Vitaly
The stuffed sun had a stupid face.
It hung above a carnival stall next to a neon purple shark and grinned down at me.
Mayuri stopped walking when she saw it.
“Oh my…” she said.
“No way,” I said.
She pointed.
“Vitaly, it's you!”
“It has feet. Why even give the sun feet in the first place?” I asked.
She looked from the stuffed sun to my face, delighted with her discovery.
“Although he looks so much happier to see me,” she said.
“That's because he hasn't spent four months listening to you talk.”
Mayuri laughed and tucked herself beneath my arm. I pulled her closer.
The evening carnival stretched along Sunspira's waterfront, filling the boardwalk with music, fried food, and balloons.
So many balloons.
We'd already eaten. Now she wanted shaved ice.
Or she had, before finding my apparently superior plush replacement dangling from a scammer's hook.
“Would you like it?” I asked.
“He's cute, isn't he?” she said.
That seemed straightforward to me. I approached the counter. Rows of bottles stood on a raised platform. Wooden rings filled a basket beside the attendant.
“Three rings,” the attendant said, pointing at the price board. “One around a gold-neck bottle gets you a prize from the top row.”
I looked at the sun.
“Wait a minute, aren't you Vitaly Antares?” the attendant asked.
“Nope, I'm someone else today,” I said.
I paid and picked up a ring. Mayuri rested her elbows beside me.
“My hero,” she said.
“Please behave yourself.”
I judged the distance, lifted my hand, and threw. The ring struck the mouth of a bottle and bounced off. I frowned.
The second ring hit the platform sideways.
The third one didn't reach the bottles.
“Fancy another go?” the attendant asked.
“Yes,” I said.
Beside me, Mayuri became suspiciously quiet. I glanced at her. Her lips were pressed together.
“You know I was just pointing him out, right? We don't have to take him home,” she said.
The attendant slid the rings toward me. This was a matter of trajectory. Excessive force caused the rebound. Too little left the ring short of the target. I needed a gentler release and less rotation. I rolled my shoulders.
The next ring clipped a gold bottle and flew off the platform. The attendant retrieved it without comment.
A little boy stopped beside us, carrying a paper windmill.
Great.
He watched my next attempt. Another miss.
“You have to get it around the bottle, mister,” he told me.
Mayuri giggled and turned away.
His father called him onward before he could provide additional coaching.
I set down the last ring.
Mayuri was laughing openly now, her forehead against my upper arm.
Warmth stirred beneath my collar. Being solar-adapted had several advantages. Maintaining any dignity around my new girlfriend was not among them. She looked up and caught the faint shimmer at my throat.
“Uh-oh! You're starting to get bright!” she said.
She brushed her thumb over the skin just above my shirt.
I forgot the bottles briefly. Then she glanced toward them, and I remembered that I had paid actual money to be humiliated.
“One more set, all right?” I said.
Her hand slid into mine before I could reach for my wallet.
“It's okay! Come get shaved ice with me instead,” she said.
“In a minute.”
“You said that two minutes ago!”
She glanced at the sun. Her fingers squeezed mine.
“I want to get it for you. Something to take home, you know?” I said.
Her expression softened further, which was difficult to tolerate while standing beneath the idiot stuffed sun.
“I'm happy you want to. But I came here to walk around with you,” she said.
I rubbed my thumb lovingly over her knuckles.
I leaned down and kissed her. She smiled against my mouth, her free hand settling at my waist. I would have happily stayed there a little longer if the attendant hadn't cleared her throat.
“Still got one ring left,” the attendant said.
Mayuri looked at it.
Then at me.
“Can I try it this time?” she asked.
I stepped aside.
“You know what? Be my guest.”
She picked it up and faced the platform.
“You need to account for the uneven—” I began.
She threw before I could finish speaking. The ring struck a bottle, hopped sideways, and dropped over the gold neck behind it.
Then Mayuri gasped.
“I did it!”
The attendant rang a small yellow bell.
“The stuffed sun, please,” Mayuri said.
She was practically bouncing with glee.
The attendant lifted it off its hook and handed it over to the Princess.
Mayuri hugged it immediately. Up close, it was worse.
Cheap yellow fabric. Round pink cheeks. Long orange feet that dangled below its body. A tag hung from one ray. Imported. Stitched unevenly.
Mayuri turned toward me, glowing with satisfaction.
“You have to be kidding me,” I said.
“And now I'm giving it to my boyfriend,” she said.
She pushed it gently against my chest.
Mayuri stood on her toes and kissed my cheek.
“Something to take home, remember?,” she said.
My fingers tightened around the cursed plush.
“Damn, Princess. You're enjoying this.”
“Aw, you look so handsome holding him,” she said.
Heat climbed my neck from the praise.
I pointed toward the shaved-ice stand.
“Let's move before you force me to overheat in front of all these damn people.”
She slipped her hand into mine.
We made it three stalls before someone recognized me.
“Antares?” A man carrying two drinks slowed beside us.
His attention moved from my face to the sun tucked beneath my arm.
“Hey! Great season.”
“Thanks,” I said. I tried my best to hide the infernal plush from this man.
“Could I get a picture?” he asked.
I considered the stuffed sun.
What if this guy publishes the photo somewhere?
Mayuri reached for it, mercifully. I handed it over and stood beside the man while she took his phone. She got the photograph quickly, returned it, and waited until he'd gone before speaking.
“Don't worry, I'll cover for you every time. I know, I know. Your reputation and stuff.”
At the shaved-ice stand, she ordered something violently pink. I bought a cup of citrus ice.
We found a bench facing the water.
Mayuri sat close, her bare knee against mine.
A breeze came off the sea, moving her hair across her mouth. Before she could free it with her sticky fingers, I tucked it behind her ear.
She turned and kissed the inside of my wrist. I let my hand rest against her cheek for a moment.
“Having a good time, Princess?” I asked.
“A very good time.”
“Despite the athletic disappointment you just witnessed?”
She leaned against my shoulder.
“I thought you were very brave.”
“Fuck those rings,” I said. “If it was a running competition, it would be a different story.”
She looked so amused. I kissed her lips again, tasting cold sugar and whatever fruit was supposed to be that shade of pink.
When we pulled apart, she glanced at the sun.
“Where are you going to put him?” she asked.
“I haven't decided,” I said.
“Maybe your awards shelf or beside the framed race number?” she suggested.
“You have done enough damage to that shelf.”
She laughed into my shoulder. I looked down at the plush.
One of its uneven orange feet had folded underneath it.
I pulled it straight.
We stayed until we finished our ice. Then she stood and offered her hand. I took it, tucking the blasted sun securely beneath my other arm.
On our way back, we passed the bottle stall.
“Rematch?” the attendant called.
Hell no.
I looked at the gold bottle.
The ring Mayuri had thrown was gone, collected for the next customer.
“No, thanks,” I said. We kept walking.
After a few steps, she squeezed my hand.
“I'm proud of you,” she said.
“Don't make me glow in front of the damn sun.”
