going bovine

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with that either. Perseverance is a quality that we should all have. You should be proud of yourself," Erin pointed out, offering the younger woman a smile. She tore off some of the funnel cake she was offered before she slid her own plate of French fries towards the other. "Or animals in general, I would presume?" She asked, knowing that Cherry had grown up on a farm. "Now that I've settled into eating every kind of hot sausage they offer, I don't want to overdo it on the rides. I was on the swings earlier, and my stomach couldn't handle it. But I wouldn't be opposed to having another go on the teacups, though."

"I like that word. Perseverance. It's kinder than what I said." She wrinkled her nose as she said it. She'd had more than one friend accuse her (in good humor) of being excessively stubborn. She popped a fry in her mouth before shrugging. "Yeah, I'm big on the animal front. Growing up on a farm steal any scrubs you of any squeamishness so if you've got a spider in your bathroom, I'm your girl." She paused for a second as she looked out over the fairgrounds and considered Erin's offer. "I'm going to take a rain check on the teacups. Promised my sisters the first ride of summer." She shrugged. "Family tradition."

"Yeah, I don't think I can argue that. How is it possible that's he's both ugly and cute at the same time?!" Sam said with a laugh and put the stuffy on the bench just so he wouldn't accidentally bring it with him. He accepted the offered funnel cake and said his thanks. "Oh, yeah. Tried darts earlier, won nothing so I can definitely agree that the rides are more fun. Granted, I didn't spend two hours at it so…"

"I think it's a crossed wire in our head or something. Any even vaguely baby like and our ape brain just goes," she flashed her hands like a siren, "cute, cute, cute." A bit of fluffy cotton and some big black eyes could do that to a person. "Tough luck with the darts. What's been the best ride so far? I've been so laser focused I haven't been able to even do a perimeter sweep and see what the got this year."

Candice had just given both Ayden and Cat a good amount of tickets to go play the games at the carnival. She had ridden nearly every ride there with them and now she was taking a well deserved break. She sat down with a sigh before being slightly surprised to see Cherry sitting next to her. Her eyebrows rose as a smile remained on her face as the woman recalled how she won the very interesting stuffed animal that was suddenly tossed into her lap. "After all that work, are you sure you want to just give away your success so easily?" she grinned. Cat would love the stuffy. Her room was pretty much filled with them at the house. "I take it you mean the eating part of the carnival to be the fun part which I do agree. Where did you get that funnel cake anyway or will you have an extra one in your pocket ready to toss at me too?" she teased with a smirk.

"Oh, I'm not giving him away." She shook her head. "I'm just showing him off." She wasn't above some bragging, especially having grown up as the youngest in her family. Sharing was inevitable when you had three older sisters in the fairgrounds, so whatever she'd earned herself she cherished. "I mean to set him up real good back at the farmhouse." She shrugged at the assumption. "Food, yes, then rides probably. Can't say I have an extra cake but I'm happy to offer you up some." She pushed her plate toward Candice. "What's been your favorite part of the carnival so far?"

"Just as long as that fun doesn't involve you falling in love with a one-legged horse in one of the claw machines. I don't think I have it in me," said Rina with a laugh and a shake of her head. She leant forward, tucking into the cheese fries she'd picked up for herself, staring out at the carnival in front of them. "Time for some rides?" she queried.

"No really?" Cherry's brows lifted in amusement. "Do you think the legs were lost to the claw?" She imagined some poor kid being deposited one leg from a stuffed horse, the tantrum that would follow, and laughed. "Oh, I'm definitely thinking rides. I want to leave the wheel for last but I'm thinking the teacups can wait until this cake has settled. What about you?"

"He's survived evolution." Cherry smiled as she nibbled on her funnel cake. "Truly Earth's weirdest science experiment. But yeah-" she nodded, "-about two hours. Can't say ring toss is my favorite game, or even the best showcase of my skills, but sturbboness won out in the end." Never suspect a Bishop girl of less. "You got any carnival games you are good at?"

"You know what, that's completely valid," she said with a laugh, setting the stuffed animal back down next to Cherry, so as to prevent any missing blobfish adventures. But... not so close that it was at risk of getting covered in powdered sugar, if that was at all possible. "I think that's a beautiful place for him. That way he can become something the entire family can enjoy, right?" Or, arguably, have nightmares about. That, too, was entirely possible. At least they would be cute nightmares. "That sounds like a pretty solid idea -- think you'll all end up squeezed into one teacup, too, or are you just saving the sisterly bonding for the caricatures? Imagining you all wedged in there is kind of funny."

"He'll be the first thing my sister sees at break of day. He'll fit right in with the family portraits." They were all early risers in the Bishop household. Between milking and letting the cattle out to field, chores were at a premium. Morning rituals were, as thus, cherished and distractions unwelcome. Cherry never had a great poker face. She laughed before flicking at the soft flat nose of the stuffed animal. "I give him a week tops. Then he'll just be in my room." She offered Essie some of her funnel cake before shrugging. "I think we could manage the teacup. I'm not scared of an elbow in my ribcage of knocking kneecaps. We always try to do at least one ride or booth together during these things. It keeps the thread alive from when we were little."

“That is the cutest most weird looking plush I have seen in my entire life,” Mandy said, eyes wide. She glanced around for Stelly, because she knew they would probably find something about it and remember it for next time. “I have to find it now. And add it to my collection,” she said, nodding. “But funnel cake sounds good too. Let me jump in a vat of powdered sugar and catch up.” She tapped at her own plate and took a forkful of funnel cake.

"It was," Cherry said, rubbing her hands together to dispel some of the powdered sugar, "one of a kind. I didn't see another one hanging at the ring toss at least. Maybe it's like - limited edition. A failed sale from shark week or something. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you." She smiled as Mandy dug into her own cake. "I dream of this funnel cake in the winter when I'm plowing the driveway for the tenth time."

Sam caught the stuffed animal and raised his brows as he looked at it before letting out a chuckle. "Fair enough. If it's calling to you then it's calling to you, I guess. I admire your persistence." A thumbs up was given as his other hand was still holding onto the stuffed blobfish. "'Now' the fun begins? More fun than two hours of ring toss?" he laughed.

"Come on you've got to admit he's the ugliest, most grotesque cutie ever stuffed with cotton." She was prouder by the moment for her accomplishment. She pushed her funnel cake toward Sam, offering him some as she nodded. "Ring toss is grueling work. The rides will be a lot more fun."

JJ let out a soft laugh in response to her mock salute, playfully rolling his eyes as he pushed Mia's stroller down the path. "The grandparents are both retired with nothing much to do with their time, and they're a little annoying when it comes to sharing their opinions on my personal life. One evening with a toddler who's hopped up on sugar shouldn't hurt," he explained with a shrug of his shoulders. Besides, it was not like he was going to leave her with them for a whole day. "I'm not sure about whether I'd be up for those dunk tanks again. But I can already see the two of you joined at the hip in a few years, being my worst nightmare, no doubt." He let out another laugh at the thought as they reached the balloon stand. "Whatever you want to get her. I trust you, Cherry."

"Ah, you've got the nosy parents . . .I've got the nosy sisters." It was a light jest, she loved each of her siblings, even when they were poking and prodding at what she did (and didn't do) with her free time. "Did you get the 'you're too pretty to be single' chat? Or what about the 'anyone would be lucky to have you' line?" She was feeling decidedly less sympathetic toward JJ's parents by the time they were standing outside the balloon stand. Her smile was crooked when she imagined Mia a little older, a little more mobile and chatty. "I think if me and Miss Mia put our heads together we could convince you to get in that hot seat one more time. Just think of memories." She batted her eyelashes before stepping forward and requesting a pink monkey for Mia. She stepped back while it was being prepped. "Though maybe you are getting a little old for it."

"That sounds like quite the commitment!" Erin laughed softly as she looked up from the hot sausage that she had been nibbling on, her gaze narrowing on the stuffed animal that the other tossed over. She picked it up to take a better look. "Not bad," she commented with an approving nod. "I didn't know you were into blobfishes." Another laugh escaped her lips as she picked up her frozen lemonade and took a sip. "What are you planning on doing next?"

"That, or I'm just incredibly stubborn and a sore loser." Cherry pushed her plate toward the other woman, offering up some of her funnel cake. "So I'm not, like, into blobfishes, but I'm also not not into blobfishes you know?" She shrugged. "I think I've just got a thing for all those animals so ugly they wrap back around to being cute." Maybe it was part and parcel of growing up on a farm. There was very little that grossed her out when it came to animals. Even the most naked, wrinkliest, little thing scratched her cuteness aggression. She looked back out at the lights of the carnival. "Well, I was thinking of hitting up some rides, but it won't be so fun if I'm riding solo. You care to join?"

Essie was fairly certain that between the money she was spending on food and cold drinks, she had probably spent two hours worth of ring toss money, but... she didn't want to let Cherry off the hook that easy, doing her best to keep a smile at bay as she cast the younger woman a skeptical look. "And was this... blobfish worth every single penny?" she asked, holding it up as it was tossed her way, making the blobfish's head move as though it was talking to her, "am I worth two hours of stress and every quarter you ever had?" But Essie suspected that she already knew the answer to that: yes, of course. "What fun are you up to next, Cherry?"

Cherry laughed, covering her mouth to avoid any powdered sugar mishaps. She crossed her feet, knowing that she was smearing fairground mud from her boots on her overalls. "Every hard earned penny," she said. She'd had to come back more than once with dollars exchanged into quarters. There was a couple still jingling in one pocket. "This beauty," she poked at his nose, "is my first victory this summer. He'll go on the mantelpiece until one of my sisters decides he's too creepy." She smiled at Essie. "I was thinking teacups next, and then find that man drawing caricatures. I wanted to get one with all my sisters."

"As a matter of fact, yeah." JJ chuckled softly in response to the other's words. "Of course, I want my kid to have a good time at the carnival, and I'm not going to deprive her of having any sweet treats while we're here. My parents are not getting here until a little bit later, so I figured that I'd fill her up with sugar then, hand her off to them. That way, they can deal with her sugar high while I enjoy the carnival, and I won't have to take her back until after she's crashed." After the trial run at Spring Fling, JJ figured that this was the perfect way to attend a town event with a toddler. Hearing her speak of her memories at the carnival caused him to let out a soft laugh. "Sounds to me like you've had some really good memories here, Cherry. I hope Mia gets to have that, too. But not at my detriment." At least, that was what he hoped for. "You know what? Balloons, it is."

"Man," Cherry tipped two fingers in a mock salute, "with a plan." She supposed parenthood required some semblance of organization. It wasn't her strong suit. She'd come thinking she'd catch the flow of whatever seemed most fun. "The grandparents are a sneaky move. I pity the hours ahead for them." She'd rather deal with a group of moody heifers in the fields than a child in tantrum. (Or sugar delirium) She smiled up at JJ. "I've got some great memories. I'm sure Mia will have them too. Give it a few more summers and I'll be helping her line up to dunk you in those tanks." The balloon stand wasn't far, the kids in the crowd around it happily bouncing around with balloon animals in their little fists. "Any requests for Mia?"

WHO: Pan & your muse!

Cherry shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her overalls. She hadn't meant to stay this late, to get roped into the firework set-up. If she asked to leave they'd let her go in a heartbeat but she hated abandoning her post when the relief was delayed. "We've got professionals for that kind of show. Start setting those off and you'll scare a kid or wind up in the ER down a few fingers." Her humor was dry. "That will really be supporting our emergency services."

STATUS: OPEN (3/5)

"Delaying the inevitable?" Cherry lifted an eyebrow, biting down on the inside of her cheek. She'd volunteered some days to help with operations, but left herself at least some time to enjoy the festivities. "You know, I hold some very special memories of sugar-induced carnival crash outs. Used to snore it up in my parents' truck bed as they rolled us out with stuffed animals and painted faces and full bellies and blue tongues. One of my sisters tried and sneak funnel cake back home one year. Buuuuttt-" she let the word drag out as she looked around, "if you want to keep the peace a touch longer there's always the balloons. The entertainer this year is quite good."