[Wally's already gone before she's done saying it, and he's gone for ten minutes and the line's still standing still by the time he comes back. He's got a huge bag full of ice cream bars but instead of just coming back to Artemis and eating them all himself, he...starts handing them out to people in line.
He hands out all but two, to all the people surrounding them in line, then steps back over to Artemis and holds out one of the bars.] Trade you. [give him back that monster and he's gonna eat his ice cream bar]
[By the time he gets back, it's only sheer stubbornness keeping Artemis from just giving up and catching a bus home. And then he goes and does something like this... Wally is confusing.]
... Thanks.
[She's more than willing to swap and as soon as she takes a bite of the ice cream sandwich, she starts feeling better. It's a little messy to eat, but it's sweet and cold and that's exactly what the doctor ordered.]
Yeah. [Wally eats his ice cream just as quietly, the monster stuffed under the other arm, and he won't look her in the eye so he knows he crossed a line somewhere but is unwilling to do anything about it. The ice cream is probably the only thing he will do about it.
The line starts moving after a few more minutes, albeit just as slowly as before, and Wally tosses his stick into a can when they pass by before clearing his throat.] Look, I don't like- I'm not saying I buy this time distortion thing. I probably just have amnesia [and you know a guy is dedicated to science when he would rather believe he has AMNESIA than consider time travel] but humor me, or something. The whole thing with...with Red. [He still won't look at her. He picks the caramel corn out of the monster's mouth and flicks it into the trash.] Does that get...I mean, do we fix it?
[Artemis is eating her ice cream as slowly as possible, enjoying it but also grateful for the chance to not talk without it feeling awkward. More awkward. She glances up at his question, mildly surprised by the topic. Though it's still vivid in her memory, it's still been a while. There was a lot going on in Artemis's life even before she arrived in an alternate reality.]
Tornado? I guess so... I mean, he's okay. [She stares at her ice cream, contemplative.] He only went with the other Reds in the first place to find Morrow... And to protect us.
Whoa- you serious? [For just a few seconds he looks so painfully hopeful, right on that edge of worried and relieved and reluctant to believe her but wanting so badly to.
RT didn't betray them. RT was just looking out for everyone.]
[To be fair, Wally's pretty good at not letting people see how hard things can hit him. It's nice to know that though; he'd been so angry but more than angry he'd been hurt. Without knowing what they were going to do after RT leaving with the other Reds and then showing up here, well.
That word, though. Sacrifice. That hits before "mole" even registers.] Wait wait, Red's dead?
What?! No! [The idea alone is disturbing enough that Artemis squawks] He lost his legs, but he's a robot, so no big deal. Tornado's fine. He's still our den-mother and everything.
[The other Reds... well, Artemis doesn't have that much sympathy for them, even though they ultimately sacrificed themselves. They also did a very good job of trying to kill her and her friends, so no. Whatever they got was at best fair play.]
Geez, [Wally sighs explosively, and shoves his face into the stuffed doll for a second before giving Artemis an exasperated look.] Why'd you say "sacrifice" like that? You freaked me out. Don't do that.
[Wally gives her a strange look.] Why wouldn't I be worried? We almost died. It's kind of a big deal. [also thanks for that awesome, incredible life-saving shot and not like, abandoning all of them to their deaths or whatever]
...And what'd you mean, he wasn't the mole? What mole?
She sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. This time travel stuff is a headache. The last thing in the world she wanted was to start the mole rumors, she just genuinely didn't realize that from Wally's perspective it hadn't happened yet. The Reds attack and the revelation that there might be a mole had been so close together.]
Look, just... forget I said that. There's no mole. It was just something Sportsmaster said to mess with the team and Red Arrow won't let it go.
[Oh, hey, it's Artemis's two least favorite people in one sentence. Now can we talk about that amazing shot? No?]
Wow, that is definitely one of the most suspicious things I've ever heard. [Wally doesn't push it either (though his mutter is a little mutinous) just because this time travel stuff is a headache for him too. Not to mention that apparently he's going to forget all of it once he gets out of here anyway, or hey! Maybe even before that. Stupid circumstantial amnesia.
Lucky for them, the line finally shuffles to the row dividers and Wally automatically lines up for the front row. The line's longer but the payoff is so sweet, and even though Wally can't convince the ride attendants to give the monster doll its own seat, he just squishes the stupid thing against his chest as they lower the safety harnesses into place.
He grins over at Artemis and knocks his knee into hers, thrusting his hands up into the air.] You can't hold on! That's a cardinal rule. No hands or you didn't really ride.
[Artemis is busy making sure her sunglasses are securely tucked down the front of her shirt and totally not being way excited and a little nervous but she looks over when Wally bumps her knee.]
No hands. Got it.
[She makes a sarcastic little jazz hands gesture but before she can do anything else, the roller coaster lurches into motion. Automatically her hands shoot up next to Wally's and her eyes go wide. The car chug chug chugs up to the top of the steep precipice and she has a brief (but detailed) glimpse of the park sprawled below them and then...
Artemis doesn't scream--mostly because her teeth are clenched too tightly to let out any sound. She has a huge, adrenaline-fueled grin slapped across her face and this. Is. Crazy.]
[Wally's run faster than this. Wally's moved almost ten times as fast as this, but his feet weren't dangling in the air and his face wasn't rushing toward the ground and he wasn't gasping for breath because the adrenaline that just shot through his gut was from joy, not fear.
Artemis doesn't have to scream. Wally's doing plenty of that for the both of them.]
Woooooooooo hooooooooooo! [Wally's fists are up in the air and the coaster slings them around like a child with sugar rush and a fistful of Barbie hair. A girl behind them screams shrill and piercing, edged with panic but not quite there and Wally can't help but laugh. He glances over at Artemis; her hair keeps whipping loose and smacking her in the face but she's smiling and Wally doesn't know if he's ever seen her face look like that before. Weird.
Then the coaster flips them upside-down again and Wally shouts again, and he's gonna be hoarse by the end of the day, isn't he?]
[She catches weird glimpses of strangely precise details as the world whips by--like the exact number of seagulls perched on the top of some water ride. Maybe it's the much lower speed or just the fact that she's getting used to it, but there's none of the queasiness she felt earlier.
She can hear Wally yelling in her ear. Okay, so it's more like whooping for joy, but still. Then he starts to laugh and Artemis finds herself joining in, carried away by the giddy excitement of freefall.
Then, all too soon, it's over. The roller coaster car slows and rattles to a stop back where they started. Artemis has strands of her own ponytail stuck in the corners of her mouth and her knees are wobbly when the ride attendant comes to let them out of the safety harness. All the same, her eyes are alight and she can't stop grinning. She looks over at Wally.]
It enhances the experience! I can't believe you didn't scream. [Wally stuffs Artemister -because that's his name now, Wally has decided- under his arm as they climb out of the car and descend the stairs.]
[She files out of the car after Wally. and (apparently) Artemister. Seriously, never let her know that the monster's name is Artemister.]
How is that so exciting? I have zip-lined down sky scrapers with a bow and arrow! You can break the sound barrier in your sneakers! How is a roller coaster even on the scale of awesome things we do?
[And yet, it totally was. She's also still jazzed up on adrenaline which is make her chatty as hell.
[From the start, Wally and Artemis have been at odds but as time passes Wally's come to...well, if not appreciate her presence, at least he's stopped totally loathing it. They still fight too easy and know exactly how to irritate one another, but Wally's never seen her beam like this before and her enthusiasm just feeds back into his own. He always gets happier when people around him are happy.]
I have no idea, but it was totally wicked, wasn't it?! I mean, the drop was crazy but after that, like before the halfway point? [Wally points up at one of the loops of the coaster track above their heads.] That one there! Twisted us around and turned us upside-down, that was so sick. Oh my god. We have to ride it again before we go.
[This is a Wally West who isn't attacking her for not being Red Arrow, blaming her for something that was (sort of) out of her control, or just randomly being annoying. It would be astonishing how quickly she warms up and reciprocates his enthusiasm, but then again, she's had more time with him than he's had with her. Either way, she's not thinking about that now.]
I know, right? I could count the seagulls around the dumpster while we were upside down there and it was so cool! Why have we never done that before?
[Wally's impressed she could see that much but he's not gonna say it. Not just because it's Artemis either; more like she's already expressed her dislike for her powers, so...
Anyway.]
I dunno. Back home, you mean? Yeah, I dunno. We should get everybody go to when we make it back. Can you imagine Supey on a ride like that though? He'd probably break the harness and go flying off across the park, screaming the whole way.
[She starts laughing all over at that. Superboy on a roller coaster is an amazing image.]
What about Aqualad on one of those rides that splashes you? Bet he wouldn't even blink. [Okay, so thinking about Aqualad and Superboy gives her a twinge of homesickness, but she's still riding high on adrenaline and not ready to go there yet.]
Do they have a splash ride here? We should do one of those... Where's the map?
[Wally resolutely ignores the fact that it's a lot less stressful to make Artemis laugh than it is to piss her off. Both are fun (he tells himself).]
Yeah, they've got a splash ride, hold on. [Wally shoves the monster doll into Artemis's arms and grabs the map from his pocket, flapping it out.] There's a couple coasters on the way to it though. And some kind of adventure ride nearby, we should hit those up. Ergonomics.
We'll never get to all of it if the lines are as bad as that one.
[See, this? This right now is kind of nice. They're enjoying themselves and joking around and Artemis is even holding the stupid purple monster without complaining. Artemis has a fairly realistic idea of how long this pleasantness will last under theme-park-line conditions.]
[Yeah Wally is likewise reluctant to stand in another line like that again. 1) because he really hates it and B) because he doesn't have enough money to buy everybody ice cream again.]
They shouldn't be. That's the most popular ride here so that line is the longest, plus it broke down for a while. [Wally frowns at the map and turns it sideways, like that'll help somehow.] If we hit up the coasters during lunchtime, the lines will probably be shorter.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
action;
He hands out all but two, to all the people surrounding them in line, then steps back over to Artemis and holds out one of the bars.] Trade you. [give him back that monster and he's gonna eat his ice cream bar]
action;
... Thanks.
[She's more than willing to swap and as soon as she takes a bite of the ice cream sandwich, she starts feeling better. It's a little messy to eat, but it's sweet and cold and that's exactly what the doctor ordered.]
action;
The line starts moving after a few more minutes, albeit just as slowly as before, and Wally tosses his stick into a can when they pass by before clearing his throat.] Look, I don't like- I'm not saying I buy this time distortion thing. I probably just have amnesia [and you know a guy is dedicated to science when he would rather believe he has AMNESIA than consider time travel] but humor me, or something. The whole thing with...with Red. [He still won't look at her. He picks the caramel corn out of the monster's mouth and flicks it into the trash.] Does that get...I mean, do we fix it?
action;
Tornado? I guess so... I mean, he's okay. [She stares at her ice cream, contemplative.] He only went with the other Reds in the first place to find Morrow... And to protect us.
action;
RT didn't betray them. RT was just looking out for everyone.]
action;
Yeah. He sacrificed himself for us. He definitely wasn't the mole.
action;
That word, though. Sacrifice. That hits before "mole" even registers.] Wait wait, Red's dead?
action;
[The other Reds... well, Artemis doesn't have that much sympathy for them, even though they ultimately sacrificed themselves. They also did a very good job of trying to kill her and her friends, so no. Whatever they got was at best fair play.]
action;
action;
[She holds her hands up in a gesture of innocence. She really hadn't been trying to freak him out.]
I guess... I didn't know you were that worried. Besides, it's kind of old news for me.
action;
...And what'd you mean, he wasn't the mole? What mole?
action;
She sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. This time travel stuff is a headache. The last thing in the world she wanted was to start the mole rumors, she just genuinely didn't realize that from Wally's perspective it hadn't happened yet. The Reds attack and the revelation that there might be a mole had been so close together.]
Look, just... forget I said that. There's no mole. It was just something Sportsmaster said to mess with the team and Red Arrow won't let it go.
[Oh, hey, it's Artemis's two least favorite people in one sentence. Now can we talk about that amazing shot? No?]
action;
Lucky for them, the line finally shuffles to the row dividers and Wally automatically lines up for the front row. The line's longer but the payoff is so sweet, and even though Wally can't convince the ride attendants to give the monster doll its own seat, he just squishes the stupid thing against his chest as they lower the safety harnesses into place.
He grins over at Artemis and knocks his knee into hers, thrusting his hands up into the air.] You can't hold on! That's a cardinal rule. No hands or you didn't really ride.
action;
No hands. Got it.
[She makes a sarcastic little jazz hands gesture but before she can do anything else, the roller coaster lurches into motion. Automatically her hands shoot up next to Wally's and her eyes go wide. The car chug chug chugs up to the top of the steep precipice and she has a brief (but detailed) glimpse of the park sprawled below them and then...
Artemis doesn't scream--mostly because her teeth are clenched too tightly to let out any sound. She has a huge, adrenaline-fueled grin slapped across her face and this. Is. Crazy.]
action;
Artemis doesn't have to scream. Wally's doing plenty of that for the both of them.]
Woooooooooo hooooooooooo! [Wally's fists are up in the air and the coaster slings them around like a child with sugar rush and a fistful of Barbie hair. A girl behind them screams shrill and piercing, edged with panic but not quite there and Wally can't help but laugh. He glances over at Artemis; her hair keeps whipping loose and smacking her in the face but she's smiling and Wally doesn't know if he's ever seen her face look like that before. Weird.
Then the coaster flips them upside-down again and Wally shouts again, and he's gonna be hoarse by the end of the day, isn't he?]
action;
She can hear Wally yelling in her ear. Okay, so it's more like whooping for joy, but still. Then he starts to laugh and Artemis finds herself joining in, carried away by the giddy excitement of freefall.
Then, all too soon, it's over. The roller coaster car slows and rattles to a stop back where they started. Artemis has strands of her own ponytail stuck in the corners of her mouth and her knees are wobbly when the ride attendant comes to let them out of the safety harness. All the same, her eyes are alight and she can't stop grinning. She looks over at Wally.]
I totally knew you would scream.
action;
action;
[She files out of the car after Wally. and (apparently) Artemister. Seriously, never let her know that the monster's name is Artemister.]
How is that so exciting? I have zip-lined down sky scrapers with a bow and arrow! You can break the sound barrier in your sneakers! How is a roller coaster even on the scale of awesome things we do?
[And yet, it totally was. She's also still jazzed up on adrenaline which is make her chatty as hell.
action;
I have no idea, but it was totally wicked, wasn't it?! I mean, the drop was crazy but after that, like before the halfway point? [Wally points up at one of the loops of the coaster track above their heads.] That one there! Twisted us around and turned us upside-down, that was so sick. Oh my god. We have to ride it again before we go.
action;
I know, right? I could count the seagulls around the dumpster while we were upside down there and it was so cool! Why have we never done that before?
action;
Anyway.]
I dunno. Back home, you mean? Yeah, I dunno. We should get everybody go to when we make it back. Can you imagine Supey on a ride like that though? He'd probably break the harness and go flying off across the park, screaming the whole way.
action;
What about Aqualad on one of those rides that splashes you? Bet he wouldn't even blink. [Okay, so thinking about Aqualad and Superboy gives her a twinge of homesickness, but she's still riding high on adrenaline and not ready to go there yet.]
Do they have a splash ride here? We should do one of those... Where's the map?
action;
Yeah, they've got a splash ride, hold on. [Wally shoves the monster doll into Artemis's arms and grabs the map from his pocket, flapping it out.] There's a couple coasters on the way to it though. And some kind of adventure ride nearby, we should hit those up. Ergonomics.
action;
We'll never get to all of it if the lines are as bad as that one.
[See, this? This right now is kind of nice. They're enjoying themselves and joking around and Artemis is even holding the stupid purple monster without complaining. Artemis has a fairly realistic idea of how long this pleasantness will last under theme-park-line conditions.]
action;
They shouldn't be. That's the most popular ride here so that line is the longest, plus it broke down for a while. [Wally frowns at the map and turns it sideways, like that'll help somehow.] If we hit up the coasters during lunchtime, the lines will probably be shorter.
Action;
Action;
Action;
Action;
Action;
Action;
Action;
Action;
Action;
Action;
Action;
Action;
Action;
Action;