Aaron dug the toe of his shoe into the dirt for no apparent reason, saying, “Food sounds good. I'm starving.” He peered at the concession stands around them, a strange mixed aroma of sugary treats, fried food and popcorn washed over him. Well, there was always the usuals: cotton candy, kettle corn, fried dough, and corn dogs. The stuff that usually caught his eye though was the weird 'only at a fair' type of food: chocolate covered bacon, bloomin' onions, deep fried oreos, and finally one he was actually interested in.
Aaron blinked away the twinkle in his eye as he announced to the group, “I'll meet you guys by that table.” He gestured to an empty table that stood a good distance away from the crowd traffic. “I'm gonna get me some gator.” With that he took his leave and strolled towards the alligator stand where, unsurprisingly, there wasn't much of a line.
“You wanna try some alligator?” The cook asked Aaron as he approached, shouting over the sound of sizziling reptile meat. The smell of the sauce the girl was working with was enough to keep Aaron interested in eating a green thing that lived in muddy water.
“Oh yeah. I've never had it.”
“You want it on a plate or a stick?”
The question tripped him up for a second before he thought, Oh, what the hell. Might as well go full on weird. “Stick. I wanna eat like a caveman.” He grinned at her, thoroughly enjoying his night at the moment. “Oh, and a small orange pop too.”
“You got it, hun.” She smiled toothily back at him, flipping the meat around and gathering the stuff she needed to make his food. It wasn't a long wait, and soon she handed him his stick and drink. As he pulled out his wallet to pay, she winked at him and said, “Your money's no good here, sunshine.”
“Oh...okay. Really?” Aaron looked up at her, surprised at generosity.
“Yep. Enjoy the gator.”
“Okay, thanks!” Aaron said, raising his gator stick in the air, as if he was tipping his imaginary hat. As he practically skipped over to the table, he stopped suddenly in his tracks, disturbed.
Wait, that wasn't...was it? Was she flirting?
Aaron looked back at the stand to try and get another look at the girl, but she was already back to work. He spun back again, blinking through the confusion.
Or was she just being nice? Yeah, probably. No big deal.
He shrugged it off and continued his trek towards the table, which was empty for now. Plopping himself and his impaled dinosaur meat at the table, Aaron eyed his food, wondering what everyone else had chosen to eat.