Teen Titans In The Field (3)

Funfair

Kara SorEl

After Arriving in Central City for the Titan's Adventure in the Villain mall, as I was starting to think of it; Lena had taken my hand and begged our way out of the mall trip. To be fair, as the sister of a villain, and relative of people with dubious morality my highschool friend had probably visited multiple areas protected under the truce. We waved Star and  the boys off, taking our own path away from the train-station and towards the river.

I still didn't know how I felt.  That was the confusing part.  Lena and I had met at school and become fast friends. Having become stranded on this planet my cousin Clark had been too busy to actively look after or raise me.  He and Diana have a two year old kid now who is just learning to fly and is durable enough to trash a house. He couldn't devote time to a 13yo relative from outer space!

Lena and I had instantly bonded over our hate of school, distrust of the adults and over all social awkwardness and after several mind-bending adventures she had learned my secret. We were still friends. I'd been confused as to why, until she 'asked me out' prior to this trip.

She is my best friend and now a we walked hand in hand down the boulevard I found myself navigating a new cultural boundary.  Girl-Friends.
Back on Krypton marriage was political. In fact I knew I was arranged to be married to a Ken SorDin when I was older, the colony floating in space, amongst the asteroids of old Krypton was small, and until I'd accidentally launched myself into space, I had thought my whole life was planned out ahead of time.  Here though they had the concept of girlfriend and boyfriend which had nothing to do with marriage at all, but still involved courtship rituals.
Like Dating. I smiled wryly at the thought, I technically wasn't stuck here anymore but who said I had to live the life my parents planned?

"So, you do know right, the only reference I have for this is bad daytime television?" I prompted Lena, I have no clue what we're actually supposed to do!"
Lena was biting her lip. I suspected she didn't know either!
"Then you'll just have to believe whatever we do is normal!" Was the curt response.  She was trying to hide a pout. Ahead of us was a funfair,  not quite like an amusement park, not as big or with as many rides it only had a handful of stalls and was probably not what she'd been expecting.  If I had to guess.
"So, we're you planning to pay? Cause I think I could lift you onto one of the ferries wheel carriages so we didn't have to!" I mocked,  leaning in to bump shoulders.  That got a laugh,
"Maybe leave that till last.  Would prefer you didn't get us kicked out!"

There is was,  the sarcastic smile that first made us friends.  We were overdressed for this place,  Lena in a floral sundress with big boots,  myself in jeans and a button blouse. A single ticket from the entrance at the highest amount promised we could use a many rides as we liked but attractions and food would cost extra.

We wandered, in and out the stalls. Lena bought me a bag of candies and I shared the chocolate with her, munching on soft candies instead.  At a clown game I cheated the cheater by using x-ray vision to identify the traps set into the back board intended to redirect the ball, then strategically melted one. Lena got a copy of the fair mascot, PocketKun as a prize. An adult sized backpack with arms and legs that made it look like a cat-girl. And of course we rode the rides.

At intervals we reflexively held hands,  fingers intertwining.
There was the spinning 'Gravotron' intended to push us against the outer wall. Lena squealed the whole time clutching to my arm during that.  There were bumper cars, the kids there recognised us and tried to pick sides, Lena or me. Instead of hard fighting we ended up racing each other in laps! We didn't try the teacups, too boring so in the end I did as promise,  lifting us to sit atop the gondolas as the went around.

Gravity is for normal people! We flew regularly and weren't bothered by the height as the machine slowly lifted us 20 stories in the air, before cycling back down.
"Sooo relaxing!" I stretched, and stole a move from Teen heart-throb Miguel that I'd seen of the tele-novela 'Cape de Amora'. The arm went behind her back, squeezing Lena close, she complied by nuzzling into me.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, I was expecting something bigger or fancier.  The brochures online must have been per-disaster when the fair was bigger and more espansive!" I laughed at her awkwardness, the cute conversation.
"I did.  We have action adventures all the time, this was a nice change of pace!" I confirmed.
"Once you get bored here we can still check out the mall the others visited,  I also have a restaurant reservation."

I blinked,  "Nowhere too stuffy I hope?" That got a laugh.
"No, outside seating in a court yard, along the river.  Big meals. I know you like your meat!" Lena jabbed my shoulder repeatedly, "I swear you eat like a horse!"
"There's a lot of me too feed!" I joked back, hugging her close.

After several rounds on the Ferris wheel the manager noticed and tried at us to get off! Laughing, I lifted my 'date' into the air. She stood on my feet, arms wrapped tight around my middle and we flew,  drifting slowly through the sky in a dancing pattern. That got a laugh out of her. As the night air settled in we drifted back down to street level

The restaurant was everything promised, a Japanese restaurant where a large grill was set into the table and fuelled by a little gas canister. A chef cooked food live, performing as he did so, flipping and tossing meat, veg and rice and even allowed us to put stuff on the plate or custom order. We weren't the only ones at the table, a pair of older women, one with a mass of red hair and the other a blond bob sat with their daughters, and an old man in his 6o's with three young boys were also present. Food flew in the air, calls to us to catch them on our plate got mixed results! Conversations were had! The chef was apparently a former assassin turned cook, although no names were exchanged, hence the precise blade and pan-work. Later a street band performed Japanese covers of well known music for the locals.

Finally we made the long trudge back towards the mall where our friends were, bellies full and tiredly trudging up the street. We played 'Lets walk close together while trying to step around each other's feet'. I carried Lena piggy-back for a while, because I could! She covered her face the whole way while squealing in embarrassment!

And about halfway between the Funfair and the mall, we stopped at a park and sat on the bench while Lena caught her breath. And I wondered, if I was supposed to kiss her now. According to the movies this would be the perfect time. The best time. She just leaned against my shoulder as she caught her breath, looking at the sky and the surrounding trees.

What was I supposed to do in this moment? "Hey!" I said softly. "Hey?" And gave my shoulder a slight shake. She looked up, so close!

So I tried. I moved in for a kiss and for just a second, a second of hesitation her head backed away. I blinked, and stopped, her heartbeat was racing at over 120, blood pulsing through her veins, her temperature hot. She didn't let go of my arm, it had just been a short hesitation. She was nervous. I laughed, then kissed her forehead instead of where I'd intended, instantly feeling her relax.

"If you want a more intimate version of that!" I added, gently standing up then pulling her to her feet, "Just ask. I honestly have no idea how human relationship work outside of movies though, so I'll let you judge how fast this happens!"

Lena pushed me away, laughing and happily saying "Jerk!" She gave me a shove and I drifted backwards into a seated position. "That was almost a perfect moment!"
As I was seated in the air, she took the opportunity to jump onto my lap. "As punishment you shall be my driver! Fly me to the Mall! Let us play among the stars!" she mimicked the tone of the music from earlier.

"Yes Ma'am!" I pretended I was changing gears in a car, then sped off across the sky towards our destination, still in a seated position.