[D2EA] Lunch Show

[Manny Donos]

"Aha..." Manny's eyes flickered downward briefly, then back up, his face flushing a bit. "No, not that." In truth, he suspected that while Leah was quite pretty, she was almost certainly too young for him.

"Actually, it'd be knowing a card that I saw, but you didn't see." He raised an eyebrow. "You want to see how it works?"

[Leah kuso]

"Oh, yeah that's likely less embarrassing" Leah nodded "ok then magic Manny, let's learn this trick!"

She leans forward slightly, looking very interested as she sipped her water.

[Manny Donos]

Manny grinned. "Okay, here we go." He looked around, then leaned a little closer, his voice dropping lower. "Okay, so, first, we do a little thing where we pretend to link minds. Hum, and put our hands or foreheads together or something."

He pulled a sabaac deck from his vest pocket. "Then, you step out of the room, while I have someone from the audience pick out a card." Smiling, he offered it to her. "Here, why don't you pick one?" It was a standard sabaac deck, with the unique cards removed.

[Leah kuso]

"How about this?" Leah said, leaning closer and her lekku touching Mannys forehead. There was a slight blush as well, before she pulled back.

"Any card? O-ok" she picked out one at random from the middle - the six of staves - and held it to her chest.

"Now what?"

[Manny Donos]

"Yeah." Manny smiled at her. "That'd work great."

He spread out the deck in his hands. "Now, I show the audience that the deck really does have all the cards in it. Or, that's what they think." He winked at her. "What I'm really doing is finding the opposite card to the one they picked. Sixteen minus six is ten, and coins match with staves."

He looked back up, grinning at her. "So then, you come back into the room, and I show you this deck-" He held it up, with the ten of staves visible on the bottom, "-and tell you that the audience member picked one. And you tell me what it was by reading my mind. But you know what it is, because I just showed you the opposite, see?"

[Leah kuso]

"I see. Huh, that's clever" Leah nodded "how is ten of coins the opposite of six of staves though? Maybe I've misunderstood that part."

[Manny Donos]

Manny nodded. "So, you subtract whatever card I show you from sixteen. I show you a ten, so you know its six. If I show you a two, sixteen minus two is fourteen, so that means they picked a Master."

He shrugged. "I don't know why coins and staves are opposites, or flasks and sabers. They just are."

[Leah kuso]

"Oh!" Leah giggled "I misunderstood the subtraction! That's a really sneaky trick. Nobody would guess either, so clever. I'm really impressed. Do another one!"

[Manny Donos]

Manny couldn't help but grin. It was good to have an appreciative audience.

"Okay, okay, here's another mind reading one. So, just like before, you'd step out of the room. And then I get someone from the audience to pick an object in the room. And then you come back, And I point at things, and you tell me when I point at the thing they picked."

Manny smirked. "But, we worked out ahead of time that it'll be after I point at something... uh..." He looked around, then looked back to her, "-blue. So I point at the light, and you don't say anything. Then I point at you," He smiled, doing so, "-and you don't do anything either. But the next thing I point at, you say 'that's it'!"

[Leah kuso]

"Ooh. I like it, that's pretty cool" Leah said with a nod "I think the card trick is cooler, but that one is clever too. Why don't you have an assistant already if so many magic tricks work better with two?"

[Manny Donos]

"Well..." Manny shrugged, his face falling a little bit. "I don't know. Sometimes I find one, but they move on, y'know? If an assistant is good enough, I guess they just decide to do bigger and better things. Or... I don't know."

He shrugged again, smiling ruefully. "I've always got Munchfronta, of course, but he doesn't really have the stage presence."

[Leah kuso]

Leah gave the man a sympathetic look, placing her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up a painful subject. I'm sure it's nothing to do with you Manny, you're a lovely charismatic soul that makes the place feel warmer with just a smile. Don't let the past bring you down, focus on the future! You've got another half of your act to go, right?"

[Manny Donos]

Manny brightened. "Thanks, Leah. That means a lot." His hand came up to gently touch hers as it rested on his arm. "And you're right! I've got a bit more show in me."

He rose to his feet. "You wanna join me up there? Be my volunteer for a round or two?" He pointed at her wrist, grinning. "I think you've got what it takes to be a star."

The sabaac card 'The Star' was gently stuck to her skin there.

[Leah kuso]

Leah giggled, passing him the card back.

"Not this round magic man. Maybe tomorrow, for now I'm here to enjoy the show you're putting on."

[Manny Donos]

With a flourish, Manny made the card vanish again. "Alright. Sounds great, Leah."

And so, with renewed enthusiasm, he went back onstage to finish his set.

/scene!