"I like to think so." She said in a husky voice as she looked up at him with her big green eyes. "I do commissions. I'm sure they would love it. I can't paint you like one of those french girls. I'm sure there is much of you to paint."

"Perfect, they're gonna hate me." He perked up. He offered the girl his phone. "Wanna give me your number then, so I can hit you up." He paused before going back into the sentence. "About the commission of course." He smirked again. "Oh, there definitely is."

Bianca watched him with a cool, assessing gaze, head tilting slightly at his confidence. The flickering neon lights painted streaks of red and pink across her skin, but her expression remained impassive, unreadable.

“Oh, you’ll eat your hat, will you?” she mused, arms folding lazily across her chest. “I almost want to root for Cupid just to see you follow through on that.” The smirk she offered was sharp, amused—but not entirely warm.

His wink didn’t faze her, though she clocked the flicker of embarrassment that followed. Cute. She accepted the money with an easy, practiced motion, passing him the bow like a dealer handing off cards.

“Really good, huh?” A slow, measured arch of her brow. She leaned against the counter, watching as he lined up his shot. His stance was solid, practiced. That much, she could admit. “Careful. If you make it look too easy, you’ll have people thinking this carnival has real prizes instead of bottom-shelf whiskey and stuffed bears that shed more than they cuddle.”

The arrow flew, smooth and precise, striking near dead center. Bianca exhaled a quiet laugh through her nose. “Not bad. But the real question is—” she tapped the counter lightly, eyes flicking toward him with a knowing gleam, “—was that the warm-up shot, or are you about to double down for the actual bet?”

A beat. Then, voice dipped in low amusement:

“You strike me as the type who doesn’t back down from a challenge.”

He smiled at the compliment of his archery. "Wait, there's whiskey here?" He asked, face turned into amusement. "I need you to point me towards that booth next, because I'm here like an idiot stone cold sober." He smiled.

His eyes tilted up at her when she challenged him to continue, and the girl was right, he never backed down from a challenge. "Warm up of course." He mused happily as he motioned for the girl to hand him more arrows. "What're the stakes raised up to this time? An even bigger shedding stuffed bear?" He asked with an amused grin, loving the sense of competition; even if it was only with himself.

She gave a small nod, "IK do. I like to think I'm pretty good at it." Exceptional really. "But I prefer drawing. I think it's what I'm best at." She said as she pulled out her phone, loaded up her art Instagram page, and handed it over to him. It had various pictures of some of her projects. She liked people, those were her things. Painting portraits in different styles. Most of her drawings were of Eye's though, the window of the soul. She took his phone and scanned threw his work as well. "You are pretty good too." She said softly as she looked back up at him.

"I'm sure you're good at any thing you do." He said while nonchalantly checking her out and returning the flirty type of compliment. He grabbed the phone from her and was genuinely impressed, it showed all over his face. "Wow. These are amazing." He said honestly. "I need to commission you to do some art of me, if you do commissions." He handed her phone back and smirked at his thought. "I'm sure my roommates would be thrilled if I hung up a painting of me in the living room." He said with a chuckle.

Grateful for a change of subject, the mayor moved a few feet to the side and stooped slightly to pull out a crate of small prizes. "Lets see... a knock-off Beanie Baby holding a little stuffed heart, a red kazoo, some bracelets--very in right now if you're a Taylor Swift fan, I think--and oh, slap bracelets--" she said, each word spoken with dramatic false-enthusiasm. "Take your pick, I guess."

He was relieved to look over the prizes, though admittedly none of them looked like anything he'd be interested in, he was excited that he won anything. "Hmm.." He pondered, hand pressed to his mouth. "Now, I'm really not a Swiftie, but don't go around telling people that because I do fear that will affect my chances in finding a lady." He laughed at his own joke. "I'll take the heart teddy bear." He said with a pleased grin.

"Soulmate found, it seems, though she has the great fortune of not being tethered to a carnival game for a shift," she replied with another quiet bubble of a laugh. "Several people were selected to run booths for this thing--community service by lottery, most likely." She shrugged, then continued. "I had zero hand in the planning of it. Anyway, while not a ring toss fanatic, I have now spent enough time here to hone my skills," she said and her tone took a slightly mischievous edge as she explained. "The ring is not a whole lot larger than the bottle you're trying to land it on and it kind of bounces. A little more luck than skill, unfortunately."

"Did I win anything?" He asked with a chuckle. While not entirely sure what he'd do with a cheap, mass produced teddy bear there was still a glimmer of hope that he'd find someone to share it with regardless.

"Thank you." She smiled softly, she really was talented. That's how she managed to be an expert forager, only a select few professionals could tell the difference between her work and some of the high-end paintings she would copy. "I've spent a lot of years perfecting my craft. I do promise my actual work is a lot more promising than these silly paintings."

"Oh no, of course." He waved off her thanking him. He was certain it was the type of compliment she received all the time, and was nothing new, but despite that he couldn't help himself from saying it. "Oh you do actual paintings too?" He asked curiously. "You got any pics?" He asked, propping himself up here and making himself more comfortable. He pulled out his own phone to show her some of the paintings he'd done in college, all landscape and animals, they were good but truly nothing to write home about; despite that he was excited to share this common interest with the girl in front of him.

“Ah, love. The great mystery. The unsolvable equation. The thing that turns even the most rational minds into absolute lunatics.” He sighed, shaking his head with exaggerated solemnity. “Truly, a tragic choice. But hey, I respect the bravery.”

With a flourish, he fanned out the deck and plucked a card at random, flipping it over with all the confidence of a man who had absolutely no idea what he was doing but made it look good. His gaze flicked to the illustration, and his brows arched in mock surprise. “Well, well, well. Would you look at that?” He turned the card to face the other—the Lovers.

A beat of silence. Then Zed let out a low whistle. “Buddy, this is either fantastic news, or it means you’re about to have the messiest, most dramatic romantic entanglement since the last season of your favorite guilty pleasure reality show. Either way? Entertainment value’s through the roof.”

He tapped the card against the table, leaning forward like he was letting him in on a secret. “So here’s what this means: crossroads. Choices. Maybe even a little fate nudging you toward something, or someone—ever get that feeling like you’re about to do something incredibly dumb but also kind of amazing? Yeah. That’s the vibe.”

Zed tilted his head, eyes gleaming with amusement. “Now, if you really wanna know which way to walk, I could start charging you by the minute, or we could just see where the night takes us over that drink you promised.” He grinned. “Your destiny, your call.”

He sat watching in anticipation, wondering what kind of tricks the other could possibly have up his sleeves for this, and there it was. The lovers card. "There's no way you just pulled that organically." He spoke in protest. "How many others have you pulled that for tonight?" He laughed, words still clearly not at ease.

Romeo laughed, finally at ease as the other explained what this could mean for him. "Well, I'm not gonna lie to you man, either of those sounds incredibly more amusing than where my life is at now." He leaned in to listen to the further explanation the other was giving him. "Making incredibly dumb but amazing decisions is actually my favorite thing to do. I'd say I'm not sure how you know that about me, but-" He motioned towards the deck of cards. "Psychic and all." His brows arching up as a smile further painted across his face.

He grimaced at the thought of paying by the minute, but his expression quickly changed as the other suggested the drink once again. "Well, you lead the way and I'm there." Romeo spoke sheepishly.

Derin was happy to get put somewhere her talents could be put to good use. Being an artist was paying off. Though the little designs were beneath her talents, she was still happy to do it. It made the night suck less. "And what would you like." She said as the next guest took a seat in front of her, "You are giving unicorn."

"Oh. no fair! I was gonna go with a unicorn." He said in an obviously teasing tone. "Quite the talent you have." He complimented the woman's work. "I don't know how you do it, I used to do the odd painting here or there when I was in college, but it seems so much harder on a living, breathing canvas." He watched as her brush strokes seemed effortless. "And the ways the colours blend together on the sponges is wild." He shifted his attention over to the board of suggested face paint photos. "I think I'm gonna pass on the Spider-man face or the kitty cat, but again you're killing it." He said affirmingly, the compliment genuine.

Zed lounged behind the fortune teller’s table, one arm draped over the back of his chair, the other lazily swirling a deck of tarot cards between his fingers. The dim glow of the booth’s decorative lanterns cast just the right amount of mystery—totally unearned, of course, but he did have a flair for the dramatic.

As someone approached, he leaned forward, smirk firmly in place.

"Ah, welcome, weary traveler," he intoned, voice rich with mock mysticism. "You stand before the great and all-knowing Seer of Staten Island—who, for the low, low price of your dignity and maybe a drink later, will unveil the secrets of your destiny."

He plucked a single card from the deck, flipping it over without looking.

"Let’s see… oof." A pause. His brows lifted in feigned concern. "Wow. That’s unfortunate. But, hey, look on the bright side—at least it’s not the ‘your love life is as dead as Blockbuster’ card. That one’s a real heartbreaker."

He leaned in conspiratorially.

"So, what’ll it be? Love? Fortune? A totally made-up prediction that’ll keep you up at night? Dealer’s choice."

"All knowing huh?" Romeo challenged. "I'll buy you a drink later, but I don't know if I believe all of the future reading mumbo jumbo, y'know?" His voice riddled of nervousness, he absolutely did believe it was possible to read someone's future, and that maybe it was gonna piss off whatever external deity that existed if he had his future read instead of letting it play out organically- however he was already here in this moment

"Yeah, at least it's not that." He responded, chewing on the inside of his cheek before breathing out and shrugging. "Love. Lay it on me. Let me know what direction we're walking in here." He said, finally letting out a soft laugh, letting his shoulders down from the tensed position they were held tightly in. He was honestly in disbelief that he was doing this, but figured he might as well have fun with it if he was going to.

The Cupid’s Archery Challenge was all flashing neon hearts and cheaply painted bows, the air thick with the scent of kettle corn and desperation. Bianca should’ve been paying attention—should’ve been watching the targets, the contestants, the ridiculous pageantry of it all—but her gaze was locked onto the dim glow of her phone screen.

The image stared back at her, frozen in time. Her husband—late husband—grinning at her from across a candlelit table, a glass of wine raised in a mock toast. Their last Valentine’s Day together. A lifetime ago.

Her jaw tensed, the moment slipping through her fingers before she killed the screen with a quick tap. By the time she looked up, the carefully curated mask was back in place, lips pulling into something that resembled a smile.

"Care to shoot your shot?" she said, voice dry as she turned to the newcomer. A pause, then a smirk—this one just a touch more real. "Maybe Cupid’s arrow will find your true love." A beat. A slow, knowing tilt of her head.

"—Or a lover for the night."

He walked through the carnival looking for this booth, feeling envy creep at his neck seeing all the happy couples, hell, even the happy friendships that were everywhere in sight. He'd been in relationships in his life, yet somehow they all seemed so surface level, never the puppy love, tote each other around a carnival plastered in tacky hearts, feeding each other cheaply made snacks and exchanging big overpriced teddy bears.

Romeo spotted the archery booth, lit up with flashing neon lights, hearts, the whole nine yards. He approached quietly. He noticed the girl running the booth had her nose in her phone, but thought nothing of it. He himself was known to sneak onto his phone while working, and honestly couldn't be bothered to disturb her. He waited attentively until the woman looked up. "Hi." He smiled. "I do care to shoot my shot actually." He spoke in a teasing tone. "If cupids arrow manages to find my true love, I'll eat my hat." He spoke with a light hearted airy laugh. He wasn't opposed to the thought of a true love, it was just so bizarrely foreign. He'd come to accept life exactly as it was.

"Ahhh, a love for the night. Now that seems way more up my alley." He said with a wink, without thinking twice about doing it. He felt slightly embarrassed by his own action, but didn't let himself sit in it. He motioned for the woman to hand him the bow, exchanging the money to pay for the cost of the game. "I'm warning you, I'm really good at this." He said cheerfully as he lined up his shot. Effortlessly pulling the arrow through the bowstring, aiming at the target and letting go.

"Hey, sorry--" A sheepish grin drew the corners of her lips up as she shifted from foot to foot. "Here to give it a go? Nobody's won the big one yet," she continued as she motioned to the fluffy white polar bear holding a satin-looking red heart in its arms. "Here to try to impress someone special?"

"Huh-?" He looked up when he realized it was him that was being spoken to. Tossing the rubbish from his food into the trash can next to him and then lending his attention to the lady at the games booth. "No ones won the big one yet." He repeated back to her, scanning the booth over in its entirety. "Has anyone won anything here yet?" He joked, flashing a soft smile. "Alright, I'll give it a whirl, what have I got to lose?" He asked, pulling money out of his wallet to pay for the game and handing it over. "Someone special?" He repeated the question back with a chuckle. "No, no, not at all." He admitted. "I just needed to get out of the house. Staring at the same four walls was starting to push me to the brink of insanity. I thought I'd run into some friends here at the very least, but so far no such luck." Romeo grabbed one of the game pieces to attempt the heart toss. His accuracy seemed pretty touch and go. Making some of the shots effortlessly, and fumbling the others completely. "What about you?" He asked jokingly, seeing that she was obviously here for work. "You here on the quest to find your soulmate or are you just a huge ring toss fanatic?"