Cheating at Carnival Games

Who: Brian and Jocelyn
Where: The carnival
When: Late afternoon

Once Brian realized that today was the last day for the carnival, that was it. He had to go. There wouldn't be much better of a distraction from Domino's damned note than carnival games, music, and bad food. And, as he wandered through the last-minute crowd and devoured a hot dog, he had to say that he did feel better. Surrounded by people, all having a good time, and the cheesy but still fun sights and sounds of a traveling faire all conspired to put him in a much better mood.

Hot dog finished, and not quite ready to go grab himself some cotton candy or something yet, Brian paused at one of the many "toss something over this something else and win a prize!" games. He was trying to decide how much he really wanted to play versus how much he really wanted to win. The prizes all looked pretty silly, unless you had someone to win them for-- and Domino most certainly didn't count-- but it would be child's play to win one of he wanted to.

Brian could be perfectly honest and fair in some things. Carnival games that were designed for you to lose were not among them, unless he was in a very forgiving mood. Maybe he'd play a bit and then cheat. He handed the carnie a few dollars for a handfull of rings. Might as well see how hard they'd rigged the game before he tried cheating.

After church and a bit of shopping, Jocelyn made the decision to check out the town's annual carnival, just for the hell of it. There was the ever lingering embarrassment from her evening with Alex, and her hazy memory of inviting him into her room for - well, that wasn't important. Thankfully she hadn't run into him in Babylon yet, so she had spent her day avoiding the bar and trying to think of ways to keep herself busy so her mind wouldn't wander to her incredibly idiotic behavior.

She was walking through the carnival, glancing at every single one of the booths, slowing her steps when she saw a man about to toss a few rings at one of the game booths. She stepped up behind, to watch. "They're rigged, you know," she said, her voice only loud enough for him to hear. She hated carnivals and amusement parks. Games designed for you to spend your cash and walk away with nothing - or at best a plastic toy barely worth the five dollars it cost to win. Of course, using magic always meant she walked away with the best and biggest prize, but she figured a little bit of cheating was justified.

Brian cast the young lady a brief look then, winking once, tossed his first ring. The optical illusion made by the design on the pegs they were supposed to land on and the wall behind them should have made him miss-- except hey, he totally didn't. Someone with a very sharp eye might even catch the moment when the ring's course corrected itself mid-flight. "I know," he told her in an undertone, grinning.

The carnie looked sour and muttered something under his breath that sounded a lot like, "I hate this town."

She watched the ring fall perfectly before grinning. "You've got a few more," she pointed out, her own smile mischievous. Was he a witch? Willworker? She was definitely curious. "Think you can get them all to land as nicely as the first?"

"Was that a challenge?" Brian asked, brows going up teasingly at her. He did toss another one, onto another peg. It was ridiculously easy, when you were cheating. He'd make up for it later by buying something more to eat-- maybe-- but for now he had been challenged. Sort of.

"I don't know if that's a challenge, or not," Jocelyn said, watching the next ring fall the way the first had. "Because I'm thinking you're probably not trying too terribly hard to win this one. Why don't you try it without any...help." Jocelyn arched an eyebrow, amusement still dancing in her eyes. "That's a real challenge."

"I'm trying," Brian protested lightly, giving her a curious, surreptitious glance in the process. And he was trying. Just in a different way than most people, that actually made it possible to win-- and he could tell she knew that. He lowered his voice again to add, "And didn't you just tell me it was rigged, yourself?"

But that was another challenge, and since he didn't really care whether he won or lost, he gave it a try. This time he did it slowly, eying the peg he wanted-- the one he'd already tossed a ring onto, in the hopes that, that'd help him beat the illusion. He tossed... and missed. "Well, hell," he laughed.

Jocelyn shrugged and laughed. "Sorry. Some people can beat the illusions set in place. I just wanted to see if you could. I mean, I know I can't. I thought maybe you'd give it a little nudge anyway and say you didn't. So I'm guessing you're someone who likes to win a challenge fair and square." She eyed him with amusement. "Maybe."

Yeah, she'd definitely noticed. Whether that meant she knew to look for it, or could have done the same herself, he didn't know. "Maybe with lots and lots of practice," Brian chuckled. "But since these things only come to town once a year, makes it hard." He shot the young lady a grin. "I'm Brian, by the way." And the last ring went where he wanted it to, to the carnie's irritated sigh.

"Jocelyn." She eyed the rings and then looked back over at Brian. "So, what prize are you going to claim? Or do you not get one for missing one of four? Which, if that's the case, I'll feel pretty guilty ad have to win you a prize myself."

"You know, I don't know. Do I win anything?" he asked the carnie with a smile.

The carnie pulled up a fake smile, obviously still upset about the whole thing-- apparently people had been "cheating" all day, or something-- and pointed to the smaller prizes. "Anything off this rack, sir."

"Well, there you go, Jocelyn, you don't need to feel guilty." He eyed the stuffed animals with mild amusement. "Is that really a hot pink stuffed mouse?"

Jocelyn nodded. "A hot pink mouse. I think that's definitely worth the efforts you've put in to beating these carnies at their own game. I think it would definitely break their heart if you took it. Or that yellow stuffed snake? The one with the purple felt tongue? I think it would make a statement, walking around the carnival with either one of those."

"I think I'll go with the snake, for ease of carrying," Brian said after a moment of "serious thought". "I can just sling it around my neck. Anyway, I have a feeling my cat will enjoy it." Probably quite happily tear it to shreds for daring to look so hideous.

She laughed, thinking the same thing. The snake would probably be torn to bits if the cat takes a disliking to it. Or a liking, depending. "For ease of carrying. Well, that's one excuse. I think you just prefer not to carry something hot pink around a carnival." Jocelyn paused and arched an eyebrow in his direction. "So, how did you do that? Win that game?"

Brian waited until he'd been handed the prize-- and he did, indeed, toss it over his shoulders and around his neck like a very fluffy, ugly scarf-- and started away from the booth to answer. "Depends," was his first answer. "What do you think I did?"

"I think you manipulated the ring somehow to get it to fall exactly how you wanted it to fall," Jocelyn told him, smiling a bit at the snake around his neck. "There's plenty of ways you could have done it. Magic, telekinesis? Maybe you're a willworker? It could be a number of things."

Thank god, he'd not have any freakouts like with Anton. He warped the air around them a little for privacy, keeping it following them as they walked. "I'm a willworker, yeah. Space and energy, which includes motion and direction," he grinned. "So you know about all this, too, hmm? Personally, or just from the sidelines?"

"So you probably have an ever growing collection of scary looking stuffed animals about to fall out of your closet," Jocelyn teased, her eyes wandering along the various booths and rides as they walked. "But I guess you could say I know about it personally. Most of the people I've met in Marquette do, it seems. You lived here long?"

That made him curious what she was, but he wasn't going to ask, just yet. She'd avoided it, which made him wonder whether she didn't want to talk about it, or... what. "Four years, come October," he nodded. "You know Mya's Diner?"

"Four years, huh? I've never seen you around," Jocelyn admitted. Though there was a lot of people she never saw around, unless they frequented Babylon. "But yes, I know Mya's. Really great BLT sandwiches there, I have to admit."

"Well, thanks," he grinned. "Seeing as I'm the head cook, and all. I'm kind of surprised, I thought I knew every face around here, by now. How long've you lived here?"

"Head cook? Wow. Then you make a mean BLT," Jocelyn laughed, shifting the bags in her hands. "I haven't lived here long." Long enough, but not long. "I don't get out much, as pathetic as that sounds. But you've seen my face now, so you can add it to your mental database."

"Face and name," Brian agreed. "Though we'll see how long I remember the name. You might have to give it to me again. And you're out now, so that's something, right?" He didn't think it sounded pathetic, himself, but then, the only thing he did with himself when he went out was get drunk, these days. Staying in might be preferable.

"So you're more of a face man than a name man?" she asked, giving him a look. "I'll give it to you once more - but only once, and then I'll have to see if you remember it the next time I run into you. Jocelyn Laurent. And I'll remember you, Brian with the Yellow Snake. Association keeps my memory fresh, I suppose. But yes, I'm out now. Too much shopping and snacking, really but how often does Marquette get carnivals? So..." She shrugged. "Might as well take advantage of it."

"Face man, yeah." He wasn't as bad as some people, but it sometimes took him a time or two to remember names. "Jocelyn. Laurent." He said it carefully, making sure he wasn't going to mess it up. It was long, and it was a little unusual. Not a good combination. "Don't suppose anyone calls you 'Jo' do they?" he asked hopefully. "Or maybe Lyn?"

She laughed and shook her head. "No. I can't say I've ever had a nickname. But I have read somewhere that if you look at someone and repeat their name three times, it'll stick with you. If that doesn't work, I suppose you can just call me whatever comes to mind."

"That question was less of a 'remember' and more of a 'hard name to say' kind of thing. Anything with three syllables or more, if I haven't seen saying it for years, I can wind up tripping on." He paused by a food stand, considering a churro. Cinnamon and sugar sounded like a good waste of cash. "Want anything?" If he was going to eat, he'd definitely have to offer.

"Oh! Well in that case, you can call me whatever you feel comfortable with." She paused with him, glancing at the food. It looked delicious, but... "No, thanks. I was just passing through for some cotton candy earlier and that'll be plenty to walk off later. Girl's gotta watch her figure and all that." She made a face, as if not completely agreeing with it.

"Well, now, that's no fun," Brian told her with a smile. "Come to a carnival and not get a churro? Besides, cinnamon's good for you." Whether it was or not, he didn't care; he just didn't want to eat alone. He always felt funny, doing that. "Either you share mine, or we part ways again so I'm not eating in front of you, which would be a shame because I still need to ask you how you knew about me." He said it teasingly, of course, since she was entirely free to leave whenever she felt like. It was nice to have someone to talk to, though.

Jocelyn paused. Considered. And then she gave a shrug. "All right, why not. I'll have one. Plenty of cinnamon though, since it's so good for me." She watched as the man in the booth got to putting them together before she turned back to Brian. "Sometimes you just know when there's something special about another person. I don't know. It was something about the way you threw the rings and got them to land almost perfectly around the poles. I took a wild guess, and I was right."

Looking pleased with himself for changing her mind, Brian handed over the money for both and offered Jocelyn hers. "There you go, one churro, heavy on the cinnamon." As they started meandering along again, and after his first bite-- with the resultant cinnamon and sugar falling everywhere on the ground in front of him; he actually leaned forward a bit to make sure it didn't fall on his shirt-- he continued the conversation. "But you said you knew it intimately. That makes me think there's something about you, as well."

He'd back off if she took that suggestion badly, no more questions asked, but he was curious, and though she was being evasive, it was a kind of... absent evasiveness rather than a really careful one. Or so it seemed, anyway.

"Oh! Well, yeah. I'm a witch." It came as natural to say it to him as it did anyone else really. "Sort of runs in the family and has for...well, forever, I guess? So maybe it's just something instilled within me, or people like us, to be able to pick others out of a crowd? Or at least notice the little things that others might not?"

Relaxing now that she wasn't hedging and evading anymore, Brian grinned. "It is, actually. The more you know, the more likely you are to notice when other things are a little off." And he knew this intimately, since the more people knew about what he did when they saw him do it, the less likely it was to backlash on him. "What kind of magic do you practice?" Privacy ward-- still in effect. Check.

Jocelyn took a bite of her churro, deciding that it was pretty tasty, even though she was no doubt going to be brushing cinnamon off of her until she got back to Babylon. Licking her lips, she looked up at Brian. "White, mostly." Because even if she saw no issue with it, she knew practicing black magic was generally frowned upon. "I like to know as much as I can about...well, just about everything. It comes in handy. I helped about three kids win prizes on my way through the carnival before I came across your neat little trick."

"Now that is the best use of magic I think I've heard in a long time. Helping kids who actually care about winning win prizes. Though I hope they like electric blue elephants." He eyed the game-prizes they were currently passing with amusement. "How do they come up with those colors?"

"I don't think they have a choice," Jocelyn admitted with a tiny laugh. "I think they were probably the cheapest prizes to buy, so they went with them. But hey, even horrible looking pink mice and yellow snakes need homes too, you know!"

"I have to say, my cat will have a ball with this." He took the snake's tail and waggled it lightly in Jocelyn's direction. "Most likely tearing it up, I'm afraid, but he'll have fun doing it." Though it was entirely possible Torziel would ignore the thing just for the sake of being spiteful. Damn demon-cat. "So you out here by yourself, at the carnival, or am I stealing you from your friends?"

"No, I'm by myself. Like I said, just wandering through on my way back home and got side tracked by a few things, which I suppose is easy to do in a carnival. Games, and willworkers and churros." She lifted hers a bit with a grin. "What about you? Are you here alone?"

"Yup," Brian agreed. "Guess that makes two of us. I did come here on purpose, though, rather than just wandering through. A bit of fun seemed like a good idea, even if it involved cheating on things."

She eyed the snake. "Well, you've got to walk away with something, right? Even if you had to cheat to get it. Not that you'll hear me complain about it. I probably would have done the same." In fact, she knew she would have. "I suppose I should be on my way home. It was lovely to meet you, Brian. I'll have to come in and sample a bit more from the diner if you're the cook."

"And so do you." Brian pointed to the remains of her churro. "It was nice. I hope to see you in-- poke your head into the kitchen if you do and say hi."

She nodded, already making plans to try and stop in that week. "I'll definitely do that. Thanks for the company, and the churro. And I hope your cat enjoys your new toy." Jocelyn gave him a tiny wink before she set off back to Babylon.