Work Text:
There was upbeat, bouncy music playing in the cue for the Cyclone. It wasn’t anything special, and the cue itself was sort of boring. Every choir member was glued to their phone, and there wasn’t anybody else in the line behind them. Noel noticed, just by a brief glance, that Ocean was visibly nervous. He brushed this off as a common occurrence. When was Ocean /not/ nervous? Penny and Ricky seemed completely fine, excited, even. They both seemed a little impatient. Understandably, though, as the group was next in line, and the anticipation was killing each and every one of them.
Something seemed off about Constance, too. Earlier in the day, when the choir made the decision to split up into smaller groups, Constance insisted on going alone. Noel seemed to be the only one who was worried about it, even in the slightest. But he was overjoyed that Mischa agreed to go play some games with him. It was a joy for Noel to spend some quality time with Mischa, even if Mischa seemed more focused on the games at first. Eventually, Mischa had gotten too angry at one of the games, and needed to take a break. Hesitantly, Noel took a seat on one of those blazing hot metal benches. It was a warm day for fall in Canada.
His conversation with Mischa was a bit of a blur, but it was still a special moment for him. They talked about all kinds of things, or, essentially, Noel listened to Mischa rant about how rigged the carnival games were, and how upset he was that he didn’t win a goldfish. Noel offered to give Mischa his remaining tickets, but Mischa refused. He told Noel that it would be just as rewarding to see Noel win a goldfish. Noel laughed this off, and simply explained that he didn’t want to win a goldfish, or any prize at all. He preferred just to play the games.
Upon receiving a text from Constance, Noel informed Mischa that they needed to meet the rest of the choir at the Cyclone, as they would all be riding it together. Mischa was absolutely pumped to do this. He was a rollercoaster person. Noel, unfortunately, was not, despite his fascination with thrills. However, he discreetly agreed to ride the cyclone. He felt better after seeing Mischa light up, and repeatedly tell him that he’ll love it.
And here they were, boarding the rollercoaster. Ever since he agreed to ride it, he had been considering asking Mischa to sit next to him, but he was afraid Mischa would decline this offer in favor of sitting next to Ocean (to make fun of her, of course.) But, Mischa excitedly nodded stepped aside to allow Noel to sit down first. Noel noticed a sweaty butt mark, presumably from the last rider, and expressed disgust, so Mischa, not bothered at all, sat down on that seat so Noel wouldn’t have to.
Noel immediately felt tense, as he pulled down his lap bar, it was uncomfortably loose. He took a deep breath, and paid no mind to this, but was worried Mischa’s was just as loose, and pushed Mischa’s lap bar down to make sure it wasn’t unsafe for him. Mischa smiled at Noel. Noel smiled back. As the ride started off slowly, and gradually gained in speed, Mischa threw his hands up in the air, and laughed. Noel never understood why people did this. Noel’s hands were tightly squeezing the lap bar, holding on for dear life. His uncertainty was overpowered by enjoyment. Not his personal enjoyment of the rollercoaster, but it made him feel all sorts of happiness just seeing Mischa have such fun.
And as they reached the loop, Noel threw his hands in the air, too.