Another Valentine's Day. Another Single's Awareness Day.

Rose Garden had found a way to become an even more popular town than it already was. A new theme park had been built thanks to a company that had become successful over the years for its focus on love, marriage, and Valentine's Day. Samira was familiar with them after having volunteered to deliver candy for them one year while also testing out a special type of marriage magical binding. Apparently they had done something else the year after and to supersede even that the third year had a full amusement park dedicated to the holiday. It was a strange theme to have an amusement park for, but Samira supposed it was cute in its own way. The couples it would no doubt attract would enjoy it all year round. Although she sincerely hoped the colors would change for each season. Not that she had any issue with the massive amount of red, pink, and white. Quite the opposite. It was just a nice thought to her if for other seasons they would change to match the romantic colors expected for that time. The Valentine's Day theme would get old after a while. Unless it was only opened for that month, of course. That would be a shame and a complete waste, but it was possible that was what the company intended.

Those basic thoughts and opinions were going through the summoner's head as she wandered through the amusement park. Technically Loveland, as the park had been named, was not yet open, but it was allowing many people inside with free admission for the sole purpose of checking the park out before the grand opening. The company was probably looking for good reviews to attract more customers, no doubt. Thus far, Samira could give them one for the most part. She had been there for some time now just glancing over everything and watching other guests of the park enjoy themselves. There was one little thing that made her frown in disapproval, however. The park was advertised as being for everyone even if most would assume only couples had a place there. Yet, many things required a partner to do. It wasn't really a place for someone just wandering around on their own. Then again, who goes to an amusement park by themselves? Her apparently. She was in town, saw something new and got caught up in the advertising, and decided to see what the hype was about. Just because she was single didn't mean she had to hide away until everything Valentine's day had disappeared.

The decision to partake in the volunteer testing of the park was starting to be one of regret though. Just a bit. If she really wanted to try out the two person activities there was always using a spirit as a companion... If they hadn't already ditched her to explore the park for themselves. They were all now in pairs and small groups causing trouble somewhere in the spacious park. Samira didn't really want to think too much about their mischievous plots or the aftermath.

There were fortunately some things to distract herself. Some of the shops and stalls were open, including food ones that varied from real normal snack food to sweet treats. The Wizard Saint had picked out and bought a cupcake that was almost too cute to eat. Almost. She slowly ate the treat, taking small bites of it as she continued to explore the park. Of the many attractions she had concluded that the roller coaster was something that she could do solo. Already she had watched the massive ride go over the entirety of the park, each time carrying a new set of screaming passengers as it passed over. In truth, Samira wasn't someone that really cared for that sort of thrill but it was something to do, she supposed.

After much more walking, Samira had found where the ride started... As well as its massive line. Oh dear. It would take a bit before she reached the front. Good thing she had a large amount of patience and nothing better to do anyway. Most importantly though, it allowed her to continue munching on her sweets, with the cupcake now having been switched out for a soft and moist normal piece of chocolate cake held by a pink napkin. Well, thus far Samira could give an excellent review on the food at least. She took her place at the back of the line and began the waiting game.

(Word Count: 749)

-Inside Loveland Park-

Wearing her white Steel Matron t-shirt with black skirt and black bike shorts on underneath the skirt plus white tennis shoes because it was the most comfortable outfit she had available, Victoria had just walked through the gate to Loveland Park when she saw a sea of red and pink with liberal quantities of heart-shaped Lacrima lanterns dotting the place. The brunette had come here as a volunteer to test the park before it was open to the public and she was already starting to regret her decision. She walked a little further into the park so that she did not block the entrance and stopped off to the side next to a wall decorated with a large pink heart. The park was crowded and the two activities she saw right out of the gate were about as appealing as getting beaten up by Francesca Corlone wielding a metal baseball bat.

One of the activities she spotted was a Kissing Booth that had a long line behind it. Victoria immediately crossed that activity off of her list without having to really think about it. She looked a short distance away from the Kissing Booth and found a sweater game where two people crammed themselves into a large sweater and then worked together to put frosting on a cake. The person in front had to put their arms at their sides and give verbal instructions to the person in the back of the sweater. The person in the back of the sweater was the one who had their arms in the sleeves of the sweater and was blindfolded, so they had to listen to the person in the front in order to put frosting on the cake. Victoria crossed that activity off of her list as well and looked around for something else to do.

The brunette saw a lot of couples milling about and wondered if she should call up her old pal Abigail Windstrider to see if she wanted to accompany Victoria through the park. Victoria thought about it for a few moments before deciding against the idea. Abigail might be busy on a job and if Victoria called to ask her to go to Loveland Park to do some activities together the blonde might think that Victoria was calling her for a date. Victoria decided against it and was about to consider just leaving when she saw a roller coaster in the distance. That sight rekindled Victoria's interest in the park and caused her to make a beeline for the roller coaster.

-At the roller coaster-

Victoria approached it and immediately noticed that there was a long line of people waiting to ride the roller coaster, which was a nice-looking one that was sturdily built and likely adhered to all safety standards. Not wanting to be "That Person" by accidentally cutting in line, the brunette immediately got in the back of the line and waited her turn. While looking around the area Victoria noticed the person in front of her had long teal hair. That was not exactly common and there was a very famous mage who had long teal hair, but the Sabertooth mage did not jump to conclusions about the person's identity. Instead of greeting the person by the name she thought they answered to, Victoria decided to engage them with a simple question.

"Hey Lady, have you been waiting in line very long?" Victoria asked the teal-haired young woman standing in front of her. That question was not the best icebreaker she had ever come up with, but the brunette did not have a whole lot to work with, so she would just go with that.

[Post Word Count: 614]
[Victoria's Word Count: 614/2,000]

Another minute or so had passed, allowing the small piece of chocolate heaven to be consumed entirely. A near empty trash can was right beside her. Convenient. She took notice that even more fancy pink and red trash cans with heart shaped lids lined the perimeter of the roller coaster line. The chocolate company must have anticipated guests of the park to be eating or drinking small snacks while in line. They went a tad bit overboard with it, but Samira took advantage of the placement beside her by putting the used napkin inside. Then it was back to waiting silently. Or so she had thought to be the case. It hadn't been enough time for her to acknowledge a line growing behind her. Not until an unfamiliar voice came from behind her. It sounded like she was speaking to her. Or at the very least that's what she could assume from the "lady" pronoun. Granted, there were a lot of ladies around the park, but the proximity was probably a huge clue that she was the one being talked to.

"Not very long. I just got in a line a minute or so ago," Samira answered, turning and glancing behind her to see the brunette standing behind her. Most within Sabertooth would have immediately recognized the popular woman that was always seen and diligently worked at the Aces of Spades' most popular inn. Most. Not Samira. Rare was it that the Wizard Saint found herself at the guild hall itself, let alone a bar that contained beverages that she would prefer to distance herself from. There was a time when Samira used to keep track of the public records and roster of fellow guild members, but that time was a long time ago. Too many things got in the way that prevented her from getting closer to the guild or even keeping track of the who's who in Sabertooth.

At that point the line began to move up quite a bit. The roller coaster must have returned and was re-filling up with new passengers. "Oh, it looks like it is moving already." She gave a small smile before turning back around and following the rest of the line forward until it came to a stop again. "Did you decide to come here alone too? Come to the park, I mean." Samira inquired casually to just make some form of small talk during the wait. She had noticed that the stranger was alone behind her until a group of teens got at the back of the line. They didn't say anything to the brunette so it was likely she was not a part of the group.

She was perfectly capable of standing there in silence if the woman behind her preferred not to chat, though. Just because a question was asked didn't mean it was an open door to a full conversation. Truth be told, small talk was not exactly something Samira was exceptional at anyway, especially with people she didn't know.

(Word Count: 502
Samira Total: 1251)

When the teal-haired young woman turned around to face Victoria and respond to her, the brunette was nearly floored. Unless this young woman was a very devoted cosplayer who was also a very strong mage, the brunette was standing in front of the one and only Samira Nassar, the Goddess of Humility. Samira did not seem to recognize the ponytailed brunette who worked at Red Dragon Inn, but that was OK because Victoria could not recall ever seeing the celebrity mage at the inn. That and Samira was too busy saving the world from evil to stop by the inn and hang around awhile.

Just as Samira answered the question of how long she had been waiting in line the line moved up quite a bit, allowing the next group of would-be riders to move forward. Samira turned around and moved forward and Victoria followed suit. Once the line stopped moving and Samira stopped stopped in her new place Victoria stopped a few steps away but kept a respectful distance from the celebrity mage who everyone in Earthland knew. The ponytailed brunette was excited to just be sharing the same space as Samira, but she did not need to creep out the teal-haired mage by acting like a creepy fangirl and invading her space.

"I came to the park by myself, Samira. Since I wasn't particularly busy today I figured I'd come here and see what the park was all about." Victoria answered Samira's question before turning red in embarrassment because she might have called her esteemed acquaintance by the wrong name. Victoria thought about it for a moment.

What name did Samira go by? Was it just "Samira?" Was it "Ms. Nassar?" Or was it her official title of the Goddess of Humility?

Victoria had no idea. Until Samira expressly told her what name she liked to be called Victoria would just call her "Samira." The brunette figured that that was polite enough since they were in the same guild. Victoria still could not believe that they were in the same guild.

"Did you come to the park by yourself too?" Victoria asked Samira. The brunette had lost her timidity and was treating the Goddess of Humility like an old pal, something which could be dangerous to her health. Then again, Victoria figured that in between her drinking habit and the dangerous jobs she took it would be a miracle if she lived to be thirty, so she would just go for it and talk to Samira like they were old friends. The worst that could happen was that Samira would tell Victoria to quit talking and get lost. The best-case scenario was that Victoria would make a new friend with a lot of power and influence.

[Post Word Count: 458]
[Victoria's Word Count: 1,072/2,000]

Samira blinked when the brunette said her name. Did she know this person but forgot? No. That couldn't be it. She generally always remembered people she met. Didn't she? Had she rudely forgotten to ask for the woman's name the last time they met? The issue caused an internal conflict within her. All of it completely unnecessary if she had just remembered that it was likely anyone in Fiore or anyone in Ishgar as a whole that followed the Sorcerer's Weekly magazine would know her name based on appearance alone. Her look wasn't exactly common. Even cosplayers would have had trouble making it that perfect. Not that she considered herself as someone people would cosplay as. That'd be ridiculous!

As the brunette behind her continued to answer the question and ask one of her own, Samira stared, expressionless, as she tried to place her. Oh right. A question was asked. She should probably answer before she gave the wrong impression of either looking like a dimwit or that she showed zero interest in speaking to the other woman. Maybe both. "Oh," Samira exclaimed as she came back to reality. "Yes, I am here by myself. Technically." She hadn't come by herself if her plethora of spirits counted, yet they had also ditched her so she was by herself at that moment.

The line got shorter once more as the roller coaster had come back and more people at the front started to disappear. Samira had taken notice and took the time to move up before coming to a stop and returning to the conversation. One more round should do it and they would be able to get on the roller coaster for themselves. That got Samira thinking again. The seats were generally meant for two, weren't they? Her experience with roller coasters was minimal, but she recalled seeing photos before that implied passengers were side by side while riding. It certainly made sense with the theme of the park. It would be awkward if they were both sitting alone, or maybe even the operator forced pairings to prevent that due to weight distribution of the ride.

"I apologize if this seems a bit forward, but would you like to ride the roller coaster together? We are both here alone and in line right next to each other." It hadn't even crossed her mind that what she asked could seem a bit odd and misunderstood as some strange way of asking the woman on a date through the park. Samira was just trying to avoid the possible awkward scenario of the operator questioning why people were jumping into a roller coaster alone. That and maybe she'd find out the other woman's name without having to ask for it and hurt her feelings for having forgotten it in the first place. Maybe she'd remember that she never once had met Victoria before the ride was over. Probably not.

(Word Count: 486
Samira Total: 1737)

The more Victoria stood behind the teal-haired young woman the more she felt that she was talking to the real Samira Nassar. The more Victoria felt that she was talking to the real Samira Nassar the more excited the brunette got. She had met most of the last generation of Wizard Saints and Gods/Goddesses of Ishgar, but this was her first time meeting one of the new generation of Wizard Saints and Gods/Goddesses of Ishgar. Several months ago during a job in Desierto she had met Sophia Jarnefeldt, the mother of Leona Jarnefeldt, but she had not met the Wizard Saint of Courage in person. Maybe one day their paths would cross and Victoria could claim to have met another current Wizard Saint, but for right now the ponytailed brunette was excited just to be in the presence of Samira Nassar.

Victoria was surprised to learn that Samira too had come to Loveland Park by herself... technically. The brunette was not sure what the Goddess of Humility had meant by "technically", but the former was going to let sleeping dogs lie. When the line got shorter Victoria moved up after Samira had done so and once the pair stopped moving Victoria got back to a respectful distance from the Goddess of Ishgar... well, as respectful a distance as the other people waiting in line would permit her to be at. The pair had to stand next to each other, something that Victoria did not mind but Samira might not be so thrilled with.

The brunette listened to Samira as the Goddess of Humility spoke to her and asked if she wanted to ride the roller coaster together. The brunette blinked. She could not believe that Samira Nassar was asking her to ride the roller coaster together. Victoria smiled and did her best not to come across as a creepy fangirl.

"Ride the roller coaster together? Sure!" Victoria replied to the question. The brunette was so excited to be sharing the same roller coaster as Samira Nassar that it was obvious despite the former's best efforts not to show it. She was standing next to the strongest mage in her guild and one of the strongest mages in Earthland... it was hard not to be excited by that. Then she realized that she had not given Samira her name, something that was more than a little awkward, but Victoria was not renowned for her social skills.

"By the way, my name's Victoria. Victoria Sheridan." Victoria introduced herself to Samira. Victoria still could not believe that she would be riding the roller coaster alongside Samira Nassar, but soon she would be doing just that.

[Post Word Count: 442]
[Victoria's Word Count: 1,514/2,000]

The offer had not been refused. Perfect! There was a bit of concern about the possible refusal, but in the end that concern was out of place. In fact, the brunette had a sort of excitement about her that only became even more apparent when the question had been asked. Samira considered herself quite lucky to have someone like that behind her. She seemed nice and had a cheerful presence with how she reacted. The interaction would have been quite different if there had been a grump or someone with a very unpleasant personality instead. "I am glad you agreed. The ride should be more entertaining with someone else there," the Wizard Saint replied, allowing a small sweet smile to take the place of her natural frown.

The mission to obtain the name of the stranger in line behind her was completed before it had even started. Without promoting, the brunette took the initiative to introduce herself as Victoria Sheridan. The name sounded very familiar after hearing it spoken. It clicked in her head that it was not a name that she had spoken herself. Or even heard spoken. The combination of letters was one that she recalled as having been read. Was Victoria a writer? Or had articles written about her? Well, no. Not in great detail. Yet.

In actuality the Sabertooth mage was someone that had been featured in Sorcerer's Weekly Magazine. Both as part of the Sabertooth line up and as the prominent mage that had been voted as Saberooth's Member of the Month. Technically Victoria was also the face of the Red Dragon Inn within Ace of Spades, but unfortunately Samira hadn't heard that fact or been there herself to put that together. Eventually she'd connect the other dots and be thrilled that she had met another Saberooth mage by happen chance. For now, she'd remain content that she had a temporary companion for one of the theme park rides.

"Nice to meet you, Victoria. I am Samira Nassar." While redundant since Victoria already knew her name, Samira still felt it was appropriate to introduce herself. Not as a Goddess of Ishgar or Wizard Saint. Not even as a mage of Sabertooth. Just her name since that was truly who she was despite titles and factions. "Have you enjoyed the park so far? I am trying to figure out what else I could do after taking some time to walk around, but I am afraid many things are a bit limited for someone that had come alone. Even as a volunteer."

As the two made their introductions and talked a bit more the line moved again. Just enough for the two of them to get a seat on the roller coaster. There was a science to where someone took their seat. The front, the back, and the middle. All of them had pros and cons. Supposedly. Samira hadn't exactly tested it herself before but she had heard about it earlier when her spirits talked about the park before taking off. The roller coaster was filling up with other passengers. They needed to hurry if they were going to be picky about it. Samira walked the side of the loading area next to the partially empty ride, glancing at the seats as she passed. "Did you have a preference of where we sit?" She asked her companion, who she felt had a say in it. "I am fine with the front or the middle."

(Word Count: 578
Samira Total: 2315)

Victoria was thrilled to hear that the teal-haired mage she was talking to was THE Samira Nassar, the living legend who was the strongest mage in Sabertooth. The fact that the brunette was standing here instead of being turned into a pile of dust just by Samira snapping her fingers meant that she had not angered the teal-haired mage by acting and speaking like they were friends when the two had just met. Victoria was going to keep it that way by treating the Goddess of Humility with the deference someone of her power and fame deserved. Since the Goddess of Ishgar had referred to herself as Samira, Victoria would call her "Samira" as well.

"I kinda dig the park, Samira. It's lively and upbeat enough. Also, this is my first time in a theme park of any sort, so I don't have anything to compare it to." Victoria admitted to her esteemed companion that while she liked Loveland Park, she was no authority on theme parks because this one was her very first theme park. Still, Victoria had liked it so far. It was cheerful and there was a lot of activity plus it was clean and well-organized. It seemed like this park had a lot of thought put into its design and construction.

When she heard Samira talk about how limited options were for single people, even those who were expressly called to be volunteers, Victoria knew exactly what the teal-haired mage meant.

"I know what you mean, Samira. There's not a lot for those of us who fly solo to do. Even us volunteers." Victoria echoed Samira's lament. The line then moved up and Victoria moved up with it. As it turned out, the line had moved up just enough for the two Sabertooth mages to get seats on the roller coaster. Samira staked her claim to the middle seat and asked Victoria which seat she would take.

"I'll take the front seat!" Victoria announced, hopping into said seat and sitting down just in time. The moment her backside hit the seat the bar came down across her lap and clicked into place. Victoria was now securely in the ride, but there was one thing that was not secured... her hair!

The brunette had left it in a ponytail and since Samira was sitting behind her the Goddess of Humility was going to get inconvenienced by Victoria's long brown hair... repeatedly. That mistake was not going to do wonders for the brunette's lifespan, but the ride had just gotten in motion, so it was too late to do anything about it now. Victoria would just have to hope that Samira would be in a forgiving mood once the ride was over.

[Post Word Count: 454]
[Victoria's Word Count: 1,968/2,000]

Well it seemed, as far as the theme park went, Victoria and herself agreed. It was a nice sort of place. Lively and welcoming in general. It just lacked more things to do for the solo volunteers. Unless the theme park employees and those in charge intended for everyone to pair or group up whether they entered the park alone or not. It worked if the example of Victoria and herself was anything to go by, Samira supposed. At least for the one ride. Whether that would continue afterwards was anyone's guess.

After Victoria had said aloud her chosen seat, Samira would nod and find an empty seat on the ride. As soon as everyone was inside, the bars on the seats would lower and click to lock in place. It would do the same for all the seats of the ride and then there was the moment of waiting as the operators checked the bars to make sure they were all good to go. Once the okay was given to the guy in front of the controls, the start button was pressed and the roller coaster slowly started to move forward. The next few minutes would be filled with the exciting rush of the dangerously moving ride. The roller coaster went over the entirety of the park at a high speed. Hills, loops, twirls, and even the tracks forming a heart shape with an upside down loop in the middle made its course. And then eventually it started to slow down as it made its way back to the starting point to let its passengers off. At the end of it, Samira learned a new lesson: make sure to tie up her hair before riding any more roller coaster.

The ride had stopped completely, or that was what the summoner could assume. She couldn't very well see anything due to her own hair being everywhere, including right in front of her eyes. She blew a puff of air to get some of it out of the way, but it was too thick and there was too much for that to work really well. As if she were parting curtains, Samira ran her hands through her hair and forced the teal locks away to the side to uncover her face and eyes. Her hair was now a complete and total mess. Priority number one was correcting that, naturally.

Samira stepped out of the coaster once the bars of the seats rose to allow the passengers to leave. After her feet met solid ground, Samira stepped away from the ride and accessed the celestial storage portal that had many of her belongings and other things. A small blue swirling portal appeared in the air that the summoner then reached inside of to pull out a brush. The portal disappeared immediately after, having served its purpose. To the hair brushing activity Samira went. As she did this, she glanced at Victoria. Although the brunette's hair was practically weaponized during the ride, Samira didn't have a grudge. It wasn't her fault, and Victoria was wise to have her hair up in the first place. Unlike herself that now had twisted and tangled hair all over the place.

"Well, that is an experience I do not want to repeat without ensuring there is proper hair care first." How many times had Samira forgotten to put her hair up to prevent the result she now had? Several. She was always forgetful about it. She even had a collection of scrunchies that to that very day had gone unused! The pile of dust on them was likely massive.

"Would you like to try out one of the other rides?" She curiously asked Victoria. The brunette was under no obligation to continue hanging out with her so Samira would not be too disappointed if she declined. The expectation of that happening was there already. Maybe they would hit the games later even. For now though, the summoner was much more interested in trying out the rides since that was the most fun for her. "I saw the Bumper Car attraction not too far away from here. You can even take control of the wheel if that is your preference. I just want to see what the attraction is like. I have never participated in the game before."

(Word Count: 720
Samira Total: 3035)

Once the ride got going Victoria barely paid attention to what her hair was doing because she was too busy hanging on for dear life. The ride moved at a brisk pace and went all over the park while Victoria hung onto the bar in front of her and felt her hair blow in the wind... and most likely hit Samira in the face. Once this ride was over the brunette would have to do a lot of apologizing to stay on the Goddess of Ishgar's good side. speaking of the ride, the highlight was a heart shape with an upside down loop in the middle that made Victoria grip the bar so tightly that her knuckles turned white. When the ride finally pulled back into the station, stopped completely, and the safety bar rose to allow Victoria to get up, the brunette climbed off of the ride and wobbled on her feet to a place a short distance away from Samira.

In contrast to the teal-haired mage in front of her who had to produce a hairbrush out of a magical pocket, Victoria's ponytail did not need too much work to fix... all she had to do was corral some of the strands and put them behind her head again and she was good. Once Samira had finally tamed her long teal hair she spoke to Victoria. The brunette dared to laugh a little.

"Yeah, I know what you mean about hair care. Sorry if my hair slapped you during the ride. Next time I just might have to sit on it or put it behind my back, probably both." Victoria stated that she understood Samira's remark about not going on another ride like that without making sure her hair was taken care of before the ride before apologizing for her free-flowing ponytail hitting Samira in the face a few times during the ride. After that the brunette moved on to the idea of trying other attractions, in particular the Bumper Cars.

"Bumper Cars? Sure, we'll do that ride together!" Victoria eagerly said to Samira. The brunette was excited to just be around the Goddess of Humility and she was glad that the mage did not hold Victoria's hair hitting her against her. The idea of driving a bumper cat with Samira was something that Victoria could readily agree to.

"OK, Samira. I'll drive and you work the pedals!" Victoria staked her claim on the driver's seat long before they had even gotten to the bumper cars. Even though this was her first time driving anything that was not her DH-40 Centaur, it should be easy enough to drive a bumper car. The cars were confined to a special area and had a limited maximum speed, so everything should turn out OK even if the brunette got behind the wheel. The operative word was should.

[Post Word Count: 476]
[Victoria's Word Count: 2,444/2,000]

Samira blinked, her verdant gaze expressing a mix of surprise and confusion when Victoria apologized for her hair being out of control. While, yes, she certainly wasn't expecting to get smacked by the ponytail, it wasn't at the fault of Victoria at all. Still, the summoner appreciated the thought and consideration. In a short amount of time Victoria was showing that she was a kind and likeable individual. There needed to be more people like that in the world.

"It is fine. I suppose the chance of getting hit by long hair is to be expected while on that sort of ride." There were no rules about long hair that Samira was aware of. Had no one ever complained about it before? Surely the solution wasn't to just sit on it like Victoria had suggested. Not all long hair even reached that length. It was strange that apparently that minor complication did not have a proper rule. Even stranger if just about everyone accepted the likelihood of getting smacked by hair whips while trying to enjoy riding a roller coaster and did not complain about it. Samira put the thought away before she spent too much time on it. She didn't run a theme park or knew much about them or the attractions. Maybe hair whips really were an enjoyment factor. In her opinion, she could do without that little bit of extra entertainment.

"Oh, good!" Samira said happily after Victoria had agreed to joining her for the bumper car game. It would have been most unfortunate if she had to go without partaking in that sort of activity yet again just because she didn't have anyone to play with. It was kind of surprising that there were no single style mini cars for it, especially for the sort of friends or couples that would have preferred being competitive against one another. Maybe she could slip the idea into a suggestion box on the way out, if such a thing existed. Samira looked around the park, ignoring the crowd of people and noise around so she could focus on where the bumper car area was at. Her mind quickly worked to put in the pieces together of the familiar sights and paths until she had a mental map she could go by. "I recall the arena being somewhere along there," she stated while pointing a northwest of where they currently were. It wasn't far at all.

With the direction figured out, Samira began to slowly walk towards where she thought the arena was. Thankfully the crowd wasn't that bad to get by. Many of them were going in the same general direction. To keep things from going too silent, Samira decided to at least entertain Victoria with some form of conversation. She felt the other mage deserved that much for joining her in the two player game. "I admit, I was assuming that you would have declined the offer since we just happened to meet in line. I am glad that you are accompanying me for this game as well. Pleasant interactions like this are rare."

The bumper car arena was a bit packed but it was also pretty large. Still, by the time Victoria and herself got there, there was only one empty mini car left. Well, they should all work the same way and looks didn't mean much when every car also looked the same. There was little reason to be picky about it. "I suppose this one is ours," Samira told her companion, followed by a small chuckle. They didn't exactly have much of a choice. Since they had already decided who was doing what, Samira took the passenger side that controlled the pedals, of which there were only two: backwards and forwards. Simple enough.

Once the game operators saw that everyone had taken their place in the cars of the arena, the game started and the cars hummed to life, allowing those riding them to take control and begin the violent game of bumping each other. Since the object of the game was to do just that, Samira changed between backwards and forwards to hit the mini cars closest to them. It was an... uncomfortable experience actually. Both bumping other cars and their own car being bumped. She could see why some people would enjoy it, she supposed. Maybe a part of her did enjoy the experience. Mostly though, she was just glad to mark it off her bucket list and say she experienced the game. It was doubtful that she'd try it again unless there were some changes. Not that she'd add "make the game more comfortable" to the suggestion ticket. It was fine as is for those that enjoyed it.

(Word Count: 786
Samira Total: 3821)

Victoria was glad that Samira had accepted her apology for the brunette's wayward ponytail hitting her in the face more than a few times during the course of the ride. For one thing, Victoria did not want to make an enemy of Samira, one of the strongest mages walking Earthland. Victoria really did not want to end up as a pile of dust by Samira snapping her fingers.

Another reason for Victoria's gratitude was that despite her immense power Samira was a cool person who did not lord her power over others. The world needed more people like that in positions of power. If there were responsible people like Samira in power when Victoria was a street kid in Capital Crocus the brunette might have had a much more pleasant childhood than she did. There would have been no need to scavenge in trash cans for food, no need to run and hide from other street people trying to steal what meager scraps she could scavenge.

Victoria saw Samira point out the Bumper Cars arena and gave a thumbs-up. She would be happy to participate in that game with her esteemed Goddess of Ishgar companion. Victoria happily followed at Samira's right side and listened to the teal-haired mage admit to the brunette that she did not expect Victoria to agree to the game. Victoria kept a straight face as she gave her response. She had to keep a straight face because she did not want to seem like she was hanging out with Samira just because the latter was famous.

"I'm having fun going on rides with you, Samira. This is my first amusement park visit and I'm glad that I'm going on rides with you." Victoria said. Moments later she blushed. It sounded like she had just confessed her love for Samira when that was not the case. They were strictly platonic partners for this outing!

When the pair got to the Bumper Cars arena there was only one car left, but since the mages knew which role they were going to play they did not have to waste time figuring out who did what. Samira manned the pedals and Victoria hopped behind the wheel. Once the pair were securely seated the cars hummed to life and the game began.

Samira began working the pedals to move their car back and forth while Victoria moved the steering wheel to make sure that they hit their opponents... in the spirit of the game, of course. Victoria bore no ill will towards anyone in the arena, so as far as she was concerned this was a simple game of Bumper Cars. In that spirit Victoria became a heat-seeking missile of vehicular mayhem, slamming into vehicles and being slammed into. The game felt like being in the center of a mosh pit... not that Victoria knew exactly what that was like, but she had a feeling that it went something like this, only without vehicles for rather obvious reasons.

With Victoria behind the wheel the pair gave as good as they got, dealing out as many hits as they took. She had just rammed another vehicle when the vehicles suddenly powered down, causing Victoria to feel a twinge of disappointment. She had really been getting into the game when it ended, but ended it had. She sat in place to be sure the game was absolutely over before getting up... once other people started climbing out of their bumper cars Victoria got out of hers and stood beside the vehicle, waiting for Samira to climb out of the other side.

"Well, that was fun. What do you want to do next, Samira?" Victoria asked the Goddess of Humility what she wanted to do next. It was totally up to Samira if she wanted to do anything else. If she wanted to check out more of the park's attractions, that would be great. If she wanted to call it a day, the pair would just go back to Ace Of Spades and Victoria would get a meal at Red Dragon Inn.

"If you don't want to do anything else, we can just call it a day if you'd like. It's your call." Victoria made it clear that Samira did not have to participate in any more park activities if she did not want to. The brunette could not make the Goddess of Humility do anything that the teal-haired mage did not want to do. However, Victoria was having fun in the company of Samira Nassar and was hoping that Samira would want to do something else before the pair called it a day.

[Post Word Count: 770]
[Victoria's Word Count: 3,214/2,000]