sweetcandygirl | Nothing Better than a Good Ol' Carnival

Caspar, attempting to be agreeable, almost says that he wouldn't turn down a mini donut, but he thinks better of it when Harley starts talking about rides. He needs to eat so little as is, the thought of filling up on food before a speedy ride doesn't sound appealing in the least.

"High thrill," Adia chirps, and Caspar looks at her in surprise. She shrugs and smiles. "I don't get motion sick, remember?"

Caspar shakes his head a little in amusement. "All right, high thrill it is."

"And this is why you are my best gal, Adia." Harley places an arm around Adia's shoulders, beaming at her.

"You two should do the Sling Shot together." Harley takes them over to the ride in question. It is a two-seater open-air cockpit that launches people 150 feet into the air.

"Every couple need to experience this!"

Adia smiles back, pleased as punch at being called Harley's best gal. Which is why she doesn't bat an eye at a ride being called a "Sling Shot", instead gamely heading over to the line, Caspar in tow.

"What does this thing do?" Caspar asks, right before the couple already in the ride -- a pair of teenagers -- are launched into the air. The screams can be heard from all the way at the top of its trajectory. The Cylon's eyes widen slightly and he looks at Adia again. "Are you sure about this?"

Adia nods excitedly, hiding her nerves. This is a little more of a thrill than the rides at the county fair, but she's willing to try.

When it's their turn, Caspar obsesses a little over Adia's safety harness, asking if it's secure enough, if she's comfortable, on and on until she takes his hand and gives it a squeeze. He settles down, and both of them listen to the ride operator count down to their launch.

Three... two... one...

The cockpit is shot into the air, and Harley will hear Adia let out a shriek of pure adrenaline, while Caspar remains silent.

Harley claps her hands, a little excited for Adia as she hears that shriek of pure adrenaline. The silence from Caspar is not much of a surprise -- however, Harley is now going to challenge herself to find a ride that does get a reaction out of the Cylon.

She has found a single rider in line, a handsome looking man, to take a turn herself. The man is uncertain if he should be flattered by her attention, or a little worried.

Turns out that by the end of their ride -- which Harley enjoyed judging by her own screams -- that the young man is whiter than Harley. The ride took a lot out of him.

"That was a blast!"

Adia's shriek turns to laughter as the cockpit swings up and down before finally settling back to the ground. She steps out of the ride, smiling but a little disheveled. "That was fun," she tells Harley, as they pass her and her companion for the ride.

Caspar looks as put together as always, although he does take a moment to slick back his hair. "Didn't know you could scream like that," he says to Adia, before adding with a grin, "On a ride, anyway."

"Caspar!" Adia blushes and hides a giggle behind her hand, the other pushing him playfully. He wraps an arm around her and they watch Harley take her turn on the Sling Shot and listen to her screams of enjoyment.

When she disembarks with the pale young man, Caspar can't help but smirk. "Have fun?" he asks Harley rhetorically. "Where are we headed next?"

"Can we ride a coaster?" Adia asks. "It'll give us a nice view of the park."

"We will go on the Coney Island Cyclone next then!" Harley suggested. "It is considered a local landmark. It was originally built in 1927... and has had a lot of refurbishing since then."

"And... bonus... the track goes all around Coney Island." Harley guides them down the paths towards the line for the Cyclone.

"They seat in threes, so we can all sit together!"

The large wooden coaster is impossible to miss, even before they make their way towards it. He eyes it with suspicion. "I certainly hope it's been refurbished, if it's that old." Humans have such strange ideas of entertainment sometimes. Who thinks an open-top car on a rickety track is a good idea?

Adia does, apparently, because she smiles up in delight at the large coaster, absently helping herself to another pinch of cotton candy. "Oh, yes, let's all sit together," she agrees amicably. "A car right in front, if we can."

"I can make that happen." Harley seems to know all the ride operators, and it is with a bright smile and a wave that she gets them a car in front.

She sits on one side, so Adia and Caspar can sit side-by-side.

"The best part of this track is the clack-clack of the wooden parts that still exist. You really feel like you are back in the ol' days."

Caspar sighs inwardly; he should have suspected that Harley would have an inside way to get them a seat up front. He gestures for Adia to go next before taking the seat on the other side. It feels better to have Adia in the middle, even though intellectually he knows that doesn't make a difference safety-wise.

"This is as far as the bar goes?" he asks, when the operator comes by to make sure their lap bar is locked in position.

The operator, a young woman with a green faux hawk, smiles toothily. "Any lower and it'd cut off your circulation. Can't imagine you'd want that in the company of two pretty ladies." She winks at Harley and Adia, then steps back to her control panel and sets the coaster into motion.

Caspar rolls his eyes once they're out of sight, although Harley's comment makes him snort good-naturedly. "The ol' days, back when I would've been made of metal."

"I like the clacking sound. It adds to the suspense." Adia already feels the anticipation building up inside of her, the higher they climb. "Look, Caspar! You can see the whole park from up here."

It is a beautiful view, he has to admit. Unfortunately, he doesn't get enough time to appreciate it as the car crests the hill and begins its rapid decent. Adia screams happily, although she's not quite brave enough to lift her arms. She grabs onto Caspar instead, who doesn't seem to mind, even as he's being jostled around by the coaster's twists and turns.

If Harley is hoping that this is the ride that will get Caspar to crack, she'll have to try something else.

Harley returns the wink of the ride operator. She is sure that the woman has experienced every kind of rider. Even a safety-checker like Caspar.

Harley also joins in the happy screaming. She loves this ride. The twists and turns remind her of how complicated life can be.

She does notice that Caspar is still holding out on having fun.

"Ya'know… another good ride to see the park is the Brooklyn Flyer," she points out the gigantic ride, with double-seat open-air chairs. "But my recommendation is to ride that one later in the evening, where you can soar over all the lights of Coney Island."

"We can try some of the famous Coney Island games. And you have to enjoy one of the famous Coney Island hot dogs!"

"That was a great coaster," Adia says once they disembark, her voice a little hoarse after all that screaming. She runs her fingers through her hair, working out the tangles the ride whipped her hair into.

Caspar merely has to smooth out a couple wrinkles on his shirt and then he's back to looking like his usual self. Sorry, Harley, he's really only here to watch you play roller derby later. The rides, the food, the carnival atmosphere don't do anything for him.

At least until she mentions the games. He looks at her, eyebrow raised, a glimmer of interest in his hazel eyes. "Games? What sorts of games?"

"Let's go check them out. There are tons." Harley leads the way towards where are the games are located.

"There is water racer, Whac a Mole, Bob's fishin' hole, ring toss, pong pool, the pyramid smash."

"Most of the games include a chance to win stuffed animals, or other prizes."

There's a brief double-take at the mention of pyramid smash until Adia realizes that it has nothing to do with the sport popular on the Twelve Colonies. She stops in front of the display, staring at the huge stuffed animals hanging from the ceiling.

"You'd like me to win you one of those?" Caspar asks, smiling softly.

Adia shrugs shyly. She always wanted to win a carnival prize, but she'd been told so many times that the games were rigged that she never tried.

Caspar steps up to the counter and pays for a turn. The vendor hands him two baseballs. "Knock over all six cans and you win," he explains.

"What's the second ball for?" Caspar asks.

The vendor laughs. "To knock down the rest of the cans you don't get with the --"

His explanation is cut short when Caspar launches a ball with enough force to scatter all six cans. And embed the ball in the shiny, aluminum siding behind them.

"Which one do you want?" Caspar asks a delighted Adia, who points to a fuzzy white bear.. The vendor unhooks it from the ceiling with shaking hands.

Harley doesn't indulge in playing any of the carnival games. Not because they might be rigged, but she does possess an unfair advantage.

And she smiles a little, seeing Caspar use his own unfair advantage to win Adia a fuzzy white bear.

"You are going to be put on their 'don't let play' list." She teases him.

Caspar catches Harley's gaze and shrugs innocently. What's the point of being a robot with enhanced powers if you can't show off to your girlfriend? At least he's having a genuinely good time, smiling fondly while Adia takes the stuffed polar bear into her arms and gives it a happy squeeze.

"Remind you of anyone?" she asks Harley, holding it up for inspection.

That earns a chuckle from the Cylon. He looks at the other games, but does think better than to push his luck. Besides, how many giant stuffed animals can they reasonably take back home?

Harley chuckles. "Get him a little apron and a chef's hat, and you can name him after our dear friend."

She leads them down another path, where she can buy them a round of the Coney Island famous hotdogs. She finds them a table, where they can sit and enjoy the sights and sounds.

Suddenly, she hears her name. "Harley?"

Harley looks around, beaming when she spots a very familiar face. He approaches the table a little timidly. "Goat Boy! Looking handsome and horny as always!"

It must be a joke between them, because he just tilts his head with a slight smile.

"Come. Sit down. I wanna you to meet my invisible friends. Adia, Caspar, this is Goat Boy." She pulls out an extra chair for him.

Adia and Caspar have both had hotdogs before, but the unique Coney Island style of topping it in a meat sauce, onions, and cheese is new to her. She eats hers delicately, careful not to let any of it drip onto her new stuffed animal, but does finish the whole thing. Screaming at the top of your lungs builds up an appetite, apparently.

Caspar takes a bite or two out of politeness. It's good, but it's rich, and he's simply not hungry enough to eat more than that. He's carefully wiping the grease off his fingers with a napkin when Harley's friend shows up. Wow, that name is terribly accurate. For a moment, he's reminded of the satyrs at the Nexus festival, but he holds his tongue. Different world, likely a different reason for this man's strange appearance. "A pleasure, Mr. Boy."

"Nice to meet you," Adia chimes in, waving shyly from her seat next to Caspar. She hopes that the two of them are making a good impression. "Harley said we might run into some of her friends here."

Goat Boy looks at Harley with a questioning look, when Caspar calls him Mr. Boy. Then his attention is on the Hot Dogs, and he has to chuckle to himself when Harley is immediately ordering him a dozen.

"You are both from her Nexus?" He asks softly, still not quite believing it.

That's his name, isn't it? Caspar doesn't know what to do with strange monikers. He subtly pushes his hot dog to the side once the table is covered in a dozen more.

"Not from the Nexus, but yeah, we go there," he answers.

"We live on an island called Atlantis," Adia adds. "On an Earth different from this one. I met Harley in the Nexus, and then I introduced her to Caspar." She takes her boyfriend's hand and gives him a sweet smile before returning her attention to Goat Boy. "Whatever she's told you about the Nexus, it's probably true. It's a strange place."

Caspar's pushed aside hot dog will eventually get eaten by Goat Boy. The man is not picky when it comes to food. And he is more than happy not to waste anything.

"And it is not like it is my Nexus either..." Harley laughs. She knows that her Coney Island friends thought it was an imaginary place.

"Atlantis. Like where Aquaman is from?" Goat Boy perks his ears. He chuckles when Adia calls the Nexus a strange place. "I work in a Freak Show. Strange is not often a description I would use."

"Most of my friends where work in the show." Harley tells the couple.

More the better, then. Not that he'd admit it, but Caspar did feel a little guilty over letting most of his dog go to waste.

"I don't think so," Adia replies politely. "I know that Atlantis is a popular myth in some places, but it's a coincidence that our island has the same name."

The term 'freak show' gives her pause. There is usually not a good connotation with such a thing, but both Goat Boy and Harley seems okay with it? She's not sure what to say in response except, "Oh. Well, the Nexus is pretty diverse..."

"Didn't know Earth still had those things," Caspar remarks casually. "Think they'd have room for us? World's best-dressed robot and the Sweetest Human of all Twelve Colonies?"

Adia blushes and smiles into her hand.

"It's not the people that make the Nexus strange," he adds more seriously. "It's the reality-breaking magic."

Goat Boy studies Caspar a long moment when he makes the World's best-dressed robot comment. Then he smiles. "Eggy would challenge you on that."

Harley laughs, so much she has to hide her head in her hands to control the laughter.

"Reality-breaking magic makes it sound like something we deal with." Goat Boy goes back to his hot dogs.

"Are they going to be watching the Gang of Harleys tonight?" He glances at the still laughing Harley Quinn. She nods.

"Oh definitely. My best gal has to meet my brassy ladies."

Caspar raises an eyebrow at the laughter. What the hell was so funny? Adia whispers something in his ear that seems to placate him, and he goes back to wiping his hands. He should have worn a suit, dammit.

"I've never been to a roller derby game before," Adia confesses, trying to move the conversation along. "I'm looking forward to it."

"You named your team the Gang of Harleys?" Caspar asks skeptically. "Not one to keep a low profile, are you, Harley?"

Harley is going to make sure that he meets Eggy now, so that he understands that the laughter is not directed at him. She is just imagining the Egg-shaped creature wearing a suit over his ape-shaped robot body.

"Me? Gosh no... low profile is not my thing." Not to say she can't be sneaky and stealthy when the situation calls for it.

"Not only are they my team, but they keep Coney Island safe when I can't be here. I put out an advert in the paper and everything looking for the right girls."

"And now I have Bolly Quinn, Carli Quinn, Hanuquinn, Harlem Harley, Harley Queens, Harvey Quinn and our coach." She uses their roller derby names. Smiling at the obvious connection of their nicknames to her own.

Caspar smirks softly, but the setup makes sense to him. "So they know what they're getting into, then." Those names, though! "I'm sensing a theme here."

Adia laughs softly. She thinks it's nice that for once Harley can shine without her past problems casting a shadow over everything. "Will I get to meet your teammates, too?" She smiles up at Goat Boy. "Have you ever been to one of her matches? Do they sell pennants so I can root for them?"

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