A/N - This story is dedicated to justlook3 for her birthday today. Happy birthday!
There were no new cases in the clippings book. Although that should have been considered a good thing, the world was safe for another day, Jacob Stone couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.
No cases didn't mean no work. Jenkins was taking advantage of having the LITs invade his annex by giving them busywork to keep them out of his hair. On this particular day Jake and Cassandra were organizing the card catalogue and Jones was...well no one was really sure where Jones was.
"I'm gonna kill him," Jake grumbled to Cassandra.
"Who?" Cassandra asked, not bothering to look up from her work.
"Jones! Who else?"
Cassandra shrugged. "You're just annoyed that he was smart enough not to come in on a day Jenkins was having us work on the card catalogue."
"And you're not?" Jake put the last 'E' card away and slammed shut the drawer before moving on to the 'F' section.
"Personally I'm more curious as to why we have to organize the card catalogue as often as we do. I'm starting to think Jenkins messes it up on purpose just so we have something to do."
Jake stopped for a second, the weight of Cassandra's words sinking in. Just as he was about to agree with her, Jake heard footsteps coming into the annex. The two LITs both looked to see Ezekiel walking in without a care in the world.
"And where the hell have you been?" Jacob asked, closing the drawer and marching down the stairs, leaving Cassandra behind.
"Didn't you hear, mate?" Jones asked. "The carnival's in town."
"The carn...ca...you skipped work because you were at the carnival!?" Jake choked out the words like it pained him to ask.
Jones just nodded in response, a wide grin on his face.
"So while Cassandra and I were bustin' our asses organizing the card catalogue you were, what? Eatin' cotton candy and riding the freakin' ferris wheel!?"
"Oh, you know Jenkins just messes that up so we're forced to reorganize it. I found a better way to stay out of his hair," Ezekiel said. "Besides, you should be thanking me. Because of me, you and Cassandra got some one on one time."
"Who got one on one time?" Cassandra asked innocently as she headed down the annex stairs to join the conversation. "And where have you been?" Her tone was light with just the slightest hint of annoyance.
"Jones here has been at the carnival!" Jake answered for the thief, his voice full of a playful sarcasm.
"Oh, fun! I've never been to a carnival before," Cassandra smiled wistfully.
"Never?" Jake asked her. "Not even as a kid?" Cassandra shook her head.
"What kind of parents don't take their kid to the carnival?" Jones asked.
"The same kind of parents who tell their three year old that Santa Claus doesn't exist," the red head answered matter of factly.
"I always loved going to the carnival when I was young," Jake smiled at the memory. "My sisters and I would always ride the bumper cars together, and before we left we would all share a giant tub of caramel corn."
"Not to mention all those people with their wallets ready for the taking. It's a thief's paradise," Ezekiel flashed his infamous, wide grin while the other two just stared at him.
"You've really never been to a carnival before?" Jake ignored the thief and turned his full attention to Cassandra, who simply shook her head. "Well darlin', get your stuff. It's about time someone took you to one."
"What about the card catalogue?" Cassandra asked.
"Jones can finish. He already went to the carnival. Jake narrowed his eyes at Ezekiel, daring the kid to say anything snarky.
"I guess I walked right into that one, didn't I?" Jones' grin faded.
Cassandra ran off to grab her things, leaving the boys alone again.
"Just remember, mate. You owe me," Jones said to a confused looking Jake. "Thanks to me, you and Cassandra are going on your first date."
"It's not a d…" Stone started to argue, but his voice trailed off as the red head rejoined them.
"Ready to go?" Cassandra asked Jake, who nodded in response. Cassandra waved goodbye to Ezekiel as the two of them turned to leave.
"You kids have fun now," the young thief called after them. Jake took a second to glare at him over his shoulder before leaving the annex. He had the whole afternoon to spend with Cassandra without having to worry about magic getting in the way, and he refused to let that kid get to him. Despite what he had told Jones, a part of Jake really did want to think of this as a date. He just wasn't ready to admit that quite yet.
…
Any annoyance Jake had left in him completely disappeared when he pulled his truck up to the carnival and saw the smile on Cassandra's face. It was not unlike how she looked when she discovered that Santa was real. Stone couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness for the little girl who had been deprived of her childhood, and he was determined to be the one to set things right.
The two LITs got out of the truck and walked toward the carnival entrance.
"Is it everything you thought it would be?" Jake asked, a little uncertain. His town had held an annual carnival every summer and he remembered he was about 13 when the magic started to die. He and his buddies would still go when they were teenagers, but it just wasn't the same.
But Cassandra had never been to a carnival before, and the magic was very much alive for her. Jake couldn't help but smile as the redhead looked all around, taking in all the sights and smells. It was funny, he thought. He knew magic was real, had come face to face with it numerous times, but there was nothing more magical than Cassandra's smile.
The two of them walked around, not participating in anything quite yet. Cassandra gazed up at all the rides, studied the games, and eyed the food. Jake just watched Cassandra.
"So, what do you want to do first?" He asked her after they had walked the grounds completely.
Cassandra thought for a moment. "You said you always enjoyed the bumper cars. How about we do that?"
Jake led the way to the ticket booth and bought a roll of tickets for the two of them to share. Cassandra offered to buy her own, but Jacob wouldn't have any part of it.
"Not a chance, Cassie," he said with a smile that caused his eyes to crinkle. "I invited you here, this is my treat."
"Thanks, Jake," Cassandra smiled back, and the two of them headed towards the bumper cars.
As they approached the ticket taker and each headed to their own car, Jake suddenly wished Cassandra had picked a ride where they could have sat side by side. He supposed they technically could have shared a car, but that would have defeated the purpose of bumper cars. This was really more the kind of ride -the only ride- he would have liked to have Jones there for. He chuckled to himself at the thought. Oh, he would have loved bumping that smug smile off the kid's face.
While lost in thought the ride seemed to have started up and suddenly Jake felt his car take a hit. He glanced up to see Cassandra grinning wickedly at his shocked face.
"Oooh, you're goin' down for that!" Stone narrowed his eyes and stepped on the gas pedal, getting in one good hit before Cassandra managed to steer her car away. For someone who had never driven a bumper car before, she certainly was sneaky. The redhead managed to get her car behind Stone's before he had a chance to turn around and before he knew it, she was pushing him into the corner.
"You sure you've never done this before?" Jake called out as he tried to maneuver his little car backwards out of the corner while Cassandra continued to smash into him. Just as he managed to back out enough and angle his car towards hers, the buzzer sounded and all the cars stopped. Cassandra giggled as she hopped out of her car and skipped over to Jake.
"That was fun!" she beamed at him.
"You liked that, did ya? You do realize I was goin' easy on you." Jake tried to look unamused by her antics, but it was hard to even fake looking annoyed when she just looked so darn cute.
Cassandra playfully swatted his arm. "Sure you were. Don't worry, I won't tell Jones. So what should we do next?"
Jake was about to suggest something like the ferris wheel or the scrambler, anything where he and Cassandra would be forced to sit close and he could possibly get up the courage to put his arm around her. However, as they left the bumper cars station they came face to face with the merry go round and once again Cassandra's eyes lit up.
"Oh, Jake! Can we go on the merry go round next?" she didn't even give him a chance to respond. Before he knew what was happening, Cassandra's hand was wrapped around Jake's arm and he found himself being dragged towards the line. He didn't have the heart to protest, especially when she was touching him like that.
When they were let on, he followed Cassandra around the structure until she found two horses she liked. Cassandra hopped onto the gold one and Jake took the black one next to her. At least this time they would be side by side.
Cassandra grinned as the ride started up and they began to move up and down. She looked all around, enjoying the vintage look of the structure. Jake found himself smiling too, though his eyes never left the girl next to him.
"You think this is cool, you should try the real thing some time," he told her.
"I would love that!" Cassandra answered, her eyes finally stopping to meet his. "You grew up riding, didn't you? Would you take me sometime?"
Jake just nodded his response, not quite trusting his voice to answer for him.
When the ride finally stopped Jake slid off his horse and offered a hand to Cassandra to help her down. Once she was dismounted, the two started to walk towards the exit, neither one of them bothering to release the other's hand.
They soon found themselves in the midway, and Jake noticed that the balloon popping game had an assortment of stuffed cats available as prizes. Knowing that cats were Cassandra's favourite animal, he really wanted her to have one as a souvenir from her first carnival.
"How about I win you one of them stuffed cats?" he asked, leading her over to the booth. Reluctantly releasing Cassandra's hand, Jake paid the man running the game and was given five darts. He then proceeded to whip them at the board, all five darts bouncing off the balloons and landing on the ground.
Cassandra giggled. She couldn't help it. The combination of Jake's macho attitude toward the game, followed by his stunned look of not popping a single balloon, it was all too adorable.
"Jake, remember what Baird said?" she asked. "Smarter, not harder."
"And I suppose you could do better?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her, and paying the man for another round.
Cassandra shrugged. "The way these darts are weighted, they don't generate enough energy and momentum to go through the balloon," she explained as she took the darts that were handed to her. "But if you throw them in an arc," Cassandra threw one of the darts in an arc, effortlessly popping the balloon. "gravity helps create the momentum you need. It's just math, really."
Jake watched as she then proceeded to throw her remaining four darts, each in an arc, popping every balloon she aimed for. As much as an ego hit the whole situation was for him, he couldn't help but feel impressed. He loved watching Cassandra in her element.
"Okay, I'll admit, that was impressive," he said as the man behind the counter handed Cassandra a purple, plush cat.
"So what other must have carnival experience do I need to have?" she asked as she tucked the toy under her arm and the pair of them walked away from the booth.
"Well, have you ever had cotton candy?" Jake asked her. The redhead shook her head. "Come on, then."
They walked over to the concession stand where Jake paid for two sticks of cotton candy. He handed one to Cassandra and took one for himself. The two of them walked the grounds side by side as they enjoyed their treat.
"Oh wow! This is…" Cassandra took another bite. "really, really sweet. But good. No wonder my parents didn't want me around this stuff as a kid."
Jake chuckled. "Yup. It's basically just sugar on a stick, every kid's dream. I still can't believe you didn't get to enjoy this stuff growing up."
Cassandra shrugged. "It wasn't so bad. At the time I didn't know I was missing out on anything. Though looking back, I did miss out on a lot."
Jake smiled just slightly. "Well, there's still time left to catch up, darlin'." he took the last bite of his cotton candy and threw the stick away, then took Cassandra's empty stick from her and tossed hers in the trash as well. "Speakin' of time, we've got time left for one more ride. We still haven't gone on the ferris wheel. You can't go to the carnival and not ride the ferris wheel. What do you say?"
Cassandra smiled and nodded, and the two of them headed in the direction of the ferris wheel. Jake felt like a teenager again, excited at the prospect of just sitting next to the girl that he liked, of their knees bumping, and their shoulders touching. Not to mention nervous about whether or not he should attempt to put his arm around her.
His fear disappeared the second they were both seated, however. Whatever calming effect he had on Cassandra during one of her spells seemed to work both ways. Just being close to her put Jake at ease. He relaxed into himself as the ride started up, stopping several times at first to let more people on. Finally the ferris wheel started moving continuously, and Jake heard Cassandra gasp beside him.
"It's so beautiful at the top," she exclaimed. "You can see everything!"
"It's quite the sight," Jake agreed. The two of them rode in silence for another minute, before Jake finally decided to say something. "Hey Cass-" he started, but Cassandra had started talking at the same moment.
"Jake-" the two of them laughed awkwardly for a second before Jake encouraged Cassandra to speak first. "I just wanted to thank you for today. Honestly, this was the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me."
"It was no trouble, Cassie," Jake smiled shyly, struggling to look her directly in the eyes. "Really, it was worth it just to see you smile."
Now it was Cassandra's turn to be hit with a sudden shyness as she looked away and watched the sun set over the carnival.
The ride began stopping again as it started letting people off. Jake and Cassandra soon found themselves stopped at the very top. Jake knew this was his moment. They wouldn't be stopped long, and with the setting sun, everything was absolutely perfect. He took a deep breath and put his arm around Cassandra's shoulders. She was briefly startled by the contact, her eyes once again glancing over to him. But she soon smiled and leaned into Jake, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Hey Cass?" Jake asked, getting the redhead's attention. She lifted her head just slightly so she could look at him. "There's one more thing I think you should experience."
"And what's that?" Cassandra asked softly.
Jake hesitated just for a second, then slowly started to move in. His left hand moved to cup Cassandra's face, his right arm was still wrapped around her. She tilted her head, leaning into the warmth of Jake's hand and before either of them knew what was happening, their lips touched.
The kiss was soft and sweet, but filled with potential. Lips moving in perfect unison, it lasted longer than one would expect from a first kiss, but the pair of LITs had a lot of catching up to do. Jake's senses were on overload as he took in every second of this moment. Cassandra tasted like cotton candy and smelled like strawberries, and her skin felt warm and soft under his fingertips.
Lost in the moment, the two of them barely noticed when the ride started back up again. It wasn't until they were stopped at the bottom and the operator coughed awkwardly to get their attention that they broke apart, suddenly brought back to reality.
"Oh, uh…" Jake stumbled over his words as he reached into his pocket and pulled out their remaining tickets. "We'll go one more time if that's alright." The ride operator rolled his eyes but accepted the tickets and secured the latch on their cart once again.
"So is kissing on the ferris wheel something that you do every time you come to the carnival?" Cassandra teased.
"No, but it's something I always wanted to try," Jake smiled. "I was just waitin' for the right girl to come along." And with that the pair leaned in again, getting lost in each other's arms and completely blocking out the world around them.