> "... I would probably have wanted her to want me to be a kid...."

She got it way quicker than he had. "I was pretty mad at the ultimatum, but you're right and it took me way too long to figure that out for myself. I wanted... I wanted her to invest in me. To care enough to say no. Being understanding of a situation is one thing. Permissive or absentee parenting is quite another." Wasn't it totally selfish of him to want to take up her time? It wasn't like she was just wasting it. She was an X-man. Doing X-man things.

> "...Family comes in all shape and sizes. I'm still learning that."

Jude moved in close and rested his chin onto Celestina's shoulder from behind. It was weird having such a grown up conversation intermittently with the rides. Better than just moping around, for sure. It let them keep things light, somehow. "Teach me your ways, oh wise one."

Jude's first lesson seemed to be wrapped up in how to be a kid. Laughing seemed to be the result after every ride. The whole experience was unexpected.

> "Did you enjoy it? That was your first realish roller coaster, right?"

"Yeah. I liked it." He bumped into her, an imitation of the steep curves they'd taken. "I liked the bunny hops. That's crazy that the cars just land right where they're supposed to." He offered his hand, all smiles and excitement. "C'mon. We still have to get in a real big, adult one!"

It broke Celeste's heart to hear him describe how he wanted Ghost to fight for him. She was sure Ghost had her reasons, especially considering their circumstances, but kids always needed that extra love and attention even if they act like they never wanted it to begin with. At least, it seemed that way most of the time. Not everything was that black and white - most things were more in the grey area, anyways. But kids were kids and ultimately kids wanted to know they were loved. She understood where he was coming from - from a different perspective, of course, but she still understood.

She gave him an encouraging smile, "It can be really hard when you go through those kind of feelings. It's hard when they don't put effort into taking care of you." She sighed a little, she knew all too well what it was like when a parent didn't put any effort into her. It was a pretty terrible feeling, "Especially considering all the other crazy stuff that was going on. Well, had happened but in the future. At least, she finally did put her foot down on it. Have you talked to her about it at all..?" He probably had. And maybe it was a nosy question. But, she was curious, anyways.

She felt his chin on her shoulder and she had a big grin. It was warm and she couldn't help but chuckle at his joke, "Wellllll, I don't know about all that." She knew he was joking, but she really had no idea what she was doing. She was just trying to do her best. 

She laughed even more as he bumped into her. She pretended to trip a little, before bumping back into him. She was glad he liked it. It was a little rougher than she remembered, but it was great with him. She loved the bunny hops but she didn't trust any coaster enough to actually land correctly, though. He seemed to enjoy it, which made her excited. Not to mention, his excitement and smiles made it all worth it, "Yeah, it is pretty wild. The other ones probably won't be as like... whip lashing." 

She grinned and grabbed his hand, "Onwards!" It looked like the next one was definitely a big, adult one. It was the Super Flight - a very fun, twirly coaster. The line looked a bit long, so they would probably have a few minutes to just hang out in the line. It seemed like the tiny drop in weather made everyone else want to come to the amusement park, too. Of course, that just meant more holding hands and stuff. That was something Celeste was more than happy to accept. 

Had he talked to Ghost about it? "Ehhhhh. Is that a conversation you'd want to have with your mom?" She was right, though. Half the problem was that nothing about their situation was normal. Hell, even if it was normal, he wouldn't want to say it. "And at this point, I'm legally out of the house. I don't want bad blood. I just want to be done." At least, that's what he thought he wanted. So far it was working out okay. He actually was an adult now. He was mostly getting treated that way. That was what he'd asked for.

She grabbed his hand and made a gallant effort at dragging Jude out of him glum mood. Some people made it easy. Celestina was such a breath of fresh air that Jude hadn't realized how much he'd been stewing in the bad. It really was time to move on.

Move on and strap in.

"This one is connected on top." He did not like his feet dangling over nothing. There was quite a lot of nothing. "My first real one and it's got not bottom." Did he mention that there was nothing under his feet? Jude swung his legs around and wished that he had a different mutation. Today, he wasn't flying anywhere. Not even if this thing dropped him.

That was part of the allure, wasn't it? His heart kicked up a gear as the coaster inched forward to allow the last passengers on.

"So. If I scream like a little girl, you'll still think I'm cool, right?" He joked just as they took off. He wasn't that scared, but he definitely felt a jolt of adrenaline, a rush of excitement. Yeah. He saw the allure. This was what it was like to square off against an opponent, to think around all the angles and to take a risk. It was just a questionably safer way to go about it.

Jude sagged in relief and disappointment when it was over.

"That only lasted, like, a minute!" They'd stood in line way longer than that.

She gave Jude a perked brow and she shrugged, "It's good to talk about things, but I get your point." It wasn't like she had any room to talk, after all - she never had a conversation with her parents. Granted, in her situations, her parents refused to actually have any conversations with her anyways. No bad blood, moving on from the past, it was a good idea to have.

She nodded in confirmation, "Very true! Sometimes the best thing to do is to just let it die in the past. No reason to bring it up if you guys are moving on, now. Of courseeee, if there's any weird stuff, I'd have to say my recommendation would be to have a huge, cheesy, tear induced session of sharing feelings." Maybe she could become a counselor? She gave him a smile and squeezed his hand. She was joking about half way, of course. She wasn't in his shoes and would never understand the feelings in his situation with Ghost so she only had some probably not helpful advice to give.

She chuckled as he made some comments on about there being no bottom. It was a pretty scary ride, especially a first ride. This would make all the other rides easy, though! Do the hardest ones first so the rest are easier. Maybe that didn't apply to roller coasters, but he would get a good sense about what it was. She laughed, "I'll still li-" she was cut off as the coaster shot off from the loading area. Woo!!! She let her hands waive around in the air and she screamed with all the other passengers. It was a pretty fun ride.

Once they were back on the ground, it took Celeste a moment to regain her footing. She hadn't been entirely prepared for the after effects of being in the air with no ground and being twirled, spinned, and everything else all around. She gave Jude a big grin and she nodded, "Yeah, they go by so quick. It's so sad, especially considering how long the wait is." She shrugged, "Just the way of the coasters." 

She got it. Without him having to belabor the point. Celestina was kind of the best. And kiiiiiiind of the worst for dragging him on a ride that felt like the best parts of a fight and the worst parts of a flight.

"C'mon!" He was quick to grab her hand this time. No wobbly knees and no regrets meant it was easy enough to get into the next line.

And so it went. They picked a line, waited, spent an exhilarating few seconds in the air, and came back down to earth in order to do it over again, but in a new way.

"Uggggh. That might be my least favorite one yet." They’d just exited the Big Drop which was exactly as it sounded. They’d gone up slowly and then all at once come right back down. It’d been a sitting ride and Jude’s legs had flown up on the drop. He thought he might lose a shoe, but that fear was short-lived.

"The best ones are the long ones with the tracks, I think. Are you hungry?” They’d been running around for a while now and the first tinges of red were hinting at the sunset to come. "I hear there’s way overpriced foods that just have to be experienced to be believed.” He teased.

Celeste really enjoyed being with Jude. He was fun, serious, and he had a complicated past. Right like her. Even their situations were similar. Plus, their friendship just seemed natural - they could go from serious to joking in a matter of seconds. It was good to have that kinda friendship (or more.)

Not to mention, their roller coaster date was, at least so far, a huge, huge success. Even he was super excited after their feet dangling in the air coaster. That's what roller coasters did, at least for Celeste. She was terrified but then she was addicted to them. It really wasn't all that fair how captivating they were and how short they were. Not to mention, the stupid lines... 

She nodded her agreement, "Yeahhh, this wasn't the best one. They are definitely not as fun as the ones with the long tracks." Some of them have a special charm, though. She particularly liked the lady bug carts that spun in circles, but she hadn't seen that one in the park. Was she hungry? She had to think about it for a second before she realized that yes, she was. She nodded, "Yeah, actually. Not to mention, it'd be a bit nice to rest my feet." Despite their few minutes on rides, the majority of their time had been walking and standing. 

She giggled, "Be prepared for a 10 buck water bottle!" She then took off towards the direction of the food court area with Jude in hand. Once they reached the food court, they had several - a few local varieties, probably only in the park. There was some of the bigger chains, like McGreasy, Subway, and a Chipotle. There was a bunch of other smaller vans - ice cream, coffee, cotton candy, pretzels, Italian ice, all sorts of fun stuff. She perked a brow towards Jude, "So, here we are, full of extremely overpriced greasy goodness." 

"How will we ever decide!?" The lament was real. So was the as-advertised huge cost for a water bottle. "You know, I thought walking back from Canada was rough, but my legs are about to fall off." And the seats were all, unsurprisingly, very full. Jude strained up to his tippy-toes and back down. One problem at a time.

"Mmm. I don't think it's worth waiting on a chain food store and paying twice as much. How about soft pretzels as big as your face. That line doesn't look too long." Jude gave Celestina's hand a tug in the direction of the pretzel cart. The line was shorter than the Big Drop's and they had cotton candy, italian sodas, and a few other not terribly filling but yummy looking foods.

Somehow they'd just gravitated toward hand holding between almost every ride, like there were magnets involved. Or maybe it was a safety thing. Safety in numbers. Don't get lost. All that.

Or maybe it was just a little bit... on purpose?

Jude chewed his lower lip and checked on his friend who was a girl and who had suggested this whole crazy ride. He really hadn't been in the market to care about another person.

"Celestina, I..." Was entirely too serious entirely too fast. He always did this and this wasn't a Disney movie. It was his life. "I-I think there's butter flavor." A terribly lame cover up, but an attempt was made.

Smooth, Jude. Smooth.

She giggled, "I do not knowwww," she exaggerated. She nudged him playfully. She didn't really have any cravings, but she knew they probably should be careful on whatever they decided to eat - after all, if they decided to get on any more coasters, it could come with a terrible price. Eek! She laughed, "Yeah, this has been a doozy on my legs. We could probably find a bench somewhere and sit..." 

She nodded and gave him a grin as he tugged her along to the pretzel cart. She loved how they had basically held hands almost every time between rides. And just about all the time they had, they were holding hands. It made her heart flutter, her stomach full of butterflies. He gave her all sorts of tingly feelings. She could only hope she made him feel as much as he made her feel.

She enjoyed pretzels anyways, so she really had no complaints. Plus, as they arrived, the pretzel cart had all sorts of goodies - pretzels, Italian sodas, cotton candy (definitely had to get some of the cotton candy before they headed off to another ride.) 

She heard her name and his voice change to... Serious. She perked a brow at him and gave him a soft, warm smile. He followed up with... butter flavor pretzel? Of course there was butter flavor pretzels here. Her smile grew a little bigger and she squeezed his hand, "Is there something on your mind?"

She wasn't quite sure what he was going to say. Maybe it was something good? Maybe it was a confession that he needed to leave? Hopefully, he didn't have to run off to work again. She really wasn't sure but there was a slight relief when he mentioned better. Granted, most people didn't say someones first name and then mention a flavor of pretzel. Not to mention, she could tell that's totally not what he meant. "I mean, that's what I was planning on getting, actually. Who doesn't love some buttery goodness on a pretzel?" 

It was almost their turn in the pretzel line. 

There was so much on his mind that it was all starting to make thinking a bit difficult.

Celestina was like way out of his league. And he hadn't really been looking for a lady friend or a friend or an anything. He was still trying to get his life together and figure out where to go and what to do. And she'd been bumping him and leaning into him and holding his hand like it was no big deal. So it should have been no big deal, right? Except that his traitor body was hyper awakre of where she was in relation to him. He liked holding her hand, but even more he liked how they clicked.

So. Was there anything on his mind?

"You'll say I'm lame, but ehm— I feel like you're an old soul, not a kid at all. Sometimes around people my age I feel like they're just dumb kids and—" And it was time to order, not confess. "—you're not."

Jude made his order and then found reasons to not have eye contact. He needed to watch closely to make sure there was enough salt on his pretzel and to make sure the extra jumbo Italian soda was, in fact, Italian... enough? And, of course, there was the problem of no seats. There were no chairs anywhere. Not, two anyway.

"Uh. Maybe if was walk around slowly we can find a fountain or a retaining wall or something." It would be nice to be away from teh crowd as well. You know. For reasons.

Celeste perked a brow and kept her eye on him as she waited for an answer, a soft smile on her lips. Maybe that wasn't the best question to ask. But she had no reason not to ask. They shared deep, intense things to each other pretty frequently. Heck, the first day they met they were literally sharing their stories.

Ultimately, she just hoped he didn't actually say that he wasn't happy, he wasn't having fun, or it was a crappy time. That would have been killer on her. She had been enjoying the time with Jude. Their talks, the rides, all of it. She had no reason to doubt he wasn't but she still was worried.

She listened and she gave him a smile, slight relief coursing through her. Whew, so that was uh, it. She didn't seem like a dumb kid their age. She agreed, too. She felt like an old soul - even physically (she figured that might be due to the probably chronic exhaustion she faced due to her terrible sleeping patterns, but... still.) She squeezed his hand and gave him a more serious look but with a gentle smile, "Jude, I'm not going to think you're lame. Far, far, far from it. I don't think there is anything you could tell me that would make me think that." She gave him another smile, more playful this time, "Kids are dumb, that's for sure." But it was time for their order.

She shook her head. It was so busy. She couldn't believe how busy it was at dinner time. Geez... She nodded, "Yeah, definitely." She fidgeted with her drink, her pretzel and managed to somehow get the map out of her purse. She scanned it closely, "I think there's a small fountain over here, that's actually beside a wall... Doesn't look like it'd be too easily noticeable." Of course, he was going to have to take her word on it unless he could somehow see it on the map. She motioned for him to follow her as she started off towards the fountain.

> "Jude, I'm not going to think you're lame."

"You still have time to change your mind on that." At any moment, in fact. She was a woman— worse, she was a BLONDE woman. She would turn on him eventually. Or she might stick around for long enough for him to stick his foot in his mouth and he'd drive her away. That had happened too. Jude tried not to let that taint the here and now because right here and right now that just seemed impossible.

"Don't worry. I'm just feeling dramatic because my legs are made of jello and there's nowhere to sit." Celestina was ready with the map, though. He put his head next to hers in order to scope it out. Not that it especially helped when nothing looked like a cartoon version and was covered in people.

"Sounds like a plan." He let her lead. Maybe she would have a better sense of direction. She had the map. That meant she could use it, right?

He followed her to scoot around the fountain and hop up on the retaining wall. He bobbled the cotton candy, but it didn't end up in the pansies behind them or on the ground. Eventually they were situated enough to dig in. "Sitting never felt so good." But of course he was still deflecting from earlier. There were a million other silly things to talk about first. And plenty of food to eat. He tore off a bite of cotton candy and passed it over between soft, buttery, pretzel bites. His hungry stomach was telling him it was fully worth the arm and leg that they cost.

"How many more rides, you think?" The sun was sinking. He had all these romantic notions about getting onto that ferris wheel while the sun was setting, but maybe dark was okay too?

She playfully rolled her eyes at Jude, "True, I guess you're right. I still wouldn't think you're lame, though." She chuckled and gave him a wink. She was a bit stubborn when she wanted to be and when it came to people feeling bad about themselves or worrying about things like what Jude was, she became especially stubborn. In either case, they were just getting to really know each other. They were both going to have secrets, bad things about themselves, but they will also have great, amazing things, too. It was just a part of life.

She laughed and gave him a smirk, "Yeah, I can't wait until my legs are not nearly dead. It would be pretty nice." She took off with him following her. In normal circumstances, it probably wasn't the safest or best option. Celeste was not known to really have a good sense of direction. Luckily for them, they found the targeted area. She nearly let out a sigh of relief that they made it. She hopped up onto the retaining wall and let out a sigh of content. Her feet were no longer carrying her weight and it felt amazing to just sit down for a bit. She took this time to take a big bite into her pretzel.

She took a sip of her Italian soda, "This has been amazing but we really need to do this when it's not as busy." She chuckled and looked around the fountain. It was mostly deserted, which was nice. Everyone was probably at the cafeteria trying to either get some food or find a table to eat. Lucky for them, they had this brilliant idea.

She contemplated the question, "Hummm... I mean, I think I'm done with the big rides. Maybe one last one? Plus, this isn't going to really fill us up, but food plus the intense rides aren't a good combination. Maybe like the Ferris wheel, or that one that goes really slow up and down?" She couldn't quite place the name on it, "Or the ship one that goes back and forth." She shrugged, "What do you think?" 

> "... Maybe like the Ferris wheel...?"

"You read my mind." His tone was playfully accusational. "I think I'll pass on the ship unless you want to revisit this pretzel." Oh man. Puke jokes on a first sort-of date. Not a date. Ugh should they officially define this as a date? Jude made up his mind in that moment. He was going to ask her. Officially. But... he also determined that he was allowed to chicken out of the here and now. It was a patently French move, according to most Americans. He could own that.

"Assuming our legs still work when we stand, let's go for the ferris wheel. I was thinking it'd be a nice one to end on." Oh. Hey there nerves. He wasn't sure when he'd let himself start getting invested in what Celestina's answer might be, but there it was. Nerves.

Jude picked around for the rest of his meal, sad for the waste of dollars and glad once he'd determined they'd both had enough and they could go.

"Is there anything else we need to do before we leave? Besides the ferris wheel. Any be a kid traditions I don't know about?" Gum under the seat maybe? He'd accidentally touched on plenty of that. Someone had to think that was okay. It was great that the ferris wheel was so big. Not even the pair of them could get lost when it was looming over the crowd. They didn't have to mess with a map, just look up. Jude brushed his hand against hers, yet again asking without asking.

As luck would have it, since the rush was all for the food court, the ferris wheel was relatively empty. They got in line and were the very last couple to get in before the ride was full. Jude scooted in and did his best to oh so casually put his arm across Celestina's shoulders.

Once the ride started moving, they were isolated in their own little car. Sure, they could see the people in the car in front of them on the dow rotation, but it felt pretty isolated.
Jude tried to drum up his courage. "Would you like to go on a date with me? A real one? I-if you're looking for that kind of thing, you know?"

>>  "I think I'll pass on the ship unless you want to revisit this pretzel."

Celeste couldn’t help but giggle at the joke. Gross, but true. It probably wouldn’t be very nice to revisit their little meal in the form of vomit. With that in mind, “Yeah, you’re definitely right about that… Ferris wheel it is.” 

She nodded her agreement, “I think it would be really nice, too.” She gave him a soft smile, he was adorable. In either case, she took a bit of her pretzel and in the silence, finished away at her meal. She got through most of her meal but, seeing him pick around his, she didn’t really dive too much into it. It would be kinda weird for her to pig out and him just be picking away. Maybe the rides made him not feel too hungry, after all?

She bit her lip, deep in debate. Any kid traditions? She honestly wasn’t all that sure. Sure, she knew the rides, the expensive food, the ferris wheel was the last big thing. She decided on a shrug, “I don’t think so… I mean, we make our traditions, right? So, I don’t think so. The rides are the big stuff. I mean, the only thing we didn’t do was try to win a giant bear from those little game things.” She didn’t really care about trying to get a bear from one of them, either. She wasn’t sure if he had room for a huge bear, but she sure didn’t.

And suddenly, they were on one of the ferris wheel car. It seemed suddenly… A lot more intense, really. She felt his arms go over her shoulders and she naturally felt herself lean against him as she took a breath. There were the butterflies, the nervous, good, weird feeling in her stomach. 

>> "Would you like to go on a date with me? A real one? I-if you're looking for that kind of thing, you know?"

Her eyes widened a little bit at the sudden question. He said the big ‘d’ word. She kinda viewed this as a date, but she wasn’t entirely sure if that is what it would really be called. She turned a little red and moved her face so she could look into his eyes before nodding slightly, “Yeah, I would love too.” She smiled and giggled a little, “I was considering this a, uh, sort-of-kinda-date.” 

It was one of those moments where as soon as he'd said it, he wished he could take it back. Not because he regretted it,
but because the moment after it was out there, he lived another thousand lifetimes waiting for her reply.

She could say no. She was gonna say no. He was so dumb, how could he have--

> “Yeah, I would love too.”

"What?"

> “I was considering this a, uh, sort-of-kinda-date.”

"Oh. I wasn't even... " trying? Maybe that was why it wasn't a complete abrupt failure. He gave her shoulders a squeeze. How was it possible that she could make everything so seamless? He chuckled, nerves getting the better of him despite the 'yeah duh' Celestina had just dropped on him. Yeah. Duh this was a date. "I... am an idiot. I just-- You caught me off guard and you're so smart and funny and I like you." More words he wished he could take back.

The ferris wheel rolled slowly around and everything swung as it stopped momentarily to let someone on or off, Jude had lost track.

"I like you." His free hand came to touch her jawline. No hiding. He had to know... was it possible that she liked him too?