The Lunar Chronicles Oneshots & Headcannons (TLC Wattys)

Scared?

Thorne gulped as he looked up at the Leviathan; the huge roller coaster was the biggest attraction at the amusement park that the Rampion crew had decided to go to that day, and he was sweating just looking at how high the ride's drop was.

Standing on either side of him, Cinder and Cress looked ecstatic. Neither of them had ever been on roller coasters and were excited to try them, unlike Thorne, who hated big rides. There was no way he was going on the Leviathan. Not in a million years, not if pigs flied, or even human-wolf hybrids-

"Hey Thorne," Cinder said, interrupting his thoughts of all the things that would have to happen before he attempted to ride the Leviathan. "Are you scared?" She gave him a taunting smirk and nodded her head up at the roller coaster.

Thorne suddenly went rigid, his mouth dry. "Scared? Pshhh. Captain Carswell Thorne doesn't get scared. Fear is scared of him." As soon as he'd said it, he knew that in a panic to seem indifferent he'd over exaggerated how brave he was. Cinder's next words, he both expected and dreaded.

"So then you'll ride the Leviathan with me and Cress?"

Things were already bad enough, until Cress said, "Yeah, come on Thorne! It'd be a shame if you chickened out."

She looked up at him imploringly with those big, blue eyes, and he knew he'd walked right into a trap. There was no way he could say no to her when she looked at him like that. 

"Sure, why not?" He forced himself to say, his voice coming out an octave higher than usual. In his head, he silently cursed whoever had invented the stupid ride in the first place. But there was no backing out now.

Cress smiled and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the entrance to the ride, and soon enough they were in line. It was a popular ride, meaning the wait was incredibly long (about an hour) and it gave Thorne lots of time to prepare himself. 

He gave himself mental pep talks, telling his mind that he would not, under any circumstances, let Cinder call him a chicken. They didn't help much though, because the closer they got to the ride, the more the knot of anticipation, fear and nervousness writhed in his stomach. They hadn't even gotten on the ride yet, and he was already feeling queasy.

As they got closer to the front of the line, Thorne spotted Iko and Kinney waiting not to far ahead of them. Iko saw them, too, and waved. "Hey guys!" She then started a conversation with Cinder and Cress, talking about how excited she was for the Leviathan. 

Beside her, however, Kinney looked the exact opposite; his face was pale and he kept wringing his hands. "Are you okay, dude?" Thorne asked. 

Kinney gave him a quick once-over. "I feel like I should be asking the same of you. You're sweating like crazy, you know."

"I know. But in my defence, you don't look much better either."

Kinney sighed. "Iko challenged me to see who can go on the Leviathan the most times without chickening out or getting sick. And I hate roller coasters."

Thorne almost laughed, so relieved that he wasn't the only one in a situation like this. "Me too! But there is no way I'm letting Cinder call me scared." 

"And I can't let Iko rub it in my face if she wins! It'll be a nightmare."

"Wait," Thorne said, frowning. "You realize you can't actually win, right? Iko's an android - she can't get sick. And trust me, there's no way she going to chicken out."

"You think I don't know that?" Kinney said dejectedly. "I'm stuck. I can't win, but I'm not going to let her call me a coward. I guess I just have to suck it up."

"Good luck man." Thorne said, feeling a new determination to conquer the Leviathan. If Kinney could do it repeatedly trying to beat someone who was virtually unbeatable, he could go on it at least once with his best friend and his girlfriend by his side.

Before he knew it, they were at the front of the line and loading into the ride. Thorne sat in the middle with Cinder on his left and Cress on his right. "Are you ready?" Cinder asked, grinning.

"Yeah. Bring it on." Thorne said, in his heart knowing that he was not ready, would never, ever be ready for this. Though he still tried to convince himself otherwise.

"This is going to be so awesome!" Cress said excitedly, and the Leviathan began to move. They started going up, up, up, to the top of the drop, as Thorne clung tightly to his seat.

"Yeah, awesome." Thorne muttered to himself as they got closer to the big drop. "This is going to be awesome. Like me! I'm awesome. And I'm going to be fine. Juuust fine. I'm not going to die. I am not going to die." He heard screams from the people ahead of him, who had just begun going down the drop. He was only a few seconds away from going down himself...

His seat began to tip over the edge, and the world started to move in slow motion. He was falling, and his heart had jumped into his throat and the wind was rushing against his face. Panic had seized him, but at that moment he looked over at Cress, who was grinning and had her hands in the air. He kept looking at her, the joy in her big blue eyes calming him somehow, and before he knew it the worst of the ride was over.

Unfortunately, there was still more to come.

It wasn't that he didn't like flying; he'd flown the Rampion dozens of times, and he'd loved every second of it. But that was a different sort of flying. There, he'd been in an enclosed space, protected from everything outside his ship's walls. And he'd been in control of the ship, which, in Thorne's opinion, made flying the Rampion a hell of a lot safer - contrary to how Cinder would say it made it more dangerous. 

He could do nothing to control the Leviathan as it twisted and turned faster than Thorne could comprehend, taking him upside down and spinning him around and making his intestines thrash around in his body.

He would never understand how Cinder and Cress had enjoyed it so much.

"How'd you like it?" Cress asked as they finally came off the ride.

"Oh, it was great." Thorne said, feeling dizzy.

"Are you okay?" Cinder asked, looking concernedly at Thorne as he stumbled away from the ride. 

"I'm fine." Thorne said, his head throbbing and his stomach still tied in knots. "Absolutely perfect." He rushed clumsily to the nearest garbage can and heaved up his breakfast.

Behind him, Cinder and Cress both winced, before coming over to stand by him and hold back his perfectly styled hair as he vomited into the trash can.

"For the record," Thorne said, looking up at Cinder, "I am not a chicken." As soon as he said it, he turned back to the garbage and continued to throw up.

Cinder laughed. "I know. But next time, don't be afraid to tell me you have motion sickness before you go on the biggest ride."

In between his constant vomiting, he sneaked a glance at Cress, who was somehow still looking at him affectionately, even with all the drool he probably had on his face. Maybe going on the Leviathan had been worth it, just to see her eyes light up as they went down the drop, the wind rushing in her hair and the big smile on her face-

His stomach writhed so he leaned into the can to throw up yet again, but this time, he was grinning.