"Ah, but then you wouldn't have earned those teddy bears. Paying is cheating, and you can't boast later about how bravely you faced the bottles with nothing but a badly-calibrated toy gun. In the cold. With a long line of whining kids waiting their turn." And she wouldn't be able to tease him afterward, reminding how he'd cursed with every misfire, blaming it on frozen fingers.

This late in the year, night had all but fallen, vestiges of deep navy blue the only remnants of day. As they approached, the festival's neon lights dulled the sky into a uniform grey, wiping away any stars that might've been visible even within the city. The moon, though, was sharply crescent and huge and yellow, was just perfect for Halloween. Amber grinned up at it. She wasn't quite as pleased about navigating the gravel in her heels, ankles threatening to wobble with every step, but scent of buttered popcorn and Eric waiting for her on the car's other side kept her spirits up. And there was a Ferris wheel, she hadn't been on one in years. Already she could spot some costumes; from this small sampling, it seemed this year vampires and werewolves were in style. Gravel scrunching beneath her soles as she walked firmly, Amber approached Eric and wrapped her arm around his. For all his dragging of feet, Amber was pretty sure the complaining was for show. He looked more alive, alert, here than at the hospital, though perhaps that was from his wincing at the yelling and buzzing of carnival games. Some small part of him must be able to enjoy this, even if the rest of him couldn't admit it. "That won't be hard.” She winked. "But I can make it interesting-- bet I can win more prizes than you."