Witness Protection ✔

Carnival

"I see... Something you've lost... It will return to you when you least expect it to... And I see... Riches, great riches! You will acquire a large sum of money...From an inheritance, a family member you don't yet know about... I see love in your future... A man... Tall dark and handsome..."

She said the last part while looking at Darius, making Nathalia suspect she just said that because he was with her.

"That's all for you now, child."

She didn't know what she expected. Something more concrete maybe? She felt as if she hadn't learned a single thing. Tall dark and handsome? Almost half the population could fit into that category. And she was pretty sure she didn't have any relatives left to inherit anything from.

The woman turned her attention to Darius now, who didn't look too thrilled.

"And what do you wish to know, young man?"

He just shrugged, "tell me something fun."

The woman lifted her open hands in Darius's direction and closed her eyes again.

"I see... Your parents. They're in a good place right now... And your name... It starts with a... T... I see the letter T, it's either your first name or your last..." She said the last part as she opened her eyes, looking at Darius for confirmation.

He didn't give her anything but a blank stare.

It was a little funny to watch, but it did make her wonder if Darius's actual name started with a T. She reminded herself to ask him about it later.

The woman shifted uncomfortably at Darius's non-reaction and continued.

"There's love in your future as well... As well as pain... And death..." Again, she opened her eyes to gauge his reactions but he still didn't give her anything. She doubted he cared about, or even believed, anything the woman told him.

"That's all, I can't see anything else. You have been granted the wisdom of madame Maevana! Use this knowledge wisely and with care."

They quickly thanked her and left the tent again. They walked in silence for a moment until they were out of hearing range and Nathalia broke the silence.

"So... your name starts with a T?"

He looked at her as his mouth twitched as if he tried to stop himself from laughing.

"Did you really believe her?"

"No... I mean... I wanted to but she was just so vague. But you didn't answer my question."

"None of my names start with a T."

This reduced her faith in the fortune teller even more. So she decided not to believe anything at all.

"What is your name then?" she tried. She still really wanted to know.

"Nice try."

"Can I guess?"

"Sure."

"Will you tell me when I'm right?"

"Nope," he said, popping the 'p'.

She knew it wouldn't be easy, but she was determined. Maybe if she guessed his name right his poker face would break and she'd know. Very unlikely but worth a shot.

"Is it Michael?"

"No."

"Logan?"

"No."

"Kyle?"

At that name, he looked at her funny but still shook his head. He didn't look like a Kyle but she still wanted to try.

"Maurice? Norbert? Basil?"

"I don't think Basil is a name," he stated coolly.

"You'd be surprised," she countered, "I was in school with a girl named 'Lovetree'."

"That's sad."

"Yeah, it was. Is your name Bill? Gary? Hunte-- Is that a Pikachu plushie?"

Off to their left was a stall with a shooting game, but that wasn't what had caught her eye. Among the prizes was a giant Pikachu plushie, which was almost the size of her torso. To win, she had to hit the 5 marks with a rifle of some sort.

"You wanna try?" Darius asked her skeptically.

"Yes," she nodded confidently. How hard could it really be?

But as they neared the stall the targets seemed impossibly small. Besides, she'd never used any kind of firearm before. But she was determined and motivated so she still wanted to try.

After paying the carnie the required fee he handed her the rifle. She clumsily handled it and thought about the movies she'd seen where people handled guns and tried to recreate that.

"Have you ever shot at anything before?" Darius asked amusedly, like he already knew the answer would be 'no'.

"Do I look like someone who shoots things for fun?" she replied as she still fumbled with the placement of her fingers on the rifle.

After she'd found a good spot for both her hands, she pointed the rifle in the general direction of the targets and tried to focus.

She missed every single one of them.

She'd expected to hit at least one, but it turned out to be a lot harder than it looked. The rifle also didn't shoot real bullets, but tiny balls. There were also only five of them in the rifle, meaning there wasn't really room for error anyways. And she didn't even get a consolation prize.

Pouting, she turned to Darius who narrowed his eyes at her expression.

"I really wanted that plushie..."

She knew it was low to get him to win it for her, but the plushie was just too cute to leave behind. Darius had a gun on him at all times, so she had no doubt he was a far better shot than she was. But he didn't seem interested in the game at all.

They stared at each other for a few seconds, with Nathalia trying to plead with her eyes while Darius just looked back with a neutral expression. In the end, he just sighed.

"Didn't know you were a master manipulator, Kat," he joked as he also paid the carnie the required fee.

She felt absolutely victorious. She'd half expected him to just say 'no' and walk off, but it had actually worked. Now he just had to hit all five targets and Pikachu would be hers.

The first thing she noticed was that he held the rifle in a completely different manner than she had, making her feel dumb for trying to play this game with zero knowledge of firearms. The second thing she noticed was his confident posture, like he didn't doubt his abilities in the least.

He hit one target after another, and it was over in a few seconds. He'd hit all of them.

Putting the rifle down again, he told the carnie to get the Pikachu plushie and handed it to Nathalia when he got it. She was ecstatic. It looked even cuter from up close.

"Thank you so much," she beamed at him.

"Don't worry about it," he replied as they resumed walking around.

As she looked around all she could think of was how much fun she was having with him, she wished they could stay there forever. But she knew they couldn't. So the next best thing was to make as many good memories as she could.