Last night after binge reading your book for hours on end, a troll you didn't know messaged you on Pesterchum. You soon found out this mysterious troll's name was Meenah, and she considered herself a friend of Cronus, although you've heard otherwise from Cronus himself. Meenah asked you if you wanted to join her and a few of Cronus' other friends on their trip to a carnival. You always did have a thing for cotton candy and carnival rides, so you decided it wouldn't kill you to come along.

 When you first arrived at the carnival grounds, you had to dodge more kids than you could count just to reach where Meenah was standing. Meenah had sent you a photo of her so you knew what she looked like, and it was easy to find her when she stood out so much. You almost tripped on her braids at least four times just trying to catch up with her and the others.

 Meenah picked up a fake gun at the duck shooting game stall and had to be dragged away from it after she raged and broke all of the ducks that didn't go down when she shot them, but she wasn't the only one who did something weird at the games. Kurloz noticed the clowns and seemed mildly disturbed when he realized the aim of the game was to throw and hopefully land balls in the clowns mouths, Cronus seemed even more uncomfortable when he noticed the fishing games where kids would actually win real living fish in plastic bags and Mituna (who you didn't even notice was with you guys at first) had ran off, dragging Kurloz with him to the Ferris wheel.

"Hey uh, Cronus?" You tugged on Cronus' leather jacket.

"Yeah kitten?"

"I think we lost everyone," you laughed. "They're all gone."

"Vwhat?" Cronus glanced frantically around the crowded area the both of you were standing in. Since the majority of the crowd here were human, Cronus went to looking for horns in the crowd. He didn't notice a single troll there and sighed heavily before he turned back to you. He realized now that this was the first time the two of you had really been alone in a public place. Did this count as a date?

 He bit down on his bottom lip, sharp fish teeth grazing the skin. He'd be lying if he said he didn't find you attractive, but was it wrong to date his brother's moirail? It has to be to some degree right? Still, his eyes set on you as he spaced out, neon lights from the Ferris wheel lighting up your skin as you stood there, arms crossed across your chest, short sleeved shirt exposing the skin of your arms to the chill of the night air. Your eyes glinted, light reflecting off of their surface, hair blowing in the wind. You were perfect. 

 Cronus let out a sigh. "Vwell, I doubt they coulda gone far really, Kurloz is with 'Tuna and Meenah does her own thing so vwhy don't vwe do something fun vwithout them?" 

 You turned towards Cronus, those same sparkling eyes meeting his white ones, a smile etching across your features. "What do you propose we do then?" 

 Much to your surprise, instead of making a joke that was less than appropriate, which you had come to expect from him from what his brother had told you about him, Cronus' hand reached into the back pocket of his jeans, and when it came back out again their was a wallet sitting comfortably in his palm. "You like that vweird human cotton candy stuff don't cha?"

"Uh, yeah," you shifted uncomfortably, it was getting dark outside, moonlight offering a comfortable cover for the blush that had taken over your cheeks. "Why do you ask?" 

 Cronus began to walk after he raised an eyebrow at you and crammed his wallet back into the pocket of his faded jeans. He strolled casually up to one of the food stands lining the pathway and waited patiently for the little boy in front of him to walk away, attempting not to drop the ice cream cones in his hand. He payed for a giant tub of cotton candy before he walked back over to you with it lazily clung in his hand. Cronus handed you the excessively large tub of blue and pink colored cotton candy, which you were gawking at and said nothing, turning away from you and staring at the grass as his hands slipped into the pockets of his leather jacket. 

"Wow uh, Cronus, you really didn't need to buy this much," you laughed, to which Cronus only shook his head and smiled, ruffling your slightly messy (h/c) hair. 

 The both of you had started walking towards the pier so you could get a good spot right on the end to watch the firework show that happened every Friday. There were already a lot of people and trolls sitting across the pier, so you were lucky enough to get the best spot on the very end of the pier. You were thankful you were wearing sneakers that were almost too small for you, because otherwise they would have fallen into the water beneath you. Even though Cronus was a sea dweller and he could probably go get them for you, it would still be a huge pain in the ass. The stars were scattered across the sky like sprinkles on a cake, it was truly beautiful.

 It was almost like this night was straight out of a fairytale. And Cronus thought he was in one, because you looked like a princess. Your hair was messed up from when he had ruffled it when you first got to the carnival grounds. Even though the two of you went through a house full of mirrors with Mituna, Kurloz and Meenah earlier, you still hadn't bothered to fix it. Cronus took the cotton candy from where it was sitting between the both of you and slid a little closer. You thought he didn't notice your blush, but he was close enough to definitely be able to see it. He opened the tub of cotton candy which was now sitting in his lap. 

"Hey, ya don't mind if I try some of this vweird human stuff right?"

"U-uh, yeah go ahead," you smiled. "You did buy it after all." 

 Cronus tore off a tiny piece of the pink cotton candy and made a face at how sticky yet fluffy it was before he put it in his mouth. He looked down at his fingers which were now covered in pink sugar that the cotton candy had left behind, that was sticky and definitely going to be a pain to get off of his fingers now. You laughed as his expression changed from one of confusion to a neutral smile. He nodded before he placed the tub in your lap. 

"I'm assuming you didn't like it then?" 

"It vwasn't bad, but it vwasn't great." 

"Hey, don't offend me. This stuff is the best." A smirk crossed your face, butterflies fluttering in your stomach when Cronus smirked back. You didn't understand it and at first you thought it was just nerves, worried about your shoes falling off or falling into the water, but deep down you knew. Cronus lifted his hands as if he was surrendering. 

 It's wrong to like your best friend's brother right? It has to be. There has to be some kind of troll rule that would stop you from ever being able to date him right? You felt those butterflies flittering around in your stomach again and cursed under your breath, glancing down at the moon's reflection far off in the water. Cronus had moved so his hands were holding him up behind his body, paying no mind to you and luckily, he couldn't read your thoughts because boy oh boy. 

 You decided to eat some of the cotton candy yourself, hoping the sugar filled treat would suffice as a distraction. You smirked as the sickeningly sweet and soft candy hit your tongue. You were snapped out of your thoughts when a loud blast coming from the first round of fireworks rang loudly enough for the entire suburb to hear. Mituna, Meenah and Kurloz sighed when they finally found you again and sat beside you. 

 While you weren't looking at him and were instead staring and the beautiful bursts of color and light in the sky, Cronus was staring at the awestruck smile on your face. He couldn't help but smile himself. He was flushed redder for you than he had been for anyone in a long time, but he wouldn't dare risk the pale relationship the two of you already had going on. But some part in him told him that life was too short, and so he finally made a move. It was subtle enough so that you wouldn't notice, but definitely enough to make him feel a little better. 

 Suddenly the cold you were feeling all night went away and a source of warmth wrapped around your waist like a snake. The sudden movement almost made you drop your tub of cotton candy into the glistening water underneath you. Speaking of the water, Cronus was now looking at your reflection in the water as a blush spread across your cheeks again. You soon noticed it was Cronus' arm around you and snuggled into his side silently. And for the first time in forever, Mr Bad Boy Cronus felt heat rise to his cheeks.