Steven stood in a daze, his left arm held firmly in Cynthia's grip.
Before entering the haunted house, Togepi had been recalled into its Poké Ball. A haunted house, of course, was almost entirely staffed by Ghost-type Pokémon — or people dressed to look like them. Once Steven had worked that out, the concept stopped being frightening. If someone had a genuine fear of Ghost-types, that would be a different matter. But the appeal of a haunted house wasn't really about fear. It was a place to let loose, to shout without reason, to feel your heart race — and to stand a little closer to the person beside you than you normally would.
Cynthia had understood this perfectly.
As for why Steven's mind had gone completely blank — that was mostly due to the warm, soft pressure that had been against his left arm for the entire duration of the haunted house.
His brain had simply stopped working.
It had not yet restarted, even now that they were back outside.
"Your boyfriend held up remarkably well — didn't make a sound in there," said a young woman in a ghost costume, smiling at Cynthia. She held out a small gift box. "Here — this is your prize for making it through."
"Thank you so much!" Cynthia glanced at the still-dazed Steven, smiled warmly, and accepted the box.
She let go of his arm and lifted the lid.
The moment the pressure left his arm, something in Steven's head quietly clicked back into gear.
By then, Cynthia had already looped her hand through his other arm and was pulling him in a new direction.
Inside the gift box was a Spiritomb pendant.
Cynthia held it out to Steven with a satisfied expression.
"Hold on to this for me. Come on — let's go on the carousel!"
The carousel stood at the center of the park, its wooden mounts painted in bright, careful detail. The models were Rapidash and Zebstrika — fitting choices for an amusement park in Sinnoh, where Hippowdon was technically the regional horse-like Pokémon, and significantly less suited to the aesthetic.
Cynthia climbed onto a Zebstrika. Steven moved toward the Rapidash beside her.
"Don't!"
He froze with one foot already raised.
"Come here~" Cynthia patted the space behind her on the Zebstrika, her voice carrying just a touch of Charm.
The seat was large enough for two.
Steven looked at her — at the quiet, hopeful look in her eyes — and sat down behind her without another word.
The carousel began to turn, slow and steady, and a soft melody drifted out over the park. Coloured lights swept overhead. Steven tilted his head back and watched them pass.
It would probably feel even nicer at night.
"Go, Rapidash!"
He glanced over. A young boy on the Rapidash beside them was shouting with his whole chest, one fist raised.
On a Ponyta a little further along, a small girl watched him with a wistful expression, clearly wishing she had picked the Rapidash.
The wooden Pokémon moved in their gentle arc, as though chasing something just out of reach — some light in the distance that never quite arrived.
Steven turned back.
Cynthia was smiling.
Without quite deciding to, he leaned forward, arms reaching around either side of her to hold the pole at the front of the Zebstrika.
He felt the slight shiver that passed through her.
Hidden beneath the Togepi hood, her face was completely out of view. Which was fortunate for Cynthia, whose expression was currently not something she would have chosen to share.
She let out a quiet breath, deeply grateful, for once, for the hat.
"Steven."
"Yes?" He looked down toward her.
"Can I... lean back a little?" A brief pause. "I'm a bit tired."
It was not the most convincing reason she had ever given. Steven agreed anyway.
She shifted back slightly, her shoulders settling against his chest.
The sense of warmth and steadiness that followed was immediate and complete.
Cynthia reached into her pocket, pulled out her phone, and opened the camera with a bright smile.
"Cheese~"
Click.
Steven's current disguise made it impossible to pick him out of a crowd — but Cynthia was entirely satisfied with the photo. The two of them, leaning together in the sweep of the carousel lights, looked exactly like what they were not yet allowing themselves to say.
"Do you want me to take off the mask and glasses?" Steven asked quietly, close to her ear.
Cynthia shook her head and smiled.
"No. This is fine."
Chajidui~~ (｡＞ㅿ＜｡)
Togepi, sealed away in its Poké Ball, had opinions.
Ten minutes later, the carousel came gently to a stop.
Cynthia was already moving, pulling Steven along toward the next ride.
"Aren't you tired at all?" Steven asked, watching her go.
"I've rested plenty!" She turned her head, stuck out her tongue, and laughed.
Steven let himself be pulled along. Wherever she wanted to go.
By the end of the afternoon, they had made their way through every attraction in the park.
Steven had saved one for last.
The Ferris wheel.
Dusk had settled over Eterna City by the time they boarded. The buildings below were beginning to light up, their outlines traced in warm, scattered glow. The wheel turned slowly, and the city fell away beneath them.
Cynthia held Steven's arm and carefully rested her head against his shoulder. She glanced up at his expression. He didn't pull away, didn't tense — so she settled in, content.
Whether Steven wanted to or not was, in truth, a secondary consideration. His mind had begun to overheat again, quietly and steadily, and thinking had become somewhat difficult.
"It's beautiful."
Cynthia gazed out at the view below — streets and rooftops softened by lamplight, scattered across the land like fallen stars finding their places on the ground.
Then she looked up.
Steven was looking at her.
He had taken off his sunglasses at some point without her noticing.
"What — what is it?" She reached up instinctively to touch her cheek.
"Looking at the scenery," he said simply, and removed the hat and mask with his free hand, setting them aside.
"What scenery?" Cynthia turned to look out the window on her side.
It looked much the same as the view from the other window.
"The most beautiful scenery in the world," Steven said, with a quiet smile.
Cynthia turned back. She looked at his expression — calm, unhurried, entirely certain — and understood what he meant.
The warmth that climbed her face was not entirely controllable. Her gray eyes dropped to her hands.
"Didn't you want to take a photo?" Steven reminded her, gently.
She always took one at every attraction. He had noticed.
"Right — yes!" Cynthia straightened up and opened her camera.
It was the first time Steven had suggested taking a photo with her.
He looked at the lens and let his expression settle.
Click.
The shutter sound rang out — and at the same moment, something light and warm pressed briefly against Steven's cheek.
He looked at the screen of Cynthia's phone.
In the frame, her profile was turned toward him. The Togepi hood had been pushed back at some point. Her eyes were closed. Her lips were resting gently against the side of his cheek.
The cabin was very quiet.
Something in Steven's chest was beating at a pace he wasn't used to. A warmth he had no name for had settled somewhere it had never quite reached before.
Cynthia lifted her head. A soft flush had spread across her face. Her eyes, open now, were clear and bright and full of something she hadn't said.
She wanted this moment to last.
But looking at the entirely blank expression Steven was wearing, she pressed her lips together to hold back a laugh — and failed.
She mouthed, without making a sound:
Idiot.
The Ferris wheel passed its highest point.
Slowly, it began to come back down.