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The air smelled of food, paired with the less pleasant scent of dust and metal. The lights blinded you both, and screams of joy filled your ears. Beside you stood your partner, Builderfan, in his usual attire. Gray hoodie, blue jeans, black Converses, and an orange undershirt. On his head sat his typical hard hat and silver headphones. His hair was tied back, leaving his bangs out, but he still wanted to get it off his neck. He had a childlike grin plastered on his freckled face, a telltale sign of his joy.
He didn’t get out much. From running the Doomspire to researching The Evil, he didn’t have much time to himself–and, in a way, that made him feel incredibly guilty. Less time to himself meant less time he had to spend with you, and the last thing he wanted to do was make you feel neglected. This is why, as soon as you brought up the idea of going to a fair, he’d dropped everything he was doing. H3LP3R could handle things while he was gone for a little while, right?
Your eyes landed on a ring toss booth–hanging from the canopy was a large Drakobloxxer plushie, bright red with ivory spikes that ranged from the top of its head all the way down to its tail. It was absolutely massive–from head to toe, it was around 4 feet long. Around its neck was a “collar” made of thick twine with a sign that read “30 POINTS”. You couldn’t help but be drawn to the stuffed animal, and Builderfan immediately picked up on your interest. “You want it?” He asked, to which you nodded in reply.
The shopkeeper strode up to the booth, slamming dosh on to the counter. He had a little… okay, maybe he had more than “a little bit” of dosh to spend. But hey, you deserved it! You two hadn’t been able to go on a date for years now. As nice as it felt to just have dosh on hand thanks to how much he made from his shop, you were his main priority. You deserved to have something to cling to when he wasn’t there. That was why he was absolutely determined to win this for you.
You watched from behind as he was handed three rubber rings. The booth attendant stepped aside, staring as Builderfan aimed for one of the bottles before him, organized like bowling pins. You wondered how many people had visited the booth, though the thought was quickly overshadowed as your eyes fixed on your partner’s movements. He was hyping himself up, but when he finally threw one of the rings–
–It landed directly between two of the bottles.
He stared blankly at the discarded rubber for a moment before grabbing another one. “Look, I’ve got this. I’m not… my brain’s scattered from all of the rides, that’s it!” He brushed the loss off, tossing another ring. This throw had a little bit too much force behind it, as it clipped one of the bottles in the back row, but ended up falling behind the display. His face deadpanned. Yet, your giggles managed to quell the growing frustration towards himself. You tried to stifle your sounds, but to no avail. It was funny, but in a pathetic way. Despite this, the shopkeeper knew you weren’t laughing at him. Before he knew it, he began giggling with you. He had to admit, it was silly.
He grabbed the last ring in a half-hearted attempt, yet his toss had too much momentum yet again. Instead of getting upset over it, he shrugged it off. There’s always later, he’d supposed. He doubted anybody would get all of the plushies anyway–there were multiple of its kind, all in different colors. Not to mention the smaller stuff that could be won if you didn’t get all of the rings onto a bottle.
“Let’s go grab some food. Whaddya want?” He changed the subject, refusing to linger on the loss. You shrugged, looking around at the vast array of vendors. Corn dogs, kettle corn, loaded nachos and fries–the possibilities were endless! Not to mention all of the sweets–god, you were practically salivating at the sight!
You both ended up settling for a taco stand, sitting down at one of the wooden benches as you both ate. You’d gotten an array of your favorite toppings on your own tacos; meanwhile, Builderfan got cheese, and that was it. He didn’t really like toppings on tacos. He hated how messy it got when you tried to eat it, and he hated how most of it seemed to get away from you when you took a bite. So much flavor, just landing anywhere else except your mouth–how contradictory was that?!
As you both ate, silence fell between you. Not awkward because neither of you knew how to start a conversation, but instead, comfortable because you both knew you didn’t have to do anything to impress the other. It was nice not to have to put up a facade just to impress somebody. In a way, that was something you both loved about each other–there was no need to fill the silence, because the silence wasn’t eerie. It was comforting.
“I, uh…” Your partner started, causing your head to immediately perk up. “I’ve gotta go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back, ‘kay?” He stood up once you nodded your head, basically sprinting to what you could assume was the nearest bathroom. Well, “bathroom” was putting it the wrong way–more like a porta-potty that wasn’t completely covered in fecal matter. Whatever, you suppose. You continued to eat, the silence becoming uncomfortable the longer Builderfan was away.
There’s no way he was taking this long. You’d seen Taco Bell nights with him, but tacos didn’t really… get to him like that. Your mind began to race with worry the more you thought about it. Where was he? Had he run back to the Doomspire? You noticeably saddened at the thought. This was supposed to be your night out–he’d told you so! There was no way he’d lie to you like that, was there?
Your thoughts swam around in your head like fish in a bowl, finally being silenced by a hand on your shoulder. You flinched away from the contact, your body going into fight or flight mode. However, you were only met by your partner, who was standing… very awkwardly, to say the least. He held his hands behind his back like he was holding something and concealing it from your view. He was sweating and panting, his behavior making it evident that he had run back to you.
“Sorry, sorry, I know I took a while. I wasn’t… hhahh…” He slightly leaned forward, his head fuzzy as the overexertion overtook him. “I took longer than I thought I would!” He panted out, still holding his hands behind his back.
“What do you have?” You inquired, your nerves ebbing away slowly. At that, the shopkeeper grinned, his braces showing through his smile.
“Close your eyes.” He ordered softly, his smile growing. You cocked a brow, yet you complied with a smile of your own. It wasn’t like he’d give you something like a Subspace Tripmine; he was playful, but he wasn’t mean!
“Put your arms out.”
You hesitated before reaching your arms out, palms facing up.
Then, a slightly fuzzy texture was pressed into your arms. Your eyebrows raised at the texture, yet you didn’t open your eyes.
“Now…” Builderfan moved the object in your arms, a sigh leaving his mouth as he stepped back, proud of his work. “Open your eyes.”
As soon as you opened your eyes, you gasped. The Drakobloxxer plush you’d been eyeing a few minutes ago now lay in your arms, akin to a bridal position. You carefully pulled the large stuffed animal towards yourself, cradling it as if it were a baby. This caused your partner to giggle breathlessly, sitting beside you as you examined it up close. The mere action was wholesome enough to almost make you cry.
“Do you like it?” Builderfan asked softly, almost as if he was asking for your validation. To that, you nodded vigorously. You shifted your grasp so you were holding the plush in one arm, wrapping your free arm around your partner’s waist as you began to pepper his face in light pecks.
In that moment, you knew he’d never abandon you. He might leave for a little while, but he’d always come back to you; and that was all that mattered.