The pair enjoyed their time at the park, and Nathaniel managed to take Ira on a full trip through the zoo, eager to see everything, including a caterpillar they spotted on a branch in the wilds of the decorative trees throughout the park, before the sun could set on his day in the sun...and after all, the theme park wouldn't close until the sun was already down. He didn't understand the full benefit of going to Six Flags later in the day, when the lines were significantly shorter and most of the smaller children had left for the day with their exhausted parents. The summer air was cooler and the sun was less aggressive, although likely more than anyone else in the park, Nathaniel appreciated the sensation thoroughly and sometimes with a long appreciative look at the sky and the little bit of wildlife and the people alongside them. He stuck close to Ira at first, still not entirely at ease with being in such close proximity to so many "snacks" as Ira had so daintily called his brief feeding from earlier. But he had a building sense of faith in himself as his desire for blood withstood similar crowds for most of the beautiful day.
Usually timid Nathaniel found himself surprised at just how much he enjoyed the thrill rides, choosing to ride the mile-long wooden coaster The Boss a second time, knowing that there had been nearly no line when they first got in. He was grateful that Ira seemed eager to do what he wanted. They rode to the top, this time in the very front seats, while dusk settled upon them, and just before the first drop, Nathaniel got to watch the sun dip beyond the horizon with his own eyes, for the first time since 1689. And then just like the first time they rode, his heart dropped along with the coaster down the steep track.
What he experienced with his pumping heart as they left the ride for real this time, was pure elation. He'd hurried from ride to ride and game to game with a renewed high after each event, and he didn't want it to end. He'd stopped thinking so much about how he hardly knew Ira, though their talk throughout the day had knitted them closer together without any conscious effort.
Nathaniel let out a big sigh through a wide open smile and leaned on Ira while they walked into Britannia, a medieval-themed section of the park where The Boss was located. The lights from the rides and the restaurants lit up the park despite the disappearing sun.
"I want to do this again," he said. "I don't think I've ever actually known what fun is like." He laughed quietly at himself, becoming thoughtful with a smile plastered to his face and his wistful eyes focused on continuing to take everything in even though truly his time in the sun had come to an end.
It was in this unfocused period that he managed to collide with a stranger, who to his horror, tumbled over in a cascading domino effect with his girlfriend.
"I am so sorry," he blurted, turning to help them up, only to be swatted at with a refillable Six Flags souvenir cup.
"Keep your queer hands off her, fucker," the man said.
Nathaniel stopped, his mouth gaping as the woman helped herself to her feet and the man inspected his scraped, bloody knee. It wasn't much blood. It probably wouldn't even drip down his leg if left untouched, but it was enough to put its decadent scent on the air, for Nathaniel to breathe in and his eyelids to flutter, his mouth to water, his feet to take two instinctive steps toward the man without his consent.
When he realized he had moved closer, his quick cover was to offer the man a hand, which got him swatted at again.
Nathaniel pulled his hands back. "I really am sorry," he repeated quietly, unconscious of his brain's quick work in devising a plan for how to get this man's blood without causing a scene. He barely registered the muttering from the girlfriend who tried to get her boyfriend to his feet, saying it was time to go home anyway and "don't start anything." Forgetting all about Ira, Nathaniel stared on as they turned to leave.
