Notes: Another cutesy oneshot, I swear I will get busy on longer things. For now, enjoy Yuri and Anastasia on a date. A side note, in these, Yuri is twenty, Ana is nineteen.
The carnival had been Victor's idea. As he drove past it, he remarked that they needed a little down time. Through protests, and cheers, he turned the car around and drove back to the carnival. He even paid for everyone's band, his treat, he said.
He and Yuuri decided to split the group up. They offered to take Tatyanna off her sister's hands and left before Anastasia could protest. She and Yuri stood by the ticket booth and watched them leave. Anastasia pulled at the plastic band on her wrist that allowed them to ride any ride without having to constantly return to the booth for tickets.
"We can't stay here all night," Yuri told her. He reached for her hand to urge her away from the ticket booth.
"Victor Nikiforov," she muttered. Her black ponytail bounced behind her as she shook her head in disbelief. Somehow, he managed to coax her and Yuri into doing something they did not want to do.
"He does what he wants to do," Yuri replied. He pouted, as he was not a huge fan of the bright lights and silly music. But a free night was a free night.
"But I haven't even finished your costume!"
He threw his arm over her shoulders and pulled her close. "We're here now, might as well make the best of it."
Anastasia smiled timidly and nodded. They went off in the direction that Tatyanna had dragged the two men off in. Most likely, the trio was long gone and found something fun to distract themselves with. They passed booths with snacks, deep fried food and sugary sweets. They past tables, with men and women calling out to them, trying to coax them into playing games for prizes. One table held a display tank full of lively goldfish.
"Please don't let Tatyanna bring thirty of them back," Anastasia groaned.
"I'm sure she couldn't possibly win that many." He thrust his hands in his pockets. He did not want to admit it out loud, but he would not be surprised if, when the five of them met up again, Tatyanna did not have a goldfish. Or ten.
They continued down the path of the carnival. Once they stopped in front of the Ferris wheel, Yuri said something about not letting their bands go to waste. "Though it would show Victor..." he added.
"No, you're right," Anastasia said. Together, they took the steps leading up to the ride and flashed their wristbands to the operator. He seated the two of them together in a car, then slowly raised the ride to allow others on.
"What do you think Victor was doing?"
"Huh?" Yuri looked up. The question surprised him.
"He clearly had something on his mind other than Oh, look, a carnival!"
Yuri tried not to snicker at her imitation of Victor. He slid closer to her on the seat and said, "If I had to guess, I think he's trying to push us together. If not that, then give us a date."
"If it's the first part," Anastasia began, "the joke is on him." She sighed and leaned her head against his arm. "If it's the second part..." Well, he had them both there. The two of them rarely had time together to go out to dinner or a movie or even on a walk. Victor and Yuuri kept him busy on the ice, and she was either sewing costumes or taking care of her sister.
He looked down as she laced her fingers with his. A smile twitched at his lips. He would not thank Victor, but he could enjoy the night.
As the ride started, Anastasia glanced up. "Oh, wow," she breathed, "it's so beautiful."
"It is," Yuri admitted. The twinkling city lights and the bright lights of the carnival down below were a wondrous net of colors at the peak of the ride. The noises became a dim hum, with the occasional shout, cheer, or pop of a breaking balloon to punctuate it. Anastasia looked at Yuri, then looked away, her cheeks becoming a bright red.
Neither of them spoke much during the ride. They instead sat together, fingers entwined. It was a bit disappointing when the ride ended, but Yuri pulled her out of the car by her waist. She laughed and began to blush again.
"Another ride?"
She pointed to a snack stand and asked, "How about something sweet first?" They walked together and looked over the small selections offered. Yuri cringed at the sound of some of them, including the deep fried candy bars. "Cotton candy?" she asked.
"If that's what you want."
Anastasia was given a large cone of blue and purple sugary fluff. "I can't eat all this!' she exclaimed as she pulled a piece off. She popped the sweet into her mouth and sighed. It was so good. But she was still sure she could not eat all of it. Even as she nibbled, it felt like the candy did not go anywhere.
"Are you sure you don't want any?" She pulled off a chunk and offered it to him. Instead of taking it in his hand, Yuri ate it from her fingers and even licked the remaining purple sugar off them. She squealed as he did. He grinned devilishly at her. "You..." she began.
"I'm glad you blush easily," he told her as he took another piece of cotton candy, this one off the paper cone. "It's cute."
She did not know whether she should be angry or pleased at the compliment. Together, they split the rest of the sweet treat. Anastasia dropped the paper cone in a trash can and took Yuri's hand. To her surprise, he led her to another ride.
"I did not expect you to want to go on that," Anastasia said.
It was true, the duck boats were not something that Yuri would be interested in. She had expected the bumper cars, or even the haunted house to catch his attention. "Since we're here," he told her.
She felt confusion as they were led to a duck boat. She was also a little wary about being on the water, though it was no doubt very shallow. A gentle jolt sent their duck down the faux river and into the tunnel of love.
'What are you planning?' she thought with a side glance at Yuri. The tunnel was dimly lit with rosy pink heart lights and lined with swaying paper flowers. She turned to Yuri, wondering if he wanted to mock the cutesy little design of the ride. As she turned, he cupped her chin in his hands and lowered his lips to hers.
Anastasia was surprised at first, but then she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed back. He slid his fingers through her hair and was pleased to note to himself that her lips tasted of grape cotton candy.
As he finally pulled away from the kiss, he muttered an apology.
"Why do you have to apologize?" Anastasia asked.
"I wanted to do that privately, so it was either here or the haunted house, and I figured I was less likely to kick a robotic cherub."
Anastasia's laugh echoed off the fake walls of the 'tunnel.' For the several minute duration of the ride, the couple kept stealing kisses from one another. As the little duck neared the exit, Anastasia began to giggle. "Your hair is a mess," she whispered.
"Yours too," he whispered back, his breath hot against her neck. They disembarked the little boat and returned to the rest of the carnival. Neither wanted to play any games, and the rides had lost the appeal after the tunnel of love. Anastasia was just happy to enjoy Yuri's company.
Yuri enjoyed hers as well, but he seemed to have one last thing on his mind. "Come on," he said as he saw a familiar face in the crowd. It was Tatyanna, and she stood in line for the bumper cars along with Yuuri and Victor. None of them saw them as Yuri and Anastasia slipped into line a few people behind them.
They exchanged a look and nodded. They were still unnoticed as each rider was led to a car. Anastasia was pleased to note no goldfish in her sister's hands, though she had a large plush fox and a bag no doubt full of smaller prizes and treats.
"Are you sure you want to ride by yourself?" Anastasia overheard Victor ask as she sat in her own pink car. Yuri caught her eye from a red car nearby and mouthed something to her. She nodded and stifled her laughter.
After every car had been taken, a buzzer sounded. Before Victor could even move, his own orange car was hit from two sides. "Hey!" He looked around, then smiled when he saw he had been double teamed by Anastasia and Yuri.
Tatyanna, who also saw it, laughed and shouted what Yuri had mouthed to Anastasia just moments ago. "Get Victor!"
Victor cried out and began to laugh as he was hit from all sides. "You too, Yuuri?" he asked as his husband's blue car reversed to hit him again.
"Just following the crowd!" Yuuri called as he hit Victor again.
Victor managed to get a few hits in, but in the end, he was more jostled than anyone else had been. "You four are terrible, terrible people - " he said as he tried to put his messy hair back to something resembling a neat style.
As the sisters laughed, he, too smiled. Yuri, his face not betraying the fun he had, said, "No, it's terrible to drag people to a carnival just because you wanted to come."
As Tatyanna asked if they could come again, all Anastasia and Yuri could do was groan and feign disinterest.