Ryker's Guide (Mild)

Slides and Mars Bars

Ryker

The slides themselves were not as scary as humans made them out to be, though there were times when dropping through a dark tube highlighted only by pinholes of light and turning or falling suddenly did cause him to startled. Ryker could not say he had ever spent a lot of time playing in water. He didn't remember doing it as a child or an adult human, and as a vampire he may have swum in the pool at Knight Corp, but that was as a workout.

But Meriwa was having a blast, dragging him up stairs and into lines that had them waiting several minutes, not that he minded. Meriwa would inevitably shiver in the shadows as water dripped down on them, seeking shelter in Ryker's arm and heat until they managed to step into a patch of sunlight. Her bikini was a sporty thing that was essentially a purple sports bra and shorts, though it still accentuated her petite and fit body enough that Ryker had plenty of people to glare at.

If Meriwa noticed, she didn't let on, though she had this adorable naïveté about her that made Ryker realize that this was probably her first time at such a park. Like him and Carbry, she had not had a 'normal' childhood, though he didn't think that Daryl's childhood was much better. All this was new to all of them, but Meriwa was grinning and chatting, forcing him to go on the slides first, so he was always able watch her and hear her laughter as she tumbled out of the plastic tube into the pools of water.

Ryker couldn't help but grin in response to her infectious giggles, though after they had gone on a slide that literally blasted them into a steep roller coaster style tube ride, he could tell that she needed a break. And they both needed sunscreen and shade.

"C'mon Princess, you look like a drowned rat. How about we dry off? Daryl probably needs lunch." Ryker laughed as the drowned rat comment earned him an elbow to the ribs even as Meriwa leaned into him, shivering as they walked between slides and pools and other random activity centres themed around water.

"You're such an asshole. I look fine." Meriwa glared unheatedly up at him, though they both stopped in their tracks as they came around the corner between umbrellas and some fake wood huts to find their mates exactly where they had left them over a couple hours ago.

The people in the surrounding chairs were all watching Carbry and Daryl with rapt attention, and Ryker felt his paranoia jump as he noticed the hungry expressions on their faces as Carbry sat behind Daryl, spreading sunscreen on the cowboy as Ryker's mate ate what appeared to be some chocolate and whipped cream concoction on a stick.

Carbry was pressed tightly to Daryl's back, hands stroking and rubbing the man's thighs, diligently massaging in UV protection and pulling Daryl's shorts up higher along the cowboy's legs. Daryl grinned as he licked melting chocolate and whipped cream from his fingers and up over the stick and whatever food thing he had found while listening to Carbry talk about a little pastry shop in Paris that had disappeared during the second World War.

"I think that's a deep fried mars bar! Asshole was supposed to wait for me!" Meriwa started forward quickly, not that Ryker tried to stop her. He was just as eager to get to their mates' sides and maybe find some way to block the view of all the voyeurs who were getting a free show.

"I'm sure there's more Mars things..." Ryker muttered, though he didn't know how Daryl managed to buy one without drawing Carbry's ire.

Of late, Carbry had made it his mission to try and get Daryl eating well rounded, healthy meals and steer both the cowboy and goddess away from the junk food that they ate. Ryker had never paid a whole bunch of attention to human nutrition, assuming that if Daryl was eating something, it was better than starving. He had been surprised to find out that nutrition was its own science and that Knight Corp had actual dieticians that worked with the chefs to create meal plans and meals for their human and shifter employees.

Daryl refused to talk to a dietician, muttering something about how everyone had an opinion on diets and things these days. And though the nutrition team had started to produce meal replacement drinks to cover Daryl's strange metabolic requirements, the cowboy had been aloof about it. Carbry had spared no expense, but still Daryl preferred deep fried mars bars and corn dogs to scientifically formulated food.

Daryl glanced up at the two of them and shot them a devastatingly adorable grin, though he held out the treat as Meriwa veritably crawled into his lap and took a bite. "How were the slides?"

"Ryker got scared after the last one, and I'm starving, and this is amazing." Meriwa grinned between bites, somehow already having a smudge of chocolate on her cheek.

Ryker turned to glance around the pool they were sitting at, narrowing his eyes and glaring at everyone else until people began to look away. Some people had the good grace to look ashamed. Others just blinked and looked back to what they had forgotten about when they started to watch Daryl and Carbry.

"Did you know that Carbry trained with a French pastry baker and a chocolatier?" Daryl sounded excited, drawing Ryker's gaze back to him.

He knew that Carbry and Daryl were a bit of an odd couple together, so the fact that they had been talking made him grin even as he shook his head and chuckled. "He makes you tarts all the time. Obviously he's been trained."

Carbry was grinning happily as he started coating Meriwa in sunscreen while her and Daryl quickly demolished the treat. "Patissier. And not formally. I just had the opportunity to learn a few things. Though we can blame the Scots for that awful invention you're eating. Almost worse than Spam Fritters."

Meriwa wrinkled her nose, even as Carbry smudged sunscreen on it. "Ew. That sounds awful."

"I think I remember having Spam Sushi in Hawaii." Daryl offered, before sending Ryker a soft grin. "You guys get all the slides done?"

Ryker shook his head and sat down on the chair next to the one the three of them were on. "Nah, there's the Lazy River and Hells Gate, and a couple that are just straight drops down."

"Oh! And the one that drops you like a story up into a giant tank!" Meri grinned. "You wanna go on the Lazy River with us, D? It's just a slow float."

Daryl shook his head, laughing softly. "Nah, sounds like you guys are having fun."

"C'mon. We could all go." Ryker offered, glancing around at the people in their vicinity. It would be easier for him to watch Carbry and Daryl and Meri if they were all together.

"No." Daryl's response wasn't harsh, but it was firm enough that no one pushed him, even as he turned his attention to helping Carbry make sure Meriwa was protected from the sun.