tratie one shots, vol. i

[ ferris wheel ]

okay, this'll probably be the last one i upload tonight lol. i'm feeling myself get sloppier with my typing, and that's a recipe for writing disaster. 

this one shot is based off of an amazhang one written by Thatathenagirl and she made Katie terrified of the Ferris wheel. I couldn't help but think what would happen if the roles were reversed. (Go check out Piper's stuff though, she's literally so good ahhhhh)

words: 1361

. . .

Ferris wheels weren't Travis' cup of tea.

They were rickety, and high up, and asking for trouble. He didn't trust the things. And the people operating the sketchy machinery looked like they wanted to watch you fall out of the carriage. Like they'd enjoy watching you tumble to your death.

He got shudders every time he thought about it.

But, there they were, Travis and Katie, in line to ride one. It was his girlfriend's birthday, after all, and he took her to the state fair. They'd had a great time, up until that point. They shot darts and he won her a stuffed dolphin. They'd gone through the petting zoo (and Travis discovered he was allergic to horses). They'd had their fill of funnel cakes, deep-fried who-knows-what, and enough frozen lemonade to drown in. 

And then, Katie had to ruin it and say she wanted to ride the Ferris wheel.

As they stood in the line, his nerves rode up his stomach, shaking every fiber of his body. He couldn't hardly take even thinking about riding that contraption, how was he going to make it through the real thing? 

Katie was never going to let him hear the end of it if she found out how scared he was.

So, he put on a brave face and told the man that both of them were going on. He paid the handful of bucks to ride, and into the next line they stepped.

"...and then she acted like she hadn't just dumped the whole pot of soil onto the floor!" Katie ranted, and Travis realized he'd missed half of their conversation.

"Wow," he mumbled absently. 

"I know! It was a good thing Miranda and I had cabin inspection that day." She laughed, but when she noticed he didn't laugh with her, her joy turned into concern. "Hey, Trav, you okay?"

Looking at her with wide eyes, he said, "Huh? Oh, nah, I'm good. Lost in thought."

She squeezed his hand, but quirked her eyebrow. "Okay, if you say so."

The couple waited in their line for a few more rotations of the Wheel of Death before it was their turn. The operator motioned them forward and said in a gruff voice, "Next."

Biting his lip, Travis guided Katie onto the wobbly bench. He knew he was visibly shaking, but he tried to pass it off as a shiver.

"Alright," the man said as he secured the safety bar over their legs, "you're good to go. Keep your arms, legs, and head in the carriage at all times. You get one round, and we'll stop you at the top."

"Thanks!" Katie exclaimed, clearly excited. 

It would've made Travis happy if he didn't feel like puking up all his cotton candy.

The man returned to his station behind the massive wall of buttons and levers, and pulled the big red one. It looked like it was straight out of a cartoon. He pictured the operator laughing maniacally and twisting a pencil-thin mustache as he carted Travis and Katie to their doom.

Travis hoped that closing his eyes would help him as their carriage jostled into movement. He gripped the bar in front of him and squeezed.

It didn't help.