The Devil [NYSM]

FAILED MENTALIST

"Allow me to make plain what we've both been thinking."

Henley and Eva looked up from their drinks to glance at Merritt lying on the couch across from them. He specifically looked at Henley, so she gestured for him to continue.

"You obviously have feelings of affection for Daniel," he stated, "Unrequited and misguided, due to his lack of emotional availability."

Eva scoffed, "Wow, doc. Do you charge by the hour for these expert analyses or is it a session type of thing?"

Henley laughed and they knocked their glasses together at the joke. Merritt simply faked a laugh to go along with it.

"I can psychoanalyze you instead, if you'd prefer," he retorted.

She took a sip of her drink before holding her hands up in surrender, "Oh trust me, I know I have problems. No need to tell me."

She stood up and walked to the other side of the plane where Danny was sitting by himself. She sat across from him and picked up the spare half of the deck he'd set aside.

She began to casually shuffle through them, watching as his expressions barely changed.

"Are you ever impressed with anything?" she questioned.

"No."

"At least you're honest," she muttered, "Even brutally so."

They stayed in silence once he looked out the small airplane window. Eva continued to practice her shuffling.

Every once in awhile, Henley and Merritt would laugh so loudly from a story that Danny would look over. Eva easily read his body language and smirked.

"You may not be impressed but you are jealous."

He snapped his gaze to her and scoffed, "Me? Jealous? Of Merritt and Henley?"

She simply shrugged. He scoffed again and suggested that the idea was preposterous. She let the topic drop as they fell into a brief silence.

But Danny was still thinking about it, leaning forward in a panic, "Did they say something? Were they talking about me?"

"Jealous and paranoid," she corrected.

He rolled his eyes and hurriedly pushed himself up. He made his way to the back to interrupt the conversation between Henley and Merritt.

Eva laughed and shook her head at him. As soon as Danny was past them, Jack popped up from behind her seat to lean over and around her outside shoulder.

"Do you think Danny would let me have a bigger part in the show?" he asked.

She shrugged, "Did you ask?"

"Well...no."

"It won't happen if you don't ask, Jack," she chided, keeping her focus on the cards.

He sighed in agreement. She felt his breath of air hit her neck and she shivered. He noticed her body jerk and he smiled to himself.

She glanced over her shoulder to see him closer than she thought he was. Their eyes immediately looked at each other's lips, remembering the day they'd kissed in the casino.

Jack looked like he was inching closer just as Danny walked through the aisle and interrupted them. He subtly gestured for the others to follow as he made his way up to Arthur Tressler.

They huddled around the old man's chair. Danny and Merritt began to pretend to bicker once they were within hearing distance.

"No, no, no, don't do that thing on me!"

"What thing?" Merritt asked innocently, "I'm just looking at you."

"No, you're not. I've been watching you for a year; I know all your little mind games and tricks."

"That's what you think they are? Just tricks?"

Danny nodded, "They're Barnum statements and gimmicks. It's reading the eyes and body language. I get it."

Merritt chuckled and gestured to the woman behind him, "If it's so easy, why don't you do Henley?"

"Yeah, Danny," she agreed, "Why don't you do me?"

Eva snickered openly while Jack turned his head away to hide his laugh. The other three looked at them with brief rolls of the eyes, which was the usual response to their childish ways.

"No, you're too easy," Danny argued. He laid a hand on Mr. Tressler's assistant, "I'll do Jasmine."

Arthur raised his hand and spoke prominently, offering himself as Danny's test subject. All of them barely glanced at each other in satisfaction before getting closer to Arthur's seat.

"But I warn you, I can be difficult to read when I want to be."

Eva grinned as Danny got the older man to focus on him.

"So, Art, you were a tough kid. A real rapscallion. You had a dog, probably a really rough one. A brutish breed, like...I wanna say Ben the bulldog?" he guessed.

"Actually, I was a prissy little tot," Art stated, "I had a fluffy white cat named Snuffles."

They all exaggerated their laughs as Danny pretended to be upset. Eva, being the farthest out of Arthur's view, discreetly wrote down the information on a playing card she had hidden in her sleeve.

"Okay, let me try!" Jack called out.

"He can do way better than that!" Henley agreed, teasing Danny about his skills.

"Eva and Merritt have been teaching me," Jack stated. The two mentioned nodded in encouragement.

"Just give me one more shot!" Danny argued.

He took a calming breath and refocused on Arthur.

"Let's do family. You had an uncle on your mother's side. He had a real masculine name. Like it was some kind of Paul," he guessed. He noticed Arthur shift in his seat, "Thompson? Was it a Paul..."

He lingered and sighed. He conceded and leaned back, "Okay, I give up. I got nothing."

"Nearly though," Arthur assured, "My uncle's name was Cushman Armitage."

Eva grimaced at the poor choice his uncle was stuck with. She turned her head to see Jack held the same expression.

"Really? Snuffles and Cushman Armitage? That was your childhood?"

"I certainly hope tonight's show will be better than this," Arthur joked.

The horsemen glanced at each other with mischievous grins. Eva and Jack nudged each other while Merritt put his fedora back on.

"Just you wait."

Arthur laughed it off as they dismissed themselves again. Eva went to the back of the plane to pour herself a drink. Jack followed and leaned against the opposite wall.

"Want one?" she offered, holding up a glass.

He nodded and she poured a second one. She gave him the glass and turned to face him, leaning against the small table.

"I can't wait until we expose this guy," she muttered.

He nodded and raised his glass to hers for a toast in agreement. She smiled and clinked their glasses together.

"May the night be fun and the magic be real."

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