sneaky.

[Salem Oldwood]

Salem thought himself terribly clever this time.

The sign had been posted in bold letters at the front gate: 'NOBODY IS ALLOWED INTO THE FAIR GROUNDS WITHOUT A DATE'.
Which was, at first thought, quite preposterous. Something that should've sent up at least a couple outroars.
But no, nothing... apparently this was the norm.

So, Salem had decided to drag along two of the tennis club girls, who had been happy enough just to get into the fair. As soon as they had entered, he had left them in the dust. Who wanted to drag two bimbos around all day?
No, Salem knew exactly what he was here for: the carnival games. Those adorable stuffed prizes had his (and, subsequently, Melville's) name all over them.

And Salem didn't know the word 'lose'. Well, technically, he did... but he didn't subscribe to the theory.

[Mayu Nami Yoshiko]

Mayu hurried along, her pulled up hair bouncing as she walked. The guards had let her through, after she swore her date was inside. She was here for a stuffed rabbit, the one she saw last time with Salem nearby. Ugh, Salem. She grimaced, who needed the loser after he so rudely ran out on her? Plus, the stupid storekeeper caught her and made her pay for her own theft, and his. So rude, it was one thing to stick the girl the bill when your out of cash, it was a whole other ball park when you steal and leave her to clean it up. Mayu stomped her foot and headed for the basketball game, waiting in line to be able to shoot.

[Salem Oldwood]

Meanwhile, Salem was at the front.

"And... score! Again!"

The man blew on his horn, and Salem put his basketball down, grinning cheekily as the man handed him a gigantic fluffy rabbit.

"Melville's gonna love this." he said, walking away from the line with the animal under his arm. However, he caught a familiar glimpse of black hair, and turned, grinning. "Hello there, doll. Enjoying the brisk air?"

[Mayu Nami Yoshiko]

Mayu turned and spotted Salem, quickly she did a once over, trying not to let her face fall when she saw the rabbit. "Hey Salem, nah. It's a bit to cold for the like of me." she laughed and walked away from the line. Now there just wasn't much point in playing that game, maybe another vender had the same rabbit, though it would probably be smaller.

[Salem Oldwood]

"Bit too cold? Oh, c'mon. Go live in Alaska, and then you'll know the true meaning of cold."

He followed after her, a merry spring in his step. In fact, he seemed entirely cheerful, on top of the world. His pale skin even seemed healthier.

"C'mon, the line's not that long. It'd only take a couple minutes... 's an easy game."

[Mayu Nami Yoshiko]

"Not what I'm after." She said, turning around to face him. Something was different, her eyes searched his face for the meaning. Then she smiled. "Why are you so happy?" she asked, searching the rows of games.

[Salem Oldwood]

"I dunno." Salem said, laughing slightly. "I'm just on top of the world today. No particular reason."

He paused, eying the rabbit in his arms. It was rather adorable. Perhaps, instead of giving it to Melville, he'd keep it.

"All right, all right. Big decision here. I was gonna give this to Melville to freak him out, but..."

INSPIRATION.

"You want it instead?"

[Mayu Nami Yoshiko]

Mayu stopped again and turned to face him, one of her eyebrows raised. "Where did this come from?" she asked, smiling slightly. He hadn't seemed like a real big nice guy, but then he could just be playing her. It was too possible, to likely. She shook her head to herself, no way was she going to let herself fall for Salem. The pieces would just be too small to pick up.

[Salem Oldwood]

Salem jumped from one foot to the other, as if eager to get somewhere.

"Take the rabbit or I'm changing my mind." he sang cheekily, wiggling it in her face before pulling it away. "Rabbit, rabbit, who's got the rabbit? Do you have the rabbit? Better tell me now."

[Mayu Nami Yoshiko]

Mayu laughed and grabbed at the rabbit. "I want it, pretty please?" she smiled at him and grabbed for the rabbit again. No way was Melville getting that rabbit, he would destroy it. She would love it, of course.

[Salem Oldwood]

"All right, fine."

He handed it to her, smiling. "If I have any bad dreams, though, I get to borrow it. So no putting any weird perfume or girly stuff on it."

Shoving his now empty hands in his pockets, he scanned the booths, small bells on his new collar jingling lightly as he started walking again.

"Hmm, maybe it'll start snowing soon..."

[Mayu Nami Yoshiko]

Mayu smiled and hugged the rabbit, trying not to giggle. "I promise I won't." she said, following him. It was just like last time, she saw him, she followed. She looked up, hearing a weird noise, and noticed bells on his collar. She smiled again and reached to tap one, hearing it jingle as it hit the other one.

[Salem Oldwood]

Salem laughed as she played with his collar.

"You like? It's got some heavy duty spells on it. If I wear this thing, I won't skip out on any more dates of ours."

He winked at her, noticing a ferris wheel in the distance. It towered over everything else... and probably gave a good view of the surrounding area. He was curious to see what it looked like, never really having an overhead view of the grounds.

"I'm also pretty interested in the dueling club... it just started up again, didn't it?"

[Mayu Nami Yoshiko]

"Yeah, it did. But I'm not really a fighter, never properly trained. I can do somethings, but mostly defense." she said, following his gaze up to the Ferris Wheel. "Did you want to ride?" she asked, smiling at him. It was weird, both boys were. One minute she was with Salem, the next with Melville, and back to Salem. She shook her head, it was just to confusing.

[Salem Oldwood]

"Hmm. I've always been better with small tricks... stuff to keep me warm at night, earn me a couple bucks. I guess that's how it is on the road."

He paused to buy tickets, glancing at Mayu for confirmation on the ferris wheel ride.

"But recently I've been focusing on offensive spells. When I'm out of here, I'm probably gonna wander again, and I need to keep myself safe, right?"