What a Date
They’d been teenagers for a few months now - teenagers out of time in New York City - with the people of the building looking out for them, and some of them bad at hiding their concern for how long it was lasting.
Was this, instead of a prank, another lease on life, would they grow up together this time? Would this undo everything that happened before, or was this a regression in memory as well as body, rather than a snatch out of time?
Ari didn’t worry too much about it, instead enjoying the time they spent together, curled up watching shows, exploring the city, curled up Not Watching shows.
Ari rested her chin on her arms on Barney’s chest and gave him a smile. “G’afternoon. Hungry yet?”
Barney gave a small grumble of nonsense as he blinked the sleep from his eyes. When had he fallen asleep? It really wasn’t like him to just drift off to sleep in the middle of the day. Of course, generally in the middle of the day, he’d be working the tents or crowds or something, so he wouldn’t have been able to fall asleep. Still, this slower, kind of normal life was...nice. If still a bit weird.
Taking a breath and stiffling a yawn, he reached down to run his fingers through Ari’s hair. “I could go for food. Corn dogs actually sound amazing right now…”
“I bet we could track some down. If they don’t have them in the grocery, maybe we can go into the city. I still have that phone the loudmouth friend of your brother gave us for emergencies.”
Quirking a brow, Barney shrugged a shoulder and glanced up over the arm of the couch, out the window to the bright afternoon sunshine. “Or we could hike out to Coney Island. They’re bound to have corn dogs.”
“Oooh that sounds like fun, let’s do that. We should leave a note so they don’t wig out.”
“Where we gonna leave it?” Barney half-propped himself up on his elbow and glanced around the apartment. “Not like anyone really comes down here all that often. Tape it to the door or somethin’?”
“We can do that,” Ari agreed. “Or shove it under your brother’s door upstairs. ‘gone to Coney, be back eventually’ or something?” She slipped back to sit on her heels.
“ ‘Went to Coney Island on a mission from God. Be back by five.’” Barney splayed his hands over his head like he was imagining out a headline and quirked a goofy smirk to Ari before nudging her side with his knee. “Think they’d buy that?”
“Do we get sunglasses and skinny ties?” Ari asked.
“Don’t think so. Not unless we got some lyin’ around here.”
“I don’t think so, I haven’t seen any when I was snooping.”
Barney shrugged and hummed as he moved to sit up fully and stretch. “Well, then I guess we go without ‘em.” Slipping out from under Ari, he made his way to the kitchen counter where a stack of Post-Its were and scribbled down a quick note. “Might be better off slidin’ it under his guy’s door. Case he ain’t around.”
“Good idea. I don’t think I’ve seen him lately.” Ari streeetched before moving to find something other than pj’s to wear - because lazy days in were for pj’s, but going to a fairground or whatever coney island was? was for jeans.
With a quick glance around, Barney jogged up the stairs to Phil’s apartment, slipped the note under the door without even bothering to see if Phil was home or not, and jogged back downstairs to get changed. Older him’s clothes didn’t quite fit right, they were way too baggy, but he at least found a couple pairs of jeans that fit him decently, and a shirt or two that weren’t horrible. He’d look respectable enough. That’s what was important.
Ari took to using a belt to keep hers on, wow she ended up hippier than she already was - not that that was a bad thing. “C’mon, let’s get out of here,” she said, snagging his hand once she’d pulled the boots on... and maybe snagged something of older her’s for protection. In case and stuff.
It still brought a smile to Barney’s face whenever Ari would take his hand, or cuddle up against him on the couch, or drop a surprise kiss down on his head/cheek. Never in his life did he ever think he’d ever get this lucky. Good things never happened to him. They just didn’t. It was just the way the cookie crumbled for the Barton bloodline. Yet, here he was. Not in the circus, but in New York City. With a gorgeous girl who he apparently grows up to marry. And wasn’t that a kick in the butt! He actually grows up! And gets married!
It was a lot to think about, and part of him wasn’t sure he wanted things to change back to how they’d been before. What if they’d changed things? Changed their own futures without knowing it. What if, when whatever happened that he wound up in NYC, went away...he didn’t still end up here? Or he forgot about Ari?
He quickly shook those thoughts away and gave Ari’s hand a squeeze before letting go in favor of sliding his arm around her waist to pull her in close to his side as they walked. He wasn’t entirely sure how to get to Coney Island from Bed-Stuy -- mainly because, well, he didn’t know the city all that well any way -- but surely it couldn’t be that far, right? Or that hard to find? It was a pretty well known place, after all. ((aside: according to Google Maps, to walk from Bed-Stuy to Coney Island, it’d take 3 hours. HAVE FUN KIDS!!! I foresee them getting there, and being all “I hate life. I hate walking. Use that phone thing to call Phil’s guy and have him come get us.”)) ((when I was Ari’s age, I walked 5mi in high heels to get to church sunday mornings... LOL - she’s a mountain girl, she’ll be fine with the walk. LOL - on my good days, we still do walks like that, though it’s one and a half to library, then another one and a half back, so that’s about three. -- they could get a train, y’know hehe))
Ari had only been to the city a few times, herself - and usually spent time around Time’s Square. She didn’t even bother trying to convince Barney to get a map, she waltzed right into the bodega and got one straight off, after commenting that the guy who walked past them and into the building looked like his bro’s guy... only all suit ish. Which was weird and not something to think about.
“So, get this, it’s about three hours, thataway,” she pointed.
((also sorry, the net blipped and I had to reboot and re find everything :/)) ((S’ok. *Snuggles!* And yeah, they might wanna take the subway. It’s a nine mile hike one way. Barney says he’s not hiking 18 miles in a day))((ari says she’s up to it, but only if the only thing they did was hike, and if there’s soft zonkiness at the end of it LOL))
((......I’m fairly convinced all things Google and electronic hate me today. I totally responded here. And then it went all “Trying to reconnect” and deleted what I’d written. *cries a little* ))
Barney leaned against the building, hands in his pockets and head leaned back against the wall. He glanced off in the direction Ari pointed, raised an eyebrow, and looked back to Ari. “Three hours? Walking?”
((hugs - it went to next page))
“Yep. Want to brave the trains?” she asked, poking him in the stomach with a slender finger.
“We’re definitely gonna brave the trains. I’m not walkin’ six hours. I don’t even have to do that back at the circus. Not sure I’d survive it.” He pushed himself off the wall, arm drapping back around Ari’s waist as they made their way off towards the subway entrance.
Ari leaned into him, sniggering. “We could totally do it, but I’d rather do it out in the Catskills. We should go sometime, I’ll leave a note for us, just in case we can’t escape for it on our own,” she said. “Also we might need a nother map - because Subway.”
Shrugging, Barney nodded lazily. “Wouldn’t mind a hike out in the middle of nowhere with ya,” he smirked slightly, pulling her a little closer to his side. “Maybe get lost out there with ya or something.”
“I should warn you I’m very good at getting lost in cities, and very bad at getting lost in the middle of nowhere,” she admitted, turning her head and tipping up to kiss his cheek lightly. Just cus.
“Well, I should warn you, I’m good at gettin’ lost wherever I decide I want to get lost.” Barney turned his head, dropping a light kiss to her forehead. He turned them down towards the stairs heading to the Subway and kept her close, just in case.
They eventually made it to coney island, even if they took a few wrong trains, and Ari had to admit about halfway through the trip that she might maybe be a wee bit claustrophobic. That was okay, though, because being practically plastered up against Barney’s side helped her not to freak out, and hey. Bonus. They eventually made it topside and she threw one arm to the side, taking an exaggerated breath of air. “Sunshine! Oh how I have missed thee, with thy fine rays of flame burning through the sky to light my way!”
Barney let out a laugh, ignoring the funny looks that they got from passerby's and instead opted for spinning Ari and twirling her with a flourish before pulling her back in towards him, his arm around her waist so they were front to front, faces barely a couple inches apart. He didn't say anything for a minute, just looked down into her eyes before giving a small smile. "You're kinda ridiculous, Gorgeous. Know that?"
"Well aware. Comes with being a theatre kid," she said with a grin. "I had a whole ode to the wind set up, but there isn't hardly any, alas."
Laughing softly, Barney dipped his head to brush a soft kiss to her lips, letting it linger for just a minute. When he pulled back, he tapped his finger on her nose lightly. "We'll walk back to the apartment once we get done."
"That's a three hour walk," she pointed out.
"Three's better than six," Barney countered, smirk in place and brow quirked.
"You're awesome, you know that?" she asked, leaning into him.
Shrugging, Barney smirked and nodded. "Yeah, I gots an idea that I am."
Clever fingers went to tickle at his side.
Barney yelped slightly, jumping back and out of her reach. "Aw c'mon! All I want's a corn dog!"
"You are a corn dog, c'mon," she laughed, reaching for his hand and half dragging him toward fun times.
Taking a tight hold on her hand, Barney led her the couple of blocks to the pier and kept hold of her hand as they walked along. He got them both a corn dog, popcorn, cotton candy and soda -- because they were teens after all -- before showing his skills with a pellet gun. Much to the carnie's dismay that he was able to nail each target perfectly to win Ari the huge teddy bear.
Ari felt, no lie, like a princess. It was one of those dates you read about in stories, or see in movies, but doesn't happen to someone in real life - at least not in her experience. Not before Barney.
When they'd seen all there was to see, Ari enamored with the water for a while, she sighed and turned, smiling softly up at him and leaning up for a gentle kiss.
With the giant teddy bear sitting next to him (seriously, the thing was huge. It came to his hip. How they were going to get it back to the apartment, Barney didn't know), Barney leaned into the kiss, letting it linger for a minute. The sun was only just starting to set, the colors skittering across the water. Pulling back, he brushed his fingers across Ari's cheek gently. "Have fun today, Gorgeous?"
"Lots," she said, tilting into the touch with a soft smile. "Best ever."
"Good," Barney smiled, dipping down to kiss her again gently. Down the pier, a singing group sang an a Capella version of a pop ballad.
Ari kissed him back, her arms slipping up over his shoulders, the romance of it all sweeping over them both.
Arms around her waist, Barney swayed them in time with the song. He could sing, he did it enough in the circus when no one was listening, but...that was different. Though, it was Ari. Pulling back just enough to lean their foreheads together as he sang softly to her. It wasn't the song the group was singing, instead an old Chicago love song he'd heard on the radio a dozen times or more while in the circus.
Ari focused on him, and him alone, as they danced softly together. She knew in that moment, one of many over the past months, why she would fall in love with him. Thought maybe she already head. Knew she already had, and somehow knew better than to voice it. She watched him a while with a soft smile before closing her eyes, feeling how much care there was in this, between them.
Barney finished singing quietly, his voice low. He kept their heads together, looking at Ari from under his lashes.
She smiled softly still, even when he stopped singing, and she opened her eyes to look at him. "I don't ever want to forget this," she whispered.
"Yeah," Barney murmured, shaggy russet hair falling into his eyes a bit along the sides. "Me neither."
Gently, Ari pushed at his hair with her fingers, smiling softly and leaning up to kiss him again.
Kissing back, Barney silently prayed to any god who would listen to a lost cause like him, that things didn't have to change. Or if they did have to change, that they'd both remember this. Remember each other.
Ari's own hopes and prayers lay likewise, and when the kiss broke, she hugged him tightly, feeling inexplicably like their beginning was about to end.
Burying his face in Ari's neck, Barney took a deep breath and held her close. "Glad I got to dance with ya for real, Gorgeous," He murmured into her shoulder.
"Me too," she whispered, tightening her hug. "I'm glad it's you."
Inexplicable light began to envelop them.
Barney closed his eyes tight, keeping hold of Ari so tight, afraid of what was going to happen once the light faded. "Love you, Gorgeous," He whispered.
The light faded around them, leaving Barney grown, and regretting wearing clothes that fit his younger self, but not so much his grown self.
"I love you too, Red, but if I don't get this belt off, I'm going to be half the woman you married," Ari said in a strangled voice, the woman letting him go and pulling at said belt to get those few inches she needed to be able to breathe again.
Barney took a step back to give her room. And froze. He...stepped. His legs were moving. And holding his weight.
"Ho-lee...shit."
Ari loosed her belt, automatically reaching out to him, then blinked, and grinned, and pretty much just jumped into his arms, hugging him with all limbs. "You're on your feet!" she squealed.
A nervous laugh half bubbled out of him as he clutched her tight, waiting for his legs to give out and for the feeling to disappear from the waist down. "Yeah...yeah I am."
She kissed his cheek, then his mouth, full deep and joyful as she unwound a bit, just enough so she could stand with him.
Barney gripped her hips in his hands tightly, afraid to let go. "I swear if this is some delayed reaction shit that's gonna catch up to us half way home..."
"I can call for a cab," she said. "In case, but God, I hope..." She held him tight, still. "You've been so upset," she whispered. "I don't know how to fix that. Not like a bomb or anything."
Glancing down to the teddy bear, Barney quirked a brow. "Not sure we'd get the bear in a cab." Taking a breath, he cautiously took another step, testing his weight on each leg.
"They have trunks," she said, cos she was so not getting rid of that, childhood fancy or not. She stepped back a little, holding a hand out to him as though she could break his fall, should he do so.
He kept hold of her hand, and shuffled towards her, almost afraid to take real steps. "True..." Barney lifted his gaze to meet Ari's, doing his best to give a smirk. "I think, we'd better call a cab soon. Just in case. But if this isn't gonna last, then i wanna get home soon as possible."
She grinned. "I bet." She pulled out the phone Stark - jeez, she couldn't believe he'd met them when they were young, and woah that was a thought she wasn't ready to dwell on yet. They were TEENS TOGETHER, holy sithmonkies NOT the thing to dwell on right now, Ari. She hit in the number of a cab company she'd had good luck with (she hated the subway, okay?) and was promsied a cab back at the street asap. She put the phone in her pocket and grabbed the bear in one hand, taking Barney's hand with the other. "Walk with me, Red? It's a loverly day."
Nodding, Barney gave her hand a squeeze and let her lead the way to the cab. "Yeah, I could do with a walk, I think."
"Do you remember?" She asked softly, halfway to where the cab would pick them up.
"That it's a three hour walk back to Bed-Stuy?"
She bumped hips with him, more careful than she had an hour ago. "You know. The last few months. Us... as kids."
Taking a breath, Barney slid his arm around her hip, pulling her in close. He didn't say anything for a minute, though. "Pretty sure that's the only time in my teen years that I've spent that long of time with a girl and not gotten laid." Glancing to the side, he gave a small smirk. "Ya managed to make a pretty decent gentlemen outta me. How'd that happen?"
She laughed, shaking her head. "Probably you just needed the right innocent girl to wrap you 'round her heart," she said, wrinkling her nose at him in half a tease. "I knew you had it in you."
Sticking his tongue out at her, Barney gave her a squeeze as they walked. "Yeah well, don't let word get out. I had a pretty...terrible reputation as a teen."
"Yes well. I loved you, too, you know. " she glanced at him. "Right before we changed, you said it - but I hadn't, and I want you to know I did, too."
Barney most certainly did NOT blush. Not at all. Not even in the least little bit.
Okay, he did. He could feel his ears burning.
"Pretty sure I already knew that, Gorgeous."
"Just making sure, Red," she said, popping a kiss on his cheek. "Now, what should I name this giant ass bear?" she asked.
