In Sickness And In Health (Yandere M. Genius x F. Reader x Yandere M. Prince)

Chapter 44: Trust Is Earned, Not Given

Orion stared in awe at the amusement park in front of him. He had never seen anything like it - the large metal structures and moving pieces of every little ride like some kind of magical world. Unable to stop staring, he had to be tugged by the hand by the older girl, who, above all, had her goal on him surviving through the experience. It wasn't as easy as it sounded, especially when he kept trying to trail off. Only when she forcibly wrapped his arms around hers did he seem to pay attention.

"I'm sorry," he chuckled nervously, darting his eyes away bashfully, "I just got so excited. I'll stick close. I promise."

The amusement park was barely crowded, contrary to what she thought. Perhaps it was because it was winter and snowing a bit, but, still, they weren't alone. Orion specified he wanted it that way. He wanted the full experience, even if he had both the power and the wealth to rent the entire place out, or buy it, even. Strangely, the male loved people. He wanted to talk with strangers and become friends however he possibly could, but, while he admired the people around him, he didn't talk to them. Instead, his attention turned to (Y/n) as they began walking around.

"Do you like rides?" he asked eagerly, pointing to all the different ones he could see, "Which one is your favorite?"

"Well, I wouldn't know. I haven't been to one of these either."

"Oh, that's right, but what do you want to go on first? We can walk around and take pictures or go to the petting zoo or we can start playing on rides. We can also play games, too, so whatever you want to do, I'd love to do it, too!"

The orange-haired male bounced in anticipation at her answer. He wondered a bit more about her, especially all the little things. Of course, it was his goal to know about her favorite things and even become one of them, but it was better to start out slow. That was everyone else's advice, and he planned on taking it. Still, he was vaguely aware that she was trying to keep a lot of distance between them. He wondered why. After all, it wasn't as if he was a mean or rude person. He'd always thought he was nice. That was what everyone told him, but maybe he just needed to be nicer.

She didn't really respond to him about where she wanted to go. They just started walking until, inevitably, he got distracted by something. The first time, it was the mascot characters. He wasn't entirely sure whether they were cute or horrifying, but he enjoyed staring all the same. The second time, it was a bunch of people zooming past on a roller coaster. He blinked at it a few times before suddenly catching their contagious joy, bouncing up and down in excitement. It seemed so fun, albeit similarly as terrifying as the mascots.

The first thing they actually started doing was going to the petting zoo. There weren't a lot of animals in the palace anymore, especially not ones as fluffy as the sheep the male could not step hugging. Though his cousin loved animals, when he left to go abroad, all of his pets came with him, except for the butterfly garden their grandmother had gifted him. Orion was typically prevented from getting close to any animal, really. His body was so weak, they didn't want to test him being allergic to anything. But, as he kept petting and cooing at the animals, it didn't seem like he had any allergies. It was a bittersweet revelation.

Orion noticed that the (h/c) haired girl actively avoided the animals. Though they would attempt to go on up to her, she just nudged them away gently, but it was obvious she didn't hate them. She would stare at them almost sadly before putting distance between them. Even when the orange-haired male tried holding up a bunny to her, she just looked the other way, crossing her arms. A flicker of a frown appeared on the boy's face, but he was quick to smile again and go back to playing with the other animals. He didn't realize that she enjoyed watching him.

Nonetheless, he started trying a little harder to get her to open up to him. He would go around, trying everything he could, especially trying to jumpstart a conversation. Still, she remained unphased, as if she was only there as a favor to Verona. And when he started to give up, going on the rollercoaster, things became a little different.