There were still a few hours before dawn. Rika reclined on the bench in her caravan that served as a seat or bed as needed-- caravans weren't known for luxury-- and counted the money the night had brought in with a smile on her face. It had been a good night, their traveling carnival stopped near the outskirts of a town full of people easily lured to spend money to waste their fall evening away on revelry, sideshow games, and performances of questionable quality.

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She had recently joined this traveling carnival group near midsummer a few months ago in the hopes of making a better life for herself far away from the shadow of the life she had been living. There were few options for a woman with no connections, no family, and no money as she had been, and she found that work as the fortune teller for the carnival was surprisingly rewarding. To be sure, there were nights where her stomach still growled uncomfortably with hunger and she wasn't going to be buying a new wardrobe anytime soon, but she made enough to get by, had lodging until winter, and quite honestly enjoyed losing herself in the cards and lives of others for a few hours every night. Less on her mind that way.

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The others in the traveling group had, for the most part, been kind and accepting. She had easily made a connection with the tightrope walker, a woman only a bit younger than her who seemed to float through the air effortlessly. Even the animal tamer, a very quiet boy named Koji, had warmed up to her quickly, sometimes having tea with her at daybreak when the carnival camp was sleepy and calm. She felt that she had slowly been able to get to know everyone and been accepted as a part of the family, something she had never known in the dim cruelties of her life before this.

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Well... she had been able to get to know almost everyone.

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Rika saw him out of the corner of her eye as she put away the bag of coins in her lockbox under the table. He lurked outside of the window, unmistakable with his long black coat and dark hair that fell into his eyes. She wasn't certain why he insisted on selecting the area near her caravan window to have his post-show cigarette most nights, but she was mildly annoyed by the smell of smoke that wafted in through the cracks in the windowpane. 

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She supposed he might smell of smoke even without the cigarettes. He was the carnival's fire-eater after all.

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The few times she had tried to talk to Dabi, it had been immediately apparent to her that he did not enjoy small talk. In fact, she wasn't certain whether he seemed to enjoy anything at all. He was all sharp edges, burned skin, and cruel, teasing retorts and she was uncertain what to do with this amalgamation of things that appeared to make him who he was.

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She was even less certain why, despite all that, she still somehow felt drawn to try to get to know him.

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Rika wrapped her indigo shawl tighter around her shoulders before opening the window, letting in the crisp fall night air and the acrid scent of cigarette smoke. He noticed the sound, his head turning to look in her direction, one eyebrow quirked up.

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"I knew you'd be here tonight." With a flourish, she picked up the tarot card closest to her, previously in a spread of ornate cards laid out on the worn wooden table. 

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The Hanged Man.

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Dabi laughed, a sudden, mirthless sound, the corners of his mouth turned up into a mocking sort of half-smile.

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"Your cards told you I was going to do something I do just about every night? Thank god for the miracle of fortune-telling." She tried to ignore the heavy sarcasm in his voice, instead choosing to focus on the captivating blue glimmer of his eyes that seemed to be staring her down.

"You don't believe in my prognostication abilities?"

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He looked at her blankly before she clarified.

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"My abilities to predict your future?'

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"Really doubt those cards are going to tell me anything I don't already know." He smirked, flicking ashes off of his cigarette.

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"Is that a challenge?" Rika crossed her arms, a defiant smile of her own on her face, although she didn't know why. "I'll give you a three-card reading. For free."

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Dabi was silent for a moment, the narrowing of his eyes almost suggesting to her that he was sizing her up, trying to decide... something. Perhaps if she could be trusted. Perhaps if she was worth the time spent on something as laughable as fortune-telling.

 

Finally, he grinned, standing up and stretching his long limbs languidly.

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"Heh, fine. Don't cry when I'm not impressed though."

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She opened the door, letting him into the small caravan. In truth, she hadn't had many opportunities to be this physically close to the fire-eater yet, and he was a little intimidating now that he was on the same side of the window as she was. He was tall, his face, chest, and arms covered in burn scars that she assumed had something to do with his... choice of occupation. His skin was also pieced together with metal staples, accented with other piercings that seemed to serve no other purpose other than making him look more unsettling. He wore a long, tattered black coat that smelled heavily of smoke--probably what he wore during his shows-- and his unruly black hair looked as if he hadn't bothered to comb it with more than his fingers for a few days.

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He sat in the chair usually reserved for her clients, immediately resting his chin in his hand as he placed his elbow on the table, watching her with a wary expression.

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"So, how the hell does this work? You ask the spirits why I'm so fucked up or something?"

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"I'm not a medium, I'm a fortune-teller." Rika sighed as if this were the most obvious distinction in the world, although Dabi's expression merely shifted from wary to slightly puzzled. He didn't seem to understand the nuances of the arcane arts.

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"I'll pull three cards. The first will relate to your past... the roots of who you are. The second, a current challenge you face in life. And the third, your best way forward in overcoming the obstacle." She began shuffling and dividing the cards, their ornate silver and blue backs gleaming in the candlelight. Finally, she organized them into three piles, ready to turn over.

The first card: the Eight of Swords. Rika looked down at the card, a heaviness in her heart and a pained expression briefly flickering over her features before she regained her composure. It was a card she had often pulled in relation to her own past. She glanced up at Dabi, noticing that his bright eyes had shifted down to examine the picture on the card of a woman blindfolded and bound and surrounded by swords.

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"Eight of Swords... your past still influences you because... um..." She looked up at him again, almost hesitant to continue. "You used to feel trapped, like nothing would ever get better in life. Living in an endless loop of horror and fear where you were powerless to stop what was happening to you."

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She didn't know why she expected some sort of response from him, something snarky or sarcastic or cruel. Instead, he just stared at her with an expression that was very hard to read, his eyes narrowed and the only sign of discomfort at her words a slight furrowing of his brow. He impatiently tapped one of his long, sinewy fingers against the middle pile of cards.

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"And this one?"

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She flipped over the next card.

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Judgement, reversed.

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Rika pondered this for a moment, absentmindedly twisting a strand of her wavy hair before speaking.

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"You judge yourself too harshly. Your current challenge is self-loathing. Learning how to n-not hate yourself." 

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She chanced another glance up at him. Again, he was very careful not to show any real emotion, although she could almost swear she saw something shift in his eyes, a glimmer of some angry flame that looked ready to blaze back to life from the embers of self-hatred that he carried within him. However, he said nothing, his gaze eventually drifting over to the final pile of cards.

Please let this be a good one. Rika found herself praying, trying not to let her hand shake as she revealed the final card.

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Oh! Two of Cups!

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"The path forward to overcome self-hatred is that you'll find a partner. Someone who loves you unconditionally and teaches you how to love yourself for who you are already." Rika's smile was bright as she revealed this news. She was surprised to hear the snort that came from Dabi at her words.

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"Yeah, that's never going to happen. True love. Damn, I was almost starting to think there was something to this fortune-telling shit." The mask was back up and a cruel smile twisted his features, almost like his fangs were bared. Rika got the feeling that maybe... just maybe it was somehow easier for him to react like this than to open himself up to the hope that someone could love him (and the disappointment if they didn't).

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She could feel a sinking in her stomach, although it was hard to define the emotion behind it.

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"My cards never lie."

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He stood, giving the interior of her caravan one more condescending glance before he left to walk back outside, grumbling something about wasted time.

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--x

It had been almost a week since she had read him his fortune. The night had fallen, initially uneventful, but Rika had taken too long in getting back to the carnival, finding herself stuck in the pouring rain and hail that had suddenly rolled in with an autumn storm. Her caravan was on the other side of the camp and she didn't think there would be too many people out in this weather wanting their fortunes told anyways.

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The colorful big tent that held the show was close by though. She decided to duck in, just for a bit, to wait out the storm. The seats were only about one-third full with spectators due to the weather, and so she had no problem finding a seat close to the best view of the arena.

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Rika had seen the show a couple of times before, on particularly slow nights where she had not much hope of making money. It had been a couple of months since the last time she had seen it, and she found herself noticing things she hadn't before, like the way the team of four acrobats all had a cat motif in their costumes. She relaxed in the cheap plastic seat, letting the raindrops drip off of her hair as she watched the different acts with varying levels of interest.

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Until it was time for his performance.

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Rika found herself sitting up in her seat, her eyes wide and her breath catching in her throat. It was her favorite part of the entire show, or at least the part she found most mesmerizing every time. She couldn't take her eyes off of him as he placed fuel on his body, allowing bright blue flames to lick up his arm. He blew on torches, turning what was once a small flame into a pillar of fire that she could feel the searing heat of from where she was sitting in the audience before extinguishing them in his mouth. She thought she noticed him looking her way today, at least once. Yes, he was definitely aiming a smile in her direction before holding the blue flame on his tongue, blowing it to light another torch in his hand, his eyes narrowed.

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Because of this, perhaps she shouldn't have been as surprised as she was when he approached her after the entire show was over, that smug grin still on his face.

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"More impressive than looking at some cards with pictures on them, huh?"

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Rika rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the way her heart suddenly decided to flutter in her chest.

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"I just came in here because it's storming outside."

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He didn't look very convinced. "Is that why I saw your eyes get so wide whenever I breathed fire out? You looked pretty into it to me." 

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"I guess it looked cool." Rika smiled warmly up at him. "Your part of the show is always my favorite. Honestly!"

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He looked pleased at those words, one corner of his mouth turning up in an almost-genuine smile.

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When she lifted the flap of the big tent to step back outside, she was disappointed to see the rain still pouring down. I still have so far to walk back to my caravan. She suddenly felt his hand on her shoulder, his touch warmer than she expected.

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"You want to wait out the rain at my place or something? It's right down the road."

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She wasn't sure what she had expected his home to be like, but the trailer was somewhat organized, if only because of the fact that he didn't have many belongings. The few signs that someone lived there seemed to be the dishes left in the sink, the box of cigarettes on the table, and (from what she could see) the pile of clothes left scattered on the floor of the tiny bedroom at the end of the trailer.

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Dabi laid down on the fake brown leather of the couch, putting his feet up against the armrest on the other side and glancing at her with an amused expression.

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"Make yourself at home."

Rika almost timidly sat next to him on the couch after a moment, placing his legs across her lap. She was quiet initially, suddenly struck by the fact that she didn't really know the fire-eater all that well and was now awkwardly sitting next to him in his home. He certainly didn't seem inclined to help her out with further conversation ideas. Instead, he just stared at her almost unblinkingly with those turquoise eyes of his.

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"So, um, have you lived here a long time?"

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He shrugged. "I come and go. Sometimes I got better things to do. The owner of all this carnival stuff, Giran, he gets it. Lets me come back if I feel like it. I am the best part of his stupid show after all." He abruptly sat up and leaned forward, facing her, his cocky grin suddenly much-too-close in a way that made her heart do that weird fluttering thing again. "I mean, that's what you said right?"

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"I said you're my favorite, not that you're the best. Maybe I have questionable taste." Rika laughed nervously, although she sort-of liked feeling the comfort of the warmth of his body at her side. "Is it okay if I ask a question that's kind of personal? You don't have to answer it if you don't want to."

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He didn't reply, although he also didn't show any sign of protest, his unreadable gaze just staring at her as if expectant of her question.

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"Do you like fire-eating? Or do you have other plans for your life? Because sometimes I feel like I'm trying to figure things out for myself, and this is just a temporary stop on the way. And sometimes I feel like I'll never figure things out so I might as well just enjoy the life I have here with you all. And I didn't know if you feel like that sometimes, especially because fire-eating seems so... risky." She hated how her eyes did dart to his scars, for only a moment. 

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Dabi's expression did seem more guarded than before, as if all the warmth in his gaze were suddenly gone, leaving only a cold wariness it its place.

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"Didn't get these from my job here." He brushed his fingers over the scars on his other arm. "And of course I got other plans for my life. But if you want to know what they are, you'll have to ask your cute little cards because I don't talk about that shit. You wouldn't want to hear it anyway."

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"Oh, sorry!" She hesitantly placed a hand on his arm in a way she hoped was reassuring to him. "I didn't mean to ask about things you don't like talking about."

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He seemed a little surprised by her touch but not displeased, his expression softening briefly.

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"It's fine. You're the only person here who tries to talk with me anyway. Think I scared everyone else off." His mouth twisted up into that cruel grin again, although she couldn't help but notice that the look in his eyes did not match. For a moment, it appeared almost sad.

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Maybe that was why she felt the pull to lean closer. To smile up at him with the brightness of the stars and the warmth of the sun.

"Well, I like talking with you!"

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"Hmm, guess you're right. You do have questionable taste."

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Rika wasn't certain who leaned forward first, only that she felt the warmth of his half-scarred lips against hers and his hand gripping her face, running through her hair, resting on her shoulder. She felt a little breathless when he pulled away, his bright eyes watching her intently.

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She leaned forward, kissing him again, surprised when he laid down on the couch and pulled her down too so she was resting comfortably on top of him. After a few heartbeats, she pulled away, moving to rest her head against his chest. His warmth felt so comforting and she wasn't sure why, but she thought that she could lay here with him forever, listening to the rain pound against the metal roof of the trailer. Suddenly, she smiled, a thought coming to her mind.

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"Dabi, do you think my cards were right after all?"

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She could almost hear the roll of his eyes in his voice as it rumbled against her.

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"I think that's cheating. You're the one who kissed me. Maybe you only did it to try to prove your own fortune-telling abilities." When she lifted her head and looked up at him, she saw his eyes were narrowed and he looked rather smug, as if he found great satisfaction in teasing her.

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"No! I think it was just destiny!"

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"Heh, yeah, destiny." He did actually roll his eyes at that statement, although when she laid back down against his chest, she could swear she felt his heart beating just a bit faster.