𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 ━ five hargreeves

8│THE GREAT DEBATE

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❛ ᴡᴀsᴛᴇʟᴀɴᴅs ᴏғ ᴛɪᴍᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴛʜᴇ ɢʀᴇᴀᴛ ᴅᴇʙᴀᴛᴇ ꒱


❝ MAGIC IS SUPPOSED
TO BE A MYSTERY ❞

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Lola watched the boy in wonder. For some reason, Five had found a vast amount of patience that he'd previously been lacking. (Okay, maybe that was a slight exaggeration. He was still very grumpy.) Still, as they sat down that evening for a meager dinner of a split can of beans, she couldn't believe he'd actually answered her question instead of ignoring it.

"What?" he asked with a slightly more irritable tone.

The girl shook her head. "Never mind. Hey, since we don't have anything to do, do you wanna see a magic trick?"

The boy snorted and spooned some beans into his mouth. "Magic isn't real."

"Fine. Do you wanna see some slight-of-hand?" she specifically enunciated the last three words.

He eyed her curiously, "you know prestidigitation?"

"There's no need to show off how smart you are," Lola grumbled, "there's only one person you have to compete with and that's me so you don't have to try so hard."

Five ignored her complaining. "I mean, it's trivial to what I can do but it's an interesting skill for—" he paused, having been about to say normal people, "someone your age to have."

She huffed, "'someone my age?'" she questioned him mockingly, "you say that like you're an old man."

"There are days when I feel like an old man," he retorted lightly.

Lola rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you're better than everyone— namely the only person left alive which is me. But to answer your question, yes, that's why I offered."

"Let's see, then."

The girl pulled out her worn deck of cards and shuffled them together, feeling the familiar, plastic-y feel under her fingertips. The light from their small fire flickered against the wall they'd taken refuge against, causing the shadows of two sitting teens to shrink and grow. Outside of their circle of light, the area around them was steadily darkening into the increasingly-familiar inky blackness of night. Their wagon sat a on the other side of the campfire to help block wind. Lola showed her cards face down. 

"Pick a card, any card," she echoed her words from a simpler time. With their masks off for eating dinner, she saw him shoot her a faintly amused grin. Pleased, she watched him pull a card from the deck. "Okay, don't show me but make sure you remember it."

Five gave her a little smirk, "I've never forgotten anything."

"Yes, alright you genius. You're smart, I get it," she responded lightly.

He shrugged. "You're the one who said it, not me. Okay, I've got my card. What's next?" He slid it back into her offered deck and she hid it behind her back, flipping over all but his card. When Lola pulled out the face-up deck, his card was the only one face down.

"Not bad," Five allowed, "but pretty rudimentary. Give me a day and I'll figure it out."

She snorted, "magic is supposed to be a mystery."

"Not magic," he corrected her, "prestidigitation. Magic doesn't exist."

"What do you call your birth? Or your powers?"