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As it turned out, a stegosaurus with indigestion wasn't exactly a fun thing to deal with. But, it was a pretty easy fix in the end. Chase remembered when Chloe was a baby and his mom would rub and pat her back when she was crying after a bottle and after she burped, she'd feel a lot better. He suggested it and Tyler bravely walked over to the large dinosaur, rubbing her stomach and patting it firmly.
It was only a few minutes later when the stegosaurus burped so loudly it shook the walls.
Chase nearly wet himself laughing at the look on Tyler's face.
Once that had been taken care of, Kendall insisted on at least looking over what her job would be now, and she'd disappeared down to where her office had been while Chase, Tyler and Shelby went off to the Dino Bite. It looked different than it had before, with two large viewing windows showing a couple of triceratops peacefully chewing on grass outside. Shelby had shrieked so loudly she nearly deafened everyone before she'd planted herself down to watch them, ignoring everyone else there.
A few hours later, Kendall made her way to the front of the museum, once it was closing for the night and Chase met her, rubbing the back of his head as he leaned against the side of the building.
"Miss M...Kendall..." He said. "Would you, uh, want to get some dinner?"
Kendall stopped, eyeing him curiously. "Are...are you asking me out?"
"Or it could...just be friends." Chase said, shrugging a shoulder.
Kendall smiled at him. "Only if you pay." She said.
Chase scoffed and followed her as she walked toward the parking lot. "If I pay, of course I...wait, does that mean..."
"You'll have to excuse me, I haven't been on a date in a long time." Kendall admitted.
"Well you've come to the right person." Chase teased.
She shot him a weird look. "You came to me."
"Semantics." He said, waving a hand.
That startled a laugh out of Kendall and she reached over, whacking him on the arm.
---
They wound up going to a restaurant that sold exotic meat dishes and Chase got a grilled New Zealand elk steak (he had to rep his country after all) and Kendall got crispy oven roasted airline pheasant breast with a raspberry pan sauce. Both were absolutely starving now that the adrenaline was wearing off and they didn't talk much as they ate, except to comment on the food and wonder what else was going to be new about the new world.
Neither one was up for staying out too late, so they finished their food and Chase drove them to the apartment building they lived in. The Mus...Zoo set the employees who didn't have housing already up with apartments in a building nearby, which was very convenient when you wanted to carpool. As they were approaching her apartment, Kendall got a text and she took her phone out to look at it.
"Koda is vacationing to Zandar for a while." She said, smiling.
"I was wondering when Phillip would get himself in gear and ask Koda out." Chase said. "I mean, Phillip plays it cool pretty well, but Koda has no chill when he's around."
"It's kind of adorable." Kendall smiled. "So Shelby and Tyler are going off with James, Koda is going off with Phillip, Riley's going to visit home...that means it's us and Ivan staying around."
"I don't blame them." Chase said. "Things have been crazy, it's nice to just...get away from it all for a while."
"Except for us work-a-holics." Kendall joked.
Chase scoffed playfully. "I have no idea what you mean."
"Sure you don't." Kendall turned and unlocked her door, holding it open while she addressed Chase. "I had a nice time tonight, even though it was brief."
Chase shrugged and smiled lightly at her. "We've got all the time in the world. Maybe when we're more awake."
"That sounds good." Kendall said. They stared into each other's eyes for a few brief moments before Kendall turned and walked inside her apartment. Chase sighed under his breath and walked off with a wry smile, letting himself inside his apartment, which was only a few feet away.
He dressed for bed and flopped down in it, staring up at his ceiling. "Dinosaurs are back." He said to himself, laughing out loud in a baffled sort of way before he fell asleep.
---
The next date they went on was a sort of group outing. It was several weeks later and everyone had conveined back into Amber Beach again. Chase popped back to New Zealand to visit his family for a while and Kendall spent a few days on a girl's spa trip with Shelby, which was more fun than she thought it would be. But now everyone was in the same area again.
They'd found out about a carnival passing through the area and Chase, Kendall, Tyler, Shelby, Koda, Prince Phillip, Ivan, Riley, and James all decided to go. As they walked through the front gate, Chase's senses were assaulted by the sounds, the sights and the smells. He'd been to several back in Auckland, but nothing on the scale of this one. He looked around in awe of everything while Kendall wrapped herself around his waist, talking excitedly with Shelby about what to do first.
"Oh no way!" Chase exclaimed as his eye caught one of the booths. "I have to try that!" He pulled away from Kendall and darted over to a food booth, Koda following with a loud sound of excitement when he saw the pictures on the booth. They both walked away with turkey legs as big as their heads and Kendall couldn't help but shake her head when Chase walked over.
"You're going to eat most of that and then go on a ride and puke." She pointed out.
"I am not." He scoffed. "The rides here all look pretty..." He caught sight of one of the rides that you got onto with a lot of people in a circle that spun you around a lot and made a face. "Tame."
Kendall laughed. "You keep telling yourself that."
"What those beasts?" Koda asked, pointing over to a merry go round.
"That is a merry go round, Koda." Phillip explained, smiling. "There are usually mostly horses on them, fake ones of course. You sit on them and...ride around in a circle."
Koda's eyes lit up. "You do it with me?" He asked.
"Of course." Phillip smiled at him and wandered off that way, acting very princely even though he was dressed down wearing dark jeans, hiking boots (that were probably worth more than Chase's entire earnings for a year), a white undershirt under an unbuttoned flannel shirt (he'd stayed away from Ranger colors, it was mostly lime green with lines of turquoise and blocks of dark red) and a pair of readers no one knew he needed.
Shelby looked over at Kendall once they walked off. "Who knew a frickin' prince would be the best person to date a caveman?"
"Stranger things..." Kendall trailed off. "Although, admittedly, not by much."
"You got that one right." Shelby said.
They came across a test your strength booth and Tyler took a few tries, but he finally won Shelby a light blue and purple triceratops plushie that was a third of her own height and Chase won Kendall a hilariously large plesiosaurus plushie that was dark blue and grey with black stripes and a strangely cute looking mouth that reminded them all of Robot Chicken. She looked baffled when he proudly handed it to her, but dutifully took it anyway, even if she did keep tripping over the tail.
Tyler eased back, pulling Shelby with him to wedge in between Chase and Kendall. Chase frowned. He was just about to do the whole yawn and stretch and put his arm around her move with Kendall.
"I think Riley's hitting on my dad." He said.
"What?!" Shelby yelped.
Tyler gestured with his head ahead of them to where Riley was laughing at something James was saying, his eyes bright with humor while James looked at him fondly, his hands tucked into the jeans he was wearing.
"I don't think it's just him." Kendall said.
"What?!" Shelby yelped. When the other three looked back at her that time she recovered...kind of. "I can't believe someone could do that with a motorcycle! No, Chase, I don't think you should try it with a skateboard."
Chase made a face at her, but Kendall went on and he sobered when she put her hand on his lower back, rubbing it gently.
"I think Ivan is also..." Kendall gestured to where Ivan was huddled with the other two, smiling in the way he did when he was amused even though he didn't fully understand what was going on.
"That's not as shocking." Shelby said. "Ivan and Riley have always...kind of been a little close."
"That's true." Kendall agreed.
"Wait, are you saying Riley and Ivan are both hitting on my dad?" Tyler asked, making a face.
"Tyler, your dad is a grown man." Shelby pointed out, rolling her eyes. "He can do whatever he wants. But if it makes you feel better, at least you know Riley and Ivan both are good guys."
"That's...true." Tyler said. "Means I'm going to have to give them the shovel talk though."
When Shelby groaned and pulled Tyler off, Chase grinned at Kendall. "If...if...if you hurt my dad, I'm gonna really...make you regret it. I'm going to wallop you so hard..." He mocked Tyler playfully.
Kendall whacked him on the arm, but broke into giggles, unable to help it. "Chase, be nice."
"I am, I am." Chase said. "But you have to admit, Tyler giving someone the shovel talk is like a rabbit smacking a grumpy dog on the muzzle."
Kendall shook her head. "I neither confirm or deny that."
---
Sometime later it was pitch black outside, the only light around the lights from the rides and everything going on around them. Koda had gotten another large turkey leg and had gorged himself on funnel cake until he looked a little green at the gills. Phillip had urged them to go on the ferris wheel, saying he'd always wanted to experience one and that it would be the 'perfect ending' to the night since they'd made an announcement that it would be closing in an hour.
Everyone piled onto the ferris wheel, splitting between the couples. Chase managed to stuff Kendall's plesiosaurus plushie, which she'd named Porter, in front of them, but also on their laps sort of so it was safe from falling. They went around slowly, letting everyone get a few moments at the top, to enjoy the view, and Chase and Kendall just enjoyed themselves, sneaking glances at each other.
When it was their turn at the top, Kendall gasped. "I know we've seen a lot of really insane things in the last year." She said. "But I think this...well, actually it's not that impressive, is it?" She laughed.
Chase let out a loud guffaw. "You'd think they would've picked a better place for this thing." He agreed. "I mean, overlooking the parking lot isn't exactly that impressive, is it?"
"It's really not." Kendall agreed. She looked over at Chase and blushed. "Although, it's not all that bad."
"No?" Chase asked, giving her a fond look.
Kendall shook her head. Before Chase could react, she leaned over and in some kind of semblance of a kiss, smacked their faces together, pressing their lips together. Chase let out a startled sound, wincing when his nose got the brunt of the movement. He laughed it off though as she pulled back and rubbed it briefly.
"Sorry." Kendall said quietly.
"Kendall." Chase said, softly, fondly. When she looked back over at him, he put his hand on her cheek. Leaning over as much as the seat would let him, he pulled her to him, kissing her softly. The kiss was something else, and he felt a little spark go through him and from the way Kendall gasped into it, she felt the same thing. When her lips parted, Chase took a chance to deepen it and the taste of the candy apple she'd had earlier mixed with what he thought of just...her and the slight sweetness had him letting out a quiet sound of his own at the back of his throat.
They were interrupted by a loud voice clearing and both pulled back, blushing when they noticed they were at the bottom of the ferris wheel. They managed to stumble out and Chase threw Porter up on his shoulders as they made their way through the crowd out to the parking lot. Tyler nudged Chase playfully and Chase couldn't help the large grin that broke out over his face. Behind him, he heard Shelby quietly grilling Kendall for 'details' and Kendall telling her to 'shut up', making him chuckle softly.
---
Chase walked Kendall down to her door, plopping Porter down on the floor as she turned to unlock the door. She turned back and stood there, fiddling with a watch she had on as she looked at him.
"I had a really nice time tonight." She admitted, obviously fighting the urge to fidget any more.
"So did I. I'd...like to do it again sometime." Chase said.
"The carnival? I mean, I guess we could, although it's only around for a few more days, and it's not like we get a lot of..." Kendall rambled, which just wasn't like her at all.
Chase laughed fondly. "Kendall, I meant a date." He said. "Just...something, anything."
Kendall blushed bright red. "Oh...yeah, I'd really like that."
"Me, too." Chase said. He leaned forward, cupping her cheek again. This time when their lips met, Kendall was more prepared. She put her hands on his chest, feeling his heart beating wildly under her palm. His hands moved to cup her waist and she sighed into the kiss as he gave her a little squeeze, making her step closer, even though Porter blocked her from getting too close.
Kendall ducked her head when Chase pulled back, trying not to show how flushed she was.
"I'm going to go now." Chase said, just loud enough for her to hear. "Because if I don't, I'm following you in there."
"Ok." Kendall said, even though a baser part of her wanted to jerk him inside and see what happened.
"Bye, Kendall." Chase said.
"Bye, Chase." Kendall watched him until he got to his apartment and disappeared inside and then she grabbed Porter, tugging him inside with her, shutting the door with a decisive sound. She leaned back against it and touched her lips, a giddy grin coming to her face. If you'd told her a year ago that she'd be dating Chase Randall of all people, she would've laughed herself sick and told you that you were insane, but here she was...and she couldn't wait to see where things took her.