Promise that I'll make you feel like we're on a Ferris Wheel

Sylvia and Gina

“Man, what a snoozefest,” Gina scoffed. “Whoopie, we’re going around a big wheel. This is clearly the pinnacle of fun.”

Sylvia sighed. Gina knew how to have a good time… as long as it was on her terms. When it came to something like this, she didn’t put in any effort at all.

She couldn’t really blame the punk girl, though. It was obvious that Gina really wanted to go with Nick. And it was obvious why that was, too.

“Well, at least you’ll get to go with Daddy first,” she said, trying to lighten the topic and turn the conversation towards, well, an actual conversation.

“Oh, yeah?” Gina looked over her shoulder. A few seats back, Nick and Marley were riding with each other. “Isn’t your slime daughter with him right now, though?”

Sylvia turned red. “W-well, that’s… a bit of an exception,” she stammered.

“I’m just giving you a hard time,” Gina joked, jostling her in the side with her elbow. “You’ve gotta admit, it’s pretty strange though. I mean, you’re kinda supposed to be Nick’s daughter, right? Only, Marley used to be your daughter. And they’re sleeping together. I bet that’s gotta be awkward, huh?”

Sylvia’s blush deepened. When Gina put it like that, it did sound kind of twisted. “Well… I just try not to think about it.”

The topic kept getting directed back to her, and she started feeling uncomfortable about that. She bit her lip. What was it that Daddy wanted from me? He wanted me to get along with the others and make friends with them, right?

Sylvia had been trying to do that all round. But she was awful at it!

She let out a long, weary sigh.

“I just don’t know what to do,” she mumbled, shaking her head.

“Huh? ‘Bout what?” Gina asked, turning to her. The car jerked to a stop. They were at the top of the Ferris Wheel now.

“I want to make friends,” Sylvia said solemnly. “But I’m not good at it. You’ve seen me around people! I just… I just mess everything up. Because… because I’m not normal.”

“Who cares about being normal?” Gina snorted. “You think I’m normal? You think anybody here is? Please.”

“But-!” Sylvia shook her head. Gina just didn’t get it. “It’s like you said last night. I should do whatever the fuck I want, right?”

“Yup,” Gina grunted. “What’s the big deal?”

“Well… what I want is to make friends. So how do I do that?”

Gina shrugged. “I dunno. It just kinda happens. Like sex after you have too much to drink at a bar. One minute you’re throwing back shots, the next you’re waking up in some dude’s apartment with your pants off and a load dripping out of your-”

“But I don’t want that!” Sylvia blurted out. “I just want to be… I don’t even know what I want to be anymore…”

That was the crux of the problem, wasn’t it?

Who was Sylvia? She definitely wasn’t the kind of girl who wanted to get drunk and have random hookups in a bar. But then, Gina wasn’t really that kind of person, either, was she?

“Aren’t you loyal to Daddy now, though?” Sylvia pointed out. “So you shouldn’t be doing that sort of stuff either.”

Gina got very, very quiet after that. She didn’t say anything until the Ferris Wheel started moving again, and when she did, it was barely above a whisper.

“I know.”

Sylvia and Kim

Gina had left Sylvia with a lot to think about. And fortunately, she had the perfect person to discuss it with on the next ride around the Ferris Wheel.

“Kim, what do you think about being ‘normal’?” Sylvia asked immediately, practically as the girl sat down in her seat.

“Huh? Normal? What?” Kim looked at her in confusion. “What’s this about?”

“Well, Gina and I were talking, and I was telling her about how much I wanted to make friends,” Sylvia explained. “And I said that I just wanted to be a normal girl. But then she said that no one here was normal, so I thought that talking it over with you, the most normal and boring girl in Daddy’s harem, would be the best option.”

Kim stared blankly at her. “…Gee, thanks,” she said sarcastically. “That’s what every girl wants to hear.”

“Well, you ARE normal,” Sylvia said defensively. “There’s nothing wrong with that, right?”

“Okay, well, Sylvia, if you want to make friends, maybe you should stop thinking about them that way,” Kim stated. “In terms of who’s ‘normal’ and ‘not normal’ because I can tell you, saying that I’m not normal? Not gonna win me over.”

“…Sorry,” Sylvia mumbled.

“Do you really mean that?” Kim asked curiously. She’d watched Sylvia be present for a lot of apologies today, and Nick had tried to get her to understand the nature of an apology.

Had the other girl internalized anything?

“I do mean it,” Sylvia asserted. “I’m sorry for making you feel bad. I didn’t know that you would be so offended by the word ‘normal’, so I apologize.”

Kim was pleasantly surprised. “Well, that’s good to hear,” she nodded.

“I still have a lot of work to do, clearly,” Sylvia sighed. There were so many norms that she wasn’t fully cognizant of.

“At least you’re trying, though,” Kim smiled. “That’s a great first step to becoming a friend.”

“Kim, are we friends?” Sylvia asked hopefully.

Kim sighed. “Yup. Still a long way to go. You can’t-”

“I know, you can’t ask someone to just be your friend, I’ve heard that enough,” Sylvia cut her off. “But still… I’d like to think we could be friends. Do you have any hobbies? What do you do for fun?”

Kim stared at her.

“…Ha. You say that like I get time off.”

Okay, well, Sylvia really stepped in it this time. She winced.

“Well… I mean, this is pretty fun,” Kim said as the Ferris Wheel came to a stop. “Amusement Parks are a blast. I never had a chance to go to them in my old life, though.”

Then a conspiratorial smile crossed her face. “Hey, wanna do something really fun?”

She quickly began to unbutton her blouse before Sylvia could say anything. Then she pulled it open to reveal her chest to the Amusement Park. Nobody could see because of how high up they were, not even Sylvia, since Kim was turned away from her. But the move had quite an effect on Kim’s attitude.

“Phew, that was a bit of a rush!” She giggled, closing her shirt and redoing the buttons. “Don’t tell anyone I did that though, okay?”

“Right, not a problem,” Sylvia nodded.

Maybe I should reconsider what “normal” means, she thought to herself.

Sylvia and Morgana

The next girl Sylvia paired with was definitely not a “normal” girl, that was for sure.

And Sylvia was fine with that.

Even better, Morgana seemed downright giddy!

“This is so cool!” She giggled, squirming in her seat. “I’ve never been on the Ferris Wheel before!”

“Well, now you’ve got the opportunity!” Sylvia said, smiling at the goth. “Glad I could be of assistance, my girl.”

“I-I always dreamed about it, you know?” Morgana babbled. “I would meet a nice guy at the Amusement Park, and he’d just sweep me off my feet! We’d have a wonderful day together, riding all the rides, and then we’d go on the Ferris Wheel to close out the night! And then he’d…”

She turned red and shrank down in her seat a little, averting her eyes.

But Sylvia was curious.

“What?” She pressed excitedly. “What would he do?”

“Nothing, it’s nothing,” Morgana mumbled.

“Come on, tell me!” Sylvia didn’t like being pushy, but she’d actually gotten Morgana to open up a little bit. She wanted to hear more.

Morgana took a deep breath and then exhaled. “He… he kissed me.”

…Oh.

Well, that was rather boring.

Sylvia didn’t do a great job of hiding the disappointment on her face, judging by Morgana’s sudden reaction.

“It-it was my first kiss!” She exclaimed. “You don’t think that’s romantic!? Having your first kiss on top of a Ferris Wheel?!”

Sylvia quite honestly didn’t know what to make of it.

“I guess I never really thought of it that way,” Sylvia admitted. “A first kiss… on a Ferris Wheel? I suppose that’s fine.”

“Well, where did you have your first kiss?” Morgana huffed, getting a little defensive. That would normally be a bad thing, but Sylvia was actually pleased. If Morgana was standing up to her like that, that meant they were having a conversation, and that could only be a good thing. It meant Morgana was comfortable enough with her where they could talk.

But Sylvia was so lost I thought about what Morgana said, she didn’t even notice the Ferris Wheel coming to a stop.

“I haven’t had my first kiss yet,” she confessed. “I just never really thought it was that important before.”

Morgana was surprised to hear that, but at the same time, she wasn’t. “Oh. Well… I see.”

Sylvia quickly changed the subject. “Hey, you know we’re going to be spending the night together, right?” She pointed out.

“Oh!” Morgana’s eyes widened. “Yeah, that’s right! Since Dawn’s going to be with Nick!”

“Exactly,” Sylvia nodded. “So what were you thinking of doing? And don’t worry, ‘nothing’ is absolutely a valid answer, given how much we’ve already done today.”

Morgana shook her head. She was brimming with excitement now that Sylvia had brought it up.

“We have a TV in our room,” she reminded the blonde. “You want to watch some anime? I’ve got all sorts of great ones!”

Sylvia cracked a grin. “Yeah,” she nodded. “That would be pretty fun!”

But even as she said that, thoughts of that elusive first kiss still swirled in her head.

Sylvia and Mary

“Mary, Daddy was your first kiss, right?” Sylvia pressed Mary for answers the second the farmgirl sat down.

Mary’s eyes widened in shock.

“What!? Why… why would you ask me that!?” She demanded. Already she was starting to regret her decision. The only reason she was even humoring the idea of going on the Ferris Wheel with Sylvia was because it was the only way she could get to spend time on the ride with her husband. After all, it’s not like the bratty little girl was someone she was thrilled to spend time with.

But at the same time, Mary knew that she should be better than that. Sylvia was just doing the best she could, after all! Trying to turn over a new leaf! And the Bible was all about forgiveness.

Still, that didn’t mean she liked questions like this, and it didn’t mean she would be thrilled by Sylvia pushing the envelope with more dirty questions throughout the ride.

But Mary could tell that maybe Sylvia meant something a little more than just teasing. She was looking adamantly at her.

“You kissed him in the third round, right?” Sylvia pressed. “When you got really horny because Dakota gave you those pills, and then-”

“I remember!” Mary exclaimed, her face turning as red as her shirt. “We-we don’t have to keep talking about it!”

She felt like she was going to die of shame.

“Why are you even asking me this?” She hissed.

Sylvia winced. “Because… because I don’t know,” she admitted. “I haven’t kissed anyone yet. Morgana said that a first kiss is really special. And… I know that’s true, but… I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel real to me.”

Her fingers ghosted over her own lips.

Mary, realizing where Sylvia was coming from, settled down. “…Okay, I think I understand,” she said. “And Morgana’s right. A kiss, it’s something precious and sacred. It’s one of the most intimate things you can do with someone other than sex.”

“I see… so you can’t just plant one on somebody because you want to. It’s gotta be intimate and meaningful,” Sylvia nodded. “Thank you, my girl.”

Mary squirmed a little. There was something she wasn’t sure about either. The Ferris Wheel came to a stop at the top, and she finally decided to ask.

“Sylvia… do you really like Nick? You know, like that?” It had been eating away at her for a while.

Sylvia looked surprised to hear Mary ask that question.

“Well, I mean… I suppose I never thought about it so directly,” she answered honestly. “But yes. I do love Daddy. Romantically. And I want to be with him, sexually.”

More squirming.

“Then, uh… maybe you shouldn’t call him ‘Daddy’ anymore,” Mary suggested.

Sylvia rolled her eyes. “I’m quite aware of how that’s disadvantaging me,” she informed Mary. “But at the same time… I kind of like it.”

“Really?” That was a surprise to hear.

“You can’t tell Daddy!” Sylvia insisted. “But… I guess… it’s because of what I am. I never had a father, you know? Dakota just… made me. With magic. And even though she was my mother…”

Sylvia’s heart ached as she thought about it. “…She wasn’t really a mom to me.”

The blonde raised her head and looked at Mary with a wistful expression. “You and Daddy… seeing you together… it makes me wish I could be a part of your family. Your own little girl.”

Mary stared at Sylvia in shock. She had no idea how to respond.

Sylvia and Dawn

The second Dawn sat down next to Sylvia, she could tell that something was wrong.

“…What happened?” She asked with an exasperated sigh.

Sylvia winced. “That obvious, huh?”

“It’s pretty clear that you went through something, yeah,” Dawn nodded. “And since we’re going to be on this ride together, you might as well talk about it. Maybe I can help.”

Sylvia smiled a wry grin. “You really are a great therapy cat, my girl.”

“Don’t say that,” Dawn groaned, rolling her eyes. “Come on. Out. Out.”

“Thanks for getting me all that Mimi Merch, by the way,” Sylvia unsubtly changed the topic. “That really means a lot to me. Having all that stuff of my daughter-”

“Sylvia, you’re avoiding the subject,” Dawn pressed. “Remember what Nick told you about? Remember what you’re trying to work on? The whole point of us going up together is to connect honestly with each other and try to make friends.”

Sylvia sighed. She knew that Dawn was right.

“…Yeah, I know,” she admitted with a nod. “Look, it’s just… it’s been kind of rough, you know? I feel like I’m the outsider, even though I’ve been here from the beginning! You all… you’re all people, and me, I’m just…”

“You’re a person too,” Dawn pointed out.

Sylvia shook her head. “That’s just not enough,” she replied. “It’s more complicated than that, don’t you get it? Me, I’m… I did all those bad things. And even if I try to make up for them… that doesn’t mean I’m going to have a place here. Not in Daddy’s heart, and not with any of you.”

She gazed down at the crowd of people below them. They were so small, now that she’d reached the top of the Ferris Wheel.

Dawn’s tail flicked behind her, dancing in the breeze. It was quite a surreal experience.

“Well, Sylvia, I can say this much,” Dawn said, placing her hand on the other girl’s back. “Your efforts aren’t going unnoticed. Everyone can tell how hard you’re trying.”

“Really?” Sylvia turned to her with wide eyes. “You mean it?”

“Yeah, of course,” Dawn said, shrugging. “You think I’d make something like that up? Come on, it’s obvious that people really care about you. Maybe you just can’t see it.”

“Who? Who cares about me?” Sylvia pressed. “I want their names!”

“Come on, come on, it’s not like that,” Dawn said, holding up her hands. “Look, making friends is a gradual process. You know that. Me, I… I never really had any friends,” she admitted, looking down. “Not until I came here, anyway.”

Her face morphed into an expression similar to the one Sylvia had just been wearing. The blonde looked sympathetically at her.

“Nick… the reason he brought us here, was so that we could make friends,” Dawn reminded the other girl. “He said that I’ve already made friends, though. I just… I need to be more open to them. In fact, this morning… I was jealous that everyone was so concerned about you.”

Sylvia’s eyes widened. “Jealous? Of me?!”

Dawn nodded. “Everyone was talking about who would spend time with you first, and nobody was even paying attention to me. I thought that they didn’t care, but… that was just me being insecure. I can’t just hole up in my room waiting for people to come to me. I’ve gotta take the initiative and go to them myself!”

Sylvia smiled, because Dawn was smiling. “Yeah,” she agreed, nodding. “Let’s both do that! Take the initiative!”

Sylvia and Rose

“Hello, my girl!” Sylvia greeted Rose with a wave as the blonde sat beside her. “It’s good to see you! How’s today been?”

Rose, curious why Sylvia was suddenly behaving all friendly, leaned back in her seat and cracked a smile. “Oh, you know, just playing around, having some fun,” she tittered. “I’ve been trying to work hard to get into Nick’s good graces, but I think it’s backfiring. Still, just a minor setback!”

She was smiling, but Sylvia could see the smile dim slightly.

Maybe this was one of those opportunities Dawn mentioned?

“Do you want to talk about it?” Sylvia suggested. “I mean, we’re going to be spending the next few minutes going on the ride anyway. So you might as well, right?”

Rose considered that for a moment, then smiled. “Yeah, you’re right!” She agreed with a nod. “We can chat a bit! …Okay, so the main problem is that Nick’s started to get cold on me! I mean, we had that really sweet and intimate date in Dream Alley, right? We saw the sights of Paris, and it was gorgeous…”

She sighed wistfully and stared off into the distance. Then her expression soured.

“But now, when I’m trying to build on that, I keep running into walls!” She huffed. “It’s all these other girls! Nick doesn’t have time to focus on me, when he’s got to split his attention with everyone else!”

Sylvia frowned. “But… that’s part of the show,” she pointed out. “Daddy can’t just give you special treatment, you know. He cares about everybody.”

Rose sighed. “Yeah, I know that. Still… would it be too much to ask for him to give me just a little bit of affection on the side? Just to show me that he’s still thinking about me?”

Sylvia nodded thoughtfully. “I think I get it. So the reason you’ve been so aggressive with your moves, it’s because-”

“Because Nick won’t take the initiative and pursue me!” Rose exclaimed as the cart stopped at the top of the Ferris Wheel. “And yes, I know, he has other girls. But if he’s not going to come to me, then doesn’t that mean I have to go to him?”

Sylvia nodded. That made pretty good sense.

“Maybe you’re trying too hard?” She suggested. “Coming on to strong? I mean, especially with the teasing Mary part. Don’t get me wrong, Pretty Mary Sunlight is a lot of fun to tease, but if you antagonize the other girls Daddy cares about, isn’t that going to make him unhappy?”

“Says the girl who bribed me onto the show to do just that,” Rose pointed out, raising her eyebrow.

Well… Sylvia couldn’t really deny that.

She shrugged.

“Look, all I’m saying is that maybe you need to be a little sweeter, my girl,” Sylvia suggested. She couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. “Don’t ask me why, but the audience seems to respond more to sweet acts of intimacy like Mary shows, rather than overt seduction.”

Although a little overt seduction never hurt anyone, either.

Rose smiled. Her eyes twinkled with a mischievous gleam.

“You know, Sylvia, I think you may just be right!” She chirped.