift,” Melt murmured as he pulled away, smiling softly as his face flushed a pretty pink color, an expression that could only be described as in awe, lovestruck.
An expression only meant for Aqua.
Aqua felt his own cheeks starting to heat up, as he ignored the urge to hide, an urge that always came about whenever he found himself getting flustered. Instead, as Melt shifted his head away, Aqua reached his hand out to softly cup his cheek, gently turning his head so that they were facing each other again. Leaning in, he closed the gap between the two of them without a second thought.
Melt froze at first, but was quick to relax, leaning into the kiss more, eyes fluttering closed as if he were encouraging Aqua to study his eyelashes, which were long and full, making him look almost doll-like, filling his mind with thoughts of how pretty he thought Melt was. Or perhaps Melt wanted to encourage Aqua to examine the way he became vulnerable only in his presence, his cheeks growing even warmer, the color changing from a soft pink to something more akin to cherry red.
The contact only lasted a moment, but that was all they needed.
Pulling away from each other, Melt broke the silence between the two of them, a giddy smile forming on his face in the most adorable way possible. “Are you trying to outdo me?”
“Not exactly,” Aqua mused, moving to close the distance between the two of them once again. “I was just returning the favor.”