Summer Stealin'

“No! Abby, no!” Worldling grabs her arm. “We’re not playing those stupid carnival games!”

“But the prize-”

“You’re not going to win one! Obviously, you’re not going to win one. They’re all completely rigged. Come on– let’s go on the little roller coaster.”

Abettance rolls her eyes. “Again? We’ve been on it, like, ten times. I am not waiting in that line again. It’s, like, three hours long, and the ride’s just not that good.”

“It’s pretty good.” Worldling crosses her arms. “For a small setup like this? I think it’s great!”

“You need to raise your standards.”

“Maybe so.” Worldling laughs. “What would you do, then?”

“I’d play the stupid carnival games,” she answers. “We’ve been doing what you want all day– isn’t it my turn, now?”

“It’s just such a huge waste of money. We’ll spend hundreds of dollars on games that we probably still won’t win. Why do you want to play so bad?”

Abettance hesitates before she answers. “...I like to win.”

“Oh, you like to win,” Worldling repeats. “Oh, yeah, mm hmm, makes a lot of sense. Cut the crap– what is it you want? Is it one of those really big and impractical stuffed imps? You can be honest. Everyone wants one; it’s really not embarrassing to admit.”

“Fine! Yeah, it’s one of those big stuffed imps. Look at the Furdin– you could put the paws around your shoulders and wear it on your back.”

“Pfft, baby,” Worldling scoffs. She laughs for real when Abettance’s face changes. “I’m kidding! Look, there are cheaper ways of getting things.”

“Right, like we could probably find one online, or something. I’m not really going to be that invested in an hour, though, so it’s now or never.”

“So… what’s a fun, free way to get something you want from someone?” Worldling asks, a sly grin working its way onto her face.

“I don’t really want to, like, hold someone at knifepoint.”

“Jeez! No! What?! Abby, that’s so dark! No! We can just-” Worldling lowers her voice to a whisper. “We can just steal it. It wouldn’t even be that hard.”

“You think?”

“The guy running the booth has been flirting with everyone that steps up.” She gestures over to them. They look up, and give Worldling a sly nod; she smiles, and waves back with her fingers. “Apparently, you don’t even need to get that close.”

“You’re going to flirt with someone?” Abettance asks.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. It’s just gross.”

“Fuck you. Come on.”

Worldling starts to pull her towards the booth.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Abettance digs her heels in to the ground. “You are covered head to toe. Who do you think you’re going to entice dressed like that?”

“I think you’d be surprised what a little bit of mystery earns me. People love to use their imaginations– not that you’d be familiar with that.”

“Ha, ha. So, what’s the plan?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’ll distract the booth guy, and you’ll steal the thing you want.”

“How am I going to do that unnoticed?” Abettance crosses her arms.

“I figured we’d make it up as we go. What’s the worst that happens? We get kicked out of the carnival? We’ve pretty much bled it dry of its goods and services, anyways.”

“The worst that happens is we get kicked out and I don’t get the toy.”

“Oh, true.”

Worldling stops, and thinks for a moment. Well, she looks like she’s thinking, anyways. She’s fairly confident they could grab it and just run– but she also knows that’s not good enough for Abettance and her type A personality. It’s too bad they don’t have a third friend with them.

She tries to think of something to reassure her.

“What if we switched roles? I’ll pull off the actual crime, and you flirt with the guy.”

“...Okay.” Abettance frowns. 

“Yeah, I heard it as I was saying it. Plan A it is: you take the plushie, and I will distract the guy. You know what? I have a pretty solid idea, actually. Yeah… that’ll work. You know what? I’m going to head over there. You’ll know when it’s your turn to strike.”

“Wait, what’s the plan?” she asks.

“You’ll see! Go, uh, blend into the crowd. Just stand somewhere that isn’t right here, where you’ve been seen, but where you can still watch and wait for your cue.”

“I don’t like this.”

“Yeah, that makes sense to me.”

Worldling saunters off towards the booth.

Abettance does what she was told– she moves a bit closer to the booth, but diagonally. She can’t really hear what’s going on, but Worldling’s laugh sometimes permeates the air. She does her very best not to look nervous.

Worldling’s plan shouldn’t surprise her, but somehow, it still takes her. After a few minutes, she pulls on the boothrunner’s arm. They leave the booth, and the pair disappear off into the crowd, with Worldling tracing her finger on their back.

Well, that’ll certainly buy her some time.

Abettance tries to look as casual as possible while approaching the booth. She fails, since she is looking back and forth, anxious about being caught. No one– not even other people at the booths– seem to take notice.

The giant Furdin plushies come in an array of colours, and she had not put any thought into which one she wants. It doesn’t take her very long to decide on the magenta-coloured toy, though, and she pulls it down.

As soon as she does that, other carnivalgoers take note of the unattended booth. Just before they start to swarm, Abettance books it towards the exit– Worldling can catch up with her later.

The plush is heavier than she’d expected. The paws are weighed down with little pearls, which makes it pretty easy to pull around and over her shoulders. The other issue is that it’s approximately the same size as her; its head rests on top of hers. She feels awkward and chunky, running with it; it’s like running with a less noisy backpack.

With the exit in sight, she worries that security will grab the tail flying out behind her at the very last second. Fortunately, unbeknownst to her, carnival security was called directly to the booth– causing the exit to be somewhat understaffed.

Someone yells after her as she leaves, but it seems as though no real effort is made to stop her after she is out of sight.

Thirty minutes later, Worldling leaves the carnival bathrooms. She runs her fingers through her tangled hair, and meanders her way back to the booth. Abettance is not waiting for her; and the booth has very clearly been ransacked and shut down.

Oh, wow. That’s right. Actions do indeed have consequences.