Harley turns five. That means that it is time for the much-anticipated trip to the world's largest amusement park. They can stay an extra day if he doesn't see everything he wants to see the first day, but as he doesn't really go in for naps Elspeth thinks he'll probably get to try all the rides on his birthday proper. (Well, not the date of his birthday - Aurum was not synced to his universe of origin even before Jane went down again; he is really five years old now but it is, in Aurum, late April).

Right near the entrance to the amusement park is a very, very big roller coaster, with a loop that swings all its dangling passengers around at sixty miles an hour right over the entering guests. They scream. (The riders, not the entering guests. Yet.)

Elspeth is carrying Harley on her shoulders, and buys them tickets.

Author: her_imperial_radiance	Harley turns five. That means that it is time for the much-anticipated trip to the world's largest amusement park. They can stay an extra day if he doesn't see everything he wants to see the first day, but as he doesn't really go in for naps Elspeth thinks he'll probably get to try all the rides on his birthday proper. (Well, not the date of his birthday - Aurum was not synced to his universe of origin even before Jane went down again; he is really five years old now but it is, in Aurum, late April). Right near the entrance to the amusement park is a very, very big roller coaster, with a loop that swings all its dangling passengers around at sixty miles an hour right over the entering guests. They scream. (The riders, not the entering guests. Yet.) Elspeth is carrying Harley on her shoulders, and buys them tickets.
Author: pythbox	"I wanna go on the big one with all the screaming people," says Harley, bouncing up and down.
Author: her_imperial_radiance	"We can do that first, sure," says Elspeth. Old roller coasters don't meet safety standards for short riders; new ones don't have that problem. They get in line for the big one with all the screaming people. The big one with all the screaming people is called "Scylla".
Author: pythbox	Harley attempts to sound out this name, with mixed success.
Author: her_imperial_radiance	Elspeth pronounces it for him. "It's the name of a monster from an old Greek myth," she then adds in sign language, as there are a lot of people talking around here and it's kind of loud.
Author: pythbox	"Cool," says Harley.
Author: her_imperial_radiance	The line isn't that long. They get seats, Harley gets a booster thing and the restraints adjusted for five-year-old size, and they're off like a rocket and around the first loop.
Author: pythbox	Harley giggles the whole way.
Author: her_imperial_radiance	"I thought you'd like that," says Elspeth, when they get out of the coaster.
Author: pythbox	He beams and flings his arms around her. "It was fun, it was fun, I wanna do another one!"
Author: her_imperial_radiance	"Okay!" There are six more decent-sized coasters in this park. They can ride them all.
Author: pythbox	In between numbers three and four, Harley spots a little cart selling cotton candy and demands some.
Author: her_imperial_radiance	Elspeth laughs and buys him a puff of cotton candy. She has a few bites herself, enough to get it down to remotely reasonable size for one little boy.
Author: pythbox	"Fluffy," he observes, and subsequently, "Sticky!" Then he gives her a hug. A slightly sticky hug.
Author: her_imperial_radiance	"You're getting stickiness on me," Elspeth points out.
Author: pythbox	"Yep!"
Author: her_imperial_radiance	"I didn't want it on me and now it's there anyway."
Author: pythbox	"You can fix it," he says.
Author: her_imperial_radiance	"We're out in public," she points out. "I can only fix it if no one's looking."
Author: pythbox	"Oh," he says. "Then I guess you'll just be sticky."
Author: her_imperial_radiance	"Nope," says Elspeth. "Now we're going to wait here by this tree until no one's looking, and after that, we can go back into the denser part of the crowd to the next roller coaster."
Author: pythbox	"Okay," shrugs Harley. "Will you fix my sticky too so I can hug you some more?"
Author: her_imperial_radiance	"Yes, once no one's paying attention." This takes a minute, but Elspeth's got sharp eyes; she can tell when everyone has looked away, and she wishes all the relevant sticky away and then picks Harley up.
Author: pythbox	He hugs her some more, un-stickily.
Author: her_imperial_radiance	And now it is Next Roller Coaster time!
Author: pythbox	Wheeeeeee!
Author: her_imperial_radiance	And Roller Coaster After That time?
Author: pythbox	Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Author: her_imperial_radiance	And Last Roller Coaster Yet Untried time?
Author: pythbox	Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee—oops. The cotton candy makes an unfortunate reappearance just after they get off that one.
Author: her_imperial_radiance	"That one was a little much, huh?" sighs Elspeth, scooping him up and ushering him into the nearest restroom.
Author: pythbox	He nods sadly.
Author: her_imperial_radiance	There is nobody in the restroom. A square has them all cleaned up in a jiffy, and she offers him some water.
Author: pythbox	Yes. Water. Water is good. After he has had some water, he hugs her. "I love you, Elsie," he says.
Author: her_imperial_radiance	"I love you too, Harley."
Author: pythbox	Hugs.
Author: her_imperial_radiance	Hugs. Picking up and departing the restroom. "Now we have been on all the big roller coasters," she says.
Author: pythbox	"Yep," says Harley. "I wanna go on a little one. But I don't wanna throw up again."
Author: her_imperial_radiance	"Well, let's give your tummy some time to settle and then we'll find a little one to try."
Author: pythbox	"Okay," he says, hugging her contentedly.
Author: her_imperial_radiance	Hugs. Wandering around parts of the park that are not roller coasters for a while.
Author: pythbox	Hugs and wandering!
Author: her_imperial_radiance	"How are you feeling now?"
Author: pythbox	"Better," he decides.
Author: her_imperial_radiance	"Okay then." They find a relatively tame roller coaster themed around ladybugs. It is not big enough to accommodate adults; Harley gets his own ladybug and Elspeth stays behind.
Author: pythbox	The ladybugs are adorable. Harley is enchanted.
Author: her_imperial_radiance	"What do you want to do next?" Elspeth asks when he's emerged from the ride.
Author: pythbox	"I wanna go on another cute rollercoaster!"
Author: her_imperial_radiance	Elspeth has already memorized the map. There are three more cute little-kid roller coasters, themed respectively around dragons, space, and flowers. Harley may ride them all.
Author: pythbox	He loves them all! The flowers one is his favourite. He rides it five times in a row.
Author: her_imperial_radiance	Elspeth waits patiently for him, laughing.
Author: pythbox	He runs out of the exit after the fifth time, hugs her enthusiastically, and declares, "I'm hungry!"
Author: her_imperial_radiance	"Okay, we can go find some lunch for you." She rattles off the choices from the memorized map. "And after you eat, no roller coasters for a bit, we don't want you throwing up again."
Author: pythbox	"Awwww," he giggles. "Okay." He picks a place to find lunch, mostly at random.
Author: her_imperial_radiance	There they go and there they lunch. Well, he lunches. She gets an order of fries so she doesn't stand out as conspicuously not eating.
Author: pythbox	Harley lunches, and then he crawls into her lap and leans on her snugglishly.
Author: her_imperial_radiance	Hugs. They can hang out in the restaurant while he digests.
Author: pythbox	He might doze off a tiny bit while he's waiting.
Author: her_imperial_radiance	That is okay too. Pet pet.
Author: pythbox	Sleepysnuggle.
Author: her_imperial_radiance	After a thirty minute doze, Elspeth says, "Do you want to go find some more rides to try, Harley?"
Author: pythbox	"Yeah!"
Author: her_imperial_radiance	"Okay then!" There are some medium-sized roller coasters, and a few non-coaster rides like spinning swings and the log flume.
Author: pythbox	Harley partakes of all of them with immense delight.
Author: her_imperial_radiance	Elspeth accompanies him, indulgent and amused. The park is open pretty late, and she stopped needing to sleep - on her original schedule or otherwise - a while ago.
Author: pythbox	Eventually, though, Harley wraps his hands around her arm and dangles from it, declaring himself "tiiiiiiiiiiiiiired".
Author: her_imperial_radiance	She scoops him up and cradles him. "Time to go home, then. Happy birthday, Harley."
Author: pythbox	"I love you, Elsie," he hums.
Author: her_imperial_radiance	"I love you too, Harley." She departs the park via the normal exit, because they log visitors to prevent people hiding in the park overnight, but once they're out of the park and out of sight, she teleports them home and puts Harley to bed.
Author: pythbox	Where he curls up and happily goes to sleep.