Forging New Paths

Luca's eyes followed the way Garrett's hand missed Anthony's hair, and he thought back in Garrett's words from the morning. Ruffling meant he armed a lot about Anthony, right? It made him feel a strange mix of happy and uncertain. He liked that Garrett had people around that he cared about, but it made him worry a little, like he might see the man less now that Anthony was around. It was a strange thought, and one he didn't fully understand yet. He could only try and decide to feel just the happy part.

"Animals?" He asked, curious, and glanced over at Watson, then to a nearby doorway. Were there some sort of animals here that he hadn't heard or seen yet? He'd been to the office before and only seen Watson.

Evelyn smiled a little, waving a hand at him to dismiss the obvious confusion. "Not real one's, unfortunately," she said gently. "We're playing pretend today. Do you want to see them?"

Curious about why they would pretend there were animals around, Luca only nodded and after a moment finally pushed himself back up into standing. Even if they weren't real, he did still want to see them.
 
"Animals it is, then!" Anthony said cheerfully. "Right this way." He headed for the makeshift tent and lifted the flap. "You can play with and hug and touch all of them. That's the nice thing about stuffed animals." A recorder in the middle of the floor played quiet animal noises, and the soft lights along the back of the couch gave off a warm glow.

Garrett crawled all the way to the back of the tent so everyone else could fit in better. Then he picked up a giraffe. "Say! I haven't seen one of these since I was at the zoo. Look how tall he is," he added. Then he spotted Watson peek in and chuckled. "Oooh! Look, everyone. Our own live panther."

Watson crept in, sniffing cautiously at each of the animals and startling slightly when some moved. He seemed a bit less certain of these than the mirrors.
 
Luca seemed a little more dubious about the tent than he had the mirrors, but Evelyn followed Garrett in first and settled down so he wouldn't feel trapped inside and after a moment he followed, just sitting near the entrance so it wasn't so suffocating. He looked pat what was playing the animal noises, amused, and had only just picked up the elephant when Watson came in.

"You don't like them?" Luca murmured softly to the cat, very gently offering the elephant and flinching back when Watson didn't seem to like it at first. "S- Sorry. . ."

Evelyn reached over to give Watson a gentle pet, making sure he could see her hand clearly before she did so, and just smiled. "It's all right, Luca. He's just exploring something new, and cats can be jumpy."

He nodded a little, though he still looked a bit guilty, but noticed the stuffed lion next and was immediately enamored with it. Very careful not to scare Watson again, he set the elephant down and picked up the lion, gently brushing its mane away from its eyes as if it needed to see. The little burst of Insight that hit Evelyn at that was more intense than normal - a full image of him as a child, sitting exactly the way he was now and holding a very similar stuffed lion in his arms, rather than just a vague sense of knowing - and it took her a moment of sitting very still before she could give him a small, almost sad smile.

"Familiar?" She asked softly, wary of upsetting him, but to her he seemed more nostalgic than sad.

Luca only nodded distractedly, holding it in his hands and just looking at it, a thumb running gently over the soft plush. Evelyn thought, perhaps, if she asked Anthony nicely enough he would let them keep it.
 
Watson rubbed up against Evelyn's hand before going right back to sniffing the stuffed animals. Once he'd thoroughly examined them, he slowly but surely relaxed. Then he went over to Luca, climbed over and past him, and batted at the elephant to see if it would do anything. When it didn't offer resistance, Watson pounced on it and playfully kicked at it.

"Aww. I'd say the animal tent is a hit for everybody," Garrett said softly, observing as the group slowly but surely settled in to the cozy space.

Anthony was delighted, especially when Luca picked up a stuffed animal and started petting it. "You like stuffed animals too, huh?" he asked quietly. "You know - there's no way I'm going to have room to store all of these once the carnival's over. Would you mind taking a few home with you? You can pick as many as you like." There were only five total, so Anthony didn't imagine it would be a huge deal. "The only one who's staying here is Mr. Clown. He's my favorite," he added.

He reached for a nearby plush clown, which looked like he had and had a red nose, and he held it up. It was weighted with sand, just a bit dingy from being taken to bed a lot, and had a colorful ruffle around its neck. "I won him at the carnival, when I went with my parents. It was so fun," he added softly.
 
Luca only blinked and looked away from the lion when Watson touched him, bringing him back to the present and away from thinking about the lion he'd had as a child. He looked at Anthony finally when he realized the younger man was speaking to him, and afterwards at the toys with slightly wide eyes.

"I can . . . take them?" He asked, unsure and hesitant as he always was when receiving new things. They were Anthony's, weren't they? Was he really allowed to have them?

Evelyn gave him a little smile but didn't reach across the little couch fort to pat at his hand like she usually would when reassuring him. "I think Anthony would like it if you let him share. Watson likes the elephant."

Luca's eyes drifted from the lion, to Watson playing, to the strange little clown in Anthony's hands, and only managed a nod in response, and a very quiet 'thank you' when he could think of it. The little clown was well worn, like it had been held a lot, and it looked sort of how Anthony had when they'd walked in. It made it a little clearer, why he'd dressed like that, if looking at clowns gave him good memories. Suddenly, Luca felt bad about making faces that made Anthony change, but he didn't know what to do about it.

"That sounds like fun," Evelyn said gently, her smile gone a bit sympathetic and hoping Anthony didn't feel too sad. "You've taken pretty good care of him." She didn't think she had any of her toys from when she was little.
 
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Anthony smiled warmly and nodded at Luca. "Yeah, you can. I made this carnival to make people happy and share fun times with everybody. And I definitely think it's working." He gave his clown doll another hug and carried him out of the tent after realizing Luca might not like the clown, the same way he didn't like the clown costume - though so far there was no indication of that. "Let me go put Mr. Clown somewhere so Watson doesn't scratch him or something and I'll be right back again."

Hopefully mentioning Watson would help Luca not feel guilty about Anthony moving the clown away.

The young man returned soon after and smiled. "So! Should we let the animals take a nap in here? We can play the duck pond or ride the roller coaster next, if you want."

Garrett sighed happily and curled up on the floor. "Call me an animal. This is cozy. I could practically take a nap in here."
 
Evelyn could tell what Anthony was doing, easily enough, and couldn't help feeling a little endeared towards him for it. He'd done a lot, already, just to make sure Luca was comfortable, and put a lot of effort into the little carnival even though only they would see it. He was a good kid. Once she was sure no outside influences were still trying to find him, she thought she might even let him visit their home.

Luca looked over at Garrett when he laid down, a little amused, but very gently set the lion back with the other animals and shifted his weight a little where he sat. "I want to see. . ." He murmured softly, not wanting to leave Garrett but not wanting to lie down either. He had slept a little, the night before, and he didn't like being confined so much with the blanket touching the top of his head, but he didn't want to make Garrett leave.

Evelyn only smiled a little and gave Garrett's ankle a pat in his stead, as it was nearest to her. "Come on, lazybones. Anthony worked hard, so let's go see the rest."
 
Garrett chuckled and got to his knees, crawling out of the tent. "I'm coming, I'm coming. I'm an old man, you know."

"Aren't you like almost my age?" Anthony asked, laughing.

"I'm still older," Garrett protested playfully. He got up outside of the tent and glanced behind him for Luca. "So, Luca! What would you like to try next? The roller coaster, or the duck pond?"

Watson wasn't patient enough for the humans to decide. He ambled over to the pond and took a few laps of water. Then he batted at the ducks a few times before jumping in and swimming.

Anthony and Garrett glanced over at the same time. Garrett looked delighted, but Anthony was worried. "Is he going to be okay?"

"Oh, yeah, Watson's great. He loves water," Garrett explained, watching the cat paddle around amidst the ducks.
 
Luca followed after Garrett was out, moving out of the way so Evelyn could exit the tent, too. He wasn't sure what to pick, but when Watson hurried off he just decided to follow after, looking curiously at the ducks in the water. They were cute, but he wasn't sure what to do with them.

"Watson likes the duck pond," he said, watching with his hands braced on his knees like he might crouch down.

Evelyn made a face as she got to her feet, frowning at Watson's fun. "I hope you've got a towel around somewhere. . ." He was going to get water all over the office if they didn't dry him, she thought, but still gave Anthony a little smile. "I think we'll have to let him have his fun before we can play." He was such a strange cat, liking water so much, but it was all right. Luca would have fun watching until Watson was done, and in the meantime she would take some pictures of him swimming around.
 
"Aw! That's totally fine with me," Anthony said, flopping down beside the duck pond to watch Watson swim.

Garrett laughed and wandered off. "I'll go get the towel. Silly cat."

Watson seemed to like the attention. He paddled around for a good few minutes before swimming over to the side of the pond near Luca. Then he meowed, as though asking to be pulled out - although he was perfectly capable of climbing out on his own.

"Here, Luca. Want to help me dry him off?" Garrett asked, returning and holding out two towels.

Once the cat was dry and had wandered off again, Anthony explained how the pond worked. "All right, so every duck pond is a little different. For this one, you use a net and scoop out one duck at a time. If the duck has a purple sticker on the bottom, you can pick a prize from the purple bucket. Green sticker means a green bucket prize, and orange sticker means an orange bucket prize!" he added. The purple bucket had candy, the green bucket had jewelry, and the orange bucket had sticker sheets.

Anthony scooped up a duck with the net as an example, and then put the duck back and held the net out to Luca. "Here you go! And since this is an in house carnival, you can play as many times as you want."
 
Luca looked over at Anthony sitting down, and after a moment joined him, settling in cross-legged to watch Watson have fun. When he meowed to be out, Luca was seconds from just reaching in and letting the cat drip all over him when Garrett offered a towel, and was eager enough to help dry Watson off, though probably a bit too gentle in doing so.

He was quiet as Anthony explained, watching and listening, and Evelyn could only stand back and marvel a bit at his attention span even as she took a picture now and again. Everything was simple and colorful, and he'd gotten some sleep with Garrett around to quiet his gifts, she supposed. It was just reassuring that he had the capacity for it still, under ideal circumstances.

"Just . . . scoop it?" He asked, and frowned a little when his first attempt displaced too much water and toppled the duck out. More focused now, he shifted around until he was on his knees to get closer, and very gently tried again, with better success this time. "Oh. Got it." Careful not to drip on the floor, he brought it closer to look underneath. Orange. Did that mean he got a prize?
 
Anthony nodded eagerly. "That's right! You've got the idea." He clapped his hands and grinned once Luca eventually scooped a duck out of the water. "Orange! That means you get a prize from the orange bucket," he announced, and he picked up the bucket and held it towards Luca.

Luckily, all the sticker sheets were fairly similar, so Luca wouldn't have to think too hard to pick between them. There were sticker sheets with trucks, some with circus themed pictures, and some with fish.

"Oooh! Good catch on the duck, Luca," Garrett added. "Stickers are so much fun." He was hoping for candy when it came time for his turn, but he was in no rush. And it was way more fun watching Luca have fun, anyway.
 
Luca looked at the bucket in confused surprised, but after a moment got the hint to pick out a sheet of stickers and took one of the ones with fish on them to look at. He wasn't sure what he would stick them to, or why, but they were pretty to look at, at least. Later, he could look at them and remember feeling happy. It was a simple task, but he liked having Garrett's encouragement.

"Do you want to try again?" Evelyn encouraged, enjoying watching them interact and have their fun. "You might get a different color next time."

Luca looked back at her, then nodded a little and held the duck over the water. "I put it back?" He asked, hesitant but thinking if he kept removing ducks it would probably be too easy. It was supposed to be a mystery what color he got, wasn't it?
 
"Yup," Anthony encouraged him. "You can put him back in the water, and I'll mix the ducks up for you." He smiled and stuck his hands into the pool, stirring up the water to make the ducks swim. Then he leaned back and wiped his arms off on a towel. "All right! Go ahead and pick another duck."

Even though it wasn't a real carnival, Anthony couldn't help feeling that this one was even better than the one he'd received Mr. Clown at. For one thing, everyone was here because they wanted to be - except maybe Evelyn - while his parents had only gone with in exchange for him staying out of the house for a week. And most of the group seemed to be having genuine fun.

"Those ducks sure are cute! Do they squeak?" Garrett asked, sitting near the pond and watching the ducks float around.

Anthony nodded and tossed one to him. "Sure do! Try it out."

Garrett beamed and squeaked the duck, laughing when Watson hurried over to examine the source of the sound. "Well, hello, Watson!"
 
It made sense to mix the ducks, Luca thought, but still watched with rapt attention as Anthony did it, for a moment trying to follow the orange duck with his eyes before deciding that might be cheating. Distracted by the slow swirling of the ducks in the water, his attention only drifted away at the sound of the squeak, and Watson's hurried footsteps to come and see.

"I hope he knows it's not one of his toys," Evelyn said with a little smile, "or you're going to end up fishing him out of the pool again."

Luca wouldn't mind waiting, if Watson wanted to swim again, but while the cat inspected the squeaking duck he reached the net out again and after a try or two fished out another duck. Everyone was watching Watson, so he just dried it off on the knee of his pants and held it in his hands, content to wait and see if he still got to have another prize. The music and ambient noise in the background had finally caught his attention, and he only sat listening and holding the duck as he waited.

After a little pause, Evelyn crouched down to his side and a bit behind him, staying close but not wanting to get between him and Anthony. "And what's this one?" She prompted, gently drawing both of their attention again. "Green? You've almost got the full set of colors."
 
"The green bucket's all jewelry," Anthony explained, beaming. "There's a few different necklaces, rings, and bracelets that look pretty cool." He held the green bucket out towards Luca and smiled. "Go ahead, take your pick."

Garrett chuckled. "Not to worry. I'll toss the duck so it's away from the water. Go on, Watson! Go get it!" He gave the duck a light toss. Sure enough, Watson scampered off after it, pouncing on the duck again and kicking it.

"Heh. Maybe Watson should take one of the ducks with him as his prize," Anthony suggested with a warm smile. "I think he likes that even more than the elephant."

"That's very kind of you, Anthony. Thank you. Perhaps we'll give him both," Garrett suggested.
 
Luca blinked at the new prize bucket, and after a pause reached in to pick something up. His fingers closed around a bracelet, and he inspected it for a moment before turning a little and holding it out to Evelyn. It was purple, and even though she didn't have it with her today he thought she might like to wear it with her purple parasol.

Evelyn gave him a smile, trying very hard not to think of why he wouldn't like things around his wrists, and accepted it graciously even though it wasn't something she would have picked out for herself. "For me? Thank you, Luca. You don't have to share your prizes, but thank you. I love it."

He smiled just a little for her, feeling pleased that she liked it, and set the duck gently back in the water to watch Watson playing off to the side. He was just glad everyone was happy.
 
Garrett's eyes twinkled. "Very sweet of you to share, Luca. You know - that bracelet looks very nearly the size of Watson's collar. I think if I get a green duck on my turn, I'll pick out a bracelet for Watson to wear."

"That'd be so cute!" Anthony agreed. "You can go next, as soon as Luca's finished playing."

"Oh, for sure. No rush, though," Garrett said, laying back against the wall and relaxing. "Somebody splash me with water if I fall asleep though, eh?"

Anthony snorted. "You can't fall asleep yet! You haven't even gone on the roller coaster."

"Ah. Yes. Very good point," Garrett agreed with a grin, although he was already folding his arms behind his head. It wasn't that he was tired, but seeing all three of his closest friends getting along left him so at ease. He knew he could trust them all around each other.
 
Evelyn could see Luca already pondering it, starting to move like he was going to hand over the net immediately, and put a gentle hand on his arm to stop him. "Why don't you go one more time, then it can be Garrett's turn? Maybe you'll get purple this time."

He thought about it, not wanting to leave Garrett out of the game, but finally nodded a little and looked at the gently moving ducks. When he'd picked on out mentally, he shifted his weight forward a little more for a better angle and very carefully scooped it out of the water. He was careful to let it drip over the pool rather than the carpet, and looked at it with slightly wide eyes when he saw the color.

"Oh. Purple." He'd gotten all three with only three tries. What were the odds of that? He wondered. "I got it."

Evelyn gave his shoulder a congratulatory pat and got back to her feet to make more room for Garrett to come over. "Nice catch. Now you've got the whole set."
 
Anthony gave a low whistle. "Wow! All three colors?" he asked in surprise. He grinned and held out the candy bucket towards Luca. "You must be really lucky! Congratulations."

Garrett was already sitting on the other side of the duck pond, relaxing almost to the point of dozing off, but he smiled when Luca won another prize. "Well done, Luca! Which candy are you going to eat?" He was definitely going to take a nap in the animal tent once everyone had had their fun with the carnival.

Watson and Anthony still had energy to spare, though. While Anthony mixed up the ducks again with his arm, Watson took his duck in his mouth and wandered over to Luca with it, setting it gently at the boy's feet. Then he stared up at him and meowed.

"Say. Looks like Watson wants to share his prize with you, Luca," Garrett said with a gentle smile.
 
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