[Silver]

"It'll be fine, I don't even know what you're worried about!" Mimsy said, skipping forward cheerily.

"Of course you don't," Gira muttered under her breath. If Mimsy had heard her, she didn't comment.

Though she didn't seem happy about it, Gira had agreed to go out on Valentine's Day. She would have preferred to spend the day in the common room. She still daydreamed about how nice and quiet it would be with all the idiots wandering around trying to get dates for the big day. How, then, did she end up here doing the very thing she loathed? Well, that was a long story, and one she probably wasn't going to tell.

[Silver]

"Come ooooon slowy slow slow, we are almost there! How could are you not like, super excited for this?" Mimsy was excited enough to bounce alongside Gira as she spoke.

"Oh, right, I forgot, the sooner we get to the line, the sooner we can start waiting!" Gira said in a mockingly cheerful tone that felt wrong coming from her.

"You forgot about all of the waiting after that! That's what I'm in for." Mimsy smirked, then skipped ahead before Gira got a chance to say something grumpy again. Gira wanted to make an angry callback, but she was too impressed to come up with one.

[Silver]

"Here we go," Mimsy said. "This line is the one for the tickets," she waved Gira over, but Gira walked past as if she didn't see her.

"Gira? Gira! C'mon I know you hate waiting in lines, but you have to..." Mimsy watched as Gira walked up to a staff member and handed them something she couldn't see. Then she came back with two wrist bands.

"Here," Gira said. She held out the bracelet so that Mimsy could take it. "I came by a few days ago and paid in advance so we could skip the line," she explained. Mimsy was wide eyed, not only because she was surprised she didn't think of it, but also because she couldn't believe Gira cared that much.

[Silver]

Mimsy began to fumble with her paper bracelet. She was always bad at putting the darn things on. She grumbled under her breath as she tried to figure out how to hold it in place and work the adhesive at the same time.

"Let me," Gira said, taking it from her and wrapping it around her wrist like an expert. Mimsy blushed unsubtly and pulled her hand away. She was sick of being upstaged already, and they hadn't even gotten inside yet.

Gira managed to work her own bracelet without Mimsy noticing, then the two of them headed for the gate. They showed off their new prize and were let inside.

[Silver]

Mimsy grabbed Gira by the elbow as her eyes grew wider and wider. "It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!" she declared. Never mind the fact that she had been here before.

The theme park was filled to the brim with every kind of thing that Mimsy could ever want. There were cheerful people in every direction, food stalls full of candy and deep-fried anything, costumed characters dancing to already out of date pop music, and most importantly, a ton of rides full of screaming couples.

"Sure," Gira said quietly, but she wasn't looking at the park. Before Mimsy could catch her looking, she turned away and asked, "What do you want to do first?"

[Silver]

"Oh, you're letting me pick? You're such a gentleman!" Mimsy then tapped her chin and tried to think of what their plan of attack should be. Gira was not at all surprised to find out that she didn't have a plan at all. She had been looking forward to this for at least a week, but she still had no idea what she was going to do once she got there. It was that kind of free-spirited insanity that made Gira both love and loathe her at times.

"Why don't we start with a ride?" Gira suggested. She would really rather get that out of the way first, lest they fill up on sweets and make themselves sick.

[Silver]

"That's a great idea!" Mimsy said. She was still looking around in every direction and hardly paying attention to the conversation. Nonetheless, she did come to a conclusion about what she wanted to do.

"What about that one? Spinning Typhoon!" Gira wanted to protest at the thought of being spun around on a big mechanical arm, but she didn't have a chance to. Mimsy tugged on her arm and ran off before she could say a thing.

"Look, the line is even reasonable, I bet it'll only be like, 10 minutes at most."

"If you say so," Gira said. She was already regretting not stuffing that book in her bag like she had thought about before getting ready this morning.

[Silver]

They stood in the snaking queue for much longer than 10 minutes before Mimsy finally looked earnestly up at Gira and said, "Hey, uh, thanks for... coming with me, and also for buying the tickets, that was a really good idea... you'll have to let me pay you back, somehow."

Gira was deeply annoyed by all the inane chatter going on all around them, but when she saw how sincere Mimsy was being, she felt her face soften into a smile. "Of course, I know you will," Gira said. Then she felt flustered for looking so vulnerable, so she abruptly turned away to watch the ride take off on another cycle.

[Silver]

"One... two... three..." Mimsy began to mutter just loudly enough to hear.

"What are you doing?" Gira asked, too bored not to be curious.

"I think we're up next, with the number of people in front of us, and the number of seats..."

"Right," Gira said flatly. She hadn't said it yet, but she wasn't actually that excited about getting on the ride. She was worried that it would make her feel sick or hurt her back or something.

"It'll be okay, it's not that scary," Mimsy said, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly. Gira wanted to protest, but she actually thought that it was really sweet.

[Silver]

"Oh, we are, we are next, get ready! It's gonna be so much fun, you won't even have time to be scared," Mimsy said.

"Alright, but we have to get on first," Gira said smugly. Mimsy was so excited that she actually forgot she was supposed to be getting on the ride. She was holding up the whole line! She blushed furiously and ran past the gate, almost knocking the staff waiting on the other side over.

"Sorry about her," Gira said. "She's... just like this." The person she nearly bowled over looked like they were so used to it that they hardly noticed. Gira shrugged, put her bag down near the fence, and went chasing after Mimsy.

[Silver]

"I saved you a spot right here next to me!" Mimsy said. She was sitting in a seat, awkwardly waving from behind a harness.

Gira knew what she had to do, but something about sitting down into the seat and forfeiting her ability to touch the ground with her feet bothered her more than she was expecting. Nonetheless, she pulled the harness down over her shoulders and did up her buckle.

"This is so exciting, I can't believe you're here with me, actually doing this!" Mimsy tapped Gira's shoulder as much as she could while being restrained by the buckles. They couldn't see each other's faces, which Gira was relieved about. The soft smile she gave her friend was not something she wanted her to see.

[Silver]

Gira had to remind herself why she was doing this as the ride clunked into action. The clicking and whirring of the motor starting up was so much louder in her ears than it was in reality. It was as if it was the only thing she could hear.

Mimsy had no idea that Gira was so nervous, as every clunk and shift of the machine only served to make her more excited. Though she did think she heard an odd squeaking noise that didn't seem quite right. It didn't sound like a poorly oiled machine, but she couldn't be sure. She lost track of the sound as the sound of wind in her ears drowned it out.

[Silver]

It only took about a minute, but it felt like forever and no time at all. The rush of air whipping their hair around, the feeling of falling and flying, it was all so intense that it was hard to think about anything else.

When it finally rocked to a stop, Gira wanted nothing more than to put her feet back on the ground, but she couldn't. The chair still held her high above the concrete below. Mimsy was giggling with delight the entire time and for some time after the telltale click of the seatbelts releasing as well.

"Hah! I love that one, it goes all whoosh," Mimsy waved her hands around imitating the path the ride took. "How about you Gira, what do you think?"

[Silver]

"Great, just great," Gira said through gritted teeth. She had to admit that it was exciting, but her heart was still pounding in her ears from the dreadful feeling of falling. It would take her a few minutes to calm down.

Squeak.

"Agh, do you hear that? I feel like I was hearing it the whole time! What the heck." Mimsy hopped out of her seat and looked back at the ride. It wasn't moving, so it probably wasn't making that noise.

"Hm, yes," Gira nodded. She slid out of her seat and retrieved her things. Then she followed the crowd through the gate, hoping to get out of there as soon as possible.

[Silver]

"Giiiiiiiiraaaaa!"

Gira sighed at the sound of her name being shouted in a high pitched, squeaky voice. Whatever that meant, it couldn't be good. She walked around the corner to see Mimsy staring wide-eyed into a bush. Before she could even ask what was happening, Mimsy started bouncing up and down, pointing at something on the ground.

"Ooooh look, it's sooo cute! What do you think it is? Like a mascot? Come here little mascot! I'll give you a... uh, you know I have to have a biscuit or something in here..."

"Do not feed the mascot biscuits." Gira couldn't believe she was saying it even as it came out of her mouth.