The Carnival

[Ashe]

"Do I need a reason to talk to a pretty girl like you?"

Ashe couldn't help as a few of her suspicions were washed away in a crimson wave upon her cheeks. She laughed softly a bit as she shoveled a small spoon of ice cream into her mouth, unsure of how to continue the conversation. She hadn't really thought so at first, but the man was smooth, and the more he talked to her, the more she found herself noticing his eye color. She swallowed after a moment and raised her napkin to wipe her mouth.

"No, but you probably have one," a familiar voice interrupted from beneath a dirty blonde scalp. The chatting pair jumped slightly, turning to look at the man whose face floated directly between them. Ander seemed prepared for a greeting but Kaden waved it away casually. "Don't worry," he warned with a smile. "I'm just passing through."

His hand lowered completely to a rest as his focus shifted to the girl between them. "Unfortunately," he added for her benefit, causing her to take that moment to focus on another bite of ice cream. She'd been worried after Dante's Abyss that she'd scared him off with her aggressiveness, but it seemed he was willing to forgive and forget.

Then again, given their states of mind at the time, maybe he just forgot.

Ever so slightly, Ander twisted in his seat a bit to bring his resting leg up to use as an arm rest. "No, please. Stay," he offered with a smooth smile, prompting Ashe to nearly point out that his change in position was leaving no room on the bench for Kaden.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" she heard from her left as she stirred her ice cream in the lingering uneasiness. "No no," he added quickly, clapping both of them on the shoulder and giving a tight squeeze - one a bit rougher than the other. "I'll let you kids have your fun." He shifted his stance a bit as a thought occurred to him. "Odd, though. I figured you'd want Sage hanging all over you," he considered openly, catching the pink haired girl's attention. She looked up in time for him to clear his throat, herself taking no notice of the darker haired companion tensing up at the comment. "Catch ya later, Ashe. We should hop a ride at some point when this is all over."

A smile crossed her features as she nodded at his retreating form. Ander suddenly stood up, stretching a bit as he extended his hand to her. He watched her tilt her head to the side a bit as he helped her up, taking her empty ice cream from her and stacking it neatly within his own bowl in an attempt to cover the fact that he'd barely eaten any himself.

"So..." she began, in thought as he guided her to a trash bin to dispose of their desert.

"Man, we've still got a few more rides left to jump on before we clear the list!" he rushed out before refocusing on her once more. "Oh, I'm sorry. I was just thinking about the great time I had on the roller coaster with you and thought you'd want to ride a few more with me. Though I do understand if you want to save a ride or two for Kaden..." he trailed off. Taking note of her momentary confusion, he grinned, keeping her words from the tip of her tongue until he could disperse them entirely from her mind. "Great! So what should we ride first? Not the tea cups, I hope..."

She gave him a reassuring shake of her head before remembering one thing from Kaden's conversation. "Sage is here too?" she asked, meaning nothing more by it.

He spread his arms like he'd been shot. "Well, I guess one could say she is. I mean, I hadn't really talked to her much. I barely know the girl myself, and I'm sure she likely doesn't even remember me given her taste in drinks," he spilled defensively.

"Huh, really?" Ashe asked, her brow twisting a bit in a look.

He took a deep breath and placed a hand between her shoulder blades, continuing to guide her in the direction of another set of rides. "Well, I mean, we've talked a bit, but-" he covered.

"No, I mean the drinking thing. Is she still calling it apple juice?" she asked, receiving an odd look from her companion. "Well, I'd given her some wine at some point and told her it was apple juice, and she went on a drinking binge after that. I mean, I felt terrible, but it was so funny that I couldn't really help myself," she found herself clarifying with a laugh.

"Yeah, well..." he began, unsure about following this line of conversation. "Hey!" he suddenly spoke up, deciding on another topic. "Have you bought anything with this PAGER thing yet?" He reached down to his side and lifted up the white device, prompting her to lift her own.

"Well, I grabbed one of those Mystery Capsules earlier from one of the vendors. I love surprises, so I thought I'd give it a go," she added.

"I love surprises too," he responded. "Perhaps we should both give it a go," he continued, whistling in the air as he looked over his device.

"Well, I mean, it's not that hard to figure out how to buy something with it. Just head over to the evil clown faced thing that scares the hell out of you and it should tell you all you need to know," she rambled, completely missing the comment behind his words.

"I just might," he agreed before grabbing her device from her hand with a swift swipe. Against her protests, he held the device up out of reach as he pushed a few buttons in laughter.

"Hey!"

"Calm down! I'm just seeing what was in that Mystery Capsule," he reassured her before bringing it down for them to both look over. "Wow, you got first place in your first event?" he noticed, before scrolling through the others. "Oh man, and then followed up with third place in both the others? Who rigged this thing? I'd give you a perfect ten, myself."

"Heh," she laughed. "Thanks, but you should have seen the car I had to drive in that last one. I loved feeling the power between my legs and all, but... Actually, how'd you do in your events?" she asked curiously.

"I won them," he answered quickly, beaming with pride.

Her eyes opened wide. "Really?" she asked, her voice not so convinced.

"Yep," he continued quickly. "First place in every event. All four of them."

She turned this over in her head a moment. "Huh, wait. There were only three!" she accused, snatching the device back from him.

His fingers grabbed his chin as he looked around in thought. "Odd. I guess they put me into an extra advanced challenge for performing so well," he claimed before quickly returning her attention to her own device. "So what'd you get from the Capsule?" he asked excitedly.

"Oh, uh..." she remembered, scrolling down further. "It says... I get to use a 'Mega Theft', but it doesn't say a word about what that is," she whined. Her eyes lifted from her PAGER as a familiar creepy voice echoed across the pavilion.

"WELCOME TO THE CIRCUS OF VALUES!"

Ander's eyes snapped up to the vending machine and he cringed slightly before posturing himself for her. "You aren't scared of clowns are you? I'll take it over there for you and find out what you got if you want," he offered, extending his palm to her.

Shaking her head, she grabbed his hand with a squeeze, not realizing that he'd hoped she'd hand him her device again. "They creep me out, man, but I'll deal." Her words were filled with unhappiness, but she approached the machine and connected the unit to it.

The machine processed a quick series of beeps before the screen lit up with a new item description on it. "Mega Theft..." she read out loud. "For when you need to rob them blind. Does someone have a lot of money while you barely have any? Use MEGA THEFT," she emphasized with the capitals, enticing the attentions of her companion. "Just pick a target and activate, instantly transferring every bit of their account to your own," she finished.

"That is awesome," Ander swooned, staring at the device.

Ashe was unsure, turning it over in her head. "I don't know, I mean..."

He quickly stepped up to the machine before her and hit the use button, loading a list of names and the values of them. "C'mon, Ashe, it's just a game. You aren't leaving anyone hungry in the street," he added sincerely.

"True," she agreed, thinking back to other games she'd played with fun effects such as this. "Alright, let's do it," she finally resolved, looking at the screen. "Who should I pick?"

"I vote Kaden," he recommended, reaching out to hit the button.

"What? Why? He's got pretty much nothing," she added, knocking his hand out of the air. "You actually have the most," she realized, hovering her hand over the button dangerously.

He seemed at a near panic. "Yeah, but I bought you ice cream," he joked nervously.

"With a stolen wallet," she pointed out.

"Borrowed!" he insisted. "From a jerk, I might add. Who probably doesn't even really exist."

"Alright, alright," she agreed with a grin. "I just wanted to make you sweat a minute. Besides, I don't think I could do it so blatantly right here next to you." Skimming over the list of names as she heard him exhale a deep breath, she stopped over Piper's name. "Maybe her," she mused.

"Why not Kaden?" he asked again, frowning as she pressed the button labeled Piper.

"Because," she laughed again. "Kaden's broke like me. There's no reason. Piper has the second highest amount, so I might as well dig deep while I can and poke some fun at General Stuffypants."

"I can think of a few reasons, but... Yeah, Piper's fine," he relented, watching as the machine whirred to life. His grin returned as he saw the number's change on screen. "Grats," he spoke, smoothly throwing his arm around her shoulder and giving her a side hug. "You are now second only to myself in the finance business."

"I think I'll grab a Double as well..." she considered, her mind running through the options. "Might help me bring in more money if I do better than third place this time."

"That sounds fun," he agreed warily, having an idea where this was going. Turning to leave, she grabbed him by the arm and pressured him to wait up for her.

Thirty minutes later, she'd completed her shopping spree and was walking away with her apologetically. "I just... couldn't help myself. I mean, there was a lot of money on there and not really anything to do with it..." she drowned in a fit of buyer's remorse.

He patted her back to comfort her as he practically pushed her away from the machine. "Well... At least you'll get a few mops or maybe even more Mega Thefts from those Capsules..." he hoped.

Her eyes spotted a figure sprawled out on a bench near a stopped train and pointed at him. "This dude looks wasted face," she laughed. "Like a drunk hobo. Think he's real or just a game character?"

Ander shrugged and quickly headed in his direction and giving the wooden bench a swift kick, prompting the man to groan as his arm moved over his eyes in reflex. "Hey, buddy, wake up," he announced, kicking the bench again. He turned back to Ashe and shrugged.

"I think I recognize him," she realized, peering over his shoulder.