"Ugh." A woman impatiently looked at her watch. "He said he'd be here seven minutes ago," she said aloud to no one in particular. The taps of her foot were covered up by the hustle and bustle of the carnival around her.
The scent of funnel cake filled the air accompanied by screams and laughs of adults, children, and Pokémon alike. This did nothing to soothe the impatient lady's anxiety.
"Maybe he got lost," she assured herself. She idly bit at a French fry that she ordered; she already ordered for her boyfriend since she knew his favorite. "There are a lot of food stands around here."
The woman played with her hair idly to keep busy. She hasn't heard from him on her cell yet. He's usually way better about this, she thought.
Five minutes passed. Now she was starting to get worried. "He's awful with directions, but this is ridiculous." She picked up her cell phone and decided to call him.
Beep…
Beep…
Beeep…
"The caller you are trying to reach is not available at the moment." The droll voice of the generic recorded message on my compounded her fears. "If you would like to leave a message, please press one." She jammed her finger on the 1 button.
Beep.
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Her sudden shouting made the people in her immediate surroundings jump and anyone who could hear her turn in her direction.
"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO WANTED TO TAKE ME OUT ON A DATE BUT YOU'RE LATE!" Her anger at her beloved soon melted into worry as she held the phone. "Why aren't you here yet?!" She asked worriedly into the phone. The people in the vicinity slowly went about with their business.
A gentle finger tapped her covered shoulder. "Maybe he was held up?" a quiet, timid voice suggested, obviously scared of riling her up even more.
The woman turned on her heels, ready to shout at him until she realized that he was her date.
"You're here!" She happily exclaimed. She went to hug him, but he gently pushed her away.
"Remember the last time you tried to bear hug me, Angie?"
"I wish I could forget," Angie responded. "You were worried sick for days, ya big goof," she jokingly added.
"Ehehehe…" He sheepishly scratched the back of his head while looking down at the floor. "I wish you wouldn't forget about the giant spike poking out of my chest.
"Of course I don't forget," she pouted. Angie playfully poked the giant, red spike poking out of her boyfriend's chest. The action made him shudder.
"You know I'm sensitive there!" the Gardevior said to Angie, overcoming his sheepishness to look annoyed.
"Which is why I touched it," she said as if speaking the obvious. "Eat your food before it gets cold, Don."
Don's eyes shot up. "Oh!" He finally noticed the food that Angie ordered. "Thanks a lot!"
Don promptly sat on the opposing side of the table, eager to start eating. He shifted around in his seat a little.
"Having trouble with your dress again?" Angie teased.
"You know it's a robe," Don responded, nonplussed.
Once he finally got into a comfortable position, they started to dig in. They seemed to have a silent agreement to enjoy their food and not interrupt their eating.
It was one of the only things people noticed they had in common at face value. Don was quiet when Angie was loud, Don was polite when Angie was boisterous, and things like that.
They had an unsaid equilibrium between each other that they both appreciated.
"You know," said Angie when they finished their meal, "in the 6 years I've known you, not once have you been this late."
Don raised his eyebrows. "Really? I didn't think I was too late," he apologized. "I'm sorry about being so late."
"Of course you should be!" Angie's volume raised once again. "You shouldn't keep a lady waiting!"
"The last time I remember you doing anything ladylike was when you thanked me for getting your bra for you this morning," Don deadpanned with a sly smirk.
Angie raised an eyebrow of her own as a smirk also broke out on her face. "Well, Mr. Gentleman, remember the time you jumped into my arms because you were scared by some Mimikyu on Halloween."
Don's face became beet red. "Don't remind me," he groaned as he buried his face into his gloves.
"Or how about when we met at the Masquerade Ball and you fell flat on your face trying to catch me?" Angie's smirk widened from teasing her boyfriend. It widened even more when he started groaning into his hands even more.
"If you're done, we've still got a date to go on." Angie rose from her seat, gripped Don's hand tightly, and started striding on into the carnival, not caring if she was dragging her boyfriend or not.
The rushed footsteps behind her told of the Gardevior trying to keep pace with her speedwalking.
"Angie," Don started to say as he got alongside his girlfriend, "how about I lead the way this time?"
"Oooh, this will be interesting." They both came came to a stop. "Where are we going?"
"It's a surprise, mon amour," he spoke.
Angie rolled her eyes. "You're such a dork." She stood on her tippie toes gave him a quick surprise kiss. "You know I love it when you do that.
"L-let's get a move on, shall we?" Don stammered.
For all his attempts at romantics, he gets awfully flustered by them, Angie though with a mental giggle.
Don slowly led the way to the destination only he knew of. The smells and sounds of the carnival were alive all around them, but the only thing they could focus on was each other.
"You look beautiful today," Don said to break the silence.
Angie giggled. "You say that every day."
"It doesn't make it any less true." His eyes took in every single detail of his girlfriend like his girlfriend was doing to him.
"You're clothes look beautiful on you," he complimented, looking at her plain purple shirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers. They were casual wear at best but they accentuated her natural beauty, he thought.
"Thank you," she said, "although I'm not sure if they means a lot coming from Mr. "I Only Wear One Outfit 24/7."
"It's family tradition!"
"Why are you the only guy in your family following that tradition then?"
"You know I like being a Gardevior," he harrumphed. He preferred the natural grace and elegance of his kind to the branch evolution Gallade. Plus, he liked the freedom his clothing brought him.
"Still doesn't change the fact people still think you're a lesbian," Angie snarkily retorted.
Their mutual banter went on this for several minutes, both parties loving it and never wanting it to end.
Don suddenly stopped, surprising his girlfriend.
"We're here already?" She inquired, sounding somewhat disappointed. When she looked past Don, however, she was stunned.
How did she not notice this giant Ferris wheel this entire time?
Each car was modeled after a Pokémon, some cute like Piplup and Mew, some cool like Druddigon and Darkrai, and some out of place like a Pokémon egg and...former champion Lance?
She chose to ignore that one for now.
Don gently guided her to the Ferris wheel line like a prince would escort his maiden to a ball. He even kneeled and gave her hand a kiss.
She erupted in childish giggles. "You're such a charmer."
They enjoyed each other's company in silence as they waited for the next available car.
"They say that you can see all the way to Almia from the top of the view," Don stated, breaking the silence.
"Huh. You could probably teleport us to Almia sometime."
Don give a quiet laugh. "I wish."
"Next!" The next car in line, a Piplup car, was open to them now. Angie gave some tickets to the man running the wheel and they promptly entered the cart.
"It's roomy in here," Angie stated. She sat down, her short stature meaning she couldn't even touch the floor. The seats were rather high up; even Don could barely put his feet on the ground from the seat.
"Have fun, you two!" called the operator before closing the doors. The Ferris wheel swung to life and started moving the couple high up into the sky.
Angie was amazed by the view from below: the bright lights and rides all looked even more glamorous from high up. "Don, this is beautiful!" she loudly stated.
"It sure is." Don, of course, was talking about Angie. Her blonde curls went down to her shoulders in a perfect wave of gold, her eyes were starry green with amazement, her clothes accentuated every single perfect curve of her body.
This was the time.
Don felt nervous on the inside, but quickly dispelled the feelings away. If you could ask her out after the ball, he thought to himself, you can definitely do this.
"Angie."
Angie turned around. "What is it, honey?"
Don closed his eyes and took a deal breath. "Angie, you're the most wonderful person I've ever met. Every single thing you do excites me like nothing else, the way you laugh, the way you talk, the way you look, everything about you is perfect.
"We have our differences between us, but that only makes me see how beautiful you are even more. If whatever God may be up there ever tried to take you from me, I'd fight Him tooth and nail just to get you back. I've never stopped loving you, nor will I ever stop."
Angie was almost crying with joy. Her smile beamed more at Don than the carnival lights ever could.
"My love," he continued as he got upon one knee, "I never, ever want to spend a single moment of my life without you ever again. You sometimes annoy me and I sometimes annoy you, but we love each other anyway, don't we?"
Angie nodded, now shedding tears and smiling widely.
Don reached into his pocket and produced a Love Ball. He opened it up to reveal a beautiful armband with a Key Stone inside it.
"Angie, will you do me the honor of making me the happiest man in the world and marrying me?"
"Yes, yes, yes, yes! Of course I'll marry you!" She tackled her now fiance into a giant hug, minding the giant protruding spike on his chest. "I've been waiting for you to ask me that for years, damn it!"
Their lips collided into a tender, loving kiss. They ignored the lights of the carnival and the movements of the carnival for now; all they wanted now was to never be apart.
Angie finally broke the kiss and excitedly put on the engagement band. "This is so beautiful! You always know what to get, Don!"
"Well, you could say I'm psychic," he lightly joked.
"I'm so glad that we can start a new life together!" Angie bubbled.
"I'm glad that I didn't mess up the proposal."
"We're gonna have to start having kids soon, you know," Angie said to Don with a seductive look in her eyes.
Don became very flustered and red in the face. "After the wedding, ok-kay?"
Angie pouted. "Fiine."
"Family tradition, remember?"
"I know, I know," she responded. "Let's just start planning that wedding already!"
"Let's enjoy the rest of the night first, okay?"
After a moment of fake consideration, she shrugged and said, "I guess."
They walked out of the Ferris wheel together, hand in hand and now fiances.
"Where did you get this anyway?" Angie asked, gesturing to her armband.
"I had to do a lot of last minute shopping to get that ready," he explained.
She playfully pushed him. "You should have told me you were getting something, dumbass. I would have understood."
"I wanted it to be a surprise," he defended.
"And what a surprise it was!" she exclaimed. She got up on her tippy toes to kiss Don again.
"I love you so much," Angie whispered into his ear.
"I love you too," Don whispered back, caressing her cheek.
Angie pulled away from Don and gripped his hand in hers. "Now let's get some funnel cake!" She ran off again, this time making sure Don was keeping pace with her.