🥇🥇

his idea sounded fantastic, but she knew she would never get the chance to even switch her phone to dnd before the first calls came through. the standard order had been to come back, just to be safe. in that kind of chaos, who knew what could have been missed. she spent so long pulling glass from wounds, it might have been the smallest oversight. she wouldn't risk it.

Ash had just dropped March off at the airport, feeling the weight of the world pushing down on his shoulder as reality was sinking in that he now had to deal with it all. He had been putting it off, wanting to make sure the precious time he had with March wasn't wasted on stressing about it all, but now that he was gone, it was sinking in fast. He still didn't know what to do, the entire drive back to Carroll was honestly painfully stressful, he couldn't help but let his mind wander to all the worst things that could happen. The silence was honestly too nerve-wracking because his thoughts was all he could hear, but turning on the radio was a back choice, the Tea was the first thing on and it was recapping everything from the night before, starting with his own piece of news flash, blasted out as a recap from last night. "Ugh.." Ash cringed as he changed the channel almost immediately, playing whatever music the next radio channel was playing. Even then his mind couldn't stop crashing out with stress, he wanted to not have to do this alone, he wanted his sister with him for a little bit. So when he drove, he made a turn for Ruth's.

already too far away, she gave up quickly and pulled out a box of fruit snacks and a half empty container of trail mix to try and sort through. she knew that something was wrong, but she never pushed. she and ash didn't have that kind of relationship, they never had. it'd taken her weeks to say that her mom had disappeared, bad news always took a long time. never pressured, always present.

"expiration dates are guidelines, trust me." and if they weren't, she'd figure out the solution to that later. it was of course: walk over to the grocery store, but she'd have to get to that next week. this week, she took a sip of tea from the awkwardly shaped clay mug that was still clean, and she waited. "i can handle anything."

Davin raised a brow, “oh.  Well I was playing a game outside and I heard this rustling in the trashcan.  I wasn’t sure what it was, but it was him.  I caught him, he nearly bit me.  But, I managed to get him inside and gave him food. He seemed to trust me after that.”

At her response, he nodded.  “Alright.  So maybe dance then get a few more drinks?  I am thinking of requesting ‘It’s tricky’ and we do the White Girl’s routine.  You in?”

was that too forward? assuming she would get to come over to the house someday soon? no, it wouldn't be— would it? whether they were friends, or something else that was yet to be labelled. why shouldn't she come over and meet the little bandit. before any of that could escape, he gave her the next topic to jump to.

"i can confidently say i don't know that routine." given enough of a notice, she could have learned just about anything. but, she'd only prepared for the outfit change that may or may not be coming depending how silly the night got. she hadn't watched as many movies as she should have growing up, something she tried to fix by mainlining culture every chance she got. "but, i can be the loudest cheerleader in this place."

Near the bar, Davin rambled on how he heroically saved a trash panda from starvation and provided food and shelter.  However, apparently through his excited retelling of the story of how Bandit became a Holiday he lost Ruth somewhere along the way.

“Bandit is the trash panda I saved.  He was going through our trash and I caught him and adopted him.”  With that, he pulled out his phone and began showing her pictures of Bandit.  “This one he is peeing on Vinny’s pillow…I forgot to tell him.  It was a whole ordeal.  But who can stay mad at this cute face?”  He commented pointing to himself, teasingly.

“So, do you want a drink or shall we go on the dance floor and outshine everyone with our skills?”

her first instinct was to ask about bites, but she tried to turn off the part of her brain that insisted on work with another sip of her drink. dates weren't for discussing the potential of rabies, or anything of the like. or maybe they were, but she had a hard time believing that aggie would be enthused with the conversation topic. so, she tried for something a little nicer, "where did you find him?"

After calling in a few favors from one of his friends, he managed to borrow a vehicle for the evening for him and his date.  Davin pulled up in a 1960 Chevrolet Corvette in Ashton’s driveway, his hands tightened around the wheel a bit nervous.  He met Ashton at the fair and the man seemed like a decent person, even managing a smile out of Davin.  But, this felt intimidating picking up Ruth while all her friends got to gather around.

Finally, he exhaled and placed the vehicle into park before reaching over to the passenger seat to grab a small box.  As he excited the vehicle, he headed straight to the door and rang the doorbell.  Relief flooded his features the moment he saw Ruth answer the door.  “Wow,” he mumbled under his breath, just in awe of her beauty.  “Um, hi. I uh.”  He smiled as he fidgeted with the box.  “I got you this, it is probably lame. You don’t have to wear it, if you don't want to,”  Davin rambled as he opened the plastic box to reveal a yellow corsage to match her dress.

"hi." she smiled, feeling the pink rush to her cheeks as she saw that he was equally as nervous standing at ashton's front door. before she could invite him in, he'd kept talking, opening the box he was holding to reveal the perfect yellow roses waiting for her. "for me?" she felt the happiness in her voice, the gesture growing her shy smile in a true beam of sunshine. the corsage was lovely, something she hadn't even thought of. "i didn't get you a boutonniere, i'm sorry!" she took the box, stepping aside so he could stand in the foyer while she put the flowers around her wrist.

ashton wanted to say hi, to introduce himself, something which was so cartoonishly older brother that she couldn't talk him out of it. but, of course, it went well. she didn't truly believe he could be a threatening figure, though she tried to give them just a little bit of space before she pulled him out the door so they could catch up before heading over to the reception.

the festivities were just as promised, more extravagant than she'd imagined they could ever be. though, she hadn't spent much time in port carroll growing up. even now, they'd elected to spend the early hours of the party in the older parts of carroll. she almost spit out her drink, the tequila soda which was a familiar order in a panic, choking her as she tried to understand what davin was explaining to her.

"what me? -no," he huffed at the accusation, something about the competitiveness between them, its what truly made them both really good athletes. "Are you gonna get sick?" He eats the rest of his bagel as if in a challenge, hopping off ready to go, as long as she can leave her post. He poked his head around the tent to see, "no queue in the early morning, we should strike," he grinned back at his sister, masking any nerves of riding something intimidating, and stupidly scary.

"You go, I go." That has always been their modus operandi.

grown adults riding the roller coaster, still running across the ice to see who was the fastest. she appreciated moments like this. they'd been so few and far between when she was in new york. but in the past few months, they'd fallen back into a rhythm so easy that they finished their bagels at the same time.

you go i go. it always was as easy as though. "alright, lead the way."

He nodded, glancing down at where she had stitched him up after the storm. His arm was... "Doing good," he answered honestly, running a hand over the bandage covering the wound. "Itches like crazy. I'm ready to get these stitches out," he joked lightly, giving it a rub before letting his touch slip away completely.

How he himself was doing was another thing entirely. The storm had triggered his PTSD, unexpectedly, and his nightmares had returned. So, sleep hadn't been finding him well, always the beginning of his fall. But he'd grown accustomed to hiding it and knowing when it was too much for him to handle alone. And for now, the gym was a good alternative to his bouts of insomnia. "How've you been? Finally getting a break after the mayhem of Nikita?"

"i can take those out in a few days." she had more than enough supplies on her dining room table to make short work of it. "if you want to skip the check-up." it was an offer, just there as she always made sure to have for her friends. she guessed, right or wrong, that oscar fell into the category of those willing to skip an appointment or two. she'd rather do the work herself than let it fall to the wayside. "i can do a house call."

Sweat dripped down towards the arch of his brow as the two of them followed the arrows on the screen, trying to jump on the correct arrow just in time.  Davin was not sure how many rounds they had played, but he was sure feeling the soreness in his joints.

“Okay, I gotta admit.  You got some skills,” he commented as he looked over at his partner in DDR.

With his hands on the metal bar, he leaned back to try and stretch a little before hopping off the arcade game.

Davin looked down at his watch, pretending to check the time.  “Supposed to get smoothies with Vinny after he gets off work, but willing to give him a raincheck if you want to grab some pizza and then ice cream afterwards?  What do you say?”

her purse was overflowing with the tickets they'd gathered, a mess that she hadn't had time to fold in an orderly way between the ideas that the two had thrown out for the next game. "really?" she didn't want to be the reason that the brothers didn't get a chance to spend time together, weighing the ideas. "i mean," a slice of pizza sounded like just the fun kind of splurge that time at the arcade would end with. she studied his face for a second, "yes, definitely. if you don't think he'll mind."

Ash pressed down a smile as he considered the gesture, maybe it would be nice, even if it's still a whiles away before he got to see March again. "Maybe if we're ambitious, we get two each and we'll have something to keep ourselves too," he joked, no one each was already a stretch trying to think which game they can actually game the system. "I think I figured out the dead hang challenge, every other carnival game is still a rig."

"ride the coaster and everyone will respect you." maybe that had been been middle school, it seemed every few years the most dangerous ride on the she loved picking the most dangerous ride, trying to find the one way to get all of the adrenaline out of her system in a single loop. it was worth a try, or it was worth the memory. they would find out.

"but— everyone i want to see is here anyways." it was an easy admission. it wasn't as though she'd let the job hold her back from trying whatever friend monstrosity was waiting at the end of this line.

A small mischievous smile grew as she reminisced on the last time they really enjoyed the carnival together, probably as kids, "wanna at least do one ride? You can choose whichever you want. For old times sake." It felt like they both grew up really fast and free time slipped away once they were both old enough for serious competitions on the ice. "Really? Seems like fun if I get to hang with you, plus you can renew my first aid license," he huffed, pretending to be insulted that his help was not warranted. His tone softened once she asked about March, though, turning to focus on his own bagel, "he's still in Tennessee.. probably won't be able to be back till the summer," shrugging light before he scoffed away the shy smile, "I promised Vivienne a prize, I'm not sure if I'm capable of two, ..think he'll want one?"

"of course he will." if she couldn't have made it back for the fair, she would have liked the gift. it was a gesture, the reminder that even though he was states away his friendship was still meaningful. it was more. "i'll get one, you get the other."

Once she gathered all her items, he motioned for her to walk with him.  “I think I saw it down this way.”  Everything was starting to blend together, so he hoped he was right about the funnel stand.  “So, why are you at the emt booth instead of just enjoying the fair?”

it was mostly a joke, she had no plans to take advantage of the offer, no matter how generous it was. she followed his direction easily, keeping up with the question, though she didn't have much of an answer. "i have to make up some shift hours." winning had given her the edge in approval, but residency requirements waited for no one. she also didn't mind the schedule, spending as little time home alone as possible. "and this isn't a terrible way to do it." she liked having the base camp too, it didn't hurt to find the shade especially once noon hit. "it's fun to wander. i know, i know. i'll learn."

"I did promise Viv I would try and win a prize for her, I could snag you a plushie too if you want." His shoulders nudged hers as he joked. "Or we could sneak onto a ride when you're free. It's been awhile since we got to hang out," he admitted softly, even if they saw too much of each other in Milan, it was still work for them there, "has it just been full on CMC work since we got back?"