Lolita's Story

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Lola sighed and picked at her nails. She was leaning on one of the tent support poles watching the freaks all put in their last minute rehearsals for tonight. Lola was wearing tight black jeans and what was practically a black bra with extra straps attached. She narrowed her eyes as she saw the same performer forget her move for the fourth time in a row. The Circus had been in town for the last 10 days which the roadies had spent setting up the tent and infrastructure. So of course that meant the performing freaks had waited to the last minute to rehearse their performances.

"How are we looking for tonight?"

Lola forced herself not to jump in surprise. The Ringmaster was always very good at sneaking up on people and appearing behind you without you noticing. Lola would never get used to it. Without turning around, she replied, "Yeah. They've finished setting up. We have a fully booked show tonight and your freaks should be able to pull it together by then."

"We have a few VIPs coming tonight as well, so things better go well." The Ringmaster said sternly before soundlessly turning and leaving. They didn't even look over the performers rehearsing. The Ringmaster entrusted the running of the show to Lola, and they'd only step in after the show went badly.

Lola sighed after the Ringmaster left. As much disdain as she felt for the freaks, she couldn't just ignore them like she wanted. If they did badly tonight it was her ass on the line. The Ringmaster would blame her for anyone's failings. Then one of the acrobats fell and hit the cushioned mat they had laid down for rehearsals hard. Crossing her arms angrily, Lola took a few step into the center ring of the circus tent. "Get it together freaks!" She yelled out to the entire group making it quite clear she was fed up with them. Then she turned and left the main tent.

Lola entered the showgirls van. Every surface and wall space was covered in costumes, mirrors, wigs, makeup and glitter. Of course at the far end of the van there was the largest cleanest mirror, that had lights around it. That was Lola's mirror. She made sure none of the other showgirls dared use it.

Currently the van was empty, but the other girls would be coming soon to get ready. Lola sat down in front of her mirror and started applying another layer of makeup. Of course she was never seen around the circus without thick makeup on. "Lunch." Aubrey entered the van holding a tray of sandwiches cut into triangles. Lola scowled. Aubrey was 13. She didn't have an oddity and was too young to be a showgirl. So she did the same things Lola used to; giving out sandwiches, cleaning, passing message around etc. The way Aubrey was eyeing up the showgirl costumes and glitter reminded Lola of her younger self.

If her heart wasn't so frozen over she might have felt pity for the young girl. Caught in a venomous trap but too starstruck to see it. All Lola felt was bitter though, soon Aubrey would be old enough to become a showgirl and she'd be young and youthful whilst Lola found herself getting older and older. When would she be too old and end up being replaced by a younger girl?

"Leave." Lola demanded after taking a sandwich half. She took a bite and threw the rest in the bin. She had a bmi she had to keep too. She couldn't control her age but she could control her weight. Sighing she sat down and started prodding at her face. She had age lines she hadn't seen on her face only a year before.

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"God, I feel like we haven't performed in ages!" Brody claimed as he stretched out his arms behind his head whilst floating through the air on his back. Brody enjoyed performing and being able to fly through the air in public without seeming odd. He grinned as he flapped his arms about to turn himself to more of an upright position in the air. "I can hardly wait."

Ethan gave his brother a look and a frown. "Dude, last performed like three weeks ago," He grumbled kicking a clump of dirt from the ground towards his brother. Ethan did an in air twist and avoided the attack. "Plus we've been practicing our routine like every day." Unlike his brother, Ethan really did not care that much about performing. In fact he would have been perfectly happy just spending the time alone. Probably working on his guitar chords, or possibly reading a book. The attention and noise was really not his thing.

"Alright!" Brody called once he floated himself up to the ledge above the circus stage, doing a few flips on his way up. Of course Ethan had to climb the ladder up the way normal acrobats had to.

"Just be sure to use the ladder tonight," Ethan said under his breathe to no one but himself. He knew his brother would almost definitely forget to go up the normal way. Brody always used to forget to act normal around the audience. Well at least he had always been forgetting for as long as Ethan could remember.

Then Brody jumped off and they started their practicing their act. Everything went fine for them, but across the stage from them another performer took a fall. They weren't doing the big high stuff like them, so it was a harmless fall, a nasty bruise at worst. There was a cushioned mat below The acrobats area but they were high up, so falling off balance could still result in broken bones.

When the performer fell, both Brody and Ethan said in unison, "Sucks to be them." They didn't look at the performer who fell or even give a hint of sympathy. After all neither of them were in danger of a nasty fall. Brody would just fly away, and Ethan wouldn't get hurt if he did fall.

So then a few minutes later, Brody grinned to himself as he hung from a bar. Ethan came flying across, arm outstretched to grab Brody's arm. Except at the last minute Brody pulled his arm back and let Ethan fly past him without catching him. Ethan fell straight into the ground with a loud crash. "Fucking hell Brody," Ethan called up at Brody once he had gotten up on his feet. Of course he wasn't hurt, but he was still mad.

Brody just laughed loudly. "You should of seen your face!"

"Get it together freaks!" Lola yelled out to the group of performers. Though clearly it had been Ethan and Brody who had been the cause of her outburst. Both Ethan's anger and Brody's laughter died down a little after that. Neither of them had realised she had been watching and neither of them wanted to get into undue trouble.

It's hard to sleep when you got hit by a truck. Or, at least, for Lorelai that's how it felt. Hence why she slept in the morning before the big performance. She was thankful the others had let her sleep, but now that she was awake, she knew she needed to get moving. Thankfully, her pain was more or less gone for the morning, and it would hopefully stay away while she went about her day. Just in case, she took a couple Advil capsules and went about her day.

The others were already practicing by the time she entered the tent, dressed in her rehearsal outfit. The twins were up by the ropes. Brody was goofing off, as usually, and Ethan was just trying not to strangle his brother. "Hey boys!" She called up to them, "Remember me?" She walked up to them just as Ethan came crashing to the ground. Normally she would've panicked, but this was Ethan. The fall wouldn't hurt him. Still, she held her hand out to him and asked, "You okay?" From up in the balconies, she heard Lola shout, "Get it together, freaks!" The fingers of her free hand, as in the one not extended to her friend, curled into a fist at her side and her nails dug into her palm. Lola got under Lorelai's skin. Mainly because she referred to all of her friends as "freaks". The term didn't bother them most of the time, but when it was used as an insult, it boiled Lori's blood. If it was just towards herself, she would care less, but since it was towards all of them, she had a problem.

"I hope she trips in her stupidly high heels," she grumbled, loud enough for Ethan to hear, but no one else. Then she looked up at Brody, a grin on her face, the whole situation pushed behind her. "Brody! Care to give a lady a lift?" She called up to him. The twins were her very best friends. Brody helped to cheer her up and Ethan helped keep her calm. Brody made her laugh and Ethan helped her think. They were so different and both so helpful to her. In return she did almost anything they needed and protected them fiercely. Her heart breaks everytime they forget something important. One day, she had an idea. She's been saving up her portion of money from their shows so she can buy them film and polaroid cameras (the instant kind) so they can take pictures of things they don't want to forget. She also wants to get them Sharpies so they can write notes to themselves on the back. It may not help much, but it's better than completely losing happy memories. At least, that's what she hoped for the gift.

Part of their act was she would drop from the ropes into a pool of water where she'd swim around for a while--without coming up for air of course--and then when she was finished, she be pulled back up into the air by Brody. She was also preparing a little silks routine that she hoped to one day work into her act with the twins, but for now it was swing, flip, swing, and dive. Plus a little more gymnastic tricks before being back in the water. Thankfully track and swimming both kept her strong and flexible so she was able to add some handstands, flips, and other things into their routine early on.

Today was a pink day. Clarke rolled the hair chalk through her blonde strands while she chewed the last of her lunch. It was still weak in colour, not enough of a contrast to the pitch black of the rest of her hair, but it would do. To avoid a clash she wore mostly white, a simple top with a pink bowtie and a multi-layered, long skirt with intricate patterns. Somewhere between swallowing her food and putting the hair chalk back in its box, she even remember to put on her shoes.

Pink was for luck. Long breaks between performances always made her feel a little uncertain to step into the limelight again. Even though she practiced every day, knew the routines so well she could have done them in her sleep (blindfolded, underwater) the sense of fatality that came with a proper audience couldn't be practiced or taught. It had to be felt, the fear of failure bringing doubts galore, galloping in across her nerves on mighty steeds. All that said, the only way to fight it was to face it, and as she was now fully dressed she had run out of excuses to stay away.

She walked across camp rubbing traces of chalk off her forefinger and thumb. Pausing by the main tent she heard heard the sounds of the freaks going through their routines. Clarke shuddered. Some of those people gave her the creeps. It would give her a ridiculous amount of pleasure if she could somehow lure the bad ones into the tent all at the same time– then cut the rope and have them suffocate in the heavy, dusty fabric, helplessly grasping at the walls in search of an exit. Unfortunately that sounded like an awful lot of work, and she didn't even want to guess what the Ringmaster would do to her if she had succeeded.

Shaking her head, Clarke turned her tail towards the showgirl's van, arriving just in time to come face-to-face with a sandwich tray. Aubrey may have been on the other side of it, but that was irrelevant. Clarke's eyes lit up in an instant, "Ay, just what I needed," as she grabbed two sandwiches off the tray and proceeded to fit as much of a half in her mouth as she could. Reaching the conclusion that the sandwich could, in fact, be bent, she was soon able to push the whole thing in there. She raised the remaining sandwiches in her hand as both a greeting and a thanks to Aubrey, and proceeded to an overcrowded mirror in the van that she had claimed as her own– sparing a wave towards Lola as she sat down.

"How is it looking in the main tent? Are they ready?"

Oh, Lola looked like she was in a mood. It was sometimes hard to tell with her, as her emotive range could often seem to range from "angry" to "angrier", but then Clarke still had the greatest respect for her. She didn't know much about Lola, but it took some kind of strength to survive in this place, and Lola seemed to have it all figured out. Spread across the little table in front of Clarke were knick-knacks of various size and importance, some of which had at some point come in use for one purpose or another– but had then promptly been forgotten and gained a more permanent residence in front of her. Clarke picked at some false pearls while she chewed.

"I swear I heard a lot of shouting from there earlier," she said between bites. "Bet the twins were at it again."

Admittedly she was quite fond of the twins– they often brought a breath of fresh air into the room with them. Well, one of them did, anyway– but they seemed to be more of a package deal. You spoke to one, the entire fleet of acrobats followed. Clarke put the sandwich down on the table and picked up her make-up set. Now, she thought. What colours will we use today?

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Lola gave a tight smile to Clarke when she entered. "Hey Clarke." Lola looked back at her mirror and continued applying her makeup. If friends were something Lola had or cared about, she might have considered Clarke a friend. She was after all the person Lola was closest to in this circus. She also had her uses. However there was only so close someone could get with Lola.

"How is it looking in the main tent? Are they ready?" Lola pursed her lips in thought and made an exaggerated thinking sound, really dragging it out.

Then she did the finishing touches of her makeup before applying a light pink lipstick. Smacking her lips once in the mirror to be sure. "They better be. They've had ages to prepare," Lola glared at herself in the mirror as if she were looking at the freaks right at that moment. "If they're not I'm sure I'll never hear the end of it." Then Lola gave an more sinister smirk, "And then they'll never hear the end of it."

Lola then got up passing Clarke to grab her showgirl costume. "I swear I heard a lot of shouting from there earlier," Clarke said, pausing to take a large bite of her sandwich. Lola tried her best to hide the icy look she gave Clarke. She remembered when she was younger and could eat whatever she wanted without a care in the world. "Bet the twins were at it again."

Lola rolled her eyes as she basically peeled off her skin tight jeans. "Those two will be the end of me," She growled. Seriously, if it was up to Lola she would have gotten rid of all three of the acrobats years ago. The twins gave her a migraine and the girl -Nebula- was always complaining and taking time off for her pain. In Lola's opinion the girl just needed to suck it up. Of course it wasn't up to Lola. The Ringmaster didn't care much for the showgirls but adored their freaks. Pretty runaways are a dime a dozen, but oddities, they were the truly rare ones. Lola knew her worth to the Ringmaster was virtually nothing when compared to a freak.

Lola squeezed into her Head Showgirl costume. It was basically a corset, short skirt, fishnet stockings, ridiculously high heels, and little else. All in red and black. Of course Lola's had a rather long train to have her stand out as the Head Showgirl. She walked over to Clarke's mirror. "I'm thinking pink," Lola said nodding to Clarke's makeup kit she was still holding. It wasn't hard to guess what the colorful girl was thinking about. Lola picked up a ring among the clutter in front of Clarke's mirror and tried it on. "Apparently we got some VIPs coming tonight, you wanna great them?" That was another one of the showgirl's roles. To charm VIPs. It wasn't hard you greeted them at the front, laughed at their gross jokes and showed them to their seat. It seemed the only real qualification a showgirl needed was long legs and a convincing fake laugh.

"You'd better hurry up almost time to get ready for the audience." Lola returned the ring back to Clarke's stuff deciding it was too gaudy for her.

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"Those two will be the end of me."

Clarke smiled an amused smile, half because what Lola was saying was absolutely true, and half because the twins probably would have loved to hear her say it. She turned her attention to the make-up kit again as Lola put on her costume, her fingers playing over the multi-coloured set as the wheels turned in her head.

"I'm thinking pink," Lola said. Clarke paused for a moment, unsure what Lola was referring to. It didn't always occur to her that she had a face like an open book, but then her smile grew even wider. Today was a pink day. She applied her make-up with a practiced hand, mouth slightly open as the brushes glided across her skin, bringing an exaggerated portrait of life to her façade.

"Apparently we got some VIPs coming tonight, you wanna greet them?"

"VIPs? Sure, that sounds fun," Clarke scrunched her face up thoughtfully. "What do we know about them? Rich?"

VIPs were among the easier jobs she'd taken on since becoming a showgirl. It was amazing how many of them would be lost at the sight of her, and then she'd really have no trouble at all keeping them entertained until the show started. Every now and then she would pick their pockets– not steal their money or anything, just pinch little things they wouldn't miss. A lighter there, a coin, a piece of jewellery; Clarke wasn't looking to make herself rich by any means but she liked mementos. Even bad times had to be remembered, she figured. She was brought back to reality by the muted 'clink' of her ring being replaced on the table.

"You'd better hurry up almost time to get ready for the audience."

"Eep! I'm going, I'm going!" She sprang to life, searching for her outfit in the back. Soon she pulled it out– a simple thing, really– a downplayed version of what Lola was wearing, to make her 'lesser' position more obvious. She put it on quickly, returning to the mirror to make some final touches to her face. "Okay,"she said. "I'm ready!"

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"Eep! I'm going, I'm going!" Lola almost smiled as she watched Clarke fumble around for her outfit. Then of course Lola remembers who she is and goes back to her cold indifference. She watches herself in the mirror, using her pinkie finger to fix up a lipstick smudge. Then Clarke jumped in front of her to touch up her own makeup. Lola gave Clarke a once over making sure she looked fine and had everything, after all she was in charge of the showgirls and it was up to her to make sure they were all looking perfect. "Okay,"she said. "I'm ready!"

"Finally," Lola said with a fake yawn leaving the trailer, not bothering to hold open the door behind her for Clarke, she was a big girl. Lola walked over to the main circus tent, though the soft ground underneath was making it a little harder that usual. Every step Lola made her heels sunk deeper and deeper into the ground putting her a little off balance. Not that she showed any difficulty in her stride. No, Lola never looked like she was struggling at anything, she was one of those people who always had to look cool calm and collected. Even if she was regretting wearing such high heels, though they did make her legs look great.

Lola entered the main room with a scowl. Even looking at all the freaks wandering about put her in a bad mood. She pressed her lips into a thin line out of disgust, it was like she could even smell them. "All of you." She said to whole tent, she didn't yell but her shrill voice echoed about the tent falling down on all the freaks. "Playtime is over. If you're not ready now, I really don't think you'll ever be." Her voice was condescending and held an air of superiority she'd bestowed upon herself. Of course if any of them weren't ready and looked it on stage tonight then they'd be hearing about it.

"Go get yourselves ready. People are going to start arriving soon and I seriously doubt any of them want to see you all look so..." Lola trailed off and made a face that said more than words could. Then she turned her back and walked away. All the performers would be going to get their costumes and make up on back stage.

"You sure know how to make an inspiring speech Lolita." The voice was slow and cold. Lola held back her eye roll as she turned to face The Ringmaster. She knew eye rolls and sarcasm never really went down all that well with The Ringmaster.

She instead went for a bored look and a half shrug. "I know how to get things done around here." The she flicked her eyes over to Clarke, "Clarke's going to take care of those VIPs you mentioned. What should she know about them?" Lola said repeating Clarke's question from earlier, because truthfully she'd been given no information about them. Accept, of course, that they were rich. They were always rich. Money seemed to be the only thing that earned you value in The Ringmaster's eyes. That and being a freak.

The Ringmaster frowned for a beat before turning her eyes to her colorful showgirl. "Oh, right. Absinthe. The colorful one." The Ringmaster said the word 'colorful' was some serious disdain. Which when added with The Ringmaster's fully black outfit said a lot about them. The the Ringmaster turned back to Lola only addressing her favorite showgirl, completely ignoring Clarke's existence. "They are some friends with someone I know from the land of Italy. Possible Investors. Don't speak a word of English. The Ringmaster gave a dismissive wave like not being able to communicate would be no hindrance. Which kind of hinted that they were the more sleazy kind of VIP, seeming as Clarke would really only be there as someone to look at not to talk to. "She should take one of the performers with her, I'm sure they like to meet someone with actual talent." Then the Ringmaster wandered off, something or someone else of importance taking priority.

"There you have it," Lola said crossing her arms.

As Levi listned to her talk, his eye strayed to her discarded sandwich and his chest tightened. She was still starving herself. Still, he smiled at her and threw his head back in laughter when she didn't buy his tall tale. "Can't blame a guy for tryin'," he said with a shake of his head. "Or a trickster for that matter." He added leaning in close.

I can blame a guy for not trying hard enough, Came the voice of Laurent from his mind, but he waved a hand as if batting the voice away. He wasn't going to spoil the fun. Not this time.

He opened his mouth to say something to her when Lola called down that the show was going to begin and Dezi turned away, dismissing him. Her final words, a promise to drink with him again, and he grinned. He turned to take a different exit to his trailer but caught sight of the nearly empty tray of sandwiches that Aubrey had apparently left unattended. He frowned, contemplating. Then he picked one up and walked quickly, but smoothly over to Dezi and stuck the bread in her mouth. "Darling Dezi. Performances always go better after a meal. Besides, mayo looks good on you." He wiped mayo off her cheek and gave it a peck before retreating as quickly as possible in case she exploded at him. He was pushing his luck, he knew, but a girl like Dezi didn't need to starve herself to be beautiful. She already was. Besides, where else would she get the energy to torment him?

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Clarke followed Lola out of the trailers, only responding to her yawn with a fond half-smile. She grabbed the door as it swung towards her in Lola's wake, closing it more gently behind her and making sure she heard the 'click'. Walking as carefully and quickly as she could over the moist ground, she was glad she hadn't worn thin heels that day. From what she could see, had Lola been any bigger she would have been consumed by the earth.

She entered the main tent and immediately banished the frown on her face that had taken residence in the trip over. Instead she bore a soft smile, just in time to hear Lola's tirade ring out in the sudden silence of the room. Clarke's face remained mildly amused as the performers scattered, but at the appearance of the Ringmaster, her expression grew serious, even worried. Their elusive master had an aura of command that didn't sit well with her free spirit: whenever she arrived, the air seemed harder to breathe. Learning that she wouldn't be able to communicate with the VIPs wasn't too much of a surprise. Even the English-speaking VIPs were rarely interested in conversation– and even when they were, it was rarely conversation that required much thought. How'd a pretty girl like you end up in a place like this? She shook her head a bit at the memory. It had taken most of her willpower not to reply, Murder.

"She should take one of the performers with her, I'm sure they like to meet someone with actual talent."

The frown returned full force, with added grinding of teeth as the Ringmaster vanished. Pink day. Pink day. Pink day.

"There you have it."

"There it is," Clarke responded. She looked out at the remaining performers. "Now who would be more interesting to a gang of Italians?"

Her gaze fell to the twins, but she thought better of it. Although she got along better with one of them than the other freaks, she could think of one that would be better suited for this task.

"Hey, Levi! C'mere. I have a job for you."

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"Come on, lets go make sure Ethan's okay. He's your brother you know. You have to pretend like you care." Brody rolled his eyes but he went along with Lorelai willingly. He knew Ethan was fine, but he would have gone with Lorelai anywhere. Plus, he liked it best when it was all three of them together. Brody walked along behind Lorelai though as he walked his feet lifted up of the ground and he stopped walking and instead floating along behind her. Letting her drag him along like a girl with a balloon.

When they got to Ethan, Brody stayed in the air and rolled onto his back, propping his head up with his hands. He grinned as his acrobats.

Ethan opened his eyes and tip his head forward to look at Lorelai and Brody as they approached him. Lorelai taking the seat next to him where Levi had been. "Are you alright, Ethan?" She asked him. Before Ethan could reply though she had reached out and laid her hand across his forehead. "You're not coming down with something are you?"

Ethan's eyes went wide. He had his mouth open slightly and seemed unable to say anything. Only, "-ah." Came out of his mouth. He realized he was probably making the situation awkward - something he'd blame himself for later. However, Ethan couldn't think of one thing to say.

Then she pulled her hand away quickly. "You been around the birds? I heard there's an exotic bird flu going around."

Ethan frowned a little still not really saying anything."I, ah, no. Not really." He took a breath. He hadn't really expected Lorelai to do that. "I'm fine. Really Lor," he said trying to give her what he hoped was an easy smile and he leaned back into his chair. Hoping for something casual. Though he couldn't help rubbing the back of his neck to ease the awkward feeling.

Brody watched Ethan and Lorelai with a frustration he couldn't put his finger on. He wanted to say something but he didn't know what to say. Luckily, he didn't need to say anything. Lola arrived and did that for him. Brody rolled his eyes like he was fustrated but the smile on his face told other stories. Floating over to Lorelai he grinned and reached for hands to pull her up. "Guess we better go get ready then!"

Ethan slowly stood up. Though he pushed Brody away from him and Lorelai with a smile. Brody floated backwards, landing lightly on his feet. "Get moving then doofus," he said to Brody throwing an arm around Lorelai's shoulders as he walked them out and towards their acrobat trailer.

When Dezi had begun to turn away from her magician friend she routinely pulled out a slightly beaten up box. Inside it contained her cigarettes and a blue Bic lighter. She lit up a tobacco stick and shoved the box back into her pocket. She inhaled the smooth tar into her lungs and exhaled a large flume of smoke. Her eyes squint some to try and hone in on where exactly her brother was. It didn't look like he was still near the cages . Maybe he had already made his way back to their trailer when he heard Lola.

She shrugged it off after looking around another moment then turned back around toward the entrance. From off to the side, Levi spoke up again. Inside she was a little startled, but her face showed no emotion when she twisted around to face him.
"Darling Dezi." She gave a small smile. She loved his sweet nicknames, but she tried not to read into the flattering words. She was almost positive they were not acutely for her.
"Performances always go better after a meal." At this her content aura dropped immensely. Her eyes drifted to their feet. He had seen, yet again, her strewn away food. Her eyebrows knit in a sheepish manner and her eyes were clearly filled with sadness and shame. She loathed when people worried about her. She didn't want anyone to be bothered by the mere likeliness of Dezi McKinley. She now scowled at the ground. Angry at herself for being so obvious when she ditched her sandwich. Her green orbs slowly lifted to see his, many emotions spilling from her face, which was abnormal for Dezi.
"Besides, mayo looks good on you." A sandwich forced through her lips and mayo on her face which was promptly removed and replaced with a peck. She was taken aback by this gesture and a light rose glint showed through her olive skin. She removed the new sandwich from her mouth and watched Levi casually walk away. She couldn't believe any reasoning for why he would care so much about her. She wasn't worth the time. Her eyes shut tight, she forced herself to take a bite. Her eyes shot open as soon as it hit her tongue. It was her favorite again. Had he done that on purpose? Or was it a coincidence? Whatever it was, a weak smile played over her features and she gratefully ate the sandwich.
Dezi threw away her burnt out cigarette. She had been so overwhelmed when Levi approached, she'd forgotten that she had a lit one in her hand. She decided not to light another one and just hurry up and get ready for the show. She meandered towards her trailer, momentarily wondering what The Ringmaster was up to.

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Blaze shuffled through the mess hall. He'd missed out on all of the sandwiches and was required to make himself something to eat to settle his aching stomach. A handful of strawberries in one hand, and leftover bacon from breakfast in the other. A strange combination for most, but the werewolf loved food and he could practically eat anything.
As he exited he came up behind Lola and grinned when she looked at him. He offered his hand out for her to take a strawberry if she wanted one. Most people didn't give Lola the time of day, but Blaze liked to make friends with anyone. He was definitely the social butterfly between him and his sister.
"I'm about to go get ready, but I was wondering if you wanted to catch up after the show. Maybe you could give me some pointers about my technique on stage." Blaze gave her another quick smile and his hand subconsciously was drawn up to his head to play with his shaggy hair.
His eyes averted from her for a moment when he caught sight of a blurred figure in all black. It was his sister, no doubt. Headed to their trailer. It's pretty nice that I don't have to put on a fancy outfit or glam up my style. He thought. For Blaze, he would remove his clothing behind a large curtain to avoid ruining them, and attempt to change into a wolf while naked. Only one person had accidentally walked in before he had changed, and it was Lola. And she didn't seem too disappointed either.

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Lola watched Clarke go off to talk to Levi so she turned and left. She still had plenty of things she had to check up on before the show. Well, she still had to look like she had plenty of things to do. She had a few little things that really didn't need to be done that she could drag out. Lola liked to busy. She didn't want to have to spend time just hanging around mingling. Plus staying busy made her feel a little more important than everyone else.

Leaving the main area, Lola heard footsteps behind her. She turned her head a little and saw Blaze coming towards her. He smiled when he caught her eye and wordlessly offered her a strawberry from his pile. Blaze was generally more friendly to her, but it always caught her a little off guard. Hadn't her attitude and actions made it perfectly clear she didn't want to be friends with any of them. Lola wasn't one of those bitches who thought that were sunshine and rainbows. No, Lola knew she was not pleasant to be around and she liked it that way. Strawberries were Lola's favorite though, so she let her inner dilemma play out. Her stomach gave an inaudible growl but despite that she decided not to take a strawberry. Instead she fixed him with a glare.

"I'm about to go get ready, but I was wondering if you wanted to catch up after the show. Maybe you could give me some pointers about my technique on stage. He said simply. The shock of hearing it was enough to displace Lola's glare. Though she was able to reply icily with, "Sure thing. I'm sure I'll have plenty of pointers." Seriously was she going to have to grow grotesque horns to keep people away? Lola laughed to herself, she wouldn't want to steal Dezi's act. "Oh, and tell that sister of your's that you guys are up first tonight, so she better be ready.

Then left Blaze to continue her jobs when she passed by the kitchen. With a quick glance left and right to make sure no one was around, specifically Blaze, Lola went into the kitchen. She grabbed a punnet of strawberries and sat on the counter practically devouring them.

Blaze barely tilted his head in slight confusion when she didn't take him up on his offer of the delectable red fruit. He slipped another into his mouth, greens and all and listened to her cold tone. He paid no mind to her constant callous mood, he dealt with it enough from his sister. Seeing the same attitude come from someone he was attracted to didn't phase him in the least. In fact, he usually responded to her responses with the same chipper attitude he always had. So her viper tongue rolled off of his shoulders.
He laughed and said,
"Cool! I could always use some new ideas for the stage. We were thinking about doing a kind-of dance routine, but we weren't sure how to choreograph it. Maybe you could help us one day...As long as you think The Ringmaster will like it, of course."

He looked over Lola in her showgirl costume. He tried not to get as riled up as the customers, but it was a difficult task. She was filled out in all of the right places. And he was still a boy at heart anyway. Not wanting to get caught, he quickly met her eyes again. He spaced out a little while staring into her eyes. He only caught the last of her words, ...you guys are up first tonight, so she better be ready. Blaze shook his head, somewhat stunned. Then he chuckled lightly, brushing her off.
"Aww, come on, Lola! You know the crowds love us! That's why we open the show." He flashed her a smirk of sheer confidence, one thing that he and Dezi shared.
"Some people even come just to see us. I mean, who wouldn't want to come? How cool is a demon chick and a giant wolf? I think she's getting ready though. May be hanging around somewhere." He looked over the top of Lola's head in search for a performer in all black but he couldn't see her from here. He got lost for a second looking for his sister and when he looked back down, Lola had slipped away. He turned to look behind him and saw her sneak into the kitchen. He smiled and shook his head. At least he didn't have to worry about her not eating. Unlike somebody else.

Blaze found himself, yet again, doing things he was supposed to. He always wrinkled his face up when any kind of job was pushed towards him. All he wanted to do was relax and hangout. Maybe go for a run. But Dezi always nagged him, Blaze! Get off your ass and go do something helpful! or Why can't you do one damn thing today besides faun over women and play video games? He scoffed at the thought, annoyed even at the memory. But his frown turned into an unemotional expression. She had to nag him or nothing would be done, at least on his part. And she wanted to get in good with The Ringmaster. Not get whipped into place like he had a couple of times. He shuddered at the memory.

Looking over each animal that was going to be in the show, he saw a few friendlier faces amongst the furry ones. His grin grew when he spotted Lorelai. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and looked her all the way around, then looked towards the boys. His ADD had made him completely not hear any of their callings since, for once, he was focused on prepping the animals. He kept his arm around Lorelai, but kept his eyes on her own or the guys'.
"What are you guys doing in my neck of the woods? Come to see an early show?"
He removed his arm from Lorelai to playfully act like he was stripping by bringing down both straps of his wife-beater down to mid arm while seductively moving his shoulders. He laughed at himself and pulled them back up to where they had been.
"You guys look nice and ready. You like my performance outfit too?" He did a model twirl with a serious face and included a couple of poses, then returned to laughing.

Behind him a figure approached and his wolf ears heard it, but he was too busy playing to care.
"Full of jokes. What else is new? Are you ready to go or are you just going to waste more time?' To people that Dezi wasn't close to, most would shine her under the same light as Lola. Aloof, uncaring, bored with anything most people had to say. But there was an entire different side of her when it came to her brother.
Blaze clenched his jaw and held back the words he wanted to say, instead trying to stay composed in front of his friends.
"I'm not..." He took an unsteady breath to attempt to keep cool. "Wasting time. I came here to make sure the animals were groomed to perfection. They happened upon me. So don't assume I'm doing nothing." He let out the breath and turned back to his friends, giving them a quick smile. Dezi shrugged a shoulder and blankly said, "Not like you've really proven you're doing something besides nothing. She whisked away, Blaze hadn't even turned back to look at her. He sighed heavily, but picked back up quickly as though this was the norm for him.
"So! Anything new in this next routine?"

---

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The Ringmaster watched disinterested as Dezi reappeared in her performance outfit. "How do I look?" The Ringmaster took a careful eye looking over Dezi's outfit with seriousness. Their eyes never giving away their thoughts. The Ringmaster turned to look ahead as they stepped out of the trailer, electing not to say anything about Dezi's chosen outfit for the performance. The two continued across the ground towards the main tent. People were beginning to start hanging around the main entrance. The Ringmaster directed them both toward the back entrance. Consciously speeding up their walking pace. They'd need to hurry and get this show started.

Dezi broke the silence speaking up again. "How can I get them to listen to me the way they do for you?" The Ringmaster looked back at Desi, silently assessing her with blank, black eyes. The Ringmaster sighed and looked back ahead stepping through the back entrance of the main tent.

"Its simple really. Never give them the option to go against you." Well, it was easy for the Ringmaster. They never spoke without the confidence that they would be heard and obeyed. It helped they they were ever so creepy and held these performers livelihoods in the palm of their hand "I suppose you might get the hang of it one day." The Ringmaster's voice didn't hint at a lot of confidence for Dezi. However the Ringmaster's voice rarely gave anything away. Thin and papery, but rarely emotional and expressive.

The two approached the group, and the Ringmaster silently walked over to stand beside an angry looking Lola.

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Lola finished up her strawberries. Then clipping the lid of the plastic punnet in place, she put the remainder of the strawberries back in place. She pulled her bubblegum pink lipstick out of her bra and touched up her lips, pop her lips as she did so. She checked her reflection in a spoon. It made her look distorted but it managed to do the trick. She adjusted a lock of hair before throwing the spoon pack onto the bench.

Then she practically strutted out of the kitchen and over to the main tent, a satisfied smile upon her face. Flicking her hair over her shoulder Lola walked up to the freaks who had already gathered around. Beast, Nebula and the always annoying space twins. "You chumps, look alive." Lola snapped at the group, who she had deemed as being lackluster in enthusiasm for tonight show. She led them to back stage and peeked around the curtain to see the seats filling up. "Alright, we're on any minute, you guys know the order for tonight." The acrobats were last, hopefully Trickster would make it back for his part in the middle, and the Beast and his sister Dezi were to start it all off.

Lola frowned, speaking of where was she. "You," Lola said to Blaze, crossing her arms angrily, "where is your sister?" Lola exaggerated looking around for a missing Dezi. Sure Lola mostly got along with Dezi, but Lola really wasn't here to get along with anyone. "It is astounding the incompetence I have to deal with," Lola muttered to herself. Then she looked sharply at Blaze, "Doesn't she own a clock?" Lola asked spitefully.

Then Dezi finally rocked up, walking side by side with The Ringmaster. Lola frowned like a spoiled child denied an extra helping of desert. Th Ringmaster and Dezi had been getting closer and closer. Sure the Ringmaster trusted Lola and found her to be the most useful, but Then Ringmaster actually liked Desi. Lola had thought it impossible for The Ringmaster to like anyone. It wasn't so much that Lola felt jealous, more concerned, if she wasn't the favorite, her role around here was just a costume any pretty girl could wear.

The Ringmaster wandered up to stand beside Lola. "Have fun, holding us all up?" Lola asked with childish spite. The Ringmaster gave her a tired look, but also a dark look that promised something unpleasant if Lola continued down a disrespectful path.

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Ethan felt Lorelai grab his shirt as the Ringmaster spoke out. He get it, the Ringmaster gave everyone the chills. Ethan shuffled his feet just slightly so that his back best blocked Lorelai from view. The Ringmaster walked off, but Ethan could still feel Lorelai shaking slightly behind him which brought an unwanted frown to his face. Sure he should care that his friend was scared, but he knew it shouldn't bother his this much. Screwing his hands up into fists he turned around putting an arm around her shoulders. bringing her into his chest. Though he attempted to try and make it look casual, both for his benefit and their onlookers. "You can't get in trouble for that," He whispered to try making it better and then he quickly released her.

"I pretty much got it from here," Blaze announced and Ethan gave him a small grateful smile. He really didn't want to have to help out. "Nice. We should definitely do that guitar lesson sometime soon. Maybe after tonight?" Ethan clapped Blaze on the shoulder in a friendly manner. Him and Blaze had always talked about having guitar lesson between the two of them, and Ethan figured it was about time he went through with it. Guitar was always a calming experiences and he'd need that after a day like this.

Brody watched on as he friends talked with unusual silence from the usual bubbly boy. He face was rather vacant with a slight frown. He had witnessed the moment between Lorelai and Ethan, his to best friends. It had been quick but he wasn't completely thick. He just couldn't understand why he felt like he had just been punched in the gut. "Come on, Brody!" Lorelai called and Brody looked at her blankly, what is it she wanted? Brody hadn't been paying attention, like he'd been watching what had been happening through muffled speakers. "We should get moving?"

Brody frowned and nodded slowly. Then he shook his head and gave her a forced grin, "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." He kicked the ground lightly and floated over to her, his arms outstretched for her to catch him.

Ethan watched his brother curious at how odd he was being and why he so clearly wasn't his buoyant self. He didn't ponder it for long as Lola herself turned up. Sometimes it really felt like Dezi and Lola were in a competition for who could win the title of Cirque de'La Rosa's Queen Bitch. He rolled his eyes at the chumps comments then looked on sympathetically as she teared Blaze apart for him sister not being there. Man was he glad Brody had chosen this day to be on time.