“I’m sure you’re sweet enough!” Astrid teased, giving Riku a boop on the nose.
When they got up to the truck, she marveled over all of the flavors.
“Which one do you recommend?”
Then she gasped in sudden realization.
“Are there any coffee flavors?!”
Ruby watched Astrid and Riku walk away before turning to Akibo. She normally wasn’t one to chase a guy.
“What should we do while they all stuff their faces?”
Eric looked over the menu for a while before deciding. He didn’t know what 90% of these ingredients were.
“I’ll try that one,” He said.
The alien pointed to a cone that had vanilla ice cream with nuts and chocolate on top.
“It looks interesting enough,” He shrugged at Kendra.
When his eyes shifted down to her icecream of choice he let out a chuckle.
“How does your cat taste?”
“Oh yes,” Astrid nodded. “I really enjoy coffee.”
She picked one of the flavors to order and was handed her cone. When she licked it, it was so good she didn’t want to stop.
“This is AMAZING,” She said between licks.
Then she decided to just bite the whole thing, but shortly after doing so, she got a nasty brain freeze. The girl clutched her head in her hands.
“Ow! Icecream hurts!”
Ruby sighed and sat next to her friend on the bench.
“I’m sorry,” Was all she knew to say.
The redhead then thought about his question. Should she tell the truth? Or would it make him feel better to know she was just as miserable as him?
“To be honest, I find them all quite amusing.”
“I’m good,” Eric said as he pushed the creepy ice cream away.
When he got his he made sure not to make the same mistake as Astrid. He took a small bite, and it ended up being surprisingly pleasant.
Astrid forced a laugh through the pain, which ended within a minute. She let out a sigh of relief as she let go of her head.
”Well I can’t say it wasn’t worth the pain!” She mused.
“I won’t,” Ruby said with a roll of her eyes.
She looked back over at Riku and the others. When would they be done with their icecream? Then she thought of something.
“We should take the aliens to the beach tomorrow.”
“The night has just begun,” Eric told her, poking her nose with his index finger. After he finished his icecream he made his way back to the humans, along with Astrid.
“All right,” He began. “What’s next on the list?”
“Let’s do something fun!” Astrid suggested.
“OH MY GOD,” Astrid gasped, grabbing Riku by the sleeve in order to steady herself. “Let’s go.”
“Sure,” Eric shrugged. “Why not?”
((TIME SKIP))
When they got there, Astrid could barely contain her excitement. There were so many lights and rides and games and smells and food and people! She wanted to experience everything all at once.
Eric looked down at Kendra.
“What do you want to go see first?” He asked sweetly.
Aeron stayed behind the group, walking with his arms folded as he observed all the humans at the carnival.
Ruby had to admit, she actually enjoyed carnivals. She really wished she could spend some more one on one time with Riku, but now there was Akibo and Astrid getting in the way.
“Heck yeah I do!” Astrid exclaimed.
She immediately followed Akibo to the booth.
Ruby was a bit taken aback that Akibo invited one of the aliens and not her. It happened to be a blessing in disguise though, because now she could talk to Riku. The redhead slid up next to him and played with her fingers.
“So... You like carnivals?” She asked.
“How about I win you a souvenir, beautiful?” Aeron offered, butting into Eric and Kendra’s conversation.
He walked up to them, ball in hand, tossing it up and down.
“In fact, why don’t we make it a friendly competition?”
Eric wondered why Aeron seemingly had it out for him. He looked over at the game his rival was referring to. It appeared you were given m three chances to knock down a tower of bottles and win a prize. Seemed easy enough.
“Fine,” He replied.
“I do too,” Ruby smiled.
She put her hands behind her back and looked around awkwardly. Everyone was already split into groups, leaving her alone with Riku. It’s what she had wanted, but now she didn’t know what to do.
“Want to go do something then?” She asked, gesturing to the entire park.
“It’s really good!” Astrid beamed. “Reminds me of the kind of food we eat at home, to be honest.”
Then something caught her eye, causing her to tilt her head curiously.
“Hey Akibo, what is a fun house? Is it substantially more fun than a normal house?”
Meanwhile, Eric and Arron had both already spent way more money than anticipated throwing balls at bottle towers.
Ruby giggled bashfully before nodding at his suggestion.
“Okay!”
She walked by his side and waited in line for the hang glider ride.
“This one is nice because you just get to lay down and relax. After the first few laps around it almost makes me want to fall asleep,” She admitted. “Then again I suppose it might be the complete opposite for someone who is afraid of heights.”
Astrid was mind blown when they entered the house and there were mirrors EVERYWHERE. She took a step away from Akibo and giggled while moving her arms.
“Oooh~ Which me is the real one?!”
In the end, both Eric and Aeron ended up winning a prize. Neither of them seemed particularly happy about tying, but at least Kendra got two gifts out of it.
“Well that was anticlimactic,” Aeron sighed. “What now?”
Eric wanted to tell Aeron to buzz off, but he didn’t trust him with the humans and although he knew he could leave him with Astrid, that would just be cruel towards Akibo. Looks like they might be stuck with him for a while.
“I suppose,” Aeron sighed.
He didn’t even bother trying to fight Eric for a seat next to Kendra. Instead, he ushered them forward so they could sit together.
“You sure you can handle yourself?” Eric teased.
“Yeah. Can you?” Aeron questioned, raising a brow as his eyes darted from Kendra back to Eric.
Touché, Eric thought. He allowed Kendra to go in the cart before he went in and sat down. The carnival worker locked them in and the ride sent them up a bit until all the riders were on. Eric leaned back and enjoyed the view. He looked up at the sky as it began to turn night and briefly wondered what everyone at home was doing.
“Are you enoying your time on Earth?” He asked Kendra.
Ruby smiled at him and rested her head on her hands as they flew.
“Hey...I’m sorry Akibo is being so closed off. I don’t know your entire family history, but you seem like a nice guy.”
She didn’t know why she felt the need to apologize. Perhaps it was because she never had siblings of her own. And her father was dead. Maybe she subconsciously felt as though Akibo was taking his family for granted. But she kept having to remind herself that she didn’t know the whole story, and it was a good thing that Akibo didn’t join some mob.
Eric listened attentively. He could somewhat relate to being unable to relax at home, though he was sure Kendra probably had a lot more on her plate than him.
“It’s not bad,” He agreed.
It took him a moment to pick his next words carefully.
“You seem to make everything much more bearable.”
When they exited the fun house, Astrid was all giggles. It took her a good couple minutes to stop and wipe a tear from her eye.
“Akibo, you are such a gem!” She mused, then let out a sigh. “Should we maybe find the others? I want to go on that thing!”
She pointed to one of the roller coasters that went up and down and in a circle, first slow, then fast, then backwards.
Ruby was excited to hear that Riku had changed his way of thinking. Perhaps that meant him and Akibo could be close again. When the ride came to a stop, she got off with a yawn.
“Okay!” Astrid said happily.
She linked arms with her new friend and brought him around the carnival until they came across Ruby and Riku.
“Hey guys! Want to go on the rollercoaster with us?”
“I’m down,” Ruby said with a shrug.
Eric laughed, having forgotten about the small tattoo already.
“Yes,” He said with a smile. “I have a feeling I will cherish these memories for a long time.”
When the group got to the roller coaster, Ruby was pleased to see that Astrid sat next to Akibo. Her brown eyes looked at Riku playfully as she rubbed the seat next to her.
“This is so exciting!” Astrid said, then added in a whisper, “I’m doing so many new things on the planet.”
Eric held the gate open for Kendra as the ride came to an end. When he looked at the cart that had been beneath them, his stomach dropped. Where was Aeron?
Eric wanted to go have the others help them search, but he didn’t want them to deem him and Kendra irresponsible. A knight would’ve never let this happen. His eyes darted left and right.
“You search the East quarters and I’ll search the West,” He instructed before bolting off to the left.
“I don’t mind,” Ruby blurted out.
Oops, did she say that aloud? Maybe Riku wouldn't catch on. She casually looked away and waited for the ride to start. Then the music sounded and the coaster bega to move.
“Here we go!” She grinned, grabbing onto the safety bar.
Astrid did as she was told and tried to shout over the loud music.
“MY STOMACH IS IN MY THROAT!”
She laughed uncontrollably, enjoying the strange new feeling. Then the ride grew faster and faster, gravity causing her to get pushed into Akibo with each turn.
“I’M SORRY FOR CRUSHING YOU, I CAN’T CONTROL IT!”
She shouted, trying her best to cling to the other side of the cart.
Ruby had forgotten about this part. She blushed deeply as she was thrown into Riku.
When the ride finally slowed to a stop, Ruby fixed her hair and got off quietly, feeling self conscious.
“That was great!” Astrid exclaimed as she got off the coaster, her hair a big poofy mess from all the wind, but she didn’t bother to fix it. She saw a child walk by with a large cotton candy cone.
“That boy is eating a cloud!” She gasped. “I want to try some!”
Meanwhile, Aeron was inside the merchant’s tent, stealthily sneaking between vendor’s while keeping an eye out for Eric and Kendra. He was chewing on a candy apple that he stole off of one of the tables. Human food wasn’t half bad, he had to admit. But right now he was more focused on finding the carnival’s exit.
Aeron had no choice but to go out in the open. He wasn’t going to find an exit where he was right now. The boy casually chewed on his apple, but his eyes stayed alert as he walked right passed the carnival games.
Astrid followed Akibo, eyeing the cotton candy with a watery mouth. When she got her cone, she wasn’t sure how to go about eating it at first. Last time she bit straight into something she was in a world of pain. So she opted for ripping off a small piece and placing it on her tongue. Her eyes went wide when it melted in her mouth within seconds.
“It’s disappearing!” She gasped. “But it’s so sweet and sugary!”
She continued ripping off more and more and devouring the whole thing.
“I think I could eat TWENTY pounds!”
Aeron paused when he heard a little voice speaking to him. He turned to see a girl who was, dare he say, pretty cute. Unfortunately she was only trying to sell him something. He looked at the game, unable to hide his displeased expression.
“I think I’m all set,” He said.
His eyes glanced back up at her, and he could see the disappointment on her face. She had probably been doing this all day in the hot sun to no avail. For some reason Aeron could not explain, it made him feel pity for the girl. He let out a groan, feeling disgusted with himself, but human money was of no value to him. What was five dollars? He sat down at the booth, looking defeated.
“All right, you convinced me. How do I play?”
Hmph, what a simple concept. Human games were all so... simple. Aeron still could not fathom why the aliens wanted to preserve such a race. He took the pole and easily caught enough fish. When he was done, he stood up and left a twenty on the table.
“I’m not interested in any prize. And you can keep the change, doll.” He said with a wink.
“AERON!” Eric’s voice could be heard above the crowd.
“Well, that’s my cue,” Aeron muttered before bee lining in the other direction, abandoning the game stand.
Aeron was too busy looking back at Eric to notice Kendra jump in front of him. He snickered to himself as his head turned forward. Then all of a sudden he was in someone’s arms. He tried to play it cool, even though it really caught him by surprise.
“Kendraaa, darling! Did you miss me?” He teased, hiding the fact that he was actually super bummed he got caught.
Eric caught up to them and shook his head at Aeron.
“No more running off by yourself until you can be trusted,” He said sternly. “That was the deal!”
Aeron rolled his eyes. Who knows how long that would take.
“Sorry dad,” He grunted.
Just then, Astrid spotted the group of three and ran up to them.
“Hey guys!” She greeted. “Have you been enjoying the carnival? I sure have!”
Aeron flashed Kendra a cheeky grin in response to her sarcastic remark.
”Cute!” Astrid cooed at the giant plushies, playing with one’s arms.
“So have we had enough of the carnival?” Ruby asked the group.
“I think I’m ready for bed,” Eric admitted.
“Aaaw,” Astrid whimpered. “Can we all meet up again tomorrow?!”
Ruby glanced at Akibo before responding.
“Sure. We wanted to take you all to the beach.”
