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“We can visit them for clear day.” Pidge suggested and leaned on the wall watching Keith tidying up the training room after working out.
He stood up and shook his head.
But the moment he met her eyes he sighed.
Pidge giggled with excitement and ran towards him to give him a hug: “This time you can put your focus on the enjoyment part.”
Keith padded her back and rolled his eyes. “I mean we had a mission last time.”
“Yeah, yeah.”. She hummed and paused for a moment then she declared: “We also have a mission this time – kind of. So, remember that fun ride you went on last time?”
“Unfortunately…”, mumbled Keith and sighed while rolling his eyes.
“So; I talked to the ride operator and he is really sorry for last time. He offered a free ride to make up for it. We have to accept.”
“What? No way!”. He shook his head and raised his hands in defeat.
“He said they made a few adjustments to the ride.”, Pidge promised.
He still didn’t look convinced, so she grabbed his hand and suggested with a smile: “Or we just completely dump any mission and just enjoy ourself. We don’t have to go on that ride.”
When their ship arrived at the Clear Day Festivities, they traded some goods that they gathered from foreign planets for coins. Since they traveled wide distances, common items became really rare and desirable. They traded a different sand kind from a planet galaxies away for coins that were divided between the crew of the Marmora.
Keith gave Ezor and Zethrid their coins last. They eyed the golden items and looked at each other confused.
“It’s your part.”
“Not my thing.”, mumbled Zethrid.
Keith answered with a shrug: “I have to give it a try, so I suggest you do the same.”
Zethrid raised an eyebrow but when she shifted her head slightly, she saw that Pidge and Ezor were already running off with excitement.
She grabbed the coins out of this hand and grumbled: “Let it be fast.”
Keith and Zethrid joined their partners who were already at a booth eying the prizes. It was a Water Gun Game.
“Do you want to play a game?”, asked Pidge and pulled on Keith’s hand.
He looked at the booth and shrugged, but nodded eventually. She paid for a game and as they waited for the booth owner to hand out their guns, he took a lot at Ezor who was pulling Zethrid to the stand next to them, which was a Whack-A-Mole game booth.
Zethrid’s mood shifted immediately and she began to be excited to be able to hit on something. Pidge followed his eyes and watched with as Zethrid smashed the machine will her full force.
Their booth owner of the Water Gun Game tapped them on the shoulder and handed them their guns.
Keith looked at their targets. They were cartoony versions of the inhabitants of the planet in different colors. Pidge nudged him what interrupted his daydreaming and he got in position. The owner gave the starting signal and they began shooting.
Pidge's first aim was good, but her jet of water was not steady. Keith stopped shooting a few times to take aim again, but once he found the right angle it was easy for him to hold. Still, in the end, Pidge’s lights lit up first, what announced her winner.
When the owner asked her to pick a prize, she looked at Keith. It took him a moment to understand what she meant. She wanted him to pick a prize.
He looked at the plushies and noticed one that was really round and had a big muzzle with short legs. He shyly pointed at it without his finger leaving his silhouette. The owner shrugged and handed him the plush.
When they took a few steps from the booth to make room for the next players, Keith turned to her to hand her the prize.
Pidge smiled and grinned:
“I want you to have it.”
He was more startled by it than he would ever admit. He just stared at her and then the 8 inches tall plush in his hands.
She added. “I am a good shot, ain’t I?”
Keith nodded in thought, but then it hit him and he covered his red face with his hand.
Pidge didn’t mind though and laughed it off while she threw her arm around him and pulled him closer. He still was speechless, so she decided to free him:
“The plush reminds me of a hippo, I mean if we would ignore the second pair of eyes.” She tipped the nose of the toy.
Keith finally opened his eyes again and took a look the fantasy creature and smiled. He admitted: “Yeah, that’s why I picked it.”
“You like Hippos?”
“Yeah, they’re cool.”, Keith shrugged, but avioded eye contact.
“I bet.”, mumbled Pidge and thought out loud, “To be honest I don’t know a lot about Hippos. I once saw a video of one biting a melon though.”
“Yeah, they do that.”
“Is that what you like about them?”
He nodded in thought and looked around to find Ezor and Zethrid still at the Whack-A-Mole stand.
Pidge whispered to him: “I’m curious. Who do you think is stronger, Zethrid or a Hippo?”
“They’re the most dangerous animals of Africa.”, mumbled Keith, “But Zethrid is not from Africa and I guess she has a laser canon.”
She chuckled and agreed: “Good point.”
They watched their friends further. The tickets were flooding out of the machine, and Ezor was cheering on her girlfriend: “Get them!” And then in a deeper voice: “Kill them!”
Keith then turned to his girlfriend and suggested: “How about we kill our coins too?”
“What do you want to do? I chose the first game.”
His eyes scanned their surroundings then he spotted a booth with lion plushies.
“How about we win you a lion plush?”
“Sounds good!”. Pidge agreed immediately and they started walking.
The booth owner gave them both a smirk as he greeted them: “Pleasure to meet you. I bet you have heard of me? Guzor?”
The couple shook their heads simultaneously, so the owner continued: “Disappointed, but no worries. So, do you want to win your lion color?”
Pidge shook her head and answered: “We’re just trying out every game.”
“One coin is one ring.”
They each took three and started throwing. None of them landed a Bii-Boh-Bi, and Keith only had one ring left. He looked at the small ring in his hand and then at the wooden stakes.
After he took a moment to think he threw the ring with all his strength at the wooden wall behind the Bii-Boh-Bis. Although nor the wooden wall nor the ring where bouncy, the ring rebounded a bit and fall onto one of the stakes.
Keith grinned at himself and chuckled slightly when he spotted the shocked expression of Guzor.
Pidge clapped and cheered: “That was amazing!”
Guzor recovered and asked him to pick out a prize. Keith looked at his girlfriend, who gave him a knowing smile.
She looked at many small lions. All the colors – and more – were availed.
“A green one.”
They walked a bit in silence before they reached the ride Keith wanted to avoid. The moment they spotted the ride, they looked at each other.
“Let’s go the other way.”, suggested Pidge and pointed behind them.
“Alright. Let’s go.”, grumbled Keith and took her hand. But to her surprise, he pulled her into the direction of the ride.
“Really?” Pidge wondered but she tightened the grip around his hand.
“It is not like I am afraid of it, I just thought it was annoying. But also, I didn’t think I would enjoy today at all as much as I did, so what the heck.” Keith explained and they stood to wait in line.
Pidge hugged him as tight as the alien hippo plush allowed. When they had to move forward a bit, they parted and he wondered:
“Why do you want to go onto this ride so bad?”
She looked at her lion plush in her free hand and mumbled: “I used to like these rides as a kid.”
He chuckled slightly but he stopped immediately when he saw that they were next.
The ride operator greeted him with a smile and welcomed them: “I am so happy that you could make it! I am so sorry for last time, but we fixed the wall and changed everything up a bit.”
Keith nodded, but then he paused and wanted to know:
“But you also fixed…”
He was interrupted by the ride operator that already shifted them into the cart: “No time. The queue is long.”
“You fixed it right?”, demanded Keith to know when the safety pole already went down to their labs.
The cart started moving and Keith screamed back at him: “Right?”
He sighed and Pidge gave him a pat on the shoulder.
The cart went into the main room and the song started:
“We burrow every day; Underground is where we stay….”
Keith looked around and squinted his eyes as he noticed that nothing had changed – at least he didn’t notice any chances. He did notice a big cross of duct tape on one wall; he rolled his eyes, but the cart was still moving so he was still optimistic.
“Clear Day! What do we say? Clear Day! Clear Day!”
He leaned back and noticed how Pidge reached out for his hand. He sighed and he formed a small smile. Maybe this wasn’t so bad after all.
Then the cart suddenly stopped and there was an announcement through the speakers:
“Sorry for the inconvenience. We’ll get this thing up and running in a tick. In the meantime…”
Pidge turned to him and whispered, but for Keith it still stuck out from the other noises.
“I’m sorry.”
Keith gave her a warm smile. “It’s okay, it is not your fault.”
“Maybe they will actually get this running in no time -maybe.”, mumbled Pidge and looked around as if the answer could be found somewhere. But eventually she sighed and looked down to their interwind hands. She strook his hand with her litter finger in thought.
The song kept on going.
“Clear Day! What do we say? Clear Day! Clear Day!”
Keith looked at her face and how she looked down to their hands then he eyed his plush and sighed. He said: “I lied earlier.”
She looked up with widened eyes.
“I don’t like Hippos because they are strong, I mean I think it is cool that they are. But they look so lovable and I want to hug them.”
Pidge slowly formed a smile on her face and Keith’s worry of telling her fast turned to relief. She strook his cheek with her free hand, leaving her plush on the seat.
“I’m glad you told me.”
Then she took both her hands back and started playing with them. After a bit she started talking:
“I also was not completely honest with you. About this ride I mean. I really loved theme park rides with their singing when I was little, that part is true.”
Keith looked at her attentively and didn’t know what to think. For the first time he was thankful for the cheerful music in the background.
When she continued though, it was like the music faded away for him.
“I still like the musical rides, I mean they’re fun, of course. But, well, I wanted to go on a ride with you like they do in every movie? I know these rides are meaningless in a way, I mean nothing that can happen on there can’t also happen somewhere else, it is not magic or anything. But still the thought of a tunnel of love kind of ride? I wanted to try it with you. And this was the only ride that was available. And-“
She was cut off by Keith leaning in to kiss her. He almost fell on her because he needed to lean in to reach her but he was also still holding his plush so the support of his arm was missing. He adjusted fast but then Pidge also placed her hands in his shoulders what on the one hand, gave him more hold, but it didn’t take her long till she pulled him closer.
Keith definitely lost any stability when all of the sudden the cart starting moving again. He tried to aim and not completely fall on her but it was a lost cause.
There was an announcement. “Looks like everything is in order. We apologize for the delay. Again, have a blissfully burrowful time.”
Keith wanted to get up immediately but Pidge moved her arms around him and pulled him close.
“Don’t I look lovable and huggable?”
And so, Keith leaned on her and they snuggled.
“I mean it is a tunnel of love.” He mumbled with a knowing smile.
Pidge chuckled and then hummed in agreement.
Suddenly, the cart stopped again. But this time, Keith stayed relaxed. He didn’t mind staying longer.