#imagining zayne and stacia having fun at the fair is SO CUTE...

[seaturtlesclimbtrees]

' are you all right? where are you hurt? ' //idolatri - Dr. Zayne doing doctor things

DRAMATIC & PROTECTIVE RELATIONSHIP PROMPTS

@idolatri

she's chewing on her bottom lip, eyes darting back and forth, trying very hard to avoid direct eye contact with her childhood friend. she's not in a life-or-death situation, she's not heavily injured, no... something far, far worse had occurred. her pride is on the line, and stacia is hesitant to answer his earnest question. she's fully aware there's no hidden malice, no mocking tone in his inquiry.

no, she's just being exceedingly stubborn. she's fully aware of that.

they're at the fair that opened for the week at linkon; caleb regrettably absent due to colonel duties he was unable to escape from taking place in the same time frame. 'have fun without me, but don't forget to get me a souvenir, pipsqueak!' was the last of what she recalls when he turned down her invitation gently in the videocall, his facial expression full of obvious reluctance, as if that was the last thing he wanted to do to her. with caleb down for the count, she texted zayne shortly after to see if he'd be free—the initial plan was to invite both of them to go out with her, and to her excitement, he said he'd be free while they're in town! also to not forget to take her medication, to which she cheekily responded with one of her silly emoticons. (she did actually forget to take her prescription...)

at the beginning of their fair adventures, stacia was very quick to purchase matching animal ear headband memorabilia for the two of them—cat ears with the fair's name logo obnoxiously displayed on the top of them. zayne was a good sport about it and even bent down to allow stacia to place it on his head directly! she was beaming with absolute joy! their antics progressed to exploring some of the more simple game booths with plans to visit the dessert food vendors to satisfy zayne's sweet tooth after experiencing the fair's go-kart racing track.

that's... when things went awry.

zayne sat out, content to let stacia hog all the victory air for herself (or, more likely, fully aware of how competitive she was and wanting absolutely no part of her shenanigans), and said he'd 'cheer for her in the crowd'. all the safety precautions at the beginning of the race were taken, and the obligatory speech over the intercom was recited. she's done go-kart racing numerous times growing up; she had full confidence she absolutely had nothing to worry about. her day job was a deepspace hunter, after all! oh no, stacia's top concern was WINNING and making other contestants EAT HER DUST! at the beginning of the race things went all according to plan—she was in first place, she was addicted to the adrenaline of the activity, and she was making every sharp turn possible to keep her advantage.

that's when the go-kart that was not that far behind her did an extremely dirty trick at the next sharp turn—unsportsmanlike, dangerous, and a complete violation of the safety rules. the driver slammed their kart against her own, causing her kart crash against the barrier. thankfully, the kart took the brunt of the blow, but she wasn't completely unscathed—amidst the confusion and dizziness her mind was experiencing from the sudden difference in movement, her shoulder was flaring with pain from the collision.

stacia thinks her right ankle got twisted from the unexpected impact as well, but she's more troubled with how she's SUDDENLY NOT IN FIRST PLACE---

she hears go-karts nyoom past her, smells the smoke from her own vehicle emitting from the crash, and knows it's in no condition to drive. she lets out a groan and sigh at her predicament, mourning the loss of the first-place prize (a coupon for free funnel cake, a dessert item that's rare to find at linkon) as the sound of hurried footsteps greets her ears.

'are you ok?!?' one of the voices are unfamiliar, most likely an employee of the fair. she elects to answer by closing her eyes, as she wants her humiliation at being in this situation to swallow her whole. that, and her desire to punch the person who slammed her go-kart against the obstacle is overwhelmingly high right now, and violence is not the answer most of the time...

'are you all right? where are you hurt?'

that worried voice she recognizes, and stacia's eyes open by instinct. his breathing is loud and labored, as if zayne rushed to her as soon as the crash happened. instinctively, she chews on her bottom lip. she has no qualms disregarding a complete stranger's concern, but ignoring his questions is another matter entirely.

"did i win?" she asks rhetorically instead, finally glancing over in zayne's direction. the employee looks flabbergasted at her inquiry, but zayne remains unaffected by stacia's antics, instead letting out a barely concealed sigh as he mutters, 'excuse me,' under his breath. he proceeds to lay a hand gently on her shoulder, a wince of pain emitting from her lips at the gesture.

'we need to get you out of there and somewhere with better lighting so i can properly assess your injuries.'

"but i need to find the guy that rammed into me so i can give them a piece of my--" the look he gave her made stacia purse her lips in a pout, but she ceased that trail of thought. the employee assured them that they'll take measures to properly punish the individual that injured her and handed her complementary tickets to free redeemable food!! her eyes lit up at THAT information! man, maybe she should get hit more often--

'anastacia.' it's as if zayne was able to read her thoughts as he rose an eyebrow, and she gave him a sheepish smile of her own. 'are you able to stand and walk on your own?'

"oh, definitely!" probably! with zayne's assistance, she was able to get out of the go-kart, but the moment her right foot touched the ground, she very gracefully lost her balance from the sudden flare-up of pain her ankle experienced. thankfully, he wrapped his arm around her (uninjured) shoulder to save her from falling over.

"... not." she muttered under her breath, as a mere moment later she found herself being carried away by zayne as if she were handicapped. she's embarrassed. feels even MORE mortified than she was earlier. so much for a normal fair adventure to have both of them relax off duty....