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"Are all fairs this noisy?" Wolf asked Scarlet as the two fought their way through the crush of people heading into the fairgrounds. Scarlet laughed, linking arms with Wolf and practically skipping toward the entertainment.
"I haven't been here since Grand-mere brought me when I was seven! Yes, Wolf, fairs are always this noisy. Wait till you see all the games and rides and things."
Wolf smiled nervously. "Great. Uh- do they sell food here?"
Scarlet laughed again. "You just had lunch an hour ago! How are you hungry already?"
"It was a whole hour!" Wolf was defensive. "But that's not why I was asking. This whole place smells like- like food. Like grease and meat and sweets."
"Yep... that's what fair food is, pretty much. But we're meeting the others for a picnic later, so don't fill up on junk now."
Wolf looked sheepish. "But I'm hungry."
"Why don't we play some games?" Scarlet pulled him in the direction of a whole row or bright booths. "Look, here's ring toss. And oh-!" her face lit up. "I remember this. You throw darts at those balloons and try and pop them."
"What are all those stuffed animals for?" Wolf asked, gesturing at the rows of soft toys hanging in the booth windows.
"Those are prizes. You get them when you win the games."
"That's interesting." Wolf peered at a large stuffed puppy with a top hat and a little evening coat. "They're sort of cute."
"You're sort of cute."
Wolf tried hard not to grin too widely. "Only sort of? Hey- what's that?"
That turned out to be a huge crowd of people clustered around a set of pull-up bars. Two sweating, groaning men were chinning themselves on the bars, with shouts of encouragement and catcalls emanating from the spectators.
"Step right up, folks," the booth owner blared. "Show off your strength and win a prize for your girlfriend at the same time! Think you're man enough to face the iron bars? The more you chin, the more you win!"
"Always the men," Scarlet muttered, making to pull Wolf past. Unfortunately for her, the carnie spotted them both.
"Hey there! Yeah, you in the white muscle shirt! Don't you wanna show off a little? Looks like you haven't won anything for your lady today! Well, what better time to do it then now? C'mon, let's see you put those muscles to work a little! Challengers? Any challengers?"
"Aaaaaah'll take him," drawled a brawny redhead, swaggering forward with a petite brunette on his arm. "Ah dahn't meind taekin' pretty-boy daewn in a fair contest. 'Siedes, Ah've got ma eye on that big teddy for ma lady fair, eh, Kathleen?"
"Gael, please, you don't have to make such a scene-" Kathleen whispered. Gael slung an arm around her shoulder, pecked her noisily on the cheek, and grabbed Wolf by the wrist.
"Cammon, let's get daewn ta it!"
Scarlet wanted to slap the big redhead, but Wolf was already being dragged toward the two bars, the crowd roaring louder than ever. Scarlet hung on grimly, securing a position right up front beside a blushing Kathleen.
Stepping onto the left one of the two squares, Wolf shrugged a little and smiled sheepishly at Scarlet. On his other side, Gael flexed his arms, grinning broadly and winking at his mortified 'lady fair'.
"All right, contestants," the carnie announced. "You know the drill! Most chin-ups wins! Prize depends on the amount done. All right? Ready? Three!"
Both men reached up and gripped their respective bars.
"Two!"
Cream him, Scarlet mouthed.
"One!"
Wolf grinned shyly.
"GO!"
Wolf and Gael rose in unison, muscles rippling. Everyone was yelling louder than ever, clapping along and pumping fists to the chant of the numbers. "Two! Three! Four! Five!"
Scarlet wasn't clapping, but she was cheering as loud as any. "Six! Seven! Eight! Nine!"
Wolf showed no signs of tiring. Nor did Gael.
"Ten! Eleven! Twelve! Thirteen!"
"Twenty-two! Twenty-three! Twenty-four!"
Several voices were definitely weakening by now. So was Gael. Wolf was still going at it.
"Thirty-five! Thirty-six! Thirty-seven!"
Gael had dropped down, panting, at twenty-six. A few people had their portscreens out and were filming Wolf's progress. "Thirty-eight! Thirty-nine!..."
At sixty-two, the carnie had to yell over a very hoarse crowd to tell Wolf to please stop already and give someone else a chance.
Amid wild applause, Wolf let go of the bar and dropped nimbly onto the ground, sweat beading lightly on his brow as he grinned proudly at Scarlet.
"Did I win anything?" he wanted to know.
Scarlet looped an arm through his. "I think you did."
The carnie grabbed Wolf's free hand and raised it at high as he could. The crowd went wild.
"Well then, what'll it be? You can take your pick of any of our fabulous prizes! The top prize we have is fifty," he added, not quite as loudly. "You sort of shattered all records."
Scarlet grinned. "That's my boy."
Wolf looked at all the stuffed animals, his green eyes scanning the selection. "Which one do you like best, Scar?"
"You picked up carnival etiquette pretty fast," Scarlet laughed. "Hmmm... I like the big white bear. Its face looks like yours when you see tomatoes."
"And its eyes are as blue as yours when you laugh at me when I get the tomato seeds in my teeth," Wolf countered, but he smiled as the carnie took down the soft toy and handed it to him, whereupon he pressed it into Scarlet's arms. "Speaking of tomato seeds, can we please get something to eat now?"