Ned was fuming. Once he got going it took him a while to settle down, that had been a problem since puberty hit and hadn't slowed down in his almost fifty years of life. It didn't help he couldn't find any sign of James either. where had that boy gotten off to? Already pack of the high school seniors were roaming the park. There seemed to be a few other guests, but their group made up most of those wandering the arcade lanes and gaming booths.
He stopped as he watched three wander away from a refreshment stand with what looked like three giant novelty mugs loaded to the top with frothy beer. Where they actually serving drinks? To minors? These kids may be over eighteen, but alcohol was strictly off limits. "What are you doing?!" Ned bellowed as he made his way over to the drink stand, where a bored red-haired young man in his early twenties stood, tattoos snaking up his arms an a small collection of metal rings in each of his ears.
He looked at Ned with a bored expression. But it wasn't him that spoke up. "Is there a problem here?" Ned turned to see another young man, twenty-five at most standing next to him. He wore slacks and a vest over a button up shirt with a tie, and effort to look professional, but the messy hair, stubble, and slightly rumpled air of the clothes took away from any success he may have had in looking business-like. A name tag on his vest stated, "Jason - Asst. Park Manager".
"Problem? I know for a fact those kids are under twenty-one. And this hooligan was serving them beer!" Ned thumped his fist on the counter.
"Sir, please." Jason raised his hand towards the drink attendant then held up a finger. "Pour one." Then back to Ned. "I can assure you we do check. We have a range of drinks meant to simulate beer and other alcoholic drinks but are perfectly legal." A novelty mug his the counter and Jason pushed it towards Ned with a smile. "On the house."
Ned picked up the drink and with a dubious look towards Jason took a deep drink. It was wheaty and frothy, with a citrusy taste not unlike a wit, the sourness made the inside of his mouth tingle but he really couldn't tell if it was alcoholic or not. It didn't seem to be. "Basically orange juice with hops and wheat flavoring." Jason said with a smile. "Here." Ned pulled a red ring out of his pocket and clipped it on the mug handle. "Bring that mug to any drink station and you'll get free refills. Real alcohol will still cost you." He laughed and winked.
Two boys walked by both puffing on cigars and he gave Jason an arched eyebrow. The blond man just shrugged. "Now that is perfectly legal. We can't stop them if they want one." It was true, even Ned didn't have that power. It was a school trip, technically, but they weren't on school property. He just growled and grabbed his mug, wandering off. He swore he could feel the two young men, blond and redheaded, giving matching smirking grins at his back. But when he turned around Jason was gone and the server was waiting on another pack of teens.
It really was a good drink, and he downed it quickly. He veered off to one of the refreshment stands and got a refill as he continued his look for Jason. Something about this place, the lights, the smell, the smoke, it was beginning to make him feel light headed. It definitely wasn't the drink. Even if it had been real beer Ned would need more than he had drunk to make him actually feel tipsy.
Damn glasses. He pulled them off his face to shove in a pocket. He missed and they fell to the road. He didn't even stop to pick them up as he kept wandering along his path looking for.. who? Light and colors swirled around him. It was just a little hard to think. He was looking for one of the teenagers. Right? He brought his mug up to his lips, frowning as no drink came. That was easy enough to solve, there was a stand every so often along the path. Was this his third? Fourth. He couldn't recall.
"Ja.. Jam.. No that's not it. Je.. Jerry. I need to find Jerry." Ned wandered by a fun house, laughing at the image cast back at him from the mirror. He was tall and lean, but had once been fit, all hard muscle and clean lines. This mirror though gave him some of that look back, little too lean with too much of a rear. Two young men went walking by arms around each others shoulders as they shared a cigar, the perfume wafting past and making his nose twitch. Did one of them have pointed ears? The other was a bit pudgy around the middle, solidly build otherwise, but his shirt was riding up to show the bottom of his gut. He'd need to have a talk with that young man's parents. He didn't even blink as they kissed.
Ned wandered into the fun house, sipping his drink as he passed the various mirrors and rotated hallways. He did not like the mirror maze. Some guy was following him through it, maybe thirty. Floppy brown hair in desperate need of a trim covering his forehead, and he should really see a dentist about those buck teeth that showed up behind his dopey grin, surrounded by stubble. He looked a mess, and maybe a little drunk, the way he kept stumbling.
His shoes hurt, they were much too tight. HE kicked them off and to the side, letting his socked feet his the ground. Much better. He wiggled his toes. Finally he came out of the fun house and stumbled right into a pair of strong arms. "Woah, watch it there." Came in a deep an husky voice that had Ned smiling. There he was. Those strong arms felt so good around him.
"Jerry. I was looking for you." The other man stiffened, pushing Ned a bit away with hands firm on his shoulders. "Ned? Fuck, they got to you, too? There's something goin on here, I.. mph." Jerry cute off as Ned leaned in and planted his lips on the other man's. Jerry stiffened at first, then got into it for a moment before pulling back, hand pressed on Ned's chest to keep him back.
"I need to apologize." Ned started. "Can't remember for what. I just do."
"Okay, let's just find an out of the way place where you can sit down and cool off, collect your thoughts." Jerry put one arm firmly around Ned's shoulder and began steering him off. Wasn't he taller than Jerry, so why did it seem like they were the same height?
"I know where I want to sit." He said jokingly, reaching out to grab at Jerry's crotch. The burly man kept the hand away with a swat.
"Fuck, this version of you might actually be worse." Jerry said with a growl. Though Ned's head did feel like it was clearing a little as they moved away from the park and the lights to a secluded, darkened bench under some trees.