[Ashlio+Peregrine]

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Off to Ethan's left, a pre-teen girl was looking wistfully at the aforementioned blue elephant, before turning to her parents. "One more time?" she asked, hopefully. Her parents looked somewhat doubtful. A quick glance at the numbers told Ethan they'd already spent more money on this game than they wanted to, and were contemplating just buying her something from the grocery store on the way home to spare their pockets.

"I'll take the elephant," Ethan replied. As soon as he received the stuffed animal, he muttered a quick "one sec," stood up from his seat, jogged a couple of steps forward, and passed it to the young girl. When she looked at him in surprise, Ethan just smiled. "Stuffed animals aren't really my kind of thing," he told her bewildered parents, before turning back around.
 
Lisa walked over to the front of the booth to pick up any fallen balls and trash. When the man returned, she straightened back up, smiling. "Nice, dude," she saif and nodded towards the girl who had gotten the elephant. "So, you enjoyed the game? Was it really your first time?" she asked him while rolling a couple lost balls up to the holes. They both fell into the one on the top.
 
"First time, yes," Ethan agreed, sitting down on one of the little stools, ankles crossed. There was a smile on his lips that said he appreciated being called 'nice', even if the words might have been somewhat sarcastic. "As for enjoying it... not so much. I don't particularly enjoy..." He paused for a moment, clearly searching for the right word, before shrugging. "Carnival games."
 
Lisa gave him a confused look and then laughed out loud, a hand covering part of her mouth. "Oh, wow, okay," she chuckled after and looked at him, shaking her head in amusement. "You sure picked the right place to come then, ....?" She tilted her head a bit, giving him a questioning look.
 
"Don't get me wrong," Ethan replied with a smile. "I like faires. Rather a lot, actually. It's just the games that I have no interest in, for the exact reason I just demonstrated to you." She had yet to reset the 'race' that had just taken place, and he gestured casually to the number nine horse, which was proudly standing at the end of its lane.
 
She looked at the horse and smiled, getting what the problem was. "Oh, you just need a bigger challange," she said and walked around to the back. Quickly she reset the game before activating number nine and ten, and then pressed start. She hurried back to the front and sat down at number ten. "Me!" she said and rolled the first ball to the top hole, getting horse number ten to jolt forward.
 
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Ethan laughed in apparent surprise, while a self-satisfied smile flickered across his lips. It was always a welcome and enjoyable surprise to find people as enthusiastic as this young lady, and it made sitting down on the narrow stool a lot more worthwhile than some cheap stuffed animal. The balls clattered into the tray in front of him.

He moved in the same unhurried manner he had used for the last game as well, the various balls seeming to float across his fingers before disappearing into their respective holes. Or, perhaps, hole. Singular. Every single one he rolled landed in the exact same top hole. Horse number 10 might have started out ahead, but it would only take one small slip up for it to be passed up, and no one was perfect.
 
Lisa was good, but not that good. A few balls missed and her horse fell slightly behind, and number 9 won again. It was a close one though. "Wow, you're good!" she said with an enthusiastic smile and looked at him. "I'm Lisa by the way," she said. "Who are you and what is your secret?" She then gasped, a bit overly dramatic. "Are you a robot?" She leaned in, lowering her voice a bit. "Are you sent from the future to resque me from a terminator? Because I knew this day would come!"
 
Ethan's laugh this time was completely honest, and more than a little delighted with his newfound friend. "Ethan," he replied, offering his hand for a quick shake. "And no, I'm afraid not, although it is a shame to spoil your excitement. I just only ever lose things like this when I want to, so there's not much in it for me."
 
Her look had been dead serious, but she cracked a smile when she managed to make him laugh. "Oh, come on, no way you can win every game at this place. I'm sure there is some challenge for you here somewhere," she said and her whole face lit up. "Lets go and find one! I was just about to have my break anyway. What do you think?" she asked and stood up. Not everyone would jump at the idea of hanging out with some random stranger after all.
 
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Ethan bit his lip to prevent a smile from spreading across his face, unwilling to risk that something which should have been endearing would simply come across as mocking instead. All the same, it still managed to crinkle the corners of his eyes and tilt his lips. Of course, Lisa was dead wrong. But Ethan hadn't come here expecting to do anything in particular, and wandering the park with someone else sounded much more enjoyable than wandering it by himself. The only problem he could see was that carnival games weren't cheap, and playing every game at the faire would quickly drain him dry.

"As remarkably fun as that sounds," Ethan replied after a few moments, his tone making it clear this wasn't just some blow-off but an honest statement. "I don't have enough funds to play every game here to prove my point."
 
Lisa rolled her eyes at him and walked back into the both. "You think I pay to plau here?" she asked with a smirk and grabbed her wallet before turning off the both and hanging up a sign that said it was closed. "Stick with me, and you're going to have the time of your life, Ethan," she said and made her way back to him, hanging her purse agross her shoulders.

"First things first: I need food! What is your favorite carnival food?" she asked when they started walking, and she took a few steps backwards so she could look at him while she talked. "A tip from a pro; cotton candy is not real food. Don't eat yourself full on it, you are going to regret it," she said, giving him a look as if she was telling him some dark secret of the trade. "Not even the pink kind."
 
"Yes, mam," Ethan replied with a mock salute, quickly standing up to follow after her as Lisa slung her purse over her shoulder.

"I can't say I've ever tried to fill up on cotton candy, but I'll take your words to heart. Then again, I'm pretty sure enough of any food here would make me sick." All the same, he let his eyes go unfocused, and allowed whatever stream of consciousness it was that controlled the numbers to freely explore, giving it only a nudge in the right direction: food at the faire.

He scrolled past and through the corn dogs, funnel cake, and deep-fried oreos with an internal eye roll, before something remotely palatable finally showed up. "Lobster fries," Ethan finally replied.
 
Lisa's face lit up. "Good call, those are amazing!" She led the way to the stall that had them and ordered two, pluss drinks. "Beer or soda?" she asked him before paying. Since she worked there she got a very noce discount.

"So, what do you think?" she asked when they were slowly walking away with the food in there hands. It was almost burning hot, and the grease had already started soaking through the paper. "Nothing is like a healthy dinner at the carneval!"
 
"I think we should find a table," was Ethan's mock-serious reply. "Before I decide to try and eat one of those fries without any hands." He waved both hands slightly, one with the small bucket of fries, the other holding a large cup mostly filled with Sprite.

They had to walk several stalls away from the food vendor before finding a open table, and quickly sat down before someone else could take the seating. The wood was still hot from the heat of the sun, even if the sky was growing dark and lights were beginning to flicker on everywhere across the faire. Ethan quickly set both of his items down, before popping a fry into his mouth. "How much do I owe you?" he asked once he finished chewing.
 
"It's okay, I payed with some money I found on the ground. People drop a lot here," she chuckled and started eating, humming with deilight. "So, Ethan, where are you from?" she asked and handed him a couple napkins before continuing to eat. The salty, greasy food made her taste buds dance with happiness. She would probably regret this is a few hours though.
 
Ethan considered pushing the matter further, they were mostly strangers and this wasn't a date, but a quick glance at the numbers told him such argument wouldn't get him far. So, instead, he simply shrugged and said "Thanks. I appreciate it."

He quickly downed a couple more fries, doing his best not to drop any of the questionable goop that had been layered on top of it and only vaguely resembled the substance called "lobster", before starting to speak again. "That's a difficult question, actually," he said, wiping at the corner of his mouth with one of the napkins. "I haven't stayed in one place for very long since I was 16 and got legally emancipated. Bought a van as soon as I was free, and roam from place to place picking up work as I find it. I was born in Virginia, though, if that helps. Spent a lot of time in Nevada in my early twenties."

He swallowed another goopy mouthful of fries. "That was probably more complicated than you wanted. What about you?"
 
"No, not at all, I like juicy details," she said with a wink and sipped her coke, sucking on the straw. "Grew up in broklyn. Finished community college and got desperat for a change, anf thanks to a lot of random circumstances, I ended up her. Been with this circus for almost two years now." She shrugged and Iimaced a bit. "Not very exciting, sorry. So you're looking for work or just passing through?"
 
"Just passing through, I think." Ethan considered the faire around him, before shrugging slightly. "As I said, I'm not a big fan of carnival games. I wouldn't necessarily mind the people watching, so working at a ride or food stand wouldn't be quite so bad, but not one of the games."

Of course, distance had little effect on the numbers as long as it wasn't completely outside of his realm. Even here, sitting at the table with Lisa eating lobster-covered fries he could see in the corner of his eyes that someone was about to spend another ten bucks to try and upgrade to a slightly larger stuffed animal, and a girl was about to use her last quarter for the day by tossing it into a small bottle with a shot she had absolutely no chance of making.

... Had. Ethan contained his wince as he twisted the number, and halfway across the faire a teenage girl let out a yelp of excitement as her quarter landed in the bottle and the man behind the counter gave her a round of applause. That was a good reminder of why he could never work at a place like this. "So, no. Definitely just passing through."
 
"I still find it strange that you went to a carnival if you don't like the games," she chuckled and shoved some more fries into her mouth, washing it down with soda. She then wiped her hands on a napkin before crumbling it up and dropping it on top of the left over fries. "I'm done. Ready to go and find a game you suck at?" she asked with a grin and stood up, still carrying her soda. She dumped the rest in a trash can and then looked around, trying to pick the right game. "Ever used a gun?"
 
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