Road trip with Dwight, day 2

[what_the_shock]

Miguel woke in the morning, looked around for coffee, and sighed when there wasn't any. He rubbed his face and yawned, then ditched the shorts and tee for a pair of jeans and his sunglasses. Hey, if shirtless worked for Dwight, maybe it'd work for him. He could use all the coffee he could get.

Dwight stirred, and stretched as he woke up. He glanced over at Miguel as he sat up and stretched again.

"Morning. Sleep alright?"

“Not bad. You?” Miguel ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m heading for coffee. You want something?”

"Coffee would be great," Dwigth said with a grin. "If they got anything easy to bring back a little something to eat would be good - usually not much at those free breakfasts but if there's anything halfway decent... but definitely some coffee."

"Knew there was a reason we got along." Miguel grinned and gave him a little salute as he left.

After Miguel left, Dwight went over to the duffle bag at the foot of the bed and rummaged through it. He pulled out the UMF shirt again and other clothes and headed to the bathroom. Short time later he came out wearing the suit, clean jeans and laid out the clean shirt on the bed for later. Sitting on the bed he turned on the TV and found the weather channel to check what the day was going to be like before they headed out.

Miguel, meanwhile, had gotten four cups of coffee and managed to talk the lady behind the desk into a cup holder, so at least that was something? Apparently he wasn't as impressive as Dwight. He couldn't remember if Dwight took anything in his coffee, so he stuffed some sugar packets and little creamer things in one pocket. Then he got a paper plate and a couple danishes and headed back.

"Hey - really not much, you were right, but this'll get us started."

"Coffee is the main thing, thanks man! We'll find something better on the way out. Just no donuts, that's my only request," he said with a laugh. Dwight took the coffee and some of the sugar packets. Normally he took coffee black but figured a little extra sugar would help him get going.

"You sure?" Miguel smirked. "I think they did have some. I can go grab them." He slurped his own black coffee - not the best he'd ever had, but passable.

"Yeah, quite," Dwight said with a deadpan expression. "Think it is going to be quite some time before I am in the mood to have doughnuts again after the hole," he said with a snicker. Dumping in a few packets of sugar he gave the coffee and stir and drank a good bit of it down in one go. "Not the best, but compared to what they gave us in the military, its actually pretty good."

Miguel shrugged. "It's coffee; it'll do. Remind me never to join the military." There was no danger of that. Miguel was a nerd with severe issues with authority. "So, check out, find some food, hit the fair?"

"Sounds like a plan. I already got my bag all packed up and ready. Shouldn't be too hard to find some decent food between here and the campgrounds."

"I hope not." Miguel finished one coffee and started on the danish, sticking it in his mouth as he got a shirt and socks out of his bag. "Otherwise I'll worry about this place," he mumbled around it.

"Eh we are old school compared to your time sure, but we still enjoy good, tasty, terrible for your health, food," Dwight said as he finished the first coffee and tossed the cup into the can. "Usually the issue is figuring out what unhealthy food we are in the mood for at any given time," he stated jokingly as he pulled on his shirt and started in on the other danish.

"Oh, I just meant wherever we are," Miguel waved vaguely around him, "not this whole time. I work at a diner, remember? I know all about terrible good food." He grinned and took another bite of the danish before putting his shoes on. "We're kind of in the middle of nowhere, though."

"Should be able to find a little mom and pop place, even out here where the bigger chains don't get out to. They often have the best food to be honest. And if worse comes to worse and we can't find anything between here and the fair, there will be plenty of terribly unhealthy food to eat there," Dwight mused as he bent over and fished his boots out from under the bed.

"Yeah, I want one of everything," Miguel said. He finished the danish and started in on the other cup of coffee. "And three more coffees." He picked up his bag and looked around to make sure he hadn't missed anything.

"Want me to grab us a few more coffees for the road? See if I'm as good with my shirt on as I am with it off?" he asked with a wink and a chuckle as he finished the danish and grabbed his bag and the two card keys off the table.

Miguel grinned. "Go for it. I'll take all the coffee I can get. Who's driving?"

"I'll drive. You can use the GPS thingy on the phone in case we get lost," Dwight said as he started towards the lobby. "Wanna take the bags out and I'll meet ya out there in a bit, hopefully with some more coffee?"

Miguel snagged Dwight's bag in answer and dug out the truck keys. "See you there." He headed for where they'd parked and tossed the bags in, then leaned against the side, waiting and enjoying the fresh air.

A little while later, Dwight returned, a cup of coffee in each hand and a plate with a couple muffins each balanced on top of each cup.

"So, yeah.... She was definitely flirting with me this time..." Dwight said with a somewhat awkward grin. "Kinda feel bad for disappointing her..."

Miguel reached out to take one of the cups and plates. "She probably doesn't expect more than flirting, since she knows we're checking out," he pointed out. He nibbled on one of the muffins. "Hey, these aren't too bad."

"Eh good point there," Dwight said with a chuckle as he took the keys and climbed into the driver's seat. "Wasn't sure what you would like so I grabbed one of each - chocolate chip and the other is blueberry I believe. Course not that you would be overly picky with food," Dwight said with a playful smirk.

"I'm not overly picky," Miguel insisted. "I'll eat anything decent. I just haven't spent way too long in the military eating rations or whatever." He made a face. "You're lucky to have any tastebuds left."

"True that," Dwight said, shaking his head as he got situated and took a drink of the coffee before putting it in the cup holder. "I'm only just now starting to remember that there is better than instant coffee to be had. So, there is still hope!"

"We'll have you back to real food in no time. Provided there are no more weird stopovers where you have to live on cave fungus or what an eight-year-old can make." Miguel made a face. "You need me to navigate, or you know where we're going?"

"Probably should navigate.... I think I remember the way and there weren't too many turns if I remember right, but probably better to be safe than sorry. Unless you don't mind possibly getting lost in the middle of nowhere for a bit," he said with a chuckle.

"Wouldn't be my first choice, no." Miguel set his coffee in one of the cupholders and took out his phone, looking up the directions. "Okay, head west." He ate some more muffin. "It's a while that way before there's any turns."

"Got it," Dwight said, pulling onto the main road and heading west. There was quiet and small talk for a bit as they drove and finished their breakfast.

"So... how much farther we got?" Dwight asked. "Don't wanna miss our turn."

Miguel checked the GPS. "Another couple miles; I'll warn you." He squinted in the sun reflecting from the side mirror. "I should see if there's a way to get the mask's active light filtering into a pair of glasses. Optics aren't really my thing, but there's a guy on the island who can invent just about anything. Between the two of us, we could probably figure it out."

"Would be handy to have I think. More convenient for you too. I'm sure you can figure it out. Though I have to admit I wouldn't mind a pair myself. I'm sure they would make hangovers a lot easier to deal with."

Miguel laughed. "And here I was trying to get people to use holograms and flying bikes; the real money's in hangover help. I'll think about it, see what I can come up with. Next right."

Dwight made the turn and snickered. "Start with the important stuff and the rest will follow. Give them tech that will help with a hangover and they will eat up anything else you give them. Not everyone can understand the use or application of a hologram or be willing to invest in flying bikes. But stopping that hangover migraine? Yeah, most people have been there and can relate."

"Not sure what that says about most people," Miguel observed. "Stay on this road for a while. But hey, I'll take what I can get."

"Most people are stupid, crazy, idiots," Dwight said simply. "But some of us wake up eventually and start to get better...though we are a rare breed these days it seems. But hey, we at least make it as far as your time so there's still hope that we can get our shit together. Right?" he added with a scoffing laugh.

"Eh." Miguel see-sawed a hand. "I mean, we've still got issues, and there's been a few calamities, but yeah, the species is still around. So yeah, that's something. Only one of the worlds I've been to didn't have us anymore, and it wasn't humans' fault their Earth got blown to bits. Of course, it could just mean we're all stubborn as shock."

"Eh if survival of the fitness means being the most stubborn species out there, then I am all for it. If we can survive our own stupidity I think we can handle most things the universe can throw at us," Dwight stated as he adjusted the rearview mirror a little.

"Humanity's motto: if we can survive ourselves, we can survive anything." Miguel snorted. "Except for a maniacal surfer from outer space blowing up the planet. Hm. Maybe leave that part out; it's not quite as snappy."

"Yeah, that all just went right over my head," Dwight said, giving Miguel a look. After a few minutes, he looked up ahead and pointed out the window. "Well I think we found it. Unless there's a slingshot ride and a ferris wheel just randomly set up out here in the middle of nowhere." Dwight turned off onto the side road and was soon pulling to a stop in the field where everyone else was parking.

"I mean, you never know." Miguel shrugged. Yeah, the surfer thing had been weird even for him. He hopped out and stretched when they stopped, then stuck his head back in the truck to finish his coffee.

The people around them seemed to be mostly either families or teens, and Miguel shook his head. "Now I feel old. Which is stupid, because I'm not even born for another forty-something years. I should be the youngest person here."

"Eh don't let it bother ya too much," Dwight said as he finished his coffee and put the empty cup in the holder and climbed out. "Most people don't really pay attention to everyone else at a fair - unless you are the people-watching type. Anyways, you're young looking enough. You'll be fine." Dwight walked over to Miguel and put a hand on his shoulder and grinned. "Tell ya what, I'll throw a 'son' your way now and then if it'll make you feel less awkward."

Miguel rolled his eyes. "Thanks, pops. You're not that much older than I am, you know. Probably just make people think you're my sugar daddy."

"Hey, they would be staring for a different reason at least," Dwight quipped before checking to make sure everything was locked up. "Come on. If we're going to eat our way through all the food vendors here we better get started."

Miguel made a kissy face at him and stuck his hands in his pockets, looking around as they headed for the entrance. It was dusty and bright, but just about everyone seemed to be in a good mood. "Seems pretty busy."

"Pretty normal sized crowd for a Saturday. It will get even more crowded as the day goes on. Night time is usually when these things really get packed," Dwight said as they headed to the ticket booth. "So, you think you are up for lots of rides or just a few times around on some? Each ride costs a couple tickets or you can get the arm band. Which is more expensive, but gives you unlimited turns on all the rides you want."

"Eh, might as well get the band. Less hassle later." Miguel checked the prices and dug out his wallet. "Don't suppose they have one for unlimited food?"

"As a matter of fact they do," Dwight said leaning in and squinting a bit to try and read the small print on the price board. "Unlimited food and drinks, excluding beer and souvenir cups." He pulled out his wallet as well. "I think we found what we need!"

Dwight bought his two bands and waited for Miguel while looking over the crude maps they had of the place.

Miguel cackled. "They might regret that." He bought his own bands and got out of the way. "Any place with breakfasty foods we can start? Or coffee?"

"Let's see...." Dwight said, still squinting at the map. "We have funnel cakes, doughnuts..." Dwight glanced at Miguel with a 'I don't think so' look. "...potato pancakes, waffle fries, and yes coffee."

"Doughnuts are a time-honored breakfast tradition," Miguel pointed out, though he wasn't about to insist. "What are funnel cakes, and where's the coffee?"

"We'll see about the doughnuts," Dwight said with a smirk. "Coffee is over there," he said pointing to the nearby kiosk as they started walking that direction. "And funnel cake is basically fancy fried pancake batter topped with sugar. AKA absolutely delicious."

"I'm up for that." But first, coffee. There wasn't a long line for it, so it didn't take long before Miguel finally had a decently large cup of it in his hands. It wasn't as strong as he preferred, but it wasn't too bad. "Should we start clockwise or counterclockwise, or just head straight for those funnel cakes?"

"I'd say let's go clockwise," Dwigh said, handing Miguel the map. "Looks like there are game kiosks and a few little things between here and the funnel cakes so we can start there and see where we end up."

"Sounds good." Miguel eyed the map, then folded it and stuck it in his pocket as they headed off.

The first thing there was a booth with a bunch of ribbons and pictures of farm animals. Miguel eyed them, nonplussed. "Wow. Great...cow."

Dwight shrugged as he looked at the picture then to Miguel. "Country folks, they love their animals.,,," Dwight's voice trailed off as he looked at the next board which had a bunch of ribbons and pictures of vegetables and other things. "And pumpkins too evidently," he added with a chuckle, looking at one of the photos that had a Best in Show ribbon beside it. "Impressive though I have to say. Sucker looks like it would be over 300 pounds."

As they continued on their way Dwight gave a sharp laugh as he saw the first game ahead of them. "Oh this one should be a piece of cake for you! So long as you don't totally destroy it on them," he added with a wink as they walked up to the High Striker game.

Miguel smirked, remembering his talk with Annie about this one at the school carnival. "Oh, you first on this one." He waved Dwight toward it. "Hit it full force, big guy." Hiding his mouth behind his hand, he muttered. "Let me see how it actually does first." Because yeah, he didn't want to actually smash the thing.

"Alright let's see if I've still got it." Dwight said as he cracked his knuckles and grabbed the mallet. He gave it a few swings to get a feel for its weight and then took a step closer and got into position. Lifting the rather heavy mallet up over his head, he brought it down hard and fast, hitting the target dead center. The pin shot up to the top, a satisfying ping ringing out.

"Just hit it dead center," he whispered as he leaned over towards Miguel as he handed him the mallet. "I went full force pretty much... so take that as a starting point." Dwight gave Miguel a wink as he stepped back. "Let's see if ya can match that!' he said, chuckling to himself as he watched.

Apparently the game's operator thought he'd get in on the joke, and he started heckling Miguel. "Come on, you're not gonna let your friend beat you! See if you can get it half way! Prove you're a man!"

Miguel looked at him, unimpressed, then picked up the hammer one-handed and hit the target solidly with just a little effort. It creaked a little, and the pin shot up and hit the bell. "Does that prove I'm man enough for the stuffed pink bunny prize?"

Dwight had to hide a snort behind a pretend coughing fit as he saw the stunned look on the guy's face as he blinked and then silently handed Miguel the toy.

"Nice job there Miguel!" he said, giving him a pat on the back as they turned and started to walk away, the game's operator just staring at them still completely dumbfounded. "And nice job not totally destroying the thing," Dwight added with a laugh.

Miguel smirked again. "I could've lifted it and hit the hammer with it, but then they'd probably kick us out. Hey, wait." He shifted the bunny to one hand and took out his phone, then took a picture of it and sent it to Rosa with the caption Look what I got you!

Then he looked for a small child to give the thing to, because he wasn't stupid enough to actually bring it home.

Dwight chuckled. "That was quite impressive though...you didn't even spill any of your coffee!" Dwight looked up ahead as they kept walking. "Looks like we have the funnel cakes and then another couple games. You ready for food yet?" he asked with a laugh knowing good and well what the answer would be.

"I'm always ready for food." Was that what you knew the answer would be, Dwight?

Miguel smiled carefully at a woman with a little girl, asking if she'd like the rabbit, and giving it to her when she nodded, barely waiting for her shy thank you.

Then he saw the funnel cakes. "You said sugar; you didn't say powdered sugar," he said to Dwight accusingly.

"Hey sugar is sugar," Dwight said with a laugh. "Or is powdered sugar too primitive for your sophisticated taste buds?" he said playfully.

Dwight walked up to the vendor and ordered a large funnel cake so Miguel could see how they were made. He took it and grabbed the powdered sugar and gave it a good dusting.

"Powdered sugar is worse than glitter," Miguel declared. "It gets everywhere and it's sticky. Keep that crap away from me." He edged around Dwight and ordered a funnel cake, and did not put any powdered sugar on it, although there was a shaker of cinnamon sugar, and that was okay; he used that instead.

Dwight shook his head and laughed. "But it's such a tasty mess," he said, licking some of the sugar off his fingers. As he watched the face Miguel made he reached out like he was going to give him a pat on the back or something and laughed.

Miguel gave Dwight a mighty side-eye, and out of view of anyone else, made to grab his hand, talons out. "Don't even try it." He took a small pile of napkins and shoved a few at Dwight.

"Ok, ok... I can take a hint," Dwight said, jumping back slightly with a slight yelp. "No mess for Miguel," he said, taking the napkins and finishing up the cake.

Miguel grinned and tore off a piece of his to eat. It wasn't exactly neat, either, but at least the cinnamon sugar didn't drift. He nodded as he chewed. "Yeah, okay. Carbs, fat, and sugar; what's not to like?" He started walking again.

Dwight finished up the funnel cake and lucked out to find a hand wash station set up near one of the food booths so he could wash most of the stickiness off. As they walked he looked around at the people passing by and smiled. Everything was so... normal... painfully normal. And it was a very nice change.

"Oh I have got to try that one," he said suddenly, pointing to one of the game booths nearby. The bright red and yellow sign overhead read Archery Shoot Out. "Yeah, that's got my name written all over it!" he said as they made their way over.

He let a couple of people go ahead of him so he could watch, seeing if he could pick up on any of the tricks or rigs that they had on the game.

"Talk about old fashioned," Miguel quipped. He watched, too, more for the novelty than anything else. He finished his funnel cake about the time Dwight was next in line, licked his fingers, and clapped Dwight on the back. "Go for it. I'll cheer you on."

As far as Dwight could tell there were no tricks or gimmicks with this one. It was straight up skill of the aim. And even better, they were using what essentially amounted to simplified crossbows, which was his preferred choice for when he went hunting.

Dwight took his position behind the counter and took aim at the targets. The guy running the game said thirty points to get the big prize, with bullseyes counting for ten each. And of course, naturally only three shots to do it in. In what seemed like an instant Dwight fired off three shots, each one landing bullseye on the three targets. With a smirk he set the bow down and took the oversized plush snake toy from the game operator who was muttering something under his breath as he did.

Miguel snickered. "It suits you," he said, nodding at the snake. He snapped another picture, this one for Gabriel. Got a snake with a crossbow!

Dwight struck a goofy pose for the picture and laughed. As they walked on their way, he spotted a young boy walking with his parents from one of the games nearby, not looking all too happy. He was holding onto a small toy dog that looked like one of the participation toys from one of the kids' games.

Dwight walked over and asked if the boy would like to trade toys with him as he knelt down and held out the snake. The boy's eyes grew wide as he looked up at his parents who nodded. Dwight smiled and watched as they headed off, the boy yelling out a 'thank you mister' as they went.

Rejoining Miguel they continued on their way as he slipped the small toy into his pocket, the head poking out as he walked.

"At this rate we'll be run out of the place by noon," Miguel said cheerfully. "Huh. Frozen lemonade and fried Oreos. Do those even go together?"

"Is that a goal now?" Dwight said teasingly as they walked. "And normally I'd say no, those two do not go together... but it's the fair. Normal rules clearly do not apply here!" Dwight stood at the counter and placed his order, showing his arm band to the guy behind the counter who sighed and took the order for three fried oreos and a large frozen lemonade.

Yeah, Miguel was indifferent to your sighing, guy. He'd barely even gotten started! He ordered the same, then slurped the lemonade while he waited for the Oreos. He glanced around, looking at the rides. "How many people get flung off those things every year?" he mused.

"Not as many as you would think honestly," Dwight said around the Oreo he had just taken a bite of. "But when things go wrong they usually go very very wrong. Ones that are usually the worst are the ones that travel around and aren't in any one place very long." Dwight glances around at the nearest rides. "I think the guide book back at the hotel said this place is pretty much a permanent feature and they just shut it down in the off season... so as long as they've kept up with maintenance it should be ok... pretty much," Dwight said as he see-sawed his hand and laughed. "Oh come on, it's part of the thrill of the fair. Though, yeah there are a few rides that I just wont get on no matter what."

"Yeah?" Miguel took his own Oreos, glaring at the dusting of powdered sugar on them. "Which ones?" He wasn't worried for himself on these things, but he'd rather not have to go into superhero mode on this vacation.

"Any of the monstrosities that go high and spin around super fast. Too many chances for something to go wrong. I don't mind speed and I don't mind heights, not a fan of excessive amounts of both at the same time," Dwight said as he finished his Oreos and went back to the lemonade.

"If I want to go high, I can jump off a skyscraper," Miguel said, getting a weird look from someone passing by. He started in on another Oreo. "How many people throw up on these things?" Also a relevant question.

Dwight chuckled as the people walked by. "Oh quite a few... kind of to be expected between the overly greasy fried food and sheer nature of most of the rides. Again, the higher and faster the greater the chances are. But there's some that are fairly low risk for any issues like that - the fun house, the slides, the ferris wheel, several of the other rides that don't go scramble your brains fast." Dwight left Miguel to ponder on that for a moment while he went and ordered another frozen lemonade. "Hey Miguel," he called out. "Want another one?"

"Nah, I'm good." Miguel crumpled his empty Oreo container and tossed it at a garbage can. "I've still got most of this one. If someone throws up on me on one of these, I'm wiping it on them."

"Sounds fair," Dwight said as he walked back over with a fresh drink. "So feeling up for a ride or want to hit one of the games and see who we can annoy?"

"I'm always for annoying people," Miguel answered. "We should probably spread it out a bit, but you probably can't take drinks on the rides, right?"

"No, you can't... but we can start heading wherever you want and finish them up on the way. Can scout out some of the worst of the rigged games to really annoy the carnies later on... like that one," Dwight said pointing across the way to the rope ladder challenge.

"What's rigged about it?" Miguel asked. "Oh." Someone tried to get up it, and it turned, dumping them into the air mattress underneath. He smirked. "Yeah, not a problem." Even if he lost his balance, he could cling to the underside of the thing; there didn't seem to be a rule that you had to stay on top.

Yeah, they were going to hate him here.

"It's a common one that gets rigged to be impossible for most people. Rule is usually that nothing can touch the ground. Most people don't have the upper body strength or flexibility to climb the underside of it." Dwight grinned picturing how easy a time Miguel would have. "And then there's also the milk bottle stack and the ring toss games. Both can either be matters of skill or be rigged depending on how they are set up. Weights and magnets are the most common way those types of games are rigged to be harder to win."
Yes, he knew a lot about fair games and the tricks they used. He spent a lot of time going to fairs growing up. It was perfectly normal for this time, thank you very much.

"My aim's decent, but yours is probably better if you hunt," Miguel said. "Strength and flexibility, though... Heh." Yeah, he'd clean up at those. "Between the two of us, we can probably make a good dent in these things. So where to next?"

He wrinkled his nose as the wind changed. "Not toward whatever that is."

It was goats.

"Yeah these guys are gonna hate us by the time we make a lap around the place," Dwight agreed with a chuckle. He laughed at the face Miguel made and put a hand on his shoulder as they walked towards several of the rides. "That city boy, is the smell of farm animals. Most likely the goats," he added with a smirk.

"Let's see right here we got the Mechanical Bull Ride, the Tilt a Whirl, and an old school wooden roller coaster. I'm definitely hitting the Bull at some point. Anything catching your fancy?"

"Give me city smells any day," Miguel said. "I can hold your lemonade while you do the Bull if you want," he offered. "Then we can trade."

"Sure sounds like a plan!" Dwight said, handing his cup over to Miguel as he got in line. When it was his turn, he got situated and secured himself the best he could as he tried to remember the tricks for staying on. Admittedly, it had been more than a few years since he had ridden one of these things.

"Time to beat is ten seconds," the operator said to which Dwight nodded, trying to concentrate. He did pretty good, honestly better than he had expected, as the ride bucked and spun. When his grip finally gave out, he got bucked off, landing on his back onto the cushioned mat.

As he got back to his feet he gave Miguel a thumbs up, only to realize the jerk had his phone out and was taking pictures.

Miguel grinned and gave him a thumbs-up back. "Looking good, Dwight! How'd he do?" he asked the operator.

The operator glanced down at the controls, the sheer boredom evident on his face and in his voice. "Eight point seven seconds. Not bad."

Dwight made his way back to Miguel and gave him a "really dude?" look as he nodded towards the phone. "So, just how many of those did you take and send to Gabriel and Rosa?"

"What makes you think I'd do that?" Miguel asked innocently. "I'd never send any to Rosa; she wouldn't care. She wouldn't even care if it was me unless you got a good pic of my ass while I was doing it."

He handed Dwight his lemonade. "Okay, Gabriel may have gotten one."

He eyed Miguel knowingly and nodded as he took a long slirp of the drink. "Yeah, figured as much... any chance you being half decent and showing me the embarrassment that has traveled across space and time?" Dwight gave him a mock glare and then laughed and shook his head. "Alright, your turn. See if you can make it past ten seconds." Dwight snickered and whispered to Miguel from behind his hand. "If you don't beat ten, you owe me a beer," he said with a scoff.

Miguel snorted. "Oh, please," he murmured back. He handed Dwight his lemonade. "If I don't beat ten, I'm hanging up the suit. And you can see the pictures after I'm done, because I'm not handing you my phone until then. You want blackmail material, it's on your own tech."

"Challenge accepted," Dwight said with a smirk as he took out his own phone and fumbled with it a minute while Miguel got ready.

Miguel toed off his shoes and left them with Dwight, set his lemonade down next to them, and got in line. When it was his turn, he climbed up, surreptitiously dug his talons in, and grinned.

He wondered how long the thing would keep going for if he never got off, but that seemed a bit too attention-getting. He counted ten seconds, then five more in case his count was off, then went limp and let himself slide off.

Dwight cheered Miguel on as he snapped off a few shots, especially proud of himself for getting one as he slid off at the end with a rather elaborate flip to the landing. He looked over at the ride operator and grinned, already seeing the shocked look on his face.
"Come on man, don't keep us waiting! How did he do?" He looked at Miguel and gave him a quick wink as they waited for the official time.

"Fourteen seconds," the operator said. The other people waiting in line cheered, and Miguel gave them a bow.

"Pretty sure it was fifteen, but okay. So what do I get?"

Dwight cheered the loudest of everyone as Miguel walked back and joined him, carrying a ridiculously oversized toy with him.


"Nice job there, Miguel," he said with a grin. "And good job selling it too," he added with a whisper behind his hand.

Miguel smirked. "Hey, we've still got more games to break; can't show our hands that much. And I won your double, too." He held up the toy and looked from it to Dwight.

"Ha...ha...ha.." Dwight said dryly as he fought back a grin. "Very funny. Think it takes after dad's side of the family honestly," he said with a laugh.

Taking out his phone, he held it up to show Miguel one of the photos he had snapped. "Nothing blackmail worthy this time, but the day is still young!"

"You're assuming I'm blackmailable," Miguel quipped. He saw a teenager eyeing his toy, and tossed it to him. The boy caught it, looking startled. "So, rides?" He finished his lemonade and tossed the cup.

"Rides sound good to me," Dwight agreed as his cup quickly followed Miguel's into the trash can. "I chose the Bull, now it's your turn. What you in the mood for?"

Miguel turned slowly, looking around, then nodded at the ferris wheel. "Might as well get the lay of the land, right? High but not fast is fine?" Not that this was terribly high, but it was easily the highest thing here.

"Yup all good," Dwight said with a nod as they got in line. "And yeah I know this is like a 0 out of 10 for you on the heights thrill. Us simple humans can't usually handle being up in the clouds very well," he said shaking his head.

"It's not like I...Okay, no, I've totally jumped off a skyscraper, but not until recently. It's not like most people do that in my time any more than they do here. There's not exactly any thrill involved in going up an elevator."

"Well the views have got to be pretty amazing up there. Closest we get to that kind of view is probably in planes. Which, ya know... nice, but I bet the daily views are stunning. Would be the only good thing for me. I think I would die if I had to spend all day in some big building without windows." Dwight gave a little shudder just thinking about that. "Three weeks in a hole with no sun was bad enough... no way I could do it long term!"

"There's plenty of sun," Miguel protested. "And parks and things on different levels. Just not a lot of ground. Windows, depends where you are, but I don't think a lot of science labs here have windows, either. My apartment did." His apartment had had Lyla, too. He missed her.

"Anyway, trust me, it's better than a hole in the ground," he said wryly.

"Wait... parks and stuff... indoors? Like in the building, miles up in the air?" Dwight gave an appreciative whistle. "That is impressive. I guess indoor nature is better than none.

"Makes me kinda wish I'd be around to see it all... even with all the trade offs I'm sure came with it," Dwight said simply as they got on and sat down as they started the slow climb up.

"Not inside," Miguel corrected. "Plazas and things, built on their own or on roofs or whatever." He grimaced. "And a lot of the trade offs aren't worth it, believe me. Some aren't bad, there's some definite pluses, but...yeah." He shrugged. "Anyway, Fandom's nice. When it's not throwing people in holes or changing us into random whatever or making us children."

"Yeah, pros and cons to everything. Seems to be a recurring theme to life in general. But yeah, Fandom's growing on me. And even with the random teleportations, children, and other insanity, it oddly is still less weird and threatening than back home in Haven." Dwight sighed and shrugged. "So I guess Fandom is stuck having its own resident Sasquatch for the foreseeable future," he said with a smirk.

"Somehow I don't think it'll mind," Miguel said. "It's put up with a lot worse, believe me." They got to the front, and he climbed into the car, eyeing the low ceiling. "Watch your head; I don't think these are built for sasquatches."

Dwight nodded and gave Miguel a side-eye look as he ducked. As he took his seat, he thought about how Miguel was unable to go back home, no matter how badly he wanted to... and how for him he could, most likely, go back to Haven any time he wanted, yet he had no desire to do so then, or possibly ever. Didn't quite seem fair...

"It's funny. I used to hate that nickname. Think it's because Duke always called me that to try and get under my skin. I don't know... but now it doesn't seem to bother me. In fact... it's kinda growing on me," he added with a smirk. "Think I am finally feeling more... relaxed. I'm not fighting against Troubles trying to wipe out the entire town on an almost weekly or at times daily basis. I actually got a few good people to hang with for the first time in quite a while. For the first time in nearly twelve years I can just be Dwight. Not Dwight the cleaner or Dwight the guy fighting the Troubles. Just normal Dwight... or, as normal as this can get," he said, gesturing vaguely to himself with a laugh.

"Wait, you hate it?" Miguel gave him a side-eye. "Why even bring it up, then? I wouldn't have used it if I knew you hated it. Not unless I was really ticked off at you, anyway." He sat back as the wheel started up again. "Even if it is better than a lot of things I've been called."

"Like I said, it's been growing on me. And people just seem to naturally come to it. I've already had several people in Fandom come up with that or something similar on their own." Dwight glanced at Miguel and smirked. "And are you going to tell me tightpants is not a great nickname?"

Miguel grinned, not afraid to up here away from everyone else. "Tightpants is an amazing nickname." He laughed. "She started calling me that when we met, believe it or not. Just never stopped when we started seeing each other. It's a Rosa thing. And it definitely beats 'slimeball', 'sell-out', 'murderer', and 'Mike'."

Dwight grinned back, glad to see that Miguel grin again. "Yeah, she seems to have a few 'Rosa things' going on. Though to be fair, I think most people have their own little quirks." He gave Miguel a look, "Mike? I'm sensing there's a story there, though I'm not sure if I should be asking or not," he added with a chuckle.

Miguel made a face. "I just really hate it. Always have. It's Miguel, period." He sighed. "And 'Miggy' to Gabriel, because it's his job to be annoying, apparently. But never 'Mike'. And my former boss used it all the time. Him I do not miss."

The whole "tried to addict me to a powerful drug to keep me at the company" thing put a sour taste in his mouth.

"Right, only Miguel," Dwight said with a nod. "Got it."

He stopped and looked out over the railing as they reached the top and the ride stopped for a few minutes. "I know it's nothing compared to what you have seen before, but it's still an impressive view of the place, don't ya think?"

"I've never seen anything like this before," Miguel pointed out, looking around. "Okay, and that?" He pointed toward where they could see the animal pens. "That we can see from a distance only."

"You got it city boy," Dwight said giving Miguel's shoulder a slap. "Looks like we've just scratched the surface of things to do and see and people to annoy!" He scanned their surroundings and then pointed out towards the far side if the layout. "Looks like they do have a fun house and bumper cars over by the roller coaster too!"

"I thought I was supposed to try not to hit other cars?" Miguel said, smirking. "Up still not an option?"

"Hardy-har-har," Dwight said dryly, but totally unable to keep the smirk off his face. "No, up is still not an option, and bumper cars are a great way to reinforce WHY we do not hit other cars for real! Does that healing factor of yours work on whiplash? Because that is totally likely with bumper cars!"

"It works with everything," Miguel answered. "Wait, if it causes whiplash, why do people without healing factors do it?"

"Because we are crazy and it is some people's twisted idea of fun," he said with a chuckle. "And it kinda appeals to the normal competitive nature of humans... or so I have been told." Dwight added with a shrug. "I haven't been on bumper cars in probably twenty years."

"Yeah, not doing it today, either," Miguel decided. "I'm not driving the whole trip on my own because you threw your neck and back out. Rollercoaster doesn't look bad, though. I have no idea what's in a 2000s 'fun house'." Their car started back down. "Think they'd panic if I jumped from here?"

They would, and then they'd throw you out, Miguel.

"Oh ok party pooper... but probably for the best. So no to bumper cars and yes to the coaster. Sounds like a good compromise." Dwight gave Miguel a side eye glance as he started to lean over and look out the side as the car started back down. "Yes. Mass hysteria. Total panic. And at the very least, we would be thrown out," Dwight said, shaking his head.

He settled back as they made the slow descent back down. "Most fun houses have the same basic things - room of mirrors, swinging rope bridge, spinning tunnel, maybe a small obstacle course type thing... piece of cake for you I'm sure. But it could still be entertaining."

"So it's designed to disorient you," Miguel noted. "And this is fun how?" He shook his head. "Never mind. And I won't jump; I'm not into panicking people. Or giving up my secret advantage before I've won a few more toys."

"Again, weird human desire to compete and challenge each other to ridiculous tasks." Dwight smirked. "And totally can't get kicked out just yet. We've only won, what? Three toys so far? Not nearly enough!"

As the car came to a stop at the bottom once again, Dwight stood up, ducking once again as they stepped out so the next group could get in.

"Yeah, so what are we winning next?" Miguel asked. "I think I saw a thing with fish. Do you have to take the fish home if you win them?"

He would totally take a fish home, just for Rosa. It wasn't a lobster, but it would do. Maybe he could put it in a huge tank and make it grow giant, like those ones in the lakes.

"Yeah usually they pawn them off on you pretty forcefully so they don't have to deal with them," Dwight said as they headed back into the crowd. "I always just gave them away to kids who were trying to win them but couldn't - really pissed the operators off." Dwight grinned broadly, a bit proud of himself for being able to mess with them so completely. "But they really couldn't do anything because I was paying them each time I played and won." Dwight chuckled at the memories of the last time he had been to a fair and won like ten goldfish for different kids that day before the carnies made him leave the game area.

"As for taking one home, most goldfish do actually grow based on their tanks. They might not get the size of a Koi... but with a good setup, Rosa could have a nice jumbo goldfish in a few years. And there are some cool colors you can get at these fairs too beyond the boring orange." Dwight glanced over at Miguel and grinned. "Let's go win a bunch of fish!"

Miguel grinned. "I'm in! Can we leave them there till we leave, or should we hit them up last? I don't want to stick them in the car and come back to fried fish."

"We'll hit them up last thing, just to be safe - that's a good point. So, a few of the other games, or hit the coaster first then games?"

"One more game and some more food," Miguel decided. "Do we know what's nearest?" He looked around and started heading in the general direction of the rollercoaster.

Dwight dug out his map from his pocket and looked at it as they walked. "Ok over by the coaster we have balloon darts, water gun shootout race, the baseball throw challenge, and the ring toss game. Couple of those are prime targets for fixing the game and for cheating so... should be fun making them cry a bit," Dwight said with a smirk.

Miguel grinned, close-mouthed. "Baseball throw is definitely me, even if last time I played 'baseball', it was with things that had attacked us. The others sound more like your thing, unless they're not actually about aim?"

"Baseball throw is all yours yeah as its strength based. Balloon darts make it seem like simply aim but if it's fixed then strength and aim both come into play. Ring toss is aim but also a good bit of luck as it's often set up with weighted rings and the bottles can be set in a way to make the ring more likely to bounce off - so might be something you can pick up on easier. And the water gun shoot out is all aim but needs at least two people doing it," he said giving Miguel a wink. "There's probably a few other games in the area too we can look at while we're over there and find something geared for your 'unique' skillset."

"I'm sure we'll find something. Food first, though." There was what looked like a barbeque place ahead, and he made a beeline for it. It ended up being skewers of meat (Amaya would love it) and pulled pork sandwiches. "I dunno, you think this is weird enough to count as fair food?"

"If it's served at the fair it counts as fair food," Dwight said with a laugh. "Can't have all fried foods after all. Messy yummy barbeque is always a valid option!" Dwight scanned the simple menu and placed his order and stepped aside for Miguel to order, enjoying himself as he watched the eyes of the young girl taking the orders get bigger and bigger as Miguel placed his impressive order.

Hey, at least Miguel was nice! He'd learned it was good to be nice to people who were feeding you. He gave her a close-lipped smile, then stepped aside to wait for his barbeque. "It does smell good," he admitted to Dwight. "And not just because I'm hungry."

Dwight nodded in agreement and went up to grab his food when he heard his name called. "I'll get us a seat over there and wait for you," he said, balancing two big skewers and a sandwich and drink as he nodded his head towards the small grouping of picnic tables set up nearby.

Miguel nodded in agreement and waited. Aaand waited. And then picked up his four skewers, sandwich, fries, and drink, and headed over to find Dwight. He spotted him and nodded, then sat down across from him, waving away the flies that were probably inevitable at something outdoors with food, and remind him why he was outdoors again?

Hey, at least he wasn't feeling the need to try to eat them. They should be grateful.

Dwight had heard Miguel's order and had made sure he got them a table to themselves, not just for the sake of having enough room but also to keep staring eyes a little more at bay as they both chowed down. He gave Miguel a nod as he sat down, his mouth too full of delicious barbeque to say anything at that moment.

That was fine with Miguel, because he also gave no pause before starting in on one of the skewers of meat. "Mm." That was about all you were getting out of him before he had at least two of these down him. He did manage to take it slowly enough to enjoy it, but the sweets he'd had so far today really hadn't done much but take the edge off his appetite.

Eventually, he smiled. "Weird or not, this is definitely decent food. So is this also fair-typical stuff, even though it's not fried?"

Dwight nodded as he grabbed a napkin and wiped the excess sauce off his chin. "Yeah, two basic types of fair food - fried and messy. Both can be equally satisfying in their own ways." he grabbed the jumbo sweet tea he had ordered and took a long drink. "But yeah barbeque is common at fairs. I've also seen nachos, ice cream, cotton candy, boiled peanuts, and other 'normal comfort foods' that are just as expected at fairs as the fried oddities."

Dwight took another bite as he mused to himself about how that was a good thing as nothing but fried and sugary foods would probably lead to a lot of sugar comas among fair-goers. Which would add a whole new level of crazy to the fair experience.

"Boiled peanuts?" Miguel made a face. "That sounds weirder than some of the things on that show."

"Oh hot boiled peanuts are amazing!" Dwight said enthusiastically. "I always get some when I can - they are hard to find outside of fairs or small-time country stores and what not. They are really a southern thing, so it's even harder to find them up here." Dwight laughed seeing the look on Miguel's face. "Don't worry, we will try some if this place has any!"

"I was not actually worried about that," Miguel said. Yeah, his look was going nowhere. "I'll stick with the meat and fried things." He took a fry, and tipped the carton at Dwight in offer.

Dwight nodded appreciatively and grabbed out a couple of fries. "Did you get all the same flavor for your skewers? I got the sweet and smoky and dry rub. They're both pretty good."

"One of each," Miguel told him. "Though I don't even remember what the other two are now. One was spicy, I think." He shrugged. "One of everything with meat in it, to counteract all the sweet things so far. And fries, because there has to be something fried, right?"

"Tasted good in any case, right?" Dwight teased as he took another bite of the super saucy pulled pork sandwich. He might not have had Miguel's souped up metabolism but he was still a big guy and it still took a good bit of food to keep him going at times.

"Don't think I've hit the spicy one yet, unless their idea of spicy is way below mine," Miguel answered. "So far so good, though. Lives up to the smell."

He picked up another skewer and took a bite. "Okay, this one might be the spicy one." He nodded. "Definitely a little kick. Not too bad, but more than the others."

"May have to try that one on our way out," Dwight said as he finished the last of his sandwich and drink and gave a satisfied sigh. "Tempting but I'm comfortably full, for now at least," he said with a grin.

"I'll get there," Miguel said. He still had one and a half skewers and a sandwich and fries to get through. "Of course you realize after a meal comes dessert, right?" He smirked. "Or should we hold off on that for a while?"

"Oh, there's always room for dessert," Dwight quipped. "Though we may want to go towards the games for a bit. Not sure I want to tempt fate that much by jumping on a rollercoaster right after eating, no matter how mild of a one it might be!"

"Sounds good." Miguel waved his skewer at the map. "Does it show which games are where on there? Or which foods?"

"Yup. Right around the corner there," Dwight said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder "should be the baseball game and beside it should be the water gun shoot out. Ring toss and balloon darts are a little ways down with...." Dwight squinted at the small print on the map for a moment. "What looks like popcorn, corn dogs, a fruit stand, and one that just says 'fried delights'. So yeah, plenty to keep us busy over in this area for a bit."

"...A fruit stand?" Miguel asked. "With actual, non-fried fruit? Do you think we can trust it?" It could secretly be a supervillain lair.

"They probably are selling watermelon and strawberries and such. You can find those summer time types of things at fairs sometimes. You know, an option for the crazy people who come to a fair and don't want to binge on fried foods and such."

"There's always someone?" Miguel guessed. He shrugged. "We can take a look there, maybe bring some stuff with us for later." He thought about it. "Maybe not a watermelon." That wasn't exactly the most portable fruit if you didn't have a machete or something to open it with later.

He finished his last skewer and started in on the sandwich, pulling bits of meat from around the edges before it could fall off.

"Ya know, watermelon wouldn't be too bad to have. I got a hunting knife in the truck that would make quick work of one if we wanted to grab one for later." Dwight gave a chuckle at the look Miguel gave him. "What? I'm an outdoorsman. A good knife is like having another hand when you are out in the woods. I always have it with me when I'm on the road."

"I have my own," Miguel said, waving his hand. "I'm not...karate-chopping a watermelon or anything, though." He shrugged. "If you've got a knife, why not?" Hey, he'd known weirder people.

Again, Sabretooth.

"So, what game do you want to try and break first?" Dwight said as he finished his drink and waited for Miguel to finish.

"Baseball?" Miguel suggested. He finished picking at the sandwich and started eating it in earnest. "Or the water guns."

"I vote for water guns, then baseball. Feeling the urge for a little friendly competition," Dwight decided with a smirk.

Miguel grinned. "Should be fun. Since it's guns, I'm guessing strength doesn't really enter into it?" He didn't think they'd be shooting each other, but they probably also wouldn't be bashing each other over the head or anything.

"More aim and control. Usually they have you shooting the water guns at a target and the more direct the hit with the water stream the better you do. There are several ways it can be set up but that's the general gist. So aim is good to have but so is a steady hand and good concentration."

"Right. Okay, I can do that." Miguel finished up his sandwich and took a fry. "More?" he offered Dwight.

Dwight nodded in thanks and grabbed a few more fries. "So, do we want to go easy on them or totally show them up in front of a lot of people?" Dwight asked as he glanced at the crowds gathering around the game tents.

"Depends if the other people playing are jerks or kids," Miguel said after thinking for a moment. "And what the prizes are." He finished the last of the fries and balled up his garbage, tossing it at the nearest can. "You ready?"

"Yup ready," Dwight said as he stood and threw out his cup and trash. "Well I figured even if we win if the toys are half decent we can always give them to the kids. The Carnies at times like to mess with people by giving them pitiful kids' toys when they win to goad them on to play more games. Would piss them off to try that with us and have us just turn around and hand the toy to a kid, wave our armband at them, and try again." Dwight chuckled imagining how that would go. "We paid them for the unlimited bands, which are not commonly used because of the price, but I bet it would take them a while to get annoyed enough to chase us away from a game."

Miguel shrugged. "We're still probably paying them more than the toys are worth anyway." He started heading that direction. "Only thing they're losing is a bit of dignity."

Which was enough reason to do this, really.

Dwight nodded and slowed down a little as they approached the game tent, hanging back a little to watch the game currently going on.

"Good aim and a steady hand should be all it takes. Don't see any way they could really fix it to be harder for some people over others. But who knows, they might have some trick up their sleeves."

"Water pressure," Miguel suggested. "Or having the aim be off, or variable. We'll manage it, though." He waited until the current game was done. "Once for each of us, or both at once?"

"Why don't you take the first one? See if you pick up on anything. Then I can go and see if anything seems to change. Can always do a few together too for the laughs."

"Oh, sure, throw me to the wolves." Miguel was smiling, though. He flashed his wristband at the operator and picked a seat, checking out the weird gun-thing as best he could.

Dwight stood in the small crowd that had gathered to watch as several other people joined Miguel on the stools and got ready. From where he was standing off to the side slightly he watched as the game operator gave the signal for them to start firing.

It took Miguel a split second to line up the stream of water with the target, but it was no effort at all to hold it there, his reaction time letting him hold it rock steady despite the force of the water.

Word must not have gotten this far of their previous wins, because the operator just smiled and handed him a small stuffed puppy.

Dwight watched the game, not noting anything majorly off. As Miguel walked back over, Dwight grinned.

"Water pressure seemed pretty consistent from what I could tell. Anything off with the aim on your end?"

"Not that I noticed. Other than it being water, which isn't known for its ability to aim." Miguel held up his puppy. "What do you think, is it me?"

"Oh yeah, definitely you," Dwight said with a smirk. "Especially the sad eyes and floppy ears."

"Ha ha, very funny." Miguel rolled his eyes. "So now I have to go back to win a bigger one? Is that how it works?"

"Usually how it works, is we can keep going back, trying to win bigger prizes from them. I can go then you can go, we can play against each other. Basically it's kinda like the more we play and win the more prizes they have to give us. And then we can just turn around and give them all away to the kids." Dwight eyed the operator for a moment before continuing. "Because he is definitely trying to target the kids with the way he's running the game."

"Okay, so back to the game for me." Miguel clapped his hands and turned around to sit back down. He didn't exactly like kids most of the time, but he really hated people targeting them.

"I'll jump in on this one too, get a feel for the game myself," Dwight said as he flashed his wristband and sat down on one of the stools a little ways away from where Miguel was seated. "Can't let you have all the fun," he said with a chuckle as he looked over the gun.

"I'm allergic to fun," Miguel said, which was...partly true, really. "Might as well let you have some."

The game started again, and he held the stream strong on the target, aiming to beat Dwight this time.

Dwight took aim and pulled the trigger. It didn't take him more than a second or two to get the aim and hit the target dead center. While he didn't have Miguel's super reflexes or eyesight he did have years of experience and training with basic gun mechanics.

He glanced over at Miguel and gave him a grin, his marker basically keeping neck and neck the entire time.

Miguel smirked back. Just until Dwight's marker jerked forward, and there was only so much water he had, so when the bell rang, it was Dwight's turn to win. Miguel chuckled. "Clearly you cheated," he teased.

"Oh, don't be a sore loser," Dwight teased back with a grin. "Clearly, I'm just better than you," he said with a wink.

The ride operator handed Dwight a slightly larger toy than what he had given Miguel and congratulated him on the win. He then turned and called out to Miguel as they started to walk away to re-join the crowd and watch.

"Hey, you're not gonna let your friend show you up like that are you?" he called out to Miguel. "Prove you're a man! Don't be a wuss!"

Miguel rolled his eyes. "Seriously?" He turned to Dwight. "They all use the same script? One of us should go back there and win some more. Should I 'be a man', or would you rather prove I'm a 'wuss', whatever the heck that is."

"I'll take another go around. Piss him off a little more when you don't take his bait," Dwight decided. "Here, hold this for me would ya?" He said, handing Miguel the toy tiger he had won as he turned around and took a seat once more, waiting for others to join him for the next round.

Miguel held the tiger, shaking his head in amusement as the operator tried a few more times to get him to join Dwight. Instead, he leaned against a post and watched.

"Honestly, is this the twenty-first century or the nineteenth?"

Dwight glanced to one side then the other to see who all he was competing against. There were a couple of other guys on his left and to his right there was a father and his son, who looked to be about ten years old or so. Before they got started, Dwight overheard him giving his son a few pointers.

Then the operator gave the signal and the water pressure kicked in. About halfway through, Dwight glanced over and was quite impressed to see how well the kid was doing. When the match ended, Dwight had won again but amazingly the kid had placed second. Of course that kinda made sense when you consider the other two guys were obviously a bit drunk and that the dad had definitely been focusing on helping his son maintain his aim more than focusing on his own. But still, impressive.

Dwight took the large plush yellow duck he was handed and turned holding it up for Miguel to snap a quick picture for Gabriel. He then turned to the father and son who were just about to leave. He held the toy out to the young boy and gave him a smile. The boy stared wide eyed at it then at Dwight who nodded and handed it to him, turning and heading back towards Miguel with a grin.

Miguel snorted. "We're going to end up staying here for a while, aren't we? You know you have to start from the beginning now. Kid did pretty good, though." With his dad helping him and cheering him on, which was weird in a way Miguel was aware probably shouldn't be. "You want to get your little toy back, or is it my turn now?"

He was good either way, honestly. There wasn't a lot of skill in this game; its main attraction so far had been annoying the operator by not playing.

"Let's give the guy a break - can always come back and annoy him some more when he's not expecting it. I vote we check out the baseball themed games over there" he said, pointing a little ways away at the tent with the oversized baseball on it. "Looks like there are several games that would be right up your alley."

"You mean I get to troll people?" Hey, he knew his strengths! "Let's go for it." He looked around for a little kid to give his stuffed puppy to, and not seeing one, handed it to the nearest person, a middle-aged guy who looked confused and a little suspicious.

"Just passing along the wealth," Miguel insisted, holding up his hands.

"O...kay..." the man said dubiously.

Miguel gave him a thumbs-up and started toward the baseball games.

Dwight took off after Miguel with an almost giddy grin as they headed for the baseball game setup. This was going to be so much fun to watch!

"Remember to try and not destroy the games," Dwight reminded him with a wink.

Miguel shrugged. "I make no promises." He'd try, but hey - who could tell how hardy these things were?

The first game was to throw a baseball at a stack of metal bottles and knock them over. Which should have been fairly easy, but Miguel hung back for a minute watching other people try and looking the game up on his phone.

"Light balls, heavy bottles," he murmured to Dwight. "So less mass needs more force. I think I've got it."

Dwight nodded and leaned over closer and whispered behind his hand. "They also sometimes have magnets in the bottles or on the base to make them harder to knock over. But yeah you get the general idea. Maybe give it... what, a 10th of your oomph? Maybe 20th?" Dwight shrugged. He knew Miguel was strong but exactly how strong was something he had not yet witnessed.

Honestly, Miguel wasn't sure about how much of his strength translated into baseball throwing, either. He'd just try for "not quite putting it through the back of the stall".

He strolled up and showed his band, then got a ball and tossed it between his hands a few times to get a feel for how heavy it was and how fast it went, ignoring the operator's jeering and pushing.

Then he stopped and threw it. It hit the bottles near the middle and kept going, knocking them over and tossing the top one end over end, then booming into the metal backplate and slightly denting it before bouncing back and knocking into the overhang, then dropping onto the shelf.

Miguel picked it back up and smiled at the operator.

Dwight cheered, probably a little more loudly and obnoxiously than he needed to, but it was fun watching the operator mutter and fume silently. A few of the other people in the crowd were also getting in on the cheering.

The cheers however turned to boos of disapproval when the operator turned to hand Miguel not quite the smallest toy prize possible but one of the smallest for sure.

Miguel took a bow, still smirking, and set the toy back down. "Go again?"

The operator already looked disgruntled, but set the bottles back up. "You want a new ball, man?"

"No thanks, I'm good."

The operator stepped back out of the way, and Miguel tossed the ball and caught it again before throwing at the bottles one more time. He used a little less force this time, but it still powered through the bottles and smacked into the backboard.

"There ya go!" Dwight yelled as he started clapping again.

The crowd started to cheer again, louder and more enthusiastically than before. As the operator reached towards the prizes hanging on the rack beside him, cheers of "bigger-bigger" started to go up among the crowd.

Miguel smirked and held up his hands, waiting for the operator to toss him the ball. Instead of giving him the same one, he pulled a new one out of the basket. Like that would make a difference. Miguel saluted him with it, tossed it back and forth again, and then threw.

This time, when it hit the backboard, there was a loud thud, and then the sound of cracking wood as the plank behind the metal sheet gave way. The ball stuck there for a second, then bounced back more or less gently and landed on top of the bottles, now lying on their sides behind their stand.

Miguel tilted his head. "Oops."

Dwight stood still, mouth open slightly as he stared at the after-effects of that throw. Everyone around him was cheering loudly as he watched, hiding a laugh behind a cough as he watched Miguel feign ignorance and shrug.

"I think he's proven he's man enough," Dwight yelled to the operator as he all but threw one of the largest toys at Miguel and muttered something he figured was some version of "get out now."

Miguel fought back a grin, keeping it to a close-mouthed smirk, and caught the giant toy dog. A slightly tipsy group called out to him, applauding, and he held it up and tossed it gently to them. They cheered, one guy dancing it around as a young woman put her hat on it.

"You want to try?" he asked Dwight. "Or should we head for something else? We could do the rollercoaster and give them time to cool off, or that could give them time to decide to throw us out. I guess it depends on how much money they've already made off us."

"Let's head to the coaster for a bit. Give these guys time to cool down," Dwight said simply. "Don't think they are to the point of chasing us out of the place yet, but might be barred from this game now," he laughed as he watched the game operator glare at them as they walked off. "But a round or two on the coaster and then some food might be a nice break from the games."

"Sounds good," Miguel agreed. He debated giving the operator a full smile, but decided to save it. He headed for the rollercoaster instead, eyeing it with a bit of skepticism. "It looks like a little kid could break it apart. How often do these things get safety inspections again?"

"Permanent ones like this get big inspections every year. And they are supposed to do regular checks when they are in use." Diwght glanced at Miguel. "Yeah accidents happen but they are called freak accidents for a reason. Besides," he added with a laugh. "These wooden ones always look a bit rickety but they are a lot sturdier than they seem."

"I'm trusting you, Hendrickson," Miguel said in a dire tone of voice. He smiled close-lipped but cheerfully. "Mostly because I'd probably survive an accident." He rolled his eyes. "Why would anybody make one of these out of wood?"

"Well they are cheaper usually than all the metal and what not," Dwight replied as they started up the path that led to the queue line. "And sometimes, believe it or not, it's actually easier and cheaper to take out a few boards and panels and replace them when needed than it is to replace huge heavy sections of steel and cables. You can't do the fancy loops and crazy stunts but you can still hit decent speeds and get a nice rush."

"So they went with the cheap option," Miguel summed up. He crossed his arms and leaned against the fence as they got in line. "That's reassuring."

"Hey it's a fair, not a huge theme park. They tend to stay on the smaller and cheaper side of things. Honestly not sure I'd trust these kinds of places to be able to manage the upkeep on a huge towering twisting piece of steel." Dwight shrugged. "In any case, we should be fine.... Most likely. At least you will be. So Rosa won't have anything to worry about." Cuz you know, at least there was someone waiting for Miguel back on the island and he had people who would miss him.

"Rosa never worries," Miguel said. Probably not true, but she did have a reputation to keep up. "Don't worry, if anything goes wrong, I'll catch you." If anything went wrong, he'd try to save everybody, but he had a reputation to keep up, too.

He perked up. "We should absolutely go to a huge theme park." His trolling knew no bounds. Well, at least until he heard how much they cost.

"Ah thanks for caring," Dwightr said with a wink and a laugh. "And as entertaining as that would be seeing as I haven't been to an actual theme park in ages... unless you are swimming in money like Scrooge McDuck, the $200 a person ticket price might be a bit of an issue." And yes Dwight, go ahead and use a reference that would have been considered outdated for your generation let alone someone from nearly 100 years in the future.

Fortunately Miguel could figure it out from context. "Two hundred dollars? Do they give you stock in the place?"

"I wish," Dwight stated sadly. "But no, that's the price to park and get a ticket for one person. They usually have some deal where for an extra $50 you can upgrade to a three or four day pass or something like that. But yeah.... Theme parks are ridiculously overpriced. Which is probably the only reason these fairs are still around - a cheaper alternative."

"Yeah, that's ridiculous." Miguel shook his head. "Where would we be without capitalism?"

Well, he probably wouldn't be Spider-man, for one. Or much of anything else. Details.

Their turn came up, and Miguel found a spot and slid over to make room for Dwight. Maybe. "You even fit in these things, big guy?" They were clearly not built for large people.

"Yeah... at least I used to..." Dwight muttered as he slid in beside Miguel and finally got the lap bar secured and locked in place. "Believe it or not, these are the only coasters I can ride anymore. Most places have a 'must be at least this tall to ride' policy. Well a lot of them also have a 'sorry you are too tall/too big to ride' policy too."

Dwight gave a slight nod to the ride attendant who came by to check all the lap bars and sighed softly when they flashed the thumbs up.

"I'm officially too tall for most of the twisting, loopy-loop, fancy coasters. Evidently they have something against lawsuits from people hitting their heads on their rides or something... no idea why," he said with a chuckle as the car slowly started moving.

"They do know a good number of people are your height or taller, right?" Miguel asked. "Or just bigger. We're not even talking about non-humans, just other standard humans." He shook his head as they headed around a slow turn and up a hill.

"Yeah, inclusivity is not a strong point for these kinds of places usually when it comes to things like that. Too big, too tall, too heavy... based on some arbitrary standard someone pulled out of their asses... and you get left out of a lot of things," Dwight said with a sad shrug. "It's something society is still working on as a society. Maybe someday we'll get our acts together."

"Maybe." Miguel wasn't too sure about that; they were still human after all, and humans largely, in his experience, sucked. But he supposed you never knew.

They continued up a few more seconds, and then the train paused at the top. "It is a nice view," Miguel noted.

"Sure is," Dwigth said as he looked around and gestured to one side. "I think I see the truck over..." he started to say but was cut off as they inched forward just a little more then went over the edge, picking up speed in an instant.

Miguel laughed, the sound ripped away in the wind. He'd gone faster, but on his own he was in control, and in maglev cars he rarely had the top down; this was actually a little fun. He let himself be pressed back into the seat as they rushed down the hill and around the first turn, some of the other people in the train shrieking and yelling.

Dwight grinned as they started their descent and laughed as they sped around the turn and started along a small straight-away before starting up the next small incline. He looked over and smiled, seeing the grin on Miguel's face and hearing him laugh. Another hill came up and the train raced about half way up before being pulled the rest of the way up slowly before being dropped down the incline. Dwight let out a yell as they fell and laughed out into the wind as they sped along.

Miguel resisted the temptation to just jump out of the car and go swinging out on his own. When they approached the end, though, he had to make a concerted effort to stop grinning and hold it down to a close-mouthed smile. "Okay, that was fun," he conceded.

Dwight grinned and put a hand on Miguel's shoulder as they went. If he was more of a jerk than he was, Dwight could have teased Miguel about finally lightening up and having some fun and smiling. But thankfully for Miguel, he wasn't that big of a jerk.

"Told ya it'd be fun," he said simply with a grin of his own. "Feel like going around again or ready for something else?"

"Let's save it for later," Miguel said. "Maybe do some more food and...I don't know, the fun house or something. No more games just yet, unless you want to do a few." He'd be laying low a little while longer.

"Fair enough," Dwight said with a grin. "Food first. How about we check that place out?" he said pointing to a place with a sign that read Fair Fried Fantasies. "Can't go wrong with some more fried stuff right?"

Miguel snorted. "So long as you don't have to worry about your cholesterol, sure." He started heading over. "Fried Snickers?" he read. "Who thinks of these things?"

"People with a death wish," Dwight said with a moan as he rolled his eyes slightly. "I'm honestly surprised we haven't seen any fried butter yet. And yes. Yes that evidently is a thing." Not that he had ever tried it, he wasn't THAT much a fool.

"What I want though are those," he said pointing to the other side of the large food tent. "Double batter-fried corn dogs and fried ice cream."

"I am...skeptical," Miguel said. "But intrigued. What does double frying do to the corn dogs?"

"Extra crispy cornbread coating basically," Dwigth said, waving his hand slightly. "It's the fried ice cream that is totally mind boggling. And it tastes good too!"

"Yeah, mostly skeptical there if they've got the equipment in that little booth to keep it hard-frozen enough it's not a total mess," Miguel said. "But I guess they wouldn't sell much if it was. Unless the mess is the point?"

He hoped not.

"They probably got a freezer with dry ice or something back there. I don't mind taking a mess for the team," he said with a flourish as if he was volunteering for some dangerous task. "Then you can see if it's too messy for your delicate senses," he said with a laugh, ready to duck if needed.

Miguel rolled his eyes. "I'm sure I'll survive. And I might just try one of everything. I don't think my healing factor will let me get into a hyperglycemic coma." He might end up tossing out half of it before he threw up from the sweetness, but hey, it'd be an adventure, right?

Dwight walked up and placed his order, getting one of the jumbo corn dogs, fries, and a drink. "Will grab the ice cream afterwards, don't want it to melt more than it already will be." He stepped aside while he waited so Miguel could decide what he wanted.

"One of everything," Miguel said, smirking. "Okay, no fries, I had fries earlier. A corn dog, fried ice cream, fried Snickers, and fried Twinkie. Ugh, I need something else not sweet. Make it two corn dogs."

The girl in the trailer blinked at him, clearly about to ask him if he was sure, then shrugged and turned away to get it. He took out his wallet and left a tip, then stood aside, waiting.

Dwight got his order when it was ready and found an empty table under a tree and sat down. He watched the people passing by as he started in on the corndog. One family passed by and the young boy with them was holding a rather familiar looking toy snake. The boy called out when he saw Dwight and gave him a wave as they continued on their way towards the front of the park. Dwight smiled and returned the wave.

Miguel balanced his food between his hands and came to join him, sliding it onto the table. "Making friends?" He picked up the Twinkie and bit into it. "Shock, that's sweet!"

Dwight waved his hand a bit as he had just taken a bite of the corn dog. "Didn't know if you had enough hands to grab some on your way over, so brought extra napkins," he said when he could finally speak and handed a stack over to Miguel.

"Thanks." Miguel finished the next Twinkie piece with a bit of a face. "I should've gotten something to drink." He picked up the corn dog and took a quick bite, then pushed the remaining pieces toward Dwight. "Feel free." He moved on to the ice cream, since that was likely to be less sweet, and messier the longer he left it.

"I'll go get us a few drinks. Could use some more myself," Dwight said as he already finished off his drink. "I'll be right back," he said as he stood and grabbed one of the Twinkie pieces and took a bite as he headed back towards the stand, which thankfully didn't have a huge-ass line at the moment.

Miguel, meanwhile, took a stab (literally) at the ice cream. It was sweet, too, but the creaminess at least counteracted that a bit, and it wasn't bad at all. It also had powdered sugar on it, though, which he was doing his best to ignore and not get all over.

A little while later Dwight walked back over with two jumbo sized cups with lids and straws and two bottles of water.

"Got us both some tea and I figured some good old plain water might be in order after all the junk food. Besides," he said with a laugh as he handed Miguel his drinks. "After all these sweets I'm sure even the sweet tea is going to taste a bit bland."

"The ice cream's not bad," Miguel said, taking his drinks. "That Twinkie was way too much, though. I'm a little afraid to try the others."

He sighed, and the powdered sugar on the ice cream went everywhere. "Oh, shocking - why does this stuff even exist?!"

"To make you miserable, Miguel. Obviously," Dwight said with a laugh as he handed him a napkin.

"Can split the others if you want. I know I can't stomach a full order but can help ya make a dent in them at least if you need."

Miguel took the napkins and swiped at the sugar with a look of disgust. Some of it went away, some of it just left streaks on his shirt. He nodded his chin at the food. "Knock yourself out. Just leave me some to try."

"Just accept fate. You will be wearing powdered sugar until we get to the hotel tonight," Dwight said with a smirk as he took a drink and then eyed the intimidating looking fried Snickers.

"A healing factor of some kind would be nice right about now," he said, taking a breath and then trying a bite. "Oh good lord.... I think that is even sweeter than the Twinkie."

Miguel looked at him dubiously. "I'm not sure I want to find out." Except he was insatiably curious. He opened the water and wetted his napkin to try and get more of the sugar off him. Getting as much off as he could, he reluctantly reached out for the Snickers.

He bit into it and made a face. "Definitely sweet. Not quite as...mushy, though. Less tooth-rotting. Not making a habit of it."

"Yeah," Dwight agreed with a nod. "Fine to try for the experience. Definitely not going to seek these out again any time soon though." He looked at Miguel. "I'm going to be working off all these calories for the next two weeks. It's really going to mess with my girly figure," he added with a chuckle.

Miguel snorted. "I can chase you around the park if it'll help. Or drive while you run by the truck." He was giving that way.

He picked up one of the corn dogs to cut all the sweet things. It was already cooling off, but still good. "Mm. These are good."

"Naw I'll run an extra lap around the island each day when I go for my morning run. But thanks for the offer... I think," he said giving Miguel a side-eye glance.

Dwight took a few bites of his fries to cut the sweet and nodded to Miguel. "Yeah a good corn dog is really hard to beat. Back when I was younger we'd go to the fair and we would have literal eating contests with corn dogs, chili dogs, and regular hot dogs." He shook his head with a grin. "Good times, but sure as heck cannot do that kind of crap anymore."

"Yeah, and I've got better things to do," Miguel said. "I like to take my time eating, thanks. These are good, though." True to his word, he took his time finishing it before going back to the ice cream, which wasn't much more than thick soup in half a shell at this point.

Dwight nodded as he finished his and downed the water bottle. "So, we've been here a few hours already. What else is on your 'must do/see/try' list before we run out of time? The crowds are going to get worse as the day goes on. By the time the sun goes down this place will likely be so packed you can barely move. And I know neither of us are big on crowds."

Miguel made a face. "Yeah, not really." He thought about it and shrugged. "I'm having fun with the games. Definitely want to do that rope ladder thing. And win something awful for Rosa."

"Sounds good. We can wander and hit the rest of the games and see what trouble we can cause. And definitely got to get something for Rosa. And got to find a few more pics for Gabriel too," Dwight said as he finished his food and tossed the trash in the can nearby.

Miguel took out his camera and snapped a picture of his half-eaten fried Twinkie. You've got to find these and try one! he sent to Gabriel.

"Eat what you want of these and we can toss the rest," he said, picking up his other corn dog to start on.

"I think my mere mortal stomach is about done with the sweets," Dwight said, shaking his head. "If I eat anything else at all it is going to be something savory, not sweet, and hopefully not fried."

"So not from the fair, then," Miguel quipped. He piled the detritus together and tossed it, finishing his corn dog and throwing the stick into the can after. "Apart from the rope, what's left? Anything else you want to hit?"

"Normally I'd be down for taking my chances with a round in the dunking booth but with you around... naw, I am going to stay on dry ground," he said giving Miguel a side-glance and a laugh. "As far as the food, another pass by the BBQ place on our way out would be totally fine by me."

Miguel smirked, then nodded. "More barbeque sounds good. Rope ladder, give away a few more stuffed things, get a...hm. I think get a goldfish for Rosa...then barbeque and head off? Did you have a next destination in mind?"

"Sounds like a plan," Dwight said as he threw the rest of his trash in the can and stood up. "As far as the next destination, if we get out of here in the next few hours that should leave us with a good three hours at least drive time till it starts to get dark. Didn't have any place in particular in mind, but we should have no trouble making it to the next town. Should have some decent things there to do with it being a bigger area and all. Can always pull up a 'things to do' list on the phone and see what all there is to check out."

"We'll call it a plan, then." Miguel finished his tea and tossed the cup, keeping the water for now as they headed in the direction of the games again. He eyed the rope ladder from a distance. "What do you think - climb up it perfectly balanced, or let it tip over and climb up the bottom?"

Dwight nodded in agreement and followed after Miguel as they approached the first set of games.

"I'd say let it flip and act like you are going to fall off. Make them think they have won, ya know? Then finish climbing up like the monkey... err...spider that you are."

"Both of the above, if primates count," Miguel noted wryly.

They came up to the ladder game, and Miguel showed his wristband to the operator and waited as he gave the whole rundown of the thing, neglecting to mention how difficult it was, of course. Miguel was tempted to ask him to do it first as an example.

Then he took his shoes off, stepped up, put a hand on the ladder, felt for its balance, and nodded. He crawled out onto it and went two steps up, perfectly balanced, just to make the guy worry. Then tucked himself in closer to the rungs and let it flip.

The operator started in on his speech, "Oh! Too bad -" and faltered as he realized Miguel hadn't fallen off. Miguel crawled up the underside of the ladder, made it to the top, then shifted his weight around and spun to the top long enough to ring the bell.

Dwight had to fight hard not to chuckle as Miguel started to climb the ladder, hiding it behind a pretend cough. He glanced around at the crowd as some of the onlookers started whispering and pointing as Miguel hung from the underside of the ladder for a moment.

As soon as he reached the top and rang the bell, Dwight was the first to start cheering, though he was soon drowned out by the cheers from the rest of the crowd. He smirked as he watched the operator fumble over his words, clearly never having ever had someone actually make it to the top before.

"I.. I'm sorry," he started to stutter out. "But you have to stay balanced on top of the rope to win and...." anything else he tried to say was drowned out by the disapproving boos and jeers of the crowd.

"Huh. I don't remember you saying that beforehand," Miguel said. "You just said I couldn't fall. Of course, I could always do it again. Double or nothing?" How did he think that would go?

Dwight couldn't hold back a laugh as the operator quickly shook his head and held his hands up in surrender. "No,,, that... that's fine.." he said with a dejected look. "Take your pick," he said, motioning towards the rack of stuffies beside him.

"That one." Miguel pointed at a huge, bright-pink stuffed dog. "Then I don't need to get a fish for Rosa," he said to Dwight.

The operator went to hook it down; it took a bit of effort, since he had to stretch for it, but Miguel waited patiently.

Once Miguel had prize in hand, Dwight gave him a look up and down as he struggled a bit to keep it off the ground, seeing how it was basically as tall as he was.

"Guess it's a good thing we are on the home stretch," he said with a smirk. "You're gonna have fun carrying that thing around till we get back to the truck. Though, I must agree... It is perfect for Rosa."

By which he, of course, meant perfect for making her stutter and fume and complain... and maybe secretly love it.

"She'll try and sic Anna on it," Miguel said. "Anna will probably refuse to go near it. It'll be great." He gave up and sat the thing on his shoulders. It might not be dignified, but neither was juggling the damn thing, and at least this way it wouldn't get dirty.

"Of course whatever we try next, they'll know we've won something, and that might work against us, but hey. Let's see how many huge things we can give away! What's next? Or should I do this one again just because?"

He was kind of enjoying it.

"Why don't you give it another go? See how much you can mess with him before he tries to chase us away. Maybe really freak him out before we head off and make it perfectly balanced. What's he going to do, tell us it's rigged to be impossible to do it that way?" Dwight said with a laugh. "I'll hold Pinky for you while you go."

Miguel grinned and bopped Dwight over the head with the dog. "There you go." He rubbed his hands together and all but danced back to the booth. "I decided to give it another go again after all," he cheerfully informed the operator. "Just to make it fair."

Well. "Fair".

Dwight situated the dog on his shoulders like he was carrying a child around. He watched with an almost equally gleeful grin as the operator's expression fell as he saw Miguel walking up.

"Fine." he said dryly, narrowing his eyes at Miguel slightly. "But this time no flipping over. You flip it over or fall off, you lose."

"Sure thing." Miguel smirked. "No flipping. Ready?" He climbed back up, taking a moment to roll his eyes behind his glasses and wave at the people watching.

Then he tested the ladder, climbed on, and crawled up it to sit on the top as he rang the bell.

Dwight let out a whooping cheer as Miguel jumped down and turned, giving the crowd a bow before turning to claim his prize. He watched as the operator dared to even try reaching for one of the smaller plushies hanging on the rack.

"Seriously dude?" he yelled. "Go on Miguel pick another good one!"

Miguel looked around and saw a little girl staring up at the big ones. "Which one do you want?" he asked her.

She turned to her mom with huge eyes. The woman looked at Miguel. "Seriously?"

Miguel shrugged. "I don't really need another one."

She nodded at the little girl, who bounced and pointed at a huge, sequined green snake.

Miguel turned and nodded at it. "That one."

The operator sighed and went to hook it down. He handed it to the little girl; it was bigger than she was, but she didn't seem to care.

"Say thank you," her mom prompted.

"Thank you!" she yelled, hugging the snake tight.

Dwight watched with a broad grin on his face and gave Miguel a playful punch to the shoulder.

"Are my eyes deceiving me or is Miguel O'Hara starting to warm up to the mini humans?"

He adjusted the dog on his shoulders and glanced over at the operator who was glaring daggers at them.

"And on that note, I vote we vacate this area post-haste before we get chased out."

"Hey, I've got nothing against mini humans," Miguel protested, starting back toward the barbeque. "I just don't want them around me. I'm sure some of them are fine. I'm just glad she hugged the stuffed thing and not me."

Dwight nodded as he followed after Miguel. "Not too bad a day eh? Enjoyed your 21st century small town fair experience?"

Dwight had definitely enjoyed himself but without a healing factor of his own, his back was also definitely starting to protest the hours of fun.

"So barbeque to go then hit the road till we find a good looking place to crash. Sound like a plan?"

"It's definitely been something," Miguel said. He turned off the main strand and toward the barbeque place. "Let's do it." He smirked at Dwight. "Want me to hold the pink monstrosity while you order, or are you getting used to it?"

He took a couple quick steps forward, then took out his phone and snapped a picture of Dwight with the pink dog on his shoulders to send to Gabriel.

Dwight smirked and posed for the picture and then followed Miguel to the food stand.

"Naw I'll hold Pinkie. I think he's taking a liking to me," he said with a smirk as he made the dog wave at Miguel.

"Just make sure you order enough for both of us!" Dwight added with a wink.

Miguel gave him a jaunty salute and headed up to the line. When it was his turn, he ordered enough for two of him, heavy on the "hot" sauce, and two large drinks, then made sure to get two large iced teas and lids for everything.

He wandered back over to wait for it all. "I got enough for all three of us," he said, straight-faced.

"Oh good," Dwight said with an equally straight face. "Pinkie was worried you would forget something for him." Dwight looked at Miguel for a moment and then laughed.

Once they had the food in hand they made their way towards the main gate. As they went, they passed by several of the game booths they had already been at and saw a few familiar faces behind the stands.

"Think they remember us?" Dwight asked and then cleared his throat. "That would be a yes..." he muttered as he saw the glares several of the operators were sending their way.

Miguel walked blithely along, ignoring them all. What were they going to do, accuse him of being Spider-man? At worst they could kick them out, and they were already leaving, so that would be pointless.

"They probably still got more money from us than the prizes are worth," he pointed out. "Even if they lost out on food." Which he was not at all sorry for.

"They definitely lost out on the food department. But they were destined to the moment we walked in. And I'm sure everyone else buying the overpriced food offset most of our binge." Dwight glanced at the bags and trays he and Miguel were carrying. "Maybe," he added with a laugh as he shook his head.

As they headed across the lot towards where he thought he remembered parking he gave a slight whistle at all the people heading towards the ticket booth.

"Think we made the right choice heading out now. Looks like the second rush has already started."

"Yeah, glad to be gone before they all get in," Miguel said. "It was already crowded enough." He smirked at Dwight. "You want to give me the keys, or the dog?"

"I'll drive for the first bit. Then we can trade off at some point if need be," Dwight said as he fished his keys out of his pocket as he clicked the button on it listening for the beep in the sea of cars and trucks. "Damn it's hard to find one black truck in all of this... I think we parked down this aisle didn't we?"

"This way, anyway," Miguel said, heading toward the noise. "Get closer, you can call it again." He reached out to take the giant pink dog and give Dwight his hands free.

They walked for a few more minutes than tried it again, the beep echoing from down a little farther.

"In the right aisle at least," he said with a sigh of relief. Playing needle in a haystack looking for the truck was not his idea of a good way to end the day's adventure.

"Ah there it is," he said a moment later and hurried over and unlocked the truck and opened up the back so they could put everything inside. "Want the food up front with us or in the back seat for later? Think Pinkie is going to end up in the back with our bags, unless you want to carry him on your lap?" He asked, giving Miguel a playful glance.

Miguel rolled his eyes, opened up the back seat, and belted the dog in like a passenger. "Let's keep the food here. Easier to reach if we're hungry as we go." He took the drinks out of their holder and passed one to Dwight, then set the rest of the food on the floor behind the front seats, and webbed it in place so it wouldn't slide. "Work for you?"

"Perfect!" Dwight nodded approvingly and took the drink and slid into the driver's seat. After waiting a few minutes for the line of people to finish walking by, they were on their way out to the main road once again.

"Okay, which way?" Miguel asked. "Need me to navigate?"

"Sure. That would be a help," Dwight said. "Got the name of the city we can head to next. It's written down on the pad in the glovebox. Could always look up directions or check out some of the things there are to do around there. Kinda plan out what we want to do tentatively and all."

Miguel reached into the glovebox and took out the pad, then put the city name into his phone's GPS. "Okay, head west for now. We can just head there, see what we happen to pass on the way."

"Sounds good. Road trip night two, here we come," Dwight said as they turned onto the main road and got up to speed. With a grin he reached over and turned on the radio. Whether another round of radio wars or a friendly back and forth between stations, time would tell which way it would go.

****

They pulled over to the side at one point to finish the barbeque, but otherwise it was an uneventful drive, and eventually they ended up at the edges of a mid-sized city. Miguel cracked his neck. "Three hotels here; think we should pick one?"

"Yeah I'm about done for the day," Dwight said, shifting in the seat slightly. "My body is reminding me I don't have a healing factor," he added with a laugh.

After driving a little longer he turned off the main road and into the parking lot of a fairly nice looking hotel - at least from the outside.

Climbing out he stretched as he looked around the parking lot. "Not too packed. Should hopefully be a fairly quiet night at least. You staying here or wanna come in while I go see about a room?"

"I'll come in," Miguel said, getting out. "Could use a stretch myself." He stretched his arms up and craned his neck. "Road trips need to have less road."

"Yeah I hear ya," Dwight agreed as he started walking a little gingerly at first towards the entrance as his back started loosening up. "Unfortunately, we haven't quite gotten to the point of flying cars and I think we'd draw too much attention swinging around among the trees and buildings and what not," he said with a laugh.

Inside the lobby things looked very nice and clean. Nothing overly fancy but was far from run down or overly outdated. As they stood waiting for the keys, Dwight watched the two cute young girls working the front desk smile at Miguel.

Once they had the keys, Dwight grabbed his bags and started down the hallway. When they were out of ear-shot, he glanced at Miguel and gave him a grin,

"Looks like you got some admirers," he said. "And you didn't even have to take your shirt off," he added with a wink.

"Huh?" Had Miguel noticed them? Nope. He looked around. "Who? For what? I'm just standing here now. Unless they were at the fair earlier." Which he supposed was vaguely possible.

Dwight shook his head and laughed. "And I thought I was the clueless one."

They walked on down the hallway until they found the room. Opening the door he walked in and turned on the light.

Miguel walked in behind him and blinked. "Well. That is...definitely a color choice."

"Yeah..." Dwight agreed as he blinked. "Somewhere between hideous and blinding." He quickly made his way into the room and flipped on one of the bedside lights and nodded for Miguel to kill the main light. "Well, that's a little more tolerable at least."

"For you and me both." Miguel shook his head. "It practically glows." He threw himself and his bag down on one of the beds. "The ceiling's not as bad," he declared. "I'll just keep looking up."

"Let's get the TV on for at least background noise and that should be enough light without us being blinded by... ummm... whatever color this is," he said gesturing towards the walls.

"Puce?" Miguel had no idea what color puce was, but it sounded suitably disgusting. "Chartreuse? Is there a color called 'oh god my eyes'?"

He fumbled for the remote on the nightstand and turned the TV on, then flipped a few channels to something bright without paying attention to what it actually was. "How's that?"

"Yeah that's fine," Dwight said with a nod as the other lights went out. "You would think they would WANT people to stay in their hotels. This decor is like trying to chase them away." he glanced over at Miguel for a moment. "You gonna be ok? Or should we see if there's a different room that's not so.. Ummm.... blinding?"

"I'll be fine," Miguel assured him. "It's not actually reflective, so it's not painful. Well, not physically painful. Mortally wounding any sense of decor I have, though. If it gets too bad, I can always web the spare blankets to the walls."

He paused. "Want me to?"

"Actually, yes... please," Dwight said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "It's already giving me a bit of a headache. And is totally wounding what little interior design brain cells I actually have in this Sasquatch brain of mine. So please, web away!"

Miguel grinned and went over to the closet alcove and pulled out the spare blanket. He shook it out, then climbed up the wall and stuck the first corner on with some webbing, then the second.

"We're going to need more. Hand me my...whatever that top layer's called. Blanket? Bedspread? Duvet? Thingy."

"Ugly and useless is what I call it," Dwight said as he pulled it off and handed it up to Miguel. "Need mine as well? I will feel no remorse for its loss."

"Yeah, if you're not using it," Miguel said. He tacked his up, moving onto the ceiling to work his way over. "Three should block most of this wall, and the paintings and things on the other are ugly but not painful."

"Ah yes, much better" Dwight said as he flopped back onto the bed next to his duffle bag. Reaching over he grabbed his phone and snapped a quick picture of Miguel as he laughed. "Don't worry, my phone so... no high tech transfer. Which means - take two!" he said as he snapped another one.

Miguel flipped him off before dropping down to the floor. "This is the thanks I get for saving your eyes? I can always take them back down again."

He would not.

Probably.

"Ok, ok. Phone is going away," Dwight said as he put the phone back on the bedside table. With a groan he stretched, his neck cracking slightly.

"You're taking the first driving shift tomorrow by the way."

"Fair enough." Miguel lay back down on the bed. "I suppose it's me or the dog, and he doesn't even have a fake license. Also I'm pretty sure my spatial awareness is better."

He picked up the remote and started desultorily flipping through stations, not even really looking at the screen, stopping when he recognized the voice of How It's Made.

Dwight nodded and laughed in agreement. "Yeah you are a little better suited for it. Just a little," he said with a playful wink.

Watching the show Miguel stopped on for a few minutes he glanced over at him then back to the TV. "Ya know. Might get some ideas for another class you could teach back on the island from a show like this."

"Building things?" Miguel asked. "No, wait - all field trips! A different factory each week. That'd be fun. One of the shows's about ice cream. One's about jelly beans. There are some great factories out there."

"And with the portal access distance and travel won't be an issue," Dwight agreed. "Sounds like it could work out nicely! Ice cream, jelly beans, potato chips, chocolate... no shortage of things to do - even just focusing on food things alone."

"Potato chips?" Miguel made a face. "You chop up potatoes, you fry them. Even if it's tons of them. Sounds boring. I could be on-brand and go with silk, I suppose. Eh, there are a lot of things out there. I could throw darts at a map or something and find them."

"Eh, mass production chip factories are kinda cool. But yeah there shouldn't be any issue finding enough things to do."

"I'll think about it." Miguel shrugged against the sheets. "Hopefully Beaker won't decide to show up. Don't think the school's liability insurance covers...whatever he is."

"Yeah....that kid is.... Umm... special." Dwight stared up at the ceiling for a minute. "We finished off the food from the fair, right? Want to order anything before we turn in for the night?"

"What is there?" Miguel rolled over enough to pick up the hotel's local info brochure. "Nothing listed but pizza. I think I've had enough grease for one day. Bed now, breakfast in the morning?"

"Sounds good to me," Dwight said with a yawn. "Fairs are fun, but I forgot how exhausting they can be at the same time."

"All we did was walk and throw things and eat," Miguel said, laughing. "You didn't even do most of the throwing."

"It's been a rough few weeks... months... back in Fandom," Dwight said in his defense as he gave a mock glare at Miguel and then laughed.

Miguel looked over at him. "What?"

"Island insanity," Dwight said simply. "Not all of us are used to it quite yet." He gave a shrug as he stood up and got a change of clothes out of his bag and headed for the bathroom to change.

"Oh good god!" he exclaimed as he turned on the light. "Do NOT look at the walls in here. They are as bad as the ones out there," he said with a painful groan. "Whoever did the decor in this place needs to be fired. Or shot!"

"Paint the walls with their blood. Good plan." Miguel nodded. "To be fair, I was in weirder places than the island first, and I've been there for years. You're kind of ridiculously okay with individual weird, like my whole spider thing, it's just the things you're not used to that can throw you for a loop."

"Yeah, Haven weird was very individual. One person's ability or power getting out of control or having to be dealt with. When you know people who can control the weather, bring drawings to life, control people's dreams, shapeshift, create earthquakes, control electricity, and even.... become a bullet magnet," he said gesturing to himself, "individual weirdness seems pretty common, You and a lot of the folks in Fandom would fit right in - ability wise - in Haven. But all this other stuff - teleportation, sentient holes, dead people, and all the island weirdness, yeah it takes a bit to get used to. But despite the oddness, Fandom feels like home now."

"Despite all the weirdness, it seems to take care of its own," Miguel said. "I still haven't figured out if the island itself is actually sentient, but it's a workable theory anyway. And the other people there get it, which helps. Not having to hide is nice."

If it weren't for his healing factor, his jaw would probably still be hurting from constantly reminding himself not to open his mouth too wide.

Dwight nodded in agreement and thought for a moment. "Fandom in a lot of ways manages to be what Haven was supposed to be. A place where special people with special abilities and special stories could live in peace and not have to hide. Haven isn't quite there yet, at least in my timeline, but at least I know a place like Fandom can exist."

Whether or not he ever ended up in Haven again - by choice or island mischief - Dwight wasn't quite sure what he would think of his one-time home compared to what he had found in Fandom. "But yes, not having to hide or pretend is very nice."

Miguel nodded and went into the bathroom himself to change into boxers. "Wow, you weren't kidding. I think it'll fog when we shower." He tossed his clothes on his bag when he came out and crawled under the sheet on his bed. "You be okay with the TV on?"

"Yeah TV's fine. Not gonna bother me at all," Dwight assured him as he got under the sheets and laid back. "I'll probably be out pretty quick here. So, see ya in the morning then?"

"In the morning," Miguel agreed. "Have a good one." He cocked his head enough to see the screen and zoned out watching it.


[Preplayed with the lovely alwaysonguard!]