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| Details |
| Author: | Luridel |
| Summary: | Sil takes Cressidha to the Darkmoon Faire. It's a date. Officially. ~7k words. |
| Rating: | T for Teen |
Chain: Cressil
Cressidha waits in Goldshire, outside the fenced-off area that contains the portal to Darkmoon Island. Her hair is down, as recommended by Ben, and she is dressed in purple.
A pair of fire jugglers are flinging torches to each other back and forth in a wide arc.
Sil arrives right at the appointed time, dressed in casual but smart leathers. His eyes light up when he spots Cressidha already there, waiting by the entrance to Darkmoon Island, and he rushes to her side. He smiles and says, "Good Evening! I hope I haven't kept you waiting."
Cressidha turns, taking her eyes off the jugglers. "Good evening, Silvestre. Not at all."
Sil offers Cressidha his arm to escort, and says, "Ready to see the wonders of the Darkmoon Faire? The island is just through that portal. It's a safe portal - I've used it before."
Cressidha takes his arm politely. "I am. Shall we?"
Sil smiles. "Let's."
They arrive in a dark wood, with a flashing red arrow on a spring pointing the way down an ominous path.
Cressidha reads off the sign on the arrow, "Ahead of you, down the path…"
Sil smiles reassuringly at Cressidha. "Like I said, it's got a certain eeriness, yeah?"
"Ah. I see." Cressidha looks curiously around her. She does not seem spooked.
The next sign reads 'A Majestic, Magical Faire!' Cressidha does not read this one out loud.
"They do a lot for ambiance, I guess," Sil says. "They used to just have a plot down by Goldshire. This is much more interesting."
The next sign reads 'Ignore the Darkened Eerie Woods'.
"And implies significantly more funding." Cressidha looks around cautiously.
The next sign reads, a little more creepily, 'Ignore the Eyes the Blink and Stare'.
Cressidha looks for eyes.
"Yeah, probably," Sil nods. "These kinds of faires are usually run pretty close to the red, I think. Might be they got a benefactor or three."
The faire itself is visible off the hillside at this point. Cressidha diverts from the path, leading Sil closer so she can see.
Sil points at the opening archway, which has an eye at the top of it. "Might be the decor they're talking about, with the last sign."
"Ah. Their visual motif." Cressidha nods and returns to walking.
As fireworks go off in the distance, Cressidha brings up her ice barrier. Her hand on Sil's arm gets significantly colder.
"I suppose the location also means they don't need to build up and take down so often," Sil says. Reflexively, he brings his other hand to rest on hers, to warm it.
Cressidha clears her throat and dismisses the barrier. "Yes, I imagine so. Pardon me."
"I'm not sure what all acts and rides they'll have going, but maybe we can look through, see which ones you might be interested in?" Sil says, looking over at Cressidha.
"Of course." Cressidha warily approaches the Forsaken woman at the information tent.
On the path, a draenei and a troll juggle fire sticks between them.
The Forsaken woman, Selina Dourman, says, "Welcome to the Darkmoon Faire!"
"Thank you," Cressidha says politely. "Where do we buy tickets?"
"Oh, of course," Selina smiles. The effect is a little disturbing. "You'll want to talk to Zina, the goblin over there, if what you're interested in is tokens. The prize tickets you can earn from the games."
"Thank you, ma'am," Sil says politely, though there's a hint of nervousness around his eyes.
"Thank you, ma'am," Cressidha says at the same time. She glances up at Sil and smiles at him.
Sil smiles back.
"I've not met many Forsaken, socially," Sil observes. "She seemed very friendly though."
Cressidha nods. She doesn't let go of Sil's arm, but she is definitely taking the lead here as she approaches the token vendor.
Zina Sharpworth says, "Hurry, hurry, hurry! Step right up and purchase your game tokens!"
"We'll take twenty each, please," Cressidha says. It's an arbitrary number. She has no idea how much they cost or how many tokens each ride or attraction will cost. She's already taking out her purse.
"Excellent," Zina says, retrieving two sacks of tokens. "That'll be 3 and half gold."
"I could pay for it," Sil says quietly.
Cressidha, already in the middle of counting out coins, shakes her head. "I'll cover this, if you'd like to cover dinner later?"
"That'll work," Sil nods. "I'll do that."
Zina hands over the token bags as she takes Cressidha's gold.
Cressidha puts her purse and her tokens into a frostweave bag.
She nods politely to the goblin. Time to look at the faire.
Sil takes his own tokens and tucks them in a pocket, smiling a farewell to Zina.
"Whack some gnolls! Step right up and whack some gnolls!" calls a barker. Cress glances at the setup briefly.
Sil pauses by the Whack-a-Gnoll, and looks at Cressidha. "Maybe this is not exactly what we want to be doing here."
A very large tent is labeled UNDER CONSTRUCTION - KEEP OUT.
"It looks like they're expanding more," Sil says, glancing at the tent. "I wonder what they'll put in there. Maybe a new act…"
There's a gnome standing by an over-sized cannon. "Cannon blast! Who wants to get shot out of a cannon?"
"Hm." Cressidha does not approach the cannon.
Sil turns to the cannon and pales a little. "Now that brings back memories."
There's a little sandbox area with some children digging in the sand. Cressidha smiles at a little draenei boy.
"Were you ever shot out of a cannon?" she asks Sil.
"Ah, no," Sil says. "It was… remember back when Brendol was kidnapped? They were going to shoot him out of a cannon. They'd got one like from Darkmoon, somehow."
"Ah!" Cressidha shakes her head. "That's right."
They pass a troll manning the booth of a shooting gallery. "Test your aim! Test your aim!"
"Maybe I'd not exactly like to do that tonight," Sil smiles apologetically. Then he notices the shooting game. "Oh, would you like to try something like that?"
"I've never shot a gun in my life," Cressidha says honestly. "Why don't you go ahead?"
Sil grins at her. "Here, I'll demonstrate. This is hardly like really shooting. For that, I've honestly got more experience with bows. I started learning a bit of archery back when we were at Honor Hold."
Cressidha nods, standing a safe distance back to watch.
Sil releases Cressidha's arm to go and pay the troll with a token to play the game.
Cressidha watches the troll move the magical green indicator arrow around with a skeptical look. "He's not giving you much time to take a shot," she mutters.
It takes Sil a few shots to get the hang of the rickety faire gun, but then he hits four targets. He turns back to Cressidha. "Oh, well, it's a game. They've got to make it tricky." He offers Cressidha the gun. "Do you want to give it a try?"
Cressidha hesitates. "I… could? Very well."
Sil steps back to give Cressidha room to take her shots.
Cressidha pays the troll a token. She uses up half her time trying to figure out how to hold and aim the gun properly in the first place, then shoots the central target repeatedly, getting increasingly more accurate. The troll is forced to move the indicator arrow to that one at least some of the time.
Sil claps when she hits the arrowed center target.
Cressidha sets the gun down. "Hm. Difficult."
Sil offers his arm again. "You were definitely getting the hang of it there."
Cressidha takes his arm. "I suppose."
Sil looks around. "Hm, maybe we can find something more to your interest…"
"Tonk challenge!" Cressidha reads off a sign, and beelines for it, pulling Sil along. "I've driven these before! There was a little girl in Outland…"
Sil doesn't require a lot of pulling. "Oh, yeah! I remember that, in the north of the wastes, by Auchindoun."
Sil grins at Cressidha. "Want to give it a go?"
Cressidha nods. "Indeed. Shall we?" She pays the dwarf a token to get a tonk controller.
Sil follows suit, getting his own tonk.
Cressidha is absolutely vicious at tonk warfare. She has practiced driving one of these little things around and shooting. She hits targets and enemy tanks alike, wheeling her tonk around nonstop to avoid enemy fire.
Sil isn't bad at tonk warfare, but he didn't take it to quite the heights of Cressidha. His tonk is destroyed once, and he pays for another to keep up.
Sil laughs as he pilots his little tonk around the arena, taking out little targets.
Cressidha has hit well over the target thirty targets by the time the timer goes off. She tries to argue for a second prize ticket, but Finlay Coolshot isn't having it and only gives her the one.
"Now you are a skilled tonk driver," Sil says with a smile. "Did you practice with those kids?"
Cressidha smiles, pleased. "I, well. I practiced for that little girl, yes."
"He totally should've given you two prize tickets," Sil says loyally. "Maybe three."
Cressidha shakes her head. "Perhaps it counted towards my next thirty," she says, waving it off.
Sil chuckles.
Sil gestures to the food stand. "Should we get something now? We can carry it around to eat while we see the sights."
"Very well." Cressidha leans in closer, lowering her voice. "Ben advised against the crunchy frogs."
"Ah," Sil says, turning to Cressidha. "I'll take that advice. How about a strider drumstick? That's traditional faire food."
"Certainly." Cressidha allows Sil to place the order.
Sil orders two drumsticks, paying for dinner as promised, and offers one to Cressidha.
"Thank you." Cressidha gets herself an extra napkin and begins to eat carefully.
"Is it sort of what you expected so far?" Sil asks, after he takes a bite of his drumstick.
Cressidha shrugs. She can't talk while eating.
"Lot of stuff still bein' built," Sil says, "But it seems like it's already a pretty special place."
A line of purple torches leads to a fortune teller. Beyond that is a ring toss stand with a turtle wandering around.
Sil glances from one to the other. "Want to check our fortunes? It's not real, but it can be fun."
Cressidha nods to Sil. She looks up at a giant banner of a lady with a crystal ball. "Do they do scrying here?"
Sil considers. "I don't think they're really big on traditional magics. More like… performance stuff."
"You go first," Cressidha requests, and sits down on a bench to try and finish her drumstick before her fortune is read.
Sayge, a gnoll, looks at Sil and Cressidha. "I have long known you two would seek me out. Every sentient being in this world is driven by the choices they make. Choices beget further choice, and these in turn make someone who they are."
Cressidha gives the gnoll a polite nod and raises one finger in a sort of 'hold on, I'm eating here' gesture.
Sil blinks at the gnoll woman. "I… I suppose that's so. Will you read me my fortune? The lady here will need a minute longer."
"I will," Sayge says. "But remember, that is what your fortune is drawn from - who you are, and the choices you make."
Cressidha wraps the drumstick bone in her napkin and puts it in a much smaller bag she carries, which is embroidered with a red X. She watches Sil and Sayge.
Sayge makes a show of checking her crystal ball, eyeing Sil, and then she scribbles down a few words on a paper and slips it to him. "Your fortune."
Sil reads it and frowns, looking from the paper to the gnoll. "I… suppose this is good advice, sure."
"What is it?" Cressidha looks at Sil curiously. "Are you allowed to share, or does it not come true if you do?"
Sil laughs. "Mine is a bit more of a guide, I think, but I can share it. It just says 'never eat beef with a tauren'. I could see that being awkward."
Cressidha smiles faintly and stands. "My turn, if you please."
Sayge says, "Come speak with me, young woman, and what once was cloudy shall become crystal clear."
"Certainly." Cressidha approaches.
Sayge does the same rigmarole and writes something on a paper for Cressidha.
Sil looks on curiously. "Can I know what yours says? Is it about beef?"
"Thank you very much." Cressidha nods politely and steps back towards Sil to read it. "You will find something wonderful tomorrow."
"Oh! That's a good one," Sil smiles. "I hope you do."
"Well, I suppose that's more of a fortune than advice," Cressidha decides. "We shall see."
"Do you want to try the ring toss?" Sil asks, gesturing to a ring with a happy-looking turtle that wanders around with the target pole on his back.
Cressidha nods. "It seems straightforward. Shall we?"
"Let's do," Sil nods.
They are each given a stack of rings. They only need to land three on the turtle. The turtle, however, is not actually slow-moving.
This is one that Sil's pretty good at. A ring is not a knife, but throwing precision is absolutely his thing.
Cressidha is not. She manages to get one of her ten rings to land on the turtle's shell - not on the spike, though. That's the best she's got.
"Well done." Cressidha nods to Silvestre. She does not earn a prize ticket from this, and she seems to have expected that.
Sil collects his prize ticket cheerfully. "Thanks. That little guy moves faster than you'd expect, doesn't he?"
"He does." Cressidha smiles.
"They've got all sorts of animals down here by the docks," Sil gestures. "And there's music sometimes, here on the right."
Cressidha looks at the menagerie, and then approaches with a faint frown.
"What is it?" Sil asks, as Cressidha approaches a horse.
Cressidha has found a gnome who seems to be in charge. "Excuse me, why are those two arakkoa in a pen?"
The gnome, Yebb, squints up at Cressidha. "The bird people?"
There is an orange sign reading 'VIP Tours - Wait Here' that could potentially be a little ambiguous whether it's pointing to the arakkoa pen or right next to it.
"Yes. They're fully sentient." Cressidha gives him a piercing look.
"Yeah… they're natives of Outland?" Sil offers. "Not animals."
Yebb blinks. "Oh, you thought… oh gosh, no. They can step out of that pen whenever they like. They're visitors for the tour, yes, not animals. They are an oddity around here, though. A lot of people might want to see a bird person."
One of the arakkoa visitors waiting in the pen complains, "Where is our tour guide?"
A carnie passing by tries to reassure them, "I just saw the guide a moment ago…"
"You can go talk to them yourself if you like," Yebb offers. "I don't know when the tour guide's going to turn up… I think I saw him eating some crunchy frogs a while back."
"Ah." Cressidha relaxes. "Very well. I beg your pardon, then. Excuse me."
"No point in waiting for the tour guide ourselves then," Cressidha says with a sigh.
"I think we can wander through safely on our own," Sil agrees.
Cressidha looks down at a fully crystallized carnie in the basilisk pen. "Er."
"Most of these animals, I expect we've seen in the wild," Sil observes.
The carnie makes some noises to indicate that he's still alive and it'll wear off in a bit. Probably.
Sil, who was about to start trying some antidotes, nods and steps away.
Cressidha peers into the smaller cages. "Penguins… And cockatrices…"
"Oh wow, you're right," Sil says, peering at them. "They must have some kind of climate control on these."
Cressidha stops at an enclosed pen that reads 'Petting Zoo!' and 'Pony Rides!'
"Little ones… I hope that's safe for children," Sil looks at a child riding a pony in the same pen. "Well, I'm sure the Darkmoon people know what they're doing."
"Could use more adult supervision," Cressidha says, looking at the pen like maybe a gnome will pop out from behind a hay bale at any moment.
"I bet somebody's around," Sil nods, looking around. There is no one. Maybe they are stealthed.
Cressidha nods.
Surely someone must be.
As they continue through the exotic zoo, Sil casually reaches a hand over towards Cressidha's.
Cressidha takes his hand automatically. Hand holding is acceptable on dates, she was told.
Sil's smile brightens briefly, and he holds Cressidha's hand safely in his own.
"The concert should be starting not too long from now," Sil gestures at the stage. "Maybe we could have a seat for a bit, take some time to talk?"
Cressidha nods. "Very well."
Sil finds them an open spot on the bleachers a little way back from the stage, where clusters of Horde and Alliance civilians loiter, talking.
Cressidha takes a seat on the second-lowest rung of the bleachers, still holding Sil's hand.
A few taurens seem to be setting up instruments on the stage, but it's still quiet for now, save for the murmur of other, nearby conversations. Sil turns to Cressidha, her hand still in his.
"So far, no King Varian," Sil says with a tentative smile. "It's a little unusual, after being in Elwynn all the time, to see so many Horde folk around. Everybody's here for a good time, though, not to start anything."
Cressidha nods. "So it seems. I suppose I've grown… a little more accustomed, having spent so much time in Shattrath and Dalaran."
"Is that where you're more comfortable these days?" Sil asks, with genuine interest in his voice. "The bigger, more inclusive cities?"
"I'm not particularly uncomfortable in any city," Cressidha says, with a shrug.
"Not uncomfortable, okay," Sil says, looking at her. "But then what kind of place do you prefer?"
Cressidha looks down at her lap, considering. "I enjoyed living at the townhouse in Stormwind. It was more my home than the estate at the Vineyard was. Living in Dalaran is… currently acceptable for my crafting work, but I still don't particularly care for the Kirin Tor, and I wouldn't want to have a permanent residence there."
"Yeah, I could understand that," Sil says, watching the side of her face. "Dalaran was a good place for me, in the end, after Wrathgate. Just the peacefulness of it, the feeling of safety. But I'm not a mage, so there's currents I wouldn't see. Have you ever thought much of Theramore? Lady Proudmoore and her mages aren't part of the Kirin Tor, and she's always been a voice for peace."
"Do people actually live in Theramore who aren't affiliated with or providing services for the army?" Cressidha looks up at him.
"It is a city, so I'd imagine so," Sil says. "Really martial, though, for a place whose leader is so vocal about not wanting to go to war. I guess they're close to the Kalimdor borders, so they've got to defend. Might not be all that comfortable as a place, but I think Lady Proudmoore and Archmage Tervosh and their folk probably are more like-minded to us than some of the other leaders."
Cressidha goes, "Mm," and glances around at the stands. She seems possibly ill-at-ease having this conversation in public. "This band, they're the Tauren Chieftains, yes? They used to play in Shattrath."
Sil nods, and accepts the redirect of the conversation without comment. "You've heard 'em before, then? Any favorite songs?"
Cressidha hesitates. "Ah, well. I'm afraid I haven't… stayed for a show before? Their music is generally… quite loud."
"Oh, hmm," Sil looks again at the stage. "I was sort of hoping for some kind of… peaceful traditional music or something. We don't have to hang out for the concert. Want to go walk by the water? Or get a funnel cake?"
"Ah." Cressidha smiles faintly, relieved. "Let's go for a walk, shall we?"
Sil smiles, rising from the bleachers as the first screeches, testing the sound equipment, begin to sound. "A walk sounds perfect." He leads her away from the concert stage and over towards the edge of Darkmoon Island, to the dock by the exotic zoo, where the stars are visible in the sky.
Cressidha seems quietly grateful to get away from the concert. She looks out over the water. "I haven't seen any knife-throwers yet, only the fire jugglers," she mentions casually. "I was curious, because you said that was your act before."
"Yeah, I haven't seen any," Sil says, narrowing his eyes as he darts a glance back at the fairgrounds. "A lot of tents marked 'Under Construction' though, so I guess they're still building up to the new location. Might be that's coming soon. Or maybe they couldn't find somebody - it's not a real common skill. If it were seven years ago, I might've come here to pitch the act. These days, though, don't think I could go back to it. Not full-time, anyway."
Cressidha has spotted something in the water, and she moves to the edge of the docks to peer at it. It's a floating ring of tied-together flags in a wooden frame and red-painted wooden arrows - the landing target for the cannon. "What made you pick it up in the first place?"
"Rebellion, maybe? It was just a thing I got in my head to do when I was a kid, which was completely off what everybody wanted me to do. I would sneak out and find a place to practice, when I felt down. Turns out skill was a matter of time and practice. You've got to be able to do the same throw, exactly, every time, to know where it'll end up," Sil steps up beside her, leaning a little to look out in the water. "Funny story, but the gnome who changed my name, the lawyer? I'd met them once, back then. They were really impressive with the knife-throwing, too."
"Your lawyer threw knives," Cressidha repeats, just settling that fact logically into her head where it belongs. "I see."
"Yeah, name of Incunabulum Kettleblack," Sil says, smiling with fond memory. "They're a lawyer you can trust, for sure. Anyway, if that's where the cannon shot ends up, I'm glad we didn't do it. I didn't aim to bring you here to get us both dumped in a lake."
Cressidha mouths the lawyer's name to herself. That sure does sound like a gnome. "Ah, well. Yes. Slow fall or not, being shot out of a cannon in the first place doesn't seem like a pleasant experience."
"And yet people do it for fun," Sil observes, as another fair-goer flies through the sky and splashes into the watery target. "I do enjoy some dangerous sports, but usually the ones that I can control more. Like climbing, that sort of thing."
Cressidha releases Sil's hand to applaud politely for the person who nailed the landing. "I do like heights," she says, considering. "I believe the cannon is the deterring factor in this scenario."
"I suppose there's no reason to fear being high up," Sil says, glancing sideways at her. "Since you can fall slowly and everything. I fall as fast as anyone, but I'm pretty good at landing, up to a certain point."
Cressidha nods. "Would you mind terribly if we were to go hit some pop-up gnoll puppets with oversized mallets? The way the grid was arranged, it seemed like a mage might have an advantage with blink pathways."
"Oh, um, yeah, I'd be happy to," Sil says with a smile. "We've still got some tokens to spare. I'm pretty fast on my feet - maybe we can see if your blink pathways win out."
Cressidha smiles back, offering her hand out. "Shall we?"
"Let's do," Sil says, taking her hand as they turn back towards the fairgrounds.
It's getting later in the evening at this point, and there are fewer children running around as Cressidha and Sil return to Whack-a-Gnoll.
The booth is still in operation, manned by a purple-haired orc woman who collects their tokens and hands them each a mallet.
There are nine barrels in a three-by-three grid. A gnoll is worth one point. The 'Hogger' puppet is worth three points. There are also some human 'children' puppets, which are presumably supposed to be avoided.
Cressidha holds her oversized mallet like a bat in two hands and nods to Sil. "Ready?"
Sil hoists his own, as he rolls onto the balls of his feet and back. "Ready when you are!"
Cressidha nods. "Let's go - three, two…" The puppets are already cycling up on their pedestals, and Cressidha holds the count until she sees a darker-colored gnoll. "One." She blinks into the arena, bringing the mallet down directly on the Hogger puppet immediately.
Sil laughs and darts around to the side, hitting two gnoll puppets in quick succession. In his enthusiasm, he starts to swing at a suddenly-emerging child puppet, but veers off immediately once he realizes his mistake.
Cressidha is normally a fierce competitor, but there are things she could be doing to actively sabotage Sil that she keeps choosing not to do - she isn't trying to block him off, trip him, or use any mobility-reducing magic against him - she's just trying to maximize her own score. More than once, the two of them bring their mallets down on the same gnoll puppet simultaneously.
For his part, Sil seems delighted to be playing, whether he wins or loses. He's moving as quickly as he can from gnoll to gnoll, but he makes no effort to block, trip, or otherwise hinder Cressidha. Just before the next time the Hogger puppet appears, Sil ducks behind a gnoll puppet and vanishes, reappearing just in time to bring down his mallet on Hogger's puppet head.
Sil hits thirty points first, shortly followed by Cressidha, and both of them have time to whack another couple gnolls before the bell goes off to signify that they've run out of time for their token.
Cressidha steps proudly out of the gate and collects her prize ticket in exchange for the mallet, then holds out a hand to Sil to shake. "Well done. Good match."
Sil grins, turning to her after handing in his own mallet and collecting his ticket, and reaches to shake her hand. "Good match. That was more fun than I'd imagined. Gnoll puppets are clearly no match for us!" He pauses, looking down the central path. "Any thought of what you'd like to do next? Do you like fireworks?"
Cressidha shakes his hand firmly. "I like them well enough," she says. "They can be pretty." Spoken like someone who likes the visual effects but perhaps not the noise.
"They've got… I bet they've got like sparklers we could buy, if you'd enjoy that," Sil offers. "I know you can likely make something just as impressive with the elements yourself…"
"What other souvenirs do they have here…?" Cressidha asks. "We've won a few tickets so far…"
"We could go see, at the shops," Sil suggests. "I'm not sure what else they've got, but probably some Darkmoon clothes, maybe some of the toys, like the tonks."
"It might be nice to have some sort of souvenir," Cressidha decides. "Assuming we've won enough tickets."
"If not, we can pool them, get you something," Sil says, leading the way over to the prize vendors. "Or just try the games more times and get more."
There are several different stands that exchange tickets for prizes, and some stands that just sell items - the fireworks, food, and drinks all cost money. Cressidha looks over all the options, calculating.
Sil looks over the souvenir stand, examining short-term souvenirs like flowers and balloons, and longer-term like a toy sword. He glances over to Cressidha to see if there's anything in particular she seems to have her eye on.
Cressidha seems to spend the longest inspecting a purple box, about the size of a jewelry box, and the clothes that they have available. Either purchase would definitely require more tickets than the two of them have earned thus far.
Sil moves over to where Cressidha is looking. "What do you think? I could toss a few more rings, you can get one of these as a souvenir?"
Sil looks at the box and the clothing carefully, as if trying to memorize them. Even if Cressidha says no to the consolidation of tickets, it's entirely possible these things might mysteriously appear at her suite in Dalaran one day soon.
"We should both have souvenirs," Cressidha says. "So we'll need to go back to the games. You were very good at the ring toss, that might be the fastest route for you. I believe I would be most efficient with the tonks."
Sil tilts his head, looking at her. "There's fastest, and there's most fun… if you're doing the tonks, I'd like to be there to cheer you on. Maybe I won't get a ticket for it, but I'd get to see you enjoy yourself, which is really a better prize."
"Oh!" Cressidha looks at Sil as if he's brought up a point she hadn't even considered. "Yes, of course."
"You don't have to watch me turtle throw, if you don't want," Sil says apologetically. "But maybe we can do the tonks first?"
"Of course. You can play with me, if you'd like; I can always buy us more tokens." Cressidha smiles at him.
"Then let's do it together?" Sil suggests. "You know, I bet I'll improve with the practice, too. That's usually how things go!"
Cressidha nods and moves to take his arm again. "Certainly."
Sil leads Cressidha back over to the tonks. For now, they still have plenty of tokens to play, and it isn't long before they're both at the side of the ring, piloting their own little tonk machines and shooting at targets.
Tickets are Earned
By the time Cressidha and Sil return to the prize booths, it has gone past 'evening' and well into 'night'. The concert is over. The area is a little darker, a little spookier.
Cressidha counts her tickets. "This should do. What would you like to get for your souvenir, Silvestre? I think I would like that box." She begins laying out tickets on the counter.
"I think I might get a cape," Sil says, looking at the cape with the Darkmoon eye on the back. "Might not be great for everyday wear, but I bet it'll be fun for Hallow's End." Sil lays out his own tickets and glances at Cressidha. "It's really a shame there was no knife-throwing act."
"Indeed." Cressidha claims her souvenir box and puts it away in her bag, stepping back to let Sil pick up his cape. "Was yours typically an indoor or an outdoor act?"
Sil swirls his cape onto his shoulders. It suits, for now. Then he turns to Cressidha and answers, "Outdoors, usually, with some props." Then he pauses, and adds with a touch of shyness, "If you were interested… I could probably find some wood to use as a target around here somewhere?"
Cressidha blinks and nods. "Oh, certainly. The Darkmoon Faire won't have a problem with that, will they?"
"Surely not," Sil says. "They have so much construction around, there's definitely some scrap wood. It doesn't matter if scrap gets a few new holes in it, does it?"
Cressidha does not know enough about construction to answer this unexpected question. "Probably… not?"
Sil knows a little bit more about construction, so he nods with confidence. "It'll be fine. But… would you rather we ask permission first?"
Cressidha considers this. "You probably know what's appropriate in this situation better than I."
"I think nobody'll mind," Sil says with a reassuring smile, and reaches to take Cressidha's hand again and lead her away. "Would you mind being my volunteer and audience? I mean… it would mean I'd throw knives at you, but I'm really good at it." Sil seems to belatedly realize that he has just asked to throw knives at his date. Maybe that's not something you ask on the first date, Sil. He amends hastily, "I'm sorry, that's a terrible thing to ask. You don't need to, I can just use a target."
"To clarify, ah, the goal is generally not to hit the volunteer?" Cressidha raises an eyebrow.
"Oh, no, I would never," Sil nods vehemently. "I've never hit a volunteer."
"Well, then that's quite all right, then. I can hold still. Just tell me how to stand." Cressidha does not seem even remotely afraid that Sil will hit her with a knife.
Sil brightens at the gesture of trust, and leads her around behind one of the tents under construction, looking around for planks or plywood boards that might serve as a makeshift target.
In the meantime, he continues to explain, "Really the most important thing is not to move or flinch. At first, when I did the show, I would use another performer in the audience instead of a real volunteer. But then I got better at picking people - folk who've been in combat are usually best at it, not freaking out from weapons flying nearby if they know they're not intended to hurt them. And you… I get the sense you don't flinch easily," Sil says with a smile, like that is intended as a compliment. "You're always so calm and steady, even when things aren't certain."
Cressidha smiles, pleased. "I endeavor to be, yes. It was a large part of my mage training, to help me reactively curve spells around my allies." She finds a spot to stand with her back to the woods rather than the tent and folds her hands in front of her.
Sil manages to find a suitably person-height plywood board, and he props it up against a tree at the edge of the fairground.
"And that you're impressively good at," Sil says, settling the plywood firmly into place and starting to pull out his throwing knives from his bag. Does he carry these always, or was he hoping to show up an amateur knife-thrower? "You never frosted me at all, when we were working together. Just like I'd never hit you with any of these."
Sil takes a few steps back, and lifts a knife between two fingers. "Normally, I'd have a whole show patter to go with it, but this is a little more improvised. Maybe, strike a pose? One you can hold."
"Thank you," Cressidha says politely. "A pose that I can hold…" She settles for putting her hands on her hips. "Is this too simple?"
"Oh, no, that's fine," Sil says with a reassuring smile. "So one of the first things I would usually do in a show is outlining. All you need to do is hold still, just like that."
Sil throws the knives in quick succession, plucking the next smoothly out of his offhand before each throw. They land in the plywood exactly as planned - just above Cressidha's head, above each shoulder, just to the left and right of her torso, and then finally just beneath her right and left forearms.
Sil could probably have thrown them a little bit closer to her, but he's likely taking care not to clip a single hair on her head or a thread of her clothing. He smiles, holding up empty hands. "And then you can step out and see the shape of it."
Cressidha holds very still until Sil gives her the all-clear, then steps forward and turns to admire the knives. "Remarkable," she says. "Truly."
Sil looks relieved at the praise. Maybe he was still a little nervous about the unconventional romantic approach of throwing knives at one's date. He steps over to the plywood and retrieves his knives. "There are a few other tricks, though maybe I'll save some for the future. But one more thing tonight…"
Sil reaches into his bag and retrieves a flower, a light purple rose, only slightly mushed from its evening in a satchel. Sil is careful of the thorns on the stem. He bows neatly and hands it over to Cressidha.
"For this, I want you to stand near the target, and toss the rose when I say go," Sil instructs, a confidence coming into his voice as he discusses something he knows well. "That sound alright?"
Cressidha takes it, looking at it curiously. "Where should I throw it? Straight up in the air? Away from me?" She repositions herself near the target.
"Straight up into the air, but in front of the target," Sil instructs. Holding the rose, Cressidha might notice it's weighted at the bottom of the stem. "If you can do an underhand toss, and stay back a pace, that's perfect."
"Very well." Cressidha follows his instructions, stepping a little bit back to the side and throwing the rose directly up in front of the target.
The rose falls stem downward (likely planned from the weighting). Quick as a flash, Sil throws two knives simultaneously with one hand. The rose jerks in the air as the knives pass just below the bloom on either side of the stem, driving it towards the target by the force of the air. The knives embed in the plywood, and the flower rests neatly on top of them, petals and stem completely unharmed.
Sil lets out a breath - he might not have been 100% on this trick - and gestures to the rose with a flourish.
Cressidha stares in pure astonishment. "Remarkable," she repeats. This seems to be a high-tier Aspenwood compliment. She steps closer to the target to inspect the flower. "My goodness, you didn't even slice it - it's just resting there."
Sil's smile broadens. "It would be a shame if I'd damaged it, since I also intended to give it to you."
Cressidha looks down at her purple shirt. "I seem to have color-coordinated unknowingly," she says, smiling. "And this at the bottom, this was to orient it?"
"Exactly," Sil straightens, pleased that she noticed such details. "I needed it to be bloom-top to catch it, and the bloom-side does tend to be heavier than the stem."
"You're quite talented." Cressidha takes the flower very carefully by a spot in the stem without thorns. "You'll want the weight back, I take it," she says, holding the flower still for him to remove it.
"Thanks," Sil says, and carefully unwinds the weighting at the end of the stem, string wound through some kind of metal. He tucks it back in his bag. "And thank you for trusting me to show you all of this, Lady Cressidha."
The use of her title seems to visibly jar Cressidha's expression straight into neutrality. "You don't need to call me that, Silvestre. We're courting now, aren't we?"
"Yes, we are," Sil looks chagrined. "I hadn't meant to say that to create… distance. It's… it's a habit? A habit of respect. Of course, I respect you whatever I call you, Cressidha." Sil takes a step towards her, as if to close the metaphorical distance.
Cressidha shakes her head, a trace of a smile returning. "Of course. Habits take time to overwrite, I do understand that much." She holds the rose up. "And thank you for this."
"You're welcome," Sil says, his own smile slowly returning. "I think the evening is approaching the end, but shall we walk back through the fair to the entrance?" Sil starts to offer his arm, but then, instead, offers his hand.
Cressidha takes Sil's hand. "Of course. I had a good time tonight. Thank you for bringing me here, Silvestre."
"Thank you for accompanying me," Sil says, turning to her as they walk back towards the main thoroughfare. "When I call on you next, maybe we could discuss where we might go for a second outing?"
"I would like that." Cressidha seems quietly pleased.
Sil continues holding her hand as they emerge back into the center of the faire, emptying now of people, with the stars twinkling merrily in the dark night sky above.
"I will see what new ideas I can offer by then," Sil says, the smile evident in his voice as they move down towards the dock and the Elwynn portal. "And if there is anything you would like to do, I hope you'll tell me."
Cressidha nods. "I will endeavor to come up with some ideas as well."
All too soon, they are back at the portal, and then through into Elwynn Forest once more. There's the faint sound of crickets this late at night, and few people remaining besides those watching over the faire portal.
Sil continues a little ways away, for privacy perhaps, before he says, "Shall we part way here for now? I've very much enjoyed the evening, Cressidha."
Cressidha nods, releasing Silvestre's hand. "Likewise. Would you care for a portal to anywhere in particular?"
"Oh, I suppose," Sil says, meeting her gaze. "Stormwind? If it's not too much trouble, I can always walk from here. And I imagine you're heading back to Dalaran for now."
"It's no trouble." Cressidha withdraws a portal stone from her bag. "Have a good night, Silvestre." She tosses the stone into the air, where it cracks open and reveals the interior of Stormwind's mage tower.
"You too, Cressidha," Sil says, and then on a sudden impulse he holds out his hand for hers one more time.
Cressidha is still carrying the rose, but she puts her free hand in his obligingly.
Sil raises her hand gently, loosely enough that she could easily pull away, and presses a light kiss to the top of it.
"Have a good night," he says, stepping back through the portal.
Cressidha nods, watching him go. She finally raises the rose to her face to smell it, which she's been waiting to do, and then pulls out a teleportation stone to take herself away to Dalaran.