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He was late.
I checked my wristwatch again, growing slightly worried once I noticed it was past 20 minutes of our scheduled time.
I figured he would have been late considering how scatterbrained he tended to be. But this was the first time I had invited him here. Perhaps he had gotten lost?
"Sal!"
Ah, there he is.
Dave ran so fast in my direction he almost fell on his butt when he tripped on a stone he didn't see. Fortunately, he regained his balance and approached in a more careful sprint.
"Sorry.. I’m… late." He panted out, supporting himself on his knees.
"It’s fine. Are you okay? Please don't run like that. You could have gotten hurt." I answered, rubbing his back.
"I'm good! Don't worry." He answered, regaining his breath. "I got caught up in my appointment."
"That’s alright. I'm glad you're taking therapy seriously. Everything okay?" I asked.
"Yeah! She says I'm making good progress." He answered, smiling.
"That's nice to hear." I said, smiling back. "You look cute by the way. Very adorable shirt."
Cute was a slight understatement. He looked so adorable I felt the urge to bite and swallow him… Which was a very strange thought.
"Oh! Thanks." He answered, blushing. "Ty found it online and joked that it would be the kind of 'cringy nerd gear' I'd wear and I kinda just said ‘Well, yeah actually’."
He puffed his chest, proudly displaying the ‘Cackle’s goofiest giggler’ blue print on the bright pink T-shirt. I chuckled fondly, patting his head.
"It’s perfect. Ready to go in?"
"Yeah! It's the first time I'm coming to this carnival fair. I'm excited." He answered, almost bouncing on his feet.
Then, he eyed me up and down for a second and blushed a bit.
"You uh… Also look pretty great, by the way."
"Oh. Thank you." I answered, slightly surprised. "It's an old polo Dean gifted me but I never used because… Well, I think you can guess." I gestured at the bright pink ‘Fish fear me, Cuties kiss me’ print. Dave giggled and nodded.
"Yeah. It's a surprising look on you for sure. I like it though. Why did you choose to wear it this time?"
"... He might have mentioned something about it… highlighting my best assets and being a good date magnet when he gave it to me." I confessed, blush forming on my cheeks as I darted my eyes away.
"Oh. I see." Dave stuttered out, getting even redder at the implication and chuckling in a mixture of embarrassment, nervousness and happiness.
It wasn't often that I had the incentive to dress up nicely for something. So whenever I did, I put extra effort in it. Most of all today. So the expensive looking light blue polo seemed the best bet. Especially since I remembered Dave liked how polos looked on Dean.
"It does draw a lot of attention to your… chest area." He added, shooting a shy glance at my torso before looking away again. The cute sight made me wonder if I should flex my pectorals for him to see if he reacted more… Which immediately made me mentally slap myself for thinking like Dean.
"Yes. It's… a bit embarrassing. But I'm glad you like it." I answered, rubbing the back of my head.
After a few more seconds of us awkwardly avoiding the other's sight, I recovered some composure and cleaned my throat
"We should go in."
"Right! Yeah." He answered.
We walked towards the entrance of the carnival. The bright lights looked as beautiful as ever at night time. It's been a while since the last time I visited. But no matter how much time passed, I always smiled whenever I saw them.
Once we bought our passes, we walked in and were greeted with the lively fair inside. The colorful stands and bright attractions buzzed with life as the happy faces of staff and guests alike moved around the place.
The energy was contagious, and I already couldn't wait to go on my favorite attractions with Dave.
"So. Any preferences? I recommend saving the water rides for last. Assuming you want to go to one." I asked.
"Hmmm… Do you have suggestions?"
"I prefer the calmer rides myself. Like the carousel and the ferris wheel. But I have fun on the flying chairs and bumper cars too. The extreme rides are in the back. I… would rather avoid most of them. The kids’ rollercoaster is more than enough for me. The arcade is on the back, just like the water rides." I said, pointing at each section.
Dave carefully looked around, weighing the options. One look at the pendulum toy swinging high in the air was enough for him to cringe and disregard the entire extreme rides section. The menacing looking white hare holding a knife on the horror train’s logo probably didn't help.
"I… think I'd rather stick to the safer rides, too. You said something about bumper cars, right? I like those." He said, pointing at the cars. I nodded and led him along.
The line was thankfully small. Likely from it being a week day. Once it was our turn, Dave eagerly moved towards a light blue car, but was disappointed when a pair of children hopped on it first.
Seeing that, I stopped moving towards the pink car I wanted and scanned the area. There were no more blue cars, but I did see a purple one with a color so light it looked blueish.
"Dave." I called and pointed at the car once he turned to me. His eyes lit up and he sprinted to it. Once he was seated, I looked back towards the car I wanted and was pleased to see it was still free and everyone already had picked one.
I sat down and the ride began. Dave was a menace as a driver. He had a mischievous grin on his face all the way through as he greedily hunted down and slammed other drivers. I was slightly concerned at him moving at full speed at all times with how crowded it was.
There was no other way to describe it besides him being a road gremlin.
At first, I was on his target list as well. In fact, he seemed to be making a point of chasing me down for fun. I fought back, bumping on him whenever a breach appeared. That changed once the other drivers kept interrupting our ‘battle’. Dave started to target whomever hit me and I did that same.
Eventually, we stopped targeting the other completely. Focusing solely on collaborating and protecting the other. Making the ride much more fun in the end.
By the time it was over. We were all smiles.
"God, this was so much fun. It's been a while since I had the chance to go in the bumper cars." Dave said, cackling in a devilish way I wasn't used to hearing from him.
"It was. Though, I'd advise you to not be as aggressive when you start driving an actual car." He laughed at my joke and winked mischievously at me.
"No promises."
I'm not sure if it was the way he said it or the wink afterwards, but I ended up blushing. I didn't know Dave had this more playful side. Tyson had mentioned he was a brat in the past, by seeing it was another matter.
I liked it.
"Anyways, wanna go to the carousel next? To wind down the ‘adrenaline’?" He asked, breaking my thoughts.
"Sure." I answered, eyes lighting up. It's one of my favorites after all.
Moving to the carousel, most fair-goers raised their eyebrows seeing two adult men with no children join the line. Not that we cared. Being far more focused on deciding which animal to ride. Dave picked the wolf because he thought it would be a funny joke to tell Tyson later. I stuck with my favorite. The giraffe. I always found their long necks cute.
Most adults would have been embarrassed at smiling so much as they rode the carousel. But even if I wasn't as chronically uncaring to what others thought of me as I was, and didn't enjoy this ride as much as I did, I would still be grinning just from how cute Dave looked excited as he enjoyed the ride.
Once that was done, Dave decided we should go to the pirate ship next since he wanted excitement again.
"You never rode at the tip?" He asked, surprised.
"I'm not much of a ‘thrill seeker’ when it comes to rides. I have enough fun on this one being in the middle." I responded, making him vigorously shake his head.
"But that's no fun! This ride is only worth it if you're on the tip! Come on, I'm gonna show it to you."
I wanted to protest against it, but Dave looked so determined in his request I couldn't say no.
It was… good. A bit scary, but genuinely fun once I let go of my fear and enjoyed the feeling of the shivers in my belly whenever the ship went down. Dave’s happy laughter as he gleefully lifted his arms and squealed in delight also made the ride much more enjoyable.
This time, Dave chose to keep the ball rolling and go on another height toy. The flying chairs.
This one was not as scary. I legitimately enjoyed it whenever I went to it before. Especially that time me and Orlando went together.
Once we were strapped on and the ride started, I caught myself having strange feelings of shyness at the idea of being pressed close to Dave.
It was almost like being in a rowdy flying carriage together. And the thought was romantic to me. Especially as I heard him giggle whenever our chair went down and I watched the pretty lights reflecting on his eyes whenever I looked at him. The bigger view of the park added to it as well.
At one point, Dave's hand landed accidentally on my thigh, making me flare up with heat. He seemed not to notice, or notice how he had been leaning into me a bit more.
I carefully considered my options before deciding to take the bold approach and put my hand on top of his.
Dave's ears shot up and his head snapped towards me, his eyes going wide in surprise.
Oh god. Why did I do that? That was stupid. He must be feeling so uncomfortable from it.
I immediately started to pull my hand away, but then it became my turn to be surprised when he gripped it with his to not let me go.
I stared back with wide eyes of my own, and his features softened as a blush spread through his cheeks. He smiled, bringing our hands down again and nodding.
I stayed shocked for a second before smiling back and nodding as well. Feeling my face on fire.
God, I felt like a teenager in a corny romance movie. Is this how my teenage years should have gone if they had been normal? I hope not. I'm embarrassed enough as it is.
Once the ride ended, me and Dave didn't let go. Coming out of it holding hands still.
"So… that was fun!" He said, still not meeting my eyes in shyness.
"... It was. Yes." I answered awkwardly, cursing myself internally for being so awful with communication at a time like this.
Just say something, dammit. The cutest man in the whole world is holding hands with you and saying he had fun. At least ask him if-
"Can we keep holding hands as we go?"
… That. Unless he does it first like this.
"Oh! I uh, yes. I'd love that." I answered, stuttering since I wasn't expecting Dave to be so forward and ask. Looking at me in the eyes directly no less. I wondered if he was always this forward with the right incentive…
What the hell am I thinking?
"Yayyyy." He answered, tightening his grip.
Oh god. Please stop being this cute. You're not helping.
"I think we can give the rides a break and try a game stall this time." He continued, looking at the main plaza.
"Most of them are rigged, but I know which ones you can actually win at. Tell me which game you want to try and I'll guide you." I said, recomposing and leading him by the hand once he said he wanted to try the precision games.
Our attempts at ring toss were terrible, much like the ball throwing games. But Dave seemed to have fun regardless. As we were passing by the shooting games, I noticed his attention linger on a stall.
"Do you want to try that one?" I asked.
"Oh. Not particularly, no. I just… " As he trailed off, I realized what he was looking at wasn't the stall itself, but rather a crocodille plush hanging in the prize section.
"... Ah." He wants a plushy of me? That's adorable. He blushed a bit once I smiled knowingly at him. "We can try to get it if you want."
"... I'd like that, yeah." He answered, darting his eyes away with an embarrassed grin.
We got in line waiting for our turn as the giraffe manning the stall congratulated or comforted the guests after each attempt.
When it was our turn, I bought one attempt for each of us and let Dave go first. He focused on the bigger, less valuable targets at the beginning since he wasn't confident in his aim, but changed tactics once he was in his last bullets and still a bit far from the points he needed.
"... Oof! You could have gotten it if you hit that last one. Pretty good aim there, though." The giraffe said as Dave lowered the gun disappointed. I patted his back comfortingly.
"I'll get it for you. I promise." I said, and he smiled again and passed me the gun, nodding.
I got into position and carefully aimed the gun at the most difficult target. I relaxed my grip, took a deep breath and…
‘BANG!’ Down went the target in a clear shot. The giraffe’s jaw dropped, and his eyes kept widening further as I took my shots and kept hitting target after target until all bullets ran out.
"Wow! That was the max score! You're amazing! You deserve this prize." He said, point at the prize section to let me pick.
Once I had the little croc in hand, I turned around to give it to Dave and was greeted with a pair of sparkly awed eyes. He let out a fond chuckle with flushed cheeks before approaching me and patting my chest on his tiptoes. Confused, I leaned down as he requested…
… And then went beet red when he kissed my cheek.
"Thanks, fish nightmare." He said, grinning and taking the plush. I stuttered for a second and then smiled before answering.
"You're welcome, silliest giggler." He did, in fact, giggle in response, hugging the plush crocodile close.
After a few more games, we moved to the arcade next. We burned almost half an hour on the machines as Dave tried and failed to beat my high score on both Tetris and Pac-Man. Not that it bothered him. I even ended up losing some matches because I kept getting distracted with how pretty he looked with his innocent grin as he cheered me on.
Our time was almost running out, so we decided it was a good time to sit down and eat before going on the final ride.
"You want to share crepes and a milkshake with me?" Dave repeated my request, incredulous.
"We don't have to if you're not keen on public displays of affection. But I confess the idea is… appealing to me." I admitted, darting my eyes away with a blush.
"No no no. I'm fine with it!" He answered, grinning happily. "Just wasn't expecting it from you since you prefer to be more reserved and all."
"It surprises me as well. But ever since our relationship became more solid, I admit thoughts such as this have become more… common." As well as other thoughts that I had never crossed my head before. But that was something to confess at a more proper time and place… Maybe after we left.
"Oh. I see… " He answered, giggling with a blush. "I don't mind that at all. I might start asking for similar things if you're okay with it actually."
"Please. It's probably best if you take charge on that since I'm not as good at communicating these thoughts." I answered.
Once we bought our food, we sat down at the food court and shyly ate and shared our crepes together. It was slightly embarrassing, but also made my chest feel warm. It worsened whenever we would drink together from the large shake with two straws we ordered. Especially with how cute Dave looked as he eyed me back with adoration.
Once we were done, I noticed how dirty his face ended up and chuckled fondly.
"You're a messy eater." I said, extending my hand towards his face to clean the crumbs in his fur near his lips with my finger and lightly caressing them in the process.
Dave was paralyzed, face going beet red on the spot. It took a full second for me to realize what I had done, but once I did, I got just as flushed as him and pulled my hand back. Gazing now solely at the table as I tried to avoid meeting his eyes.
"Uh… I'm sorry. I was just trying to clean you but I didn't really think about what I was-" My sentence was interrupted when I felt Dave's hand land on top of mine on the table.
My head bolted up, and my redness got far worse once I saw his happy face staring back.
"Don't apologize. Thank you, Sal." He said, grinning happily.
Oh god. Please don't smile like that. I'm gonna go permanently red if you do.
"... You're welcome, Dave." I answered, smiling back and keeping the thought to myself…
… Just like the thought of how wonderful the feeling of brushing his soft, warm lips with my fingers felt. And how much I wanted to feel them again with my own lips instead.
The ferris wheel came next. My personal favorite. And a great place to go after all the excitement we had today.
As our ferry went up, Dave was excitedly looking out of the window as the entire fair became visible.
It was the reason I loved this ride the most. The view was stunning. The lights created a beautiful sight that I often associated with abstract works of art or drawings children tended to make.
"Thank you, Dave." I said, drawing his attention.
"Huh? For what?"
"For being here." I clarified. "I'm glad to be sharing this with you."
"Awwww. You don't have to thank me for that, Sal. This was amazing. I didn't know what to expect out of a first date, but this was… magical."
He looked straight into my eyes as he said it. His beautiful brown irises glowing like a pair of gemstones as the warm glow of adoration in them mixed with the lights they reflected.
My breath caught in my throat, and I gulped down before continuing.
"I'm glad. I confess that I was very nervous about it, but the entire date was so nice I feel a bit silly about it now." I answered, the both of us chuckling at the thought.
"But it's… more than just that." I continued.
Dave went silent, looking at me curiously and tilting his head. I couldn't help but grin a bit at the cute sight before I kept going.
"Me and Abi used to go to carnival fairs like this when we were kids. I… avoided them for a long time after what happened. But eventually, I built the courage to try going to one on her birthday. It was good. Comforting. I felt her presence with me and it made me happy." I smiled bittersweetly, remembering how happy I felt by the end of that day. Even though I only thought of Abi from beginning to end.
"I started coming more often afterwards. I brought Orlando here a few times after meeting him as well. It was nice. His company was comforting, too." I paused, seeing that Dave had grown a bit sad and concerned for me at the topic. I reassured him with a warm gaze and smile.
"But it pales in comparison to yours. You're the man that I trust and shared my insecurities and thoughts with. The man I showed my worst flaws to and trusted me back anyways. The man that makes me feel understood and safe and accepts me as I am. I love you for that. So very much. And I brought you here today because I wanted to show that. So thank you, Dave. For being in my life and making it better. I love you."
His face was beet red by the end of my speech, paralyzed with a surprised face. Then, he smiled wide and stood up. Closing the gap between us and hugging me around the neck. Since I was sitting, he was the perfect height for me to wrap my arms around him in a tight hug as well. Gently caressing his back as we nuzzled cheeks.
He caressed the back of my head. And I decided to rub his back and shoulders. At one point, his shirt lifted up slightly, and he gasped when my pinky rubbed against his bare fur right above his tail when my hands were going up and down.
Oh no. He pulled back. Did I cross a boundary accidentally? Dammit. I was so caught in the feeling of his body against mine I didn't even pay attention. I need to apologize-
Except I didn't. Because he didn't pull back in full. Only enough that he was now looking at my eyes again, still in my grip.
He had an intense look on his face. One I hadn't seen before. But it made me hold my breath for a second as I was hit by its energy.
He brought one of the hands on the back of my head to my cheek, caressing it fondly as he kept looking at me. Our faces drew closer. The magnetism between us becoming too strong to bear. Our eyes slowly closed as we inched closer and closer…
Until our lips met.
I had heard on more than one occasion that first kisses were awkward and even uncomfortable when done with someone that also had no experience. If that was indeed true, then me and Dave had just become the exception. Because never in my life had anything come close to being this pleasant.
I felt like pure electricity and fire were running through my body the moment our lips connected. And a deep shiver took hold of me, quaking me from my very core.
His lips were even softer and warmer now that I felt them with my own. And unlike the first time we had attempted to kiss in the manor, my muzzle seemed to pose no issue at all. Which made me wonder if Dave had been preparing beforehand for this moment like I had. A thought that made me warmer.
His small tongue softly parted my lips as I allowed it to go in. Joining with mine in a shy dance of affection as we explored the other's mouth and learned all of its soft spots.
I threw caution to the wind, bringing one of my hands to his cheek as well and putting my hand that had brushed him accidentally under his shirt to softly caress and scratch at his back and feel his fuzzy mane.
Dave gasped and shivered into the kiss once he felt my touch, but didn't pull away. Instead, kissing me with more fervor as my fingers ran through the soft valleys of his fur and learned all the curves and sensitive spots of his warm frame. Whenever I'd brush against a soft spot, he'd let out a little gasp or moan, and I'd immediately memorize both the place and the sounds it made him do.
Dave didn't stay idle, bringing the hand that was still on the back of my head to my neck. Softly caressing it and making me gasp into the kiss as well.
His hands started to roam even more, coming to my shoulders and chest to rub them over the fabric. Sometimes, he even brought it to the exposed part of my chest from the unbuttoned polo so he could feel it, sending other jolts of lightning over me.
Eventually, after what felt like minutes to us, we pulled away panting. Still connected in our hold.
Dave looked at me with glassy eyes but a happy expression. Giggling once he recovered his breath. I couldn't help but chuckle as well. Completely overwhelmed with the feelings flaring in my chest and thoughts running on my head.
God. Please don't let me ever turn as bad as Dean.
We stayed close, Dave now sitting on my lap and resting his head on my chest as I hugged him close as our ferry went down. We petted and caressed the other as we enjoyed the warmth of affection spreading between us.
After everything that had happened to me, I felt for the longest part of my life like I was holding my breath. Or had stopped breathing altogether as I just walked through life without a clear path.
But here and now, I finally felt like I had reached a point in life where I was sure everything was gonna turn out okay. That I would be happy and live a fulfilling life. And all it took was meeting Dave and developing a bond with him that was far more special than I ever assumed we'd have.
There would surely come the day where I would feel no guilt or anger at myself anymore. And that whatever sadness my heart felt at my past wouldn't make me lose my smile again. And that thought made me feel like the very breath of life had returned to my lungs.
I just had to keep him in my arms.