sweetcandygirl | Nothing Better than a Good Ol' Carnival

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?"

"Wait until you see our roller derby costumes... lotsa red and black."

"We will make sure you meet the whole team." Harley promises her.

"I am their unofficial Mascot." Goat Boy gives Adia a wide smile. "And there is lots of merchandise we can get for you."

"Not pink and blue?" he asks, gesturing to her hair. Adia is unsurprised, she remembers the costume Harley was wearing when she skated into the Nexus.

She smiles brightly, but nervously, too. Harley's teammates sound almost as badass as she does. Caspar wraps and arm around her and gives her a reassuring squeeze. "If you hook us up before the match," he says to Goat Boy, in reference to the merchandise, "Then i'll make sure she's wearing team colors."

"My first costume was a red and black design." Harley explains to Caspar. She has come a long way from then. The most freeing thing about her costume now... is she is comfortable wearing it as normal clothing.

Goat Boy finishes all of the hot dogs. He gives an evaluating glance of Adia, then smiles a little flirtatious. "You would look good in red and black."

"It's a process, trying to find one's style," he says thoughtfully. He would know -- he didn't always wear suits and tailored clothes.

Adia smiles shyly at the compliment. "You think so?" she asks sincerely. "I don't usually wear colors that stand out..."

"You'd look good in anything," Caspar tells her, kissing her on the cheek. And then pointedly looking at Goat Boy. Easy on the flirting, Horns. "Harley, what time's your match? Do we have time for another ride, or should we head over?"

"Nothing wrong with standing out." Goat Boy grins. He chuckles a little at the pointed look. You have to understand Caspar, Harley's whole team is used to her constant flirtatious behaviour. They are all flirts in a way. It is second nature.

"We can head over to the roller derby rink." Harley smiles.

"We will save the best ride for last."

"No, of course not," Adia says quickly. "It's just, um... not really my style..." She'd prefer to let those around her stand out while she supports them from the sidelines, like she plans to do at the match.

She catches the pointed look out of the corner of her eye, and Goat's Boy chuckle. When Harley says it's time to head over to the rink, she says, "Sounds good. I just need to give Caspar something first."

"Hmm?" The Cylon turns to look at her and is rewarded with a tender kiss on the lips.

"Okay, we're ready," she says cheerfully, standing up. Caspar takes a moment to follow, smiling like an idiot. He hands her the stuffed bear, which she puts in her messenger bag... which really shouldn't have room for that giant bear... but it does. Huh.

Goat Boy takes Harley's arm in his own, when they both stand. And they share smile at the kiss between the couple.

"Love is such a precious thing." Harley smiles.

Goat Boy is about to agree, when he gets distracted by the stuffed bear fitting into that messenger bag. He glances over at Harley and she grins.

"My invisible friends are just as amazing as my Coney Island ones."

Harley leads them to a giant outdoor rink, which is located near the edge of Coney Island -- where one can see the large buildings of New York nearby. There is tons of people heading towards the match. Already one can hear music being played. And there is a ton of fan energy.

"So... I might be recognized as one of the players..." Harley warns them.

"It's charmed," she explains to Goat Boy, patting her bag. "A friend did it for me. I don't have any magical powers." Not ones quite so blatant, at any rate. She loops her arm through Caspar's and follows the other two to the rink.

The energetic chatter of the crowd filing into the stadium is exciting, but a little overwhelming, too. Adia stays close to Caspar, not wanting to get separated. "Is that a bad thing?" she asks, concerned.

Caspar would have thought that Goat Boy would attract the most attention. He raises an eyebrow at Harley. "Recognition from fans or someone else?"

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