Prompts: Trust Issues/Amusement Park
"Can you at least pretend that you want to be here?"
Keith looked up to the towering rollercoaster that loomed above them.
Lance and Pidge nearly shrieked with delight when they saw it. It seemed...childish.
Be he supposed that checked. Places like this, you were supposed to come here as a kid. And then be reminded of that childlike joy every time you came back.
But this was Keith's first time here. Or any amusement park really. He didn't have the luxury to see it through the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia. Instead, he raised an eyebrow at the long lines, wrinkled his nose at the body odor the hot summer day had enhanced, walked out of the restroom resolved to "just hold it," dropped his jaw at the criminal prices of fucking water, and nearly had a heart attack when observing questionable engineering.
He swore this deathtrap of a park was held together by corporate greed and baseless faith.
There was a certain amount of trust kids held for things that they didn't understand yet. Kinda like it was a magic, a magic they would learn when they got older. Keith had stopped believing in magic long before the kids his age did. And as an adult, he could confirm that there was nothing magical about the world at all. Keith had a decent understanding of physics, and the burden of knowledge did nothing to ease his skepticism. He knew all about things like cause and effect, stress and torque.
And he knew this place was just one unfortunate death away from closing down forever. And based on how those bolts rattled, that tragedy was overdue.
"I'm not getting on that," he said firmly, digging in his heels as he pried Lance's grip off his wrist from where he had been pulling him forward excitedly.
He didn't want any of them to ride that obviously hastily assembled monster of shuddering metal named something like Blackhole, or Deathwish, or Final Destination.
He knew his own fear would be ridiculed. But the fear he extended to his club members? He wasn't even sure they counted as friends. Just the people he spent some time around after class. If they knew the extent of his anxieties he would be laughed out of the park. He definitely would be known around club as the guy who was afraid of fun.
Thus, he was doing his best to play it off as disinterested boredom best he could through his clenched teeth and pounding heart rate. His neck and shoulders were so carrying so much tension.
"Dude, it's like you're allergic to a good time!"
"We just ate," he reminded the group. "Don't come complaining to me after you lose your most expensive meal of the month."
Keith swore Lance's whole body rolled with his blue eyes.
"He's got a point," Pidge said, adjusting their glasses as they peered up at the coaster's corkscrews and loops.
"Yeah, sorry man, I'm with Keith on this one," Hunk admitted.
"Not you too! Where is your sense of adventure?" Lance looked as if he had discovered them kicking puppies. What a drama queen.
Hunk apparently thought the dramatics were a little over the top too, based on the side eye he leveled at Lance. "See, I made a vow to never place myself in a situation where I might come into contact with Lance vomit ever again."
"That was one time!" He was waving his arms now.
"Yeah, and if you can't hold your liquor you shouldn't have gone so hard," Pidge admonished. "Come on, let's go ride the ferris wheel. We can hit this one after. The line's kinda long anyway."
