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Sitting on the edge of her bed, Lavendulan had been towel drying her hair having just returned from taking a shower not even five minutes ago when there was a knock on the door.

Odd... The voice sounded like Wolframite but the signature lingering on the other side of the door did not belong to him. “Yes, one moment please.” She got up, hung the towel over the back of her desk chair, and slipped into a comfortable lavender zip-up hoodie to cover the tank top she had been wearing.

When she reached the door, Laven opened it just a crack to see who was standing out in the hallway. “Sorry I wasn’t-” descent the last word fell shy of her reason for making them wait. “Wolframite?” Blinking several times in confusion she opened her door more so she could actually see him more fully.

“Oh my God!” Her tone was a mixture of both surprise and excitement once the dots were finally connected. She grabbed his hand and pulled him into her room, though the door was left open, and circled around him appraisingly . “Look at you, you got promoted!” Which would explain why she felt the aura of a Captain outside.

Taking in the new change in uniform she smiled in satisfaction and took a step back to keep from throwing her arms around him in excited celebration. No need to start things out on an awkward note. Now, if he had approached her anywhere else outside the barracks there would be no hesitation. “Congratulations, I know you worked hard for this.”

“So what are you going to do to celebrate?” Much like graduation this too was a big stepping stone and should be commemorated in some way.

It took a second or two for Lavendulan to finally orient herself once her feet were back on solid ground. But once she felt stable enough there was no holding back the fit of laughter that erupted from her at his overwhelming excitement. And here she thought he was more of a look but don’t touch kind of guy, here to show off his new uniform. Surprising as it is to admit, she was actually happy to be wrong for once.

“Ok, ok. If that’s really what you want to do, we can go to the fair!” Laven put her hands on his shoulders and turned him around. “But I’m not getting changed while you’re still in here.” She gave him a gentle shove towards the door and back into the hallway and in doing so the little half-sea dragoness hazarded a glance down at his wildly wagging tail.

Tears pricked the corners of her eyes as she tried to hold in the giggles. “Give me like three minutes.” The door was quickly shut before Wolframite could turn back around and see just how pink her face was.

True to her word, or at least close it, Lavendulan opened her door and stepped out into the hallway. Her blue hair, with gentle waves at the ends, was pulled back into a high ponytail. The lavender hoodie was replaced by a white knitted sweater and paired with a blue pair of skinny jeans, black flats and a shoulder bag to carry her wallet and any other trinkets they got while at the fair. “Ok, I’m ready when you are.”

Watch

That was the only warning she received before he teleported them from closed in barrack hallways to the open lot of parked cars. There was no ‘are you ready’ or count down from three. Just her hand in his and then they were gone.

When Winter let go of her, Marissa placed a steadying hand on his shoulder until she was sure he could walk straight without falling over.

“Breakfast?” Brows furrowed in confusion she looked out at the horizon; fluffy pink clouds could be seen in the distance but for the most part it was still open bluish sky. At least for the next hour it would be and then the sun would set and the faire would come alive with lights and color "The closest thing you'll find to breakfast here would be a crepe, funnel cake or elephant ear. And no, before you ask, that last one is not meat." She poked him in the arm teasingly.

"Anyway, today is your day. You get to pick, I'll pay."

Marissa rolled her eyes and laughed when he gave her the look. True that was somewhere on the bottom of the list of things she would have expected him to pick but to each their own. Chances are he would change his mind or do as guys do and just make their way down the menu, either way, she wasn’t here to judge.

“I’ve only been to two amusement parks but I use to go to the fair a lot as a kid. My school used to give us student tickets so we could get in for free but I haven’t been to one in probably close to six years.” Yeah, it was around the sophomore year that she stopped going.

When it came to their turn to pay for tickets the cashier smiled and asked how many. “One adult and one child please.” Marissa, for what it was worth, looked pretty damn serious with how straight face she said it but she could only hold out for so long before a wide grin spread across her face when she glanced at winter. “Ok, I guess you can count as an adult today.”

Fishing her wallet out of her purse she paid the young man then looped her arm through Winters and escorted him to the gate. "It can get pretty crowded. So, if we get separated let's agree to meet back here?"

Marissa had been about to reply back with a quip comment of her own about looking for a missing service animal but decided it was too soon to tease like that. Saying something like that would just be mean and sour the mood; he was a half-youma like her as well as a friend, not some pet. Winter, or rather Wolframite, deserved more respect than that.

Not wanting to get hung up on inquiring about his missing memories, she made a mental note to ask him about what happened later. Maybe in a week or two she would approach him or some how bring it up in a casual conversation once he had a chance to just naturally ride out this high he was on. For now, though, Marissa allowed herself to be guided towards his immediate obsession so they could get in line.

“Honestly, I come for the food but stay for the rides and games.” Her stomach growled when they got closer to the freshly fried food. “BBQ pulled pork sandwich with extra sauce, roasted corn on the cob, a deep fried candy bar and lemonade are always a must; anything else is just extra.” Just the thought of it made her swoon and without really thinking about it she leaned her head on his shoulder and would have made a soft purring sound that was nearly inaudible over the sound of the crowd.

However, when the person at the front of the line received their order, Marissa snapped to attention and excitedly announced,”I know what I’m getting!” She pointed at the brick of curly fries with garlic on top and with a pleased hum she looked at Winter and smiled “Don’t worry, I’ll share.”

“Rollercoasters and maze fun houses mostly. Spinny rides, not so much, although… I am curious as to how well you’d handle them.” It was as if she just had some grand epiphany with the way she looked at him.

“My friends and I use to do timed runs through the maze and the one with the longest time had to buy a snack for everyone to share.” Marissa raised her hand admitting to being the one who usually had to pay. “However, there was this one time that one of our friends, Sam, was so desperate to win that she ran face-first into a mirror and got a bloody nose.” For health and safety reasons the ride had to be shut down until it got cleaned up.

“Order number 143.” One of the workers yelled out over the growing crowd. “Number 143; corn dog, fries and a lemonade. 143 Order 143.”

“Ah! Here,” Marissa elbowed her way pasted a guy who’s shoulder was higher than she was tall. Her expression looked very displeased when he looked down at grinned; b*****d probably thought she was some nuisance of a kid. whatever, one of the benefits of being short was that it put her in nut punching range for tall assholes if they were unwise enough to make a comment.

“Ticket please,” Handing over the little piece of paper the employee compared it to the receipt. “Alright, here you go. Enjoy! Number 144-.” The next order was called out as she made her way back over to Winter.

“And here you are! One corn dog and one lemonade. I think I saw a table to the side of their stall with ketchup and mustard if you want either of those. However, before you take a bite-” Fishing through her purse she, with a very victorious ‘Ha!’, withdrew her phone and pushed the side button twice to activate the camera mode. Single-handed was no small feat but she somehow managed nonetheless.

“Ok,” Without warning she snapped a quick photo, “Now you can eat.” Today was a day to be remembered and as such, they needed documented proof of what he did to celebrate his achievement.

"Thank you, " an amused expression danced across her face and for a moment it seemed as if she was about to say something else but instead settled on waving her hand and shaking the thought from her head dismissively. Too soon for thoughts like that.

Whatever it was that had made her laugh was definitely destined to remain an inside joke, at least for now, as she taste test a few fries before offering the rest to him to share.

"So I'm curious, was your promotion the same as you remembered? Or was it different in some way now that your a-" she made a motion with her head not wanting to say 'half youma' out loud. His aura had been significantly stronger but that also likely meant his abilities were too. So much for a rematch. Now I know I'll get throttled. At least while he was still a lieutenant she could have had a shot if she could have caught him off guard.