The carnival was everything she imagined it to be. From the lights and the smells to the sounds and vibrations the attractions created. It was heaven on earth.
They were going on a busy Saturday night, the crowd was supposed to conceal them as long as they acted inconspicuously. She'd been nervous about going somewhere busy. For months she'd only been outside in the early morning hours when the streets were deserted and the stores empty. But this was a whole different ballpark.
At first, she felt kind of overwhelmed. The sounds were too loud and the lights too bright. But that only lasted a minute before excitement took over.
She didn't know where to look, there was so much to see everywhere. She tried to burn everything into her brain so she wouldn't ever forget these moments.
From an outsider's perspective, Darius looked normal. His shoulders were relaxed and his hands were in his pockets.
But Nathalia knew him too well by now.
There was a muscle in his jaw that sometimes tensed when he looked at certain people, and she knew he had at least one gun on him. It was concealed well enough, and they were in a state where it was legal to do so. So even if people saw it, they wouldn't think anything about it.
"Thanks again for taking me," she said as she watched a carnie hand out flyers of some kind.
"You've got to stop thanking me, it's fine," he answered for what felt like the twentieth time.
"I'm just really grateful. We've got to-- wait is that a fortune-teller?"
She pointed to a tent, it was almost hidden away between a baseball toss game and a balloon pop. He followed her line of sight and nodded.
"Seems like it."
"Can we go?"
He looked at her like she was mad but still nodded. Truth be told, she didn't believe in fortune-tellers. She'd never visited one either. But it intrigued her nonetheless.
"Come see! Come see! The great madame Maevana knows your fortune! Tell me, kids, are you ready to know your future?" the man in front of the tent hollered loudly as he saw them approach.
What was it with people calling them kids?
But she still nodded eagerly as Darius bought their tickets, she doubted he wanted to know anything but he couldn't let her go inside alone. The man pulled back the purple curtain at the entrance and ushered them inside.
It smelled like incense and was kind of misty. There were pillows and rugs all over the floor and in the middle sat a small woman in robes in front of a low table. The woman had her grey hair in a bun adorned with fancy pins. Her arms were covered in gold bracelets and gold rings graced her fingers.
"Welcome, daring youngsters. So you wish to know the unknown? Please take a seat." she said as she waved her bony hands around.
Despite not believing in fortune-telling, Nathalia still felt nervous. She rubbed her hands on her thighs and looked over at Darius. He didn't look too impressed, but then again he never did.
"What is it you wish to know, child?" she asked.
"I-- um... My future?" she answered uncertainly. That's what fortune-tellers did right? Tell you about your future?
"Give me your hand," the woman instructed as she reached out her hands as well.
Nathalia placed her right hand in the woman's wrinkly ones. The woman closed her eyes and seemed to concentrate very hard until she nodded and opened her eyes.
"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.