"Why are we here? I'm not into comics," Tiffany grumbled.
"The flyer said they also have carnival games," Princess commented, "and I figured maybe Riley could win you a toy."
The mention of Riley soon set Tiffany's tail to wagging, which greatly pleased Princess. The two had bonded well and Princess even figured that her sister and Riley would make things out fairly well. Of course, both knew that any sort of wedding would probably have to wait two years for them to graduate college, at least, and potentially longer for Riley to graduate from college after them. For the moment, though, Tiffany often took advantage of every college break to come back and see Riley. The spring carnival proved to just be one of those opportunities. Princess also happily had her own reasons for coming in the form of the Welsh Corgi Animalian, Marvin, whom they found waiting for them at the doorway to the main arena at the Claw Coliseum where the Spring Carnival was being held. The doors were opened and Tiffany could see some of the colored costumes that some were wearing. However, she saw no sign of Riley.
"I don't see Riley," Tiffany huffed.
"He might not be here, yet, just stay patient," Princess teased him and then walked up to Marvin who gave a small smile to her as she approached him, "Hey, Marvin... You didn't bring Stuart with you?"
"Stuart drove up... but that was mostly to pick Cammy up," Marvin answered, "mostly to introduce her to his folks..."
"They're taking things better?" Princess wondered, remembering that Marvin had something about his parents and Stuart's not taking it very well that their college age sons became Animalians.
"Well enough that he wants to introduce Cammy to them," Marvin answered.
Tiffany and Princess both shrugged at that. Marvin and Stuart didn't strike Tiffany as bad people, and she figured her father would actually like their interest in golf, but even with some of the PET House events at UNLV, Tiffany was closer to her sister than she was to Marvin and Stuart. Though, because Princess seemed to like him and he was respectful to her, Tiffany was willing to give him some measure of trust. That still, however, didn't raise much interest in a comic convention for Tiffany. It just wasn't something she was into, some of the carnival games might be good, but that would really only work if Riley was there.
Tiffany then turned her head while she was waiting and soon couldn't help but smile as she saw a familiar Rottweiler Animalian come in through the main doors and make his way toward them. She gave a happy smile and wagged her tail as Riley came up to her. Princess also smiled and moved to walk in with Marvin.
"Sorry I'm late," Riley commented, "I've had some jogging and other training..."
"You're going to be in the IAC again?" Tiffany asked.
"Maybe in wrestling this time, though," Riley nodded, "something to do over the summer."
"I was told there were some games with this event," Tiffany commented to him and watched Riley nod.
"Yeah," Riley nodded, "a lot of this was all improvised after the Anacondas found this collection of comics... but they threw in some carnival games as well. Something that even non comics fans might be interested in... complete with prizes."
"Prizes?" Tiffany asked teasingly.
"Hopefully the sort you'll like," Riley nodded and waved his hand forward. Tiffany smiled took his arm as they walked in together.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Marvin and Princess entered in while Tiffany talked with Riley. Part of the trip was planned out when news on the theme of the Spring Carnival was for the year. He'd originally planned to head home for Spring Break, as while things with Princess had been going rather well, he still had his own issues to settle with his own parents, but then the report on Iphis, Ianthe, Lilly, and Ty finding a bunch of old and classic comics that once appraised were said to be worth quite a lot of money. That drew Marvin's attention, a bit, as his dad was something of a small comic book fan, or had often talked on the value of certain specific comics.
He figured that talking with the Anacondas that found the comics might be a way to smooth out some of the tension between himself and his father over the decision he and Stuart made at the start of the previous summer to become Animalians. From there, being able to talk with Princess more was an added bonus that he couldn't pass up on. So, he'd drove up with Stuart to Animalia. Stuart dropped him off, picked up Cammy and then departed to introduce Cammy to his parents. Marvin knew it would be a long drive for them, but for the moment that wasn't on his mind as he entered the arena area and noted the booths. And the one to their immediate left was they one they'd come for... the booth where Iphis, Ianthe, Ty, and Lilly sat with some of the more notable comics still wrapped in protective plastic with a metal clip with a hook on its top being used to hold them to a set of poster board behind them.
"So these are all the comics?" Marvin asked as he came forward with Princess coming along beside him.
"Not all of them," Lilly commented, "but the ones that the were worth the most according the appraiser we saw."
"What do you plan to do with them?" Princess wondered as she looked to the brightly colored comics with its characters drawn on the cover.
"We'll probably sell them off at auction," Iphis commented, "as none of us are really big on comics..."
"I think dad only kept the filing cabinet we found them in because it belonged to his uncle," Lilly answered, "but... while they're nice collectables, we have a good many little ones to raise and nurture, send off to college or whatever they may wish to be when they grow up."
"Yeah... my sister isn't quite keen on the whole comics thing," Princess admitted, "and personally I'm not super big on it either... though the story on you finding all these antique comics was interesting."
"My dad might have some interest," Marvin commented, "at least with some of them... Do you have any idea as to when and where the auction will be?"
"We're still arranging all that," Ianthe said slowly and pulled a small notepad up from the table in front of them, "these are the loose dates we're looking at... they'll be after the Spring Carnival, obviously, but not immediately after it."
"That's the best answer we can give on all of this," Ty commented as Ianthe handed the note to Marvin who looked at it and then put it in his pocket.
"So... what do you think about all the attention that's come in?" Princess wondered.
"Interesting to say the least," Lilly commented, "and it is good to see so many people having fun..."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
And surprisingly, Tiffany did manage to have some fun with the carnival. Comics weren't her thing, and a part of her felt that the "nerd culture" that embraced things like cosplay was a bit weird, but she did like some of the standard carnival games that were there. Many times they were often between specific booths or in a select area of the arena floor, but they all had their standard tests and challenges to them. They were often fun to play when she was younger.
Now though, she found it more fun to root on Riley. Some of it was to marvel at the light as it reflected off his floppy ears while he threw a softball at some wooden bottles. Some of it was even to compete against him tossing small beanbags through holes in slanted boards for marked points. The smaller the hole, the more points one earned. And with all of it in good fun, Tiffany did find herself enjoying it, and not just because Riley won her a prize or two. Though, she wasn't going to admit it to Princess, either.
"These games are fun!" Riley declared as they'd finished one match.
According to the scorer, Tiffany had won the game, though it didn't look like Riley cared to much about that. That made Tiffany smile a little bit.
"Yeah... they are," Tiffany nodded, "really annoyed daddy... as some of this stuff was... well... not upper class enough, to be polite. But there weren't many other wealthy families in Lyre so most of my friends growing up often looked forward to thinks like the county fair or the state fair in the summer. This sort of thing is like that."
"Except without the rides," Riley commented, "I remember going with Jaime and her family on some long car rides to go see them... though I could never go on the rides the carnival had."
"So now... you get to have fun?" Tiffany asked.
Riley nodded and noted the Poodle Animalian's wagging tail.