Stan reluctantly let himself get pulled by the sleeve through the crowds packing the fairgrounds.
"It's right over here! C'mon, Grunkle Stan, my future love life depends on it!" Mabel said, dragging him past some very nice free things she could be doing at the fair. Like drinking from the water fountain. Or sitting on a bench. He could tell whatever she wanted was going to cost him money - strike that - more money. She'd already played every game on the midway, ridden every ride that caught her eye and eaten more funnel cake than he thought possible. What else was even left to do?
They neared a small tent on the outskirts of the fair, decked out in obnoxious lights and flashing signs covered in hearts and some mystic mumbo jumbo symbols, with a sign reading:
Rita's Fortune Telling - The Future is Inside the Present! Secrets - Dreams - Love - All is Revealed!
Oh God, some hippie who would glance at your palm, recommend you buy a lottery ticket today, then charge you twenty bucks for the experience. He knew this scam. And besides, he already bought a lottery ticket every day anyway.
He stopped short outside the entrance and Mabel tugged harder, vibrating with excitement. "Please! There's never been anything more important to me in my entire life!"
That was the same line she'd used about having a third helping of funnel cake, but she was using those big, pleading bambi eyes that dissolved his better judgment like nothing else could. They must have some sort of corrosive property. Ford should really get on studying that.
"I got a bad feelin' about this. You know it's all fake, right?," he said, but stepped forward into the tent with her anyway and was immediately assaulted by the smell of incense and moth balls.
Mabel marched up to the women at the counter who looked to be somewhere between sixty and two hundred with too much eyeshadow on and wearing a large shawl draped around her.
"My name's Mabel, and I'm here to find out about the future love of my life! I mean, I already know he'll be amazing and the total man of my dreams, but I'm just wondering about the finer details."
"Of course, young lady," the woman, Rita presumably, purred, "I'll pull back the veil of the present to see into your future. Only fifteen dollars."
"Hey, you haven't even told her anything yet!" Stan objected.
"Not everyone likes what they hear about the future. Payment up front or no visions from beyond."
Stan rolled his eyes and handed over the money. Rita tucked it into her shawl before leading them behind a curtain and into a small, dim room with several chairs seated around a table displaying a large glass orb.
"Touch the orb and make your request," said Rita once they were seated.
"I want to know about my future true love!" declared Mabel, hand pressed confidently to the glass. A cloud of swirling purple smoke and light spawned from inside the orb that had appeared completely empty only seconds before. Weird. Probably a parlor trick.
Rita leaned closer to the orb, studying the vague patterns made in the purple smoke.
"Hmm...I sense your beau had a troubled past. A past of secrets and failures. Much mystery surrounding this one."
Great, so her future love was gonna be one of those 'Mr. Struggle' types from the sound of it. He glanced at Mabel to gauge her reaction, but she was hanging on to every word.
"A man beholden to greed," Rita continued, "who indulges in worldly vices with little restraint. Loneliness no longer plagues him, but a burden of temptation and guilt grows ever heavier on his conscience. A man whose worn many names, even the name of his other face."
Okay, that last part didn't even make sense, but this loverboy seemed like an asshole. He wasn't paying this crackpot to say his niece's future would be with some low-life who didn't even sound worthy of opening a car door for her. He wouldn't let a guy like that within ten feet of Mabel. He opened his mouth to set Rita straight when she gave a dramatic gasp and leaned further towards the orb, her eyes glowing the same shade of purple as the smoke. But that couldn't be right - it was probably a reflection. Or fancy contacts.
"But I see more! Through failure comes triumph, and through adversity and misfortune comes perseverance and innovation. This man would do anything for family, for the ones he loves. Especially for his true love, for you, he'll be a protector and provider like no other."
"Wow," breathed Mabel, looking starstruck, “that sounds amazing! Is he in Gravity Falls? Can we get married?”
Rita, whose eyes appeared to be normal now, shook her head, "I'm sorry, I couldn't say. The veil only lifts to show certain things."
"I'll bet it does," Stan muttered under his breath before addressing Mabel, "you got your answers, Sweetie. let's leave Rita to polish her orb in private or whatever she does."
"However," Rita continued, ignoring him, "I can tell you that I saw he'd been marked. Permanently. By a terrible event that changed the course of his life."
Mabel's jaw dropped, "marked like...a scar? That's so cool."
"It could be any kind of unfortunate mark. A scar, certainly," She cocked an eyebrow at Stan, "or perhaps a brand or burn.
Stan's feet were moving before he realized it, snatching Mabel out of her seat and into his arms, booking it out of Rita's tent while she howled with laughter behind them. There was definitely some kind of witchcraft going on here, but he wasn't sticking around to find out exactly what sort.
"Hey, what's the deal? It was just getting good back there," Mabel said, frowning at him when they'd finally stopped on the opposite side of the fairgrounds.
Stan's heart was thundering, but he tried to keep his cool. "Ah, that old lady was full of it. Probably crazy. Had to split before she tried to charge us extra for staying so long."
Mabel, still in his arms and at eye level, fixed him with a look of suspicion. "I thought she seemed legit. Especially when her eyes glowed like that. I think you're scared 'cause she was talking about you."
Perceptive little thing, wasn't she.
The jig is up Stan. Can't bullshit your way out of this one, he thought, feeling very much like he was having an out of body experience. This was a conversation he never wanted to have. Never expected to have. He'd been so careful, shoved it all down and locked it away with everything else he tried not to think about.
This was just one more thing he'd ruined by being the fuck up that he was and it happend to the thing most important to him.
Mabel's soft lips pressed against his cheek, breaking him out of his downward spiral.
"You got that serious look on your face. Relax, old man," She winked at him, "your secrets safe with me." Leaning close she whispered, "and I always kinda thought of you as the man of my dreams, but I didn't think you felt that way about me."
"Yeah? That right?" He said, still feeling shell shocked and shaking his head. "What am I gonna do with you?" he muttered, partially to her and partially to himself.
"Hmm," Mabel looked around, "I'd go for a lemonade. Secrets make me thirsty."
That got a bark of laughter from him. "Alright. We'll start there."
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