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blinking neon lights from the carnival rides shine bright on gorou's skin, and itto cannot stop staring. there's a baby blue cotton candy clutched in his fingers— itto has finished his long ago and gorou will keep offering his to itto— which coincidentally matches the baby blue sweatshirt the other is wearing underneath a jacket. itto cannot stop marvelling at how cute gorou looks.
his fluffy brown ears twitch at the sounds that echo across the field, and itto has to resist the urge to run his hands through gorou's soft hair.
he still remembers the first time he'd been allowed to touch the hybrid's brown ears, and he remembers how full his heart had felt when he'd realized how big of a deal it was to have gorou allow his ears to be touched. that feeling has never ebbed since.
today they're on their first date, after itto had finally found the guts to confess to the other a couple days ago. the carnival was a great choice back when they'd decided, but also now, when itto realized he can observe the other with little to no consequence because gorou's too busy staring at the stalls and rides to notice. or if he does, he doesn't mention it, at least.
which brings itto back to gorou, like it always does, and how happy he looks even when they're not doing anything except walking around. now, with his back turned to itto as he walks right in front of the taller, itto watches the way his tail swishes around in excitement.
itto walks faster to catch up until he's standing right beside gorou, at which point he has to make the monumental decision of whether to hold gorou's hand or not. on one hand, they're not even dating yet, not even boyfriends, for that matter, but they're on a date so it shouldn't matter right? on the other hand, though, gorou's hands look so soft as his fingers peek past his slightly oversized jacket, and itto has definitely not thought about the way the hybrid's palm would fit against his own. or the way he'd interlace their fingers and hold-
there's something that pauses itto's unstoppable train of thought in its tracks— a warm pressure against his hands that takes itto a moment to recognise as gorou's hands , the same ones he'd been thinking about holding barely a minute ago and when he glances at the other, it seems the hybrid has barely spared a thought to this action; instead he's busy looking at the carnival map by the side of the path.
"wanna go play some games?" gorou speaks, suddenly. his cotton candy hand occupied hand is pointing at a spot on the map not far from their current location.
"sure, yes, yes. " if gorou notices anything odd about the way itto is speaking, he does not mention it.
it's a miracle that itto manages to make it to the stalls in one piece because now gorou has taken to pressing himself into itto's side, shoulder to shoulder. despite the warm humidity of the carnival and the fact that gorou's wearing a whopping two layers of jacket, itto likes the feeling. a lot.
as they arrive at the game stalls, they amble ahead. there's not many people here, considering it's pretty early. they pause because gorou pauses, and itto follows his eyes to a bottle shooting stand.
there's a fluffy brown dragon plush hanging right above the stall, and itto sees gorou's gaze linger on it long enough for him to pull the other towards the stall. "c'mon. let's try this."
gorou lets himself be tugged towards the stall where an unusually bubbly girl rattles off instructions. her strawberry blonde-ish hair matches the tone of her voice, all bright and happy.
"all you gotta do is hit those bottles-" she points at a row of bottles lined up about six to seven feet away, "with this nerf gun." she holds up an orange nerf gun, and oh hell yeah , itto knows how to use these things. he's practically grown up with these as his primary source of entertainment.
just as he's about to grab the gun from her hands, she points at a bottle, roughly another five feet away from the first line. "if ya' hit that one right there, any one of these are yours." gesturing towards the top of the stall, itto catches sight of the dragon plush they were originally here for. "and if ya' hit all seven of these, it's yours too."
there's two options, itto surmises— either risk his seven shots on the one bottle in the back, or have a much better chance at hitting the ones in front.
in the end he decides to go for the one at the back because well, there's seven chances and only one bottle, and it can't be that hard anyways, right?
it is that hard, apparently, and itto is quick to realize that when the first round of shots yields no results except one bottle in the front row and a hole in the back of the tent beside the lone bottle in the back. the girl cringes at that last one and mutters something about how some guy named ayato is not going to be happy about this.
gorou squeezes itto's arm slightly and murmurs that it's okay , and that we can always try another one . but itto is nothing if not determined— especially to win his gorou something, and so he pulls out a crumpled bill and hands it over to the girl. "another chance, please."
"as ya' wish." she pushes off the chair and quickly sets up the bottles and the gun again before handing the latter over to itto. "good luck."
this one's not much better then the last. itto would go as far as to say it's worse , because now there's two holes in the fabric at the back of the tent and the girl has her head in her hands.
"oops?" he's sure gorou's trying his best not to laugh right there, and he's doing a pretty good job because itto can only tell because of the way his tail wags rather aggressively. and then he pulls out another bill and hands it over. "again."
she looks like she is worried, and itto doesn't blame her, but at this point he just wants to win something , even if it isn't the dragon plush he'd been aiming for originally.
this time he tries for the front row, and while he does not hit all seven, he hits a solid five out of seven to which the girl smiles brightly and gestures towards the left wall, where a bunch of keychains are hung. "pick one, any one."
in the end they pick a pair of matching keychains of a tiny armoured cow. gorou clips it onto the loop of his jeans. itto decided to hook it on one of his hooped earrings. gorou looks at him incredulously before a tiny smile settles on his face. "let's go?"
gorou nods, but itto feels gorou hesitate a little, and when he asks, gorou only stares at the stall and says, "i wanna try." and who is itto to say no?
so they head back, this time with the change already in hand, and the girl looks surprised to see them there again. "i want to try." gorou states as he hands the money over to the girl. they know the procedure by now, so she only hands the gun over to gorou.
he picks it up and lines it up with his eyes, before taking a deep breath and shooting. there's a thud, and when itto turns towards the sounds, it is to the sight of the lone bottle in the back knocked over cleanly. the girl looks impressed. itto thinks he's fallen in love. even gorou seems surprised, wide eyes whipping between the fallen bottle and itto.
"the choice is yours." nodding at the multiple stuffed toys above them, the girl leaves to set up the game once again.
"which d'you want?" gorou asks, nudging his shoulder.
"uhhh," in all honesty itto hasn't really thought about it, and even now, after looking over all of them once more, none really stand out to him. there's a blue wolf, a pink fox, and about three more but itto has never been interested in stuffed toys. "that one." he points to the brown dragon.
she hands it over to them, a grin on her face, but itto is too busy staring at gorou to notice. his face lit up as soon as itto had pointed to the dragon, and when it's in his hands, he seems to vibrate with energy.
they leave, itto with his ego a little bruised from his humiliation at the stall, and gorou, with a new plush to add to his already massive collection.
"hey." gorou has stopped, suddenly, and itto almost bumps into the other boy. "you wanna hold rex?"
" rex?" itto echoes.
"mmhm. like rex lapis." he says rather proudly.
"you named a plush after our history teacher?"
gorou looks a little sheepish. "look! they look similar." at itto's raised brow, he adds, "kind of. they both have brown coats and orange tips."
"y'know what? i see it." he takes the thing in between his hands and stares right at it. it does have an uncanny resemblance to their teacher. he hands it back over to the other.
"see!"
gorou squeezes the plush in his arms, then, grinning brightly at itto. his cheeks bunch up all soft and cute, and itto can't really bring himself to care about his defeat at all, after that.