An awkward mumble of thanks answered the cardigan placed around her shoulders, uncertain how to address it after experiencing her defeat. Ultimately, she chose to pretend nothing had happened.[break][break]

Even so, she pulled the cardigan tighter about herself, silently appreciating the unexpected gesture.[break][break]

Ensconced as they were within the Ferris Wheel, theirs felt more like a private and cloistered space than a carnival attraction; Elisabeth, admittedly, had her eyes on it ever since they'd arrived at the event. It had loomed over them in a dazzling display of twinkling lights, glittering and gleaming with a nostalgia that reflected in her eyes.[break][break]

She blinked it away as the large Smoliv plushie was put beside her seat, grinning goofily up at her. She seated it on her lap, hesitant and stilted, before she said, "You didn't have to do that, you know."[break][break]

This, on top of everything else, thawed her silence as she stared out the window, determinedly avoiding eye contact as her face flushed with sudden heat.[break][break]

"This is a replica of the Ferris Wheel that used to appear in Lumiose City," she commented, enjoying the view of Mauville from these heights. "I got to go only the once, but I remember it feeling magical."[break][break]

Her gaze then flitted to what she'd brought with her -- two carnival drinks, decidedly not intended for children.[break][break]

She extended one towards him, a conspiratorial smirk on her lips.[break][break]

"Then again, some things are better experienced in adulthood, hm?"

[attr="class","ooc"] BARNABY FINCH[break][break]

✔️ Offer a carnival treat to someone else.

The Smoliv plushie was banished once more to her side, patted once on the head as Elisabeth turned her attention forward, removing her sunglasses. Their absence made it easier to see clearly.[break][break]

The sight of BARNABY FINCH as a blond still threw her, sometimes: reminiscent of days when she despised the dancing laughter in his blue eyes, or the permanent fixture of his mocking, puckish smile.[break][break]

At first, discovering that reporter was the cold, dark-haired man who'd watched her fledgling initiation into Rocket had bewildered and angered her. Now as she looked at him, she wondered how she'd never noticed the similarities between those two men before.[break][break]

The light never touched his eyes, bright as they were.[break][break]

"We're both competitive, I think," Elisabeth began, raising herself up from her seat. It took only a single step to draw closer to him, kneeling down to shift their dynamic so that he loomed over her, instead. "Today has given you a false impression when it comes to my endurance," she continued calmly.[break][break]

Unbeknownst to him, vines had surreptitiously tangled themselves over the controls at the foot of the Ferris Wheel, holding them fast in place at its highest apex.[break][break]

And with a similar insidiousness, her own hands roamed towards their desired object, its buckle snapping open as the leather belt loosened from his waist.[break][break]

Glancing up at him, a daring glimmer sparkled in her ruby gaze, alive with mischief of her own.[break][break]

"It would be a shame," Elisabeth murmured, leaning towards him with devilish intent, "if I didn't get a chance to remedy that misconception."[break][break]

All it would take was his acceptance, and she'd apply herself to that challenge.

[attr="class","ooc"] BARNABY FINCH[break][break]

✔️ Ride in the ferris wheel.

A faint smirk curled her lips at his concession, his other response to her touch going far from unnoticed from her place between his thighs.[break][break]

"Oh, mon oiseau," she replied, fingertips idly trailing the indents of tented fabric until his zipper allowed access to a far more interesting playground. "I'm not interested in taking, but giving."[break][break]

Their selfishness manifested in a similar way.[break][break]

An irresistible urge to tease him, to taunt him, to push him past the brink of pleasure consumed her as her mouth accepted his desire as her own. She'd long swallowed back any useless thoughts of pride or decency, embracing instead the impulsive thrill of being reckless like this with him, here and now.[break][break]

"I want you," she'd confessed to him once, and this time that truth showed in how much she was willing to accept of him. Say my name, she silently willed him as she pushed herself further and further, satisfaction burning in her throat as his body jerked involuntarily in response. Show me that you want this, too.[break][break]

She was a benevolent tyrant. However long it took to coax him, she'd bide her time until his release, and only then would the Ferris Wheel resume its spinning once more.[break][break]

They'd suspended time itself, for a little while.

[attr="class","ooc"] BARNABY FINCH[break][break]

✔️ Help fix a ride.