WHAT: Date night fun~ WHERE: Autumn Festival WHEN: Backdated to during Equinox celebrations WARNINGS: Just ladies kissing on a Ferris wheel and feelsssss STATUS: Complete
Now that the temperatures had dropped after a weekend of abrupt, torrential rainstorms, autumn was settling over Vallo. The air was crisper and cooler now, leaves were turning warmer colors, bonfires were lit all over on a near-nightly basis. Carol loved it. It had been more than a while since she’d been planet-bound long enough to see the seasons change. This wasn’t Earth — that fact had cemented in her head the second she’d seen the difference in the night sky’s constellations — but it was damn close.
In the month she’d been here, Carol had gotten pretty comfortable. It had felt a little bit like an unexpected vacation at first, and there were times while she settled in that she got restless. This was the longest she’d been grounded in decades. Sure, she could still fly, but she couldn’t break through the atmosphere and she couldn’t get back home. It got frustrating sometimes. She wasn’t used to being kept in one place, not with what a mess her universe had been, just barely starting to reacclimate after Thanos’ defeat. She couldn’t afford to waste any time away.
Here, she knew there was nothing she could do about any of that. And in a weird way, that helped her take a step back, breathe, relax. She had people she knew and cared about around, and she’d met people she was starting to consider friends, too. She knew Vallo wasn’t without its complications, and she’d be ready to jump into action the second the new Big Bad popped up. Right now, though, she was enjoying living her life again. She hadn’t had anything resembling this kind of human normalcy in over thirty years. Why shouldn’t she try to enjoy it while she had it?
Lately, a big part of that normalcy had come in the form of a gorgeous witch.
Dating wasn’t really Carol’s thing. Her last relationship had been ages ago, in a different time and place where being out wasn’t an option; in fact, being gay (on top of being a woman forcing herself into a man’s job, God forbid) still made her a disgrace. The Kree years and the Captain Marvel years hadn’t left room for much more than a fling every once in a while. That was what she’d expected here, too; it was what she’d gotten with Lena, who was brilliant and beautiful but very clear about her intentions from the start. And Carol got how she felt. There really wasn’t any reason to look for something long-lasting in a place they were yanked to against their will. But there wasn’t any reason she couldn’t have a little no-strings fun while she was stuck, either.
It hadn’t worked out that way with Emmeline. They had clicked right away when they’d started talking on Tag!, and after their karaoke date at Al’s, she found herself pursuing her again, wanting to see her more and more. Her looks were the initial draw, sure, but that wasn’t what had suckered Carol in. Emmeline was funny and charming and bold and so unwaveringly kind. Carol was a laid-back person already, always doing her best to stay as far out of her father’s shadow of anger and resentment as she could, but being around Emmeline both put her completely at ease and got her competitive juices flowing. Not a lot of people had that effect on her.
Honestly, it felt harder and harder to keep things casual the more time they spent together. But she was trying, anyway. Emme was just as clear as Lena in her own way. It was all right there on her profile, in black-and-white: casual dating. Carol felt like something special was happening here, and she was going to keep going for it as long as Emme would have her, but she had to reel herself in. Now wasn’t the time to get carried away in the feelings department.
They’d made plans for tonight after she’d discovered autumn seemed to be primetime for festivals around Vallo. She’d had a flyer thrust into her hands while on her way down to Al’s the other night, and it had caught her attention. She used to love going out like this with her brother as a little girl — playing games, devouring all kinds of sweet food and drinks, riding the Ferris wheel to the very top. It might feel like it had lost a little bit of its luster now that she could fly through galaxies without an oxygen tank, but it was still a must in her book, and it was totally going to happen tonight.
“Alright, what game am I kicking your ass at first?” She slipped her fingers through Emmeline’s and squeezed as she led them both down the aisle of game booths, shooting her a playful smirk. “I’m damn good at popping balloons, just sayin’.”
Emme laughed and shook her head in Carol’s direction. “You can certainly try. But no sulking when I inevitably end up kicking your arse.” She raised their still linked hands up to her lips and pressed a kiss to the back of Carol’s hand.
Truth be told, Emme was currently battling her own feelings as well. It had been years since she’d seriously dated anyone. In the aftermath of the first war she’d been so broken and guarded, it was just too much work for anyone to get through to her. So she’d defaulted to casual, no strings attached flings. It had worked for her, allowing her some measure of intimacy without the soul-crushing heartache of losing someone she cared about. It became her new normal.
Then she’d arrived here in Vallo, and Sirius had told her what would become of her in their world. Just another name on a too-long list of war casualties. Is that what she wanted? To die alone, at the hands of someone who betrayed her to the other side? It had kept her up many a night in the days since.
But Vallo was Vallo, as she knew all too well. After a near-constant stream of losing friends, those long ingrained fears wouldn’t be ignored. Say she did let herself feel something more than friendship with someone, only to have them yanked away without warning. It was better to keep things casual. It was the sensible, logical thing to do.
The trouble was, that logic and sense seemed to go out the window whenever she was with Carol. She was intelligent, funny, confident, and sexy as hell. She made Emme laugh and understood how war could affect someone. When they were together, everything else on her mind simply faded into the background. How could it not when she had the attention of a woman like Carol Danvers? Each time she got a text or a call, Emme couldn’t help smiling as she rushed to reply. It was a good feeling. And it had been so long since she’d felt that way.
She stopped next to a booth that had large plush unicorns on display for prizes. A quick glance at the game showed it to be a ring toss. “This should be good. Let’s see what you’ve got, Captain.”
That little kiss to her hand, although brief, had a profound effect on Carol. Her smirk turned into a dopey grin, butterflies swarmed to life in her belly, and her heart kind of flipped. It was ridiculous what this woman did to her with such a small gesture. (The accent helped, too. She’d always been a sucker for accents.) But she soaked up every bit of it. She hadn’t felt anything like this in years, and she was clinging to all of it as tightly as she could. Casual, though. Totally casual.
“Ring toss, huh? Alright, you’re on.” Carol gave Emme’s hand a final squeeze before letting it drop. She pulled a handful of bills out of her jacket pocket (unnecessary for her despite the cold, but she looked good in leather) and handed the appropriate amount over to the worker behind the booth. Two sets of five rings were promptly given over in return and Carol slid hers up over her wrist, gesturing for Emme to make the first throw. “Kick my arse, hot stuff,” she teased.
Emmeline smiled as she watched the determined way Carol walked up and handed over her money. She sidled up beside her and took the second set of rings. A large expanse of closely placed glass bottles stretched out in front of them, and Emme studied them while she lined up her first shot.
The first ring bounced uselessly off the top of the bottles and over onto the floor. “Don’t say a word,” she side-eyed her date. “That was just a warm-up.” The second ring nearly made it but bounced off the bottle at the last moment. Emme gritted her teeth slightly, her competitive nature gearing up. She took a deep breath to re-center herself and went again. She managed to land all three of her final rings around the bottlenecks.
She smirked, pleased with herself. “Your turn.”
Carol hid a smirk and held up her hands in surrender at Emme’s warning. She probably would have heckled her a little, anyway, but she preferred watching her get wound up and determined. She really liked having a partner (romantic or otherwise) who could get competitive with her without taking it too personally. So far, Emme more than held up. Their little karaoke battle that first night had proven that swiftly.
“Three out of five is at least a C-grade, babe. Not bad.” Carol slid the rings back down into her hand and lined up to take her shot. If there was one thing both the American Air Force and Kree Starforce had taught her over the years, it was precision. She was a pretty good shot even before, but her dexterity had only improved over the years.
So, yep. The first one landed neatly over the top of a bottle, right beside one of Emme’s. She stood up straighter, feeling a little cockier, smug smirk and all, so of course, the second one flat out missed. The third slipped snugly around a bottleneck, but the fourth dangled from the edge of a nozzle. Thankfully, the fifth one landed smoothly.
“Looks like we tied,” she chuckled, reaching into her pocket to pull out another two bills. “Two more, please.” She slapped them on the booth’s surface and the attendant scuttled over to the bottles to collect their rings while she turned to Emme with a raised brow. “Five out of five this time?”
“At least it’s a C-grade.” Emme grinned after Carol landed her final ring. It widened even further when she quickly paid for them to play again. Emmeline Vance was never one to leave things in a tie. “Five out of five it is.” She took her set of rings from Carol and made certain that she lingered there a few beats longer than normal. She very nearly leaned in to kiss her, but there was a game on the line. After the loaded pause, she pulled herself back with a wink and turned to face off against the ring toss, round two.
She landed four out of five that time and groaned, putting her head in her hands and letting her dark hair swing over her shoulders. There may have also been a few choice swears muttered under her breath as well.
Oh yeah, the subtle lingering and the wink that followed had what Carol assumed was the intended effect. Butterflies filled up her belly again and her breath hitched; she had to clear her throat to cover it, but that did nothing to take away from the tinge of pink color in her cheeks. Jesus Christ, this woman. Why did she drive Carol so insane?
“Awww, babe. That was pretty damn good, don’t beat yourself up.” Four out of five, while still not the result they were aiming for, was an improvement. Carol couldn’t bring herself to tease her for it; instead, she stepped in to slip her hand under Emmeline’s chin and guided her head up out of her hands until their eyes met. She leaned in to steal a quick kiss, just a soft press of lips on lips. It was still freeing, a revelation, to be able to do this publicly without having to fear others’ reactions. “I’ll win you that unicorn, beautiful.”
And with that, she pulled away and focused on the bottles before them. This time, she kept her ego measured and managed to hook all five. The booth attendant congratulated her, handed over the unicorn, and she turned to present it right to Emme. “You’ll get the next one.”
Well, that kiss certainly took away some of the sting of defeat. Emme let her eyes drift closed for a moment as she enjoyed the feeling of it. Now feeling slightly better, she smiled as she watched Carol land all five rings, winning the game. She gave her date a resounding cheer and happily accepted the unicorn.
“I think I’m the winner regardless of what game we play next.” Was it a bit cheesy? Absolutely. Did she regret it in the slightest? Definitely not. “You can pick the next one for us.”
Oh yeah, that was cheesy, but Carol still gazed at her with eyes that may as well have had little hearts popping out of them. “Dork,” she chuckled, her cheeks turning pink again. She could pass it off as the chill in the air if the temperature still affected her, but Emme, at least, would know better.
She gave the booth attendant a little two-finger wave before she slipped her hand into the one her date still had free and gently pulled her away. “We should find something a little more like a race, you know?” she mused, leading them back down the grassy path between game booths. Ring toss was fun but not quite the heated competition she’d have liked. “I wonder if they have—”
Ah, yep, there it was! She pulled Emme off the path again, to the left, and approached a booth with a handful of stools in front of it, laid out with water guns and targets just beyond that. The back was lined with little 3D horses, each in its own lane of green grass. Keep the gun straight in the center of the target and you won a giant puppy plushie. She remembered sitting down with Monica at a carnival and showing her how to play this game a lifetime ago.
“You game?” she asked with a challenging raise of her brows.
A little bit of smug pride filled Emmeline as she noted Carol’s reaction to her words. She was always a shameless flirt, so this wasn’t anything new. Yet it felt different at the same time. That wasn’t something to worry about today, though. Smiling, she took Carol’s hand and allowed herself to be led further into the festival.
Clearly, Carol had spotted exactly what she was looking for, and Emme watched her with amusement as she wove them past several booths until they stopped in front of the shooting race. Given that she’d spent most of her life aiming spells at targets with her wand, Emme was more than confident in her abilities to do well.
“You’re on.” She stepped forward and placed some money down for both of them. It was only fair, as Carol had paid for their previous games. “Two, please.”
The attendant took Emmeline’s money and gestured for them to pick a couple of stools off to the left. Carol made a show of settling in, grabbing both of the water gun’s handles and closing one eye to look through the other and set her sights. A second couple with their young son joined them a minute later, taking stools further to the right, and the attendant seemed satisfied enough to let them start.
“Good luck.” She winked at Emme just as the starting bell clanged, and the water guns turned on. She shifted the gun, ending up slightly below center to the right. She yanked at one of the handles rather roughly, causing it to raise and shoot higher on the right side. She gritted her teeth, irritated by the gun’s refusal to move where she wanted it.
“C’mon,” she muttered under her breath, giving the gun another impatient tug. A creaking noise reached her ears, and her eyes widened when she looked down and realized she’d been pulling the damn thing loose. Her brows furrowed, and she quickly and unsubtly put pressure on the gun to reset it, in the process finally getting the stream of water to hit the center of the target. Her tiny mechanical horse started moving, but she was so far behind everyone else at this point she stood no chance of winning.
She was going to have to make sure to seal this thing back in place before she left, too. Water was steadily trickling across the wooden booth, but she kept the gun determinedly in place, wondering if she could will the little horse forward faster just with the power of her glare.
Emme had settled herself onto the stool next to Carol, with her new unicorn friend (whose name was Hippolyta, she’d decided) carefully nestled on her lap. With the sound of the starting bell, she pulled the trigger on her gun and steadily and methodically steered the jet of water toward the target. She managed it fairly quickly, and her horse began jerking forward steadily.
She was so focused on what she was doing that she didn’t immediately notice Carol’s troubles. It wasn’t actually until her horse was nearly to the finish line that she realized. As the bell rang again, announcing her as the winner, she spun on her stool and noticed Carol’s gun. Emme raised an amused eyebrow at her. “Trouble?” She murmured under her breath.
Oh, thank God. Carol was beyond grateful when the game finally ended and the water flow to her gun was cut off. She quickly pressed both hands to its base, sealing the metal closed again. It was a little bit melty in appearance, if you looked closely, but it wouldn’t be coming up again unless someone else with superhuman strength got their hands on it. Possible here in Vallo, but she’d done her part to fix it.
“Not anymore,” she dismissed, flashing Emme a grin. “Look at you, hot stuff. You finally kicked my ass. Grab me a good prize, huh?”
“Good save.” She reached over and gave Carol’s thigh a small squeeze. The employee running the game showed her which prizes her win had entitled her to, and Emme tilted her head, considering. Eventually, her eyes landed on just the one. It was smaller than some of the others, but too perfect. “That one, please,” she pointed.
Moments later she presented Carol with a small plush teddy bear seated snuggly inside the pilot seat of a red airplane.
Carol chuckled at the prize Emmeline offered her. Very fitting for her, she had to admit. Didn’t really fit the theme of the booth, but that didn’t seem to be a concern here. “You get me,” she grinned, tucking the toy under one arm and offering her free hand to her beautiful date. “I say we take a break from games for a bit and hit a ride. Roller coaster? Ferris wheel? Those insane swings that whip you around in a giant circle?”
She didn’t need a ride when her abilities made her normal life a hundred times more exciting than your average carnival ride but what the hell, right? She hadn’t gotten to indulge in her favorite old human pastimes in far too long. Now that she had the chance, she was going to take it.
Emme’s response was almost immediate. “Ferris wheel.” She snuggled up more closely to Carol as they walked. The sun was lowering and she knew the view from the Ferris wheel would be gorgeous. Not to mention it would give her the opportunity to continue her current snuggling.
“You really get me,” Carol replied with a grin, twining her fingers with Emme’s again and leaning over to press a quick kiss to her temple. She was very happy to snuggle back as much as she could as they made their way toward the huge wheel in the sky. Her heart was doing that fluttery thing again having the other woman so close. “Ferris wheel, then food, yeah?”
Unable to help herself, Emme grinned stupidly and leaned her head against Carol’s shoulder. She had always been a petite woman, standing at only 5’4. Luckily for her, that seemed to be an exceedingly convenient height to curl up against Carol. She nodded happily. “Ferris wheel and food.” She repeated her confirmation as they made their way over to the line for the ride.
It was a long-ish line, but it moved fairly quickly. Besides, Carol and Emme rarely seemed to run out of things to talk to one another about, and they easily filled the time holding hands and making one another laugh. It felt good and easy.
When they reached the front of the line, Emme slid in first and tucked her unicorn between her leg and the side of the bench.
Carol had always been kind of a ham. She liked making people smile and laugh and feel good. She’d struggled to find that feeling for herself a lot, growing up with a father trying to convince her the world was stacked against her. Nothing made her feel better than laughing. It had worked its way into how she tended to approach romance, too. She knew someone was worth the effort not only if they laughed at her stupid jokes but if they could make her laugh back. Emme more than fit into that criteria. Plus, they were from the same era; they could relate to each other in a way that Carol sometimes didn’t with her fellow Avengers. She really needed that.
When their wait was over and the door to their car was opened, Carol let Emme in first and reached out to grab the operator’s hand and whisper a request into her ear. His only reaction was a small smile. Polite but indifferent. Clearly, her request wasn’t something out of the ordinary. But whatever, she was allowed to be a little cliché.
With that settled, she slipped into the car beside Emme and tucked her little pilot bear right beside the unicorn in all its glory. The sun was cresting the horizon and casting this beautiful orange-pink glow across the sky. They would have a fantastic view of the sun fully setting during their ride.
The operator lowered their lap bar, and as the car began to slowly rise, Carol slipped her arm around Emmeline’s shoulders and tucked in close to her. “I’m happy you’re here with me,” she murmured, her breath ghosting across her date’s ear. “I’m having a really good time. Always do, with you.”
Tucking herself in against Carol’s side felt so natural, it damn near seemed like instinct to Emme. She leaned in and smiled contentedly as she looked out over the fairgrounds.
She couldn’t help the goosepimples that sprang up on her arm as Carol’s voice wrapped around her. A warmth spread through her and she blushed lightly. “I’m glad I’m here with you too,” she finally answered, turning to look over at her date as she spoke.
As they locked eyes and the rest of the fair began to slowly fall away below them, Emme felt the air around them become more charged. “I’ve never met anyone quite like you before.”
Carol felt the shift, too. The way tension filled the air around them was palpable. They’d been having fun all evening and that wasn’t about to change, but there was something more here. Ignoring it was driving her kind of crazy. She had never been the type to buy into ‘ignorance is bliss’. Sooner or later, she was going to just burst with what she was feeling.
Her lips curled into a smile, soft but somehow still just a little bit smug. She was a unique character, that was for sure. Not a lot of hybrid human-aliens around that she was aware of. She knew what Emme meant, though, and it made those butterflies come back full force in the pit of her belly.
“Back at you, witch girl,” she grinned, her gaze never leaving the blue eyes just boring into her. “Never would have met at all, if it wasn’t for this place.” Already, that seemed unfathomable — Emmeline made her feel ways she hadn’t been able to in a very long time. It was weird to be grateful to the place that interdimensionally kidnapped her, but she absolutely was.
Merlin, did that smug smile of hers drive Emmeline crazy. Were they not currently on a festival ride, she might have just pulled Carol directly back to her bedroom right there. That would have to wait a little longer yet. “This place may drive me mad at times, but it’s hard not to appreciate it in moments like this one.”
As they reached the very top of the ride, the sunset glowed richly around them and the Ferris wheel came to a stop. Emme had to laugh a little. She looked at Carol with an amused glint and shook her head. “Your doing, I assume?”
Carol hadn’t been around long enough for this place to irritate her quite like that, but she knew what Emme meant. Most of the people she’d had with her from home were gone now, and that intimate evening of red wine and comfort had made it clear that wasn’t easy for her. But knowing this evening they’d had together was a silver lining through all of that filled Carol’s chest with satisfying warmth.
Her grin turned impish when the wheel ground to a halt, leaving their car right at the top, per her request. “Maybe,” she responded with a small shrug. “The sun’s almost gone. I wanted a good view.” They would only have a few minutes up here, five tops if the operator was feeling generous, but it really was a perfect view. As perfect as it could get while they were planet-bound, of course. She wished she could show Emmeline the beauty of space, but she didn’t have that luxury here. Someday, maybe.
It truly was an extraordinary view. An extraordinary evening. An extraordinary woman. Emmeline felt a tug in her heart and stomach that spelled nothing but trouble for her. In that moment, however, she gave in.
Without another word, (were they really necessary at this point?) she tilted her chin up and leaned in to kiss Carol deeply. Her hand slipped over to the curve of Carol’s hip and she tugged her closer.
Carol didn’t hesitate to melt into that kiss and curl in closer. Her free hand raised to cup Emmeline’s chin, her thumb brushing gently across her cheek. If she hadn’t already been a goner for this beautiful woman, now would have been the moment she truly, irrevocably fell. It didn’t help that kissing Emme felt like literal electricity crackling between them. Not a new thing, but the intensity was off the charts right now. It was hard not to get carried away, especially with the way her heart raced in her chest.
She broke the kiss but barely; her forehead stayed pressed to Emme’s, their lips only a breath apart, just enough room between them for her to speak and breathe. “You’re killing me, you know.”
It was true. The energy between them currently was unlike anything they’d felt previously, and Emme felt every nerve in her body standing on end.
When they broke apart, she breathed in deeply to get control of her racing pulse. “You’re the one who requested the damn ride stop.” Emme grinned and leaned up to kiss Carol’s neck, just below her ear. “Want to skip dinner after we get off this ride?”
Emme’s lips on her neck sent a pleased shudder through Carol, forcing her spine straighter for a moment as her eyelashes fluttered. She took a slow, controlled breath before tipping the other woman’s chin back to lean in and kiss her again, fiercely at first and lingering when it slowed. God, she needed that, no matter how little it helped her heart rate.
“Who says we have to wait?” Mischief lit up her eyes, and there was a little flash of that power turning them from brown to glowing and golden for just a moment. This ride wasn’t inescapable and, well, she could never resist the opportunity to show off.
Emme quickly matched the intensity of the kiss, and a soft moan escaped her as it gentled. It clouded her mind enough that it took her a moment to fully process what Carol had just said.
She was no stranger to flight, and the quicker she could get Carol back into her bed, the better. After a short deliberation, she gave a nod and grabbed their evening’s prizes. “Let’s get out of here.”
Carol didn’t need to be told twice. The mood had shifted and she was beyond ready to act on the tension that had mounted between them the best way she knew how. She pressed another quick kiss to Emmeline’s forehead, then lifted her into her arms, one around her back and one slipping beneath her knees.
“Hold on tight.” She grinned at the woman in her arms, a golden glow surrounding her, and shot off into the sky.