It had been a few months since Noll first joined the Fieldwork Laboratory when their team was called to investigate an allegedly haunted house in a rural village.
As it happened, a travelling funfair was also visiting at the time, situated in a field just outside the village. Both Gene and Madoka had their eyes on it from the moment they arrived, and as a result, Noll and Lin spent the case with an underlying feeling of dread unrelated to the presence of spirits in the house.
Predictably, once they had collected their data, purified the spirits, packed the equipment away, and climbed into the van, Madoka announced their next destination: the funfair.
Noll and Lin shared an uneasy glance.
"...Shouldn't we head back to the lab so we can start analyzing the data?" Noll said.
"Oh, what's the hurry? The data can wait! It won't go anywhere."
"Yes, but this isn't what we came for. It strikes me as a frivolous distraction—"
"Which is just what we need right now! We've spent a week in that rotting old house, faced unspeakable horrors, and still have a long drive ahead. We need a break!"
Gene raised his hand. "As the one who was personally facing the unspeakable horrors, I agree. I need cheering up!"
"But—"
Madoka clapped her hands. "That's settled, then! Let's go!"
Noll sighed.
They arrived at the field in no time and Lin parked the van. But as everyone began filing out, he remained in the driver's seat.
"Please enjoy yourselves," he said. "I'll watch over the equipment."
"Nonsense, Lin! You need a break too."
"Then I could sleep in the van—"
"And leave a defenseless young woman and two children to fend for themselves?"
Lin sighed and exited the van. Defying this Laboratory Chief was truly an exercise in futility.
The four of them made their way across the field.
"It's too bad Schrodinger couldn't join us though," Gene said.
"Who?" Noll deadpanned.
"The fifth member of our team! Honestly Noll, you really do need to start remembering his name." Madoka shook her head. "But yes, it's too bad he caught that nasty stomach bug and couldn't come on this case."
"Maybe we can get him something as a souvenir…"
Meanwhile, Noll had already forgotten that person's existence.
A ticket booth stood at the entrance of the fair. They headed here first.
"Excuse me, is this fair free of charge?" Madoka asked the man in the booth.
"Entry is free, yes. But you'll have to pay for the rides." The man pointed to a sign listing prices for ride tickets.
"All right," Madoka said, getting out her wallet. "My treat."
Gene whooped.
The man smiled at the party before him. "We also have a Family Pass. Would you be interested?"
There was an awkward pause. Then Gene snorted and ducked his head.
Madoka turned to Lin with a troubled look. "Oh no, we don't look that old, do we?"
Lin looked aghast.
Gene snickered.
"We'll take the pass," Noll said indifferently. He wanted to get this over with quickly and the less hassle, the better.
And so, equipped with their Family Pass, the team embarked on an afternoon of fun.
Gene surveyed the fair, hands on his hips. Children ran past, laughing. Bright colors jumped from every painted booth, and a cacophony of music, mechanical roars, and distant screaming echoed in the air. He breathed in, and the scent of popcorn and candyfloss filled his nose. Yes, this was just what he needed right now.
He turned to his brother beside him. "So which ride do you want to go on first, Noll?"
"I don't want to go on any rides," Noll frowned, arms crossed.
"Right, then we're doing the rollercoaster!"
Gene grabbed Noll's arm and dragged him toward the rides.
Behind them, Madoka turned to Lin expectantly. He began to sweat.
"...Would you like me to hold onto your bag while you join them? So it doesn't get in the way?" Lin suggested.
"That's so sweet of you, Lin. Please." She gave him her handbag, which was surprisingly heavy. But at least he managed to avoid the rollercoaster.
Twenty minutes later, Madoka and the twins returned, all with delightfully mussed hair.
"We're going on the Waltzer next!" Gene announced. "Lin, want to come?"
Lin held up Madoka's handbag. "Unfortunately, I can't."
Noll sent him a glare before he was dragged off once again.
They spent another two hours on rides. Noll looked utterly defeated by this point, so Madoka decided to call a break.
"My, time just flies by when you're having fun, doesn't it? Lin, could you be a dear and go buy us ice cream?"
Lin nodded, returned her bag, and went to find the ice cream stand.
So far, Lin was feeling pretty good about how this was turning out. The place was noisy, and sometimes small children stared at him as they passed by, but he had to admit, the change in scenery was refreshing after staring at screens for a whole week.
"Two chocolates and one strawberry, please." Lin paid for the ice cream and somehow managed to balance holding three cones in two hands. Carefully, he walked back to the rest of his team.
But just as they were within sight, a young girl ran in front of him, causing him to pull up short.
SPLAT.
A scoop of strawberry ice cream landed against his belly, leaving a cold, pink stain in the middle of his white shirtfront.
Lin sighed. Of course he couldn't come away unscathed.
"Oh no, what happened?" Madoka asked when she saw him, though she couldn't hide her amusement. Neither could Gene, who ducked his head to cover his grin. Noll was too exhausted to even raise his head in the first place.
They decided to browse the various booths as they ate their ice cream. The twins walked ahead, Gene pointing at games and commenting on them, while Noll followed on autopilot.
Madoka didn't seem to mind having one less scoop of ice cream. She nibbled at her cone, smiling at the boys ahead of her. "Look at them. They actually look like normal teenagers for once!"
"I suppose," Lin said. "But don't you think you took things too far? Noll looks rather...lethargic."
Madoka waved her free hand. "It's fine. He needs to enjoy his youth while he can! At this rate, he's going to be sitting in a stuffy lab for the rest of his life, and he's barely had a childhood as it is. He might hate it now, but it'll be good to have a memory like this to look back on someday."
Lin smiled. "I suppose you do have a point."
"Of course I do." She winked. "And of course, we're still young too. Now, how good are you at throwing darts?"
Gene looked back, noticing that Madoka and Lin had stopped by a certain booth and started playing a game. He nudged Noll with his elbow.
Ooh, look! They're finally spending time with each other! If we slip away now, it'll totally turn into a date.
I wish you would stop trying to push them together, Noll thought, halfheartedly licking at ice cream. Interoffice relationships are ill-advised.
I can't help it though! Gene glanced back again, making sure they were distracted, and grabbed his brother's arm. Come on, now's our chance!
They slipped in between booths and emerged in the next row. Noll thought the whole thing was stupid, but he didn't mind escaping Madoka's clutches for the time being either.
They finished their ice cream and wandered on for a while longer, until Gene noticed a little boy crying next to a crane game.
"But I waaant iiit!" the boy bawled.
The boy's father, looking harried, popped another coin into the machine. "Okay, just one more time. Then we have to move on."
The twins watched as the claw slowly moved toward a Batman doll, then slowly descended. The fingers opened up, closed around the doll's head, and attempted to carry it upwards. The doll was already slipping even as the claw began to make its way back to the corner.
Aw, that's not gonna work, Gene winced.
Of course not, Noll thought. It's obviously rigged. Those spindly arms couldn't support the weight of any of those prizes.
Sure enough, the doll slipped through before the claw could even make it halfway. The little boy bawled again.
Gene nudged his brother. Hey, I have an idea.
A moment later, the twins stepped up to the machine.
"Excuse me," Gene said to the father, who was currently still trying to calm his son. "Can I have a try?"
"Yes, go ahead," the man sighed.
Gene popped a coin into the machine and took the controls. Okay, I'm counting on you, Noll.
Noll stared into the prize pit. If anyone were paying attention, they would have noticed the Batman doll begin to levitate even before the claw made its way toward it. Then they would have seen the Batman doll floating next to the claw, moving in unison back to the corner. Fortunately, the father and son were too preoccupied to notice, and there was no one else standing near them.
The doll plopped into the opening and Gene retrieved the prize. "Heyyy, look what we got!" He handed it over to the boy, who immediately stopped crying.
The father looked like he might cry in relief. "Thank you! But...how did you do it?!"
Gene shrugged. "Got lucky, I guess!"
Noll rolled his eyes.
The father and son left, the boy waving back at them enthusiastically with the doll clutched to his chest. Gene waved back, smiling.
"We should probably go find Lin and Madoka now," Noll said, looking at his watch. "It's getting late."
"Just a minute." Gene peered into the crane machine. A grin crossed his face.
Hey, care to do one more?
"There you are!" Madoka huffed, hands on her hips. "Jeez, where were you two? We've been looking all over!"
"Sorry, sorry!" The twins hurried over. Gene carried a stuffed bear under his arm.
Madoka peered at it. "And what's this?"
Gene held it up, grinning. "It's a Care Bear! Cute, right?"
"Ahh, a souvenir for Schrodinger?"
"Who?" Noll yawned.
"Actually…" Gene turned to Lin. "Here, Lin! We got it for you!"
Lin blinked in surprise. He accepted the bear, looking oddly touched. "...Thank y—"
"Look!" Gene pointed to his stomach. "You match!"
Lin looked down at the pink stain on his shirt, and then at the pink heart on the bear's belly.
Madoka broke into giggles. "Like father and son! How adorable!"
Even Noll couldn't help but smirk.
Lin sighed wearily. "I suppose I should have expected this."
Nonetheless, he kept the bear. And later, on the drive back to Cambridge, with the van's other three occupants conked out from a full day of play, Lin had to admit that this might be a memory worth looking back on.
Author's Note:
I wrote this story for the Ghost Hunt zine, Familiar Keepsakes, which had a theme of 'Family.' So I figured I'd write a story about the original SPR family! But to be honest, I've been wanting to write something about them for a long time. Like...imagine this team dynamic where Naru has absolutely no power, and both he & Lin are subject to the whims of Madoka & Gene. Imagine the shenanigans!
As for the obscure joke I threw in...it's referring to how SPR's Fieldwork Laboratory was described as having a "five-person team" in the short story His Reality. Do we know who the fifth team member is? Are they ever mentioned again? Are we even sure this mysterious person actually exists? NO. A few years ago, I was working on a different story focusing on the original SPR team and faced this dilemma of whether to just make up an OC or ignore the person's existence altogether. This time, my solution was to do...both. XD
Oh, and as for the Lin/Madoka hints (if you choose to see it that way), I don't have strong feelings about the pairing either way, but I do think Gene would ship it, lol.
Anyway, I encourage everyone to check out the Ghost Hunt zine, which you can find at ghosthunthq on Tumblr, for more great stories and art!