16173/Steady As She Goes

Steady As She Goes
Date of Scene:	25 October 2023
Location:	Coney Island
Synopsis:	Mark and Bunny return to the scene of their first meeting and Mark asks to change the status from Dating to Steady.
Cast of Characters:	Mark Grayson, Bunny Macleod

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Mark Grayson has posed:
Mark had texted Bunny a few days ago about having secured tickets to the Wonder Wheel and a visit to Coney Island is in order. Which is odd. Bunny and Mark have done a lot of dates, but Coney Island was the place they /first/ met.

Dressed in a warm sweater of a bright blue over a darker blue with a yellow stripe with jeans and hiking boots, the young man waits for Bunny to arrive, glancing up at the Ferris Wheel and looking around the park in general.

The weather is cooler, not yet cold, but sweaters and jackets in the morning that have to be shed by the afternoon are becoming the norm. The crowd is typical for a mid-week visit, mainly out of town tourists on vacation and a few groups of kids that are visiting on school field trips.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Ah yes, the boardwalks outside Coney Island, where Bunny quietly offered additional calories to who she thought was a speedster, but ended up being someone entirely more.

    The sound of wheels on the boardwalk might alert him first to THE PRESENCE OF BUN!

    Followed by the full-body tackle of an 'eeeeeeee! MARK!' as Bunny tries to embrace MArk from behind in obviously what can only be described as a vicious attack! She's wearing her butter yellow helmet with pink butterflies, along with a pink T-shirt with Grumpy Bear on it under a yellow light jacket, jeans (which are scruffed up at the knees), and pink roller skates. Her hair is in two low space buns at the nape of her neck.

Mark Grayson has posed:
Unfortunately for Mark, despite know some Spiders, has no Bunny-sense to warn him of impending doom! Bunny grabs him from behind as he absorbs her tackle and he laughs, his hands dropping to cover hers, squeezing them warmly before he manages to turn and face the young woman. "Need a granola bar?" he asks her playfully as he holds Bunny close to him for a lingering hug and a light kiss placed to her mouth after he upturns his chin to see her.

"A good think I had opted not to get the fairy floss." A wink at her before he moves to be at her side and hold her hand. "You are as adorable as always, Bun. Day going good?"

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "Man everyone loses out their cotton candy." Bunny states as she gives a smile and a peck to Mark's mouth before she releases him, and goes to unlace her skates and put on Actual SNeakers. As it turns out, they don't like it when you misplace your attention and accidentally knock into one of the games of chance.

    "Man, I haven't been to Coney Island since like, fifth year! And day's going OK. Had to step in on a mugging in the subway. I really oughta consider like, getting an actual taser or something." she replies with a small smile. "How's your day?"

Mark Grayson has posed:
"I'm with you, so going a lot better." Mark winks down at Bunny as he waits for her to change into her sneakers. Once that's done, he offers to carry the skates while offering his other hand to her. "Yeah, I had to rememeber we met on the boardwalk." comes to comment as he raises his brow in a thought. "Don't they sell batons that have tasers built into them?" he suggests to her, chewing on his lower lip in thought.

"Ferris Wheel first, or you want to try another ride or some of the games?" he asks "I don't have a set time for the Wonder Wheel, but it looks like the view would be really great right now!" he admits. Not that he couldn't just fly up there and see the same thing, it's quaint for him to want to do it!

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "They do, but it seems like everyone has an electric baton!" Bunny complains, rolling her eyes for dramatics as she turns over her leashed skates for Mark's carrying ease. Aside from the fact that they probably weigh nothing to him. Bunny walks along as she gives a small 'huh' sound "... maybe with mace built in, but I feel like I would be on the wrong end of that all the time. Maybe I could talk to Tony and get concussive force?"

    Like this is the most normal conversation to have before she looks up at the wheel, and then at the games. And she gets a >:3 expression.

    "Do you think you could take on those strength games and win me a teddy bear?" she asks, batting her eyes up at him with a bright grin. She's clearly joking.

Mark Grayson has posed:
"Yeah, with mace, all a villain has to do is blow it back in your face. Unless you get it in like... super squirter form?" Mark suggests idly. It's not really something he's ever had to consider before. "The concussive force idea sounds good! They could double as portable drum sticks when you're bored." he teases her gently as they walk, his free hand lowering to hold hers.

When she mentions winning her a teddy bear, his eyes rise up and he snickers. "Are you, my dear Bunny, suggesting I take advantage of my abilities to win you a prize?" He's definetly considering it as he looks towards carnival row and tries to spy something that Bunny may want.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "Nah, I mean more I'd probably be pointing it in the wrong direction and get myself in the face." Bunny replies with a wry smile, and she shrugs her shoulders as she looks over to Mark, and looks innocent.

    "Take advantage of games of quote-unquote chance? You? I'd never suggest such a thing!"

    She gives a grin.

    "But I kinda want the biggest, most ridiculous stuffed animal."

Mark Grayson has posed:
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, there are those carnies that have started to realize that games need to be skewed toward mutants or supers. Among those games are the type that are available is one of those that is 'Lift this Truck, Win this Truck' types with a large truck attached to a pulley system that requires raw strength to get off the ground, much less to the 'win mark'. But those have to be clearly for those that are subjected to being publically outed and that is not something Mark is prepared for.

There is, however, a hammer game - and at the top, where you ring the bell are larged stuffed dogs that could easily double as a super-sized pillow or a bean bag chair for someone of Bunny's stature. A small sign to the side of it reads 'Breaking the Bell Voids Your Prize'.

So Mark can't just /wail/ on it to ring the bell, he'll have to give some thought to it. He glances over at Bunny to see what she even thinks of the prize before he tries it.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee lookit the giant sloth!" Bunny gives one of those high-pitched sounds, and bounces on her pink chucks. She looks over to Mark with a brilliant smile, and then points to the giant beanbag sloth.

    "How good is your control on your strength?" she asks with a bright smile, squeezing Mark's hand as she bites her lower lip.

Mark Grayson has posed:
Mark was looking over the various plushes when Bunny's cry of pleasure gets his attention and his head swivels to look up at the plush. "We have room in the apartment for that?" he asks with a smirk, before looking at it and the bell thoughtfully. "Well, I'm not launching trash bags into the ionosphere anymore?" comes the suggestion.

After paying the ten dollars to take a whack, he leans over to Bunny. "Kiss for luck?" he asks of her as he feels the weight of the hammer in his hands to get a taste of it before using it.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "All the more reason to get a bigger apartment?" Bunny offers with glee, and she walks over behind Mark, peering up to the sloth which is almost as big as she is, and then goes up to her tip-toes to kiss Mark's cheek.

    "Even though I'm the Lucky One!" she gives a small giggle, leaning back on her heels and giving Mark room to swing.

Mark Grayson has posed:
"You are, which is why I asked for the luck!" Mark comments, his cheeks red and warm with his girlfriend's praise. Setting the mallet between his feet, he rubs his hands together. Lifting it, he measures his swing and then... cuts back to nearly a quarter of his usual strength -- and swings.
    here's the /thump!/ of mallet hitting the leather pad to trigger the launcher. The plunger launches upwards.

Past Wimp, Weakling, Pool Noodle, Do You Even Lift, Not Bad, Maybe Decent, Decent, Crossfit Bro, Strongarm, and then Superman -- where it connects with the bell. *CLANG!*

And even if the bell may have been rigged to break if the strike was too hard, it holds in this case.

The barker raises his brows. "Winner! We have a winner! Choose your prize, young man!"

Mark grins, a glance to Bunny. "I already have my prize," he admits. "...but she can pick the one she wants. And I think she wanted the sloth?"

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    There may certainly be a bit of pride to breaking the bell a'la Popeye, but Bunny watches with a lot of pride over Mark's control of his immense strength.

    And she loops her arms around Mark's arm, hoisting herself a bit so that she's hanging off him a moment before she gives a bright nod, looking up to the Sloth.

    "Can I have the giant sloth please?" she asks with a bright smile, and taking her sloth, she teeters a bit as she adjusts her balance, and then burries her face in the back of its head and can be heard giving a muffled 'eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee' sound.

Mark Grayson has posed:
"Thank you!" Mark gathers both Bunny and Sloth and laughs. "I might be getting jealous." he teases her as he squeezes Bunny affectionately. "And yeah, I think a bigger place may be in order." he agrees.

With the prize secured, they make their way towards the Wonder Wheel finally.

It's not a very long line, and when he presents their tickets, they are sat in one of the white carts. Sadly, they are not the ones that rock back and forth - but they are the ones that give the best view at the top.

As he slips in behind Bunny, a note is giving to the ride's director as they are seated. "I think the sloth is going to have to go over there." he comments, gestuing to the other side of the cabin. "Which means we'll have to sit together."

How terrible!

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "Yeah, Slothy McSlowface is gonna have to take a seat, Three's a crowd." Bunny gives a grin, securing the sloth on the other side of the cabin, and sitting next to Mark. She gives a bright smile, leaning against him as she looks out over the rest of Coney Island, listening to the sounds of the crowds and the rush of the wind and the distant undertone of the surf surging back and forth as she looks out.

    "I don't think I've been in the Wonder Wheel before."

Mark Grayson has posed:
"I know I haven't!" Mark admits as he settles in and lets Bunny take the side that overlooks the water and the skyline of Manhattan beyond. His arm slides around Bunny's shoulders to hold her close. "It's nice like this." he admits. "It leaves my hands free so that I can do other things." He sits up a little.

As he sees the spot down on the beach, he points down. "Two months ago... that's where we met." his free hand gestures to the location. "Where you first grabbed my attention. And you've held it since." he admits to her quietly.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "Has... it really only been two months?" Bunny questions, her eyebrows rising up, and she wrinkles her nose, and then scrunches her eyes a little as she's held close by Mark.

    "Ohmigod it has only been two months hasn't it?" she whispers, and thinks, her eyes going wide.

    "It feels like so much longer."

Mark Grayson has posed:
"I know, right." Mark laughs, but gives her a squeeze and little leeway. Maybe he should be worried. But he's here now. "Anyway. I know we've been dating that whole time. And it's great. I just... someone told me that dating means that, if there was someone else, you could show interest. I don't feel like that."

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small bag. When he opens it, he drops a small ring into his hand. It's /NOT/ that ring. It's his class ring. "I wanted to see if maybe, Bunny, you might want to go steady?"

Because that's the natural next step up from dating, right?

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Bunny blinks a moment, and she opens her mouth to protest when he takes her hand, and drops his class ring into it. She looks flabbergasted. Absolutely speechless, which for bunny who's used to a long mental stream of f rom mind to mouth, is an accomplishment. She looks up to Mark and is both trying not to laugh because the idea of 'going steady' seems like such an 80's teenage flick idea, but holding the ring carefully in her hand she throws her arms around Mark in another full body tackle!

Mark Grayson has posed:
It is. But it is also his /mother's/ idea because his mother is a nice Asian woman who believes in the old-fashioned!

However, the fact that Bunny is not saying yes or no and is working her mouth kinda like a fish that needs water desperatedly. Of course, the gambit of looks on her face is confusing.

Too soon. He had planned to ask her at Thanksgiving, but doing that at home, in front of his parents? That was totally a bad play in his mind.

He was just about to ask her if he wanted to change his mind when suddenly he is getting the full bodied Bunny tackle experience that almost causes the carriage to rock. His arms hug her tightly to him, his fingers into her blonde hair to just enjoy the way she feels against him.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "Okay. That is weird. And old-fashioned. And very 1950's. And I hope you have copies because if I wear it I'm gonna lose it your fingers are bigger than mine." Bunny states into Mark's chest, giving out a huff of air.

    And she sniffles, just a moment.

    "You are... such... a dork. But I love you." she smiles, sitting up and rubbing at her eyes. It upsets some of the makeup that she was using to hide the bruising from her broken nose.

Mark Grayson has posed:
"Mom suggested it." Mark mutters, looking down. "She said it was a sweet way to tell you how I felt." He fidgets with his hands and then ohs. "I thought you could wear it on a necklace or something. Maybe even hold onto it to be resized." For something else. Later.
He is well aware of the bruised nose. It's looking much better. His fingers reach up to brush back her bangs and chase tears.

"I love you too." he admits quietly to her, lowering his head down to kiss Bunny firmly enough that he has to lift a hand to cover the sloth's eyes.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "Your mom's hilarious." Bunny states softly with a small smile, leaning into Mark's warmth a moment as she lifts the ring, and slips it over her thumb, and admires it for a moment.

    "I wouldn't wanna resize your class ring. They're special. And they're yours, you know?" she wrinkles her nose a moment, turning it anxiously around her thumb.

    And then he lowers his head and kisses her firmly. Slothy McSlowface looks shocked. SHOCKED. Scandalized even, with his big smile and button eyes, that the two are canoodling up in the white car of the wonder wheel! Gasp!