Blood Moon Knight

V

"Is fancy not okay?" Marco asked.

"Dude! That's too much just for having fun!"

"Okay, okay. Yeesh." Marco ran his fingers through his hair to move it into an approximation of his usual 'do, then removed the blazer and tie. "I have some shorts in the car."

After Marco changed his pants and was pulling out of the driveway in his car, now officially his since his parents' passing, Jackie asked him, "Where are we going?"

"I seem to recall you enjoyed going to the Echo Creek Pier."

"What? You never picked up on when I wanted to go there. You were terrible at the 'mind-reading game.'"

"Just because I couldn't read your mind doesn't mean I didn't notice things you enjoyed. Although, I admit I did a lousy job applying that knowledge. I never did guess right, even when you were pointing at your seashell necklace."

"Yeah ... kinda dumb," Jackie quipped, clearly having forgotten feeling guilty for calling Marco stupid.

After a short drive later, the two walked through the entrance of the seaside carnival-like attraction.

"What shall we do first?" Marco asked.

Jackie quickly looked around, her eyes halting on one of the many carnival games. She walked over, asking, "How about I win you this cute mermaid?" She pointed at a bank of huge stuffed mermaids with yellow hair sporting a green streak.

"Yeah, these things kinda look like you."

Jackie pulled a wad of bills out of her purse, handing a few over to the booth attendant, saying, "One dozen balls, please." Taking the box of balls, she made short work of the game, quickly scoring twelve out of twelve balls into the cups arrayed at the back of the stand.

"Grand prize for the gentleman," the barker said, handing a stuffed mermaid, nearly half Marco's size, to him.

"Let me try," Marco said, handing more bills to the attendant. He also made short work of the game, also winning the grand prize. He chose a huge stuffed dog in a karate outfit, which the man handed to Jackie.

"Sweet!" Jackie exclaimed. "This prize looks like you. This is the best day of my life!"

"It is not," Marco said.

Jackie laughed. "Say, you were good at karate, and if I remember correctly, even did a little dancing," Marco nodded, "but you were never really good at anything else even remotely sports related, so it's amazing to see you make such short work of that ball game. No offense."

"Only a little taken."

Jackie laughed again.

"I'm glad I amuse you so much."

As they began walking down the pier, Jackie looked at Marco with a wry grin. "You do amuse me; you always knew how to make me laugh. But that skill you just showed didn't come out of nowhere. I bet no matter where it comes from, it was the result of you refusing to give up until you got it right."

"I suppose..."

"Do you remember me telling you, on our first date, what I liked about you?"

"Of course I do."

"I told you that what I liked was 'that even after a humiliating, crushing, defeat, you just pick yourself right back up and you hop right back on.'"

"Oh, wow, I remember it entirely differ... you know what, never mind." Marco chuckled nervously.

Jackie laughed. "And you're still adorable when you laugh at yourself." Both Jackie and Marco blushed. "Anyhoo, that's all served you well as an adult, hasn't it? I mean, no matter how many men under your command you killed ..."