I'm Alive. I'm trapped in Love Nikki hell. Sorry you're getting a random email for this.

Qiangshuang picked up her phone on the 3rd ring. "Yeah, Nikki, we're on the way! Just gotta get Ming out of her dusty library."

Shuiyuan glared at her over the pot of tea. "It's not dusty. I'm doing research on optimizing the internal rotation of my newer machines. We're running into a little overheating issues."

Ruosheng tipped back the last of her drink. "Come on, Miss Scientist. You should come enjoy the day with everyone. It's been a while since we've all been able to gather together."

"Yeah," Qianshuang added, jumping up. "Ruosheng has all the sunscreen and snacks and drinks already. I promise we won't bother you for a week after this!"

"A week?" Shuiyuan swirled her teacup, considering the offer. "Make it two, and we have a deal."

Shuiyuan adjusted the oversized sunglasses perched on her head. "And what, pray tell, is this?"

Qiangshuang laughed and thumped Shuiyuan on the back. "They're teacups! Your favorite thing in the world! Except maybe your machines. Ah, Nikki! Nikki! We're here!"

Shuiyuan raised an eyebrow as Qianshuang sprinted off towards the queue, waving at the pink haired girl among the crowd. Beside her, walking at a more sedate pace, Ruosheng chuckled affectionately. "That's our tiger girl, never happy to sit still for long. Don't worry Shuiyuan; it's just a ride. I'm sure you'll like it. And if you don't, we can always move on to something else afterwards."

They drew up to the back of the queue. It seemed as though Nikki had managed to gather nearly everyone to invade the park that day. Elle and Ace leaned over the fence, pointing at one of the spinning cups and discussing the best path to take. Shuiyuan could see two of her fellow graduate students swinging their niece between them.

She nodded at them. "Yongxi, Yuxian. Good morning."

"Good morning Shuiyuan. Is your research going well lately?" Yongxi asked solemnly, as if they were in the student lounge rather than standing next to oversized teacups.

"Yes, thank you for asking."

There was a chorus of groans from the ride as the teacups slowly spun to a standstill. The previous riders filed out, some a little wobbly on their feet. Shuiyuan raised another eyebrow.

But before she could say anything, the gate opened, and the group of Miraland academy students streamed into the enclosure. Nikki, Kimi, Lunar, and Bobo squeezed into a large pink cup together in the center. Ace and Elle beelined for a bright purple cup on the far side, and the rest of the Iron Rose styling club grabbed a nearby crimson cup with silver trimmings. Yongxi and Yuxian argued for 10 minutes before following their niece into another red cup where the paint had been sun-bleached bright white on one side.

Qianshuang and Ruosheng dragged Shuiyuan over to a bright purple and teal cup.

"You ready?"

Shuiyuan stepped calmly out of the cup as it slowed to a stop, her eyes gleaming. I never knew how smart park designers were! The mechanism of how you spin the wheel one way, but the cup spins the other could be incredibly useful in my machines!

Behind her, Qianshuang and Ruosheng staggered out of the gates and collapsed on to a bench, gasping.

This is a joke-ish fic I wrote while running around in the LN Discord today. Three individual scenes; make of them what you will.