Work Text:
A sweet strawberry scent filled the evening air.
“Here you go, Miss! Come again!” The stall attendant handed Anya some fairy floss on a stick for the fifth time that day.
“I will!” She skipped back over to Damian who was waiting on a nearby bench for her.
Here she was. At a carnival. With Damian. On a date? Anya wasn’t entirely sure what to call this. They had ‘accidentally’ left their friends out. They just happened to plan this outing during a study date, while their friends were conveniently absent. And they definitely didn't do their best to dodge every variation of the dreaded ‘what are you doing this weekend?’ question. No, it was all just an incredibly well planned coincidence.
“Look! I got pink this time!”
“I think it’s time he cut you off!” Damian pulled himself a piece of her fairy floss. “You're going to make yourself sick.”
She patted her abdomen. “No way, I have an iron stomach.” It was a necessary asset to survive her mother’s cooking.
It had sort of become the ritual of the day to grab some fairy floss in between rides. They used the sugar high to psych themselves up for the scarier rides. After the first couple of times Damian stopped getting his own, instead stealing some off Anya. He didn’t have as much of a sweet tooth as her.
“Well, you can’t say I didn’t warn you.”
As Anya finished off her fairy floss, they walked around the carnival looking for something to do. There were plenty of attractions but their options were limited. Anya loved fast rides and she could handle spinning rides pretty well. But for some reason, rides that went up high did not agree with her. She had also stupidly worn a dress. A yellow sundress that she had been itching to wear. No reason in particular. All was not lost though, at least she looked totally adorable. And Damian’s thoughts agreed so it was a worthy sacrifice. Anya thought he looked nice too. She always looked forward to seeing him out of his school uniform. And now that they were hanging out more and more outside of school, she noticed how he never repeated an outfit. She wasn’t checking him out or anything, she just had a photographic memory. Today he was wearing a navy rugby polo and washed out jeans. She thought the casual look suited him well.
“So, what’s next?” he asked.
She looked around mentally checking off everything they’d already been on. The delighted screams of the passengers echoed as the roller coaster zoomed by.
That looks like fun!
The roller coaster. Her mortal enemy. It felt like it was taunting her every time it rattled around the carnival. Damian had been sighing longingly at it all day. With the amount of attention he was giving the roller coaster, you would be forgiven for thinking they were on a ‘date’ instead. He knew she wouldn’t want to go on it, so he kept his thoughts to himself, or so he thought. Anya felt no desire to be up that high. Any sane person would agree with her. If you asked Damian he would attribute her fear of heights to her short stature. She would argue that, firstly, that was stupid. And secondly, he was not that much taller to begin with. The roller coaster had been intimidating her all day, but now running on pure sugar, she felt she could conquer anything.
She stuffed the last bit of fairy floss in her mouth. “The roller coaster.”
“You’re not serious, are you?”
“I sure am! It looks so fun and I don’t want to be afraid of heights any longer.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to work up to it?” He craned his neck upwards, noting just how high it was. But, she was already marching towards the queue. And like a lost puppy, he followed after her.
Anya couldn’t contain her nervous laughter, “I can’t wait to get on it!!”
She was shivering slightly, but he knew it wasn’t from the sudden cool chill. “You don’t have to force yourself to go on it. There’s plenty of other things we can do.”
“I want to do this. Plus, we’ve been on most of the rides.”
He watched as her hands fidgeted with every inch of her dress, attempting to dry her sweating palms. So, he grabbed her hand and hoped their sweaty intertwined fingers would distract her instead. It was certainly having the desired effect. Her pale face, giving way to blush dusted cheeks.
“Stop stressing. I’ll be there with you the entire time, okay?”
She gave him a queasy smile and squeezed his hand, thanking him for the reassurance. And now, it was Damian’s turn to feel embarrassed. Anya’s grip on his hand grew tighter and tighter as they moved up the line. Her nails digging into the back of his hand. He felt like the blood circulation in his hand was cut off. But still, he couldn’t bear to tear himself away from her. When they finally made it to the front of the queue, the attendant ushered them towards the gate. Anya felt a wave of nausea hit her. Her jittery nerves combined with her sugar crash were a recipe made in hell. She didn't know why she stood there in denial, it was a forgone conclusion at this point. She was going to be sick. She turned on her heels and dizzily stumbled through the line of people behind her.
“Hey! Where are you goi-” Damian called out to her, but she was moving remarkably fast. He would follow her to the ends of the Earth, and so he did just that. He just didn’t realise that would include holding her hair back as she puked in a rubbish bin. Once she had finished throwing her guts up, he guided her to a nearby bench and promptly fetched her a drink. Anya tried to catch her breath in between small sips of water.
“Are you okay?” He rubbed small circles on her back. “I don’t want to say I told you so bu- OW!” He grabbed his stomach. She had seemed so feeble a moment ago, how had she regained enough strength to punch him this hard.
“Don’t even think about it!” She warned. “It was just a moment of weakness. I know I can do it.” She had a crazed look in her eye. There would be no talking her out of it now.
“Fine. But you can’t get over your fear in one day, so let’s work our way up to the rollercoaster.” He looked around and in the distance spotted a suitable solution. “How about the ferris wheel? It’s the next highest ride here.”
“But it’s soooo slow!”
“Do you want to make yourself sick again?”
She mumbled something under her breath and shook her head.
“I thought so.”
Damian held her hand as she boarded the ferris wheel carriage. They took their seats and it began it’s very slow ascent. Anya didn’t have much to say, focusing more on keeping it together. But, when it got a little too high, she shut her eyes tightly, wrapping her arms around his torso and burying her head in his chest.
“I want to thank you for helping me.” She hummed into his chest. “It was definitely the sugar talking earlier and I know I’ve been a bit of a mess, but I appreciate you sticking it out with me.”
She was hugging him tightly, holding on for dear life. She looked so helpless. All he could do was hug her back.
“You don’t have to thank me. I’m always here for you.” He looked down at her as she squeezed him even tighter. “We’re getting close to the top. You might want to have a look, it looks pretty cool up here.”
Anya opened her eyes slowly. “Ohh, it feels so high!” She cried out.
“Don’t look down, okay? Just look towards the city.”
She sat up straight in anticipation of the city skyline as the carriage neared its peak. Anya took in the sights. Berlint glowed so beautifully against the backdrop of the night sky. The stars sprinkled around, adding to the magic. She moved to kneel on the opposite seats, as she tried to reorientate herself and locate her favourite places from such a dizzying height. The lights illuminating the city where she had made such wonderful memories with family, friends and… It was quite the spectacle. Suddenly, Anya felt less nauseous, her aversion to heights momentarily suspended as she floated towards cloud nine.
“Damian, look! It‘s so pretty!”
He sat back in his seat. Damian was taking in the view too. She looked so content, looking off into the distance. Nothing like her hyperactive or anxious self from earlier. The ambient light tinting her hair with a pinker hue as it flowed in the night breeze. With such a sincere smile plastered on her face how could he disagree with her?
“You sure are..” he whispered.