2024-12-16 - Hot dogs and fireworks

[TXT to Fin] Colt: heading back to pick you up. Be there in 10? Meet at Boowalk

[TXT to Colt] Fin: you are a doll!! I'll be there shortly!

Colt speeds up and brakes the golf cart right along the boardwalk. It's nearing the dinner hour when tourists walking around this part of the park slows down a bit - so one can be a little more wild with the cart driving. Not quite Tokyo drift, but fun none the less. He reclines and kicks his feet up on the steering wheel while he waits.

It isn't too long before Fin joins him, hopping into the passenger seat of the cart with a smile. "Sorry it took me so long. My feet are aching today. I really thank you for the lift. You didn't have to rush off earlier though. I coulda waited." Knowing how Colt drives, she makes sure all her equipment is secured and gets ready for the ride.

There is a bit of a cargo compartment Fin's stuff can fit in and hopefully not rattle around too much in. Should keep them from falling out, at least.

"Hey, no sweat Finny Fin!" 🤙 "Where were you thinking for that bite?"

Fin's camera gear is kept strapped to her body. It is far too precious for any rattling, no matter how little there might be.

"Uh. Depends. You want actual food, food? Or like Junky Fast Food food?"

"Oh, we're going together!?" Colt perks up and laughs. "I thought i was just dropping you off." 🤙

"Alright, alright..Let's do something super fancy then. Wanna get some street dogs and watch the ferries take the tourists home?"

"I mean... I assumed you'd be hungry, but like, if not..." Fin starts to comment, but stops when he seems interested in food as well. "SO fancy! That sounds perfect. Maybe catch some of my roomie's fireworks show too!"

"Wait. You don't use ketchup on your dogs, do you?"

The golf cart is away as they make a back alley turn that will eventually lead them to the tunnels. "Of course I put ketchup on my dogs! Slather it on. Some mustard. Relish. Why, everything!"

Skirrr... (Good thing the camera is strapped to Fin's person)

"We'll head to MaM for a dog - Jules always hooks me up. Then Mermaid Lagoon is the best for watching the fireworks."

Fin holds onto one of the poles as he takes off and makes that turn. She makes a face, a look of disgust and betrayal at him. "Ew. Wrong answer. Mustard. Mustard all the way. Mustard and onion... mustard and sauerkraut. Even mustard and relish but ketchup?" She shakes her head, leaning to the other side as he takes another turn. "No thank you, sir."

"That sounds good to me!"

"There's that face again..." Colt murmurs as he looks over to see it. A soft head shake. Hopefully it doesn't portend the same ending as the last time Fin and Colt did a thing together....

But he shakes that out of his mind as they start wizzing through the tunnel, where Colt is very liberal with beeping at people as they pass through.

"We'll agree to disagree. I like ketchup!"

"Fiiiine," Fin begrudgingly acquiesces. "I won't deny you your pleasures, even if they are an abomination."

"Ohmydawd. You're gonna kill a tourist one of these days!" She laughs, her grip on the pole growing tighter as she looks off to the side to apologize to an older woman nearby that was startled by his beep.

The cart pops out of the tunnel in the MaM and Colt slows it down appropriately. He brings it alongside Jules' vending cart. "Heya Jules, give us a few dogs! FinFin and I are going to catch some fireworks."

"She wants lots of ketchup on hers so pile it on!" lol 🤙

"Absolutely not!" Fin says as he orders from Jules. She releases the pole to wave her hand in the 'no' gesture, shaking her head. "Mustard and onions please. Extra onions. No ketchup. Same for him. Extra mustard."

"She also wants a Pepsi Zero..." Colt tells Jules with a smirk behind the back of Fin.

Fin turns her head to shoot Colt a look as if she is wondering if he's insane. Turning back to Jules, she says, "he meant he wants one. I'll just take a water. Please.

She then leans toward Colt to whisper, "you have absolutely horrible taste."

Colt matches lean for lean toward Fin and puts on a playfully smug look, "I'm taking you out, aren't I?" So how bad could his tastes be?

He laughs and nods to Jules. "Just we'll take it all in a box and put it on my tab!" 🤙

Fin's brows raise and she just looks at him for a moment. "Taking me out?" She points at herself. "This is you taking me out? If so, well, then, your epicurial tastes are horrible and maybe your other tastes in things is stellar."

"Jokes on you because I've never had an epicurial before." Colt hops off the cart to get the box from Jules. He secures it and hops back in. "Is it French?"

Away they go! To Mermaid Lagoon. Beep beep.

"Epicurean, epicurial. I don't even know of that's a word. Epicurean is.. but, you know what I mean. Food and stuff." Fin shrugs and watches as he secures the box in the cart. "French? No... it does seem French doesn't it? They are so well known for their food, but I think it's based on some Greek dude." Not that he asked for any of that information.

Then off they go! She wasn't even holding on yet, so does a bit of a panicked grasp for the pole, wrapping her arm around her gear bag, even though it is still securely strapped to her.

"So you're saying my taste in food sucks but my taste in women is great..." Colt gathers from that explanation of the word. "I can live with that," he laughs. SKIRR!

Back into the tunnels and copious beeping at staffers (for their own safety!)

"We gotta get to VC before these doggies cool off all the way!" There's really no danger of that happening.

"Yes. I suppose that is exactly what I am saying." He's laughing, taking a turn into the tunnels that has Fin leaning a bit out of the cart. "Jesus! My taste in men might be questionable though!"

Setting herself back in the cart, bracing herself a little better to survive his driving, she says, "good point. Cold dogs is not what we want, after all."

Colt grins. They zip out of the tunnel and into Venture Cove. He slows to allow for tourist pedestrians.

"Questionable taste in men? Sounds like you’re a fan of living dangerously, Finny Fin.” (or as 'dangerous' as a golf cart ride can be.) He gives her a 🤙 before spinning the wheel dramatically for a sharp (but not reckless) turn.

As they approach Mermaid Lagoon Colt slows down more to see the harbor lights reflecting off the water. “Alright, let's get up to the VIP seating area. I’ll park us where you can get the perfect shot of the fireworks, because my taste in scenic views is top-notch.”

"You're... not wrong," Fin admits with a grin towards her driver for the evening. She starts to give him the hand signal back, but feels unbalanced and quickly grabs on to the cart again. "Not completely, anyway." She does like a bit of adventure, after all.

Smiling broader, she asks, "so is it just your taste in food that is bad?" But then she envisions getting the perfect shot of the fireworks and says, "oooh. That would be nice. I could use it for a project I am working on."

"It's alright, I won't tell your parents," Colt says as he pulls the cart alongside the exclusive entry to Mermaid Lagoon. "Your secret is safe with me."

And it's not like they are making it past the velvet rope to the VIP seating area (who even knew one existed here?)...but there is like a random bench not far off that has a great effing view and is perfect for sitting on to munch hotdogs.

"Pfft. They know." Fin laughs but thinking about it with a bit of a scrunched brow, she says, "I mean, they know part of it. I've heard enough lectures about how I live too dangerously... but, thank you for keeping my secret anyway.

Of course there is a secret hidden by the VIP area bench that the employees know about that provides almost as good a view and atmosphere as the VIP area. Heck in some ways, better, as it is a little more private.

When they get there, she starts to climb out of the cart. "Need help carrying our feast?"

Colt scoops the dogs and other accoutrement from the cart and shakes his head. "I think I got it! Thanks."

He leads the way over to the bench and unloads the goods. He passes a hot dog over to Fin. "Let's try to not get security involved again," he jokes...but clearly does not want a repeat of last time. "I remembered to not bring the flair gun so that's good." More importantly, there's no alcohol, so that's also good.

"Such a gentleman," Fin says as he carries everything from the cart to the bench. She walks with him then takes a seat, and the hot dog he passes her way. When he mentions security, she turns to look at him. "What? You don't want to test your sprinting abilities again? Not my fault you couldn't find a good hiding spot fast enough."

No flare gun? "At least that means you won't signal to them your precise location at least, if we do happen to do something that gets their attention."

"Mm! Mmhmm.." Colt says as he munches on his first bite. "It was all me," he utters sarcastically with his mouth full.

He swallows and up nods to Fin. "You know you got mustard on your nose." Before transferring a dot of mustard that smeared onto his finger to the tip of her nose with a swift boop.

Unwrapping her hot dog, she goes in for a bite, nodding as he accepts the fault was all his. When she is finished with that bite, she says, "absolutely. You were the one caught, therefore, you get all the blame."

"I do n-" Before she can finish, he boops her nose with the mustard. She closes one eye and squints at him with the other. Calmly, she reaches for a napkin and folds it a couple times before reaching up to wipe the mustard off. "Brat. I thought you wanted to stay out of trouble today."

Colt shrugs. "I can't help myself Finny." He laughs and takes down the rest of his hotdog while gazing out over the water.

"Show's about to start," he tells her, in reference to the impending fireworks.

"You are the only person who calls me that," Fin says, then notes, "you are the only person I let call me that." She watches with a bit of amazement at how fast he eats the rest of his hot dog. She takes a Fin sized smaller bite of her hot dog, but is able to finish it off in just a few more.

"Any moment now." She looks for her drink to the right of her, then to the left and asks Colt, "can you hand me one of the drinks?" She looks over the water then up to the sky. "We would keep a blanket in the cargo of the cart. Then, when we have impromptu fireworks watching nights, we could lay back, relax, and watch."

"Blanket sitting?" Colt caresses his chin in rumination. "You really ready to take our platonic relationship to the next level? I'm ready for that." 🤙

He reaches down to grab one of the drinks for Fin. It's the water, not the Pepsi Zero.

"Are you going to take some shots tonight, or just chill?" Colt asks as the first rocket shoots to the sky and explodes yellow, bathing them and the scenery in light.

Fin rolls her eyes at Colt. "I said to relax and watch the fireworks, not to roll around with each other on." She didn't say no. She also didn't say yes.

Taking the water, she unscrews the top and takes a long drink. "So good," she says, replacing the cap. She leans over to set the bottle on the ground near her then looks to Colt. "A little of both, I think."

"Ooh!" She had been looking at him and missed the initial boom going up, but, she prepares her camera for the next one. "Getting a few live photos. I am working on a project." Her focus is up on the sky now, the camera is held lower, near her lap, and she uses the screen to see the shot instead of the eyepiece.

Colt stands about a pace away and sips on his Pepsi Zero while Fin takes pictures of the sky. The booms and bangs are a little less awe-inspiring when you see/hear them literally every single night, but watching Fin work her photographer's eye is its own sort of cool.

"How do you know when to take the picture? Or what might make a good one?"

For Fin, they are never less awe inspiring. Maybe it's the childlike wonder within her. Maybe it is the fact one of the pyro engineers is her roommate. Maybe she likes the way the BOOM of them feels. Or maybe she just really likes fireworks. Whichever is the reason, she hopes to remain amazed by them forever.

"I don't," is her answer to Colt as she looks up at him and away from the screen. "The beauty of using this camera though," the digital, "is that I don't have to. I can take live photos, or well, short videos, then pick the frame I like best. I do have a sense of the timing of the shows. That helps. It would be a lot harder with one of my film cameras. I can't do live photos on that and don't see instant results."

"Oh..." Colt says with a shrug (or was it a jump? BANG!) "well...uh..." and yeah. He doesn't know where to take the conversation after that. "...cool!" 😃 🤙

"What are your favorite kinds of pictures to take around the park?" He scratches the back of his neck.

"The ones I take when I am not taking standard souvenir photos." It is a simplified answer, and Fin smiles. "Like, sometimes a person or a family will hire one of us to kind of follow them around and just, take photos of them enjoying the park instead of posing in front of attractions. Some will even do a bit of cosplay and want to really play up the theme. And of course the events are fun... most of them."

"But, what I really like is taking photos of the staff here. We are all often so busy. I dunno. I like sneaking the candid photos of us either off the clock or actually seeming to enjoy our jobs."

"Are you having trouble making small talk, Colt? I can ask you questions instead. Then you can just answer." She starts with, "what is your favorite thing to do when not racing about in a golf cart?"

Colt scratches the back of his neck and blushes in the bright flash of yellow and white fireworks. "Nah, it's not that. I just don't..." he shrugs and scratches his chin. Sits down on the bench and crosses his arms. He leans back a bit and stretches his legs out forward. "I've been told I can come off a little strong. Trying to tone it down, ya know?"

He laughs and thumbs his nose. "When I'm not working, I'm training. Boxing. Jiu Jitsu. I like to get up in the morning, get choked, and then come here and drive the delivery trucks and golf carts around all day. If I'm lucky I can catch an open mat after my shift but not usually."

"Oh!" Fin looks to him, the surprise making her sit a slight bit more upright. "Really? Strong how?" She asks with a tilt of her head. "Like, just intense.. or..." There's a few ways that could mean. "If it makes you feel better, you haven't seemed like you've come on too strong to me at all. I would have told you."

She sets her camera to take another series of shots as a blue firework blasts into the sky. But then she turns to look at him with her eyes wide. "Choked?" And then, "mat? For jiu Jitsu?" Holding her camera in one hand, she makes a fist with the other and playfully swings it lightly in the air. "I've never tried boxing. I thought about trying kickboxing before. It kind of seems fun, but I haven't as of yet."

"Oh cool! Nice. Yeah." 🤙 Colt says to the reassurance he isn't coming off too strong. A sort of relief does seem to wash over him. Becomes less tense, more relaxed.

He laughs and grins with a little nod when she asks him about the choking. "Yeah open mat for jiu jitsu..." Colt watches Fin's playful swing at the air and nods approvingly. "You should give it try. You're a natural, I can tell." He gestures, "Great form."

When he tells her she is a natural, Fin rolls her eyes and looks at him. "You don't have to tell lies." She sticks her tongue out at him. "But if you know someone who could teach me... I might be interested. Give me something more to do in my free time." Another boom goes off and distracts her for a moment as she looks up into the sky. "Ooh."

Turning then to look at him, she asks, "how long have you been doing jiu jitsu?"

"I know someone who can teach you!" Colt says with two thumbs pointing to this guy! "Oh, I've been doing jiu jitsu for about 10 years I guess?" Colt laughs lightly. "Feels like forever. Hard to remember a time I wasn't doing jiu jitsu. Wrestled some in school before that, too. So I've been grappling for a long while."

As the fireworks crescendo into the finale, Colt stops chatting - it'd be near impossible to be heard anyway! All those explosions. That mass of lights. There's something about explosions that hits at a spiritual level.

And then there is the final BOOM! Colt begins grabbing up their wrappers and assorted trash from the hot dog meal to convey them to a nearby bin. Right as he's lifting the flap of the garbage can and pushing the trash in he comments, "Well this was pretty romantic, right?"

Fin's eyebrows arch and her head tilts back slightly as she listens to Colt's experience. "Impressive!" She smiles and nudges her shoulder against Colt's. "Alright then. Teach me. Make me more capable of defending myself against the baddies."

Just as Colt turns his attention to the fireworks for the finale, so too does she. Watching with awe and a soft smile, the light from the fireworks reflects, dancing in her eyes. It's true, there is something spiritual, or at least magical... moving... about fireworks and explosions.

Fin applauds the show as the smoke from the finale begins to dissipate, after that stunned silence gives way to cheering. She jumps up to help Colt clean up, but he has most everything taken care of before she can. At his question, she smiles at him with a soft laugh. She studies his face for a moment before answering with a tilt of her head. "Fireworks are always romantic, in my opinion. Even if I watch them alone. That might sound strange..." You are straying from the answer, Fin. "So yeah. Yes it was."

Colt smiles widely, almost goofy-like, and looks at Fin for a good moment before throwing up a shaka 🤙 "Haha - great!" He jerks his head toward the golf cart, "C'mon, I'll take you to the ferry..." it being that time the park is about to close on down and they can go home.

But the question is, will Fin let Colt put his arm around her as they drive off?

Colt's nature, and even how often he throws the shaka, just makes Fin grin. "Okay." She checks around, making sure all the trash is picked up and she isn't leaving anything behind before climbing onto the golf cart beside Colt.

And if Colt wants to put his arm around her, she will lean in.