I do not own CSI
Carmen woke up to sunlight streaming through the motel curtains. Jason was bent over studying a map. His back was to her. She threw the covers off of her and walked over to Jason. When she looked over his shoulder, he responded by looking up at her.
"Good morning." Carmen greeted brightly.
Jason muttered a greeting. "We're in Arkansas. It should take us two more days to reach Los Angeles."
"So that's where we're going, huh?" Carmen dug through Jason's bag for her toothbrush.
Jason let her. If she had done that the day before, he would've been mad. He seemed more open today.
"Why don't we take a break?"
Jason continued to study the map. "What do you mean?"
"Let's go get some ice cream." She suggested.
"Why? You're just saying that 'cuz you're hungry right now."
"That's not it. I mean later today. Let's go find an ice cream shop and buy ice cream cones. Last night was pretty rough. We should have fun today."
Surprisingly, Jason agreed quietly. After breakfast Carmen put her wig on and convinced Jason that they should go sightseeing. Carmen was dragging Jason around the area doing things like shopping for souvenirs or sampling some Arkansas delicacies. He was pretty mild about it all. One store they were in the cashier pointed out a carniival was in town.
Carmen immediately begged Jason if they could go. Again, he agreed to Carmen's wish and they were at the carnival. Cheerful band music played in speakers all over the streets of the small Arkansas town. Jason drove forty-five minutes from the motel to take Carmen to the carnival. Little games and kiosks lined the streets.
Clowns and acrobats dressed brightly paraded the streets, harassing bystanders kindheartedly. Jason hadn't done something fun like that in a long time. It was such a long time that he could barely remember how to have fun at such events. Part of his life so far was blowing up bombs. At that moment, he felt different.
He felt freer. Truly, he wanted to smile and laugh again, but he held back. Still keeping a straight face, he watched Carmen try her luck at a ring toss. She only got in two of the five rings through one of the three posts. The further away you threw the rings, the more points you earned for a prize. Carmen didn't have enough points to get a prize.
She turned to Jason and asked, "Do you want to try?"
Jason shrugged nonchalantly and the man gave him five rings. He easily got them all through the farthest ring. Carmen congratulated him and the man presented the prize options. Out of the seven prize options Jason selected a stuffed dolphin. He then gave it to Carmen.
"How is it you're so good at the ring toss?" She asked while they strolled down the street.
"My job requires me to have good self-control and skill." Jason replied.