The World's Fair, at night

Dmitri nodded when Juliana spoke, saying, "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. And those do sound fairly useful. Maybe we'll pick some up before we leave." To Lavinia, he said, "We can check those out after we've eaten. Does that sound good?"

"Lets," Luke replied, moving to lead the way into the fair.

---

The table was approached by the blue eyed woman. Her black and blue dress was simpler than was in style, though the white hand muff she wore gave her a foreign look. Her Naughtsian features were accented with a light dusting of make up, particularly around her eyes. She smiled slightly at Dmitri, stating, "Excuse me, sir, I couldn't help but notice you were Naughtsian. We don't get many Naughtsian here."

Alistair followed his brother into the fair with Garrett. "Now tell me what you see here," Alistair said to his 'student'. There were many sights, many sounds, and many people to be read.

Dmitri looked up at the woman as she approached, smiling in recognition when she said he was Naughtsian. Standing up and offering her a light bow, more to stay formal, as the situation may call for, he replied, "That I am. And you, madame, appear to be one yourself. I haven't seen many Naughtsians myself since leaving our motherland." Dmitri let his accent slip even more into his Naughtsian origins, mostly because he preferred to do so when he spoke to others of his nation. He continued standing, and asked, "If it's not too rash of me, may I ask what brings you this far away from home?"

Luke's mood seamed to get a bit more bitter when hearing Alistair's question, though it only showed in a slight frown in favor of a neutral line.

Garrett on the other hand looked around the fair, replying with the first thing that came to mind. "A bunch of suckers gathering together in one place for various reasons."

---

The Naughtsian girl smiled. "I am visiting family. They came when Bolshevik began to terrorize Naughtsha. And you?"

"I have been away from Naughtsha for some time. I left to see more of the world, and have stayed away because I found job." He glanced at Juliana and Lavinia, not wanting to be rude by conversing with this stranger more than them, so he smiled apologetically to the newcomer and said, "I would love to talk more, if we could meet somewhere else later?"

"Good that you're eager," Alistair muttered, "but you fail." He nodded toward a vendor who was selling the finest silks from Fineresse. "I'll make it easier. Tell me what you see over there."

******

Lavinia looked over the newcomer a moment, though her eyes kept going back to the two men at the table. "I apologize for interrupting, but I don't believe I caught your name."

"My apologies. My name is Katrina Kuzlov. And you?" She asked, offering a slight bow to the entire table.

---

"Um..." Garrett paused. Something told him he wasn't supposed to concentrate on the goods, even if they were what he knew best. "A merchant. Upper class, older, probably thinking about writing down all of his life experiences."

Dmitri realized why the woman felt familiar to him when she said her last name. She was a descendant of a family of hunters he'd been spending a majority of his more current years avoiding. He took over introducing the table, gesturing to Lavinia as he said, "She is Miss Lavinia Cardham," he gestured to Juliana, "She is Miss Juliana Highland and," he gestured toward himself, bowing as he said, "My name is Dmitri Konstantinov." He hoped that the name sounded familiar enough to Juliana that she wouldn't be able to tell he said a different name, and that Lavinia would know not to say anything.

Alistair frowned. "What else? Where does he shop? What is his life philosophy? Where is he from? What is he telling that young lady, and what does the lady think of him?"

******

"A pleasure," Lavinia answered. "We came here by accident ourselves."

"Shops at a tailor, he's telling her that those silks are from Wuxia silk worms, they're not, they're from the inferior Fineresse silk worm which isn't as high quality. She's buying everything he's saying. Can't answer your other two questions though, not with certainty," Garrett responded.

---

"Quite the pleasure. As Dmitri has says, I am stealing time from your own interactions," Katrina replied.

Juliana waved her hands. "I don't mind it one bit. Please, sit down!"

Dmitri kept himself from showing any negative reactions when Juliana invited Katrina to the table, but instead looked as if Juliana had a great idea. "Indeed," he started. "If you have no prior engagements, we would be glad to have you." He gestured toward the empty chair, in a show that there was room for more.

"Style of dress, lacking any extra adornments. He is a man of fairly simple tastes though he dresses up somewhat for his business. Note how he tugs a bit at his waistcoat. I venture to guess he considers himself an honest man who has to finesse the truth a bit on occasion to get by," Alistair answered.

"I certainly have no objections," Lavinia answered with a smile. She did not, however, miss Dmitri's name switch. She would have to ask him later, after she explained his instructions for Perry's interrogation.

"Or that he bought a vest two sizes too small," Garrett responded dryly.

Luke continued on, doing his best to ignore the two as he walked past. He stopped when noting a cart that sold toys, though more particularly, the ouija board that was on display. With a quick glance to the other two to make sure they remained distracted, he handed over the 10 kenetra it cost to acquire the board. He was quick to shove the glass in his pocket and the board under his armpit.

---

Katrina smiled and moved to sitdown at the empty seat of the table, setting her muff in her lap. "So what is it that brings you to fair?" She asked Dmitri.

"

"It fits him," Alistair answered back. "There is no tightness around the middle. He is just uncomfortable in it."

"Wa's tha'?" Harry asked Luke, peering over his shoulder.

*******

"Curiosity," Lavinia answered. "We landed in Electric City by chance and decided to visit the fair."

"I see," Garrett answered, looking him over. Alistair's observations were quire right.

"It's a board we can use to try an 'elp you talk to Alistair better," Luke responded to harry.

"You need to learn how to better observe people," Alistair concluded before looking around for Luke. Had he wandered off while Alistair was speaking with Garrett?

"'ow's that work? Not goo' at moving thin's meself. Never really 'ad much of a knack for it." The boy shrugged, as if it wasn't that big a deal. "Mum'll wan' to try, though. You know 'ow she is. Always 'as a few choice words." He smiled then, in somewhat bashful amusement, like a boy who has said something at a family member's expense that, were he confronted about it, he would immediately apologize for.

After Dmitri had helped Katrina to her chair like he had done for Lavinia and Juliana, Dmitri sat himself, trying to keep from fidgeting. He didn't want to stay around Katrina longer than he needed to, but he didn't want to arouse suspicions. He didn't answer her, since Lavinia had taken over answering the question, but instead made a sort of nodding motion to her answer. He then asked, "What about yourself?"

~~

Ivanna, having gone to the faire with the Fairchilds instead of following Dmitri, since they would provide better company, looked at the Ouiji board, pointing at the letters on it. "Is this your language's alphabet...?"

Garrett hardly noted the absence of Luke, more worried about his current training than some old sucker he had already gotten everything he could of out of. "I know most people are the same on the basic level, and what's what counts. Young adults are thinking about relationships, middle aged peopel about their jobs and incomes, old folks about their life and how to either preserve it or what will happen when they're gone. It's human nature."

"Oh, hi Ivanna. Didn't see you there. Yeah, it's our language's alphabet. And the advertizements say ghosts should be able to move it well enough with the ;elp of people..." Luke responded, looking down at the board in question.

---

"As I've said before, I am visiting family. They are quite... excited by new technology here. Very neat, they say," Katrina replied.

"Unless the ghost in question can't read the board..." She could recognize a little bit of the letters, but others were alien to her. She made a slight pout face, not to anyone in particular, just because she thought maybe she could use it to talk to Dmitri. "Do they have one with Naughtshian alphabet?"

~~

"I see. The new technology can be interesting indeed." He had been around long enough to see how technology had changed, and how quickly, as well. Granted most of his time had been spent in the "technologically impaired", as people called it, nation of Naughtsha, but once he had left, he had seen a lot of the new things. New things that had been sometimes difficult to get used to. Adopting a sort of concerned look, he said, "Are you sure we're not keeping you from your family? Shouldn't you want to spend time with them?"

"It's making assumptions like that that will be your downfall. You can guess, but I can see. Just how I knew you were lying," Alistair answered back. "You guess, you're led by assumptions. Assumptions can easily be wrong. You observe, you draw conclusions based on the evidence right in front of you." He spotted a row of interesting cufflinks that he couldn't help stopping to look at. Picking up a couple of gold ones with emerald green gems in them, he examined them closely.

"Is 'at right?" Harry mused.

"Course. Let me check," Luke responded, a hint of fluster in his voice. He tried his hardest to be kind to the fairer sex, though being kind to a ghost was quite difficult. The once chance he had to offer her something good and he had managed to blow it.

Garrett's lip twitched in a bit of annoyance. He knew he was caught on that one. He didn't want to admit it since it went against his usual grape shot approach to getting business, but it was still right. "Suppose you've got a point," He admitted.

The second conman had managed to catch up to Luke in time to see him buying a second Ouija Board. The look on his face was something many people would consider priceless, a mixture of restrained fury and sorrow. There went his hard earned money on two toys that were absolute scams. Money he had had counter scammed from him. To his eyes, Luke offered an apologetic smile to an empty space of street. "Sorry, 'ere's one in Naughtsian. We can see if your friend can use it on 'is own."

---

"Oh no, I was here alone. No family," Katrina responded with a smile. She was still a bit suspicious that this was the man she had been sent to look for, though an old account of his appearance from several years ago was hardly much to go on. "I do not see your family. Where are they?" She asked.

"Back in Naughtsha," Dmitri answered. He wasn't necessarily lying, as his family was buried in Naughtsha. The thoughts of his family caused him to grow silent. He hadn't thought of them for years.

~~

Smiling, Ivanna said, "Oh, thank you, Mister Fairchild!" She giggled in happiness, unable to wait for the time that she and Dmitri could talk together again. In her glee, she forgot to apologize for costing Luke so much.

Alistair bought the emerald cufflinks and quickly caught up, amused at Garrett's expense. The younger con man was obviously put off by the fact he was wrong, and needed to have some lessons. Also by the fact he had lost the money he was now watching get spent however Luke saw fit. If Luke had wanted to exact his revenge, he had chosen correctly on the method.

"Who are you speaking with now?" he asked.

******

"We are all travelling," Lavinia cut in. "And we happened here by mistake. Our navigator forgot that the charts were on the Central City standard.